Working At Disneyland :)

To some it is known as the "happiest place on earth", but to me it is just my job. I do try to make it the happiest place on earth, but we all know that the world just isn't a happy place. So all we can do is our best to make it happy. Anyways, since I've been working there, I have realized how many dumb questions I get asked at work. It is pretty hillarious too. I once was standing right next to a candy shoppe, and some one asked me if we had a candy store. Hmmmm, if only they had turned around, they would've seen it. The other day, a lady probably from England ( she had a really thick english accent ) asked me which side of the street would be to watch the parade....Let's think about this one...there are two sides to the street, and the parade goes down the middle of those two sides...I'm pretty sure either side would do, but I still gave her my personal opinion, and sent her off with a smile. Because that is what I get paid to do :)
Anyways. That's my two bits. I'll keep you posted on the funny things that go on in my life, as well as at work.
Till then...

When Your sick, you get sick ideas!

So this whole week, and a little of last I have been getting over a bad case of strep throat. Thankfully I got some antibiotics from my family ward bishop. So kind! So even though the strep is going away, everything else that is tearing up my mouth wont seem to go away.
Anyways, I've discovered that when you are sick, you come up with a lot of things you wish you could be doing. So I have been putting together a survival list of things I can do while being sick. And I have also thought up a really awesome date idea that I hope to fulfill someday! The date is:
To take pictures of things around town the form a letter, the goal being to get each letter of the alphabet. Then after getting all the letters then creating a photobook of the alphabet, or a name plate, etc.
Anyways, that's about it for now :)

A New Kind of Random....

Monday night I went to disneyland with some friends to check out how they decked out the park to a halloween theme. This year they changed up the graphics on Space Mountain which was amusing the first time, and the second. My main goal was to scream as loud as I could until my friend's ears would bleed. Pay back for him pushing down my lap bar way too far on Thunder Mountain. They also have the Haunted Mansion turned into the Nightmare before Christmas....This is always fun to see, and I loved it. There is always something new I see on that ride....or maybe I just forget about it cuz it is only up through the halloween season each year. This is my first year in a long time with a pass, so it is probably more of the later bit. We also got to see the new halloween spectacular fireworks show. It was fun to watch, and definitely worth the wait and soreness of standing, i just hope to get a better seat next time. On the way back to our car we were walking through Downtown Disneyland, and some guys were giving out some free concert tickets to a show that was playing at the moment at the House of Blues. We thought hey why not? We can be spontaneous, especially since it is free ;) We went ahead and checked it out...The bands that played before the actual band were pretty interesting. The best part of the night was watching this guy dancing in front of us. He had some sweet moves for a possibly drunk white guy. The band was playing a rock cover of the song "Apple bottom Jeans, boots with the fur". *don't expect me to know the real name of the song, because that just isn't me...ha ha It was the best part of the whole show, they weren't the greatest band, but they were way better than the band that was playing that night. ha ha. We left, and ended a great evening with some great tasting In N Out.
$9.00 for two enchanted churros and a soda... $5.00 for a heavenly pinapple whip float.... $5.00 for IN N OUT....Seeing a band do a cover on a hip hop song and watching a drunk white guy bust the moves.....PRICELESS :)
not bad for a $20 budget :)

Discontinued or Cancelled

Don't you hate it when something that makes you happy in life is discontinued or cancelled. And no matter how much you protest to bring it back, it doesn't change a thing? What are some things that you wish were brought "back to life, back to reality" (sorry sometimes i break into song to complete my scentences).
Some of the things that i've been sad about are those really good tv shows that were once on and are no longer with us. Those being:
1. How I met your mother....i just found out it is back on air, so false alarm :)
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Tru Calling
4. Arrested Development
etc. What are some of yours?

DUI and a Heartattack...

So tonight I hung out with a friend after volleyball at a diner close to home called "Corky's". We had some soda, and a pretty disgusting cinnamon roll. On the way home, I was pulled over by a cop. I was really surprised and almost had a heart attack. I could not remember where to pull over. I have only been pulled over by a cop one other time, and that was up in Idaho. I am a very cautious driver, and thought I did something wrong. So i turned into an apartment complex parking lot instead of pulling over to the side of the road, which turned out to be my first mistake. When I finally stopped, the cop said over his speaker for me to stop my car. I was seriously freaking out...I just didn't know where I was supposed to pull over at. The red curb in the street threw me off. So I parked my car, and turned on my light so I could pull out my lisence and registration. Apparently I shouldn't have done that either. He was shining his brights on me, so I turned off my ligtht, and was looking for it in the dark. When he came up to my window I told him that I was sorry but I hadn't been pulled over in a very long time, and wasn't sure where to go. He was kind and explained to me that in the DMV days, I am to just pull off to the side of the road. It turns out that he was on duty of doing DUI checks. He asked me where I was, and I explained to him that I was having a soda with a friend over at Corky's Diner, and was just heading home. He then asked me if I had any alcohol, did the follow my finger test, and asked if I ever had any traffic problems. I answered them all honestly, and did what he asked, and was very polite. I asked him if I did something wrong, and he told me I was driving fine, and it was just that my lisence plate light had gone out. He told me where the light was located and how to replace it.
Out of the two times that I've been pulled over, I've learned that as long as you do what they ask of you, are honest, and explain in a kind way why you did a certain thing, then they will be reasonable, and let you off with a warning.
I feel very blessed tonight that I was driving safe, and I wasn't given a ticket. I don't know if I could have ever afforded a ticket right now.

My Other Blog

To those of you who know me, I'm striving to be a better photographer, and to do that, I need business. I have plenty of experience, and have a large portfolio. Please check out my photography blog at: http://mcbethphotography.blogspot.com or my website at: http://mcbethphotography.weebly.com
I'm willing to negotiate with prices due to the terrible economy that we are living in. Please let your friends know, and see my work. I would also appreciate any constructive criticism that you could give me to help me improve.
Also if anyone is interested in piano lessons, I teach and I can come to you if you live in the Inland Empire. Keep my name out there to anyone that needs a photographer or piano teacher. I would really appreciate anything you can say to others for me :)
Hope all is well with everyone. Love and Kisses :)

Birthday Cellebrations

Monday was my 25th birthday. After an exhausting week of photographing my high school friends Taber (groom) and Tereasa (bride) ((I hung out with both in High School)) wedding, I was able to sit back and relax, and make plans for my birthday. I went to Disneyland with my friends David and Natalie. It could have been more fun if people who said were coming would have come, and if Disneyland didn't have a power outage early in the day making all of the other lines twice as long. It was cool since I had a disneyland pass, I signed up for the Disney birthday special and got a giftcard for $72 to spend at disneyland on anything but food. So i got two antenna balls for my mom's and my car. Mine being Animal from the muppets, and a replacement Fantasia mickey head for my mom. I also got a Nightmare Before Christmas "Jack and Sally" love ring, the Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack with bonus music, a pair of white sunglasses, and a goofy pin for my lanyard. It was cool to get some fun disney stuff for free. My friend Natalie got me some good lip gloss and a pack of barbie pink nail polish, which I was bored today, and painted my nails with ;) thanks nat!
On the way back home we met up with my friends at BJ's. A lot of people were able to come, but not everyone was able to stay since we didn't get seated until 9:30 I think. But the food and the company was great! The free Pazooki, and drafted root beer was yummy! I can't wait to go back and cellebrate again with some friends. My cousin CJ and his wife Katie ( who is a friend of mine) got me a 15 gift card to barnes and noble. I'm very excited to get something, but can't make my mind up on what exactly. Elizabeth got me some "Pretty in Pink" body spray and lotion. I have a feeling that pink is an ongoing theme here....hum... Mercy got me some nice bath crystals, and some lotion as well. I love it, and I loved being with my friends. It was a great end to the day. But a great begining to my adventures of being 25.

Re-Cap of past couple of weeks

So I realized I haven't written in my blog lately, and would need to fill in a re-cap. So this is what has been going on:

Random bit: I became good friends with this guy named Casey. He is going to be leaving on his mission this next wednesday, and we are hanging out until he leaves. I think he looks a bit like
Green Arrow from Smallville, what do you think?(Bad picture of Casey I know, but in person, it totally looks like him. Dad, and my friends agree with me. I'm not crazy, i'm not crazy.... lol)



1. I got my hair cut :) I finally did it, i just ended up retouching the last cut i did back in october, but I love it, and this time I can actually style my hair :)

2. Last Thursday I met up with an old pen pal from back in 2004. We would write and chat, and met up for the first time. He was coming down for one of his best mission companion's wedding, and it turns out that he knew the groom, and i knew the bride. So we enjoyed eachothers company, learned more about each other, and just chilled :)





( Mom had this great idea to take this picture looking up at us. Hillarious! I love it! I wonder if this is what all my short friends see when they are looking up at me)
3. I went to Disneyland on Friday with Janice, her cousins Emma, and Jennifer, and Casey. It was really hot outside, and I thought I was going to die. I drank over 3 liters of water in a short amount of time. I wasn't feeling too well. Casey and I left early because I still had to drive him back to the high desert where he lives. I stayed the night at his house, and still wasn't feeling well the next day, so I drove home, and ended up sleeping it off most the day, and well into monday as well.


(Blurry picture i know. This was the first time the tower of terror made me feel even more sick then I already was...)( We were playing dead because Jenn in the front killed us with her gun...)
4. Early this morning I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie with Casey and his family. It was totally awesome! I really enjoyed it a lot. And for those of you who haven't seen it, I wont ruin it for you. But I will tell you that it is long, so prepare yourself. Also It is the best one so far, and is probably the most accurate one towards the books. So I hope you like it as much as I did.
http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthehalf-bloodprince/

Fishing

Recently I went fishing for the second time in my life. My friend Casey loves to fish, and he took me up to a Dam, and to a creek to catch some fish. He taught me how to properly cast, and how to do ticking. After trying to tick, and couldn't do it very well, I then found how easy it really was to cast. It was a wonderful day, filled with sun, mosquitoes, and blue gilled fish. It was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to go again :)

Fourth of July

This fourth of July was spent a bit differently than I would have normally spent it. For the past 5 years I have spent my fourth of july with friends up in Idaho Falls, with thousands of people, the Idaho Falls temple, and the beautiful falls that surround us. But this year I was asked to assist my friend Jason on a wedding. He was so kind to let me tag along and learn what I could to prepare me for another wedding I will be photographing for my friends Terri, and Taber this August. It was a very interesting experience, and I learned so much. It was a lot of fun, and in the end I was still able to see some beautiful fireworks.

Life Decisions

In life I feel like options can be looked at in a good and a bad way. For instance, Chocolate or Vanilla, both are good, but after having one, you will yearn for the other.
My decision in life that seems to be creeping up on me currently is whether to move, and if I do where too. My options are as listed:
1. Carrollton Texas near my sister Sara.
2. Stillwater, Oklahoma for grad school, and a new change in life. A new adventure, and maybe a nice new start.
3. Provo, Utah for whatever. Old friends and new, grad school possibly, and lots of family.
Some are wondering why I'm even considering on leaving beautiful beach weather, sun shiny California. Here are my reasons:
1. I've been here all my life, and haven't really ever tried to live anywhere else. Where is the adventure in that?
2. Life just doesn't seem to be presenting any careers, love, or life here in California, and I'm just finding it really boring. It is time for a change.
3. I need to be on my own, find out what it really means to support ones self, and live on their own.
So I guess if you can think of any reasons of why I should stay, go and ahead and list them. I guess you can always try. Just know that I will most likely be moving.
I'm hoping to be out of here this fall.
These are my options:
1. Stillwater, Oklahoma. I've made some friends, met a really nice young man of whom I'd like to get to know more, and they have a really cool school out there, that looks like would be a lot of fun for grad school. If i did leave for there, i'd be living with my friend Tamra, and Holly. We haven't met before, but we have become friends through the Stillwater, Ok YSA ward. They are both members of the church, and really nice. Tamra is an RM, and I haven't really gotten to know too much about Holly. We would all be living in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 car garage house for roughly 400 a month with utilities. To check it out, visit: http://www.campbellmgmt.com/ at the bottom of the page click on James Creek, and that will take you to the link of the house.
2. Carrollton, Texas. I would be a couple of miles from Dallas, Texas. If I lived here, I'd probably attend the singles ward, try to find a job, and pay about 4-500 a month for an apartment. I would be near my sister Sara, and her family of 3 sweet boys. I love my nephews and used to live with them last summer, it was a great time. And her husband Randall is really cool. We'd enjoy Law and Order, and popcorn with slices of cheese. What more can you ask for? lol If I lived here, I could be about 4 hours away from Stillwater, and still keep in touch with my new friends, and prepare for grad school. This option would put me closer to family.
3. Provo/Orem, Utah. I've had a lot of family offer me a place to live. So I could live with my Aunt Carolyn in provo, my Uncle Bruce in Orem, or my grandparents in Spanish Fork. I've also considered going to grad school at BYU. I don't know if I'm in for a couple of more months, but then again, I haven't even finished my application yet. I've got some work to do. I could also live with some college friends from my BYU Idaho days, and get a nice job up there.
It looks like I have a lot of different options, and very little time to decide. This will be an interesting journey. :)

Beautiful Morning at the Temple

Last night I had a hard time going to bed. I was so excited to participate in my stake temple day at the Redlands Temple. So by the time I finally fell asleep it was probably 1:30. But it was fine, I got to read a lot in the Preach My Gospel book, learning more about why the Lord has given us prophets, the savior's earthly ministry and atonement, and the apostacy. It was a really good read. I feel like we all need to read this every now and then to brush up on the little details. And to all the amazement the scriptures didn't put me to sleep. So i pulled out my second resort. I have had this really disappointingly boring book since last september on my bookshelf, and still haven't been able to read the whole thing. This book is usually the one that puts me to sleep. It is called "Brisngr". It is the third book in the Eragon series. It will probably take me a year to finish it. And again to my suprise, that book didn't put me to sleep either. Too bad I thought, it usually works.
Anyways, I got up at 5:30 this morning, out to pick up at friend at 6:15, and then got to the temple at 6:45. It was a wonderful experience to be at the temple. I had a great spiritual feed, knowing that I was doing good in the world today, and that I got to walk today where Jesus walked. I was so happy to be there. After having such an emotional rollercoaster of a week this week, it was just so nice to sit in a peacful, and calm serenity, and just think of the work I was able to perform for our dead. It has been awhile since I have been to the temple so early in the morning. I have usually gone in the evening with my singles ward. The temple just looked so radiant this morning. The beauty of the Redlands temple is unlike any other I have been in. The light hit everything in the baptismal room just right. Across the font, was a glass window that looks into one of the waiting rooms. After being in a line of 14 girls to get baptized I really enjoyed seeing the men and women young and old from my stake walk through that room, look into the baptismal font and smile and wave at us. It just added so much more to my experience, giving me a much deeper meaning to my mission here on earth.

“That thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, … that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house;

“And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness.” (D&C 109:12–13.)

Discovering My Individual Worth

This past weekend my ysa ward had a conference. I didn't make it to all of it which is disappointing, but I did make it to the last half. At the conference one of the speakers spoke to us about finding our career path, and strategies of finding it. She taught us a couple of ways that we can discover for ourselves what career path we should be taking. We are taught to "Seek learning, even by study and also by faith." So I hope that by searching out my true potential through study and faith, I will be able to find true happiness in serving God's children.
My first hope of learning is to ask you a question. What do you think I am good at? I would really like to know, because I may not think I am good at the things that you think I am good at.
My second act of studying and learning is to find places that offer the services that I'm interested in so I can gain more experience and grow in my interests. This also includes area's that you think I am good at. So please let me know what is going on with the skills you believe I have so I can grow.
My third act of learning about myself is to study out in my heart and mind the things my Father in Heaven has told me through my Patriarchal blessing. This will help me see how my Father in Heaven sees me, my duties, my responsibilities, my admonitions in life, and my promises and blessings. With my patriarchal blessing i will reveal clues to important decisions in my life. By defining my blessing in terms of those categories, many things will become more clear, more important, and reveal many reveltation about me and my life which may not be readily apparent. Which may be an item, phrase or blessing with may fit into figuring out who I am, my duties, my responsibilities, my admonitions, and my promises and blessings.
I know this may sound boring to you, but this is the time in my life where I'm most likely to question my status, and figure out where I go from here.
Lately I've been pondering on going to grad school, or just back to school in general. Whether I should be moving, or what I need to change in my life.
So to sum up please answer me this:
What do you think I'm good at?
What is your advice of what I should do, or how I can figure out what to do?
I love you all and appreciate your love and support each day of my life :)

When we see the effect one person can have on the lives of so many, it perhaps is no wonder that the Lord reminded us, “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (D&C 18:10)

Laura and Acie's Visit

Two weeks ago, my sister Laura and her husband came to california to visit for two weeks. It was a really nice visit, and it was cool to see Laura Prego. This is going to be Laura's first baby, and my second niece. I am very excited. She is thinking about naming her Ashlyn Jade Devlin. Super cute. I'm sure that it was odd to Laura, but I would ocassionally talk to her belly, but i'm sure that Ashlyn appreciated it. Some highlights to their visit were: Walking Downtown Disney, Going to Dave and Busters, Laura's Baby shower, Going to the Beach and having a bon fire, and being with family. Also at the end of the trip Laura and Acie got a puppy. It was a Cha-wienner. Cute pup. His ears would flop whenever he would run, and he ran like a little kangaroo. Too bad that when they drove 19 hours back to Washington, the pup didn't do well in their apartment, and they had to take him to the shelter.
The goods of the visit: Got to see laura preggo, visit with lots of family, and getting to hang out with Laura and Acie.
The Bad: Not having enough money to do things with them, and loosing one of my rainbow sandals at the beach. Oh well, I have a feeling I will be getting that back soon.

Happy Father's Day

Today Mom, Dad and I went up to Lake Arrowhead. I can't remember the last time I was up there, or how old I was. It was the best day to go. The drive up was shaky, and I was very grateful to be out of the car. I've never taken a liking of driving up windy roads. However, the sky was blue, with some clouds in the sky. It was in the 80's, and away from all the heat in the valley. We didn't get to go and put our feet in the lake, but i was just nice to look out over the mountains edge and see the reflections of the lake's water, and all of the sailboats below us.
We were able to take some really nice pictures. Mom took a picture of Dad and I that I really like. Then we got some individual pictures taken, and I was able to take some pictures for mom and dad. I was also able to take some nice pictures for a couple that we bumped into. It was a nice feeling to create a nice image for them.
I did have an embarrassing moment though. Apparently I ripped my shorts. I think it may have been from sitting on a sharp rock when I was taking pictures of Mom and Dad. It didn't take long for Mom to point it out, but it sure was embarrassing. I just hope it wasn't there for long, and no one else saw it. We were able to go into town and buy a new pair of shorts. Lucky for me I had a long tank that I was able to wear over the rip. Sad to say they were a really cute pair of shorts my sister just sent to me in the mail. Maybe there will be some way to heal them. I hope.
We grabbed some lunch and ate outside by the lake. It was a beautiful day, and I wish I could have spent some more time up there. But Mom had some students to teach. The drive down was thankfully not as bad as the way up, but next time I think we will take my car up. Something a little closer to the ground, and not as shaky. :)

Peaches

This week has been a good week so far :) After church on sunday I looked into my front yard and saw as usual so many peaches fallen to the ground from our peach tree. So I changed into some shorts, went out front and started sorting out the good from the bad. The tree is so beautiful, and the peaches are so tasty. I enjoyed just sitting there under the tree for a good couple of minutes and smelling the aroma of peaches. It smelt so wonderful, I am sure if I took some pictures of it, you could smell it too. I will try to post some pictures soon.
That's all for now, more will come later ;)

Job Hunt Continues

So the majority of my day so far has been spent in creating a pricing plan for my freelancing photography, and job hunting. I recently just put my two weeks notice in at JCPenney portraits. I just can't continue to put such stress on my knees any longer. It is causing my body way too much pain. I know that if I stay with JCPenney, then I will never move forward in my career, and won't be given the hours I need. So once again, I'm on the job hunt.
This summer I will be photographing my friend's wedding. Theresa, and Taber will be getting married August 14th, they are two of my friends from High School. I'm photographing their wedding for super cheap. I just hope to have the equipment I need in time for their wedding. I may even have to take out a loan to get the equipment that I need. Or maybe by then I will have a good job.
So if you happen to know of any good job's that I can apply for, please let me know. I would really appreciate it :)

Threshold Climbing

Yesterday evening I went to a Indoor rock climbing gym. A guy from my singles ward (Garret Bluhm) was hosting a dance/game/climbing party at his Dad's Gym. It was pretty fun. When I got to the event there was a portably bonfire outside, which I never went to, the whole inside was different difficulty levels of wall climbing, and once you climbed to the top there was a gym weight lifting, and cardio room, and then there was an entertainment center. Then there were stairs that took you back down to the main level. There was also a place to play video games, and watch a movie. I didn't really do anything else but climb the walls.
The first two walls I climbed, I did without a harness, and it sure was pretty scary. They weren't too far from the ground, but being 6'3 and afraid of heights, it sure seemed like a long ways down. Especially being a young adult, and not having any insurance had definately added to the freight level. I successfully climbed the first wall after 3 attempts. The second wall, on the first try, I got stuck, scared, and ended up going back down. The second wall I tried a second time after watching others, and when I lacked the strength to pull myself up to the top, some of my friends gave me a hand. The third wall was a full length climbing wall with harness. I was much more comfortable with this one since, I was high up, and harnessed in, incase if i did fall. It was the first time I had actually made it to the top without shirking down in fear and giving up. It was quite a nice feeling to know that I could do it, and take control of my fear.

Dr. Pepper

Last summer I was living up in Idaho with my sister Sara, her Husband and their three boys: Peter, Andrew, and Blake. They were house sitting for Randall's parents while they are serving their mission. While I was living there, I was going to BYU Idaho just taking some classes to see if I would like to further my education in Design, or in Business. So I went to school, worked at a restaurant called the Backyard, and hung out at my old apartment in Rexburg where I used to live prior before graduating. That apartment was a home to me, and it was a very hard move back to California. So it was really nice to be back in Idaho with all of my college friends, and to live with my sister, and her awesome family.
One time when I had just got out of class, I went back to my sister's place and I was drinking a Dr. Pepper. I turned to my sister and said "Sara, I love Dr. Pepper", and with her reply she said "Well if you love Dr. Pepper, then why don't you marry him?" I think it was Andrew or Peter who heard our conversation and said, "Aunt Kari, are you really going to marry Dr. Pepper?" I replied saying "Yes, I am. Dr. Pepper is so great, I am going to marry him.
About a week later, My sister, her kids and I are in the car heading over to Rexburg to hit up some garage sales to find her little boys some furniture. As I was sitting in the car I see this handsome police officer walking out of the convenient store with a Dr. Pepper. As I am checking him out and smiling to myself, My nephew Peter yells out: "Aunt Kari, there's your husband, Dr. Pepper!" And since then it has been a run on joke between my nephews, my sister and I.
Today my sister Sara posted some messages for me on my facebook account from my nephews and this is what they said:

"Dear Aunt Kari, I was thinking about Dr. Pepper because I love Dr. Pepper. And then I didn't love Dr. Pepper but now I do. Not right this second because I love it now. Now I don't like it. Now Peter does like it. And also I like Dr. Pepper. Andrew loves Dr. Pepper. And then I do love Dr. Pepper. AAAAAnd then I don't love Dr. Pepper. Then I do love Dr. Pepper. And I do... love Dr. Pepper. And I do love Dr. Pepper. And then I don't love Dr. Pepper. And then I dooooo love Dr. Pepper. Then I dooooo not love Dr. Pepper. And then I do love Dr. Pepper. And also I do really really REALLY REALLY REALLY love Dr. Pepper."- a perfectly verbatim quote by Andrew Larsen, written with laughing tears by his mother.

"Dear Aunt Kari, I love to be with you because you are so so so so so nice. Because you are beautiful. Because you are really really really um...... love you to play with me (Andrew wants to interject awesome)... and you are awesome. hehehe"- A perfectly verbatim quote (though Andrew interjects the word awesome after each of Peter's words) by Peter Larsen, written by his mother.

"Dear Aunt Kari, I was thinking about Dr Pepper. Andrew was."

From these sweet little words from my cute nephews, I thought about this story and wanted to share it with everyone.
To Andrew: Hey little tiger, you are so adorable, and I love you too. I hope that I get to play with you again very soon. And I Love Dr. Pepper soon, hopefully I will find you an Uncle Pepper, and we can all play together. Love Aunt Kari.
To Peter: I love you so much, you are the sweetest 5 year old boy I know, and I love talking to you on the phone. I hope that you are doing well, and you will always be my number 1 P-man :)
Love Aunt Kari
To Blake: You are so adorable, and I love you so much. I'm so happy that you are walking now, and have teeth. You are one heck of a cutie. I miss you too. Love Aunt Kari
To Sara: I am so glad that you and your boys are in my life. I am so happy that whenever I wear my Dr. Pepper shirt, or see a hot boy drinking it, I think of my cute nephews and this on going joke. Love you all so much-Kari

The New Beginning

"It is family that keeps us moving forward each day, Reaching for what we all know we can accomplish"- Thought of the day.


Yesterday at church I had a real smack back into reality. I was taught so much through out the day that I realized that there needs to be a change in my life. I see now that in my life I have just taken each day as it is, and not living it to it's fullest. I give up too easily, and never really commit myself to the most important matters in life.
So last night I decided to head to bed early, after being exhausted from my spiritual feast. I went to bed at 8pm. Which is extremely odd for me since I am a night owl that loves to stay up past the midnight hours of 2 sometimes 3 o'clock in the A.M, A.M. :P I know it must be the college kid in me. Even though I am a college graduate, that does not mean I don't still party :) So Since I went to bed so early, without realizing that it was so early in the evening, I awoke around 2 in the morning. I woke up amazed that I was so exhausted, and seeing that I had just slept for 6 hours. What a Sunday nap! I tried to go back to sleep, to get a full 8 hours of sleep, but my body was so awake, that I just ended up laying there for an hour, and annoying my cat who was trying to sleep. lol So I got up, and did some work on the computer, had some breakfast ( today is the start of my new diet). Then I went to the gym for 2 hours, and commited myself to push to the limit of each exercise that I had to do. I would not give up. Then I came home and showered, and now have time to write these great thoughts and updates with those whom I love.
I am amazed that with these small choices I have made today, I have been able to see so much more in this beautiful day, where before I wouldn't have seen, because of over sleeping.
So I want you to all know, that this is my new beginning. I am going to try to "Raise my Bar", and do so much more each day. To show myself, and my Savior what I can accomplish. :)
I hope you all make today the best day ever!
Love, Kari Berry :p

Strange Dreams....

(This one is for you Lara)
Dreams always seem to be real strange to me, but sometimes I think they are more strange when you are sick.
Last night I dreamt that I came home to find my old room mate at my house. Everyone was running around making last minutes decisions for a big event. Lara (My roomie) comes up to me and says that she is so excited that I am going to be marrying her friend. I kind of laughed at her and told her when I was going to marry him, that I was only joking. But then somewhere along the line I get caught up in this huge mess and I start planning my wedding, and getting to know this guy that I am about to be married to. And in the dream it is a tuesday and I am learning that I will be getting married that Friday and this is why everyone is going crazy. This is when I realize that I have no dress, shoes, my nails aren't done, and I have no money to do any of this. And then I start freaking out because I have no time to send out invitations, and then realize that my friend Rachel is getting married this Friday, and no one will be able to come to my wedding.
And then I woke up.
I can understand that I am dreaming about marriage, that is perfectly normal for any single 24 year old woman. But what is the deal with this random guy that I have never talked to my friend about, or the havoc?
So this is why I have come to the conclusion that dreams are far more stranger when you are sick.

Clippers vs. Suns

Last night I was invited to go to my first NBA game. I went and saw the Clippers vs. the Phoenix suns at the staples center. I don't really care for either team, but chose to chear for the Suns, because Shaq was the only player I knew about. My friend brandon hooked us all up with tickets for $10. Pretty fun activity for cheap. Our seats were way up high, and everytime I would stand up I would feel sick to my stomach, so I tried to sit when possible. It was so high up, I am very afraid of heights. Oh well. Anyways a lot of my friends from my singles branch went, and we all carpooled out there. We had a whole row to ourselves, but when we got there, there was this man and his four little boys in our row, so we went a couple of rows up. About half time, some guys came and kicked us out of their seats, and they sat in those seats speciffically. I thought it was kind of rude. They could have just sat at the end. This split our group up, but it was still fun to be with everyone. Jake, Neireda, Cynthia, Aaron, Melissa, Brandon1, Brandon2, Brandon's friend TJ, Mercy, Mac, Tracy, Albert, Elizabeth, Chris and Lucas were all there. It was a really fun night. Suns won 135 to 109 I think...

My Washington Trip

On January 28th I got up at 3 A.M after a long and good night of playing Volleyball. I slept for about 2 hours, before I left to pick up my friend Chris, to start our drive up to Olympia, WA. Supposedly I got our leave time mixed up. We were supposed to leave at 6, and for some reason I had it set in my mind that it was at 4. But all was done, and so I got to Chris's house about 4ish, and he came out confused, then we decided to just leave. Which was nice, we arrived in WA around 10:30.
The next day, after sleeping for about 6 hours or so, we went to Washington's Hunting Walmart; Cabella's. It was just like "Bass Pro Shop" but Bass Pro will always be my favorite. Sorry Cabella's. Afterwards, we went to a chinese buffet, and it had to have been the worst chinese food ever! We all agreed.
On Friday, We went to the State Capital building. It isn't too far from Laura's. It was so beautiful, I loved it. Being the Artist I am, I couldn't stop the awe, and continued taking multiple pictures. While at the Capital, there was this red headed boy that was taking pictures. He started talking to me, and tried to show me up with his camera. So then I informed him of the fact that I graduated with my degree in photography, and am currently working for a studio. He seemed a little taken aback. It was pretty amusing. He turns out to be a photographer as a hobby, which I encourage, but it was just funny that he was trying to show me up. Oh good times. Later on he asked me if I had a chance to get a certain shot, and how amazing it was. I just told him no, and he was gone. Still trying even in the last breathe. Got to give him a star for that one. :) Laura took an "Engagement picture of Chris and I in front of the Capital as a joke". It is interesting. Afterwards, Laura was telling us about this restaurant that her co-workers have been in love with called "The Urban Onion". And they were right, the food was amazing! And our server was hillarious. The cable went out, so we went to rent some videos. Laura and Acie have a PS3, so we rented some blue ray movies. So my first Blue Ray I saw was a movie called "Aeon Flux" it was really good! What a good first timer.
On Saturday we went to Top Foods, and started our day with a Jamba, then went to the Mall across the street from Laura's apartment. She wasn't feeling too well, so we went home and watched a movie. And Christ played his video game.
On Sunday, it was fast sunday. Laura's ward must have been the most depressing fast and testimony meeting I had ever been too. Laura assured me it has never been that bad. lol Laura got called and set apart as the YW camp director. At first she thought it was a counselor position and felt overwhelmed after the setting apart. But I think she is going to do so well! After church Laura and I took our sunday naps, and then watched "Horton Hears a Who" on blue ray, and we had our own break the fast. It was a really cute movie. And my sister is the best cook ever!
On Monday the boys wanted to go out shooting. I have never been before, but have never really wanted to. I have never been a big fan of guns. We went out to a big open area out in the middle of no where, where people go and take objects to shoot. I will let you decide through the pictures if you think I liked it. After shooting, we went to Denny's, and the food helped settle my nerves, and helped everyone elses stomachs. You can't go wrong with a Fabulous French Toast platter. Yum. Later that night, Chris was playing his war video game, and Laura and I left to go get our nails done. Afterwards, we went to the mall and looked around. We went to those fun little picture booths. On the first one we realized that it plays back what we do inside the booth on a screen. When we exited the booth we saw a screen on the outside. We were horrified that someone may have seen it. So we went to another booth, and were trying to select a template, and the booth selected one for us. How nice of it. We were stuck with penquins. I love penguins, but we didn't want that one. To confirm our horror of the last booth, this booth was playing our recap on the outside as well. Laura recorded the videos, they are amusing. I went into a Zumiez, and got some really cute Globe black slipe on Loafers. I guess the guys in the store were flirting with me, and I had no clue. Laura had to tell me. lol yes I am oblivious.
On Tuesday, we went to Seattle WA, and went on the Seattle Pier, and took a lot of fun pictures. Everything else was mainly closing, so we went to another mall. Laura, Acie, and I were exhausted. Chris wasn't though, he enjoyed going to a book store and got a book on guns.
On Wednesday, I got the oil changed, the car washed, and we tried to go to Denny's for the free meal, and gave up when we saw the long line. We went to Walmart and I got food for the trip home, and Chris was trying to convince Laura and Acie to help him purchase a gun that is illegal in the state of California. Is this a hobby? or an Obsession? Laura and I went to the capital lake and had fun taking fun pictures, and just relaxing. We played some games, and went to the store and got some cake, and split them as our last hoo rah in Washington.
Laura and Acie were so sweet in letting me come see them. They were so nice to me and so hospitible. The trip was so great, and I can't wait till the come to see me! Love you!
(I will post pictures soon)

My Recent Excitement

Today I got a letter in the mail from the Photographer's Forum Magazine. A couple of months ago, my friend Alissa told me about a contest that this magazine was holding, and she said I should submit some of my work to with the really cool prizes, and to get my work out there. On this blog I should you the work that I submited, and what i did with each image, to show you how I made it special. Well I am happy inform everyone that I am in the finalist selection group for the magazine. This means that I will be published in a harcover book called Best of College Photography 2009! Because I am a finalist my work will appear in this addition! I am so excited. Now I am looking into what other contests there are that I can enter into! How fun this is! I wish I had Adobe Photoshop on my computer so I could enhance more of my pictures like the one I submitted. I am going to be so excited when I have a studio of my own. It has always been a dream of mine to open up my own photo studio where people can come in and take classes, learning about how to work their camera's, how to develop their own pictures, and how to use the Adobe Photoshop program. Learning how to create their own pictures. It is a dream I hope to fulfill. In this studio, I will also have my own studio, where people can come in and have their pictures as well. It is going to be totally wicked!