Winter on the Rocks

Last weekend Andy and I along with his parents took a new adventure down to St. George/Hurricane Utah to go jeeping. Andy and I had talked to a few new friends at All for Fun in August and were told about this event in Hurricane and we were excited to try out a new area as well as get out and go jeeping in the winter, thus they call it Winter on the Rocks. We had an absolute blast! The off roading adventure of what Moab has to offer mixed with the fun of playing in Sand Dunes IN A JEEP was amazing. We did some awesome trails, didn't break anything, learned of some new areas, met some new jeeping friends and just all around enjoyed our weekend. It just happened to be the same weekend he turned 30 so we also got to get away from our daily lives to celebrate. I love owning a jeep. I can't believe it took me so long to get into this sport but there's no turning back now. I have loads of ideas for my jeep and I can't wait for Andy to get his jeep done as well! We both won quite a few things in the raffle, some of which I'm trying to schedule some time for Andy to install on my jeep :) We look forward to next years adventure on Winter on the Rocks. 

More information on Winter on the Rocks can be found at http://www.winterontherocks.com/ 

Welcome to Throw Back Thursday Posts

I'm now doing Throw Back Thursday posts on my Photography Blog. Check it out: http://photographybystaceymoss.blogspot.com/2014/01/throw-back-thursday-larson-family-logan.html

Hawaii 2013

My Loves

I just love my nieces and nephews. They make me smile to no end and their capacity for love, cuddling, being spontaneous and fun is amazing. Sure they have their days when they are a pill and I get to send them back to mom and dad but I just love those moments when they are my best friend. Last night was one of those nights. Shayna, Brady and Collin came over for dinner and to hang out. Collin and I played ping pong for a little bit, and yes we actually played. Most of the time it was a one hit by Collin and Shayna or I would go locate the ball and we'd start over but a few times we actually had a good round of back and forth hits. It was a blast... and he's TWO! I was shocked. Then the tree of us joined Andy and Brady for some mortal combat on the PS3. I sat in the corner of our couch and Collin sat right next to me the entire time. He'd lean up against me, cuddle me, hold my hand, oh he was so cute. Much to my dismay they had to leave to go to bed. I love spoiling my loves and I can't wait for my older sister to have another one this summer! Ah ecstatic, boy or girl we aren't sure, but I'll love them just the same. 

Top Pictures for 2013

 A new tradition of mine is to post my favorite photos / memories from the previous year around the first of January. I picked 13 photos from 2013 to share. I keep two separate file folders on my hard drive - one is for my Photography and one is my personal. These were all chosen from my personal folder. It may not be the photo that is perfect but it's the memory that goes along with it to make it on this list. These are in random order.

 #1 My Entire Family - Bear Lake, July 2013. It's a tradition to go to bear lake every summer and this year did not disappoint. We got all the little kids on the tube, played in the sand and we got to see my sisters family after nearly 6 months. It was a off year with them living in Texas. You really don't realize how much you miss and love someone until they aren't here all the time. So glad to get to spend time with Steph, Ray and the kids in bear lake. Thanks Mom for planning the Bear Lake Trips, I really do love them. 

 #2 - Fish Fight, Relay For Life, July 2013. After 4 years of Relay for Life and Team Fish Fight this is the first group photo we've gotten. Relay helps me keep my Grandpa's memory close to my heart and mind and helps me give back and fight to make more birthdays and hope for a world free of cancer. 

 #3 Jeeping in Moab, May 2013. Andy and I went to Moab 3 times in 2013 for jeeping. We love it. I actually got to drive too :) 

 #4 - Baby Animal Days, April 2013. Kira and Andy at baby animal days. She was so cute with all the animals. 

#5 - Logan Utah - Ah, this one is the memories. We love our house in Hyrum but still miss the Logan House. We spent A LOT of time on that house making it was it is today. The fireplace out back, the backyard it's self, the deck, upstairs room and more. The grass grew like a weed there and this picture makes me smile. Andy mowing the lawn with kira on his shoulders, and Max just enjoying the sun.  

#6 -Millville Canyon Utah, July 2013 Another Jeeping photo but this one is close to home. Millville canyon with Megan and the jeep tricked out with no doors or top. it's nice to drive a convertible when you want it.  

#7 -Moab Utah, October 2013.  A panorama of the Jeeping trail in Moab. BEAUTIFUL.  

#8 - Lake Louise, Canada. May 2013. We can't forget about our Trip to Canada. This photo is at Lake Louise, it's a gorgeous place. Would love to go back again some day.  

 #9 Ketchikan Alaska, May 2013. This photo goes with the one above. This is our fishing trip in Ketchikan Alaska. it's the big Halibut my dad caught and had to throw back but boy was it fun. 

 #10 Havasupi Arizona, June 2013. Ah. A breathtaking waterfall, Havasupi Falls. This marks not only the amazing sights we encountered but reminds me of the 11 mile hike down the grand canyon at 3 in the afternoon on a very hot day in June. 

#11 Maui Hawaii, November 2013. I love Maui but I love this picture because my parents are in it. Not often to I get a photo with the two of them together and having fun like they are. I'm greatful to have them and we love going to Hawaii with them.  

 #12 Bear Lake, July 2013. I just love this picture of Kira, enough said. 

#13 - Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Moab Utah, October 2013. Can you tell we love Moab? This photo is not only the picture but the memories. Megan and I hiked over to take a photo with this beautiful arch and we were shunned by the crowd of photographers waiting to take photos at sunset. That's as close as they'd let us get without getting yelled at. 

Kira's Dance Recital!

I've been lacking on blogging lately so I figured while I was on here I'd post a few things I missed in December.

Kira's Dance Recital - She's doing better and is so fun to watch. She cracks me up. Teaching dance for 13 years and now watching as a parent really gives me perspective. Oh little girls, they are a handful. But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Resolutions

Warning - this post is mainly for myself to track my goals, keep reading if you want.

Well with the new year comes resolutions, right? I haven't thought too much about resolutions until tonight and it's officially the first of January. Andy and I talked a little about resolutions last night but didn't really come up with any, we just weren't sure what we wanted to try to accomplish this year. So after the first day of 2014 I've come up with a list for myself. I'm putting them on my blog because it makes me own up to them without blasting them over Facebook or instagram so this post is really only for myself but your welcome to keep reading and see to it that I keep my resolutions for 2014.

New Years Resolutions 2014

1. Take more photos of my personal life. My goal is to post a photo a week of myself, Andy, Kira, Family or Friends. Documenting my life is just as important as helping others to document theirs and lately I've been lacking. I typically hit major events like trips and holidays but this year I even missed Christmas. Must get better!
2. Loose weight - cliche I know. But it's valid and I need to. I lost 40 lbs about 5 years ago, I can do it again. 
3. Take my pills - Personal kinda but I need to own up to it. I used to take my thyroid medication religiously for 16 years. Somewhere along the way I've deviated and it's been about 2 years or more since I've kept up on my pills for more than a month. This year that WILL BE DIFFERENT! 
4. Do something fun for Andy on every service trip he goes on. I literally just said goodbye to him for the first time this year and I snuck a photo of the three of us in his luggage with a note on the back. I'd like to sneak him a quick surprise on each trip or do something at home for him. I can't imagine traveling that much. It typically sounds like a nice job until you live with someone that travels that much or have to do it yourself. It really wears on a person. I'm hoping to help that guy out just a little buy bringing part of his home life with him or making it easier for him to come home and have less to do here. 
5. Find more time for myself. I know it sounds like I have a lot of time to myself with Andy gone but the truth is when I'm not working at Hycomp there's a VERY good chance I'm taking photos or editing photos. Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoy both of my jobs (and I used to teach dance too) but sometimes I get caught up in doing so much for others and keeping myself busy that I loose track of doing something for myself. I think this one will help me make time for the gym, reading a good book (I did get the book series I wanted from Andy and Angela for Christmas!), catching up with old friends, making new friends, visiting my sister in Texas, playing with Collin and Shayna more, spending more lunch dates with my mom, helping my dad out on projects, playing make overs with Kira, Snowmobiling with Andy and even getting more sleep. 
6. Soda Limitations - This one is going to be HARD! Keep my soda intake to ONE soda a day or less. Oh man, just saying makes me cringe. There are days at work I drink two or three Mt Dews. Yikes I'm in for a major overhaul on this one. I can do it, I can do it. A while back I had a resolution of no carbonated drinks and I stuck to it the entire year. This is much easier and obtainable... I think I can I think I can. 

Well 6 isn't too bad. I'm sure there are others I should write down but that's all this blog is going to get. I have a few others but they are even more personal then those listed above. Hopefully if you are still reading this you too have set your new years resolutions. We can do this. Resolutions are meant to be broken, I mean Kept. They are meant to be KEPT! and writing them down makes you far more likely to keep them than if you just say them out loud or keep them in your head. 

Happy New Year

New Years Eve this year was a lot of fun. It was a busy night. We wanted to make it to a few other parties before 8 pm but just ran out of time so we missed out on seeing everyone we wanted to. We did have a great time with our friends though. We met new friends and had a blast with all our closest friends. Glad to see everyone and I was even happier today when I found my camera to look through the photos Ryan took for me. Since I've been doing photography in all my spare time I tend to pick up the camera for my personal life much much less than I used to. Ryan pulled out the camera and took a bunch of photos (most I did not post, ha!) But some were very good. Everyone looks genuinely happy in these photos and it proves to be a successful evening at the Hansen/Moss residence. (Hum, not sure what to call our house since we have two different names, ideas anyone??) Thanks again Ryan for taking the pictures!