Through the Years

For the last week or so you have been reading about my favorite memories through the past 10 years of D's and my relationship. Vacations, wedding, honeymoon. Lots of memories that we have shared. As a surprise I created a slideshow for D with over 400 photos and clips from our wedding for us to relive the last 10 years in photo form. However since it takes a lot of time to put together a slideshow, D walked in on me int he middle of processing and I showed it to him a little early. It's ok though because I needed the help loading it into YouTube so that all you wonderful peeps could view it too. Its a little long and might not be for everyone as it's mostly photos of D and I, with a smattering of family and friends. It makes me cry tears of joy to watch and I smile at how much we have changed! Enjoy!

I included some of my favorite things about D within the slideshow, but here's the list so you don't have to watch the whole thing, I think you should, but I know that most wont!

1. His support in all my dreams
2. Always willing to dance with me, anywhere anytime!
3. His deep love for his friends
4. His sense of adventure
5. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty
6. His love of nature and anything outdoorsy
7. He's always willing to try new things
8. His sentimental nature
9. He can be silly when necessary and serious when the time calls for it
10. He always thinks I am beautiful, even with no make-up and sweats on
11. He is willing to do things together, including house work and laundry
12. He loves my family like his own
13. His beautiful baby blue eyes
14. His strange liking for trains, which I just recently found out
15. His love for our fur baby Shelby. She is his baby
16. His inner child and great love for Disneyland
17. He likes to work with his hands
18. He is willing to dress up and act a fool on Halloween.
19. His constant squinty eyes in photos!
20. He will sing Karaoke, all be it not very well. But he does it!
21. He gives the best kisses and warmest hugs
22. He loves to travel
23. His love for all children, but especially our goddaughter
24. His love of photography....those 400 photos were from 10K+ over the last 10 years
25. We share a language and we are silly together and make each other laugh
26. His love of being active; swimming, golf, water sports, the gym
27. He supports my oddities and strangeness!
28. His love for his own family
29. He makes me try new things, even when they scare me! (California Screamin')
30. Reminds me that it's ok to laugh at yourself
31. His love of cars
32. His love and support through the most difficult times
33. His handsome face
34. His wonderful laugh
35. He loves me for who I am, and that's the best thing a girl can ask for!

Another Eagle has landed

There has become a new tradition in our family. Accomplishing the rank of Eagle Scout. My uncle did it when he was a teenager, as did his two boys, my cousin's Anthony and Matthew. The newest addition to this is my cousin Mitchell. My aunt had been working on his court of honor for a year and last month we finally celebrated his special achievement. The family came from all over and we had the presentation of Eagle Scout, a slideshow (provided by yours truly) and then and wonderful lunch. The hubbs was the official photographer of the day and he did a great job. We are so proud of him and all that he can and will accomplish in the future!

Ode to Slideshows

This has been a year of many events and parties. I have helped to plan milestone birthdays, engagements,  and girls nights this year. I didn't know that being an interior designer would parle into being a party planner, but alas it has. It is a fun way to express my creative side too.

Some of you may know that I am going to be in 2 weddings in 2011. Darin's sister Cailee is getting married to her fiance Peyton in July. Also our very close friends Hope and John are getting married in October. I decided to make a tribute to Hope and John for their engagement party that he helped to throw with our friends Amanda and Nolan on October 2nd. One year to the day of their wedding I spent many hours compiling the photo's...most of which I got from their Facebook sites, but I also was able to get Joi and Barbara, their moms, to dig up old photos as well. I wanted this to be a tribute to their single lives and to their budding engaged relationship. Also it served to help show all the guests who didn't know both of them what type of people they are. I had so much fun doing it and I hope you enjoy it as much as their families did.

In case you wanted to know the songs I used were:

John Basher = "Times Like These" by The Foo Fighters

Hope Morrice = "Hanging By A Moment" by Lifehouse

Family/Friends = "Into the Mystic" by The Wallflowers

Engagement = "Honey and the Moon" by Joseph Arthur

Love = "Our Kind of Love" by Lady Antebellum

I showed this tribute to my mother, who at the time was planning her father, my papa's 75th birthday party. She had wanted to create a tribute for him as well, but didn't have a program to do it, so I said that I would create one for her. Not realizing what I was getting myself into. A couple of days later I received a package at work with over 200 photos inside from her childhood albums! AHHHHH Poor Darin and I spent over 6 hours just scanning a cropping the photos alone! Then came the task of finding the music. As with any slideshow whether its for an engagement party or a birthday party, music is crucial. The soundtrack to our lives is very important. I take pride in listening to the songs to make sure they are appropriate for the era and personality of the video. Now I used to work in a music store, so I have quite an eclectic selection of music, but I still needed more from the early eras of the 20th century. Off in search I went and found the best music, in my opinion. We finished it in the nick of time and on November 6th, 75 years after my Papa was born we had a big soiree with his family, including siblings, nieces, nephews, children and grandchildren. After lunch was served we showed the slideshow. Everyone was very emotional and touched by the sentiment. What a wonderful way to pay tribute to a person's life.

The songs I used for this slideshow were:

Early Days = "Theme from a Summer Place"

Family Man = "Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by Elvis Presley

Good Times = "Mess Around" by Ray Charles

75 Years = "King of the Road" by Roger Miller

                  "Ventura Highway" by America

If you ever need to make a slideshow for an event I highly recommend it. Everyone loves photos and seeing a journey. While it may take some time and effort, its worth it!