Page 151 - Remember

What made me happy today?

Memorial Day.

Since this is the last day of the month it's my last day of my theme of what made me happy. It was the perfect day to end it on as well.

Every Memorial Day we go visit the graves of family on my husbands side of the family. I have always loved this tradition since we did the same growing up in California for my own relatives.

It's so important to not only remember those who came before us, but those who gave up their tomorrows so we could have ours.

Freedom is not free.


This is a monument of an angel at the Salt Lake City Cemetery for all those babies who have died from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

Photographing this statue was especially hard for me, I couldn't imagine losing a child especially a baby in their sleep.


I had to post this one. The look of gratitude on her face says it all, as if she understands what the flag really means and how today it represents those who gave all, even their lives.

I hope we never forget what this day is really about.

Page 150 - Missed

What made me happy today?

Being missed.

I am finally home from my trip to Colorado to shoot a wedding. My girl's love what I got them :)

Page 149 - Cousins

What made me happy today?

Seeing my cousin for the first time in 30 years.

We are related on both sides. She is my mom's brother's daughter and her mom's sister married my dad's brother. You may have to read it a few times to have it make sense!!

I have never had any cousins in my life. Thanks to Facebook and photography, we found each other.

Now that Jennifer is in my life, I hope she always stays.

Page 148 - Weddings

What made me happy today?

Being a part of the most important day of their lives.

Page 147 - Heaven is a place on earth

As a mom and photographer, I never stop. There is always something to do, somewhere to go, someone who needs attention.

I didn't realize I needed a break until yesterday when I flew out of state to shoot a wedding that is tomorrow.

I spent the day relaxing, doing absolutely nothing.

I took a nap without any kids climbing all over me.

I ate lunch at a restaurant without telling one kid to sit down and the other to eat their food or they don't get dessert.

I had silence, absolute silence and I needed it.

Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom more than anything, I just needed time to recharge my batteries.
This is my AMAZING hotel room which I may never leave! I got it for so cheap too ($60 a night!)

Page 146 - Yard Work part 2

What made me happy today?

I hate yard work. HATE HATE HATE.

At least I got a ton done today and I'm almost finished so I guess that makes me happy.

My 2 year old is so cute. She put on my sun hat and drove around in her toy car. Adorable huh?


Okay, wanna see before and after pics?


Ta-Da! I wish I could just get it done faster.

Page 145 - Yard Work

What made me happy today?

Definitely NOT the yard work itself, but getting part of it done.

I worked all day and only got a third of it done. Ugh.

I'm so sore I can hardly move.

Page 144 - Pink & Yellow

What made me happy today?

Yellow.

I have had this outfit and this idea for this photo shoot for months now. I get so busy shooting everyone else I don't get much time for my visions.

iHeart Faces is having another photo contest this week and the theme is "Yellow". I knew there would not be a better chance than to just do it.



If you want to see the picture I entered for the contest, click here.

Page 143 - Together

What made me happy today?

We may not have it all together,
but together we have it all.

Page 142 - Village Baker

What made me happy today?

Unfortunately I am cursed with a love of food. It makes me happy.

There is a place in West Jordan called Village Baker that has the most amazing chicken salad sandwiches with huge, thick white bread. It's by far my most favorite sandwich.

Never had one? Go try one and let me know when you do because I will gladly meet you there!

These are some honey bears they sell there.

Page 141 - New Tricks

What made me happy today?

I learned a new trick in Photoshop thanks to my friend Steph!!!


Everyone knows I am NOT a master of all things Photoshop. I'm definitely a beginner. All I ever use it for is to liquify, swap heads, or add texture to a photo.

Today, I learned a trick to make my texturizationing (haha, is that a word?) skills much better!

Before when I added a texture, I would just use a brush to erase the texture from the person in the photo. Sometimes the texture itself adds such a pretty color to the photo that when I erase the texture the old photo underneath just doesn't look right. It's easier to show you so here:

This is the original photo above and here it is once the texture has been added:

I love the color this texture adds but I don't want it on the face.

Before, I would just erase the texture everywhere I didn't want it like this:

As you can see it just doesn't look right. The baby looks much too pale now.

My friend Steph told me how she watched a video on MCP actions blog that explains how to remove the texture without removing the color. I watched, learned, and now I have the look I was hoping for, this:


Thank you Steph and thankyou MCP Actions! If you want to see the video I watched go here.

Page 140 - Friends

What made me happy today?

Steph and her kids.

As you can see they made my girls happy too.

Page 139 - Letters To Juliet

What made me happy today?

GIRLS NIGHT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Page 138 - Cards

What made me happy today?

I LOVE getting packages in the mail. I am like a kid on Christmas morning every time that mail man comes to my door, especially when it's something to do with my photography.

I just got all these cards in the mail today. The large ones are postcard size for my senior models to hand out to their friends at school.

The smaller ones are business card size that I print for every wedding I shoot. On one side I have a picture of the couple with their names and the date they are getting married. On the back, I have a link to their Smugmug gallery so all the guests that come to the wedding can see the pictures once I have them in their galleries. Then if I took any pictures of them at the reception, they can order them straight from the gallery.

In the end, it's great advertising for me since every guest leaves with one of the cards in hand and the couple getting married loves it because it has their picture on it.

In case you are wondering where I order my cards from, go to OvernightPrints.com.

Page 137 - Little Girls and Their Clothes

What made me happy today?

No, doing laundry didn't make me happy. The fact that I was able to take a day off of editing to start this mammoth pile of laundry did at least make me feel good.

My house is so neglected. Between raising my kids and photography, there is no time left for housekeeping, cooking, or laundry. It's a good thing my girls have an insane amount of clothes!

In case you are wondering, this is just my girls winter clothes and it took me FIVE loads to wash them all. This picture does not show how huge this pile really was. I think it's time to get rid of some, don't you?

Page 136 - Famous Aggie

What made me happy today?

My mommy :)

No one on this planet loves me more than she.
She knows one of my favorite ice creams is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough by Famous Aggie ice cream. It's made at the Utah State University and only sold at a few places here in Utah - all WAY too far of a drive for me.

My mom and dad were out by Utah State this weekend camping and on the way home they stopped by with a surprise for me - a half gallon of ice cream!

Thanks mom, you are the best.

Page 135 - Wedding Day

What made me happy today?

There is just something AMAZING about shooting a wedding and feeling LOTS of love.

It's addictive.


Not to mention the killer backdrop the Salt Lake LDS temple is!

Page 134 - The Potty Train

What made me happy today?

My 2 1/2 year old asking me if she could go on the "Potty Train".

Not working so far, we'll see how long it lasts!

Page 133 - Wizard Of Oz

What made me happy today?

Watching my sweet Abby play a munchkin in "The Wonderfully Wicked Wizard Of Oz" today.

Page 132 - Mary Kay

What made me happy today?

I got to hang out with 3 of my sister-in-laws and niece for a Mary Kay color class. One of my sisters has become a Mary Kay consultant and we all went to support her.

I got lucky and won a lip gloss - yea me!

Page 131 - Weird

What made me happy today?

Abby.

"Mommy, do I look weird like this?"

Page 130 - Cookie

What made me happy today?

My son saw I was having a rough day and made me cookies :)

Page 129 - M O M

What made me happy today?

Mom.

We woke up super early, drove down to Zions Canyon and spent the day with my
mom and dad. We went to church, ate super yummy food, and played at a park.

Then we drove home. A long day - yes. Was it worth it?

Absotivalutely.


This is my mom. She is 64 and still acts like she is 18. I love this woman.
It's because of her I am who I am today.

Page 128 - Wrestling

What made me happy today?

Watching my kids wrestling on the ground.

I wanted to create the feeling you get when wrestling on the ground with the room spinning so I got down on the floor, turned my camera upside down, and took this.

Page 127 - IRON MAN

What made me happy today?

Going to see the first showing of Iron Man 2 with my hubby, my son, my baby brother and his amazing wife.

It has to be said that there is something insanely HOT about a man wearing a read metal suit with big guns :)

I sneaked my camera in so I could get this shot. It's the actual opening title on the screen - talk about one chance to get the shot!

Page 126 - Monster

What made me happy today?

Monster. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Obviously makes my son happy too since I caught him sneaking a snip!

Page 125 - Zoo

What made me happy today?

I went to the zoo with my daughter's kindergarten class. I know you may think it's crazy that spending the day at the zoo with hundreds and hundreds of kindergartners couldn't possibly make me happy.

Realistically, I had my "What the heck was I thinking when I volunteered for this?" moments but there were some happy moments too. Here is one of them.

Page 124 pt.2 - A Different Side of Me

What made me happy today?

I went to dinner with one of my friends to do a taping for Local Joints TV at Salsa Leedos. We ordered lots of yummy food and I got a strawberry pina colada (yes, it was virgin!)

When it came time to interview me, I stuck on a sombrero and got really goofy. I can act a little strange and the funniest part is I have never had a drink of alcohol ever in my life!

When I was a teenager I used to say I was high on life. Yes, I am admitting I am a dork.

Thanks Andrea for taking the pic for me. I know, I'm cheating. I did take pictures myself but this month is about making me happy and this picture makes me happy.

Page 124 pt.1 - Trying to love the skin I'm in

What made me happy today?

Stephanie Nielson's story of love, survival, and acceptance.

If the video is taking too long to load, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E

I struggle with the signs of getting older - the wrinkles, the weight that is harder to lose and keep off, the gray hairs that are popping out everywhere.

I know I say these things at the risk of sounding vain but you cannot deny that we live in a world that places so much value on youth and outer beauty. My whole life I have been judged by how I look and for so long believed my only worth was in how I looked.

Seeing Stephanie's story is a reminder helping me to see otherwise. To borrow a quote from her story and changing it to fit me,

" I am Suzanne, and I am not my body"

Since there is no picture to go with this, I will be posting one later as well.

Page 123 - Home Movies

What made me happy today?

I downloaded all the home movies we have taken on our point and shoot. Happy memories.

Here is one of my Little Lu at Disneyland

Page 122 - Scott

What made me happy today?

A friend, Scott Jarvie came over for dinner and he, my sister-in-law Chalyn, and I sat at the table talking and playing games on his IPad. I haven't seen Scott forever and it was nice to hang out again.

Page 121 - Happiness

Lately I have been struggling to find happiness.

When I was little my mom gave me this little ceramic butterfly container and on the lid it reads,

"Happiness, like a butterfly, settles upon you when you least expect it."

For the month of May I want my photo for each day to be something that made (makes) me happy. I am very blessed and have so much to be grateful for so I am hoping that if I focus on the little moments that make me happy, life will be a happier place to live in.