This is her life.

Saylor is an amazing little girl.  Her mom is Supermom...I'm pretty sure if I would have asked her to reveal her alter ego she would have shown me the giant 'S' and the cape hidden under her regular mom look. 

I first learned about Saylor when she sent in her essay for the Father's Day contest.  Over the months I've thought about her on a number of occassions and knew that I wanted to meet her.  I finally contacted her mom, Audrey, and we started talking about documenting a day in Saylor's life...which will actually be over the next year.  After working out the details we decided to meet at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake.  Saylor was born with spina bifida and has been in and out of hospitals since her life began.  We went to her orthopedic surgeon who removed the casts (her eleventh set) she had on from her fifth surgery in her short 4 year old life; then drove to Shriners' to have her fitted for new braces for her legs. 

Through out the entire process Saylor was so brave.  Even when she was afraid she faced what was before her.  In so many ways she seems so much older than a sweet little four year old.  I was reminded of her still tender innocence and awareness when they went to the gift shop to get the balloon that she looks forward to during every trip to the hospital.

As much as I loved seeing the power and understanding of such a little girl, it was the sweet giving, sacrifice, and effort that Audrey goes to for her children that also touched my heart.  As a mom she took my breath away as I Iistened to the health issues that each of her children have had, the endless trips to the hospital, the late nights, the early mornings, the heart stopping realities, and the happiness at little and big successes.

I realized that I wasn't documenting one person's story.  I am documenting two.

real. LIFE.

Take a Vacation.

....a real one.

This means no cell phone, no lap top, no meetings, no business whatsoever.  Just you and whoever is important to you.  That's it.

I took my first real vacation this past summer for the first time in four years.  I really wish I hadn't waited so long.  It was wonderful and worth every minute and more of being away from my cell phone.  No matter what it takes or what kind of planning...Just Do It!

Planning our vacation wasn't easy and with 6 people it's bound to be difficult.  Because my son had a commitment to football when we decided to take our vacation we couldn't be gone for more than about 4 days and three nights, at the most, in a row.  We wanted to do something fun but it needed to be fairly local.  So we decided to have an at home vacation.  These can be difficult if you are not committed to a real vacation.  Here is how we did it:

1. We told everyone we were going on vacation because we were.

2.  We didn't take any phone calls and left messages everywhere we could that we would be on vacation.

3.  We made a list of all of the fun things that we would like to do or have wanted to do for a long time.

4.  Everyone got to choose one thing that they wanted to do from the list.

5.  Each day we did something that one person wanted to do. 

6.  We all wanted to go camping so we went on two camping trips.

7.  We had a great time and went to the best swimming pool/park in the area for a whole day (I didn't take pictures of that...I need a water proof camera.)

8.  Miniature golf was one evening.

9. Mike loves the nature center so we went hiking on trails and ate lunch there.

10. The Drive-In Movie was my favorite.  The kids thought is was extremely cool to put our lawn chairs and air mattress on the gravel at the back of our mini van and open up the hatch on the back so we could get all the speakers loud and clear.  We brought lots of pillows and blankets and pizza.   At the break between movies we went and got some snacks at the very vintage looking snack area. 

11. We were together doing things we all loved and sleeping in our own beds at night.  Perfect all around.

Plan when you will take your next vacation right now.  Get it on the calendar and then plan everything around it.  Don't let anything get in your way of a little time away from everything else but those you love.

Adapt this for you:

*If you are single plan a trip with a couple of best friends or a best sibling.  Keep your commitment to each other to go on vacation and leave behind your cell phones and laptops.

*JUST GO ON VACATION!  No more excuses.  No more reasons.  No more.  It will be worth it in so many ways.  It ups your creativity, lowers your stress, and helps you gain a little perspective.  And that just the beginning of all the good a vacation will do you.  Let me know how yours goes!

Oh!  and get ready for wayyy too many pictures. lol.

new. LIFE.

Just a few things you  might want to know:

*when you meet an little thing that looks like a small squirrel but not quite a chipmunk, you can call it a squunk.

*if you go to a place with a hole in the ground toliet your 3 year old will probably ask you from now and forever every time she has to go to the bathroom if she will have to use a hole in the ground toliet.  If you take her to a public toliet almost every time you walk into a stall she will say in a loud voice.  "Oh Mom! It's not a hole in the ground toliet."  And sigh in relief.

*When you make foil dinners make sure to put some water in with the potatoes so they don't charcoal.

*Playing mini-golf is a lot more fun when you take kids...who don't know the rules and don't care what they are.

*There's something about the nostalgia of the drive-in movie that takes you back to another era.  If you haven't gone, find one.  It's a time machine.

*You play mini golf better if you dress up like Tiger Woods.

*Vacations give you something nothing else can....GO.

Slideshow.

The Dinners.

After the first Love. Life. Tips. post a number of people are really excited to try the idea.  I thought I would help you along by posting the list of dinners that we came up with that are the kids favorites.  There might be a couple I've sneakily put on there hoping that they'll pick it and find they love it.  Overall, these are the typical faves of the kids. (And yes, some of them are very fattening but I'm thinking fattening at home is better than fattening at Burger King.)

Dinner.

Chicken Noodle Soup & Biscuits (Mike makes the best soups!)

Chicken Tacos & Mexican Rice

Homemade Mac & Cheese, fish sticks/chicken nuggets, & green beans

Shredded Beef Tacos and chips and salsa

Chicken Caesar Salad and French Bread

Fettuccine Alfredo and Raspberry/Walnut Salad

Hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, and chips

Chili Dogs and corn on the cob

Frito Boats and salad

Milanesa, potatoes, and salad

French Bread pizzas and chips

Spaghetti & meatballs, corn on the cob, salad, and French bread

Spaghetti, salad, and French bread

Chicken Dumplings and green beans

Stroganoff and salad

Sloppy Joe, salad, and chips

London Broil, salad, and mashed potatoes

Potato Soup and bread

Carrot Soup and bread

Pumpkin Soup in bread bowls

Lasagne, salad, and French bread

Chicken Caesar Pitas

Shredded Beef Nachos

Pot Roast, carrots, and potatoes (we use the left over pot roast for shredded beef tacos during the week)

Breakfast.

Vanilla yogurt and strawberries (my fave!)

Cereal, milk, o.j., and toast

Go-gurt

Pumpkin Bread

Banana muffins

Coffee Cake

Eggs with cheese

Grapefruit with toast

Fresh fruit salad with toast (our faves: strawberries, blueberries, bananas, raspberries, and blackberries)

Blueberry muffins

Fruit and bacon with toast

Bagels with cream cheese and fresh strawberries on top

Jamba juice type of smoothie and toast

Lunch. (we don't have a lot of ideas for lunch...)

Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup

Turkey, tomato, mayo, and pepper sandwich (my fave!!!) and carrots with baked lays chips

Corn Dogs

PB&J

Cabbage Salad

Veggie Sandwich with avocado, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, and cucumbers

Chicken salad lettuce wrap

Snacks.

Fruit

Go-gurts

Chips and salsa

Strawberries

Breadsticks

Chips and Bean Dip

Rice Crispy Treat

Pudding Pops

Cheese crisp

Carmel popcorn

Popcorn

Toast

Cinnamon Toast

Cheese and crackers

Peanut Butter and Crackers

Peanuts and Almonds

Yogurt pretzels

Jello

Pudding

String Cheese

Veggie Tray

Yogurt Parfait (vanilla yogurt, strawberries, and a tablespoon of granola)

Pickles

Apples and peanut butter

Pineapple chunks

Mandarin Oranges

Cupcakes

Fruit juice popsicle

Fruit smoothie

So...as you can see our lists and calendar are nothing special. In fact, they're a total mess.  We usually make a plan for dinners about 10 days in advance.  We'll sit down one day right after school and I'll just ask everyone what they want for dinner next week on their day.  I put it on the calendar.  Then the kids pull it out when they are eating snack and smear peanut butter across it.  Doesn't matter...we have a plan!

Hope this helps you get your own list started and get your dinner time back in a meaningful way!

Dinner.  At Home.

For the past couple of years, as embarrassed as I am to admit it, we've been a fast food family.  We always were so busy running around or late getting home for work that it just seemed much easier to grab something at a restaurant and rush to the next thing on the agenda.  I knew it wasn't healthy and so occassionally I would put together a menu and run to the grocery store.  (I was taught very well by my incredible super woman mom how to plan with a menu, make a list,and go shopping.  I know how to cook and used to love to bake.  My dad called me Betty Crocker when I was 10 years old.)  The problem was making the dinners once we got the food home.  I knew I wanted to be having dinner every night together but...there were too many things going on.

I decided that I needed someone that would make me be responsible.  My kids.  If you tell your kids something, especially if you tell them they are going to get to be a part of something fun, they'll never let you forget it.  That can totally be helpful to you.

Instead of making my own menu and slaving over a list and what to have each night I made a list of all of the things our family likes to eat along with some easy to make dinners.  Each night is one person's night for dinner.  They get to pick what we're going to eat and they get to help make it.  They get Mom and/or Dad's time and they get to have their say about what we eat.  Occassionally, they also get to go shopping, too.

So these pictures are from the Emma's night (Tuesdays).  She picked lasagne, salad, and corn.  Mike is the expert lasagne maker so he was the helper that night.  Once they got the lasagne in the oven they got to read together at the table until the timer beeped.  It's become a lot more fun...and we eat at home every night.  We don't even have any of the kids asking to eat out somewhere.  They want to get home and make the dinner they've been looking forward to.  The big benefit is the time we get to spend together and that we're eating a lot healthier.

Adapt this for you:

*If you're single: see if you have a few friends that would like to trade off nights of cooking, make dinner plans for the week and then meet at each other's houses at a set dinner time every night (or just a few nights a week).

*If you're married with no kids: trade nights with another couple  without kids and have dinner together a few nights a week or just take turns between the two of you choosing dinner and making it together.

So much of life is about creating a meaningful life and existence.  How can you make dinner time a way to be a meaningful time of the day and one that you look forward to instead of dread?

healthier. LIFE.

It's time...

to get your life back.

For the past year the number one goal of my life has been to reclaim my life from my business.  As many entreprenures know, it's easy to become completely submerged in growing a successful business.  You spend a lot of time, work, blood, sweat, and tears making it happen.  One day you realize that you've given up a lot to get where you're at.  Sometimes, you wonder if the opportunity costs may have been too high.  That's the day things change or you can keep going at the rate and speed you've been going.

For me, that was the day things changed.  I knew I didn't want to keep living a life where I seldom saw my kids and when I did I rarely enjoyed my time with them. Mostly, I spent my time fretting about what I should be doing for my clients instead of sitting and reading with my sweet kids.

Since that day I've been making changes and I'm loving the chance to be a mom, a wife, a business owner, and a photographer.  Changes always come at a price and this price has been worth it.

So...I want to share my discoveries with you and hope that these LOVE. LIFE. TIPS. will help you out.  Whether you're a single person looking for more ways to add meaning to your life, a mom with not enough time and too much work, a business owner who is drowning in the responsiblities and stresses of being successful, or just want to be more aware of your life I hope you'll find some help in these posts.

Stay tuned!

be. LOVE.