Oh the joys of camping...

For Alan's wedding I felt like I hardly saw Kevin, Wendy or Jeanette's families - or really anyone, for that matter. Everything was busy and crazy, and we never got to sit around and visit like I like to do and we haven't really had a chance to really relax and enjoy each others company as an entire family for a very long time. Most of the times we get together are when we have special events (baby blessings, house dedications, etc) and usually we have to split our time and concentration with planning that activity out or spending time with in-laws, friends, etc.

So James and I decided we should have a family reunion with just the family sometime, so then we would have a little more time to visit and see each others kids and families and really be able to spend some good, quality time with each other and catch up. We talked about it, and thought of where it could be, and we mentioned that a possible fun place to get together would be at Yellowstone. So I sent out the email, inviting them all to a family reunion with us at Yellowstone sometime next fall.

Boy, that did not go over well. Why, you may ask? Well, for some very good reasons that my family continues to bring up every time camping is mentioned.

a.) I am not what you would call 'outdoorsey'. I don't like hiking. I don't like walking around aimlessly, even if its to look at fun things like animals, out in the heat. Mostly, I just don't like being dirty, being too cold or too hot, not being in control of my environment and that kind of thing. I enjoy looking at the beautiful things nature has to offer, but nature and I don't always get along.

b.) They like to bring up the fact that I hate camping so much that they use to have to drag me to the van kicking and screaming, even when I was a teenager and should have been a little more mature about it. Poor Alan once almost got a broken nose because I kicked him so hard in the face because it was 'his job' to get me to the car... I DO feel bad about that now Alan, but at the time I remember quite firmly feeling - well, he knew what he was getting into.

c.) They used to have to trick me into it (ie- if you want a ride home from college you have to come with us... oh, and we're taking your fiance with us and we'll tell him horrible stories about you if you don't come... or my favorite was when Wendy had everyone secretly pack things for me to go camping and didn't tell me we were camping until we were in the car and going... remember that? Oh yes. The joys. She forgot to bring a sleeping bag for me, I tried to sleep with my 3 or 4 year old brother Sean and he never would stay inside the sleeping bag with me (my face would always wake up with his feet near my head and he was just chilling outside the sleeping bag)... eventually it got so cold I switched targets and went and slept with my sister Julie. She was much more accommodating, however we had one of the 'special' sleeping bags... where the aromatherapy was not to anyones liking, if you know what I'm saying...)

So I guess I can see where their surprise comes from when I mentioned going camping together as a family. Not a normal "Michelle" comment to say the least. However, there are some things that I have changed my opinion about as far as camping goes.

1. It's very nice having a husband now who knows I hate camping so he does everything he can to make sure that I am having 'as best an experience as I can'

2. I like that I have nice brothers (Kevin for example) who are more than willing to help James set up a tent so I don't have to. I also like the fact that when your family is there you don't have to worry about helping to build the fire or those sort of things because your brothers or dad like doing it.

3. Now that Sean and Chris are older they are pretty entertaining to be around when they camp because they are just about as lazy as I am... They would much rather hang out in the tent and do nothing like I like to do then go 'hiking', get dirty, etc. etc. so I have someone to stay put with - and if everyone is forced to go on the outing they are the ones now vocalizing the complaints about hiking, it taking too long, the weather, etc - so I don't even have to say a word of complaint myself. They do it all for me.

4. My dad makes AMAZING breakfasts whenever we camp. I'm sorry, but the food when we camp DOES taste dang yummy. I don't think I ever drink as much hot chocolate as I do when we camp. I even like cobblers when we camp, when I normally don't. When you travel with Mom she always makes sure we have little snacks too when we have lunch which makes life fun. (As long as the bears don't eat it)... Dinner sometimes is interesting, mostly because I hate waiting 2 hours for meat or carrots to cook. But hey - mostly good.

5. I don't like making my own smores, so its nice to have a husband around who is nice about making me at least 2 before he tells me I could make any other ones on my own. Usually 2 is enough for me. :)

6. It's nice having a portable heater with me when I sleep (thank you James) and a great pillow, and someone to get up with you to use the restroom when you need it so you don't have to feel like a huge inconvenience by waking someone else up or suffer through holding it all night - both of which are constantly on my night time worries.

7. James doesn't mind me putting on makeup while I'm camping, and doesn't mind if I don't. He's a pretty easy going camping partner.

All those things being said - my family is still very accurate in the assumption that camping is still not my favorite thing - especially when they bring up the fact that I will be taking care of 2 little ones when we go and not just myself, which I am use to.

Sooooo - James and I are trying to think of alternative 'reunion' ideas, and my family will most likely be going camping in Yellowstone with out us in July. Hey, it was a good thought while it lasted.

One of the counselor's of the bishopric showed James and I this clip when I mentioned how I didn't like the outdoors very much. I laughed SO hard. It really emanates my feelings about camping to a T. Enjoy. (p.s. - mom, he does say the word crap in the beginning... I know, not as risque as your beloved Star Trek movie, but I thought I would warn you anyways. You have to go to the blog to watch it)

New facebook account for Rognon Photography

We decided to set up an account for our photography site on facebook. So if you have facebook, look up "Rognon Photography" and become a fan today! We will be offering specials just for our facebook fans, so keep looking back for those.

Thought of the Day... Attitude is where its at.

I like the kind of story that puts your life into perspective and makes you realize that you really do have choices with how you react to things in life (such as deciding not to be too put out that your hands have decided to swell over the weekend and you can no longer wear your wedding ring... and just be happy your body waited until you were 35 weeks pregnant this time around).

Enjoy.



----
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him,

'I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood

I choose to be in a good mood.'

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or....I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it..

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back..

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.

He continued, '....the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied..' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude...I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I am...

I am -a California girl
I want -a lot of things... I actually make a wish list of things I want, so when we actually catch up financially I can buy them. :) (ie-mostly stuff for the house and the babies...)
I have-a WONDERFUL husband and a handsome son!
I wish -I slept better
I dislike - Rude people, oatmeal, honey, throwing up, getting out of a warm shower into a freezing cold bathroom - or better yet, having a cold shower... e v e r y d a y. :(
I fear - about anything happening to James and Jack
I hear - the howling wind outside. I hate the wind now.
I search -for good pictures a lot
I wonder -when this baby will come, and how everything will go
I always -get online to see if James is on so I can talk to him
I usually -clean my house daily, though I only do it in portions. Once everything is clean/unpacked I think it will be a lot easier to keep clean. Until then, I tackle one thing at a time.
I am not - very "outdoorsey". I enjoy it more now then I did in the past, but even still I would rather be inside where its warm and clean then outside where I'm miserable, cold, and dirty. Sorry. I am also not an athlete. I don't like excercizing. I like doing workout videos or things on a machine. I don't like running around, unless its a game
I dance -when I hear a good beat and no one is around, unless its Jack. Then its fine.
I sing -beautifully. That's what mom tells me. :)
I never - seem to lose the craving for brownies and ice cream. :( I just ignore it until Sundays roll around because then I can't just run to the store and buy it, and I'm too lazy to make them from scratch (and I dont like them as much unless there's frosting involved) - so I just end up eating a graham cracker with peanut butter (protein!) and call it good.
I rarely - make it to church on time.
I cry -a lot, unfortunately. Mostly when I'm tired.
I am not always - tidy
I lose - my keys and phone all the time. James thinks its annoying I'm sure.
I'm confused - during a lot of the action/suspense movies. I have to ask James what is going on in the plot a lot. He probably thinks that's annoying too, but he thankfully is either use to it or pretends not to be bothered.
I need - to start figuring out how we're going to add a third person in our small room. I also need to get the laundry out in a few minutes time, and put lotion on my ever-dry hands.
I should - probably go vacuum my room.
I dream -of going on a cruise with James, losing all this baby weight so we can go to Disneyland with the kids, and being debt free.
I love- James, Jack, my family and friends. I also love orange Fanta soda, peanut butter oreos, peanut butter brownies (all of which I don't eat anymore), open face peanut butter sandwiches, Harry Potter, my wedding ring, airheads, Popsicles,

Why having a long-distance relationship with your family stinks...

Because you miss them too much!

(I did have a bit of a rant and decided to calm it down and just say that its hard to get things out to people on time by mail, even when you plan things out for special events and birthdays weeks in advance and think there's plenty of time to get there in time... It never seems to work out...)

So to all our family, know we love you! Even if you care packages still arrive days late. :)

Movie Review: Star Trek

We saw the movie Star Trek last night... Here are my thoughts on it.

I would give it three out of five stars.
I didn't really enjoy it. I knew it would be cheesy - I mean, it is a Star Trek movie. I just didn't expect it to be THAT cheesy... I hated probably the first forty minutes of the movie... mostly because I thought the main character was annoying and I didn't like the content. However, the last part of the movie I did enjoy.


(Here is a look at the original characters and the new actors. Left-right: Spock, Checkov (sp), Uhura, Captain James T. Kirk, Scotty, Sulu, Dr. McCoy)

Favorite Characters: Dr. McCoy- He was amazing.
Scotty - He was hilarious
Captain Pike

Least Favorite Characters: A lot of the main characters,
Captain Kirk,
the main villain, Nero
Sylar - I'm sorry, I mean the vulcan dude Spock,
and the main lady Uhura
They were annoying the whole way through basically.

If you couldn't tell - I guess if I don't like the characters, it makes it kind of hard to enjoy the movie.

So would I say it was a 'bad' movie? Not necessarily. I mean it was better than Superman Returns or something. But it definitely wouldn't be one I would say was 'good'.

That being said, James liked it - minus the awkward sex scene part.

We did see a new trailer for Transformers 2 and I have a feeling it will annoy me as well... so we'll see if I end up liking that one either.

Our Summer Blockbusters...

So I was thinking about it and I thought I would just share some of the movies we are looking forward to this summer... Some of them we're not sure if we'll actually watch, but they look cool none-the-less.


Star Trek: (May 8) My dad is a major fan. I think that is one of the main reasons we would watch it. I will admit I never really got what the big deal was with Captain Kirk and Spock and things, but it will be fun to watch. They say it was made to appeal with audiences not familiar with Star Trek, so if you like adventure, good characters, and special effects this is the movie for you. James is excited because its the same guy who directed Mission Impossible 3 - one of his fav. movies. :) James also admitted that he and his friend Matt have gone to see many of the Star Trek movies on opening night. Yeah, we're geeks. We enjoy life. So sue us. :)

Terminator: (May 21) I don't know the real name, and I will be honest again - I never have seen any of the other movies. It just looks like a neat action film. Still unsure if we'll actually go and watch it, since we've only set aside money for 1 movie a month - we'll see if James decides its worth it. :) I just want to go because it has Christian Bale and not Arnold. Haha. I like looking at yahoo movies to hear their take on why someone should go watch the movie - one of their reasons for this movie was that we owe it to the cast who suffered through the movie, haha. "Worthington badly hurt his back, Bale broke his hand, and an unfortunate effects tech partially severed his leg."

Transformers 2: (June 24) You may remember that James and I were pretty much obsessed with the first movie. We loved the humor and the wonderful effects. Neither of us watched the show/read the comics or anything before - so it is a complete love of just sitting back and enjoying a huge, fun action movie. The 2nd one looks fun too. A fun perk for us? This movie comes out on our due date - so if anything we'll have something to look forward to if the baby hasn't decided to come by then. :) There's nothing to get you to go into labor like planning something fun to do, right? You always end up missing it, haha.

Night of the Museum 2: (May 22) We loved the first one, and although the 2nd one does look a tad on the lamer side it still will have enough of a pull to get us to go watch it. I mean, anything with Ricky Gervais in it pretty much has me hooked. We LOVE him. (Aka-If you haven't watched him in Ghost town, you really need to go rent it!) Plus there were parts in the trailer that made us laugh, so hopefully there are more than just 2 funny parts in the movie. :) Also, did you know this will be the first Hollywood feature to be filmed in the Smithsonian? Yeah. Pretty cool.

Harry Potter 6: (July 15-Weds!) Of course, if we had to choose only ONE movie to watch this summer we would be saving up to watch this bad boy. We have been waiting for it and are so excited that its only 2 1/2 months away now! Yessssss!

There are other movies out there that look good, but I think we're waiting to watch those in the cheap theater or until they come out on DVD. Some of those? The UnderGrad (with gilmore girl Alexis Bledel), the Proposal (Sandra Bullock), Up (Pixars new movie), The Time Traveler's Wife, etc. etc.

I love the summer season this year. Last year stunk - but this year? Lookin' good. :-)