Setting Goals and I went to Europe

When I was in my 3rd year of college (Snow College) back in June of 2009 I decided I needed to set some goals for myself.  So I made a 5 year plan of things I wanted to accomplish during that time.  Here is what the list looked like:
1. Travel to Europe
2. Get married in the Temple to someone that truly loves me
3.  Have a baby and finally start the family I always wanted
4. Master an instrument
5. Finish my degree
Not necessarily in that order but those were my top 5 things I wanted to do.  BOOM! 3 of those are done. I married the most wonderful man in the world.

Right before I got married I started taking piano lessons. I even bought a used piano off of Craigslist but then a third goal happened, I had a baby. I just didn't have the energy to keep up with lessons and the money so I  am taking a back seat for awhile on my goal of mastering an instrument. If I don't then I at least want my son to.

Here is a picture of my sweet little boy. He has proven to be the most worthwhile achievement out of all these goals. 

I am so close to being finished with my degree if I could just pass math. I have struggled with that this whole time. Hopefully within the year I can finish and cross that goal off on my list.

The last goal on my list of things I wanted to do was to travel, specifically to Europe.  So I went. I signed up on a tour to Europe that was 4 weeks long. Very much worth it and I am so glad I did it before I got married and had children. Because now that I am in the swing of having a family there really isn't much time for stopping the flow of things to travel back there, or the funds for that matter. I am going to have a whole 2nd post with pictures and descriptions of the places I went but this is a little teaser of what is to come!

This blog post was mostly to remind myself how far I have come in so little time and what I should be thankful for. Recently we moved out of our little apartment and into my parents house. The 3 of us (my husband, Son and I) are sharing one small bedroom. We moved out because of a really bad neighbor and I am glad we made the decision to move her. We feel much safer, happier and I don't feel as depressed. But I want my husband to know that I am grateful we listen to the promptings of our Heavenly Father and that this was the right decision for us. I know that He has wonderful things in store for our family this year. This post is kind of random but it is 1:40 am and I was feeling bad about our situation and now I am 100 times more grateful than ever to have what we do.  Especially because tonight while I was out with my husband we came out of a restaurant and saw that a dentist named Dr. Taylor had his house engulfed in flames and a near by neighbors house burned down as well. Not sure what happened but it was a horrible fire. No one was killed luckily but how said is that? I feel so blessed to go to bed tonight in my warm sheets curled up next to my husband and baby.  Life is so good. Good Night

Montgomery Farm part 2

Here are some darling pictures of my cute little niece's and nephew.  One thing I never thought would be an added bonus to getting married is having such fun little ones that love me and call me Aunt Jessica. I love those kids like my own and they have been so good to me and our little boy Drew.  Here is one of my favorite pictures of my niece Alexandra with a white horse!

Don't you just love black and white photos? The original picture is color but black and white is less busy and you can focus so much more on the pure color of the horse and the way the sun light reflects off of Lexi's hair. She is so pretty and sweet. She calls me "Missy Aunt Jessica" and I call her "Missy Alexandra." I love this kid!

Meet Patricia Dale! I totally love that Dale is her middle name. It's just cute because Patricia is her first name which is so feminine and pretty and Dale is a family name but it has a masculine flair to it and although she is so so so girly, Patricia has a tom boy side of her that runs deep.  One of the little things I love about Tricia is how she runs. She totally has that valley girl run where her toes barely touch the ground and her pony tale flips side to side and it cracks me up. Watch out Dave and Tracy she is totally going to be a heart breaker.

I love photography because you can capture a moment in time. Like this one of my niece Victoria. She is officially a 13 year old teenager (no longer a protein *inside joke for the Durrant family). Drew had been trying to blow out a dried dandelion and Tori was helping him and I was able to snap this quick photo that I will forever treasure.  If you know Tori she is someone who loves to read. Yeah, I know you are thinking a lot of people love to read? When I say love I mean LOVE!!! Her parents sometimes have to punish her by not letting her read, seriously how lucky are they? She will read all day long if you let her. Tori if you read this blog someday I want you to know you are turning into such a beautiful young woman and you inspire me to want to read more books and work on my volcabulary (he he ha ha).

Last but not least Bubba! No he is not a redneck, when he was a little boy his sister Tori couldn't say brother very well so she would say, "My baby bubba!" isn't that so precious? Bubba is a favorite in our house to our little boy Drew.  Whenever Drew is being naughty (which is often) or we need to distract him we bring up Bubba and he starts minding or wants to go visit. They love to play basketball together and run around the house. They had a lot of fun at the farm playing.

Already I am hooked on blogging! This is so great, more blog posts to come of my birth story with Drew, birthday parties and graduation for my hubs. I feel so behind so they will be just random posts and out of order for awhile but that is okay, this is my journal and I want to get it all on here and then I can regularly update with current pictures and events. Thanks for stopping by!

Drew Turned 2!

I should have started this blog forever ago, but now is better than never. I am a perfectionist and so sometimes I feel like if I can't get something perfect it is not worth doing. That needs to change so here is my first ever blog post! Facebook no longer seems to be a place for me that I draw inspiration and good things from. Not all of it is bad I just feel like I am missing out on so much more. Blogging is like a journal and I need to start capturing the sweet little moments of my son and family. This is a picture of Drew I took this weekend at my BIL's family farm. They had 2 cream colored Shetland ponies and there was also a beautiful mare with a baby colt. Drew had such a blast and the trip was made complete by my Nieces and Nephew who lovingly took him on rides with the pony.

By the way you can see down in the bottom right corner of my photo it says Stork Landing Photography. That folks would be the very beginnings of a future photography name and plan to photograph babies and children. My style is more raw images of  children in there natural state (less posing etc.) and lots of natural lighting. I think there is a time and place for posing in a studio with a beanie on and lots of fun crocheted clothes and props (even I can't help it sometimes) but I also just love a baby in a onesie or a newborn in a diaper. Although it won't be up for a long time my photography site will be www.storklandingphotography.blogspot.com check back in a few months or so. I have a lot to learn still and yes people I am jumping onto the photography bandwagon. I know it is a big trend right now but I think we live in such a great time of talent! Pinterest, DIY photography, and blogging opens so many doors for business, making money, art expression and cultivating your talents. I am so excited to start this blog and hope you will all enjoy.