Morning

Morning is the topic of today's challenge. This is what it looked like as I pulled out of my garage this morning on the way to drop off the kids at the busstop. It was 6:20 and dark and very cloudy from the rain we got overnight. Summer is obviously leaving us as the mornings are staying dark longer...and I am thrilled. 

Food

Day 7 of the photo challenge is Food. This is becoming a favorite breakfast of mine. Iced coffee and fruit and maple oatmeal from McDonalds. I really like oatmeal, but usually don't like it to be really sweet. I like the sweetness of this as well as the fruit in it. And the iced coffee I pour into my cup before leaving the house and just bring it with me. Good stuff!

Low Angle

Today's challenge is Low Angle. This is my girl getting her makeup done on Saturday to go to a quinceanera for her very good friend.  These are her with her makeup and hair done and her dress on. She's not a little girl anymore, that's for sure...

I love this girl- truly, madly, deeply. She is the best of me mixed with a lot of what could only come from her own unique heart and mind.  She cares about the world within and outside of her world and she teaches me every day.  She is VERY mature and aware of the world around her and I worry that she will miss out on some of the fun of being a teenager as she protects herself from getting hurt and/or disappointed.  She reads a lot of books that are probably more suited to 16 year olds, but she asks questions when she is not clear on something, even if the material might seem kind of embarassing (and it is at times, but we don't shy away from it and I'm proud of that).  She's simply amazing. I love her more than she could ever imagine.

High Angle

These are my crazy basset hounds. Joe is on the left and Willow is on the right. I love them, but they are in desperate need of baths right now and to be honest, a high angle is really the best distance to be from them.... I'm kidding, kind of.

Green for Today

Today's challenge photo is Something Green. This is my math notebook and it's also my first math exam. So far so good this semester!

And in non-green related news, I downloaded the new albums by Pink and Melissa Etheridge last night and am LOVING them! They both have very sexy voices and put out amazing music. It's a win-win for sure!

Third Day!

Today's photo challenge is Clouds. There are a lot in the sky today and these were illuminated quite well by the sunrise.
And thanks for the comments ladies. It is nice to see that there are a few of you out there who still check in with me. I'm looking forward to both of your photos in this challenge :)
Stacy, we will absolutely get together in December. I am so looking forward to it!
Dani, I am beginning to really love instagram. How can I find you?

I was starting to think about all the stuff that has been going on since I posted last. There's been A LOT! Some big stuff and some not-so-big stuff...but definitely more than we are used to seeing in such a short period of time. I'm not going to bore you all with the details of each, but they deserve mentioning if for no other reason than for me to have a record of it. So, here's a breakdown of my year so far.
~  My Cubub's passing
~  MONephew moved here and in with my parents
~  MOSis, her fiance and daughter moved here and in with us
~  MONephew and my parents didn't work out. He moved in with us too.
~  Went to the Def Leppard/ Poison/ Lita Ford concert. Seats were amazing and the show was awesome!
~  The heating element in our oven broke. Couldn't use it for almost a week until replacement came.
~  The compressor in our air conditioner died at the end of July. At $1500 to fix, it has remained dead. As was our moods for most of August in 90-100 degree temps. Even the dogs looked wilted. Bring on the fall weather!
~  Shell turned 37, I turned 38, and our kids turned 14!
~  My CASis was here for a weekend and my bestest friend and his boyfriend visited us for a week in January. I know I already talked about them, but they were both highlights during a sad time and deserve mentioning again.
~  Shell's dad and girlfriend drove out from Utah in March to see us. It was very nice getting to know her a little and Shell loved having her dad around.
~  We bought a new-to-us car in April after Shell's became too expensive to fix. So she took mine and I get to drive the new one. It's a Chevy Malibu and I love it.
~  Celebrated my MONiece's 5th birthday in March with family and friends. First time we've celebrated a birthday with her :)
~  My boy had a 3-day tension headache likely caused by his posture when sitting at the computer.  Within a week my girl was at the doctor with a pulled muscle in her neck from stretching wrong.
~  My girl also had a sinus infection that lasted FOREVER. When I started feeling sick soon after I thought it was the same thing. Nope, it was bronchitis. I'd never had it before and would not like to experience it again.
~  My boy decided not to continue playing football. To say that Shell was disappointed would be an understatement. He was good at it, but just didn't enjoy it anymore. No need to pay for a sport that he doesn't want to be in.
~  We took three trips. Two to CA and one to UT. They all deserve their own posts.
~  My kids started high school. My girl is now the stage manager for the elementary/middle school musical and they are both in an internship program to learn the technical side of the theater.
~ I started my 5th semester of college.
~ MOSis and her fiance are "on a break". After constant bickering and arguing, they decided to take some time and decide if this is something they want to try to salvage. He went back to MO. This just happened two weeks ago.
Never a dull moment! And I even left some stuff out! No wonder I feel like this year has been rough.

Challenge Day 2

Today's photo challenge topic is "something that makes you happy". Pink's new album is released today. I will be downloading it tonight. Been looking forward to new music from her for awhile. :)

Wanna know what else makes me happy? Getting a 91% on my first math test of this semester. Getting 100% on the first test AND paper of my religion class this semester.
This semesters classes are Physical Geography: Landforms, Intro to Sociology, Math for Liberal Arts, and Comparative Religions.  The first two are online courses and the last two are on campus in the classroom. This math is the last one I need to get my AA and will transfer. Transfer where you ask? I will be transferring to Regis University next fall. I've already been accepted into their Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences program and will officially transfer over once I earn my AA in the spring. I still can't believe that I'm doing this and it's very surreal to think that I've almost completed the first step in this journey. Regis is a pretty expensive school, but they have a consortium agreement with my community college where I can take a large portion of the BA courses at the community college at the cc tuition cost, while still getting the credits at the university. Plus, all of the classes I'll need to take at Regis are either online or in the evenings, so I'll still be able to work. I've already been in school for two years. It continues to be a challenge trying to balance work, school, and my family and most of the time I don't do a very good job. But I keep trying and will likely come up short more times than I'd like, but I always have the best of intentions and I have to believe that my wife and kids understand that. Hmm...sounds kind of like this blog in a way. :)

30 Day Photo Challenge

Hello to anyone still checking in with me. Yes, it's been a very, very long time and yes, there is ALOT that has happened. But for now, I'm going to sort of pretend that I haven't neglected my blog and start a 30 day photo challenge. CJ started it and now that I'm on instagram I thought it would be fun to post them there too. Today is self-portrait and is also a bad hair day. My hair is two weeks past when it should have been cut and colored and boy does it show! But for better or worse, here I am today.