J.T.'s 1st birthday

This is how it's supposed to be!

Did you know...

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:45

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? New Moon

4. What is your favorite TV show? House/CSI Miami/NCIS

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? yogurt or hot cereal

6. What is your middle name? Elizabeth

7. What food do you dislike? tofu

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? don't have one

9. What kind of car do you drive? Dodge 4x4 2500

10. Favorite sandwich? Pastrami

11. What characteristic do you despise? flaky

12. Favorite item of clothing? jeans

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? somewhere warm

14. Favorite brand of clothing? lots

15. Where would you retire to? have a 2nd home somewhere tropical

16. What was your most memorable birthday? 30th

17. Favorite sport to watch? Basketball (in person, not on TV)

18. Furthest place you are sending this? no idea

19. Person you expect to send it back first? probably no one since it's on my blog

20. When is your birthday? March 18

21. Are you a morning person or a night person? depends on what I am doing

22. What is your shoe size? 7.5

23. Pets? Four dogs

24. Any new and exciting news you 'd like to share with us? so excited my good friend Julie is having a boy!

25. What did you want to be when you were little? changed often

26. How are you today? tired and glad it's Friday

27. What is your favorite candy? too many to list

28. What is your favorite flower? hydrangea

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? April 3 (1st wedding of the year to photograph)

30. What's your full name? Sarah Elizabeth Albin

31. What are you listening to right now? space heater because I am freezing!

32. What was the last thing you ate? hot cereal

33. Do you wish on stars? not usually

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? no idea

35. How is the weather right now? trying to rain

36. What is your natural hair color? red

37. Favorite soft drink? I don't drink soda

38. Favorite restaurant? Tomo

39. Favorite color of nail polish? hot pink

40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbie dolls

41. Summer or winter? Summer!

42. Hugs or kisses? Hugs

43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla

44. Coffee or tea? Coffee

45. Do you want your friends to email you back? of course

46. When was the last time you cried? November (family drama)

47. What is under your bed? books

48. What did you do last night? Cooked dinner, did dishes, and helped kids with homework.

49. What are you afraid of? losing people I love

50. Salty or sweet? sweet

51. How many keys on your key ring? four, I think

52. How many years at your current job? 10

53. Favorite day of the week? Sunday

54. How many towns have you lived in? 4

55. Do you make friends easily? Would like to think so

56. How many people will you send this to? just posting it here

57. How many will respond?

Messy kid

J.T. vs. a can of Spaghettios... not sure who won!

He was not quite 2 years old here....

1st snow

This was taken about 6 years ago in Tahoe. It was the first time for both kids in the snow. We were there celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday.

View of San Francisco

I took this a couple years ago from the balcony of Mary and Jeff's apartment in San Francisco....

TP

This kid had quite the obsession with toilet paper back then...

Old Farmer's Advice

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don 't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life...

Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Don 't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around..

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

Thought for the day

"Obstacles are opportunities in disguise."
-Unknown

Off into the sunset...

Over 11 years ago....

Ranch kids

These pictures were taken about 5 years ago.... Time sure does fly by!

Memory lane

I am having a hard time thinking of things to write about on here so I thought I would do a little trip down memory lane... join me!

Weddings

Sandi and I are excited to have booked a couple of weddings for this coming year and would love to do even more. If you are, or know someone that is, getting married, check out our website.

Move-over in California

*I received this an email. It was written by a friend of a friend.*

In California, the "Move-over" law became effective January 1, 2010. The cost of the ticket was $754, with 3 points on your license and a mandatory court appearance

Important Law to Share:
I wanted to let my Medlock Bridge neighbors know about the CA move over law. My son got a ticket on Pleasant Hill coming back from Wal-Mart. A Duluth police car (turned out it was 2 police cars) was on the side of the road giving a ticket to someone else. My son slowed down to pass but did not move into the other lane. The second police car immediately pulled him over and gave him a ticket. My son and I had never heard of the law.

It is a fairly new law that states if any emergency vehicle is on the side of the road, if you are able, you are to move into the next lane. If you can't move over, slow down to 20 mph below the posted speed limit.

The cost of the ticket was $754, with 3 points on your license and a mandatory court appearance.

Please let everyone you know that drives about this new law. All but two states in the US (even Canada ) enacted similar kind of law.

Michela

I went to visit Michela, Mary and Jeff this past weekend. It was such a great weekend. I got to babysit Michela on Friday night so Mary and Jeff could go to a retirement party in San Francisco. Then on Saturday, Mary and I had a great day together. She treated me to a pedicure (my feet say thanks!). Then we had a great sushi lunch and a little shopping. I came home on Sunday.

Here are a few photos of Michela, especially for my Mom and Dad, who miss her like crazy!! (please ignore the weird color casts... not sure why it looks like that here!)

Thought for the day

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.”
~Flora Whittemore

One Word

I got this from my friend Nin and thought I would post it here, for fun.

Not as easy as you might think! Now forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on.. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to send back to the person you received it from!

Where is your cell phone?
kitchen

Your significant other?
Andy

Your hair?
curly

Your mother?
Becky

Your father?
Walt

Your favorite thing?
camera

Your dream last night?
unknown

Your favorite drink?
water

Your dream/goal?
photographer

What room are you in?
office

Your hobby?
photography

Your fear?
loss

Where do you want to be in 6 yrs?
here

Something that you aren't?
disorganized

Wish list item?
trip

Last thing you did?
coffee

What are you wearing?
clothes

TV?
Yes

Your pets?
dogs

Friends?
Great

Your life?
busy

Your mood?
tired

Missing someone?
niece

Drinking?
coffee

Your car?
Truck

Something you're not wearing?
socks

Your favorite store?
lots

Your favorite color?
brown

When is the last time you cried?
December

Who will resend this?
unsure

Where do you go to over and over?
school

My favorite place to eat?
Tomo

Favorite place I'd like to be at right now?
Hawaii

Someone I think will respond
Unsure

Rainbow

From earlier today...

2010 Handbook

*** I got this in an email today and thought I would share... ***

HANDBOOK FOR 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree....

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change...
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:

40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

I used to be....

a dedicated scrapbooker! It was definitely my creative outlet. My friend Sara and I would go to these scrapbook nights at the store in McKinleyville. We would stay up until midnight or later creating books for our kids.

Obviously my creative outlet is now photography and I would much rather create a page in Photoshop. So, that's what I plan to do. I have scrapbooks for Abigail through her 7th birthday. Just to be fair, I plan to get J.T. to that point too. Then I will decide if I want to continue. For now, I will create all my pages in Photoshop with my photos and digital scrapbooking files. I have digital paper and embellishments so I can create some pretty cool stuff. Then I plan to print them on 12x12 photo paper and put them in the books.

I will let you know how it goes...

Anyone else a "used-to-be" scrapbooker?

A couple wedding photos

I am in the process of scanning all of my and Andy's wedding negatives in so I can make a wedding book for us. It is quite a process.... each one has to be placed and scanned individually. Then I have to do some straightening and lightening of each image. I have only done about 40 but I wanted to share a couple, just for fun...

I don't think I look all that much different, but Andy sure looks young!