[FRAMED]

I have been completely addicted to [FRAMED], an amazing, online photography show. They post a new episode every Tuesday featuring a different photographer. It is really interesting and inspiring!

They have a contest for bloggers to post a "photo that tells a story".

Being a scrapbooker, I feel EVERY photo tells a story!

So, here's mine:

The story this photo tells me is one of blossoming, becoming, changing. My little girl is just between childhood and full on teenager. She is changing from a cute kid, to a beautiful young lady, right before my eyes.

If you are interested in [FRAMED] click this link or follow them on Facebook here or Twitter here.

The above picture was taken of Celeste before attending her friend's Batmitzva. Here is one of her in her dress for this night:

Celeste and her friends had a great time dancing the night away, at what turned out to be quite the party!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Nylon Kites: $10.88 each

Extra string: $3.00

And afternoon at the park with the whole family: Priceless.

Sophie with her butterfly kite

OK, so Blogger automatically turned this photo, so now you can't see how high Celeste got her parrot kite.

All 3 kites at once.

And, FYI, we need to find a new park to fly them, as security informed us there is no kite flying at Tempe Town Lake because it is in the flight path of the airport, OOPS! He was nice enough to tell us as we were getting into our car, a weird end to a fabulous afternoon!

Dream Big

It doesn't hurt to dream big, right?

Alexa wanted to check out a couple of schools on her radar for college.

They just so happen to be private colleges.

Really, really EXPENSIVE private colleges.

And, of course, they were amazing!

We took tours of Pomona and Scripps, both in the Claremont Consortium of colleges.

Scripps had one of the prettiest campuses I have ever seen. In fact it is Forbes rated #4 of college campuses! Every building was unique, the rooms were furnished like they belong in Europe, and the art, fountains, and plants around the campus were gorgeous!

Oh yeah, it's a damn good school too. Amazing courses, 10 to 1 student to faculty ratio, study abroad opportunities, and SO much more.

(Alexa at Scripps)

And then there's Pomona, the largest of the Claremont Colleges. It was equally as impressive and unique. They offer many of the same things as Scripps, on a slightly larger scale. Either of them would be amazing.

So, first step, apply. Step 2, (if accepted) figure out where to get the $53,000.00 a year tuition, room and board....

Oh well, it doesn't hurt to dream big, right?

Snowed In

On our way home from Missouri we were hearing reports of a winter storm coming through. Travel was restricted from Albuquerque, through Amarillo, and to Oklahoma City and beyond. We made  it into OK city on Tuesday, just before the storm, and were able to be "snowed in" with Tony's sister, Nanci:

Tony had not seen her in 8 years! Don't they look alike?

She lives in OK with her kiddos:

Cecelia

and Adrian.

Wednesday was really cold and snowy, with wind chills of -15 degrees. The freeway looked like this:

Thank goodness we were not traveling that day! Instead we were fed homemade enchiladas for lunch, homemade gorditas for dinner (believe me these are nothing like taco bell!), and entertained by Nanci's grandkids Alejandra:

And Audrina:

They instantly took to me, Tony, not so much! 

and here is just a fun picture of me by a huge pile of snow, brrr!

By Thursday there were still warning of dangerously cold temperatures with the windchill, but the roads were clear so off we are on our way home again.

Red Velvet Art

Tony has been gone since Jan 1st working in Missouri. I decided to fly to St. Louise to meet with the customer and drive home with Tony. One bonus, I could go to Red Velvet, located on Commercial street in an old part of Springfield, MO. It is owned by Elsie who's blog I have been reading for years. Her store is full  of vintage dresses, art, handmade items, and a cupcake bakery. Well, we made it there:

Here I am just outside, but...

As you can see the open sign is not lit up and the hours say they are open Tuesday-Saturday...It was Monday...oh no!

I was so bummed! No trying on vintage dresses, none of Emma's (Elsie's sister) cupcakes or bubble tea, no fun shopping, and no Elsie! Such a bummer! But, just inside was Elsie working on a new display for the next day, and what does my {usually very shy} husband do? He waves her over and she opens for us! What a sweetheart. She chatted with us for a minute, and was so kind to pose for a picture. I got to take a quick peek into her store and it is ADORABLE! It was not quite the experience I was expecting, but how sweet of Tony to get me that opportunity to meet her:

If I am ever in MO again I will be sure to stop in during business hours, but I will never forget this experience.

Happy Birthday to............ME!

I just celebrated my 38th birthday...that sounds really odd to me...

I feel like I should be younger...

Didn't I just turn 30?

Anyway, I had a great time. Last Friday my dear friends took me out to the Tempe Improv. It was so fun. The food was so so, the drink was STRONG, but the comedians were so funny. Really, really funny.

Tony is still in Missouri (or Misery, since it is 8 degrees there!) so we did not do much here. Michael's friend baked me a huge cupcake. Then I did use a Groupon that I bought last summer for a Mani, Pedi, Facial, and I even got my hair done:

I had to take a photo since the gal straightened my hair...it is never this straight, and probably won't be again!

Hopefully I will get to celebrate again when Tony gets home..man do we miss him!

She's 13!!!

Celeste turned 13 on November 9th. Another teenager, Whew, 3 under one roof!  Here are some shots from her (belated) birthday photo shoot:

And here are some photos to show why the b-day shoot was so belated:

And without further ado, 13 things we love about our 13 year old:

1. She's athletic. It seems to come natural to her and even got MVP on her JH volleyball team, the first time ever playing that sport.

2. She's tough.  Man did the last few months show that!

3. She's smart. TPA has been a challenge, but she managed an A on her history final, her hardest subject.

4. Celeste is our fashionista, and has her own fun, quirky sense of style.

5. She's artistic. Her latest, drawing/designing clothes.

6. She is creative.

7. She's cute...what can I say, I know I'm far from a partial observer..

8. Celeste is strong. She has muscle tone I can only dream of.

9. She's busy, not one to really sit around a lot, she's always on the go.

10. She's sweet....well a mix of sweet and sassy anyway.

11. She is funny; quietly, sarcastically, funny.

12. Celeste is a good shopper. Loves it and finds good deals, too.

13. A morning person...the ONLY one in this family...

Happy Birthday, Celeste!