Wedding Photography

Check out my friend Kelsie's website... she just put her photo gallery on her website! They are so beautiful!

Happy Halloween!!!

I know that Halloween officially starts this evening at sundown... the sentiment still stands.

This weekend Shawn and Nicole had their annual Halloween party so in true Miranda fashion I put on my best costume and partied it up! Here are some pics.



I was the little mermaid... so cute!

Nicole and Shawn as Sonny and Cher respectively.

My parents... my dad was Ricky Nelson and my mom was his adoring fan (she even had a poodle skirt that was super precious)

Amy and Andrew came as Seymore and Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors... Andrew even carried around that awesome flesh eating plant! Amy's black eye was a fine touch.

Then there was the Ellis Family

Michelle and Jason were from the Nacho Libre movie... Jason's costume was superb... Winston was Jack Sparrow... very awesome!

Joel and Misty were a pin-up girl and Greaser.

Last day of house-sitting

Today is my last day of house-sitting... I am excited to be back in my own bed and in my own room, with my own things. I just have to clean up the house, change into my halloween costume for work, and then I am off! Home Sweet Home!

My brother... the coolest

I am so proud of my little (younger) brother... actually Tyler is 6'4", so I should call him little. So Tyler calls me yesterday and tells me that he made 2nd chair Tenor in the State Vocal Jazz Ensamble. Tyler is a senior in choir and all the students in choir have to try out for one of the state choirs (regional, state, jazz, show choir, something). Tyler being the dutiful choir boy that he is, he tries out and thought he did horribly. Now I have heard Tyler sing and for any other people who have, you know Tyler is really really good... so when he says he did bad, you really don't give him much credit in that. Well, low and behold Tyler made it and got a REALLY good placement (Note: I never made anything)... so what does this mean? Tyler is awesome and way cooler than Shawn and I. It also means that he needs to audition for university music programs, because he can get scholarships. I am so proud of him!

Evening off

This has been the first time in several weeks that I have been done with work at 5:30pm... most of the time I teach classes at night, which lasts until 10:30 at night. I am so excited to be sitting at home awaiting a Lost episode that I will be able to watch live, and it is only 7:50pm. YAY!

So I dyed my hair tonight... the blonde was getting a little old and I was ready for a change... so now it is a medium brown with a hint of red in it... I really like it, but unfortunately since I don't look very good, aside from the hair color, the pictures will be postponed for the time being.

Work was nice today. I taught a structural class this morning and then a hydrotherapy class this afternoon. I mention to the afternoon class that my dad is a musician and they became very curious about his music and all that. So during hands-on they requested to listen to him CD (even though I said that it was all about Jesus- which I feared may make people uncomfortable) and they really liked it. I immediantly called my dad after class and told him he has quite a fan base among my students. They even starting asking how they could get some of his CDs because they loved his music so much. I am so proud of my dad! He still impresses me so much!

Movie Announcers...

check it out... it is awesome.

The prestige

I just got back from seeing the film "The Prestige" starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman (the ultimate battle of Wolverine Vs. Batman), but this time they are magicians. It was absolutely amazing... I was spellbound and completely baffled by all the twists and turns... it was awesome. Chris Nolan (the director) also directed Momento and of course Batman Begins... gosh he knows how to blow your mind - absolutely crazy. I highly recommend!

I am exhausted... I have been going a mile a minutes this week at work, not sleeping well, and have been suffering from back pain for three weeks now... all this to say that I slept in until 1pm today... part of me feels guilty for wasting a perfectly good saturday, but that is quickly pushed away by an incredible sense of peace and non-stress filled bliss. In fact, I have nothing to do today anyways, so why not spend it how I want to spend it... in bed and watching movies, and blogging. I think I may run out and go to Goodwill (50% off sale today) in a little bit, but then I'll come back here and sit and ice my back, and relax. I also may take something for this lingering headache... okay I just did.
In other news, my computer is back... after almost 2 weeks at the apple store I have my laptop back in my pocession, and what sweet joy it is to have it home. I also purchased a cute "burnt orange" laptop bag... trust me it is cute, and I am brainstorming ways to make it cuter. The sad thing is, I cannot get internet access on it at the home where I am currently house-sitting... so this blog is brought to you by a PC computer... I am swallowing my pride and all sense of propriety as I type these words. Speaking of which, check out the new Apple commercials here. They are beyond hilarious!!
Next weekend I will be filming a student film with my brother (the director, writer, and producer)... it is for a class he is in. Super fun. I don't even know a lot about my part, or my lines, or the entire plot line... but whatever... it'll be fun.

Can I tell you I create these blog posts, and at the end I sit and re-read what I wrote... looking for typos and errors, and I sit back and question, "why the heck would anyone care about whatever I have to say". So if you have anything in particular you would like for me to write about, please tell me.

I am going to go and finish watching "Stand by Me" (which I have never seen before)with River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and a young Keifer Sutherland... it is going to make me cry I know it.

The horror

I know that horrors, under normal circumstances, are confined to the Halloween season, but mine seem to have everything to do with Christmas... I am having a difficult time with christmas presents for my family. I always get to into gift giving. I want the gifts to be thoughtful and to say something about my relationship to that particular individual. So in that way of thinking, I find myself over thinking everything, and it becomes very difficult to be content with what I get people. I honestly get very excited on Christmas morning, more about everyone else open my gifts for them, than about my own gifts... so Christmas is almost two months away, and I have no gifts... I will be scrambling again this year.

In other news I really really really want to go to Disneyland soon. I am planning a trip with my friend Kendra in February in honor of her triumphant graduation from ASU... but I want to be there now. It's all fantastical there, and I really could use some of that pixi dust. Right now they are celebrating a "year of a million dreams" which includes wonderful new attractions, and tons of giveaways to unsuspecting guests who happen to stumble into the park. Some of those awesome giveaways include fast passes on all the rides in the park (meaning you can just walk onto every ride without waiting in line) to Disney vacation club memberships to trips around the world (including a 15 day trip where you will stop at every disney park around the globe). I personally want to win the 9 day trip to London and Paris... I love disneyland so much... I love walt disney... hands down it is my favorite place in the whole world (out of all the places I have seen thus far). You can view the complete list here.

An afternoon with the Breakfast club

The Breakfast Club movie is on TV, I have accomplished a lot today, I have an evening to myself to look forward to, and I am wearing a super comfy T-shirt I bought at a thrift store... life is good.

This morning I woke to a little drizzle of rain and to my delight I didn't have to get up right away, so I just relaxed in bed listening to the rain. I hope the winter shapes up to be a wet one, because the clouds and smell of wet desert sit very nicely with my soul.

News flash: I love ebay. It is really a wonderful place. You would not believe the type of stuff you can find on there. I knew random things were sold there, but it is actually astounding... ebay has everything!

I also had a delightful treat today... I had the opportunity to grab a cup of coffee with my best friend from Elementary school. I hadn't seen her since we were 12 and early this year I found her on myspace (the one thing that site has been good for) and we met at the extreme bean today - Extreme Bean has great coffee, but terrible scones). It was really awesome get to sit and talk with her... here about her life, meet here 3-year-old daughter Abigayle. We talked for about 2 hours... gosh what a life she has led... hard, but I admire how she has come through and able to raise a sweet little girl and be so grounded. We left promising to get together again... which I really hope happens.

Work, the Mac, and other randomness

I realize that my blogging has waned. For this I sincerely apologize. Amy has brought to my attention that I have not blogged in a week, so here is my Mea Culpa.

On Monday I sadly enough had to turn my computer over to the Mac Geniuses so they could fix it... little things that will be completely free under my warranty, but do not merit me a brand new computer as I secretly hoped. But I will get a whole new frame for the screen. Neat. So that being the case (me with no computer), I have been forced to use my dad's computer any chance I can while he is not working, which is usually on my lunch hour from work while he is at the office. That is another reason the blogging is minimal... with a new quarter of classes starting at work, this week has been rather full. I am trying to prepare for classes I have never taught before, and that is kind of interesting, kind of stressful. But I can state rather honestly I I kicked butt at hydrotherapy yesterday... it was really fun, and it was my first time teaching it!

Now that I have fully explained myself to you all, I can move onto other things... like my halloween costume... I have purchased a costume, and it is super awesome!!! I am hesitant to tell you all what I will be seeing as it is awesome and I want you to be left in suspense... (how does it feel Amy!!!!).

I watched the movie Tombstone this morning... someone tell me why that is a good movie... I understand that Val Kilmer is fantasic and what-not, but the storyline was indiscernible - was it about Wyatt Earp's relationship with his brothers? or his relationship with Doc Holiday? Or his ridding the town of Tombstone from the "Cowboy gang"? or was it the love story? I couldn't figure it out... it just had a lot of montages of killing cowboys in many different ways, and just when I thought it was over... it keeps going for 30 more minutes. I think I could watch it again if someone could tell me what it was all about.

Ugh... now I have to go back to work. I wish I could stay home and watch Greys Anatomy, because it is on again tonight, and I missed it last night... don't tell me what happens because I am taping it.

Hope this suffices as a blog entry. Thank you!

I promised I would

Here are the pages that I scrapped yesterday evening. They are the pictures a friend of mine Kelsie took of Shawn and Nicole over the summer. Kelsie is very gifted photographer and is starting her own wedding photography company here in Phoenix... you can check out her website here... So here are the pages:

Saturday silence...

Ah an empty house... nothing quite as nice to wake up to. I have a nice day ahead of me... I have to go shopping this morning for a baby shower gift for a shower in an hour and a half... I'm going the registery route (takes time off of shopping). Then I think I will set up an appointment with apple to check out my laptop... I hope they don't have to send it away for long to fix (the frame of the laptop has gaps in it... which annoy me.
After that I will be shopping for other various gifts for people... and then home for some scrapping! I hope my 85 pictures I ordered come in the mail today.

My Uncle Gary and Aunt Kathy are here this weekend... super fun!(Picture: Gary with my mom last year) They hail from the great state of Wisconsin (they live in Appleton, not on the farm)... They are awesome people. Gary is our tour guide throughout the great dairy state when we go, taking us on the infamous Alma trip. He also loves yardsales and talking politics... my dad and his discussions on the governement are the stuff of legend. My Aunt Kathy is so sweet. When we arrive at her house she never fails to have our favorite "pop" available and will take us shopping etc. They have three kids - my cousins Erik, Sarah and Anna. They are great people to. I wish Sarah and I lived closer because I think we would hang out often and have such a blast together. I REALLY want her to come out and visit sometime - so Sarah if you are reading this, take a pointer from your parents and come to AZ to visit.

Well, today Mom, Dad, Gary and Kathy are headed up to the grand canyon to see it's splendor for the first time. I think that is my parents new favorite place... they hiked down the grand canyon a couple of years ago, so now it holds this special significance to their lives.
I was bummer I couldn't go, because I hadn't seen it in years, but I had no desire after the week I've had to get up at 4am this morning... plus I have other things to do. I should actually get to doing those things now, because time waits for no one and the clock is ticking away.

OH and Shawn (my big brother) got a new tattoo... check it out on his blog.

Finals are over...

Ugh... I am so excited that finals are done... yet, you would think as the one administering the finals, the job would be easier. Alas, the stress of grading and worrying if your classes are going to get good grades, and the fear that everyone will blame you for their grades. Yeah... not really that fun.

But tomorrow I will be grading, and we have a faculty pot-luck... and then I think I may watch a movie at my desk while I prepare for my class on tuesday... that's right... movies at work (AWESOME!)

Lost started last night... YES!!!! The first 5 minutes were completely out of left feild and it was amazing... that show is so awesome. It annoys me though that different characters learn stuff about the island or other characters and they don't spill everything to each other, instead they keep secrets and it holds suspense... for example Kate, last night, sees Sawyer after everything that has happened to her, and instead of screaming about her conversation with Ben (AKA Henry Gale), they just shoot the breeze with small talk... I JUST CAN'T STAND IT!!!! But the show is awesome, and I am excited about the new characters and the new season. YAY LOST!

For Your Consideration

From the group of geniuses that brought you A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman, and Best in Show... Christoper guest brings you the wonderment that is For Your Consideration...

check out the trailer here.

I'm back from Illinois!!!

I have just returned from a weekend enjoying the charm and splendor of the wonderful Mid-west. It was chilly, the tree leaves have changed colors, and it was wedding reception fever. My dear friend Jana eloped a month ago in Jamaca and this weekend she had her reception with family and friends. 6 of the gals from AZ flew to Illinois to represent Jana's two wonderful years here with us... and you would have been proud of us. we were loud and crazy and danced the night away! It was a blast. Nicole, Ashley, Jeannette, Joni, Meredith and I got to spend friday night with Jana having a faux-bachelorette party and then saturday evening was the reception. It was a short weekend, but an awesome one.

Some tidbits about the trip:
> When packing in 108 degree Arizona, it is hard to fathom what 62 degrees feels like... but it is cold so bring a jacket not just a sweater.
> When you put this group of 6 girls together, it gets loud, crazy, and really fun!!
> Jana is a wonderful wife and mother... it was so amazing to see her with Scott and her step-son Trent. Made me a little misty
> Fact: a night after dancing your butt off leaves you rather sore... so sleeping sitting up in a tiny plane makes it much worse.
> Fact: Jana's mom knows how to throw an awesome party!!!

Enjoy some pictures
We look hot!!












Our table was right next to the dance floor... for easy access. We were the first ones there whent he music started.










Jana and I











Our awesome rental car - 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse... $7 well spent for extreme sexiness!