Meet Jorden

How sweet is this face!! This is my second cousin, Jorden. Isn't he adorable? Jorden is the second son to Wendy and Shannon. He was born in November and I hadn't even laid one eye upon him until just recently. Shame on me! I have spent more time with Wendy in just two days since being back in Lubbock than I have in five years. I have missed them and its so nice to be back close to them. They had us over last night for wine and salmon and March Madness...it was a great night. Thanks guys!

I played around with some texture in these images as he was lying on the carpet when I took these...carpet doesn't make for a very good backdrop.

More later...

Home Sweet Home

We are in Lubbock now...it has been a very hectic week so I will provide an update later. It was so sad leaving our friends and our home in Amarillo but it's nice to be back in the Hub City again. More later...

Another Update

Well, I suppose it's time for another update; however, the news regarding my job search is not so positive this time. I interviewed for two different positions this past week that I felt really, really good about...they both fell through. It was a tough few days because one of the jobs was my old position and I honestly felt like I had a good shot at landing that position again. They gave it to another guy who also worked for FoxHollow before the acquisition - he had only been with the company a little less than a year when he got laid off. Oh well, I am coming to terms with the fact that for some reason, God did not want me to work there...even though that was where I wanted to be more than anything else, He didn't and that's all that matters. I laid in bed for a day and then the next morning, I brushed myself off and got up to face this crazy world. I mean, what else can I do? Lay there and wither away? Of course not, that's not me at all. I don't have anything else working but I did apply to several different posts on Thursday...maybe I will hear something soon.

We found a rent house in Lubbock in the Cooper North district which is where Kel went to school before we moved to Amarillo so we are definitely happy about that. The house is cute but small...we will deal for a while as its only temporary until we can find a home we love for a very long time. We are sick of packing and moving. Our movers come Wednesday and we close on our Amarillo home on Friday - we will officially be Lubbockites (is that the word?) then.

My photography business is getting up off the ground rather nicely...I have a few sittings coming up soon and my last sitting turned out just great. The family was very happy and they want to take more pictures this summer. I have a long way to go before I can actually call it a "business" but I am having fun and learning a lot.

Other than all of the drama, everything is coming along...once we get moved into our new home, we will feel even better. I will keep you all posted. Have a blessed Easter guys.

Beat That!

I can type away on my Blackberry like nobody's business but I can also type pretty fast on the computer...so, I took this test. This is what I scored. See what you can do!

71 words

Speed test

Update

Hey Guys ~

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY!

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would update you on my crazy life. We close on our Amarillo home Friday, March 28th...man, that's only 11 days away. So, that means we have less than 10 days to get packed up and moved out of here. Thank God for family is all I have to say right about now - My mom and dad came up on Friday and then my sister and her two daughters came up on Saturday. We spent the entire weekend packing and cleaning and doing laundry. It was crazy! I have no idea how we could have done it without their help...as weird as it sounds, we actually had fun. We ate a bunch, drank a little and watched Blaze perform every single song off of the Chipmunks album. I swear to get this on YouTube as soon as possible...it's the funniest thing I have ever seen, and yes, I would still think that if he weren't my son. So back to the house thing...everything is pretty much packed up except for the necessities. The closets will take me a few days for sure but other than that, THANKS TO MY WONDERFUL FAMILY. This picture below is the only stinkin' picture I took from the entire wkend...UGH! Check out this Michael Jordan doll we pulled out of Blaze's massive amount of toys. Notice the missing foot and the other foot! Think I could sell it on Ebay??


I am headed to Lubbock this morning...I am house hunting and job hunting all in one day. My list of about 20+ homes will hopefully be narrowed down to about two or three this afternoon. And then at 2pm, I have my second interview with EV3, which is the company that acquired my old company, FoxHollow. Please say a prayer for me this afternoon if you get a chance...I really, really want this job. I miss what I was doing so much and this opportunity would allow me to do just that again plus some. I will hopefully know more this afternoon sometime and update you. Crossin' my fingers and saying lots of prayers.

Happy St Patrick's Day and Happy Spring Break Week also! Hoping to get some pictures of chubby little Brynlee over the next few days so check back towards the end of the week for those.

Until next time...

Meet the Lee Family

Stephanie contacted me almost immediately after she saw her nephew's pictures I took back a few weeks ago. We were supposed to shoot last Saturday but Stephanie had the flu and the wind was horrendous so we shot this past Saturday...we couldn't have asked for a better day - overcast skies, 60 degrees, variable winds...PERFECT! This family rocked. They wanted to make their session "their own!" (Paula Abdul's famous words.) And that's exactly what they did...I love the Harley shots and I love how casual and laid back this family truly is. Made for an very easy shoot. And, I also like how they will be able to look at these pictures for years and see themselves...not a group of people who put on clothes that made them feel uncomfortable and posing in the park somewhere by some beautiful flowers. (Not that that is bad...I just think you should be able to choose your own style for your session.) Thanks Lee Family, you guys were great and I so enjoyed my afternoon with you all. I will be in touch.

































Two of Alyssa because I just couldn't decide which one I liked best - these girls were freezing so once we got back in the car, she put her coat on. When I saw the fur trim, I asked her to get back out and I got all of my camera equipment back out and I took a few of her in this cute coat. I love how they turned out...I think she should model.

Huge Praise

Hey guys ~
Just so you know, we finally found a buyer for our home. After five weeks on the MLS and four weeks FSBO, a couple has made us an offer. We sign the contract today and we are supposed to close on March 28th. Yes, I said March 28th, so that gives us three weeks to pack up and move to Lubbock. WOW, that is fast. Thanks to all of you for your kind words and prayers over the last several months. We are super excited to get back home; however, we have made some great friends in Amarillo and we are certainly going to miss them immensely.

On the job front, I had my interview yesterday with EV3 which is the company that purchased FoxHollow. The interview went well but I can't even speculate right now what the outcome will be as they are interviewing several people. I will keep you posted!

Have a great weekend!!

Bloggin' Queen

Shots of Blaze outside in the snow today...

I did not take any of him out in the yard because a) there wasn't enough snow on the ground to make for a pretty picture and b) my butt was not putting on clothes just to go take a few pictures out in that insanely cold weather. Not lazy, just smart.

Kel was at school so once again, she gets left out. Poor Kel!!

Could the Tide Be Turning???

I opened up this fortune today at a Chinese food buffet here in Amarillo. The waitress gave us four cookies and I put them in my hand and shuffled them around saying to myself, "Pick the right one, pick the right one!" I opened up my fortune cookie to find my destiny - "Don't be hasty, prosperity will knock on your door soon." Seriously, I so believe in God's will but every once in a while, I do believe in fate, superstition, karma, coinicidence, fortune; whatever you want to call it, I do believe it happens sometimes. I said to Hays, "Out of all the fortune cookies in this restaurant, this is the one I open??" He laughed a little but I could tell he was so hoping we could actually have something here. This leads me to my update on my job situation and our home on Glenwood.

I had an interview with a pharmaceutical company on Tuesday...it went well and I was asked to ride along with an employee of the company on Thursday. On Friday, the hiring manager called to make me an offer. I relunctantly informed her I had some concerns. See, this company insists we must be living in Lubbock by the time I finish training which will be the end of April to the first of May. There are a lot of issues with this demand...first of all, we have a home in Amarillo. We can't just simply pack up all of our belongings and get to Lubbock without selling our home first. Oh sure, we can find a way but it will be very difficult. My sweet parents even offered up their home for us to live while we are in transition. I love my parents way too much to do something like that to them. Holy cow, all four of us? My kids can be monsters, I am so unorganized and Hays is just, well Hays. He likes his own place. Secondly, my training would last six very long weeks. We have no idea what we would do with our kiddos for those six weeks because Hays works in Lubbock...who on earth would keep our kids from 6am to 8am everyday and who would keep them from 3:30 to 9:30 every night? It just wouldn't work. Every single job I have applied for over the last few months have included Amarillo in the territory so it would have been fine for us to live here until our home actually is sold. This particular pharmaceutical job only includes Lubbock; therefore, I HAVE to live in Lubbock. Because I have been out of a job for five months now(yes, five months now - you'd think I would be all cut up and in shape but I haven't been to the gym once! ha!), I feel like I should jump on this job but there are many many cons and I just don't have a good feeling. That's why this fortune cookie was so coincidental to me..."DON'T BE HASTY..." unduly quick; precipitate; rash; impatient; impetuous; thoughtless; injudicious - These are all synonyms for 'hasty.' "PROSPERITY WILL KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR SOON." Prosperity's synonyms are abundance, accomplishment, advantage, affluence, arrival, benefit, boom, boomlet, clover, do, ease*, easy street*, exorbitance, expansion, fortune, good times, gravy train*, growth, increase, inflation, interest, luxury, opulence, plenteousness, plenty, prosperousness, riches, success, successfulness, thriving, velvet, victory, wealth, welfare, well-being - I don't know about ya'll but I am totally diggin' "gravy train" and "easy street" right about now. So, at this exact moment I am typing this post on this Sunday evening, I have no idea if I will take the job offer or not but I do know I have complete peace tonight no matter what happens. Sure, I received a great and totally fluky fortune today but the truth is God will take care of me. It's plain and simple!! But in the mean time, I am so hoping God put that little fortune in that bland little cookie to make a point. ; )

So, could the tides actually be turning for me??? I certainly hope so. We had four showings this weekend and an open house today that brought in seven couples for a total of ten new couples viewing our home this weekend...One of the couples asked if the refrigerator is negotiable...Hell lady, the kids are negotiable if the price is right!! (Just kidding, Toya!) Anyways, my realtor totally expects an offer from this particular couple so I was hesitantly happy to get that news. We had to be gone from 2pm to 4pm today for the open house and Blaze had soccer practice at 4 so as we were driving home at 4:45, we noticed a vehicle in front of our house. It was another realtor with yet another couple. They stayed over 40 minutes. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't spend 40 minutes in a home I wasn't interested in. To sum it all up, we had a ton of interest in our house this weekend which feels so good.

So, that's my life in a nutshell...always a whirlwind!! Have a great week guys and wish us luck on making the right decisions and finding a buyer.

EDIT:
I have an interview with EV3 Thursday...this is the company that purchased my old company so I have a chance to get my old position back, which is what I always wanted. I will keep you posted!! No new news from realtor this morning but still hoping to hear something today - will keep you posted on that, also. Have a great Monday!

Week In Review 3/1/08

I am going to start a weekly entry entitled Week in Review...I should have posted this yesterday but I got a little busy trying to get Hays out of here and to Lubbock before the big winter storm hit. My goal is to pick out a few things in each week that brought particular interest to me...I am sure there are many, many things that are worthy of posting in a "Week in Review" but mine are going to be a little different and not always so newsy and stuffy. Sometimes entertainment and celebrity focused, sometimes sports focus, sometimes a focus on the activities in our lives, etc. I promise to bring a wealth of information, although it may not always be useful, it will be informative nonetheless. Sit back, grab a cup of joe and enjoy Kenda's take on last week.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS UPSET #5 RANKED TEXAS LONGHORNS

It's been a long season for the men's basketball team but they have managed to pull off a number of good and sometimes GREAT wins. Saturday's win against the Longhorns was definitely the best thing that has happened to them this year. Did it get them into the Big Dance? Most definitely not as their record is just above 500 at 15-13. Their win Saturday did put them at an even 500 in the Big 12 with seven wins and seven losses. After Bobby Knight's departure, this is just what his son and the Red Raider basketball team needed.

AMERICAN IDOL CAST-OFFS

Alaina Whitaker and Alexandrea Lushington were the last two girls to get booted off of American Idol...neither one of them had a great night but Amanda Overmyer should have gotten tossed out on her butt after that ridiculous rendetion of "Carry On..." and that oh so horrible Cruella Deville look. Come on...you be the judge:

Anyway, just for the record, my favorite girl is this little cutie:

You can read her bio here.



On the boy's side of things, Jason Yeager and Robbie Carrico ended their American Idol dream (don't I sound like Ryan Seacrest?) this past Thursday. Neither one of them had a good performance either...especially Robbie as he was so karaoke-like. Jason is just a dork with his tuft of white hair on the top of his head...gimme a break.

My favorite guy is a toss up between David Hernandez and Jason Castro. I truly truly like David Archuleta; however, I think he is a shoe in and will win the whole thing so I had to pick a few other of my favorites.

Check out this amazing performance by David Hernandez this past Tuesday:


So, while we are on the subject of music, singers and YouTube, let me just embed one more video...this one doesn't have anything to do with American Idol but it did come from Brittain's Got Talent and this guy's story is amazing. I have never, ever given a flyin' flip about anyother types of music other than pop, hip/hop, country, top 40 and ESPECIALLY not opera but man, you gotta watch this when you get time. I had chill bumps all over my body. Love it!!



USELESS NEWS and SOMETIMES COMICAL HEADLINES

Apparently Hasbro and Mattel are threatening to sue an online website called Scrabulous citing piracy. This particular online game is free and attracts 700,000 players a day. I guess the toy companies that market Scrabble are up in arms that some one else found a way to make some money on the internet yet again. Yes, it's free to all who play but now these guys who developed the site are making $25,000 per month from online advertising. Why didn't I think of this??? Oh geez...I have got to think of a way to make money on the internet - everytime I think there isn't anything else to do, someone else comes up with something I so should have thought of. Not that I play Scrabble or anything but come on, how hard can it be?

JLo named her twins Max and Emme...Love both names as my best friend, Kim, named her son Max and then another good friend of mine in Amarillo, Macey, named her little girl Emerson and everyone calls her Emmy BUT what's so comical about this is what TMZ is saying... Come on guys...can't we find something better to talk about, like the election or something??? nah, this is much more entertaining!!

In Michigan, a man was arrested and prosecutors intend to charge him with embezzlement. The man was apprehended after an investigation showed he was the culprit in the heist of 217 cases of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix. Seriously, stuffing? What was he going to do? Sell them in the black market or cautiously truck them across the border to the Mexicans. ????

I am sure there are many more events that happened last week that are certainly worthy of an appearance on my blog but I used up so much time sharing useless information on American Idol, I will have to reserve my really thought-provoking headlines for next week. Until next time...

Black Belt Blaze

One of Blaze's favorite things to do is get on the floor with his daddy and wrestle, box or karate chop with him. I got some pretty good pictures of him in action this evening even though a few of them are really out of focus...Enjoy!!









This picture is for you, Averi...I think it will melt your heart. Anyway, how sweet is this?? Blaze got a little hurt as he tried to headbutt Hays (yes, headbutt...thanks Hays for teaching your kid so much violence! :0 ) so he consoled him for a bit. Blazer got over it pretty quickly.