say 'ello to my little friend

hello darlings! since no one else is blogging lately, i figured i should liven up the party a little with some grand news about my life.

meet my new cannon rebel x SLR film camera:
yes yes, i still have, LOVE and use my glorious nikon DSLR that the parents got my for christmas, but i just took up a film photography class and i needed a good camera for it. i figured this would be a fun investment anyways and didn't feel too bad spending the money on it. plus, it's a cannon and cannons have always held a special place in my heart :) (okay, okay, i totally looked EVERYWHERE for a nikon SLR but i COULD NOT FIND ONE that was under 150 dollars... mehh..)

so anywho, the class i'm taking is a black and white film class and i'm learning how to develop my own film and print my own photographs- WITHOUT any use of the computer.. crazy, i know.

this picture above is an example of a contact sheet that you make everytime you shoot a roll of film. You basically just copy all of your negatives onto one sheet so you can get a better idea of the pictures that turned out. all of these are kinda crappy since it was just a test roll but next week i'm shooting landscapes so i am sure to have some pretty pretty pictures for all of you! and if any of you like any of the pictures that i post on here, just let me know and i can make a large copy of it for you!

k, time for ALL OF YOU to blog about something... the parents last cruise, sam's new go-kart, crabbing in seattle?! the possibilites are ENDLESSSSSSSS

xoxo, leesh

my beloved B

Dear Erik,
How did you get so cool? I realize that your birthday was like a gazillion days ago, but I'm way behind on the bloggin train. SO HERE I AM I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU. I just had to take some extra days to think about how awesome you are and what cool things I could say about you. The problem is that you are SO cool that it's past the point of words. So a few lame lines will have to do. I'm glad that we are always next to each other in family pictures and that we have so many of us together (below is just a fraction of a sampling). I am also glad that you are so much taller than me cuz I fit right under your shoulder. I'm also glad you are not be offended when I boss you around. I am also glad that you don't judge me and I can always tell you things and that you always give me good advice and encouragement. I am also glad that you dress so rad cuz it makes me proud to know you. I am also glad that you and Kari are so hot (sorry I had to throw that in). I'm also glad that you're going on a mission and are such a good example to the whole fam in everything you do- seriously, you rock. I'm glad that you are so funny and that when we are together we can just laugh and laugh. I'm glad that we are part of the misfits. I'm glad you have freckles too. I'm glad when you send me picture texts cuz they're always hilar. I'm glad when we talk about church stuff cuz you have such amazing insight. I'm glad when you talk about music cuz I wanna be you. I'm glad when you let me borrow your awesome beanies. I'm glad when we sleep in the same bed on every Christmas Eve (I mean that in the most non-pervy way possible). I'm glad when you send me awesome birthday presents. I'm glad when we laugh really hard at the same thing and everyone else thinks we're crazy. Mostly I'm just glad that you're my brother and I get to keep you forever! Happy late late birthday dude, I love the crap out of you.
Sincerely, Chrissy

Here is the perfect example from an email sent from Grandma Francie. For those who didn't get it or bother to read it...


An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

v for vendetta

this post is dedicated to you, precious prince.

you are a prince
and we think it's cool
that one time in mexico
you almost kissed a mule.

you are nineteen
or maybe you are not
but no matter your age
you are still hawt.

we have crazy laughs
that are sometimes our foe
but at least its not as crazy
as the mom from that 70's show.

one year older and wiser too
happy birthday to you.

k love you!!!!

* it's a shame you wear those glasses so often.. covering up those luscious brows of yours...

to save everyone the trouble:

i am going to be the first to wish MYSELF a very happy birthday from all of you guys....to me.

so here it goes:

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY ERIK!

happy MOMMA'S day!

Happy Mother's Day, Sheri!

Each and every one of us are so grateful for all of the hard work you put into keeping our family together and happy! We appreciate the thoughtfulness and kindness that you show to all of us through your example.
Thank you for being such a wonderful mother and grandmother!
WE LOVE YOU!

With love...

Angela and Christina

Chrissy

Leesh

Jacque

Erik

Taylor

Sarah

Sam

Kat

Izzy

and Davien

xoxo

calling planet earth

If any of you haven't seen this movie yet, then get your little tushes to the theater and watch it. Chrissy and I saw it last night and literally smiled and laughed the entire time. Don't wait for it to come out on DVD because I don't think it will have the same effect on a small screen. The images are absolutely stunning and the shots that they got of the animals and scenery are TO DIE FOR. Seriously you all should go as a fam bam and see this incredible movie! Oh oh! And for next year's Earth Day, watch out for Disney's next film called "Oceans." Sheri...Dad... I think it's going to be right up your alley.

GO SEE IT NOW!

So

I finished Harry Potter!
That's really the only happy I can think of right now,
But then it's still kinda sad because now I have nothing to waste my time with.
Blah.
Love you all. Rep it real.

gigity my birthday

it was awesome!!!! thank you everyone for making it a special day!!

SAMBO RAMBO!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAAAAAM!!!!!!!

i cant believe you're so old! ....well actually, i can. i guess i can't believe you are so young. haha you just seem alot older for some reason. anyways, i just wanted to let you know that i think you are turning out to be a pretty awesome guy, and that i love you ALOT. you have always been so much fun to be around. whenever i was feeling down, i knew that i could always talk to you to make me feel a little better, and you always listened. i realize that im probably not on the top of the list of older brothers to look up to, but i want you to know that i've always looked up to you, even if you are my "little" brother haha. thanks for being such a great bro, and an even better friend sam. i love you so much, and i'll miss you alot when i'm on my mish :) 

love erik 

the bunny

I put up a bunch of pictures from last week in San Francisco on my personal blog, so I'll direct you there rather than post them all all over again. Go to www.chrissyrenae.com, and check back regularly for updates.

I just got back from Easter weekend in St George and it was great! I went down with my roommate Whitney and stayed with her family. Yesterday it was rainy so we just hung out at her place, but today was beautiful and sunny. We went on a long family hike all morning and then went over to her Uncle's for dinner and festivities. Then we packed up and came home and now I am back in my lovely bed. Short, sweet, and simple, but we had a great time. Andddd I ate way too much sugar because the Easter Bunny found me even way down south. What a sneaky guy...

mobbing in moab

this past weekend aaron, andre, andre's friend from georgia, jake, and i traveled down to moab in southern utah. it's an amazing red rock desert with crazy rock formations and great hiking- sheri and dad, you guys should totally come camping here sometime- you would LOVE it. seriously, the pictures do not do the place justice- it's so incredibly beautiful there!
balanced rock.
the landscape around our camp site.
wall arch- i think? team picture- me, aaron, andre and jake.
on the night we got there we went on a hike up these crazy canyons- the views were spectacular and the dark skies made for amazing pictures.
there were these holes made by erosion all over the place- water would get trapped inside of them so they looked like little hot tubs.
hiking up even further...
we hiked up to the highest point all around us- it was pretty scary up there because it was SO windy and cold.
this is delicate arch! once again, pictures do not do this place justice. the hike up is amazing and we were so lucky to have blue skies on sunday morning!
lover face!
ah incredible!
this is called newspaper rock. it was like 40 miles south of where we were camping but we really wanted to see it- it's this crazy huge rock that has petroglyphs all over it. experts can't tell how old some of the pictures are but they guess that some of them date back to b.c. times. it was fun to make up stories about why the people had carved these pictures.

i had a really hard time choosing which pictures to put up because i have tons of them, so check out my facebook album for more! love you guys so much!

Look, leesh. I'm blogging!

Okay so here's the deal. Being sick sucks a lot. That's all there is to it. Picture this: It's the friday that spring break starts and it progressively starts becoming more of a vacation feeling for everyone around me, i'm bound to my bed, like in a cave. Stuck there. Sick there. I can't talk. As my brother, erik, comes home to visit, i was excited all week to see him, then it happens and i can't even hang out with the guy. Throughout the week I miss out on a concert that I had wanted to go to, I don't go to a sleepover with jacque, kat, bubba, and maryann to watch a movie at the pitt's house. I have to turn my friends away and tell I can't hang out. Lauren brings me a smoothie and a picture she drew for me. That cheered me up. The next day she drove me all over for her erronds. That mad me not as sick. Then the next day is shopping with my grandma and other sick cousins my age. Whoo-hoo. Got some cool stuff. That's my story. But on a better note, I'm getting better. Yesterday I got to go out to lunch with Lauren and then come home make a CD and play it in the car while talking on the phone with jaxon who is currently visiting in Utah. Yep. Real fun break. Hopefully something exciting happens. Tonight there is the fo sho possibility that I might go bowling or just do something fun. Yeah that's me. Happy leesh? I have successfully posted a blog. Everyone cheer.

P.s. I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. It's getting good. Harry already made out with Cho and now theres a possibilty that Voldemort sent a snake to kill Arthur Weasley while he was on Order business. Yep. Real intense. Love you all

art art art fart art art art art art

hi! i have literally been studying for two days straight for an exam that i have tomorrow, so i thought i would break it up a little by sharing with all of you my recent art muses. i'm taking this absolutely fabulous art appreciation class right now from a fantastic professor who makes me love art even more every single day! so i thought i would share some of it with you!

the first two painting are by my absolute favorite artist of all time- gustav klimt. he was an art nouveau painter and has created some of the most stunning and alluring paintings i have ever seen in my life! his use of rich, vibrant colors and intricate shapes makes for the most amazing artwork.
painting 1 is called- the kiss, and i'm sure almost all of you have already seen it! amazzzzing!
painting 2 is called- adele bloch-bauer, stunning, right?!

recently i have become absolutely obsessed with this artist, caravaggio. he was actually a painter during the baroque period, but what's so fascinating about him is that he was the first artist ever to utilize the dramatic contrast between light and shadow. the first!! without him, so many famous artists from today would not even exist!

this painting is called- the supper at emmaus. it's hands down my favorite picture by him of all time. it's a depiction of christ after he was resurrected at the exact moment where he revealed to his disciples that he was the christ. there are so many amazing things about the picture... but i won't even go into them because i know it will bore you haha. anyways, he was a GENIUS!


of course i have monet here as one of my favorites! what's not to love about him? i think what i love so much about monet is his talent for depicting nature in such a beautiful and dreamy way! monet was an artist during the impressionist era, which i believe was one of the best eras during the histroy of art. i love how mysterious the artwork was with its murky, blended together colors. it's wonderful how they were able to make everything look so soft while still allowing the viewers to figure out what the scene was!

1st painting- coquelicots- probably his most famous painting of the beautiful field of poppies!
2nd painting- the stroll- i love this one for the viewpoint. we are looking up at them into this beautiful scene of swirling clouds and waving grass! looovely!


this last artist is actually still alive, and i've just recently learned about him from my ethics and values teacher. his name is andy goldsworthy and i think he is brilliant! he creates are and sculptures from rocks, trees, leaves- pretty much anything nature has to provide him. i love him because he was able to look at a rock and figure out that it has so much artistic potential. his work takes so much patience and a love for nature and the world around us. i recently watched a documentary about his work and saw the calm frustration when one of his rock formations falls before its finished. i also love the humbleness he brings to art- all of his artwork is done in nature therefore leaving the possibility of it to be ruined.

1st picture- one of his famous rock cones. they take him hours and hours to build and he builds them anywhere from in the tides of the ocean to forests in the mountains.
2nd picture- of on his stick webs. they are sooooo beautiful!


well, i hope you all enjoyed my rabble (if you cared to read it that is hahhah). this world is just so absolutely beautiful! so i hope each of you can find things in life that make you smile and appreciate it- whether it be a sunset, a blowing tree, a child's smile or whatever... love you alll!!!!! xoxo

hey guys!
well i just thought i throw somethin up here. I work at subway A LOT!! i'm makin good money and gettin a lot of hours, so thats great. i'm definately starting to see why i was supposed to come back home. grandma and grandpas is great. i have only been there a couple days because i've been house sitting for the pitts. so yeah. thats all i do now, is work. i'm still planning on moving to utah in august and going to the Utah College of Massage Therapy in the spring. I'm really excited, but it is definately nice to have this time off. I love you all, hope your doing great.

festivul uv culurs

wooh, so stoked to see dad post something on here! i feel like i'm always babbling about something on here so it's nice to see something else every once in awhile.
welp, on saturday there was the annual festival of colors or holi festival which is put on by the hare krishna people just a couple cities south of provo. the festival of colors is this fabulous indian festival that celebrates the coming of spring and the awakening of your consciousness. so they burn a fake witch and throw colored powder at each other and chant:
hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

it's great fun, trust me. and what's even more lovely is that kamryn shupe and her boyfriend came with me, chrissy and aaron to the fest!! sooo much loove!!


oh yeah, and aaron and i crowd surfed, which was exhilarating.
and if you wanna see more pictures, just check out my facebook! hollerrrr!