Andrew and Molly

FELIZ BIRTHDAY!!!

2010-09-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Guess what?!?!?! Andrew turns 27 today! That's right! It's his birthday:)

This is one of my favorite pictures of us:) Via film photography, gracias very much!

Anyway, wish Andrew a happy birthday. I'm sure glad he was born today 27 years ago! You should be too:)

JustAndrew.blogspot.com

2010-09-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well we haven't heard much from Molly lately and I believe that is why no one ever visits our blog anymore. She is a busy woman but still! Who wants to hear more from her? I do!

Anyway, Molly, Me, and Kaitlyn went on a pretty fun hike the other day. We went to Doughnut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It is a really fun, short hike. Those are really the only ones Molly will go on. When we went to Canyonlands I didn't really get to hike as much as I wanted to because all the hikes were "too long."

On to the pictures...

The waterfall gets its name because the water falls through a doughnut shaped hole in the roof of a cave. Like so...

Here we are in the cave

Canyonlands

2010-08-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Another camping trip and a new location. In Southern Utah, Molly and I have been to both Arches and Zions National Parks. This time we went to Canyonlands and it was really awesome. We had a lot of fun and we really love the uniqueness of Southern Utah. Here are some pictures I took... Molly took some so maybe she'll post those.

Mirror Lake

2010-07-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

Molly went to California on Friday and will be gone until Wednesday night... What am I going to do?! Well I guess the real question is "What am I going to do Sun-Wed?" because Thursday after work I went camping with a friend from work and got back this afternoon. It was fun. I love camping and being outdoors but I really don't go camping that much. I guess I am just too busy... too busy doing nothing! Seriously! I need to go camping more often. Well I took a few pictures while I was there. Contrary to what a lot of people believe, Utah is beautiful!

Too bad Molly didn't come with us camping. She would have been able to capture Utah's beauty better but hey there is always next time. Plus it would have been more fun with her. She is a fun girl to hang out with. I went camping with a friend from work, his wife, his buddy and wife, so I was like the 5th wheel. Me and two couples... They slept in a huge tent and then there was me all by myself in my own tent. Haha it was still a lot of fun.

Monsters

2010-07-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

More stop motion...can't help it. It's SO FUN! Haha...Andrew's little stop-motion movie for me was CUTE...you have to admit it. I mean, that's real love;) Anyway, I was jealous that he did it without me (because like he mentioned, we had a failed attempt on Monday), so I came home and we made one together. It's a cut out stop-motion movie. We thought about doing a drawing, but that was way too complicated.

Anyway, I hope you like this one!

Monsters from Molly Hunter on Vimeo.

Baby Te Kiero

2010-07-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Just recently I started getting more interested in stop animation. In fact, Molly and I just had a family night with the activity being stop animation. Molly bought some dinosaur figures at the $ store and we did a little stop animation with those, but with little success. Here is a short video I made today using cut-outs... Its pretty fun!

Untitled from Molly Hunter on Vimeo.

My OTHER blog giveaway

2010-06-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hello there-

So, I am a photographer. I am working at building up clientele, and would like to get my work name out there a little more. THUS, I am doing a GIVEAWAY for a free photo shoot. Free. Yes, freeeee. It's good for UT/SLC counties for small families, couples, etc etc. Families up to 4...it comes with a cd of high res photos...it's freaking AWESOME!

I strongly believe in having your photo taken because that's what your kids will look at someday when you're old and think "you were SO beautiful parents!" or if you already have grown children, they will look at the pictures of you and think "You are SO beautiful parents! I'm glad I'll have these to remember you by forever".

SO...go to my blog...www.mmacphotography.blogspot.com...and enter to win. Tell you're friends. They deserve to enter and win too (so you can't be all selfish and not share the good news JUST because you want to win).

:)

Not only Molly...

2010-06-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

This has got to be the first post I have ever made that has nothing to do with sports. I just wanted to show some of the pictures I have taken. Molly's love of photography has been rubbing off on me and I am starting to love it myself. Here are some pictures of mine.

Go USA! (Guess I can't keep myself from avoiding sports all together.)

The boys

2010-06-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

So here is a little video I made of Larissa's boys. My new-ish camera (another awesome addition to my life since April time)...it's the Nikon D300s...takes "HD" videos. So it doesn't take HD video like any of the Canon model cameras (specifically the 5D Mark II), but it's better than a normal video camera I suppose.

ANYWAY, the video is in no way professional, but it's fun to have cute videos of kids:) And I added some background music for your pleasure.

And the quality mostly sucks because I uploaded to vimeo and with my free account I only have 500MB free to upload movies, and the original file size is 800-some MB.

Two silver rings...

2010-06-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Been a while, eh? YES. My photo blog is pretty much my personal blog nowadays. But a lot has been HAPPENIN' since I have last posted.

I'll list them off in alphabetical style (let's see if I can fill up every letter):

A: I got a new job!!!!!!! AN AWESOME ONE! I'm working at the Publications and Graphics at BYU where they publish the BYU magazine. I'm an assistant to the photographer here, so it has been awesome. Keep a look out in future issues for photos by me (if I'm lucky enough, of course).:) So exciting. The photographer's name is Brad Slade and he's so nice and super talented. He doesn't have a page of his photos or else I'd direct you to his work. He's the man at black and white film photos.
I also work with Claire who recently graduated from BYU's photo program. She is so nice and it has been awesome working with her. It's fun because both Claire and Brad speak French (Claire IS French and Brad served his mission in France + lived there for a bit when he was young) and they are avid organic food type of people. Claire always comes in talking about her garden and how good the eggs are from her neighbors chickens. It's great because it has instilled this desire in me to have my own garden and chickens. haha:) Someday...when I grow up. But yes, I LOVE MY NEW JOB! I love it. Love.

B: My "business" isn't doing too bad lately. Since it is summer and all, and most people get married during this time, I have met some great people and have taken pictures of them! It's so fun.

C: I GOT A NEW BIKE!!

It's all white, and I actually wanted the model that had a tan seat, handles and wheels...but they didn't have it! So I bought the all white one. Pretty snazy...I'm honestly not super excited about the white wheels and handle bars, but really...it's an AWESOME BIKE! I love it!

D: My car died. Hence my new bike. I sometimes ride to work, but not a lot because I usually arrive all sweaty because it's an uphill ride and because it's stinkin' hot outside. However, I ride it all of the time in the evenings. One of my VERY favorite summer activities is bike riding around 7:00 or so when the sun starts going down and you can smell the flowers and trees and feel the coolish breeze as you ride. I just don't really love riding on busy streets. That is scary.

E: I just finished "The Hunger Games" and am now reading "Catching Fire". GREAT books. I recommend them wholeheartedly.

F: I'm going to go see "To Kill a Mockingbird" the play this Saturday with Andrew!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

G: My sister, B-I-L, and nephews are visiting from NC. They are moving to GA soon because my BIL just finished his MBA at Duke. Smarty pants.

H: My OTHER sister and her family are moving back to UT!!! YES!!!!! I can't wait to see them!

I: And it won't stop there! My bro Jesse and his girl Becca are GETTING MARRIED! That means I get to go back to PA (since I got married...wayyy too long ago) and I get to take their wedding photos:) Seriously, this summer is so great.

J: My first year in the photo program is finished. I did well in my first ever photo class (intro to B&W film). I've fallen in love with film photography and will hopefully SOON incorporate it into some of my business aspects. I just love film dearly. It makes beautiful photos.

K: Brillante is home from her mission! She came and visited me for nearly two weeks...I love her and I'm so glad she's back!

I don't think I can fill the rest of this page up. But life is really great. I'm LOVING the summer, I love my boy Andrew, and I'm glad I'm alive:) Life is good.

Hey summer

2010-04-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

She comes home this Saturday.

This happened two years ago on April 15 (2008).

Why oh WHY!?

2010-03-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Why is failure so scary? Yes, yes, to motivate right? But why can't success be MORE motivating than fear? Why does fear even come into the equation?

Go ahead. Answer please. I really don't know what the right response is, and it's so FRUSTRATING to be fearful of what might happen rather than being hopeful of what WILL happen. Am I right? Is it attitude? Do I need a swift kick in the pants? A figurative slap in the face?

This whole photography thing is getting kind of overwhelming. Well, maybe not overwhelming in the amount of WORK (actually, NOT completely true. My intro to B&W film is kind of rough for me right now. I have a killer assignment that I think will defeat me in the end...that, however, is beside the current point), but more in the idea of it. Hmm, does that make sense?

I would LOVE to have my own business, but I really don't have the confidence to actually start one up. I want to start NOW so I don't have to work at my lame call-center job that I dread going to every morning. I'd rather take photos of cute couples, happy babies, and my man (oh wait, he doesn't pay me...) than sell website subscriptions to cranky strangers.

Ah, yes. That's it. My rant...I don't keep a real journal, so I will use this as my vent-machine since Andrew is currently asleep, and my girl Bri lives in Argentina (OHMYGOSH, she comes home April 22!!!! AHH!! And she's coming to Utah on May 3rd!! TO HANG OUT WITH ME!! Can you tell it's been a while since I've had friends to just talk to (outside of Drew...not anything against him of course, he's my boy, but sometimes you just need a girl-friend)? Seriously, she's my girl.).

This is a random entry, but really...for those of you with some good insight to my earlier questions for me to ponder for the next week or so, I'd appreciate it:) Thanks, family/friends/readers. Love yins.

Did I hear a 'niner' in there?

2010-03-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

Dude, I'm 23!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just realized that if I finish school within the next 2.5 years like I hope, I'll be ALMOST 26 BY THE TIME I FINISH!!!!!!!!!! Puh-thhhhhe-tic.

Seriously? Why didn't someone slap me silly as an 18-19-20 year old?!?!? Why didn't someone shake me awake and ask "WHY AREN"T YOU CHOOSING A MAJOR?!?! WHY DON"T YOU FIGURE OUT YOUR LIFE?!?!"

I decided to travel and get married instead:) Not bad things...all good...but really. Being in school until your 26...and starting as an 18 year old...is just like Tommy Boy.

OMGOSH!

2010-03-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

I'm such a looder (loser in Hunter-family talk). Haha! Here I sit on my couch with my tv on ("I Love Lucy" is actually on, and man! Talk about flashbacks. I looved this show as a girl. Loved) and I'm browsing facebook...and now I'm updating my blog.

And it's funny because my life is incredibly un-notable. I'll update anyway. Don't feel obligated to read on.

SO GUESS WHAT?!?!?! I made my own FACEBOOK PAGE (for my photography...not for me)!! I'm really excited, and I probably check every few hours to see how many new "fans" I have; currently 140! Woot. And I even think that 10 of those fans are true fans. Meaning, I don't know who those 10 people even are, but they are fans of my page!

Onto other news, remember that post about my job dilemma? Don't worry, I found a job. Nothing too exciting. I work for a website (family history stuff) and I sell yearly subscriptions to genealogy fanatics over the phone! I know, glamorous:) Haha! I'm honestly really grateful to have a job. Andrew and I really would have been up a creek without a paddle if I hadn't gotten it. In fact, shortly after I made my "the economy sucks" post, Andrew lost his second job and had his hours lowered from his first! Ah! But, hey, no worries there. Now he has more time for school now, AND he got his old job back at the Marriott Center.

Anyway, life is really great. I'm pretty happy, to be truthful. I'm excited to attempt to get my photography business started, and I'm LOVING my black and white film photography class. I really love film. It makes me think more about my photos.

This is far too long for an update. I'll end here.

And for your viewing pleasures today, I will post some really fun cellphone pictures!

This is the amazing toilet-seat-cover system used at the Chicago Airport.

It rotates after every flush so you don't have to do it yourself, and you don't have to squat to pee and get muscle fatigue (girls, you ALL know what I'm talking about).

GENIUS!!!

Summa, summa, SUMMATIME!

2010-02-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

I'm soo ready for summer to be here. It's been a pretty balmy winter (40's baby! WOO!) and it feels a lot more like spring than winter. I definitely don't envy anyone on the East Coast who is suffering through that blizzard. Blech. I'm a summer girl, 60% (I'm 25% Fall, 10% spring, and 5% winter). I just really love summer.

Because of my current summery mood, I decided it'd be a good idea to go through my Hogar videos and make a compilation of my summer there. It was fun to do, but this may only be fun for me to watch (and edit). I'm going to make other videos in the future because there is still more! Can you believe it?

Hogar Summer from Molly Hunter on Vimeo.

Enjoy.

PS- Go check out my photography blog. It'll be worth it!

I'm mostly alive...

2010-02-09T22:59:00.000-08:00

and mostly tired. This semester is the semester of TIREDNESS! Not sure why, but I am permanently longing for my bed at home...no matter the time of day. Don't worry, I don't have mono...got that three years ago.

Today half of my chin is swollen like I hit it off of something and bruised it...except it's just a little red and not bruised. But it FEELS bruised! I thought it was just a giant, unpoppable zit at first, and then I realized that it covered the entire bottom right half of my chin! Weird, huh? I hope it goes away...I hope it's not a giant zit that has mutated into a chin-sized zit. That'd be awful and I'd look like a mutant.

OH MAN! Sp, sometimes I get really embarrassed in class for almost no reason. It has happened to me a few times in my Spanish class where I turn bright red in the face. It has also happened to me a couple of times in my intro to B&W film class. It usually has to do with being singled out. Once that happens, I get super awkward and nervous and if my teacher says anything remotely funny in regards to the situation at hand, I turn as red as a playground kickball. Why?!?!? I don't know, but then my red face makes the situation legitimately embarrassing. Haha! Why can't we control the blood-flow to our faces??

Let me give an example to illustrate just exactly what I'm talking about here. Back when I was in Chile (fall of 2007), I was invited over to the bishop's house for Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening). Well, at that point I didn't speak much more than, "Necesito hacer pipi" and "Estoy aprendiendo espanol (I need to pee, and, I'm learning Spanish)." Anyway, my girl Bri and I go over to his house with our friend Pato and have a great time. By the end of the night, the bishop asks me and Bri to bear our testimonies. I didn't even know how to start. I said something like (as a translation in English) "I know the church truth, God to live, Jesus is nice. He is my friend, Amen" (Yes, I did say that Jesus was nice because I really didn't know ANYTHING). Luckily, I felt pretty okay with my testimony since, well, they knew I didn't really know how to say much. Haha! I figured they could forgive me for whatever they didn't understand and hopefully FEEL my beliefs instead:) The fact that I messed up like a champ didn't even phase me. Later, however, to end NdH they ask me to say the closing prayer. Ohhhh man. Don't ask me why, but I was really scared and had absolutely no clue how to start. I think I was more scared to give the prayer since praying is a little bit more simple and you can memorize certain phrases to at least get you through the hard parts and help you learn along the way. Unfortunately, in the two weeks that I had been there, I hadn't attempted to learn how to pray in Spanish. How embarrasing! I didn't know anything and didn't even know what to start "Dear Heavenly Father" or finish "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I remember turning slightly red right from the start, but I said yes because I didn't want to be rude and look dumb. Haha!! Ohh, if only I knew... I ended up absolutely butchering the prayer and it lasted approxiamtely 15 seconds. I mumbled something along the lines of, "Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus, amen." Actually, I have no recollection of what I said, but it was short and I could only focus on how beet, beet red my little, embarrassed face was becoming. I opened my eyes after the prayer finished and looked up at Bri who was sitting right across from me. She looked at me, and mouthed "You're face is SO red!! Oh my gosh!" And then Pato said the same thing..."Woah, Mohli, you're face is really red. Are you okay?" Too bad I didn't know how to say, "Heck no, Pato!! I just made a fool out of myself in front of everyone because I suffer from unpredictable face-reddening-out-of-unnecessary-embarrassment syndrome." And the fact that they brought attention to my red face just made it that much redder.

Seriously, I still have no idea why I got as red as I did that night, but I don't think I'll ever forget it! I really hate when I get embarrassed for no reason, and yet it happens all of the time! Haha! At least I can laugh afterward and come home with funny stories for Andrew.

And since it's always a shame to read a blog post by me without a photo, enjoy the face of my beautiful, AMAZING mama. I love her and I'm glad she's my mom.

Hahah! Please be jealous of this lady...she is not only really sweet, nice, caring, and a strong individual, but she's also really funny. She taught me all of her funny faces that I know...and I have a lot of good ones.

Economy, I hate you

2010-01-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

I quit Cricket (willingly) a few weeks ago, and I thought it'd be kind of easy to get a campus job (that pays minimum wage, yes, but it's a job), but MAN!! BYU is pretty intense with those minimum-wage-paying positions! I've been told 'no' to two different jobs already and I felt like I was pretty qualified. Obviously, someone was more qualified than me. I'm not even good enough to clean carpets!! SHEESH!

I'm just annoyed. Frustrated. Poor. College. Student. All of those words describe me right now...kinda discouraged too. *Sigh* I guess I'll just have to live off of student loans till someone gives me a chance. I swear I'm a hard worker!

Ok, I'll post a picture. Words get boring sometimes:

At least I know I have Andrew. He's my boy. I really love him a lot. Yeah...thank goodness for him! Last night I was having a woe-is-me party, and he made me feel better. I was lying on the bed, whining about the fact that I can't afford a new lens that I really just WANT and how I will never get to start up my own photo business because I can't get that lens, and how I already feel overwhelmed about school and that there is a possibility that I'll get kicked out of the photo program, and that I can't even get a job that pays over $4 less an hour than I was making before, and how LIFE IS JUST AWFUL. And he just told me, "Don't worry about it", and then he started asking me things like, "what color are my socks?" Then I'd give him a short answer and continue on with my pity party. Then he would ask me the colors of a bunch of other things and he asked me what food cats eat, which way I'd go if I came to a fork in the road, etc. Finally he asked me what cows drink...guess what I said? Milk. Haha! It made me laugh...pretty hard actually. I already KNEW that joke, but he still got me. So I stopped being a big baby, sat up and we went downstairs to watch AFV together and we laughed at people falling off of bikes, ripping their pants, running into glass doors, etc.

Last but not least, I think I'm going to make this blog private. Why? Well, why not? It's all the rage, and I have my photo blog to entertain people with, and then I can use this blog to write about my life. I'd invite my friends to read, if they wanted.

WINNER WINNER!!

2009-12-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

No chicken dinner, but I TOTALLY WON SOMETHING REALLY COOL! Ever heard of Travis Lovell Photography? If not, hear of him. He's a great photographer who went to BYU. I'm his fan on facebook because he takes some incredible pictures and he was doing a Christmas give away t0 (I think) 15 people. You had to become a fan of his on facebook and then tell him which of his pictures you'd like to have a print of. I did just that (twice), AND I WAS CHOSEN!! Merry Christmas indeed. Wow, I don't think I've won any drawing before. ECSTATIC!

2009-11-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

I love the beach and I love El Salvador. For the next little while, I think I'm going to blog about my El Salvador experience (outside of the Hogar) because I'm backing up all of my pictures onto my flickr (definitely won't make that mistake by NOT backing up my files) and I have realized just how many slipped through the cracks of my blog. So here is to the beginning of my posts on El Sal!!

Lost?

2009-11-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

No question about it, I have lost the last two.5 years worth of my pictures. My WD external harddrive pooped out on me a few months ago. The folder where I kept my pictures wouldn't open without an error message saying "This device is not formatted. Would you like to format now?" I thought my problems might be fixed by fixing my laptop or getting my files from my laptop hard drive. It also pooped out shortly before my hard drive pooped. Luckily I have a computer wiz brother-in-law who had a hard drive reader, so I read off my precious files from my laptop today and guess what? The only pictures on there were from El Salvador and the month before we left. Nothing else. What does that mean? It means that I lost:
-Chile pictures
-pictures of Andrew and I from when we first started dating all the way till our wedding pictures
-pictures and videos of Brillante and I during our MANY adventures together in college, Chile, etc.
-family pictures of my nephews, etc
-videos of dumb, but funny stuff during my college career with my bests
-all of my "learning" photoshoots from when I started learning how to take pictures with a DSLR
-etc.

That really really bites. Actually, losing pictures SUCKS. Pardon my language:) But seriously, I never thought I'd be this depressed about losing pictures! Thank goodness I have my El Sal pictures, or else today would be a VERY sad day for me. I mean, it's already sad because I can't fix my laptop. To be able to fix my laptop I just need to reinstall all of the software cds. But guess what? My cd drive/reader doesn't work either! So, there you go. Dead laptop forever. :( So sad!

Ok, now some good news. I'M QUITTING MY JOB AT CRICKET!!!!!!!! YES!!! Seriously, so happy. I know some people may call me crazy to quit a good job during this economy, but I couldn't get off for my brother's wedding and I couldn't have a single day off for Christmas break to fly out and visit Andrew's family. Ridiculous. So, I'm quitting. That means Andrew and I will be super poor, which means no new lap top for a long time.

But life is good. I'm happy and the semester is nearly over!

Other good news: I didn't lose any of my music:) Thank GOODNES!

Tender love...

2009-11-18T09:59:00.001-08:00

Andrew isn't much of what one might call a "typical" romantic. He's not into flowery words or sickeningly cute cooing, etc. He romantic, but not like that.

So today I was working on a project on a campus computer when he sends me an IM over gmail chat. He wanted to know if I could read over his paper on which he had been working all morning. I said, "sure" and he said he'd promise to email it to me before 3. At the end of the convo, I gave my normal "love you honey bunches/I miss you/WUV U/I wish we were cuddling now instead of working on homework/I can't wait for you to hold me in your BIG, STRONG arms," etc, etc. Finally I gave a "good luck" and then he sent me this:

Andrew: <3

Aw! Cute, right? I know. He's totally not a romantic, but sure knows how to surprise me and be sweet. Aw, I WUV HIM! (Ok, totally kidding on the WUV stuff because that seriously grosses me out and I hate baby talking to my husband...unless I'm whining).

Before you buy your 2010 Twilight calendar, consider this option...

2009-11-12T19:42:00.001-08:00

Entry title credit to Rachel...she's so creative like that! This is just a reminder to purchase Hogar calendars as Christmas gifts before it's too late! If you are interested in purchasing a calendar, they are $15. If you buy 4, then you get them for a discounted price of $50. 100% of the proceeds go to the Hogar. It doesn't get any better than that.

Email hogar@help-international.org -or- rachel.nielson@hotmail.com. Do it!!

...like mother, like daughter

2009-11-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I went up in the canyon with Matt and Elsie to take a few engagement pictures for them....FUN! I love the canyon in the fall. Pretty trees, picturesque yellow-tall-grass fields, and fresh air! LOVED it! Well, my mom came along for the ride and Elsie was willing to take a few pictures of us together.

Seriously, my mom is the funnest person and I LOVE that she is my mom. I mean, look at that picture and tell me you don't wish you were me (is that grammtically correct?). I know, fun.

And she's pretty, too!:) (thanks for these pictures Elsie!!!)

My mama is LA MEJOR MAMA en todo el mundo! She is "the best" (in Nacho voice, please).

And a few funny ones of Matt and my mom that I thought were cute:

Haha! I have the best family. Only 3 more weeks till we're together again for Thanksgiving and Matt and Elsie's wedding!!! YAY!

Now and Then

2009-10-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Okay...this is a little embarrassing for me, but can we please just see how much has changed in the last year? Wow.

THEN: October 3, 2008

NOW: October 16, 2009

We're not comparing the models....we're comparing the quality of photo.

Does anyone notice the difference as much as I do?

One year really makes a big difference. To me, this is a huge contrast between my VERY FIRST photoshoot ever, to one of my most recent. Wow...it's embarrassing that I still have these pictures up on my blog! haha:) It'll help me to appreciate where I am now, I suppose:)

Nacho Libre

2009-10-25T22:52:00.001-07:00

I love this movie. It's about a monk who doubles as a luchador attempting to earn money for the orphanage where he lives and works. Nacho/Jack Black is SO funny. The guy goes from snotting out black beans and farting, to singing a ballad to his secret love "Encarnacion" a beautiful nun also living at the orphanage. Who DOESN'T love this movie?

Last night Nacho was on TV when I came home after going out to buy some soup at the grocery store with Andrew. There was my mom in her recliner, giggling away at Nacho in his stretchy pants and his burning robes. I was so happy to see that it was on, so I sat myself down (forgetting the soup I went to buy for my dinner) and giggled along with her. The part I liked best from the movie was probably when he was in the wilderness and his buddy "finds" him by spotting him from the nearby village 50 feet away. Another part I liked was when he sang his song to Encarnacion and got embarrassed when a guy came in the middle of it to tell him that it was time to fight. Luchadors don't sing! They fight!

Haha! Ohh man. What a good night with a good movie. But do you want to know what my absolute favorite thing was about watching this movie?? Seeing my mom giggle so hard watching Nacho that all she could do was kick her foot up and down and every second or so let out a squeal of laughter. haha :)

Fat-ten-U

2009-10-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

I should take this ads advice. I think I'll add a few pounds around the waist with "fat-ten-u" product. Oh wait. I already have gotten fat on "oreos", "chips", "junk-food", and more.

Can you believe this ad is legit from the late 1800s, early 1900s? If I grew up during those days then I'd be the most beautiful chunk. Too bad.

Hogar Calendarios!

2009-10-13T22:15:00.001-07:00

HEY! Been long enough? I can't believe I really went over a month without blogging on here! It's because I'm busy and my laptop still is dead. Once I pay off my debts (dumb mandatory BYU health insurance!!), then I will go have it fixed. Until then, I guess I'll have monthly blogs.

What's new in life? Not much. Busy, busy, busy. I am really enjoying school even though I am constantly working on some art project or another. Two of my classes end next week so it will be nice to have some extra time in my schedule to sleep;). Just kidding, it's not that bad. I'm just a procrastinator! Andrew is also extra busy with 2 jobs and full time school. Crazy? Yes. We both are...more him than me. I just have a part time job and full time school. But we are surviving and pulling things together slowly since our return to the United States.

Matt is getting married this November!! I'm so excited because that means the whole family will be here for Thanksgiving!! YAY!! I love the holiday season, and it is just so much better when the whole family is around. I love my family (both sides...and YES, I am sad that I won't be with Andrew's family for Thanksgiving, but if things work out well, I will be with them for Christmas!!).

I have also realized that change is good. It is hard to accept and sometimes doesn't make sense, but it is good. It makes me a better person. I just have to ACCEPT it and have faith that things in the future will work out (sorry, I know I'm being very vague, but I can't really announce out loud what this change could be because who knows who reads this thing...gotta be careful!...If this "change" occurs, I'll be sure to post about it).

Onto other, more important news...
I am selling 2010 Hogar del Nino calendars!! Well, I'm not, but Rachel Nielson and HELP International, along with my help, are selling these calendars to raise money for the orphanage that I worked in over the summer. The calendar features 12 residents of the Hogar accompanied by 12 heart-warming biographies. The photos in the calendar were taken by me during my 3 month stay there, and Rachel Nielson, program director of the Hogar del Nino project, designed the calendar and wrote each bio of the kids. The calendars are only $15 and every single one of those dollars goes straight to the Hogar. Believe it. one-hundred-percent. Your donation not only gets you a calendar, but it also helps those beautiful kids in El Salvador. If you're interested, PLEASE comment below or send me an email: m.ellen.m@gmail.com OR email Rachel Nielson: rachel.nielson@hotmail.com.

If you are interested in buying calendars as gifts for family members, there is a deal for $50 for four calendars. Oh yeah! That's for you bargain shoppers!

Enjoy the video below if you haven't seen it already. Even if you have, watch it again. Hopefully it makes your heart melt like it does mine.

PS-
Wondering what the Hogar is? It's been a while since I've been involved with it, and if you're new to the blog and don't have a clue, here is some QUICK 411:
The Hogar del Nino Padre Vito Guarato is located in Los Planes de Renderos, El Salvador. It is an orphanage for approximately 150 residents, both adults and children, with mental and/or physical disabilities. It is run by 4 nuns and is backed by a foundation called La Fundacion Hermano Pedro. The Fundacion has been a part of the Hogar since it started in 1987 (not sure of exact date, but it was in the late 1980's...maybe not 1987). The Foundation manages the financials for the Hogar, those being fundraisers and donations. The nuns provide physical need, administration, and motherly love to the residents. Within the Hogar property there is a clinic (nurses/doctor's office), an administration office, a staff of "niñeras/os" which are the caretakers of the kids (they take care of their physical needs--feed them, brush their teeth, bathe them, etc), a small school and a physical therapy room along with physical therapists. The Hogar's meals come solely from local donations, and the gas/electric/water etc is paid for by local donations. Unfortunately, the recent economic crisis has hit El Salvador very hard and several past Hogar donors have been forced to cut their future donations. This means that the Hogar is now receiving less "income" but is having to pay higher gas/electric/water, etc bills. They are a very modest orphanage, but their expenses are high and they are struggling to cover their costs. If they do not receive proper donations, they may be forced to eventually close the Hogar and disperse the kids into local orphanages that are not equipped to provide the physical and medical needs for these special children.

Whew! Lots of 411. But this is why Andrew and I went down over the summer to volunteer our time and talents, and this is why we are so dedicated to raising money for them now. The residents and staff of the Hogar there beautiful people inside and out. They are the most loving, giving, WONDERFUL people I have met and I hope you see that in the pictures of the kids. Again, if you can afford it this Christmas, consider purchasing a 2010 calendar.

Thanks for reading. Sorry it is so long!

10,000 horas

2009-09-09T15:53:00.001-07:00

Hey there. It has been some eventful, BUSY few weeks. Well, busy month or so. Andrew and I have been in the USofA for a month. *sigh* I miss the Hogar and sometimes wish I were back hanging out with them. Only sometimes because the other times I'm glad I finally have a reliable income and clothes softener.

Speaking of the Hogar, I realize that some people just don't share the same passions as me. I LOVE telling people about the Hogar and about Andrew and I's experience, but most people get this glassy look in their eyes after I say "we worked at an orphanage for kids with disabilities." I also did a presentation about it in my Spanish class (in Spanish, mind you...dificil, SI, but I felt pretty pumped as I was presenting anyway) and NO ONE even asked me about it afterward. Pffffffft. What-ever. Haha:) I just miss it there. I want EVERYONE to know how much I love those kids.

I mean seriously, when you see this much happiness and fun going on, can you blame me for loving it/them?

Oh yes. I love those kids. Truly love them as if they were my own family.

I also filled out a "check-out" survey for the Hogar about my experience. I think Rachel (my directora, aka: jefa) might be the only one who read it (not sure??) and she already knows how I feel about the Hogar, but it was good to be asked questions and give responses. It helped me to realize how I grew, why, etc.

One question asked what I didn't expect to happen from my experience. My answer:

"I was not expecting to love it so much and come back wanting to do ALL that I could to continue helping this program progress. It sounds SO CHEESY to say this, but I'm going say it because sometimes the truth is cheesy: I was meant to go to the Hogar so that I could come back and continue to help for many, many years. Cliche response, but it's true and I DEFINITELY didn't expect to feel like that coming home. Not at all."

Another question asked what I learned the most from my experience. My response:

"I think I grew and benefited most in my cultural and personal experience. I learned that having a disability doesn't make you less of a person; it makes your challenges different. I learned that love doesn't know how to be selfish. I learned that I have a LONG way to go to become as beautiful and wonderful as those kids I spent my summer with. I love them and I LOVED my experience. It was truly life changing in so many ways."

Haha, like how I quoted myself there? Esta bien, I just want to share my feelings. And I assure you that Andrew feels the exact same. It's pretty cute because on car rides to places (where a lot of our "deep" convos tend to take place), Andrew will randomly say things like, "Molly, when we're rich, we're not going to live rich. We're going to live modestly and help people with the rest of our money. I want to help people." Or "Molly, I think we should always go back to the Hogar and help them out as much as we can." etc. He isn't much of a "discuss life-plans" type of person nor does he talk about his emotions because he's just not that emotional of a guy (for most things...when it comes to football, he could talk all day. Especially BYU football:)) So I can tell he loved it as much as me. Aww, I definitely married the right boy (for many other reasons outside of our love for the Hogar:) ha!).

WOW, long boring post. Started school last week, and this may be my busiest semester I've had since my first freshman semester way back in 2005. Three 3-hour long classes with many long, time-consuming outside work (art classes...ugh). Can't wait till the photo classes start!!

Another Sports Blog by Drew P

2009-08-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you that know me you know that I love sports... a lot. Well if you ask Molly she'd probably say that I love WATCHING sports. Its true that I watch a lot more than I play but I don't really have anyone to play with. Can I play basketball by myself? (No) Or throw the football by myself? (No) Can I watch Jazz games by myself? (Yes) What about watching BYU football by myself? (Yes)

My favorite NBA team is the Jazz. I have been a Jazz fan since I started liking basketball. When I was a little kid my dad played church basketball and my siblings and I thought he played against John Stockton and Karl Malone. Believe it or not I didn't go to a Jazz game until I was 24ish. (I am still a die hard Jazz fan.)

Here I am at my first Jazz game. It was a lot of fun, but I got the wrong t-shirt. (Boozer is a Loozer. Actually I don't know him but I hope he is in Miami next year!)

Deron Williams has to be my favorite player right now. He and Kyle Korver (also one of my favorites) are throwing a dodge ball tournament to raise money for The Christmas Box House. This video they made is really funny and I thought I'd share it with you.

Oh and the guy at the end of the video is the funniest at Comedy Sportz.

Happy Birfday to yoouu

2009-08-18T20:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Brillante!

(It says: Happy Birthday Brilli (pronounced Briji))

These beautiful photos were taking with my little point-n-shoot because I took my big one in to be cleaned today. I guess they used to give out loaners, but stopped, so I'm without my camera for 2-6 weeks! That is a long time! Luckily I had my trusty baby Nikon around to do the job for me. You're welcome Brillante. Happy 22 years old! How does it feel? Old, I know. Just think! Next year we'll be celebrating juntitas! Wooo:)

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, HERMANA!:)

And of course a complimentary video with yours truly! We ARE good looking, we ARE good singers, and we should do this for a living. Hahah...sorry for the awkwardness, but this is for my girl, Bri!

I'm a sucker

2009-08-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

Go here and see why. Or I'll just tell you. I read on this blog that I could win a lensbaby. It's a type of lens, which is cool, and I want to win it. So I'm going to do as I'm told and post up this post so I can WIN! You can try to win too, if you want. But then you'd be taking away my chances, so I'll ask you not to, please.

Happy 1st Year to us...

2009-08-15T17:26:00.001-07:00

It has been one ENTIRE year with Andrew. Married, that is. Can you believe it? I hardly can! We're practically seasoned professionals already. Wow.

photos by Elsie

photos by Rodger Pickett

Andrew! You're my boy, you know it, and I love you:) Glad we're in this forever and beyond. Te kiero, Angru.

Hmm, memories? SO MANY:
-Ghetto number 4 (our very first apartment)
-deaf neighbor stealing our electricity...what the??
-Wii parties at Joann's
- piled up dishes in our sink and never wanting to be the one to clean them
- "girl, I'm gonna beat you" (inside joke...don't worry, Andrew's not abusive:))
- that guy screaming at the cops at 3 AM outside our window
- Hogar del Nino, El Salvador--it should have its own list of memories, there are so many!
- March of '09...what a whirlwind
- visits to NC!
- BYU crap (ugh)
- trip to AZ in Jan
- our first Christmas
- photography everything
- your hot swim trunks
- laughing really hard at your house that one night about everything and nothing at the same time, and every time we would look at each other, we'd just crack up all over again.
- me getting mad at you over stupid stuff...haha:) Love you baby.

OHH, yes, Andrew is cute, we are cute together, someday we'll have cute babies. But maybe that'll be for our 2nd year anniversary blog. I love my boy! Happy first year!

2009-08-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I am depressed. I may have lost a lot of pictures and info on my STUPID EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE. But, let's not focus on that. Let's focus on the fact that I have pictures, safe and sound, on my camera memory card. I better back those babies up before THEY all of sudden become corrupt and catch on fire and then the dust particles get caught in the wind and blow away.

So here we go:

Our friends, Rachel and Ryan, their family members Ashley and Cole, and their friend Kirsten all decided to hang out on our Saturday juntitos. We decided it would be fun to go to La Puerta del Diablo (The Devil's Door), which is just right up the road from the Hogar. Nada mal (aka not bad for you non-spanish speakers out there). AND, luckily for us, Rachel and Ryan were seasoned pro's at the Puerta del Diablo and knew a extra secret, dangerous crevice path to climb up. It was like a real adventure!

Above is my ascent up this ladder. If you look in the second foto (photo), you will see the rung below the one I am standing on is rung number 1. You can't tell in the picture, but that first run is about 7 feet above the ground. That means a climb and boost to get started on that ladder. CRAZY! (don't worry, it was safe)

Above is the view directly above the ladder. The picture to the left is Ashley and Cole (siblings of Ryan) and that is the view on the way up. Looking down is what you see in the picture to the right. That is Andrew and Rachel, happily climbing up. Look at how happy Rachel is to be climbing and adventuring.

We made it to the top!! If you want to see a cooler picture with everyone, check it out here. You can also see other fun activities that we did while they were there (that way I don't have to post about them. I'm too floja (lazy)).

Above is Andrew FINALLY trying a "lote loco" or in English "crazy corn". He had been dreaming of trying a lote loco ever since we watched Nacho Libre. He decided to get the following toppings on his corn cob: mustard, mayo, ketchup, some gross dark purplish-brown sauce, cheese, and chili pepper sauce. Sound delish (as in delicious) or what?? Hahah! Wrong! He hated it, and I didn't dare try it. Nasty.

The picture above is of our El Salvadoran friend who worked as the social worker at the Hogar. She was the bomb. Super intimidating at first, but just a sweetheart after. She has some strong opinions and she used to crack me up on some of her comments about particular workers at the Hogar who rubbed her the wrong way. She was awesome though. She introduced us to the macadamia nut tree behind the casita (little house), she introduced us to free lunches at the Hogar, she pulled many a string for us to go on vacation in Hogar vans, and she would take us on random tours of the Hogar and show us stuff like the old sewage system they used to use. Haha! Love her.

A picture of the cute kids who call me their muneca (doll). The little girl hugging me is the one who asked if I could see and if my husband could understand English. From L-R they are Flor, Glenda and Sergio. Cute kids:)

Gotta LOVE the pictures above. Andrew with Memo and Cole with Memo. You see, we decided it would be nice to have a dinner with the Nuns and give them our gift of a photo book (as thanks) and some calendars to give out. We also decided to invite Memo up to help break the ice and keep things from becoming awkward. He didn't disappoint. At the end of the meal, Memo decided it was time for arm wrestling. He arm wrestled EVERYONE and beat EVERYONE (except Hermana Guadalupe, who is muscle woman and you would never know it!). Anyway, he got a little more into it when he was wrestling the boys, and whipped off his tee shirt to reveal his rippling biceps and washboard abs. Then he began to growl. Oh, my goodness, DIE LAUGHING! My stomach hurt after a while, but it was worth it. Memo is the man (and ps-Memo's face in the picture with Cole=priceless. He's growling! haha!)

A special growling video, just for you.

Sweet little Sonia and me. This little girl is so preciosa (precious).

Ana Maria and me. She is a hoot. She is the maternal figure among the residents. She scolds, she comforts, she moniters, etc. But, she is still just a sweet little girl at heart. She won't admit it, but she LOVES playing with the volunteers and she always wants to be a part of whatever is going on, even though she says she doesn't want to (because adults don't act that way!):)

Our going away party/Ryan's birthday party. Yay!!! We love surprises and we love our shirts the kids made us!

Carmencita and Edwin with closed eyes. That flash is killer.

Ok, and on our last night, Rachel and I spent approx. 5 hours on organizing and throwing away supplies. It was a MESS before, but now look at it. Beautiful. We can only hope it stays that way. We finished around 3ish in the manana (morning) and had to leave at 5 that same morning for the airport. Crazy? Yes. I think Rachel went to bed even later...at like 3:30ish or later. NUTS!

That is this post. I will post mas (more) later. Hasta luego! (Until later!)

***Larissa, I have translated for you in blue. I mean, come on now. Your husband speaks espanish. Have him translate for you...sheesh***

Holy Update!

2009-08-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

Oh my HECK I can't freaking believe how much I have to update on. EN SERIO! It's ridiculoso and I am going to be doing lots of blog updates.

Okay, depressing discovery. My external hard drive has, for whatever reason, decided to NOT OPEN MY PICTURES! It says I have to reformat the disk to open my "pictures" folder. I really hate electronics sometimes. Any computer wiz out there know what my external hard drive is doing and why? Can I get my pictures without having to format the entire dag-on thing?

I tell ya what...all of my precious electronics are rebelling against me. NOT COOL!

USA

2009-08-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

We are home...I miss the Hogar HARDCORE and it is crazy how nice the US is. I think I forgot just how nice it is. We are LUCKY people to live here! I am glad to be home though. It is nice to have really good smelling clothes and straight, blown-dried hair. But last night I was watching 7 pounds with mi hermano, his fiance, Andrew and my sister-in-law and I couldn't help of thinking about the kids and what they would think about my brother's townhouse. Well, I think I can guess what they'd think : huge. And they would probably think we were really rich, which of course isn't true, but in El Salvador it would be true. I just miss them...I wish some of those kids could come to the US to visit.

Anyway, just posting to say that I have a ton of pictures to post and that I might not post them tomorrow because I'm so dag on tired and I might just take some naps. I will say, though, that our last week at the Hogar was SO FUN and we did a bunch of cool activities with the kids. Rachel (our boss, lovingly called the "jefa"), her husband Ryan, her brother and sister-in-laws (is that grammtically correct to say it that way?), and her friend all came for the last week, which is why the last week kicked butt...they are freaking awesome. Rachel and Ryan are the coolest couple (our jefes) and I love that Rachel is in charge of our program because she does a FAB job. She loves what she does...you'll see by the killer activities she planned for the kids.

SO, until next post with lots of pictures and descriptions...be ready for it.

Quick one

2009-08-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

I went on vacation to Guatemala (Antigua, Lago Atitlan, and Flores/Tikal) and Belize. It was busy and LOTS of traveling, but Andrew and I loved it. I´m going to put up the highlights here until we get home when I´ll really have nothing to do (actually, NOT true...I´ll be house and job searching. SO FUN!)

Antigua

Real life lava...I hated this hike. It hurt my feet, but Andrew loved it and the lava was pretty cool up close.

San Marcos and Casa del Mundo on Lake Atitlan...awesome lake.

jumping off of a balcony at Casa del Mundo into the lake

look at how beautiful??

Tikal in the jungle

Caye Caulker, Belize. Super cool, chill-out island where we got to go snorkeling in the Corral Reef and see nurse sharks and sea turtles and LOTS of cool, tropical fish. So fun.

monkeys in Tikal...just one, actually. He was gathering things to throw at us from the trees.

Highlights...you can see the rest on my facebook. I had fun...lots of things experienced. Lots of fun had. Love life:)

¨Is it hard for you to see?¨

2009-07-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

I go to church in a nearby town every Sunday and I have gotten to know this cute El Salvadoran family. They have 4 kids (3 girls and 1 boy) and they LOVE me because of my blonde hair and blue eyes. They always call me their muñeca (doll). Haha!:) Anyway, so I have had some funny conversations with them. One Sunday I had a conversation with one of the girls, who is 10. Here is the gist of what we talked about:

her:¨Is it hard for you to see?¨
me:¨no, why??¨
her:¨Because you have blue eyes. They say that people with blue eyes can´t see very well. They´re too light¨
me:¨Well, that´s not true. I can see very well. I can see just like you can.¨
her: *surprised face...eyes opened big and mouth a little open*
LATER
her: ¨When you talk to your husband in English, does he understand what you´re saying to him?¨
me:¨Yeah, he does.¨
her.¨And when he talks to you in English, do you understand him?!?!?!?¨
me: ¨Yep, I do.¨
her: ¨Wow, that´s cool. So, were you born speaking English?¨
me: ¨Well, I wasn´t born speaking English, but I started learning English once I was born¨
her: ¨Really?!? That is so weird. You mean, you didn´t speak Spanish before you learned English?¨
me:¨No, actually, I don´t know Spanish very well. I´m still learning¨
her:¨Nuh uh! You still don´t know Spanish!??!!!?!? It´s so easy!¨
So she whips out her Libro de Mormon and has me read a verse. Then she has me read a verse from my Book of Mormon, JUST to make sure that I wasn´t lying and that I really didn´t speak Spanish very well. Haha! I love what little kids think about foreigners.

Oh, and did I mention I got punched by one of the kids here? Hahah! It was kinda funny, but a little frightening too. There is a girl here with Downs who isn´t the friendliest of the residents. I asked her one day if I could take a picture of her. She glared at me, said ¨NO!¨and then punched me in the stomach (kinda hard...but I have abs like steal, so I was just fine) and then laughed and walked away. Oh the many experiences of living in Central America:)

9 months down, 9 months to go

2009-07-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, my VERY best friend in the entire world (minus Andrew...but Andrew is my best boy friend and Brillante is my best girl friend) is on a mission right now in the Resistencia, Argentina mission. She is the BOMB...I mean that completely in a positive way. She is my best for that reason, after all. We were roommates freshman year and our friendship has grown into something like a sisterhood, I'd say. I'm really hoping she'll marry someone somehow related to me so that we can be related for real, rather than just pretending like we are. Honestly, though, this girl is amazing. She is a HARD worker (one of the hardest workers I know), she's PASSIONATE, she's really loving, and very thoughtful. This girl is going places in life and she has been a great influence and inspiration to me.

Maybe I should put a picture up of her...oh, and have I mentioned that since our freshman year, we've done everything together? During the time from August 25, 2005 until October 1, 2008 we've spent maybe a total of 2 months away from each other. That's a lot of time together, and that's a lot of memories (Chile, AZ, Glenwood, 81st ward, Sunday afternoons at random lakes, boyfriend break-ups, my wedding, her mission call, etc). I can't really describe how much I love this girl...I just do, so understand that. ANYWAY, I've made a video for her to watch. She can't listen to it, but that's okay (no sound on her comp?) and I figured I'd put it on here too so you can send her a sweet email telling her congrats for living in a foreign country for 9 months telling everyone about the gospel and encourage her to go for another 9 months (not that she necessarily needs it...she'll stay with or without encouragement, but she'll like it still:)

One of my favorite pictures of Brillante and I...our first BYU football game together. We look so young. Oct 2005

Noteworthyladies.com

2009-07-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

So I am helping a sister go viral...as in VIRTUALLY viral. Whatever, but my old roommate (housemate?) Courtney is the bomb and sings like Whitney Houston. She is a part of this very, very, VERY talented group called Noteworthy (ladies.com). Noteworthy is an women´s acapella group at BYU and they are seriously ROCKIN´! Watch this little video and see for yourself...rockin´. If you LOVE what you hear and want others to LOVVEEE what they hear, then post this bad boy (or the link) on your blog, facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. for your friends to see. Amazingness like this should not be hidden. No, on the contrary. It should be spread like H1N1 on a hot, sweaty, El Salvadoran bus. It´s goosebump worthy...for real.

La Playa!

2009-06-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so remember the post about the first time we went to the beach? Okay, well lets think of those pictures, minus lots of trash, drunk men, people in general, and dark black sand. Oh, and plus a sweet beach house with a pool and hammocks to chill in. Amazing, my friends. Amazing!

So we were invited by our friend Ileana to her beach house at a private, restricted beach. It was a ton of fun and I wish we would have stayed longer than two days. I could have stayed all summer. Here are some pictures:

This is their back yard....aamazing!

The beach and Andrew chilling in the hammock

My boy and me. And the sunset

Not sure why my letters are underlined, but it won't come off. Oh well, it doesn't matter. The beach is prett huh? The waves were ridiculous all day...kinda scary, but don't worry I still swam. But the pink clouds are reflecting off of the beach, which is PRETTY!

Huge toad, no? I guess these humungous toads secrete poison from their skin so that if you touch it, you'll get burned. I nearly touched it, but then Eliana screamed at me not to:) haha. We also had a bat in our room. I showed it to Eliana because she is freaked out by small critters, and she had someone come get it out of our room. The guy who took it out KILLED IT!!!! How awful!! I was so sad for the poor bat. Now he's in bat heaven.

These are our new friends. The first picture is Andrew, Mario, Me, Eliana, and Orlando. The bottom picture is of the girls: me, Iliana, and Eliana (I THINK that's how they spell their names. They had pretty much the same name, but different...I couldn't really tell...and ps- can we say SHORT LEGS?? Woah, I had forgotten about my "short leg syndrome" until I looked at this picture. And then I was reminded by how stinkin long my torso is and how short my legs are. Oh well. I am special).

Eliana is from Brazil and is freaking sweet. I loved hanging out with her because she was so talkative and entertaining. PLus she was really open and talked about ALL sorts of stuff, including religion. Actually, Andrew and I had a ton of religion talk this weekend. Anyway, so she was sweet and she let me use her ipod so I could listen to her music in Portuguese and we're going to talk on Skype someday. Haha:) She was way cool.

That's all! I have a video...maybe I'll upload it later.

Happy Padre Day!

2009-06-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

Hello, blogging world/my family world. Hello.

So this last week has been crazy here for us El Salvadorians. Yesterday was Father's Day (yeah, weird, huh? They have it during the middle of the week) so TODAY was fun day. Well, yesterday was too, but today there was a big event for the kids, but mostly the nineros and other workers here in the Hogar. The day began with a mile race to the Hogar. Andrew and I DID NOT participate, thank you. I hate running, and Andrew didn't want to wake up just to run:). Then started the tournament-style softball and soccer games. Andrew and I were on a softball team that was bet on to win the tournament, but we lost in the first game. Haha!! It's because I was playing second base and they don't believe in using gloves around here, so I couldn't catch any ball for the life of me. Andrew and I switched spots just a little too late. Then they put the worst batters up first, so we struck out within our first 5 batters. Ouch.

Then Andrew and I played on separate soccer teams. I LOOOVVEE soccer and I was definitely excited to show my skills to the Latinos. Well, my team also lost after it's first game (it was kind of an unfair advantage because we had to play against a guy's team since they were short a girls team...seriously, people??). How lame is that? I know...but Andrew's team won the championship!! WOOT WOOT! So he won a soccer ball, which is sweet because that means I get to use it!! It's actually pretty cheap because it's lopsided already, but shoot! Who cares? I'm excited to have a ball to play with.

Anyway, so we have a few videos. I love videos, btw. They're great, and can be so funny.

Okay, description of this video...there are 4 Nuns who work at this orphanage. Hermana Umblina (the head nun, from Brazil), Hermana Iliana (head nun when Umbelina is gone, from Brazil), Hermana Suelena (from Brazil), and Hermana Guadalupe (from El Salvador). Well, Hermana Iliana is kick BUTT. She is a feisty one and played softball AND soccer today. Not only did she play, but she played hardcore. See for yourself...

and yes, I totally admired her. I love this nun...she's the coolest.

Our softball team (part of it)

Andrew and Roberto after the day's activities were over

Here is a picture of Juan...we helped him put his iron on of Hombre Arana (Spiderman!) which he LOVED and couldn't stop talking about making his shirt (which we did with him yesterday). He kept saying that he'd be bonito at the games today with his spiderman shirt. Haha:) He even ran and jumped in front of Angelica (the social worker here) and said that he was Hombre Arana! Haha:)

One more video for you kids... so last Saturday we went to the beach El Tunco for a visit. I WISH we would have gone to swim, but we just went to conocer the place. It was pretty, and the waves were humungo. Kinda scary, but the water was so warm and I just love the beach. So here's a video of El Tunco!

Wow, too many things to blog about...so Andrew broke the roof here while practicing softball. He only hit twice in practices...the first time he line drived the ball into this lady's shin. Then he hit a pop fly WAY past the field and through the roof of the sidewalk that is pictured. Yeaahhh...good thing neither he nor I got to bat at our game today!!

If you look in the picture past the gat by the building in the back...you can get an idea of how far away Andrew was when he hit the ball to where it broke through the roof

theres the hole...haha!

El Amor

2009-06-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

I really like this song right now. It's a good video too:) OH, and I almost had part of my goal completed today. A hair stylist asked if she could cut my hair! I didn't know how to react...so I said no. Haha:) Awful, but what if she gave me some hideous hair cut? I like my hair right now and don't have much confidence in my Spanish to help me get a good hair cut down here. Haha:) ohh, love it.

Goal

2009-06-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

When I get back to the United States, my goal is to wear cute clothes and cut my hair. Maybe I'll get bangs, dye it and get it permed all at the same time. I'm tempted...

PS...

2009-06-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

Andrew did a mini photo shoot for me. I was looking at pictures of myself since we've been here and was depressed because of my makeup-less face and un-done hair. I decided to put on make up and let my hair down (my hair has been in a wet messy bun since I've arrived. Forget drying my hair and straightening it...no use. I sweat too much and my hair just frizzes and sticks to my neck after about 20 minutes anyway...might as well just put it up right away and avoid the discomfort).

My hair isn't done, but my make up is. In fact, my hair is semi wet. No importa. Andrew did a great job. I was his first photo shoot. Give him love.

My baby's got talent! Look at all of those artistic shots. Haha:) He was cracking me up the entire time too because he was ALL over the place...up and down, left, right....ALL OVER! He got the angled shots, shots from the ground...his favorite was to hold the camera down at my level and take the picture without looking. He was pretty proud of himself when he'd do that (the one laughing picture is the one he took like that...haha!). He's my boy.

Don't forget the post below! It's a good one too!

Sister Beck in El Salvador

2009-06-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! So I just discovered that I can use the internet on my laptop!! WOO! I just assumed it wouldn't work since it wasn't a part of the network here, but it does! I'm really excited because I don't have to do a bunch of transferring from computer to computer like I used to, and my computer does spell checking, where as the one in the house doesn't. YES!!!

It has been a while, huh? Two weeks ago was kinda rough at the Hogar because out of nowhere they started having church service during the time that we were supposed to spend time with the kids. We assumed it was a one time thing, but they kept it up throughout the week, and it continued through this week. But they weren't necessarily consistent with it, so we thought...hmmm...what is going on? Do they have a system, or is it random church visits? We asked, and of course it is random. It all depends on the weather. If it is rainy or cool weather, they will pull the kids from the Rancho (Rancho is a pavillion where most of the kids hang out during the mornings and afternoons either watching television or listening to music) and take them to the capilla (the capilla is the Church that is located in the middle of Hogar set up. I'll try to explain it briefly...the chapel is a circular sized church and from it branches some walkways. These walk ways are covered, but open. They lead to several buildings...6 maybe? They are the administration, nurses/doctor's office, cafeteria and dormatories...and they are all in a big circle surrounding the church...outside of this circle is the Rancho, some class rooms where they hold school for the mentally active students in the mornings, a grassy area and playground, and then the lactantes building (kids on liquid diets with cerebral paulsy) and physical theraphy. Above this buildings (as in up this little bump/hill and up some steps) are the nun's dormitories and then above that a few steps is our little house and another dormitory. Whew...that's all). Where was I? Oh yes...so they take the kids to the Capilla when it's rainy or nice, cool weather. If it is hot and sunny, they stay under the Rancho because that it the coolest place to keep them. Ugh...we're trying to figure out to do so that we can keep busy during our normal 2 hour block in the middle of the day. Otherwise we'd have something like a 5.5 hour down time! BORING!!

Well...I have no idea why I wrote all of that above. But I do want to talk about this a sweet church meeting I went to this past week. I went to a conference/devotional at a stake center (a church building) close to San Salvador. It was about an hour travel (walking to and from the bus stops, switching buses, etc) to get there to see Sister Beck, the General Relief Society President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, give several talks and lessons. It. was. awesome. I LOVED it!! She is an amazing woman. VERY talented and incredibly personable and funny. She spoke in Spanish (she knew Portuguese and learned Spanish from there...so she spoke with a strange American-Portuguese accent:) But I understood everything!) and basically just took questions, told stories, presented lessons/ideas and encouraged and loved the women of El Salvador. She was very entertaining because she would randomly whip out these English phrases when she didn't know a word in Spanish
.
Example: "Como se dice 'cupboard'? (still in Spanish) You know, the thing that holds books..." and then she'd throw her hands in the air after A TRILLION translations were yelled out to her, and she'd say (in English) "Oh you know what I'm talking about!!" and keep going. Haha:)

Another time she told everyone to "stand up, turn around, wiggle...sit down" to get everyone refreshed (she talked for a total of 4-5 hours!! WHEW! Totally worth it though) Haha.

Overall, it was amazing. I felt the spirit just wrap around everyone in the room as she advised and loved the women that she taught. She is very talented and I know that all of the women LOVED that she was speaking Spanish rather than taking it easy and using a translator (which she did struggle with Spanish a little...nothing awful, but she would stumble...I really admired her for it because it totally gave me more guts to try to speak Spanish without fear of doing it wrong. I get SO nervous and scared to speak in Spanish because I always make silly mistakes and it KILLS me. I'd rather not speak than speak wrong...oh such pride!). What a blessing for those women! I mean, how often does a woman, especially a woman in Central America, get to attend a live, intimate question/answer style devotional with the Relief Society President of the entire Church?? Such an opportunities are hard to come by even in Salt Lake City, Utah: the World Headquarters of the Church. Amazing...they loved it! It was a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As she walked out of the stake center, she was CROWDED by women on all sides. I said my hellos as she passed by where I was standing and ended up getting a picture (I felt like such a little annoying, star struck "fan" pulling my camera out...but I was so close and I was dying to prove it...and remember it. Haha:))

She is the blonde there in the middle looking kinda down. See what I mean? CROWDED by excited women to give their saludos.

Just to show how sweet she was. She gave a beso and hug to every woman who went to say hello. You can see how happy everyone to say hello by the expression on the girl's face in the background (this girl is actually in my ward...Angela. She is sweet! I really like her:)).

There you go! There is Sister Beck! Right in front of me, about to walk out the door. No zoom needed. (PS- by looking at this picture, would you guess that she has 12 grandkids? I wouldn't have either, but she is!)

That meeting was on Tuesday. The rest of the week was pretty eventless. Andrew actually went to a fun benefit concert for the Hogar in the city while I was at the church meeting. He said he loved it. He didn't take pictures though! He'll have to tell his story if he wants.

Today we didn't do much...again. I was kind of annoyed today because we weren't doing anything...I get stir crazy because I'm either at the Hogar hanging out with the kids, or just sitting the house planning or doing nothing. I GET SO BORED sometimes and just die to get out of the house and go on a walk, go to Centro, anything. Something to freshen my senses. So Andrew and I decided to go check out this restaurant called Casa de Piedra (house of rock). We have heard good reviews, so we went and it had an amazing view. The food was expensive, but it was still pretty good. Maybe not worth the price, but oh well. Better than making spaghetti again (we make Spaghetti with ranchera sauce pretty much every night...it's easy and cheap, the sauce is spicy, and it fills us up so we like it...but it can get old).

I look very sweaty...why? Well, we walked there, it's humid and hot here at all times, and it was kind of uphill. I sweat like no one's business here.

The end of my very long post!

"I Look Good in Leather"

2009-05-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

I never saw this commercial in the US but this stupid axe commercial is always on tv here. I hate it! There is this one caveman wearing leather and he puts on some axe spray, all the while there is this stupid song that says "I look good in leather!" in the background! I hate it because it gets stuck in my head and I sing it all the time! I am in the shower singing, "I look good in leather!" Its annoying! Sometimes I even catch Molly singing it!

Apart from watching tv in my free time I like to play hearts. You know that card game that is on every computer! Its pretty fun. I´ve always liked it. Well check out this score...

Thats right, I won with 0 points! Be jealous! Anyway, make sure you check out Molly´s post below this one... it is scary!

Please watch your step

2009-05-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Check out this humongous araña that Andrew and I killed with bug killer...it was HUGE! And fast!! Vveerrry fast...Andrew somehow squirted him before he flashed into a dark crevice...he then re-emerged and was a little bit slower than before... so we decided to smother him in bug spray foam and wait till he died. That is very cruel, I know...but would you really want this guy around? He was WAY to big to step on. Sickening...

Would anyone like to identify this spider for me?? What is it?? Is it poisonous? Deadly?

I didn´t scream when I saw it...I did stand on a chair for a while, but there was NO screaming involved. I was just completely freaked out....even when it was dead, it would twitch and I SWORE it was coming back to life. But eventually it stopped moving, so I took these pictures (and I arranged him around myself! Not too bad).

That is a half dollar beneath him...not a quarter. He was gigante.

a different shot next to a penny and the half dollar. Eww...it still gives me the heebie jeebies looking at that.

El Salvador

2009-05-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hola! We have made it to El Salvador safely (without any passport problems!) and we are having fun! The first week at the Hogar has been slightly overwhelming, but the kids are awesome. They all LOVE us and call us ¨mami¨and ¨papi¨. And, oh man, do they love Andrew. There aren´t a whole lot of guys around here, so they adore him!! They always say hello to him and give him hugs WAY before they say hi to me. haha! We adjusting to the Hogar life and figuring out a good daily schedule. We still have to meet some residents and figure out how we can help them out. It´s going to be fun...I´m really excited for everything that we´re going to do!!

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasures.

Us about to get on our flight at butt early in the morning...6 AM! Ugh

At the Hogar!! We made it!

Our ¨casita¨...aka our little house:)

the view from our house...beautiful!

So we have the weekends off to do whatever while we´re here. We decided to go to La Libertad, which is a town right on the coast and its only about an hour and a half from where we´re staying (on bus...and did I mention that the buses here are nuts? Packed to the edge of the doors. So most of the buses are old school buses from the states...like really old, sometimes hippy looking colorful buses...and they pack people into every possible spot...sometimes people are hanging OUT of the bus and the bus drivers still try to shove people on...so uncomfortable. I think my muscles are growing though from holding onto the seats/overhead bars as the driver swerves through traffic). The beach was REALLY rocky, the sand was gross and wet (and there was a crap load of trash EVERYWHERE! I watched countless people chuck their wrappers and soda bottles onto the sand as the walked by...gross), but the water was AMAZINGLY warm!! It was sooooo fun!! I forgot how much I love the beach:)

Can you tell we´re getting sun burnt? We couldn´t...

La playa!!

My poor sunburn. Andrew got burnt on his head...he decided not to swim though, the bum! We had fun anyway. We took a frisbee and threw it around, which was fun. But then this guy came up to us and starting talking to us in English and he was totally wasted. He spoke English really well, actually, because he lived in CA for while. Anyway, we were there with the HELP girls and he was TOTALLY hitting on them. He tolded Andrew he would ¨respect¨me because I was his wife. Haha! THANK GOODNESS! I felt bad because he WOULD NOT leave the poor girls alone no matter how much they ignored him. Finally, some guy was staring at the girls (actually, everyone was... we were the only white ones there, and all of HELP volunteers are really pretty, so they were the spectacle ALL day) and it made the drunk guy mad. He started yelling at the guy and was dropping the f-bomb every other word...literally. Every other word (not that the other guy would have understood anyway...seriously). But he left to go beat the guy up. Haha! looooveee it!

We had a fun weekend though. I forgot to put sunscreen on my back...so right now it hurts a lot...I have to sleep on my stomach at night...the picture doesn´t really do it justice, but OUCH! It hurts. I´m so glad we brought Aloe sunburn stuff with us!

Until the next update!!

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our day/all night trip. It was pretty fun but I was very tired. We left my house at midnight and traveled cinco hours to DC. We slept in the parking lot of the metro near Fairfax for a few hours until 8:45. We didn't run into any problems (which we are very grateful for) and Molly was able to get her new passport. Plus we got to see a few sites and enjoyed all the history that comes with DC.

Mrs. Hunter goes to Washington

2009-05-01T16:20:00.001-07:00

When I travel, I always forget to do something somewhat important like packing underwear, a church dress for Sunday, makeup, leave my purse (full of expensive and important things) in a McDonald's and then three states later realize I don't have it...things like that. It never fails. Every trip, I forget something or I forget to DO something.

Well, this time, I did not disappoint myself!! I FORGOT AGAIN! Ohh, loove it. Except, this time it is more of an issue. I forgot to update my passport with my new married name!! Yay! Well, I can't say that I forgot. I didn't "forget". I just sort of neglected to do it. Andrew asked me once if it would be a problem if it was under my maiden name. I remember telling him something like "Nooo. I have my old license that has my maiden name on it. I can just show them that and we'll be fine. It proves who I was!" Ohhhh how wrong I was! So let's fast forward a week or two to a call I got from my mom (while I was in NC). She asks me the same question Andrew asked me and then adds on "because when your sister traveled out of the country with her passport, she was given problems because her passport was in her maiden name". So that sparked the "worry" cell in my brain and I started asking around for more info. I was given a few pieces of advice like "bring your marriage certificate with you" or "change the name on your airline ticket". My marriage certificate was packed up in a box in Grandma Hunter's house. At least I knew what box it was in right? Right! Luckily it was found and over-nighted to NC.

Problem solved? No

Andrew was still worried so he asked his mom for some advice about the situation. She decided to call a few people and she was transfered about 5 different times until finally she was transfered to the Congressman Brad Miller's office. They proceeded to tell her I HAD to have the name on my passport changed because having a marriage certificate would not suffice. I most likely wouldn't be able to travel if I didn't change the name on my passport. I had TWO options. I could fill out a bunch of paper work and then Mr. Miller would do what was needed in Washington D.C. for me and then have the passport mailed back to me here in NC. However, that would most likely take OVER a week and that'd mean I'd miss my flight to El Sal on May 9th, which would have meant a flight change...which means money...heck no. OR I could drive 6 hours to Washington, D.C. and get the name changed myself (which still required paper work, a long trip, lots of money, and time away from Andrew's family).

I chose option two. Less money, less hassle for everyone. What a pain in the butt. I feel bad for Andrew's family. I am so absent minded sometimes. But hey, at least I get to visit my nation's capitol! It'll make for some fun pictures! haha:) Stayyyy postive.

PS- Any PA friends/family wanna meet up in D.C.? It's only 2 hours away...heck, I should just go up there!! But we probably shouldn't. BUT, I'm being serious if anyone wants to meet up and say "hey"!! CALL ME, or comment...or email me. I think emailing is the best way to get ahold of me (since I don't have a phone...haha). But we'll be up there on Tuesday morning till the afternoon.

North Cakalaky

2009-04-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Yesss! Andrew and I are in North Carolina till May 9th...how awesome is that? Well, we basically spent ALL Thursday, Friday and Saturday packing and moving. It was a half nightmare with all of the other things that needed to be done ON TOP of packing and moving, but everything happened and that's all I was shooting for. It rained and it was freezing cold on Saturday, which makes moving couches and large object miserable. We were lucky and had about an hour break from the wet stuff while we moved our couch to my mom's house (because no one wanted it on KSL...it was cheap too! Oh well. We get to keep it at least.). It was an exhausting/stressful day. BUT, we are FINALLLLYYYYY out of our ghetto-est apartment we will (hopefully) ever have. It was tiny, freezing cold, the heaters left black soot all over the walls that doesn't wash off, and the bathroom was too small...along with everything else:) Anyway, we're glad to get out of there and to move on to bigger, better things!

Right now we're in North Carolina chillin' with Andrew's family. It is awesome. It's WARM (actually, it's pretty hot), the food is good, and Andrew's family is a lot of fun. ANNDD we're here till the 9th! THat means nearly two weeks of North Carolina goodness. I wouldn't mind living here someday. It is so nice.

AND THEN we are off to El Salvador!! We leave May 9th and arrive on May 10th (I'm pretty sure...I haven't checked the itinerary for a while, but think that's what it is). It's scary to think that we'll be going down there for three months...especially with this "swine flu" that is a big deal in Mexico. And how can we forget all of the drug cartel that is ALSO going on in Mexico? Hopefully El Salvador will be safe...which I'm pretty sure we'll be okay, so don't get your unders in a bunch. We're smart and know how to be safe in a third world country. Plus, it'll only be as dangerous as we allow...for the most part:) We just have to keep our valuables AT HOME and out of sight.

But thanks to EVERYONE for donating!! W-O-W!! I was blown away when they told me how much we received from friends and family. Over $3000!! We only had to pay $570...that was such a blessing, I can't even express how grateful I was when he told me how much was donated. We are sooo excited to go to El Salvador and it is such an opportunity to be able to go. We will make you all proud:) haha! It sounds cheesy, but we will work our butts off to make those orphans happy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!

Alright, so since I'm in NC, I got to see my sister and cute nephew!! Which of course means pictures!!

Sorry, no pictures of the sister...but I'll get some when I see her and her husband in a week! woohoo!

Family...

2009-04-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

isn't it about...time?

I love my family. They. are. cute. And I have a lot more than just these two!! I mean, SERIOUSLY! I'm lucky:)

So I'm off to take some pictures! I'm excited, and nervous, and exxcciitted! Wish me luck:)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law Brady posted this video on his facebook and I think it has a VERY strong message. We celebrate Easter to remember the life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. I am SO grateful that He lived and died for me, that he felt my pains, that he atoned and suffered for my sins so that I can be made clean and whole, and so that I can live again after death. I'm glad to be able to celebrate Easter this year!! I cherish the knowledge I have of Christ and I hope that as you watch this short video you will also remember the true meaning of this holiday. Happy Easter!!!:):):)

ps- does anyone know how to post the actual video to my blog rather than having to post a link?? Suggestions anyone? I don't know how that works...

Update...

2009-04-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

check out the other blog...important info regarding fundraising and online donations.

If you have donated or PLAN on donating, you better check it out! It's muy importante!

Wheelchair Basketball

2009-04-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

Today I played wheelchair basketball for my inclusive recreation class. It was a lot of fun. We met at the Smith Field House and played. The school has almost 20 sport wheelchairs... I thought that was pretty cool. Basketball is a totally different game in a chair. Its a lot harder! I did score two lay ups though... I have to admit I was unstoppable at one point. I felt like... Paul Schulte. Know who that guy is? Here is a picture

I guess he is one of the best in wheelchair basketball. I don't know much but I think he is like the "Jordan" of wheelchair basketball. Without the favoritism from the refs and all the no calls! Or maybe he is just the "Melo" of wheelchair basketball... without the thug of course. Is he the "King" after all that GQ is taken away? He must be the "CP3" a little less dirty... squared. Right? (the slow mo is the best part!) I don't really know who to compare him to, but I gotta say he is probably a better role model. What do you think?

Woah, KSL...

2009-03-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

So...yeah. This fundraising thing is going well, I suppose? I don't really know if we've raised much money or not because HELP doesn't update us on that stuff. So, as far as I know, we have 3 definite donations. BETTER THAN NONE!! Thanks to those who have donated, or who are helping to get the word out there. I have to say, it's been stressful thinking about spending all of the pennies I've saved since we've gotten married to go to El Salvador for the summer, but I have to keep telling myself that everything will work out and that it'll be worth EVERY hard earned dollar.

Anyway, enough of my financial "woes"...onto the reason why I am posting right now: some JERK on KSL! Oh mann! I mean, seriously people... You see, I'm selling my apartment contract online (which has been crazy...in a good way. A lot of people have responded, which is good), so I decided to put a few other things on there (btw, KSL is the local newspaper/website for Provo/Salt Lake/Ogden areas. They have a classifieds section online where people post stuff for sale...it's a lot like Craigslist). I placed an add saying I'm doing photoshoots for $25 donations to our trip. I put a few of my pictures up (because it's good to have some type of "portfolio" for people to check out and see if it's worth their money or not) and just waited. Of course I hadn't gotten anything because there are a million and one photographers in Utah who are trying to get their name out there and sell their stuff for way cheap (kinda like...ME! oh yeaaahh). Well, much to my surprise I got an email from KSL classifieds (which usually doesn't happen because my email address is up for people to email directly and so people will just use that over the KSL mail) and it was from "photopro". It said:
"Molly,

Find another way of paying for your vacation. Don't peddle your awful photography "skills" to people with taste. We wont pay!"

haha! Oh my goodness. Some guy/girl took the time to write me an email to tell me how much I suck at photography and that I shouldn't be using photography to try to pay for my trip to El Salvador. Yes, it did hurt my feelings at first. I got defensive in my head and was like "You butt crack! I'll SHOW YOU AWFUL PHOTOGRAPHY!!!! You come over and I'll shove my camera up yours and make you cry, jerk." ha...yeah, I felt like that. But then I decided to chill out. And then I was just confused. If you don't like some random person's work, why would you go out of your way to tell them that you hate it? haha! Beyond me.

So, that was my experience of the night. Got me all riled up. Still riled up, kind of. Mostly just tired, for no reason...other than stress and work. But I've realized that stress is really great. I mean, it's NOT great, but it's helpful. It makes me get things done NOW. Which is helpful because I stop stressing and feel productive.

This is way too long. I'm done.

Fundraising

2009-03-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

And giveaways!! I'm giving away photoshoots...check out the details on my other blog. And LET YOUR FRIENDS KNOW!!:):)

Sweet Victory

2009-03-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

I got accepted into the photography program at BYU! Yaaayyy:) Yes, I posted it on my photography blog, but I'm going to post it here too....just because it is THAT exciting:)

Yay!

Which #1 seed will fall first?

2009-03-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Probably UConn in the 2nd round... I'm smelling an upset.

I don't know how many followers of the tournament are going to read this post, but hey no big deal. Enjoy... Go Cougs!

2009-03-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Wow...love this article.

Wow

2009-03-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I never update this blog anymore. I mean...you might as well just check out my photo blog because that one is current at the moment. This one...is not. I may randomly, every-so-often, write my words of wisdom on this page...but chances are that that won't happen a lot because my wise words are few and far between.

Life is going on. I know I said I'd post the fundraising idea...and I know that I haven't yet...but I will. I just need to make sure that I'm for sure going on this internship before I can make any revelations (and plans! ha:)). It's nothing too exciting...it's more like an experiment. I really don't have any clue who will be interested in helping me out with it and who won't...and whether or not I'll even be able to pull it off!! Who knows? We'll see:) I just need support, that's all. And I will enlist and ask for volunteers as well for anyone looking for good deeds to do. My fundraiser can be your good deed!

Alright, that's enough. Check out the other blog. It's always there, waiting for your eyes.

Interesting People

2009-03-01T22:17:00.001-08:00

I work at Cricket Communications, which is a cell phone provider here in the Greater Salt Lake region, as a sales rep. I deal with a LOT of people every day. They are mostly angry/disgruntled/upset/livid customers who have billing problems or phone problems. When I first started working there, it would bother me when they became so angry. I would get flustered and try to appease them with credits, my cell phone number, words of comfort, etc. However, after 365 days of dealing with the same type of customer, I've become very callused toward the typical Cricket clientel. I definitely DO NOT give out my number anymore...woah, that was a mistake I made and won't make ever again. I also don't give out as many credits and am a little more hard-headed than I ought to be. I mean, once you've heard "I dropped my phone in my Coke and now it won't work... *$^!&@**!!" then you've heard it a million times and you kinda just stop caring. Haha! It's sad, but it's very true. So it makes it very very nice when there is a person or two who break the mold and give you something interesting to think about/see/experience. Yesterday was one of those days. It was a pretty slow work day (hallelujah!) and this man comes in with his wife. He asks if I can help him make international calls, and I notice that he has an accent and I can tell it's not the normal Spanish accent, nor does he look Latino. His wife, close behind, has a silky brown scarf with orange, gold, and red colored circles decorating the top of her head. I automatically know they aren't the average Cricket customer and I become curious. So I ask him for his number and then inquire where he plans to call to. He replies, "Turkey". Cool, no? I gave him all of the country codes and city codes that have to be dialed and collect money that he wants to put toward these calls, and in my head I'm dying to ask him a few questions. As I muster up some courage, he turns to his wife and starts talking to her in a language I definitely don't recognize. SO, because I never paid enough attention in my Social Studies classes in high school, I decide to ask him what language he speaks. Ha! Duuhhh...he replies "Turkish". Haha! So I asked him to teach me a few words in Turkish (since it's not a language I know and learning something new is really exciting and cool!) and he kindly teaches me "merhaba" (hello) and "Nasilsiniz" (how are you?). Then I ask why he's in Utah (because that is a random place to live, I think. Why Provo, Ut?? It's not that exciting...it's a college town! Big deal) and he told me he was studying science at BYU and that he brought his family with him. He also JUST arrived to the US a week ago and speaks pretty decent English. I could tell he was still learning, but he knew a ton of English and spoke with a really good accent. His wife was really sweet and didn't speak any English, but she smiled a lot at me and gave me the peace sign when they left the store. Haha:) I loved it. It made my day!! I love meeting interesting people who have things to teach me. I mean, everyone has something that they could probably teach me, but this couple was really nice.

THEN, I later met Lance. Lance walked up to my counter, and with his pretty eyes and lipstick, asked if he could add a phone to his account. I looked at him for a moment, studied his red, pixie-cut hair, pink outlined lips, and darkly makeuped eyes and didn't understand why his voice was so deep. He truly looked like a slightly manly woman...not like a full blown transvestite. (I was thinking these things before I knew he was a man, but I had my suspicions.) Then I pulled up his account and there was his name: Lance. He was a woman-man. A man who wanted to be a woman. Anyway, he was pretty and he had nice teeth. Plus his wedding ring was very pretty too. It was a thick band with a few diamonds across the top AND his nails were done. It was all very surreal and weird. I mean, he was a man...but a woman. I didn't know what to do, so I just joked around with him and it was all very normal...but weird too. Anyway, so that's my first encounter with a transvestite. I've always seen pictures of them, but never actually saw one in real life. Especially not in Utah! haha:) Oh man. Love it.

So, yes, I hate my job. I definitely don't love dealing with angry complainers all day, but sometimes I get a few interesting people who make my job worth all the annoyance.

Now these people...interesting doesn't quite cut it

Lil Mac

2009-02-26T12:40:00.000-08:00

Remember Lil Mac from Mike Tyson's Punch-Out? I would call Molly that too. That was my 2nd favorite behind Big Mac.

New photography home

2009-02-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Okay my friends, I have decided to make a photography blog. Photog is what the call it, i think?!?! I've heard it before, but shoot what do i know? Anyway, so it is:

www.mmacphotography.blogspot.com

It's nothing exciting, or cute. Nor does it have any new pictures on it that you haven't seen already. And there are still some tweaks that need to be made, but I just spent the last like... 5 hours working on it. That was most of my day off!! Ridiculous! I'm sick of looking at the computer screen!!

But the whole reason that I am making that website is because I am planning on fundraising my way to El Salvador (and Andrew's too) with photography. I was talking to Matt about it the other night and he gave me a REALLY good idea. I am still thinking and brainstorming the details (like just exactly how I will pull it off...ha!) so I will reveal the entire fundraising plan within the next couple of days. Until then, anticipate its arrival!:) I hope to pull it off, but I will need help getting the word out about it. Network, network, network!!! I'll also put it on facebook to help get the word out.

So...until then, check out my new blog. Oh, and I decided to go to mmac photography because it was my nickname throughout high school and in college. Well, it was Molly Mac...but I just made it mmac (it's not like 'mmmm-mac' with a continuous 'm' sound. More like 'mac' but spelled with two 'm's:)) Plus, that is the one nickname that I let Andrew call me (he used to call me Big Mac. Like, ALL THE TIME!! And I hated it. Or he'd call me McChicken. He really liked my maiden name because of all of the fast food names that are associated with it (which we potential nicknames for me!). Anyway, so I finally said he could call me Molly Mac since my friends called me that in high school. That way he could still use the "mac" part of fast-food nickname, and it wouldn't annoy me! Haha:) love it). Plus, I wanted to somehow associate Andrew to my photography because he is really the only reason why I have put myself out there and have tried as hard as I have to learn photography and get into it. I've always loved photography and always thought of it as an "unreachable" hobby. But, even before even before I bought a real camera or took any pictures, he told me that I was DEFINITELY already a good photographer:) Isn't that sweet? Haha! funny too because we'd always argue about it. He'd tell me "Molly, you are a good photographer! I just know you will do well once you buy a camera" (this was in September time, I think) and I would just roll my eyes and say "Andrew! How do you even know that. Stop saying it because if I suck then it'll just be that much worse." Haha! We'd have that conversation at least 3-4 times a week. And I'd always get annoyed that he believed in me so much. Hahha! That's funny. And that's my personality for you (stubborn).

Anyway, he loves me... and I love that I have a husband like Andrew. It makes dreams attainable (in a lot of ways, of course. I mean, a dream came true when I MARRIED him, haha:)). I love him!

Plus, mhun photography does NOT have a good ring to it. Haha:)

That's all. Thanks everyone for being my readers. I know it's all just family and a few friends, but hey! That's where it all starts, you know? You gotta grow somehow:)

El Salvador

2009-02-20T23:22:00.000-08:00

So, this may all be a bit premature, BUT...Andrew and I may be doing an internship in El Salvador with the program HELP International. It's called Hogar del Nino and it's an orphanage for people anywhere between ages 2-50's who have mental and physical disabilities. We would be their activity planners:) haha! Basically, we'd plan activities for them to do that would help them physically (like with any physical disabilities) emotionally, and mentally. We'd live close to the school and just play with them for three months (but in a more structured, planned sort of way).

Does that not sound AWESOME!?!?!? So, we are planning to apply for it in a few weeks here. Hopefuly it'll end up working out for us to go from mid-May to mid-August (3 months). And I will tell you what, I am excited beyond excited. It sounds like something I've been craving for the last 6 months of my life. I've been dying to go back down to South America, and even though El Salvador isn't in SOUTH America, it's close enough and they speak Spanish. PLus, I can't go back to Chile without Brillante. It wouldn't be right.

So...yeah. Andrew heard about it in his therapeutic recreation class (that's his major) so it would count as an internship for him and it would count as awesome experience and Spanish learning for me. I REALLY hope to go. Obviously we JUST found out about this program yesterday...so like I mentioned earlier, maybe this is all a little premature. But I'm just so excited and since Brillante (who would be the most excited with me) isn't around to celebrate, I figured I'd share the news with everyone to be excited with me:) Haha! And Andrew already knows, so it's a constant celebration together already.

Oh Chile!!! How I miss you so...can't wait to visit again. Until then, I'll visit El Salvador:) (hopefully, that is!)

2009-02-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

Ahhhahaha! Nicole sent me this video and I died. Oh my goodness...this is a knee slapper:

Women Drivers

Is it wrong?

2009-02-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

...to post pictures of myself? Is that completely conceited? Well, I don't care. I need to send pictures to Brillante and I can only do that if I post pictures on here...she forgets what I look like. Haha:) So I gotta send her a picture... everyone else can enjoy too.

ps-I feel I should explain myself. It'll make me feel better. So I'm sick...the cold type. Where I have the driest throat EVER and I have a man's voice...and where my nose is both stuffy and runny, and where when I cough, I feel like I'm coughing up my entire insides and it scratches and hurts...that type of sick. SOOO, today was my day off and I didn't do ANYTHING...which is always lame and makes you feel all groggy and weird, so I decided to do my hair and make up and take my own dag on pictures. I was just helping myself feel better. You know...it's al in the mind, so if I just THINK I feel good, then I will feel good. It worked for about 3-4 hours. But now I feel sick again.

pps- hahaha! Andrew just looked at my pictures and was like "Why are you so happy when you're sick? Cause you ain't got nothin to do!" haha...that made me laugh. It's so true...I'm so lazy:) Ohh funny.

Sweet Freedom

2009-02-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I turned in my portfolio yesterday into the Visual Arts Department. All I have to do now is wait...and still practice. I didn't think I would mind waiting, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get antsy. They said that I should find out whether or not I'm accepted by the end of April or beginning of May. Man...I hope they let us know earlier. haha:) AND they said that they'd email me if I am accepted and they will send me a letter if I'm not. Holy cow. I sure hope I don't get a letter.

Other than that, the week has been going well. Last Saturday I bought a Golds Gym membership. Maybe I'm nuts, but it is AWESOME and I don't regret buying it (but on the day of, I did...buyers remorse, ya know?). Plus, they gave me a decent deal so that I would only end up paying $19 a month. Not too shabby to get skinny. Plus, I work out with Lauren (sister-in-law) and so that makes it nice too because then I have motivation to go with her. Tonight we went to a cycling class. It was INTENSE and I didn't even cycle as hard as a should have. It was awesome though and they have all sorts of other classes like: yoga, palates (sp?), zumba (latin sexy dancing...or something like that), kick boxing, aerobics, and cycling. Tomorrow I'm going to yoga. That'll be fun. I've never done it before, so hopefully I CAN do it.

Also, I've been going to a "learn how to cook" class at my ward and it's awesome because I'm getting food ideas and this lady who teaches it feeds us too! She makes a few of the recipes that she teaches and we get to eat it. It's great AND it's healthy. Ohhhh yeah!

Lastly, Meghan and Cole got married! YYAYY!! It was beautiful. The sealing was tender and full of love and the reception was so nice. I have a few photos I want to post just because it's always nice to post a picture when you post a boring message:

Cake by my girl Anne Cropper. She's awesome, huh?

A little humor...

2009-02-06T17:17:00.001-08:00

Hahah! Oh man, my sister Larissa sent this to me...it is really funny and cute. Hope you enjoy:

Little boy after a dentist visit

Another link...which is not funny. It's on a more serious topic: the economy. But it's an article made up of quotes and commentary by Mitt Romney. I love that man. I wish he were the president. He'd rock us out of the economic meltdown!! Okay, maybe not. I know very little about government and politics, but I really appreciated this article. He's got a good head on his shoulders. He should be the financial adviser for B. Obama. (If that's a real title...I know, I know...I should just steer clear of that stuff):
Mitt's ideas

portfolio decided...

2009-01-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

this is nearly 100% decided. Just thought I'd let my blog-viewers know. I'm nervous, but I just have to do my best and hope it pays off. I mean, it will...but hopefully it'll pay off for BYU!...keep your fingers, toes and legs crossed for luck!!

Fairy wings

2009-01-29T00:30:00.001-08:00

I am mostly finished with Ava's pictures. I put them on flickr, so check them out here. Ava is cute and I wanted to edit all of them. I refrained...but still:) I love the fairies wings!

My FAVORITES...there are two. I like them both. I dunno which I love most:

I noticed that every other picture I took was slightly blurry. Annoying! I have issues with focus. I seem to focus on the wrong part of the picture. Oh well...but these are in focus:) Yay! haha. Enjoy.

PS- I still like feedback!! I like comments...I like what people think. I don't know even know who looks at my blog...but I apply to the photography program in a week. Nervous. This is IT. I gotta make it good...oi

Success!!

2009-01-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

So I made my own indoor studio and I took a little girls pictures today in it. Everything went well and the pictures turned out well and I'm so excited to share them! This little girl is adorable. She is in my ward and I love to just watch her during church because she's just so dang cute. Her name is Ava and her parents are awesome too! Okay, so here are the pictures (oh, and her mom brought the outfit! I loved it!!!! It seriously made the pictures:))

this is my rabbit...haha:) He was my model for a bit
A little Andrew for you...I like to throw him in every so often

There are a lot more to come...I like posting all of my pictures...just because:)

A whole lot of updating..

2009-01-20T22:18:00.001-08:00

I have a few pictures to post... I'll split them in sections with the most recent pictures first:

I took pictures of Tyler today. He's a little boy in my ward and he's adorable!! It was FREEZING outside and he was awesome through it all. Okay, so like usual, I post pictures from last to first (not on purpose):

He had a little suit on. Haha:) Freaking cute! A lot of the pictures I have on here are similar because he liked to run around and I'm still learning out to photograph moving things. It was fun, though!

Above and below= same picture. I don't know which I like better

After the shoot was over, he got to put on his hat and have a cookie for doing so well:) Darling

I wish these next three pictures (including the one above) were in chronological order...but I made him cry. He didn't know me, so he cried. Two pictures down was little before he started to cry. He was really eyeing me up.

This one above is where he was giving me the evil eye. haha:) Love it.

Classic picture of my man...yoowww! (above)

He's a stud

Haha! He had the funniest/cutest laugh. It was darling. I can just hear him laughing now.

Section 2: I took pictures of Elsie and her dog Junior. Junior is the family dog and he's blind and has...diabetes? I think. But he's blind and a cute dog. I don't like dogs...at all...but I like this one. He's funny. I didn't get a ton of good photos...I overexposed a lot of them, but here are a few of the decent ones: (PS- Elsie is an awesome photographer! All self-taught. She took Andrew and I's bridal/groomals and she is the woman. Check out her blog. She does amazing work and she gave me some good pointers during our shoot.)

I like this picture above. The sidewalk right in front of Elsie was REALLY icy and this couple walked by and were sliding all over the place. The lady (who may have been drunk??) was making funny/awkward comments and taking a long time to walk by. Elsie's expression sort of sums up our reaction to the scene:) haha And of course Junior is oblivious

the best of friends

I can't decide if I like the picture above. It's kinda blurry...but I thought I'd share it anyway

Section 3: ARIZONA! I took some pictures while we were there...a lot didn't turn out. Especially those of Skylar and Kaitlin. MAN! I think I got one decent on...and that was it. Lame. but here we go:

I like cactuses. As an East Coast girl (and a girl not from Arizona or similar arid states) I rarely get to enjoy these sharp plants.

The half decent picture of Kaitlin and Skylar that I took

Love the Visitor's Center...and the temple...and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:)

Another cactus. They're huge

In front of the temple. Andrew is taking the picture of me. I meant to upload a picture of him and I didn't...next post.

SO, my favorite thing about the Mesa temple is that they have citrus trees all over their grounds and they let you pick the fruit!!! That is a grapefruit in my hand. It was good.

Kait, Sky and Kait's mom

Nelson girls

my friend Anne makes cakes. Shes' the woman and does SUCH a good job! If you want someone to make a cake, hook it up with her! (she doesn't have a blog or else I would totally put a link up...just talk to me and I'll hook you up with her)

She's awesome

THAT'S IT! that was a lot of posting...whew. I'm tired

Dirty...

2009-01-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

lens...sick

and I know it's totally conceited to post pictures of YOURSELF...but I feel like to identify myself as a "photographer" I have to take moody pictures of myself with a camera in front of my face. It's like...you look at the picture and think "photographer" and maybe take me a little more seriously. It makes me feel legit (even though I'm not...yet). Maybe I'm just conceited and like to take and look at pictures of myself. Man...I'm such a ego-freak. Call me Narcissus.

Portfolio due...

2009-01-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

in about 3 weeks... so, I'm getting some of my better pictures together and getting everyone/ANYONE's input. Don't worry, I'll get some more professional input as well, but I just wanted to get general consensus. I have 10 pictures that I have to apply with...so, help me pick out my best ten. It'd be MUCH appreciated!

This pumpkin ^ or the one below...if

Black and White ^ or color below?

mmm? maybe not a temple? haha...I like the picture anyway

black and white or color? (different but similar pictures...)

re-edits

2009-01-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

I looked at my pictures again and I decided that some of the pictures were over exposed and I didn't like some of the coloring...so I did some re-edits...I'm sure I'll look at them later and think...hmm, they still aren't right...but that's how learning works, right? You just gotta find a happy medium.

Ham some?

2009-01-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

OKay, A-I hate job interviews. They are way too uptight and nerve racking. Oi. B-I like computers...especially ones that work. I recently purchased a Western Digital Passport 320 gb...it's black. I'll keep all of my files backed up in there. Oh man. I've learned my lesson for not backing up my files before it was too late (well, I don't know if it's too late yet...we'll see once I attempt to turn my computer back on to transfer the files over to my external hard drive. I pray they'll transfer!!) And sorry for the last entry. It was really choppy...I kinda jumped from idea to idea without much transitions in the middle. Hopefully everyone understood what I was saying. And I don't know if I got the virus from ksl.com/classified. It's just that when my computer froze and started going nuts, I was on gmail and ksl looking at camera stuff. SOO, I could have gotten it from somewhere else somehow...don't you just love computers? I just wish I knew where this one came from! AND, I bought a hard drive to prevent the loss of files in the future...again, I didn't have to, but I figured it was a good time to do it. AND, I found my discs! Woo:) But I was told that even if I hadn't found them, they're online at dell.com for free or cheap. Thank goodness!:)

C- I took Larissa's family pictures on Wednesday morning. We were kinda crunched for time, but we made it work and we got a lot accomplished in 30-40 min! I was really proud of myself for taking pictures so quickly. I think it was Heavenly Father helping me out since he knew Larissa and Brady needed to go. And it wasn't snowing!! Yeah! Anyway, so I love taking pictures of Easton. Oh. my. goodness. He has beautiful eyes, beautiful hair, and had a beautiful little outfit. Plus, its great because he's probably one of the most well-behaved kids around. He's easily contented and I was able to take a lot of pictures of him. Okay, so here we go....

going from last to first....

I really like this picture...but the red is looking awfully pink to me right now...oh well

cute kids...

Haha! i love this one...

i know there's a lot of Brady and Larissa, but Easton is coming

again...the red looks very pink. but this is Easton peeking

love it

i tried a picture with a grayish brown background...not my favorite for a background, but it worked.

Poor Easton was freezing the whole time. aww

GQ in color

Everyone doing Easton's goofy face. haha:) Love it.

I like this. Cute.

Okay, there you have it. I still have to edit the pictures of Kaitlin's wedding...I went back through them and man I didn't do a very good job. Lots of blur, not enough creativity...oh well. Next time! Good thing I wasn't her real photographer! Let me know what you think!

2009-01-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

My computer has been virused...

2009-01-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

And is dying. Can you believe it? Man...on ksl.com classifieds too! Who would have thought? Anyway, so I think I can get my files off...please don't die computer! I want my music and pictures!!....so that means I need to buy an external hard drive. Yeeehaw. $100+ babayy! Gotta love it, right? WRONG...oh well. Anyway, so I went to Kaitlin and Skylar's wedding in AZ and I have a lot of pictures just waiting to be edited....and I'm dying to edit them too! I hate waiting!! So I think I will buy an external drive to see if I can spare a few precious files from my comp...and then we'll delete and reinstall everything back onto it...which means I have to find my software cd things...you know, the ones that give you windows and microsoft word, etc...do I know where they are? Of course not. Oh my goodness! I had a nightmare about it last night too...that I couldn't find my discs and had to go buy new ones and they were ridiculously expensive and I was really depressed and mad and sad and crying...oh man. And I kept waking up in the middle of the night in intense prayer PLEADING to find those discs. Haha:)

I love it. But life goes on. It'll work out...and what's with this snow?? Geez...it's been snowing for 2 days straight!!

A few shots...

2008-12-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

Easton:

this one is cute...I did it in two colors because I couldn't decide which I liked best

OKAY-so, I bought a car lamp and a piece of black cloth for my "studio lighting". Haha! So ghetto, but it wasn't too bad (except when I took pictures of Agustin's little baby...then it was ghetto and didn't work)

Easton had his hat on...he loves his hats

again, two colors...can't decide

HAHA! Sooo cute. This is his goofy face. When Larissa says "show your goofy face" he does. Cute

DARLING

Blurry babies:

Here's Agustin's little boy...about 5 weeks old. Man, I did such a junk job, but hey...its my first time

I had all of these great props...a santa hat (which didn't work out the way I wanted) and he had Santa pants. The hat fell over his eyes. It was adorable! He was such a darling little baby

again, blurry. Gosh darn

Hahah! Easton is freaking cute and this is blurry, but I still like it a lot.
Things:

the toilet underneath our window

our Christmas tree star...blurry

A street sign

our neighbors flag

Andrew reading...this is probably the very first picture I ever took with my camera...yeah, I'm pretty sure it is.

Okay, thanks for looking my friends! Merry Christmas!

An Ugly Sweater Christmas

2008-12-14T20:41:00.001-08:00

So I took pictures for these three guys who are roommates. I work with the one, Brock, at Cricket Communications. He asked me to take his holiday roommate photos and ohhh man! it was hilarious. I'll let you look at the pictures and see why:

gotta love it.

7 fillings and $550 later....

2008-12-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

I thought this might be entertaining. I got 7 cavities filled yesterday and the entire lower half of my face was numb. Even my left nostril and eyelid were numb. Hahah! Oh my goodness...and I think the dumbing medication made me loopy. I came home and started smiling at Andrew...and then I just started busting up laughing because I looked at myself smile also (which I'm sure you can all imagine how it looked). So then I had Andrew take a picture of it...when I looked at that, I burst into uncontrollable laughter...gasping for air and all. Andrew took a bunch of random pictures of that and when I saw them, I laughed even HARDER. Every picture taken of me "laughing" looked like I was in pain...because my mouth couldn't make a good smile. I'll post those pictures later, but I took this video last night also to show my numbness (I could hardly talk right...it was SO weird), in which I look AND sound ridiculous. Enjoy

Yes, you heard correctly...

2008-12-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

I know you can't believe this, but I'm going to post a blog on my LIFE!! yyayy! How exciting!:) I actually have a motive behind posting today...which is to show the world that I can cook. Yes, ladies and gentleman, despite popular belief I have a little homemaker inside of me. About a week ago I had the urge to cook a meal. WOAH!! I had an URGE to make a meal???? It's true! And a good meal I did make. Mashed potatoes with barbaque (how do you even spell that?) chicken with pineapple on top. The chicken was placed into a bunch of barbeque (I think that's right) sauce and placed some pineapples on top (which I made andrew go out and buy for me because I decided that the chicken was a little too boring...it needed something sweet in it) and baked in the oven for a good little while, and it turned out quite delectable (again, a word I think I spelled wrong. Maybe i should just stick to the basics and spells words that I know). I think I put too much milk in the taters, but overall, it was a success. I have pictures to prove it.

food on the stove...mm, mm, mmmmm! I didn't use the teapot...it's the only place that I have room for it in my weenie apartment

YUM, man!! YYYUUMMM! I know you want some now

Andrew's plate...he was clearly more hungry than me. heh

and yes, he loved the food. And loved that I made it for him while he was playing video games or watching basketball and I didn't bother him about it:) Win win situation, I guess. I think tonight I'm going to make another meal. Depends on how clean my counterspace is.

OH! AND, Merry Christmas everyone. I am so absolutely EXCITED and I can't wait for the holiday season to really kick in when Larissa and Brady and Easton come out!! And when finals are done! woo:) ANdrew and I put up our fake tree last night. It's actually not ours...Andrew's grandma gave it to us, so free is better than nothing...even if it is a fake tree. haha:) It's so 1970's!! It has the flashing colored lights that have flower-looking plastic surrounding them. AND there is a tinsel-y, brightly colored flashing star at the tip of the tree. Super cute. Haha:) I'll attempt to get some pictures of it and post them online. It's a hoot and our very first Christmas tree! :) Oh the memories.

Alright, that's it. ALSO, a little plug for my photography...well, not a plug, more like a plea....I want models!! I want to take pictures of some babies and families...and of course people who just want some pictures taken of themselves...I have to practice and I want to practice some indoor picture taking. (yes, I still have to buy an indoor photo-light bulb, but if I get someone to take a picture of, then I'll actually go get one rather than saying I'll get some...and I'd prefer to take pictures of little babies indoor because they'll be easiest to work with in my little apartment). SO, any volunteers are great!! Tell your friends!! Oh, and it's all very free.

Numero Cuatro

2008-11-29T14:53:00.000-08:00

So I did my first, kind-of-real photo shoot yesterday!! Woooo:) Haha. A guy that Andrew works with asked if I would be willing to take pictures of him and his family for their Christmas cards. I said yes (offf courssee!!) and we went to Castle Park (same place I took Kait and Skylar...I know, I'm really creative). The dad's name is Paul, his wife is Krista and his son is Paul also...well his name is actually Amos Paul the 4th (his dad is Amos Paul the 3rd...and so on), so sometimes they call him cuatro. Or so Andrew tells me. Haha:) I like it!! Anyway, so I had a lot of fun, but it was hard too because little Paul was a livewire. He loved to be down and definitely didn't want to be sitting or held for pictures. We made the most of the situation and got creative:) Haha...I totally have to practice being a phtographer, though!! I hardly knew what to do, but the couple was awesome and helped out a lot. And so did Andrew and Lauren (they were my moral support). Overall, I had a really fun time and took a trillion pictures. I pretty much just held the shutter button down the whole time to make sure I got some good pictures of little cuatro smiling. I'll post a few of the ones that I like the best.

so here is cuatro and mom...she was amazing. She ran with him ALLLL over the place to make him laugh and smile. Haha:) I think she had more energy than him!! AND she wasn't even tired after running/jumping all over. AND you can't even tell in the pictures. Impressive.

I'm not necessarily wild about this picture, but it's a cute standard picture.

antique-colored pictures just look so much better!!

different picture, same place, in color...farther away

This is right before he decided he didn't want to take pictures being held

so they swung him up the stairs. This is a pretty busy picture. I like the idea of it. it's a cute scene, but the original picture had a ton of overexposed parts. I tried to make it work, but I'm not sure it does

he is just really really really cute

so I had to add some wall in this picture. Haha:) I hate having to use the "clone" button.

He was okay being held when we first arrived (these next few pictures are some of the first taken)

maybe I should have taken out the leg in this picture. But like I said earlier, I hate using the clone tool. It takes forever and this is still a cute picture even if the leg is there. But this was taken RIGHT after he got out of the car and started walking on the grass. He was really happy and REALLY cute. Oh man, I hope I have kids that cute someday.

what a doll...i just wish the dag-on sun reflection-spot thing wasn't right on his face!

almost the same picture...the exact same dumb sun spot

so I messed with the graduated filter tool to make the colors so bright. It makes it look cool...unrealistic, I suppose (since it is November after all...I mean, when does it ever look that colorful after Thanksgiving??)

nothing beats a mother's love

he's in the middle of getting up off of the grass...haha. I love his dimples.

Last, but not least...I thought I'd take a picture of the two of them while Andrew ran around with Cuatro for a minute.

So...there you have it. I feel bad that I don't have as many pictures of the the Paul's together. I have plenty of Krista and little Paul, but not of big Paul and little Paul. Next time...when I'm better, I'll take their pictures again and spread the love between mom and dad. Sorry Paul!

Love is in the air...

2008-11-25T20:48:00.001-08:00

Kaitlin and Skylar are getting married on January 3, 2008 in the Mesa, Arizona temple. WOO! Did you know she waited for him on his mission? That is true love right there...but anyway, so they let me practice my photography skills on them for their engagements. Here we go!

okay, so I used the templates from lightroom and you can tell:) haha...don't hate. But woah, do they make the pictures look 10x better!!

love converse style

tender love and care

Skylar is wearing the pink ones...haha:) That's funny, but Kaitlin bought them for him...so it's understandable

he's her super hero

I took out a hand here...can you tell? haha:)

yow ow!!

the color is weird, but kinda cool!

she looks so little...oh yeah, she IS so little

gotta love b&w

there you are...that's all!

lightwriter

2008-11-25T13:29:00.001-08:00

Kaitlyn's photo shoot...I didn't get very many, but that's okay. I went out when it was late, so some of the pictures are blurry (dag on it, and there were some potentials too)...but here are my lightroomed pictures!

number one

number two

number three

long legs

senior photo

mmm...not sure how I feel about this one

that's all! Going to take Kaitlin and Skylar's pictures in about a half an hour. Woo! Hope I can get more than just a few good shots for them... (it's for their engagements...talk about pressure. But hey, that's why I'm free)

Lightroom

2008-11-24T20:55:00.001-08:00

I downloaded a free version of lightroom and have been playing around with it. It's freaking cool. So I took pictures of Kailtyn yesterday and have managed to only edit one with lightroom:) haha. This program makes me look like I'm some amazing photographer...I'll tell you that I'm not. I was actually sad after taking Kaitlyn's pictures yesterday because I didn't get very many good shots. But here it is...

what a babe

Go BYU!

2008-11-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

I really like this blog... check it out. http://deepshadesofblue.com/
love- Andrew (BYU football is my second love (after Molly of course))

Merry early Christmas to moi!

2008-11-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

I bought a used (new to me, babay!!) lens yesterday!! Woo:) I needed a wide angle lens and of the three that I already own, none of them were wide enough. So, I found a 18-50 mm Sigma on ksl.com that a lady owned for her D70. It was in really good shape, so I bought it for 60 bones. Pricey...not really. haha:) I'm just cheap. But I tried it out last night, and I'm really excited to start using it for taking pictures!! It'll add another dimension to picture taking...haha:) Sure, I gotta master like...pretty much everything that has to do with photography, but that's okay. Now I'll just have another lens to use while I'm mastering those skills:) yay!

Asian invasion

2008-11-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

So today I took Meghan's pictures!! It was a lot of fun:) (and referring to the title...it was a GOOD asian invasion. No disrespect Meg:)) We go way back...way back to the 6th grade. Anyway, so she is absolutely beautiful and I needed good looking models so I asked her if I could take her pictures:)... she was willing to pose for me. Whew. Here we go:

This is starting from the last to first...this is the last picture that I took...

This is just a flattering picture of Meghan...I'm not sure how much I like the set up as much

I don't know why but I love this picture...Andrew says it reminds him of Narnia...haha

haha! I'm not sure how Meghan feels about these pictures, but I love them. Especially this one

after the throwing of the leaves

throwing the leaves

anticipation for throwing the leaves

strike a pose girl

this is really tilted...I don't like it much, but I love the picture of Meghan. She looks so happy:)

Andrew wanted Meghan to squeeze herself into this tall skinny window...haha

Okay...so I like these next two pictures (the one above and below this comment), but which looks better?

she's a tree hugger

just a cute one

I don't know what comment to put next to this one

Yow owww!

I like the lines

I like the natural-ness of this picture. it's cute

same...

Senior portrait

no comment

Lauren likes this one a lot...she likes the foliage in the background

artsy fartsy

we attempted to take some pictures in an orchard. It was pretty, but I was doing a not-so-good job of taking pictures in there

....yeah

so another photo shoot down. A million more to go (if I'm lucky, right?). This isn't the best that I've done, but that's okay. Just gotta keep practicing.

2008-11-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

captions are welcome for this picture...I know what I think that horse is doing...but what do YOU think he's doing??

...here are a few more for your viewing pleasure

hahah...

the brown horse

the white horse (which is poorly focused...oh well)
\
my mom's outdoor Thanksgiving decorations

2008-11-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks for your comments Larissa!! You give the best criticism so far (and the only criticism...haha:)). I now have a lot of volunteer models, so I'll be getting plenty of practice in! This weekend I'm taking Meghan's pictures:) I can't wait. It's just always intimidating because what if I don't take a good picture?? Haha...but hey, that's why they're doing it for free, right?

Anyway, so I have a few normal-life pictures to post from Halloween. Andrew and I dressed up as smurfs for all hallows eve and had some good old fun. We stopped by my mom's house to see the Bullock kids in their costumes and then we returned to Provo to boogy the night away at a BYU singles dance. HA! That's right, we totally crashed the party
as a married couple. Nicole said we could be the chaperones. Hahha...that's funny too. But we had a ton of fun with our single friends dancing and getting sweaty and having blue melt everywhere:) Not really, but I sure was hot with my hat on!!

That picture might be the only ALMOST full body shot of us...I took a picture of Andrew and his costume, but he forgot to take a picture of me at full body...but hey! The hats are the best part. Andrew as the nerdy smurf and I was smurfette. We look GOOD!

Then there is Andrew...see? He looks GOOD.

Then there are my friends at the dance. So...Anne has the pink hair and she had my favorite outfit because she looked so HOT!! She should be a punk rocker every day!

Notice the sparkly pink hair, nose-stud, black lipstick, safety pinned shirt, dog collar...she's got it going on!

2008-11-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know what's going on...for some reason I can't upload my pictures...just go check out my facebook page:) I'll try later to upload more.

Fotitos

2008-11-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Went on a photodate with my husband and sister-in-law Lauren. We went to the train yard in Orem...it was fun. Sooo...I have some pictures:) I think this has been the best that I've done so far. I've been doing some studying and have tried to put what I've learned into my pictures...hopefully it shows. Anyway, here we go!

Okay...my pictures are showing up in HTML style in my blog where I'm typing. I assume they'll show up as pictures as soon as I post this sucker, but I can't make comments on the pictures because I'm not sure which picture is which. Sooo...go ahead, make critiques.

Area Code 972

2008-10-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. I didn't have work (which makes the day 10x better automatically!), so I woke up around 8:30 to get ready to go on campus to take an oral proficiency test for my Spanish class. I showed up at 9:30 to meet with my professor and he wasn't there! Haha. Turns out his supervisor canceled the test (which he didn't let us know till 11:00AM by email...awesome), but it was fine because it got me out of bed. I ended up going back home to do some laundry and homework. I felt pretty productive...I got two entire loads done! WOO! The most I've done in...well, a long time.

While I was doing my laundry and reading, I missed a call from some random Utah number and there was a message left, so I called my voice mail to see who randomly called me (normally I get those telemarketer calls and their recordings are usually left on my answering machine...which is so annoying). The message was this girl, whose voice I didn't recognize at first, and she was like...Hi Molly! It's me. I was hoping you would answer your phone, but I'm waiting in the airport to go back to South America!" IT WAS BRILLANTE!!! AHH!! Oh my gosh! So I listened to her message and got all teary because I missed her call!! It was soooo good to hear voice (which I didn't recognize at first because she had a cold) and she was just waiting to fly to Argentina. Anyway, so as exciting it was to get her call, I was as equally (if not more) bummed that I didn't get to talk to her. So frustrating! If only I hadn't put my phone on vibrate...

The rest of the day was fine. I went to class at like 1:10 and was able to take my quiz...wheew! Then to Spanish, and after Spanish I decided to play on facebook and check out the net just for fun. I had my phone with me and while I was wasting my life away on the computer, this random number starting with area code 972 called me. I looked at and was like...probably just a telemarketer. But, I answered it JUST in case. And who do you think it was?? BRILLANTE!! Ahhhh!! Ohhhhh my gosh! I was SO excited!! I got all choked up and Brillante got emotional:) Haha! We're a bunch of girls. It was seriously one of the best things that could have happened yesterday:) She is my best friend for a reason...we just are on the same wave length. We talked for about 30 minutes. Longer than we probably should have...technically she wasn't supposed to call me since I'm not family, but she had a calling card and we're basically related:) She was waiting for her plane to Argentina in Dallas...or Houston, maybe? Anyway, It was hard to hang up because we just kept talking about everything. All I can say is that I am SO grateful that girl is my friend. She's such a good person... I was on a "i love my friends and family" high after talking with her. Haha:)

And that was my exciting moment of the day. I was just inexplicably happy after talking to Brillante. The update on her is that she's doing well. She arrived to Argentina sometime this morning/last night. She is really scared, feels like she's unprepared (as far as having things like scriptures memorized in Spanish, etc), but she can't wait to start going out and finding people to teach the gospel. I wish I were going with her!! I love South America!! And if you can write her a letter, do it!! She needs all of the encouragement she can get...we all know what it's like to be discouraged and having an uplifiting letter always helps. Here is her address in Argentina so you can send her a letter:
By pouch mail (postcards and single sheet letters (folded to be their own envelope) only):
Sister Brillante Kretchman
Argentina Reseistencia Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130

Packages/pictures/letters:
Sister Brillante Kretchman
Mision Argentina Resistencia
323 Rivadavia C.C. 1
3500 Resistencia, Chaco
Argentina

OR you can go to dearelder.com and send her a letter free of charge! It's really easy and you don't even have to pay for the stamp. The church sends it gratis:)

Oh and I went to Body Worlds. Interesting...and weird. But definitely interesting. I have no clue how anyone was able to so accurately dissect those bodies. It was really interesting though. I'd advise everyone to check it out if you have the time (and money, of course).

2008-10-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

i forgot to add this picture...I think it's cute. Lighting is kind of weirdo...but still, I like that the tree says marry me on it. haha:)

2008-10-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

More pictures! I have so many to post though...but I went into the mountains with my friends yesterday and it was so beautiful! I got to enjoy nature and practice taking pictures. I had a lot of fun, and luckily, so did my models (and they're my friends too). Here we go:

Kaitlin and Skylar

in love

kissing each other

kaitlin can smile a lot, and she never gets the cheesy, fake smile. SHe's good at that

love

kissing...there was a lot of that, but I didn't always ask them to do it.

they're in llooooveee

Kaitlin and Skylar... they are very photogenic

Anne...this is my favorite one of her

another classic anne photo

a series of Kaitlyn...she was pouting for whatever reason, but she was standing in a good spot and she looks cute in the pictures

trying out the focus thing....

and again

anne being my model, once more

my friends. I really like this picture of them

andrew shaking the tree to make an 'effect'...with leaves falling in front of his face:) haha

kaitlin loving skylar

I like this one just because

anne laughing...how natural

cute little anne

same thing, but the other way

Andrew took the photo...props to him.

Andrew being a STUD! YOOWWWWW

Larissa...and anyone else...comments, suggestions...issues. Whatever. bring them on.

Railroad tracks

2008-10-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

I took a few more pictures of my friend Kaitlyn. A lot of them are similar in style...meaning, they are basically the same picture, but different. ha!

Anyway, here we go:
Larissa, I took this button picture with you in mind...I tried out the whole blurry thing that was on your friends blog...I plan on doing more photos like that, but I finally got it right when it was too dark

Kaitlyn's going on a mission and wanted a cute picture of her to put in her papers
That's all...Larissa! Comments and criticism!!

I'm a budding photographer

2008-10-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

Miss us yet? An entire month...we've moved in. Hallelujah. It was annoying, but we did it. We received SO many gifts...if there are people reading this who gave us a gift...THANK YOU SO MUCH!! It's so awesome to not have to worry about paying for household type things when you have tuition, rent, car payments/etc to deal with. Thanks soo much:)

Both of us are in school. It's easy peasy...lemon squeezy. Both working too...that's it.

I've also begun my first real hobby, other than the time when I collected and traded rocks in elementary school. I bought a camera (Nikon D80) about a month ago and I've finally put it to use! Thank you Danielle for asking me to take your pictures! I was SO nervous, but it went pretty well...for my first time, anyway. I don't know much about lighting, but thank goodness for photo correcting programs because those helped the pictures that I took a lot.

I think I got 5 or 6 decent pictures out of the 115 that I took! yyyaayy:) haha! So lame, but I was happy that I got that many. But it really pumped me up to go out and find more models. So, anyone wanting to be my model and let me practice my picture-taking skills, I would be VERY willing.

Here are a few pictures I took. Tell me what you think...be honest. And I think, Larissa, you're the only one who reads this. So be honest:
This is Danielle...she's a trombonist and she has her senior recital in 3 weeks. She asked me to take her picture for her flyers. She knew I needed some practice, but she's so cute! I hope she likes these pictures
her and her trombone. She's a good playerJust a random shot of her...she looks really good at this angle. I have a few other pictures of her from this angle and she's just really photogenic.here's another one...so the lighting is kind of funny...but I like it, in a way.

just a traditional, senior portrait:)

That's it. So anyone want to be my model??