Flashback Friday: Milano

So Milano, Italy had to be one of my favorite places to travel to. Most models hated it. I am really not sure why, but they normally started smoking there and complained all the time. I LOVED it! The food is phenomenal! I really can't even explain it. Even buying cherries by the kilo on the side of the street was delicious.

The first time I went I was 14. I know. Young.
I was staying with my booker and his girlfriend in their spare room. (booker= the one selling me at the agency. the one who fights for you to get you the job you want and the money you want. basically gold if you have a great one who believes in you) I think he could tell I was lonely so he let me have a roommate. Ruth. She was from Norway. She was fabulous. Long blonde hair and stories of swimming in the freezing cold ocean and how much she loved it. I thought she was crazy because I HATE cold water. Unless you are paying me money to get in I wouldn't go near it. We spent a lot of time at a restaurant down the street. Yummy typical Italian place. Good pizza. Basically we wanted to give our host alone time with said girlfriend. 2 years later I got a phone call from a t.v. show in Italy that a guy in Italy wanted me to fly out so he could profess his love to me. He and his younger brother were waiters at that restaurant. I didn't even really talk to him that much he was shy. The younger one was always chatting with us. Needless to say I didn't accept the offer for a trip to Italy to be on the show. My sis always got a kick out of that. I was flattered, but once again how old was I? Italians are definitely passionate people who wear their hearts on their sleeves which I think is a good thing.

I enjoyed finding my way around the city and maneuvering the metro. I discovered I had a good sense of direction once I realized the names of the streets were written on the buildings instead of street signs. The people were wonderful. So friendly. They would literally walk city blocks to make sure you found the right building. I don't even know if many people in North America would go to such lengths.

Although one time I was being followed by a gentlemen who I had turned downed earlier for coffee. I circled my block 3 times thinking I had lost him, but in the end found him knocking on the building door while I was waiting for the elevator. I know creepy! But I was spared from any wrongdoing.

The was another girl from my agency who caused a car crash! She was 5'11", blonde, legs for miles. A group of guys were whistling at her and didn't pay attention that the light had changed. CRASH! Yeah that was kind of funny.

Maybe that is what the girls didn't like the whistling guys. I guess I just didn't care. I would just laugh and keep walking. Although maybe because I was 14 and thought it was funny.

I returned the following year when I was 15. This time I stayed in the model apartment. My roommate Florencia was a dream.



Everyone thought we could be sisters. We even working together once which was a lot of fun. Sadly I never did get to see her again. She was from Argentina and knew Italian so that was always fun because people talk about you in front of you thinking you won't understand them and she would always call them on it.

This time much to my father's urging to see more of Italy we went to Rome for two nights. So much fun! We took the train and found a place to stay when we got there. I have to say next time I go I would love to take my time because me feet were killing me walking to every single site!!! There is way too much to see in 3 days!



I got a job at the end of my last trip that helped me break even on the trip. It was for Onyx Jeans so much fun. I shot it with a bunch of girls including Yamila Diaz-Rahi who is on the far right in the pic above. She was super sweet and gorgeous petite little thing. I was taller than her which is saying a lot. She is also from Argentina and I was so happy for her when I saw this...

I must say that success couldn't have happened to a sweeter person she was awesome. I saw her again a few years later in New York at a casting and she was still so sweet. I think sometimes in this industry when you meet people who are rude and selfish and ugly on the inside it pains me to see them do well, but then I have seen so many wonderful people around me that I have met, roommates, and people I have worked with who are doing really well. It makes me happy that the world isn't messed up and backwards and you don't have to be an ugly diva to succeed in the world.

Anyway all of my other pics of Milan are at my moms maybe someday I will find some more to share.

Tweet

Embrace the Camera: October 28, 2010

So today I had no time! McKayla was working (don't worry not child labor she loves it and it was only an hour), I had to go the gym because I have been such a slacker, kids had oodles of homework, I had to finish making Marcus' costume, preparing the guest room for a good friend flying in tonight, and trying to fit in this blog. SO here it is the only thing I could muster up, but better than nothing right? Now I will stop complaining before you here the violin playing!


Yes! I know he just had a nose bleed and you can still see a little! I told you it wasn't the best photo I have ever taken!

Tweet

Cross Country

So weeks ago my kids had a cross country race. They trained for weeks and ran more than I think I ever want to run, but good for them staying heart healthy and building up some good muscle. I "booked" my husband to be off for the big race because my kids need encouragement from daddy. (He ran along side them.) Especially my daughter who has yet to realize how incredible she is and can become if she pushes herself. Last year she wanted to give up almost immediately and then with some encouragement placed 7th. This year she didn't train as hard as she could have. She admits to it. I told her not to expect a good as good a showing as the work that was put into getting there. I didn't realize teaching your children sometimes involved such philosophical discussions.



My son on the other hand worked hard. Not every practice, but definitely tried to get better. I think if the race was twice as long he probably would do a lot better because it seems like he can go on forever. He just isn't that fast. But if you knew my son you would know that he doesn't really mind that he isn't fast. Well maybe that isn't right. Let me just say this he has three favorite sayings. "It's okay." "I'm fine". and "sure". Let me just say until my daughter came along I thought I was going to go crazy because nothing seems to excite him. The complete opposite of McKayla who as you will see in my soon to come out birthday post of her is very expressive and gets overly excited about everything. Every once in a while you get a small little crack on the side of his mouth and you know that he is excited, but can't bring himself to jump up and down and show any emotion. Even when he is upset and cries it is very subdued and he goes into hiding.

So anyway back to the race. We went along and Monkey got into it too.




(I think he had a little too much gatorade that day!)



We ran along the credit river waiting for the race to start and took the opportunity to take some pics of our backyard. I say that because the race was being held in the park behind my house.




McKayla showing me her muscles before the race.

McKayla was in the third race with the rest of the grade two girls. She was ready I think there were 39 of them. I can't be sure.

Her goal was to stay close to her good friend Nika who is a great runner, but the run got the best of her and she just couldn't keep up, but I was proud she rallied in the end and past somebody almost catching up to pass somebody else.





In the end she got a participant ribbon because she wasn't in the top 10, but she was happy she finished strong. As you can see she could barely put on a smile for me.


Marcus before the race. I distorted his good friend Jason because well I don't like posting kids that are not my own on my blog so he will be the star here seeing as he did really well in the race and finished the best from Marcus' school.


Marcus raced 8th with the other 4th grade boys. There were a lot of them too. There were I think 5 schools racing that day. As always with the boys the race starts with a massive sprint to get in front and then the pace slows a bit. Marcus had a prime spot with his good friend Jason, but when the race started I think he lost track of the line he was going to follow because he ran straight into people the had started to sprint. The race was tough and in the end he didn't get what he was hoping for, but he ran hard the whole way and finished strong. I didn't get an after pic because he went off with his friends.



I learned something that day. I know I may be getting older, but I can still learn things. I think I would be a terrible soccer mom. I really was rooting them on and wanting them to do well. Part of me kept pulling myself back and saying hold on don't push too hard and the other part was screaming run harder I know you can push more!! I felt like I had a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other arguing over who was right. I just tried to get the balance between the two. We as parents try really hard to push our children to be better and do better and reach their full potential. I just hope I don't push them to far or push them in a direction they didn't want to take in the first place. Hopefully I can be strong and guide them without imposing on them things that they in the end didn't want in the first place.

Today was piano lessons and I learned that my son has great coordination and can do things that are difficult for a lot of people. And that was natural no pushing on my part. I think we can find the greatness in ourselves when we let them find the greatness in themselves.,

Tweet

Lost

So The past week has been CRAZY! We put our house back up on the market which meant, yes, cleaning like mad and moving around furniture and going back to living like freaks that never have a messy house. Oh and who can forget stagers, photographers, videographers, floor plan people (who come tomorrow), and closing the pool because there are 100 million leaves falling into my yard and I can't take it anymore! It is exhausting, but I have learned that I kind of like how things look cleaned up. Perhaps some of it will stay that way forever. (Probably just wishful thinking) I had my father-in-law visiting as well as my daughter's 7th birthday sleepover. So I have to say things have been incredibly busy, but I survived. I figured I would just write a short and sweet blog to let everyone I am still alive just too busy to even check email.

I have had people come up to me asking if I got there messages and then realizing that I hadn't been on the computer in days and had no clue what they were talking about. I missed editing my pictures of my babies and reading about other people's lives. I missed not knowing what everyone was doing! Yes! I was having withdrawals. Crackbook has got me hooked and now blogging is a habit I have to learn to control. So today I have slowly eased myself into getting caught up with my little cyber world and maybe tomorrow I will have a real post. Or in the very least edit pictures for the future.

Oh because guess what another visitor is coming! Which actually will be fun. It is nice to have company, don't you think? An excuse to do all those things you wouldn't normally do because you live here and have all the time in the world to do it. Oh plus Halloween! And my hubby's birthday! SO I guess this week will be pretty packed too. hmmm...

Tweet

Flashback Friday: Wedding Edition

So this week I celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary. Yay! I won't lie sometimes marriage is really tough. For me it is because I married young and am continually changing to find myself. You literally aren't the person you were when you were first got married. So you can't look back and say, "Hey you didn't do that or like that when we were dating!" because honestly you change constantly whether you like it or not! Accept it! Hopefully as you change you are growing closer together and not apart. That is my little piece of marriage wisdom I have learned.








Well I used to get bridal jobs like crazy before I got married. I tried on hundreds of dresses.



In fact I wore so many I swore my dress was going to be easy to put on light as a feather,which is hard when you get married in the fall in Canada, and be super simple. Well as usual life doesn't really happen the way you expect it.







I think it was the third or fourth bridal shop I entered when I put on "the" dress. I couldn't stop smiling. I actually am surprised I put it on because it really wasn't what I wanted. Memory is blurry about that, but maybe my future sister-in-law persuaded me to try it on. It was a corset dress. Very traditional. Big skirt with a long train. Basically the opposite of what I wanted. Although I did have two dresses. The other one was a traditional Chinese dress.




I didn't get to marry my sweetheart in the temple which is where I always dreamed I would be married, but as I tell my Young Women all the time you can't help who you fall in love with so if your dream is the temple then you have to be extra careful who you date. He was a guy I dated with the preconception it wasn't going to be forever. If you asked him he would admit the same. We were from different worlds figuratively and literally! But against all odds here we are together still. Hopefully he can be my forever as well.



I make it sound like I wasn't happy to be getting married. The truth is I was. I loved him deeply and still do. I think I am following the path I was meant to follow. Anyway I will stop rambling now!!







My point is after I was married I didn't do bridal anymore! Why is that? You would think that I would be better prepared to portray a bride after myself being actually married. Apparently it must mean that I am too experienced to pull off a wedding gown. What do you think?



These last three photos were taken by a good friend. Many years later, but you can see my dress better. Although I never did get prints of these amazing shots I should ask her for some. I only got these thumbnails of the photos.

To my love. Thank you for ten years of joy and love. Thank you for being my man. Thank you for giving me the most beautiful and amazing three children. Together we can be something fabulous!

Tweet

Embrace the Camera: October 14, 2010

So I wanted to start by saying that I don't know anyone who doesn't love fall! I for one love it truly.



1. My first love has to be back to school. The anticipation of seeing all of my friends again and meeting my new teachers was so exciting. It was fun when I was in school to go shopping for new pens, paper, backpacks, clothes, etc. Have I ever mentioned how much I love office supply stores? Well I do immensely. Now with kids to send back to school I still get to go back to school shopping.

2. Here in Canada I get to enjoy all of the beautiful change of colors that are around. I don't know that I really noticed fall as far as nature goes when it comes to a change of season until I moved here. We live near a big park and driving through takes my breath away. Every time I drive down my street towards my house I smile because the gorgeous leaves surround you on both sides. I love how the swirl around the car as you drive over them.



3. Halloween! I could have put this second because normally that would be the case, but this year I am loving the trees more. Candy! What can I say I love it! Plus getting to dress up is such a bonus. One year I am actually going to have an awesome and most fabulous big dress-up Halloween Party and be really strict about the dress code. No awesome costume = no entry!

4. I got married in the fall which makes it a really special time of year.

5. My only baby girl was born in October!



6. My husband's birthday is in October.

7. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October which means I get 2 Thanksgivings in Fall! Which I guess if you aren't careful could mean you gain even more weight over the holidays! But let's not think negative!

8. Family. Fall reminds me of family and the things that matter most to me.

9. General Conference. I know if I read this when I was 12 I wouldn't believe it, but it is true. I look forward to it and can't wait to sink my teeth into the Ensign when it comes in November so I can remember and contemplate all of the great things that were shared.

10. Fall means Christmas is around the corner!

The last six were really in no particular order just the order my mind went. I took the photos of McKayla and I on our street (she took the one of me by myself) . As you can see the beauty is remarkable!



Emily Anderson isn't hosting the embrace the camera this week as she has been busy organizing a fundraiser so she can bring home her baby Elsabeth. I have to say the prizes are something and I can't tell which one I want more!

Tweet

Flashback Friday: Jewelry Campaign

So this week I am showing a commercial I shot in Singapore. I was never there when it aired, but it was the first time I did something where when I came back people would recognize me as the one with the gun. I shot the print ads for this campaign as well which ran everywhere. In fact in the print ads I was all of the characters. This was also the first time I found myself on a bus as well. I was pretty excited. I wish I had the ad pics or even the snapshots of the bus going by, but I can't find them. I think they must be lost amongst my things or my mother has them.

As I discovered Singapore was not only a wonderful country filled with delicious food and wonderful people, but many opportunities. I got to travel around a lot and do really incredible projects with some really amazing people.

Every time I go back I get excited at the chance and opportunity to work with them again and see all of the wonderful friends I made along the way. Not to mention now I have family there! (seeing as a married a Singaporean)



I am sure I will have many more posts on Singapore because it gave me my husband, opened my eyes to more exotic flavors, lots of great shopping, and created for the first time my feeling of what it was like to go to work everyday and really have fun!

Tweet

Embrace the Camera: October 7, 2010

This is my son Marcus. In the womb and not planned. I definitely don't recommend that, but I do recommend children. They are definitely sent from God and given as treasures to us to keep and protect until we return to him.







This is me about 7 months pregnant and really happy I started to show. Let's just say about a week before this I had barely a bump and then as if overnight this showed up! I knew I was shooting on that day and had to look pregnant!!





I do not believe that any of these swimsuits were actually maternity.



I was surprised when a few weeks before my due date they wanted me back for another spread. As you can see I am much bigger. Even my face is swollen!





When he came home I was thrilled, but as you can see not camera ready anymore!




Today he is 9 and I am thrilled to have him as my son.



He brings me such joy and love and pride. I have to pinch myself sometimes when I realize just how lucky I am. My father in heaven has truly blessed me and our family with good health and strength. You have to join me and embrace the camera.

Tweet

Flashback Friday: New York

So this is me sweet sixteen and in New York. Not my first time there, but definitely my most profitable trip. This is from a test I did. It turned out to be oddly enough a photo I would use on my card for many years. I loved it because it was a rare occasion for me to have very little make-up on and you could actually see my freckles.



This is a photo from my apartment building on East Houston Street. I loved it. It had a statue of I believe Mussolini on it. Also a clock tower. You could see it from the Empire State Building which was cool. I remember loving the apartment because it was huge and so clean which we didn't normally get for model apartments. That is the doorman. They were always nice.



This is catching a cab outside my apartment with some of my roommates.



This is of course at the Empire State building. I have been up twice once here. and the next time I went was with my boyfriend who had come to visit and two other friends. My boyfriend turned out to be my husband.

I don't have words to say everything about New York that I love. Anyone who has been there knows what I am talking about. It is definitely the best. I wish I could have actually lived there for a while.
This particular trip was fun I went to Saturday Night Live, worked a lot (which normally didn't happen for me in New York to be honest), and I had great roommates.

Future trips to New York included many things. New agencies which didn't always end up my best choices in representation. Doing my first buyers show for Patty Shelenberger which was 3 days work and lots of fun. lots of shopping. lots of walking. messy disgusting roommates. parties. broadway shows. who can forget the food. and many more.

I wish I had more pictures to share, but they are all packed away. Maybe in the future they will be found.

Tweet