My little man has started kindergarten.

The week went really well, until today.

I received a phone call from the school office.
When I saw the caller ID, my thought was "Oh man, we didn't even last a whole week without a phone call home."

So I answered.

"Mrs. Murdock, this is Mrs. (teacher)."
Me: "Oh, hi, how are you?"
Teacher: "Well, I'm fine. Nate is still here."
(There was a lasting pause...and I'm thinking Oh, good, because that is where he is supposed to be.)
Then, I realized that she was saying that something wasn't right.
CRAP! What time is it?

3:30. Exactly thirty minutes after I was supposed to pick him up.

We made it the whole week without a phone call home. At least, until I forgot to pick him up!!

Restoring Peace

Okay, most of you don't know this. Well, at least I think I've hid it pretty well. (But I could be kidding myself here....)

I am severely sensitive. I get offended very, very easily. And I am most sensitive about my photography work. The short list (the condensed version of a very long list) also includes being sensitive about my parenting skills, my friendship skills...well, I'll end there. Because this is ending up to be a little pathetic.

Anyhow, my point is this. Lately I've been shaky about my confidence in my photography work. Mostly because I've been at the point where I'd better move forward or forget the whole thing. And let me tell you, I've been at that point for a very long time and yet....I'm still there. Yesterday, I figured out why. (Hello, this is a breakthrough!)

I can only equate it to this. You know that show no one watches? I think it's called American Idol. I heard about it once. Anyway. You know how Simon constantly asks the terrible singers if they've ever sung anything in front of anyone? And they're all like--Yeah, I sing for my family and friends all the time. And then Simon asks--Well, what do they think? And the bad singer is all--They say I'm really great. And all us in TV land are like---Whaaaa?

So I figured out that I'm constantly afraid of being one of those. Where I have this thing that I love to do, but I'm too close to it to be constructively critical (sometimes I'm probably a little too critical), and where maybe the people that I love are trying to be supportive but don't want to be mean, but are really thinking--Oh for the love of Pete, someone else tell her that she's no good!!

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

Trust me, this is not a waaaah, waaaah moment for me. I'm just thinking aloud and this is what kept me awake last night. Should I invest more time and money into a photography business or should I keep it a photography hobby? That is my question for blogland.

Please leave a comment. The best thing about the Blogspot comments is that you can choose to leave it anonymously. And I don't track the traffic of my site, so I'll never know who you are! Cast your vote: Business or hobby?

Oh, and don't tell my husband I did this. He'd be appalled. I should probably feel a little embarassed for this, but I'm just not thinking about it.

And the title of my post is an ode to my latest love. I just downloaded the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack to my iPod and I've been whisked away to the land of Mr. Darcy and sweet peaceful being. Love it.

Utah Fun

Some of my cousins, who act just as goofy as their dads :)

Nate and Cousin "M" at our family swim party. They're only a couple weeks apart
and they both start kindergarten this year!

Not-So-Baby Aidan and Cousin "M" -- they had a lot of fun together!
They're only a few weeks apart

Nate with his cousin "M" -- they were such good buddies -- on our last day in Utah, Nate and "M" held a private ceremony (parents were not invited) in which they were wed. We took a walk later that day, and Nate was overheard saying, "We're still married, right?"
I suppose every good husband checks in and assesses the relationship...

More Utah--the Wedding

I haven't finished editing the pictures I took at the wedding/reception, but here are a few from that day.

Our Utah Trip

Our family was able to participate in an endowment session** in the Mt Timp temple.
My sister Ali and my brother Thomas were there for their first time!
What a special thing to have everyone together.

My parents

The endowed members of my family!

Nate and Uncle Jeff on our hike

Baby Aidan and his favorite chewing toys

Enjoying a classic tradition with Grams -- Wendy's !

Mommy and Nate on the Alpine Slide in Snowbird


**Edit: Sorry for the "Mormon Speak." I've included a link to explain more clearly what we were doing that day in the temple!! :)

Well, hello!

It's been awhile, friends! We've been super busy. Funny how that works--when we actually have something to blog about, I don't blog. When we're super boring, I blog! Something is backwards about that.
Hopefully soon, I'll find the time to blog about all our recent-ness:
*Trip to Utah for my sister Ali's wedding
*New photography website coming soon!
*Adam's brother completing his mission in Houston, Texas
*Adam's family visiting Dallas
*Nate's summer camp
*School is starting soon!

But, here is something that might give you a little chuckle...
A recent conversation with Nate.

(We returned home and found a Chinese take-out menu hanging on our door handle.)
Nate: Mom, what's this for?
Mom: (being totally undescriptive) Chinese delivery.
N: What!! We're not Chinese!
M: (almost died laughing) No, it's for Chinese food. If you want Chinese food, you call that place and they deliver it to you.
N: They must think we are Chinese. That IS funny (he didn't understand why I was laughing)
But we're not Chinese. So we don't eat Chinese food. They are wrong.