M&J Engagements

These two were a fun couple to work with, and they helped me come out of my shy shell as an engagement/wedding photographer. The lighting was perfect and they were great! I hope you like what you see! :D

Mothers

it's Mothers day.
a day set aside to honor our Mothers for being our Mothers.
to thank them for giving us birth, for changing our diapers, and giving us baths. for teaching us to walk, and suffering through our terrible twos. for putting band-aids on our scrapes, and kissing our owie's better. for reading to us when we were little, and then again when we are older. for letting us sleep in her and Dad's bed when we got scared at night. for staying up with us when we got sick. for throwing birthday parties, even if she didn't want to. for sending us to school, and teaching us that an education was important. for getting mad when we did something wrong, and loving us anyway. for believing in us when no one else did. for letting us make our own decisions, yet still giving her advice, however subtle it may have been. for staying up late to make sure we got home safe at night. for going shopping with us, and for dealing with our teenage dramas. for grounding us to teach a lesson. for teaching us respect, responsibility, and how to work hard. for teaching us to be better people, to react accordingly, and to make the right choices. for teaching us how to be adults, and then sending us off to college to live our own lives. for believing in us when no one else did. for rejoicing when we do well on a test, or finish a grueling paper. for smiling and hugging us when we come home to visit. for dropping anything to help us. and for loving us. so, thank you my mom and my "moms"; those of you who know me well, know i have many.
thank you Marcia Moon for raising me. i couldn't have made it this far without you. you are my favorite mom. i love you! thank you Becky Lloyd for half raising me, and for making cheese tortillas for me everyday after preschool. thank you Lou and Sue Smith for being my mothers at Quickwater Ranch when i was sick and dehydrated. thank you Laurel Barry for being a great Nursery leader. thank you Marla Ence and Alisa Motzkus for being amazing Young Women leaders. thank you Michelle Hinton for being my look-a-like and for giving me the assurance that i will always be beautiful. thank you to my sister-in-laws for raising my wonderful nieces and nephews! and thank you to all the women in my life for the influence you have had on me. i strive to follow your example, and to one day be as great a Mother as you are.

I LOVE YOU MOM! 

21

Today I turned 21 years old. I'm a Senior at BYU. I finished my last pre-requisites this past semester. I'm halfway done with my Art History and Curatorial Studies Bachelors degree, and I just started my Editing Minor. I recently decided moved to a new apartment with five completely new roommates! I wanted a change of scene, and this summer may be just what I was looking for. :D
       I still working at Jamba Juice on BYU campus. I have been an employee there for three years, starting on four. In less than a year, I went from one of the youngest employees at Jamba, to the oldest. Oldest in the amount of time I have worked at Jamba, not in age. Once again, my manager and fellow employees are fantastic! I have made some of my best friends in college at Jamba. Hey Jamba Jamba! (p.s. Peach Perfection is the best smoothie!) 
       I have now married off three roommates, an FHE son, and the first Elder I wrote is getting married in July! My how the years have flown! The freshmen boys I sent off almost two years ago are on their way home this summer! It has been a fun keeping in touch with them the past two years. I remember how excited they were to open their calls, to go, and then to enter the MTC. They have taught no only the people native to their mission, but also those who read their letters. They've taught me that hard work is the only way to get results. That falling into bed at night is a good feeling, and getting up early in the morning is hard sometimes, but worth it. They taught me to keep smiling, to love the curve balls that are thrown my way, and to see the good side of every situation. They've taught me through their examples and with the amazing spirit they send in their letters. My hope has always been that they would leave boys, and return men. Go Elders!
     I have 5 nieces and 6 nephews. They are the loves of my life! DRUMROLL PLEASE!! Make that 7 nephews! (Little Luke is coming in September!) The 12th Moon grandchild is on his way! Watch out world! Another Moon boy is about to blow your mind!  
       This summer I am interning at the Springville Museum of Art in the Curatorial Department. I love it! At first I wasn't so excited about the Curatorial aspect of it, but it's growing on me. I love my adviser and the other employees and interns at the SMofA! I get to do a little of everything, along with my Curatorial duties.
      While I was still waiting to hear back from the SMofA about the intern position, my brother Nephi called and told me that he had two trucks sitting around for the summer if I wanted to use one. He had one condition: that I agree to be their on-call babysitter. Perfect! It's a purple Toyota pick-up. Need I say more? I have always wanted to drive a truck....but I didn't think it would be a stick-shift. :( Yes. It's manual truck! An  unexpected, but over-due challenge I was terrified to face...yet I have triumphed! I get scared just thinking of getting in that truck...but they say that'll wear off, that I'll be a pro in no time. I'm still a little wary, but it's gone well so far. (I've only killed the engine a few times....)
       Thanks you mother for giving birth to me twenty-one years ago. I love my life! And thank you parents for putting up with me and teaching me how to be respectful, how to work hard, and most of all to love the Lord! I wouldn't be where I am without you two! So, thanks!
      Year 20 was fantastic! Here are some highlights: my brother got married to an Art History Major, booyeah! I got a new nephew last March, number 11! I bought my first SLR Canon camera! I shot my first wedding! I watched three roommates get married to amazing men! I went back to London! I took a watercolor class! I painted completely my first oil painting! I jumped in puddles, laughed, cried, stayed up late, and had a blast! I have even better plans for year 21! Some of them include a study abroad to Italy, a humanitarian trip to South America, Africa, or Nepal, and graduating from college! :D
   

judge not!

(Here's another old post I never posted....here's the updated version!)
The world inside a child's imagination is like a white canvas waiting for the paint to be applied. They understand that there is no need to be timid; bold strokes embody what it means to paint, to be an individual. An artist once told me that to be able to put a big amount of paint on the canvas and leave it there takes courage. Sometimes we make a bold statement and then try to take it back, or want to say something bold but we hold it back. We are worried about what others will think of what we have to say, and believe they will immediately judge us for our words. When we speak out loud we can only backtrack, but when we type (or text) we can write, rewrite, delete and then rewrite again.  The social media of today plays to theses strengths. Facebook and Twitter make it easy to talk with someone, and in a sense get to know them without ever seeing them, or talking face to face. What was wrong with calling a girl to ask her out, or going over to someone's house to see them, or talk to them? Now  the world says texting is all you need! Don't get me wrong, I agree that texting and Facebook are great and can be very useful in our modern world. What I am trying to get at is, just because we live in a modern world with the internet on our phones and social media sites, does not mean that other things have become old fashioned, but have fallen into disuse. Those methods work too! What we call "Snail-Mail" today worked very well for a long time; they wouldn't keep it around if it was completely useless, would they?
There was a CES Fireside tonight at 6:00 and the General Authority who spoke talked about how talking face to face is better than the virtual world. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from this past October General Conference about how we should make virtuous friends, not virtual ones.
Thanks for listening to my rantings once again! haha