DaY SeVeN ReViSiTeD

Day Seven: Post a photo of your most treasured item. Why is this item special to you? How did you come to own this item?

Okay, so I said at the beginning of this photo challenge that I was going to finish it before my birthday and my birthday is in..........23 days and I have 23 pictures to go.  What a coincidence!  I didn't even do that on purpose.  So I guess I'm gonna be doubling up some days in order to get this shit done.

I already posted Day 7 a while back, but there was no picture.  I guess when I was first thinking on this one, I was trying to think of a material item.  Then I decided it could be anything with some form of sentimental value, and I've just been putting off deciding what to do.  So here it is:

This is my baby grand piano :)  To some it would be considered a material item, and I guess for me it is, but it also holds an amount of sentimental value as well. 

When I was 7 years old I started teaching myself to play the piano by listening to music in church and then trying to make the same notes come out of our hand me down piano when I got home.  A lady that went to our church was a piano teacher and she told my parents I needed to start taking lessons before I learned bad habits.  My grandma was thrilled with this.  She had zero musical skills, but she always forced my dad and his brother into various musical lessons.  She purchased this piano for my dad to learn on (and I'm sure to impress visitors as well because that's just how my grandma is, God love her).  And the checks that she gave my dad to take to his piano teacher???  They were torn up and my dad went fishing with his friends.  (He did learn to play though, and he's not to shabby).

Anyways, my grandma told me that if I kept taking piano lessons and learned to play well, the piano would be mine.  I took lessons from the time I was 7 until I was about 15 when I quit because I decided I hated it.  Then I decided I missed it and went back to lessons when I was 16 until I was 18. 

Needless to say, I got the piano, and I love it.  Oh, the perks of being the oldest grandchild ;)

DaY SiX

Day Six: Post a photo of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.  Why did you choose this person?  

What do you admire most about their life? What can you do to make your life more fulfilling?

I know what you're thinking. "That girl looks a lot like you, Josie, this doesn't count."  Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is my loop-hole.  This is a picture of a different me.  This was taken probably January or February of my senior year, so two years ago.  I wish I could go back to that for one day.  Back then I thought that life sucked and that it was soo hard.  But looking at where I am now, and where I was then, it was waaayyyy easier.  

The girl in this picture is so care free.  She worries about herself and nothing else, but at the same time she's always trying to think of a way to change the world.  If this picture was taken the day I think it was, she was at school, but she didn't go to class the entire day.  After this picture was taken, the first bell rang and she left with her best friend and they went and just screwed around.  Probably with some guys (not the screwing your thinking, perverts).  About two months after this picture was taken, this girl was kicked out of her high school and she didn't give a shit.  If anything she was relieved.  She had a world of opportunities lying ahead of her, even though she was transferring to a high school that was considered the 'dump' school in the county.  So much potential.  So much to look forward to.  Not a care in the world.

How can I make my life more fulfilling?  Raise my little girl to have the same spirit that this girl did. And remember that even though my life is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, I still have all of the same potential as I did 2 years ago.  Maybe different opportunities, and different challenges trying to get in my way, but the girl in this picture was strong, and there's no reason for me to be any less strong today than she was back then.

DaY FiVe

Day Five: Post a photo of your favorite memory. Why is this your favorite memory? What made it so special?

05.25.2010

6 lbs. 13 oz. 19 in.

Isabel Riley Montufar

My favorite memory?  When Isabel was born.  Hands down.  No contest.  I got pregnant at a time in my very young life (I know.  I'm a young mom.) when I was doing some really stupid stuff and making some really bad choices.  I was going to Utah State, and I had made some really good new friends, but thanks to a certain someone, and me thinking it was a better idea to follow my heart instead of my head, I was caught on the edge of trying to make something out of myself and my life, and having 'fun' with someone that, at the time, was definitely not a good idea for me.  I've said it before, and I'm sure it will be repeated, I'm positive that I got pregnant for a reason.  That reason being something deeper than two people decided to mess around.  People have said, and will say that having a baby ruined my chances and destroyed a lot of opportunities.  That might be true, but there were a lot of other things I was doing that could have done that very same thing.  My baby was, is, and always will be my saving grace.  She's what got me out of the hole, and she's what keeps me out of it.

My favorite memory?  Is the day that changed my life.

DaY FouR

Day Four: Post a photo that best sums up the night you've had tonight. What did you do? Why was it fun?

I took this a couple nights ago with full intentions of posting it, but my husband gets jealous of my blog so it didn't happen.  But this is what most of my nights are like, so I think it counts.  Isabel eats paper.  Any paper. She even likes to chew on the tags on the buts of her stuffed animals.  I try not to let her chew on paper that she'll actually be able to ingest though.  Well I put her in this jumper/swing thing while I was making dinner and she got into the newspaper.  I was okay with her throwing it around I guess but I scooted that thing that was holding all of the paper away from her.  She seriously swung herself towards it until she could reach it and pull it back towards her.  When I realized that her mouth was FULL of paper Cangrejo and I took it from her and fished the paper out of her mouth.  She screamed for like 10 minutes straight.  I'm really looking forward to her teen years.

So that was my night.  That's my every night.  Just hanging out at home with my baby girl.  And of course it's fun.

DaY THRee

Day Three: Post a photo of the cast from your favorite show. Why do you love this particular show so much? Who is your favorite cast member & why?

Why do I love this show so much?  There are so many reasons.  It's just soooo funny.  And I've always secretly wanted the life that they had.  To live in the city with some really good friends, and just, you know, be awesome.  I'm not sure I can pick a favorite cast member.  Phoebe is so great and I can kind of relate to her randomness.  Joey is the guy friend that everyone needs.  I totally understand Monica and her need to be in control.  Ross.....well.  He's kind of a pussy, and that's funny.  I LOVE Rachel.  I want to be her.  She's gorgeous, and she works in fashion, which would be awesome, and guys love her.  Chandler needs some serious help.  But he's hilarious.  FRIENDS is a little before my time, but my older brother used to watch it ALL THE TIME and he has all 10 seasons on DVD so I borrow them sometimes and watch them start to finish.  Depending on work and school and stuff it usually only takes about 3 months.

DaY TWo

Day Two: Post a photo of you & the person you have been the closest with for the longest. Why is this person special to you?

This is a photo of me and my very first boyfriend.  (Sorry he's so rude.)  We started dating when I was 15, and to this day, we're still friends.  We broke up after 2 years.  His mom always said that we were to much alike each other and that if we stayed together we would always be fighting.  It's probably true.  We both have ridiculously strong personalities and we both have to be right all the time.  We used to be in a band together.  He is an AMAZING guitarist and I played the drums kind of.  He got a new girlfriend pretty quick after we broke up and I was the other girl for a while (which I would not recommend).  But I did enjoy it cause he treated me better than her.  Anyways, that's not the point.  Whenever I needed someone to talk to he was there, and he knows all of my deepest secrets.  If I needed a shoulder to cry on, he told me to stop being such a pussy and got over it.  Whatever.  Anyways, we've been friends for 4 1/2 years and he knows me inside and out.  Literally.

So there you go.  Come back again for Day 3.

DaY oNe

So I've decided to do this 30 Day Photo Challenge that I found over at Holly Days.  I just started following her and she's pretty awesome so far, so check her out.  There's a couple different versions of this I think (I saw some people doing it on Facebook, too) but she tweaked it and added some writing.  I'm hoping to take some new photos to go with it instead of just using what's already on my computer in order to expand my...photo...whatever.  I can't promise that I'll post every single day, and some days I might do more than one post, but I'm gonna finish is.  By my birthday.  Which is in April.  So, yeah, here we go.

Day 1: Post a photo of yourself along with 15 facts about you.

1-I'm naturally blonde.  I think.

2-Some days I think I'm really pretty.

3-Other days not so much.

4-While some people think that having a baby ruined my life, I KNOW that I would be in a much worse place without my baby girl.

5-I lied to my parents wayyyy to much during high school.

6-I am not as friendly as people think I am.

7-I'm not as happy as people think I am.

8-I HATE my stomach and inner thighs.

9-I LOVE my boobs and my calves.  And sometimes shoulders.

10-My weakness is milk chocolate.  No nuts.  No nougat.  No caramel.  Just chocolate.

11-I have a very hard time showing any sort of emotion that would make me seem 'weak'.

12-I beat myself up all the time for quitting dance.

13-I beat myself up for quitting percussion just because the band kids were annoying.

14-I want to be famous for doing something awesome that helps a lot of people.

15-If you say something racist around me, you are automatically at the top of my shit list, and I will let you know.