Bear Lake Weekend

Last weekend we went to help out Dustin's family with moving everything back into their cabin at bear lake now that it's remodeled. Here is a shot of the gorgeous sunset over Logan Canyon we saw Friday night as we arrived. note that it is NOT PHOTOSHOPPED. We had a good time being able to help move and arrange stuff. The cabin looks amazing!! And it will be such a nice place to just get away for some weekends, especially during the long winter we have ahead :)

Never a dull moment with little Sydney "bug"

Just a thought

I'm not sure anyone really reads this (and I don't blame you considering it's our poor neglected blog :) Anyway as I'm sure most of you know I so easily worry and stress! It's pretty much as natural as breathing for me. Dustin is extremely patient with me, and is always so good at reassuring me IT'S FINE! I think sometimes I am such a people pleaser that the worry of disappointing someone is constantly on my mind. Somewhere down the line I got in my head that I am supposed to be perfect NOW! Anyway before I ramble too much, I will get to my point. Tonight as I am feeling a little more of the overwhelming stress trying to take care of the house, Dustin, get caught up in my editing, improve my photography business, and make time for my other job, my husband and have a little me time. (I know I don't even have kids...right:) Well the thought just came to me that I need to remember that I don't have to worry about doing this all on my own. That my Savior and my Heavenly Father are right there ready and willing to help me in the life I am pursuing. Something even as simple as taking pictures at a photo shoot. If it's important to me, it's important to Him. I know he will help me. It's honestly to the point of KNOWING. Because He always has, of course on His time table:) But in the long run I have always been able to look back and see His hand. Easier said then done, but Just something to think about.
-Alyssia

Enjoying summer

Age and her kids have come swimming at our house a lot this summer, and it is always a ton of fun. This was the first time Dust was able to come, so I figured I should finally take a few pics. I didn't dare get my camera by the water though so I stood outside the fence and stuck my lens through the crack. Hey it worked, right :) As you can see Dust got out his toys to play with the boys. Hence why there is a strange tomato with jaws. Ya I have found that a couple times in the veggi drawer in the fridge. Sydney was taking a nap when I took these pics but she is quite the swimmer too. Even though she just turned 2 and can't really swim she definitely has no fear. She will stand on the steps (without her floaties) and jump without even making sure I am ready. Then she just repeats over and over again "I can swim, I can swim." It's quite cute and funny too. Also I had to throw in the one of Kayden poking out his belly. He loves to show everyone and I always get a kick out of how much he can look like a pregnant little boy :)

Us :)

My friend Erin took these pics, and did an awesome job! I totally took us on a crazy adventure though. We went up to Silver Lake up AF Canyon. I was told it was only half an hour, but it ended up being an hour drive! Not to mention up the craziest road (Which was actually kinda fun :) But so by the time we finally got up there we had very little light to work with. But thanks to Erin they still turned out great! Dust and I had a ton of fun! It was funny being on the other end of the camera, I'm so used to being in control I definitely think it was good to remind me of what it's like to be the one getting the pics :)

Vintage Photo Collage

So I know you are all probably sick of hearing of our office that I'm remodeling but I am having a ton of fun! Not to mention it's consuming my nights when I should be sleeping. Any who I am going to be doing a collage of black and white vintage looking photos on the green wall. Here are 3 of the six I will be using. There will be one of us, the above one of our hands, and then 4 still life items that have to do with us. The keys above bring back a lot of memories! Dustin gave me one of those keys and kept the other when I left on my mission, and told me that just as I had to "lock my heart" for my mission he would be locking his as well while I was gone. The book they are sitting on is a journal his mom gave me before I left, that I wrote in on my mission. The paint brushes are obviously self explanatory. I can't wait to get the others done to! I'm excited for the other 3 I'm doing. Although I have to admit still life is not my thing, so it is a bit of a challenge for me :)

Before and after

note: The green wall is more green than it looks in this picture. In fact it almost looks yellow in these pics.

Any Suggestions?

Ok so this week was seriously the craziest week ever! Between tons of homework, a test, 2 family shoots and Lindsay's wedding, plus school everyday, work most days, and dying to get started on the remodeling, I think I am ready to sleep the next month away. But all in all it was a good week. Everything seemed to go well, and I managed to stay up til 2 or three a couple nights and start the painting of the bedroom and get the bookshelf practically done. I consider painting like therapy for me, it helps keep my sanity. I did go with the turquoise and love it! I will have to post pics of it soon. Also we finally got the 21" imac! I'm pretty much so excited about it I can barely stand it, Dust jokes that I have just been trying to get the office remodeled for my "electronic baby" (referring to the computer). I am on the computer a lot because I'm constantly editing and so I can understand why he thinks my camera and the computer are my babies :) But seriously the imac is going to save so much time! My life will be a lot easier being able download more pics on to the computer and edit faster with the more ram. Dustin is also very excited, in fact I had to talk him out of the 27'' because he was getting so excited thinking it could be our computer and TV. I guess you could call us computer nerds :)

Anyway so my next advice I need now that I have the colors all picked out is should I do black or brown. The colors are that green in the images from the last post, white and then the turquoise. So I am torn as to which would look better? Any suggestions?

Also I am recovering the rocking chair. Which may or may not work, we'll see its more of an experiment. But I am wanting this room to feel bright, clean and have a modern feel to it, Almost like ikea style. So here are 2 different material patterns I found on etsy that I like. What do you think? It would be the chair and just a little strip of curtains across the top of the window. Or if you know a better place to find cute material please let me know.




Obviously I would only use one of these if I did the brown. And since they are a little busier the rest of the room will be simple so it won't be too much.

Remodeling

Thanks everyone for the opinions! So I am so excited to remodel our 2nd room. I think I finally have it all figured out and I can't wait to get it done. In fact I'm probably a little too over excited about it, I stayed up til 3 AM just priming the book shelf I'm getting ready to paint. And not to mention I think I have like 30 different paint chip samples of green spread through out our house, and find myself constantly asking dust which green he likes better. Who ever thought there could be so many different shades of one color! But here is a sample of 2 pics that have inspired me for how I am going to paint the room.

Opinions needed :)

Alright so I found a really cool bookshelf for a steal of a deal at DI. Literally it was one of those that the minute I saw it I knew I needed to have it! We are trying to downsize the stuff in our office. Plus I am totally up for a new craft project. Seeing that I have barely had time to do anything else besides work, school and my photography. So I am ready for a break and to do some crafting. Any way before this turns into a novel, I'll get to the point. I am also considering repainting the walls in the office. So with that considering, as soon as I find a desk at DI, I will be painting the bookshelf and desk to match eachother. There is an old brown trunk in the room as well. So brown will be in the room as well instead of black. Alright so I have been having a fettish with turquoise furniture. So the point of this novel is should I paint it turquoise rustic or cream with the rustic edges? These are some examples of what I am thinking about. (Most of these are from allthingsthrifty.com which is like the best craft website ever!)

This ones for you family :)

Ha I love it! Nothing like matching BYU outfits. I think the best part is that my dad is wearing a red shirt. Go University of Utah- right dad? :) Also check out those bangs on all of us girls. I remember Lindsay and I would always beg Adrien to style our bangs like that.


I really like this one of my mom and dad, My mom is very pretty






When I was five I drew a picture of the bishop at the pulpit and the people sitting in sacrament meeting. My parents ended up summitting it in a contest. It was chosen as one of the pictures to be displayed at a place in Salt Lake. So as you can see I was quite proud :)


Oh the hair, Hello pyramid!! I'm pretty sure I got a brand new perm just days before my baptism. I remember being so worried that It would be ruined, I think I should have been more worried that it wouldn't be ruined







Alright so tonight as I was trying to find a particular cd (and avoiding studying for finals:) i came across a random cd that just said pictures. When I popped it in the computer it was a nice surprise to see over 200 family pictures over the years. I could not resist posting some of these.

really funny commercial!

Ok so the first time Dustin showed me this video we were both laughing, but he was laughing probably harder than I have ever seen him laugh. He then watched it four more times and was still dying laughing. So we just thought we would pass it on.

A MUST SEE! :)

So Dust and I have decided to start a new exercise program and this one seems to be top notch. We saw it on TV tonight (Kell you might remember it from when we were little :)

CHECK IT OUT!

A Tribute to my Grandpa

So I normally don't really include anything personal or say much in this blog. But I have decided to go ahead and create this post. You probably all recognize this picture that I posted recently, because I just took it shortly after Thanksgiving. Which now I realize was inspiration to take the photos I took of my grandparents. About two weeks ago my grandpa fell at his home and broke the ball off of his hip. They rushed him to the hospital in payson (2 hours from his home in Bicknell) and after several days, had surgery to replace his hip. My grandpa is 92 and was not able to recover from the surgery and had some other health problems discovered. So for 14 days he was in the hospital not being able to move until yesterday (Saturday) morning he slipped away. My family has all spent the last two weeks constantly visiting my Grandpa and were grateful for those last moments we had with him. He truly was an amazing man. He worked hard his whole life, and when he truly commited his life to Christ and the gospel he marched forward and did all he could. My grandpa and grandma were sealed a week before my parents were, and after that served faithfully in the temple the rest of their lives. My grandpa was actually later called to be a sealer and performed many of the sealings in our family. My grandma once said "it took me 20 years to get him to the temple, and when he finally went he never wanted to stop going." Recently when I called I talked to my grandpa for a min. and when I said bye I love you. He replied back. "I love you too lissie, we all do." It was so sweet of him and will probably always stick with me. He was never a man of a lot of words, but truly taught by example. Always reading gospel books, and serving faithfully in his callings, and taking care of his duties. Even this past summer at age 91 he was still working in his garden out back of their house. Well I could go on, but I just want to say that I'm grateful for having him in my life and am so grateful that we will be together again. Losing someone really puts the plan of salvation into perspective. It is no doubt that our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be happy, that He has come up with such an incredible plan for us. How true it is that this life is so short. Every day means so much. There is so much to learn and do. Thank you Grandpa for teaching me by your example and the life you lived.

Christmas 2009

My niece and nephew on Christmas. Kids definitely make Christmas a lot more fun!

I love Sydney's little face expressions. Can you tell she was just loving Christmas

Are we beautiful in the morning or what? :)

A Little Tripod Fun

A little Weird