Notes She Wrote

Kisses & Goodbyes

2012-05-24T09:54:00.002-07:00

"Lukie said he's going to kiss you and he's never going to wipe it off."

"With your red lipstick!"

"He says he gonna marry you."

Some adorable little, giggly girls were telling me these things before my ballroom recital last night.

Luke is a three year old who I've baby-sitted a few times.

He comes up to me every once in a while at church telling me I'm beautiful and that he wants to marry me. And I can't help but giggle myself.

He's too cute.

At the end of the recital I asked if we could take a picture together and if I could kiss him on the cheek.

He just looked at me speechless.

I'm glad I decided to just go for it. haha. ;D

Isn't this picture sweet??

This recital was actually our last. :(

Our dance teacher, the woman who inspired me to be a dancer, is moving away across the ocean this summer,

just like a lot of my other favorite people...

Saying goodbye to her is going to be very hard for all of us.

Here are a few of the dances I performed.

They're not the best quality, or have the best angle, but I know you sisters want to see them.

So here's Bryant and me dancing a Swing to "Dance With Me Tonight" by the Wonders:

And Myles Lacy and me dancing a Viennese Waltz to "Once Upon a December" from the Anastasia Soundtrack:

Total, true, love,

Lissie

House Tour & Christmas.

2012-05-23T09:32:00.001-07:00

I'll start with my favorite part of the house:

That fireplace.

I'm listening to pandora's Michael Buble Holiday station cause I cannot wait for Christmas. And dangling stockings. And a mantel decorated with pretty Christmas things.

Also if you ask Annabelle where Santa lives, she excitedly points to the fireplace. Haha.

She's going to explode with excitement when it's actually that time of year.

OK, here's where we'll sit sipping hot cocoa while watching snow flakes cover Utah Valley.

Too soon? K, I'm done.

My kitchen.

Man, have I been missing out.

I love my kitchen :)

And little A's room.

I finally hung her canopy last night and it just makes everything so whimsical. Can't wait to see her tiny body sleep in that big bed!!

And that's all you get.

You're gonna have to come visit me to see the rest...

Christmas at my house?! :D

love you lots, emma.

Guess what came in the mail for me....

2012-05-22T21:22:00.001-07:00

Source: wenhaircare.com via Yolanda on Pinterest

Not to brag or anything, but I got WEN for Mother's Day and it finally came in the mail on Monday!!!!! So far I've used it twice now and can I already say that I am never going back to any other kind of shampoo? This stuff leaves my hair so soft and shiny. I can even let it air dry. And just wear it down. Just like that. That's saying a lot if you know my hair. It didn't take my little flyaways away completely, but I think with time it will just get less frizzy and less frizzy. I'm pretty much thrilled already and I've only used it twice. Best Mother's Day gift ever. Have I mentioned that I love that holiday? ;)

Anyway, if everything goes as I think it will and my hair gradually turns into celebrity hair like I'm anticipating, then I guess I'll just have to post some pictures of it, right?! hehe, so yes, I will post pictures of my hair soon :)

love you girls :)

love, Lulu

It's Raining, It's Pouring

2012-05-21T16:13:00.002-07:00

We've devoured some glorious sunshine lately, but this week we've got a forecast of buckets and buckets of rainfall. That's okay, though. It's fun to stay inside and hibernate every once in awhile, as long as it doesn't last too long!

And to bring summer to us on a year-round basis, I finally got pictures into the frames of my wall collage. Man, it makes me smile every time I walk up or down the stairs, which adds up to a lot of smiling! I still want to add some frames to the collage, but what a happy start this has been! And I'm sorry these aren't the clearest pictures in the world because, like I said, it's dark and dreary in my house right now, plus I shot these pretty wide open on my camera. All the more reason for each of you to come and visit me and see it in person!

Sidenote: Hubs and I are on a major home improvement kick, and I love it! Last night we talked about finishing up some painting projects, putting in a flower bed out front, staining the fence. It's fun! Do you guys have any projects up your sleeve?

XOXO,

Marie

Bum.

2012-05-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have been such a bum lately.

And I have pictures to prove it...Yay!...

The month of May is just so extremely busy for me that I sometimes get a little delusional and decide it's okay to go to school wearing a dirty hoodie, with crappy hair and no make-up.

And for some ridiculous reason my friends thought that was the perfect time to take pictures.

We never take pictures.

And yes, we definitely had that typical discussion determining whether or not these pictures were facebook-worthy and we definitely came to the conclusion that they definitely weren't.

Seriously, that conclusion was a no-brainer.

I'm eating a cupcake and licking the frosting off of my fingers!

But nonetheless, these photos were all downloaded off of facebook.

And this scene from Lilo & Stitch was the first thing that ran through my mind when they popped up on my news-feed.

Total, true, love,
Lissie

Phone Date!

2012-05-16T20:27:00.002-07:00

There's a picture of all of us sisters on our coffee table that Annabelle holds in her lap every day. She sits there and points to: Lis-sie, Mommy, Wu-Wu, Ma-wee.

We really miss you guys!!

Phone date soon?

love you lots, emma.

Manual focus

2012-05-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

I might be a little slow, but I just recently figured out how to use my manual focus.

And I can't believe how much fun it is!

That's what happens when you start playing around with filming with a DSLR. You have to manual focus.

It's a little bit tricky to get a hang of it, and I'm still getting a hang of it, but I think once you've mastered it, you probably have so many more options at your finger tips!

For example, have you ever wondered how to make your entire picture blurry/ have nothing in focus?

I always wondered this. I'm sure I could have just figured it out if I had googled it, but I never did. So I just eventually happened to figure it out.

All you have to do it adjust the manual focus to the desired blurriness and then take the picture.

Here's my simple example:

Sometimes it's nice to have everything in your picture out of focus, especially when there's bokeh involved, because it gives it a dream-like feel :)

That's another good thing about manual focus. No matter what lens you have, or how close you get to your subject, with manual focus, if you push down on the shutter, it will always take the picture!

This is really useful to know when you're trying to take really really close up shots! Because with the lens that I have, the 50 mm 1.8, when using auto focus, it will only let you get so close to your subject. If you get too close it just won't even take a picture. You push down on your shutter and nothing. Which is super annoying.

So, next time that happens, now you know to switch to manual focus ;)

Those are the two things that I know about manual focus. Maybe it will help you like it's helped me :)

And if you have any manual-focusing secrets for me, please share :)

love, Lulu

Happy

2012-05-14T14:20:00.001-07:00

I hope you girls all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday! I can't believe three out of the four of us are mothers! I also can't believe that I have three kids! Being a mom is so wonderful and I'm grateful that I got a photo of me with each of my cutie pies yesterday. It was a beautiful day in every sense of the word, and I'm so happy they're mine forever.

XOXO, Marie

Thank you, Mom

2012-05-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

Mom,

I tear up just thinking about all the ways that I'm grateful for you.

My childhood is filled with only the sweetest memories, something I hope for my own children. I hope to be kind, loving, understanding, and Christlike - the kind of mother that you always have been.

You are so amazing, Mom! I thought I loved you as a child, but now as I enter into motherhood myself, it's hard for me to express all the love and respect I have for you now.

I am so grateful for you, Mom.

I hope this mother's day is so special for you, because you are so special to me!

I love you forever,

-Emily

Mom,
I am in my late twenties now, and throughout all the cycles and chapters of my growth, I have never, and I'm certain I will never, love another soul as deeply as I do yours. That pure and perfect connection that my infancy was so luckily born into is, in my best imagination, described as cosmic in nature. The entirety of my life will never achieve that unfounded, beautiful love I was graced into, and I'm grateful. I love you, Mom. I wish I could re-gift to you everything you have given me... If I wanted to be dramatic I could say that the whole of my life since has been in search of those first moments you loved me. I haven't forgotten, and I love you too.
-Matthew

Dear Mom,

Every year I want to write you the most special Mother's Day note, and every year I feel like there are not enough words in the English dictionary! Really, you are the best mom! Remember when I was in the 9th grade, and right before heading to bed one night I asked you to pretty-please sew me some pajama bottoms because I was worried about having cute PJs for Pajama Day the very next morning? So often, right after I put my girls to bed, I think about how incredible it was that you said yes to that request! If you felt anything like I do after a busy day of being a mom, you were probably so exhausted, and if not exhausted, anxious to tackle your own personal projects. You had seven kids, but you said yes! And that's one of the things I love most about you, you don't seem to bat an eye when it comes to going the extra mile or making personal sacrifices for us kids. Thank you for giving me such an ideal childhood and for being the kind of mom that I can look up to and want to be like. I love you so, so much!

We all do.

Love, Marie

Thank you for being the best mom I could ask for. I wouldn't know what to do without you. Love, Bryant.

Mom,

I want you to know how truly lucky I feel that God let me be a daughter of such a perfect mom. You are so lovely and selfless; you’re all the role model I’ll ever need! I can’t, nor do I want to, imagine what life would be like without you. You make me want to be a better person, and I know that all the good I have within myself comes from having the best mom in the world. Thank you.

I love you and I’ll love you forever,

Elisabeth

I love you mom and I could never ask for better. Thank you for being. Love, Christian

Thank you, mom, for being such an amazing example to me!

I hope that one day I will be the kind of mom you are to me. I hope to be like you as I raise Cole and all of my future children; the kind of mom who always stands up for her children, protects them, teaches them right from wrong, loves them unconditionally.

You might not remember this seemingly silly incident, but I will always remember it!

I was home from college for the summer and some friends that I worked with in Utah were touring through Europe, and we let them stay at our house for a couple nights. One evening, after we had finished dinner, the whole family and my friends were just chatting away, telling stories around the dinner table, having fun. After a few silly stories had been shared, you looked to dad and said:

"Why don't you share the story about when Emma prank called Lauren?"

It seemed like the perfect story to share; it hadn't happened too long ago; my friends would appreciate it since they worked with me, and Emma had prank called me at work.

Yes, it was absolutely hilarious when Emma prank called me and had a good 20 minute conversation with me imitating some air-headed lady with a southern accent asking me about hard-drives or what not. I completely bought it and didn't know it was a prank until she called me back, as herself. Gullible. You can call me that. I didn't tell anyone at work what had happened because I just felt embarrassed. I didn't want my co-workers to know!

So when you told dad to start telling the story, which in any other setting I probably wouldn't have minded it being told, I gave you this look and shook my head and mouthed "no!" I remember the look of puzzlement on your face, but without knowing why, you immediately said: "Tracy, nevermind." And the both of you just dropped it, just like that.

I remember being SO grateful for you, and for dad. It probably wouldn't have been the end of the world if my co-workers had heard the silly prank call story. I might have looked dumb in front of them for 2 seconds, and it would have been forgotten, but you respected me and immediately dropped it without knowing why. I want to be a mom like that. One that knows her children so well, one who respects, one who protects, one who loves, one like you.

Thank you for your example, mom! Thank you for your love! I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day!

love, Lauren

Prom

2012-05-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

I missed my prom while I was in the states this past April,

but luckily they decided to have a Mormon Prom right after I got back.

And I went Full.Out.

I had a big puffy tulle ballerina skirt that my amazing mother made me,

Platform nude heels,

Fancy lace shirt,

Ballerina bun,

Pearls,

& of course,

Red lipstick <3

PERRRR-FECTION.

Needless to say we had tons of fun at the photo booth!

I'm beginning to prefer this over prom in a castle...

I know, cray-cray.

Hope you guys are starting a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

Total, true, love,

Lissie

Summer Has Arrived!

2012-05-09T13:19:00.001-07:00

We went out to the lake last w/e for a friend's birthday.

And lucky for us the wind kept every other living soul indoors, so we had glassy-sweet water.

I even braved some wake-boarding.

Which every bone in my body regretted the next day.

We're still getting settled in this new place.

I really just need to set a date for our house-warming party, that way this place'll HAVE to get clean.

You guys all comin'?

love you lots, emma.

Once upon a time....

2012-05-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Emma found this adorable pin on Pinterest of a mother and daughter giving each other sweet kisses while sitting in the middle of a field:
awwww

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

And then we scrolled all the way down to the bottom of the picture and realized:
She isn't wearing any pants. THE MOM isn't wearing any pants!!!!
What in the world? Why isn't she wearing pants?! I still can't figure it out!

Anyway, Emma wanted her picture taken the same way. Which we did when I was there.
And I have to say I like this picture better, if for no other reason than that Emma is wearing a skirt :)

But seriously, aren't they so cute? :)
You can see all of Emma's family pictures here!

A Kiss for Grandpa

2012-05-07T06:54:00.002-07:00

I'm still sifting through pictures from our girl reunion last month! Can you believe it was last month that it happened? Crazy. Seems like yesterday.

Anyway, as many restaurants as there are to choose from in UT, we managed to have lunch at Kneaders twice. Their smoothies were delicious and I am now in love with an artichoke panini number I had there.

After our bellies were nice and full on Saturday, we caught a few hours of super fun shopping! We mainly hit up F21 where Mom spoiled us and bought us each a few love gifts. Next we went to Sephora where we all had fun playing makeup. :)

Last, but not least, we went to a family gathering at my grandparent's house where we got to see so many loved ones! I LOVE that last photo of us giving our sweet grandpa a big grandaughter-ly smooch!

What a wonderful Saturday it was!

XOXO, Marie

Wedding Band

2012-05-03T15:14:00.001-07:00

That's me playing a song for my best friend at her wedding reception.

Her wedding was just like we always talked about.

She married a cowboy.

I was her maid of honor.

The wedding was in the Spring.

She wore a gorgeous empire-waist, flowing dress.

And I played a Taylor Swift song. (our favorite)

It. was. perfect.

I am beyond happy for Erin Marie Lisonbee. :)

Watch this sweet video of her siblings playing for her while she danced with her husband. <3

Now her siblings and I want to form a wedding band.

Call us if you want us! ;)

I miss you, sisters!

Total, true, love, Lissie

Moving.

2012-05-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

We moved.
And everything's in boxes.

The only room that is put together is my kitchen - oh, my beautiful kitchen.

So as soon as this place is squeaky clean, I'll give you all a grand tour.

But for now, enjoy these two little cuties on a yogurt-raisin picnic :)

Picture by: LuLu.

love you lots, emma.

Recap

2012-05-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is old news but instagram was recently made available on android and I made very good use of it while on my trip to Utah! Even if my camera phone is crappy compared to all you other iphone-ers (3.2 megapixels?? seriously?) I love instagram and to say I took a bunch of pictures on the trip is an understatement :) I also took a million pictures with my real camera on top of that ;)

I realized after I went through them that I didn't get a single picture with my adorable niece Annabelle. I'm such an awful auntie. But she did eventually give me kisses. Emma can back me up on that one :)

Just a few things we did on this trip included:

*shopping

*sisters photoshoot

*shadowed Marie while she did a family photoshoot of our cousins

*Allred family get-together. (that picture frame above is of my parents shortly after they were married. Adorable :)

*more shopping

*Bean museum visit.

*Cole and Annabelle spent a good 20 minutes playing in a box together

*NOT sleeping in :/

*lots of sky/mountain picture-taking. I couldn't help it. I've been in Texas too long :)

*meeting up with old friends for brunch

*road tripping to Manti for a wedding

*and lastly, we spent our last little bit of time with Lissie and Mom at Target today. Then they flew home to Germany :(

It was a fun trip and I have no idea when it will happen again! Hopefully sooner than later! I already miss all of you!

love, Lulu

Fairy Orchard Part 2

2012-04-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

I must go to bed and should not be held accountable for what is written because my brain is dead. But here we are putting our model faces on. :) And can you find my mom in this crowd? Isn't she a beauty? Her graduation was the whole reason us girls got together. We love her, and we're so sad this party is over. She and Lissie are on a plane back to Germany as we speak. :(

XOXO, Marie

Mingo

2012-04-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Mingo is that white horse above.

I love him.

I first met him in 2009 and have been dying to go riding again ever since.

It took THREE years!!

Cray Cray.

We were in Idaho for a few days last week.

With no internet.

(hence the missing post from dear Emma and I ;)

But that's okay because we got to be my most favorite thing to be:

COWGIRLS!

Here we are with my cousin, Cameron.

We had lots of fun and I can't wait to go again!

Hopefully it doesn't take another three years.

Miss my cowboy family and horses already. :(

Total, true, love,

Lissie

Little Annie & Her Nanny

2012-04-25T21:12:00.001-07:00

She dresses her in the mornings.

And reads her books.

She takes her on walks.

Tickles her all day long.

Changes her diaper when she pees on her mom. (so presh!)

Teaches her ballet.

Snuggles her when she's sleepy.

Gets kisses from her constantly!

And has taught her a whooole new kinda vocabulary!

"You cray-cray, Yo!, Hey Girl!, Peace Out, Oooh Lala, Whoooo!, Call me!, I'm hot!"

Basically Aunt Lissie needs to stay. And be little Annie's nanny!!

Luckily she comes to school here next summer and can quickly resume her nanny-responsibilities.

We love you Aunt Lissie!

love you lots, emma.

Snow capped mountains and fairy orchards

2012-04-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Every time I come to Utah, I forget how much I love the mountains! And how much I missed them! They are so pretty! And as a result I have taken about a million of the exact same picture above :)

This trip has been so fun so far! I feel so lucky and blessed that I am able to be on this trip with my family and that I got to see all of my sisters and my mom!!

Our sisters photoshoot was a blast! Not only do I LOVE the skirts my mom made (she.is.AMAZING!) but there's just something so fun about getting ready together, going to a fairy orchard (pictured above) and taking fairy/elf/hippie/sister pictures. You take your pick ;) A flower garland around your forehead seems to fit into all four of those categories ;)

What I've especially loved though, is watching Cole and Annabelle play together!! They have so much fun together and will chase each other back and forth :) I need to remind myself to get more pictures of that!

I'm sure there will be many more pictures from this trip to come but I thought I'd leave you with that.

love, Lulu

Matching Skirts!

2012-04-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

So, here's where we've been. Mom graduated on Friday with her Bachelors Degree, so we all went down to UT to celebrate with her and have a girl reunion! It was awesome. I could only stay for the weekend, so the others are still down there partying without me. And by partying, I mean watching American Idol, dreaming up baby names for future children, taking a gazillion pictures, shopping, massage trains...etc. (We do know how to party.)

And Mom made us all wrap-around skirts! So here's three random pictures that caught my eye from the shoot of us wearing them in the orchard. Isn't she so sweet and talented? She also took the group shots! Anyway, I just got home tonight so there wasn't time to edit more, but I'm sure you'll be sick of these pictures by the time we're done posting them! :)

XOXO, Marie

Lissie's dance pictures

2012-04-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I stuck to the agenda about about 50% of the time while mom and Lissie were with me last Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

I did make my favorite meal: asparagus, potatoes and salmon. But I'm pretty sure Lissie didn't like it. #fail

Am I right Lissie?!?! ;) Mom did though!

We all went to bed at 9 pm so we had to pass on the frozen banana+cocoa powder+almond milk smoothie for dessert since there wasn't any time for dessert :/

I didn't get any pictures of them in the bluebonnets (and they're all dead now :/) but I did get some pictures of Cole with his grandma although it wasn't a photoshoot out in the bluebonnets like I had planned. They're way cute though!

And I completely forgot to make waffles in the morning for breakfast!!! This was the biggest fail because I was totally looking forward to feeding them my waffles :(

I did make my mom green smoothie and she liked it. Lissie looked at it and said: "It really is green." Hehe. Yep. :)

I did however succeed in taking Lissie's dance pictures!!! The ones above are probably my personal favorites!! Although I loved all of them! See them all here if you haven't already. I've kind of posted them everywhere now haha. Lissie is just too cute like that.

love, Lulu

VLOG: Sock Bun on Thin Hair...

2012-04-16T19:14:00.003-07:00

For quite awhile now, I've wanted to try out the famous sock bun trick, but I just didn't think I had enough hair. And I was right, I don't! It was fun to try out anyway, though! Do tell if you have any hair secrets for us girls with thin hair. Sometimes I want hair extensions so bad!

XOXO, Marie

Lovin' this place called America

2012-04-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

I'm here! I'm finally here!

Mom and I first landed in Texas and stayed the night at Lulu's. We didn't get any pictures together though...can you believe it?? We'll have to take tons when she comes to Utah in a week!

Lulu and I got straight to business and did an awesome dance shoot. I think she'll be posting some this weekend! :)

We got to Utah this afternoon.

Emma made us a sign!

Nobody's ever done that for me before. :)

Annie has been the cutest!

Is this picture not absolutely adorable?? AH! I love it!

And after 1 year 4 months and 19 days I finally got to see my best friend, Erin Clark, again!

I missed her so much!!!

Can't wait for her wedding in a few weeks!

We've only been talking about that day since we were like 12!

Only 7 more days 'til I see the rest of you!

Then PARTAY!

Total,true, love,

Lissie

15 Hours

2012-04-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Fifteen Hours and counting.

Sorry this post is so late. I've been scrubbing the floors, and dusting the curtains.

Much like your own real life Cinderella.

And it's so worth it.

Cannot wait to pick them up from the airport!

I'm working on a poster now.

And it will most likely read:

Pretty Little Thangs -

Right This Way!

Mom's gonna love it. I know.

I really need to get back to the house cleaning.

But this girl sure can't wait to see her Grandma and Aunt Lissie :)

love you lots, emma.