2012 Yearbook Photos

Deciding which photos to show 

you proved to be a tricky task!

Here’s a quick look at what we did in 2012!

Mornings in January- Before Jo was in school.

Brooklyn's birthday, 3 years old.

Jazz Game

Kyle meets Kellen Moore- dream come true!

Spring Dance Recitals

   

Little Best Buddies

School Portraits, Fall 2012

Mr. T-Ball

Finally getting a little hair!

Catelyn and Best Friend MaKyra baking cookies

Swagger, 9 months old

New Bikes!  July 24th

There are no words....  Its all fun and games around here.

Catelyn's First Eye Exam

Happy Birthday Swagger, August 22-- 1 year old

Family Staycation- Everywhere we took the kids, we blindfolded  them to make it more exciting!

Enjoying Raspberry Jam that they helped to make!

Family Swimming, Rexburg Rapids

First Day of School

Brooklyn's first experience with a calf licking her.

Sibling Day at Lagoon, September

Corn Harvest 2012 TALLEST CORN EVER!!!

First Day of Joy School

Another Dentist Appointment.  This kid likes them. Weirdo.

Brooklyn has a funny habit of falling asleep in the weirdest ways.

Boise Temple Open House, October

Our little BSU Fan

Baby Witch, Ballerina, Dorothy, and a WWF guy, Halloween 2012

December 1st- First Solo Dance Competition- Took 2nd Place

Jocelyn's First Lost Tooth

Ward Party Night- A Night in Bethlehem- Catelyn

Party attenders enjoyed that Bishop Larsen was serving the "wine"

Bethlehem Locals

Seeing Santa, Dec. 13

Merry Christmas, 

with love,

The Larsens

35 years

It's my birthday. 

I want to remember that I hugged my kids several times.  And everyone of them said "happy birthday"except for Brooklyn.  She just wouldn't say it.  She said she would "when the kids get home from school".  Silly three year olds.

But then while we were going to lunch with Kyle, she just blurted it out.  We all laughed.

I want to remember that Jocelyn and her little bff Paige drew me pictures that said "happy birthday" and had art work all over them for me.

And I want to remember that Catelyn and Landon hugged me and are trying to be secretly helpful and surprise me...with cleaning and such.

Kyle and I are going to the Melaleuca Christmas party with our friends the Parkers this evening and Blaine is going to watch the kids.

I want to remember I had over 46 birthday wishes on my facebook wall and it's only 3pm.  I want to remember that I do have friends who care about me, and have texted or called and not just said happy birthday on my 'wall', but who have taken extra time to do a little more for me.

And I want to remember that while it's my birthday  and I have chocolate to eat, I have to still be "Mom" and  need to stop a small fight between the little girls.....

Jocelyn: You're not going to die!
Brooklyn: I want mommy!!!  Mom! Jo Jo is being mean!!!!

Of Munchkins and Ozians

I've been MIA.

Big time.

Back in April, I decided to audition for the local Art Council's fall musical,

 because they were doing The Wizard of Oz.

I took Catelyn and Landon with me, and we became Munchkins.  I was one of two adults in Munchkin Land! 

And I also got a part as an Ozian. 

Summer flew by.

And then in August, we began rehearsals.
I November, we fell off the recognizable face of Home.

 

 

But NOW?

its over.
the makeup. the dresses. the massive hair bows. the hoop slips. the shoes. the singing. the dancing. the green hair. the snowflake umbrellas. the bush umbrellas. the spooks. the jitterbugs. the face paint. the glitter. the fake eyelashes. the costumes changes. even the backstage buzz. and let's not forget the food. BUT......

the friendships?
NEVER.

the memories?
No way. 

As I look back at where November went, 

I realize about half of it when to The Wizard of Oz!

Starting on Thursday, November 1, until Tuesday, November 13- Catelyn, Landon and I spent roughly 36-40 hours working on and practicing and performing the show.  In the span of 13 days, we were gone 10 of those nights.

The little girls wanted their mother back in a bad way.

Catelyn and Landon got to sleep in until 10 every morning of the show, making them late for school a few times.  All three of us were sick with something at some point during the first 13 days of November.  We healed quickly with the help of good doctors and medicines.  So I had to mix in three trips to the doctor in between all the hustle and bustle of the show.

I made food every day for the cast. Had a few  recipes requested from fellow Ozians, which I managed to blog in the wee hours of the night, which made me feel good on top of the fun I was having.

Plus I fed my family before we left for the night.

Will I do it again?  HECK YES.

But not until the little girls are old enough to come with me.  I didn't enjoy leaving them behind.  

And I'm going to make Kyle do it with us.

Was it the funnest?  ABSOLUTELY.

Do I miss it? NO.

I DO miss the cute teenagers and fun adults like crazy.  Take some of the most silly, talented, extroverted, wild people you know and put them in a room together and you have the cast of the WOZ.  With the exception of maybe one or two people, who I STILL am wondering about- 

how did they ever get into this show? They were so quiet!-

Some of the closest friends I made during include: 

Klurisa, McKell, Molly, Cabe, Alayna and Paula, Chance and Easton, Dayia, Lisa, Megan, Bryon and Dustin, Kennidee, Savannah, Samantha and Bailey, Sharee, Lauren, and Joy .

Catelyn and Landon made new friends too.  Which was half the point for them

 in my including them in the madness.

I felt a closeness to Catelyn and Landon that I don't think I would have experienced without the show. And now that it's over, I'm grateful that it worked into our lives, even with the strain it put on Kyle and the little girls. Which is why I would absolutely do this again.  That kind bonding -over songs and the silliness of the show- is something I don't think one can get from any basketball game, TV show, dance recital, or board game. I was filled with heart wrenching pride, I admit it, when I watched Landon as part of the Lollipop guild- 

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

My heart and smile grew every time I was able to catch Catelyn's eyes from her place in the aisle.  And her smile grew too. And she had to try hard not to wave at me.

Yeah, it was epic for us.
Here's a few photos:

Awesome hair pieces by Serene!

 

Dress Rehearsal?  Who knows.  I lost track of it all.

Snowflake or Snow Angel?  I'm still not sure.

 Jack Sparrow

That about wraps it up for photos.  I had to steal a few off Facebook, so they're not great quality, but oh well.

I do not know how I didn't get downstairs to photograph my munchkins. And how I didn't shots of everyone!  It makes me ill.

I'm trying to find a hole to crawl into about not having any other photos of Landon and Cate then the TWO you see on here.  I'm dying. EPIC FAIL as a MOTHER. I've put out a plea if anyone has a photo or two of them, to please share them with me.  But I may never have anything more than these two shots as proof that my oldest two children were in the Wizard of Oz as kids.

It's really eating my insides up.

It's been more than a week and the songs have yet to die off.

The little girls know them all by heart too now, and this is a 'status update' I posted on facebook yesterday:

IN THE FRONT ROOM:
Brooklyn, 3 years old: "Dingdongthewitchesdeaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Witch o witch? Which o' witch? Dingdongthewichessdeeeeead!"

Jocelyn, 5 years old: "No! Brooklyn's that's not right!" Proceeds to sing it correctly...

IN THE KITCHEN:
Me, to Kyle: "How much longer do you think they're gunna be singing these songs?"

Kyle: "Oh, I give it another two days."

Me, seriously confused and sarcastic: "That's all? Yeah, right."

Kyle: "Well, when do you plan to turn the Christmas music on, then? The sooner you do, the faster their tunes will change to the obnoxious rounds of "Batman Smells" and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", and (our favorite) .....................

"Dashing through the trees,
with a pair of broken skis,
the snow is turning red,
I think I'm nearly dead!
Ooooooh 9-1-1!
9-1-1!
Help is on the waaaaayyyyy!"

DON'T WORRY.  I'm still writing EDITING.  I had a few kids in the show help me with some ideas for easy editing stuff- But the best part about trying to edit while doing a this show? The 15 year old boy who kept reading the MS, and his confession that he LIKED it!!!  Along with the few other fans I collected! 

I've gotta be one of the extroverted writers, huh?

The Blurb

UPDATE: April 17, 2013.  This is no longer my blurb at all. But I won't delete the post just because my first version of my blurb doesn't work.  Oh no, we'll let it ride the internet wave forever, I guess.

The Blurb.  Also known as the "Book's Description" or "Book Summary" can be found on the back of the book's jacket or on the flap on the inside.

Mine is a work in progress.  

And when people ask me, "What's your book about?" my mind craves to recite the blurb, but instead my mouth goes dry, my heart races and I feel a tightness in my chest, while I stare back at them in silence.

I am not good at condensing my thoughts down or narrowing out what's most important on the spot like that. So being able to quickly recite the "Blurb" or "Book's Description" from the back of the jacket would be ideal, in my opinion, but I haven't really had one.

The following is part of what I first wrote when I designed my website, and the book's page.  It still rings 98% accurate and true to my story's plot, so it must be the best description thus far, as it's etched in my heart as such.

So this is it.  The few words that I've penned and re-thought and edited about as many times as I've been asked about my novel. 

Maybe I should work at memorizing them.... 


Most people either don't know or ignore the truth about Cupid. Vindictive, cruel and jealous, he has been leading humanity down the path of meager infatuation and lust.  Lacking power to truly match lovers, Cupid, also known as Eros, enjoys destroying love at any cost.

His human lover, Psyche, becomes an unforeseen catalyst, when she  gives birth to his son, who has the power to truly match lovers. The war between Love and Lust erupts when Eros discovers his son's gift.
 
Hundreds of years later, with society saturated in sexuality, Lenox Landon discovers his family tie to the Greek god Eros, and is thrusted into the war between Love and Lust. Determination to reclaim his fallen brother will test his own convictions and may cost him the heart of the only girl to see past his good looks.

101 Thousand Plus Words Later

If I were the "let's-get-sloshed-I'm-so-happy" kind, I'd be buying rounds for everyone.

Today, September 14th, 2012,I finished my first draft manuscript.

It's painfully raw, and needs so much polishing and editing. But it's done.

I know I want to rewrite the beginning.  And I know just where to start.

I know I want to add a small scene in the middle of the middle to show recommittment to the goal for Lenox. Plus, it's Valentines!

And an Epilogue.

So, let's pretend for a moment.  I'm buyin'.

Going Through H-e-double-hockey-sticks

I'm working on a scene that has me shaking in my boots.  {Well, more like my flip flops, because I don't own boots.  Yet.} While doing some online research, I came across a perfectly creepy disturbing "Closer" location to use for where they're holding Hartman.

It gives me a sick stomach to even think about it.

Anyway, this tasty country music (yee haw!!!) song called: If You're Going Through Hell, by Rodney Atkins makes me smile because, while the tune and feel of the song isn't dark like the Closer world, it works well for me for Lenox and Rozlyn in regards to getting in there and getting out, with Hartman in tow.

Maybe it's because it's fair time, here in Idaho Falls.
But it's harvest season, which includes things like corn on the cob, corn dogs, cotton candy, cows, and cowboys.

These few stanzas are the ones that work well, like Rodney's talking to Lenox and Rozlyn, you know?

If you're goin' through hell keep on going
Don't slow down if you're scared don't show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there

I've been deep down in that darkness
I've been down to my last match
Felt a hundred different demons breathin' fire down my back
And I knew that if I stumbled I'd fall right into the trap
That they were layin'

But the good news is there's angels everywhere out on the street
Holdin' out a hand to pull you back up on your feet
The ones that you've been draggin' for so long
You're on your knees might as well be prayin'
Guess what I'm sayin'


If you're goin' through hell keep on going
Don't slow down if you're scared don't show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there
When you're goin' through hell keep on movin'
Face that fire walk right through it
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there

If you're goin' through hell keep on going
Don't slow down if you're scared don't show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there
When you're goin' through hell keep on movin'
Face that fire walk right through it
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there

D40 Drama

*sniff sniff*

*a teardrop silently falls*

Well, my camera died.  I was happily taking photos of the kids at Kiwi Loco, and BAM! It just stopped.  I thought my battery was dead.  'Cause it would be like me to forget to charge it.

Instead, I saw this image:

 

Confusion registering on my face, I felt my eyebrows pinch together as I pressed the shutter button, again and again, and again.  Nothing.

I felt a panicking scream rising in my throat, but remained calm in front of all the patrons of the local yogurt shop.  Even though I know the owner, I'm pretty sure my freaking out in front of everyone would be frowned upon.

I swiftly walked out to the car, with kids in tow, and drove to the local camera guy's store.  {I can't stand his stinkin' guts, but hands down, he knows his cameras.}  Taking a deep swallow and pushing down vomit and pride, I entered his store.  Thankfully he wasn't there, and I got to work with one of his employees.

Diagnosis?  It's pretty much history.  I can send it in to a repair place, in Boise, but most likely it's not worth repairing and D40's have a history of doing this.

*sniff sniff*

We had a good 5 years, me and my D40.  This November, would have celebrated it's 6th birthday.

I'm in shock still, and worried about all the photo ops I'm missing.  What about Back to School night and taking my kids school photos?  What about Swagger's 1st birthday? What about those few senior photo shoots I do? What about Jocelyn going to Kindergarten?  What about Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas?  I don't do well with the thought of only capturing those memories in words.

I've even lost sleep over it. What a thing it would be to go out and drop a grand on a new Nikon body so I can just keep going, but that's just not an option right now.

I made the hilarious mistake of asking a close friend, who is selling his Nikon camera, but not his lenses, this:

"So how much are you selling your body for?"  That generated a laugh, but the only one in regards to this whole camera loss.

What I am going to do?