Does this mean I’ve aged? I’ve known her since she was 16, and I swear, she will always be 16 to me.

Sorry Talera! You can never be your real age (21) because that means I must have had some birthdays along the way and honestly, I haven’t aged! Plus, it seems like I just moved from Dallas. I may have moved from Texas, eight moves ago, but you know, it still feels like I JUST moved.

I had a great weekend catching up with Talera.

I have several new projects in the works, (like a tutorial on shooting in RAW, and when to use your flash and/or reflectors) and when I can find two seconds to rub together, I’ll post about them.

Until then, you might just see a few more shoots from this weekend.

She even looks good 12 hours after popping out a baby.

We first met in Dallas when David and I had our bridal store and she was just a young 17 year old who did runway shows for our store.  We then hired her to sell wedding gowns.  Sheri and I have had many fun and crazy adventures together modeling at Dallas Market Hall (which mostly included both of us running late and applying our make up as fast as possible in our small dressing room before our first Vera Wang clothing call).  We modeled formal wear together a few times for some Texas news stations and did other print work.  Needless to say, we have had a lot of fun together.  Our lives have been so interwoven over the last seven years, she’s practically family.

We must have been in favor with the Universe because we both currently live in Utah right now.  We always get together whenever we have a chance (either in Texas or Utah, or anywhere in between) and I was so happy to see her and meet her new little guy.

He smelled so good . . . I could just sniff a newborn head all day long.

From time to time, I know I complain about picking up my life, and moving cross country for the 500th time . . . but it’s because of these moves that I meet so many wonderful people.

Congratulations Sheri!

The only reason I know that is because of the sign I read in front of it.

Apparently, one of the stops on the Amazing Race season five was filmed here .

In this very maze.

I’ve never done the maze myself, but I want to.

One more reason to go back to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Next time, I’ll opt to run through the maze instead of photographing it.

LOVE IT.

I am a Texan at heart.  Should have been born and raised there.

What’s so great about the “Great State of Texas?”

The people.  The shopping.  The history.  The pride.

When you visit the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you MUST, MUST, MUST go shopping at Sam Moon.  If you don’t, your visit doesn’t count.  You don’t know the thrill of shopping for fashion at bargain prices until you enter these doors.

Don’t let the lack of cars fool you about this parking lot.  I shot this at night (with no flash thanks to my new skills from my classes) around 10:00 PM WAY after the store had closed.  Trust me, the place is busting with shoppers from open until close everyday.  The parking lot is jam packed.  At Christmas time, they offer a shuttle to get you to and from your car because you probably had to park three miles away.

You must visit the historic Stockyards in Fort Worth.  They still have cattle drives down the main cobblestone road twice a day.

This place is full of rich heritage.  (Literally and figuratively.)

The Texas flag is ubiquitous.  Everywhere you turn, there it us.

As is the “Lone Star”

And the American flag.

But this next image?

Unacceptable.

Texas traffic jams are bad.

VERY BAD.

In fact, you know it’s bad when you can hop out of your car, open the trunk, grab the camera, and leisurely walk to the grass to TAKE A PICTURE.

We were in the same spot on the freeway for 2.5 hours on our drive home to Kansas.  Some major accident up ahead clogged the freeway northbound.

I was sure glad we had potty breaks before we left the house.

And lots of food in the car.

And good music to listen to.

And well slept babies.

But, even being held captive on the freeway for hours . . .

I STILL LOVE TEXAS!

I have  many pictures to post.

We had a wonderful time with our friends in Texas celebrating the 4th of July and Dallin’s birthday.

Now that we’re back, I need to catch up on some assignments (remember how I’m in school full time?) and upload some photos.

But for now, know that this delicious birthday cake got our birthday boy very, very messy.

And it made him so very happy.

And this delicious cake made the adults very happy.

For example, you know you’re in Utah because every other car is a mini-van, having 6 or more children is the norm, and people say, “Oh my freakin’ heck!”

In Texas, every other car is a BIG TRUCK and the kind folk say, “Hey y’all!”

In the Caribbean, when someone is having a birthday, they say, “My daughter just MADE eight.”  Instead of saying, “My daughter just turned eight.”

You know, slight differences that remind me no matter how comfortable I feel in a certain place, it’s a little different from home.

Kansas is no different.

This is what David and I have noted:

• TONS of people have vanity plates.  Like every other car.
• Kansans are very friendly.  I’ve met most of my girlfriends at the park or out shopping.  When someone asks for your phone number, they WILL call you.  Make sure you like the person you’re giving your number too, or have a fake one ready . . .
• Kansans are very, very proud to be from the Kansas side of Kansas City.  Which is the side I’m on, so I guess by default, that makes me very proud.
• Spring does not come early around here.  It’s May, and this is what it looks like:

In a nutshell, Kansas is a late blooming state full of friendly people who love vanity plates.

More than once, Paris came into the house with blood all over her mouth, wagging her tail.

She likes to chase bunnies.  She likes to KILL bunnies.  She’s a murderer I say.

But, we’re bad parents because we praise and encourage this behavior.

Good news for Paris: bunnies run all over our backyard in Kansas.

Bad news for the cotton tails: Paris is a 35 MPH couch potato on your tail.  She will hunt you down and snap your neck.

The trails by our house are overflowing with cute little bunnies.  Paris sees one now.

Do you see the perked ears?  This means she is TOTALLY paying attention.  Too bad this bunny took off before Paris was off leash.  So moving on to the next bunny . . .

David sees one, but Paris is totally oblivious.  Sometimes, my presence is very distracting.  (What can I say?  I am the center of her world!)  Notice how Paris is staring RIGHT AT ME and not the bunny.

Paris only cares if it moves, so sometimes we have to show her where her prey is.

Isn’t this bunny cute?  What he doesn’t know is that he is about to run for his life.

Paris is trotting, not sure what to chase because she hasn’t seen the bunny move yet . . .

But, now the bunny is on the move and Paris is flying after him.

The thrill of the chase is just as fun as the kill.  Paris won’t be disappointed if she comes back empty handed.

I wish I had this attitude toward shopping.  I don’t think it’s just as fun to window shop and I feel like a failure if I come back empty handed.

In the end, the bunny’s life was preserved for one more day.  And Paris settled for eating grass.

And smelling another dog’s butt.

If only life were this simple for us.

NOT KIDDING.

I’m a quick learner.  I now know NOT to order American food in Asia because is just doesn’t taste right.

But . . .

Did you know that Doritos and Coke and all other beverages and chips taste slightly different too?  Okay, the word slightly might not be a strong enough word.

I’m not a Coke drinker.  I’m a Dr. Pepper girl.  But, I’m pretty sure Dr. Pepper isn’t available in Asia because all I could find was Coke.  Now I know Coke and D.P. are TOTALLY different, but I would order a Coke in lieu of my unavailable preferred drink.

Like I said, I’m not a Coke drinker, but I do know that Coke in the USA DOES NOT taste like Coke in China.

Please don’t argue and offend my discriminating taste buds.

Now, I have a concerning secret to share . . .

I still have an unopened Coke can from Taiwan from like four years ago.

This is weird.  Tell me this is weird.

It’s unopened, and after all this time, the longer is goes unopened, the more I can’t bring myself to do it.

Now, I’m not sure what’s more concerning:

• That this Coke is older than Hannah
• That this Coke traveled all the way from Taiwan to Kansas by way of Texas
• That this Coke can sat in storage for three years
• That the mini-bar in the hotel I got this from charged me $5 for this one measly can
• That it’s still unopened

Pam?  Do want this?

She kicks butt as a saleswoman.  She could sell a straight man a wedding dress.  And he would buy it and feel good about it.  Like he needed it.  She made a lot of money for my store.  But, that’s not why I LOVE her.

We bonded while working crazy hours, selling dresses to crazy bridezillas.

Her husband started dental school (in DC)  the same time my husband started medical school.

We bonded again over our crazy lives.

Now, her husband will graduate in May, and my husband has like 23 more years to go before he makes an income as a doctor.

I am like 80% happy for her and 20% jealous.

But, I LOVE her to pieces, so how could I really be jealous?

She carved time out of her four day trip to see me and I loved it. She brought her baby who is just eight weeks old with her.

I got lost in his blue, blue eyes.

He was ADORABLE.

I wanted to eat him up.

Kiss his face off.

Keep him for my very own.

She has two other kids, would she really miss this little one?