Finally done with Finals

I just had my last final yesterday and I'm so happy! What a grueling couple of weeks it's been. I feel good about how I did. I'm so ready to relax, enjoy Christmas, and catch up on movies and books that've been waiting for me. What a relief!

Don't Be Jealous

No wait, go ahead, be jealous of my sweet new tee. I super love it! I got it from CafePress.com(click on it. It's a link.) They have like 200+ Twilight designs, and you can get it printed on practically any clothing item, tote bag, button, etc and in any color. They show the clothes on a model too and tell what size she is so you can get the exact size for you. Mine fits great and is long enough(that's what I was most afraid of.) Check it out!

P.S. I surprised Brandon with this and he was flattered.

It's not too late to get your custom made Christmas cards! My prices are listed on my website amberweimerphotography.com.

Kurt Bestor and Apostles

What a crazy night I just had. I went to the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert with my mom and sister and absolutely loved it! I have seen him 4 or 5 times already and will hopefully continue to see him over and over.(if you go, don't go to te one at UVU because it sounds terrible. Abravanel Hall sounds amazing.) I was pleasantly surprised when I found out Jenny Oaks Baker was his special guest this year. If you don't know who she is, get to know her. She is an extremely talented violinist that solos all over the country and played 1st chair in the National Symphony Orchestra. She has a great church CD and her Christmas album is to die for. Seriously, she's incredible. Brandon and I saw her live last Christmas and fell in love.

Anyways, right before the concert started I noticed a man about 5 rows in front of me that looked familiar. After doing a double take I realized it was... Elder Uchtdorf! Right in front of us!!! Then, during the intermission I noticed a bald man talking to him. It was none other than Elder Oaks!!!

I about peed my pants. I couldn't stop staring at them! And then on the way out after the concert, Elder Oaks walked right past me. I was like 2 inches from him and oh so tempted to reach out and touch his jacket, but I refrained because he seemed like he was in a hurry and that would've been weird.

Just thought I'd share.

Thanksgiving weekend in Rexburg=All kinds of crazy fun

Lookout world! I've got a gun! Yep, I actually shot a big fat shotgun. I've always been terrified of guns, but I never back down from a challenge so I thought I'd try clay shooting. Loved it. I really only shot 4 times because the gun about knocked the wind out of me every time, but I shattered 2 clay pigeons (that's 2 more than I thought I would!) I was mostly terrified because there were other groups nearby shooting. Yikes!


All the guys. My sis-in-law Celeste came too. She did way better than I did.

I also went golfing for the first time, sort of. I went along and hit the ball for the first time. I only got one good hit out of like 10, but I totally want to go golfing now.

My cute sissy-in-laws. I love these girls. Agewise, we are all over the map, but you'd never be able to tell. We get pretty crazy together. Love em.

We had a big party with the whole Weimer side of the fam at my mother-in-law's school. It was so fun. It's awesome that she's an elementary school teacher because not only does she have access to the school and supplies, but she knows all the fun games to play. We got creative wth these scooters. It was nuts. I thought for sure we'd put someone through a wall.



All the neices and nephew. So cute. And yes, they're making "boobs with bows." That's what my neice Emma said anyways.
On our last day, we had a special visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. Strangly enough, our grandparents came by right after Santa and Mrs. Claus left. Winkity wink. We decided to have Christmas since none of us will be there then. Tree, presents, and everything. It was an amazing weekend.

Twilight Review

Well, I'm not sure how I feel about the movie. I felt like they changed a ton of stuff, added some cool stuff, combined way too much dialogue, and had some lame music throughout the whole thing. However, if I had it I would immediately watch it again right now, because of course, it's Twilight. I thought Bella was good, but Edward wasn't as good as he could've been, which is a reverse of how I thought it would be. And, before I saw it I thought Jacob was cast wrong, but now I think he was right on. So overall I really enjoyed it and it makes me want to start reading it again(for the 4th time. Yikes!)
Something crazy that happened was... Brandon loved it! He has refused to read the books since day 1, but now, we're going to listen to the book on tape on our way to Rexburg for Thanksgiving. Yeah! Let me know what you thought of the movie.

One more funny thing. Brandon said that Jasper looked like Edward Scissorhands(the hair.) I have to agree.

Bring on the snow

Call me crazy, but I'm not a big fan of putting up lights when there's snow on the ground. Especially since I'm the one who puts them up (I'm too much of a perfectionist to let Brandon do it.) Anyways, I thought I'd inspire you all to be safe and do the same. Cheers

Twi-Fever

I can't wait. I'm bursting with excitement for Twilight. Even if the movie isn't amazing, I'll still love it. Anyone else feeling this way?

Who's that sexy man?

Yep, That's my hot husband. Rarrrrr!

We had a little shindig at our place on Halloween. It was quite enjoyable. I thought Lyndsey and Scottie had the best costumes (although Brandon's was pretty hot?...)

You are cordially invited...

I'm having a boutique at my house this Saturday! There will be lots of great decor and gifts. I hope to see all of you there!

super lame... and yet... super sweet

I sorry I haven't posted forever. I promise I will post some new pictures and fun things soon. I've just been so busy with my new job and school. I am doing some freelance work for Aspire Photography and hoping for a full time position relatively soon. I absolutely love working for them. I get to shoot and edit pictures whenever I'm free(what more could a girl want?)

Basically what they do is set up a bunch of studios in a particular city every Saturday and have like 12 youth sports teams come to get pictures. The cool part is, we shoot them on a green screen in action. Then the kids can go on the internet and create posters, fatheads, blankets, t-shirts, and more with their own pictures. It's pretty high tech and amazing.

I never thought I'd like doing action photography, but I love the fast pace and working with kids. Plus, the pay is pretty sweet. So yeah, I pretty much want to be done with school so that I can do this full time.

Sad but true

So, I don't know if you guys have heard, but the partial draft of Midnight Sun leaked onto the internet a couple weeks ago. Stephenie Meyer was so mad that she's decided not to finish the book! Kill me! If you go to her website, she talks about it on the August 28th blog entry on the main page. She has put the partial draft on her site so that we can read it. I've already done so and loved it! I'm super sad that she's not finishing the book now. Just thought I'd let you Twilighters know.

A Powerful Experience

Today, Brandon and I were eating dinner at a fast food restaurant. We were just chatting and enjoying our food when an older woman leaned over our table. She looked to Brandon and said,"I just had to come over and tell you you look just like my son," pause,"that passed away. You have the same build and walk the same. If I could just... hug you... or hold your hand..." I've never seen such a look of desperation and pleading.

At this point I was fighting back tears and so was she. Neither Brandon nor I knew what to say. She gave him a hug and asked his name. When he told her, tears spilled silently down her cheeks, and she thanked him and walked away. Her husband was crying too.




You never know who needs you.

One more

Here's one I forgot. He's not entirely in focus, but I still like it.

Drive by shooting

On our way home from Colorado, the evening sky was so moody and beautiful, I couldn't resist sticking my camera out the window.

Portraits of a great man: Jean W. "Beaner" Thompson

Over the weekend I went to see my great uncle, a truly inspiring man. He's done amazing things in his lifetime, but the ones that standout the most happened during WWII.

He actually started the Ranger program, and I do not exaggerate when I say this. Eisenhower would call him during the war, and 2 hours later he'd be on a plane with his team to jump behind enemy lines.

His chief duty was freeing prisoners. He would parachute in behind the lines, kill the guards and high ranking officers, try to get the prisoners out safely(which unfortunately, didn't always happen,) and somehow make it back to safe territory.

Growing up, I've been lucky enough to hear his stories. Some too gruesome to utter again. My favorite one though was when he had 146 people to evacuate. He killed most of the guards, got the people to the enemy's airfield, and hijacked a plane. He flew 145 out to safety on the enemy's own plane. Only one was lost that day.


When I was a young teen, he taught me how to throw a bayonet and a hatchet. If you don't know, a bayonet is the knife that was attached to the end if their rifles. They could take it off if they needed for hand to hand combat.

I'm so glad Brandon was able to meet Jean since his health is now dwindling. I feel blessed to have such an incredible man in my family.

A New Feature

I've decided to add a new feature to my packages! I really like creating photo montages for fun, and I figured, why not sell 'em? They're great for children's birthdays, Christmas cards, wedding announcements, or anything really. I can make them any size to fit any envelope, so they're really versatile. Hopefully I'll get some interest in them soon. Check my website for prices!

Click picture to enlarge

Alpine Loop/Cascade Springs

Cute boy

Cascade Springs

Pretty tree and sky at Cascade Springs

Squinter

Saturday morning Brandon and I were thinking about doing a fun outdoor activity. I've been wanting to take him to Timp Caves for a while, but he wasn't feeling up to it this time. I also wanted to include my mom(who just had surgery on both hands and can't do a whole lot) and sister Alison (who has a 2 year daughter and is prego.) We finally decided on an activity that would suit everyone, driving the Alpine Loop. If you don't know, the Alpine Loop is a 20 mile stretch that goes from Provo Canyon to AF Canyon.

I don't remember the last time we did this, and I wanted to take lots of pictures while the wild flowers were in bloom so I was really excited. After meeting at my mom's in Orem, we all crammed into the car with water bottles and snacks and headed up Provo Canyon. Right before we got to the turn to go up to Sundance, Alison's mother-in-law called and said she was locked out of her house. What?! We were already in a hurry because Rylie was getting sleepy(she usually naps for 2+ hours,) and we wanted her to see the sights. So we turned around, let the mother-in-law in her house, and headed back up the canyon. This quick trip we'd planned suddenly turned into a few hours, and unfortunately, I had to drive so I didn't get to take many pictures. On top of that, everyone was getting sleepy so I didn't dare stop much.

All in all though we had a great little trip. We stopped at Sundance and Cascade Springs to run around. I highly recommend taking kids to Cascade Springs. It's basically a bunch of clear pools, streams, and rivers with boardwalks over them. There's a loop hike around them that's less than a mile(only half of it is stroller friendly.) It's really neat and doesn't take super long to get to.

If you go, remember:
-It's $6 to get into the canyon after Sundance or right inside AF canyon. -Take more food and water than you think you'll need. -Timp caves is just before the loop, and it's $7 for adults.

My sissie's preggers!

My little niece Rye Rye is going to be a big sister! Alison and Nate broke the news to us yesterday by showing us an ultrasound picture. They saw a specialist last week, and the first pictures look like it's going to be a BOY! Yeah! I'm so happy for them. It's been a long time coming, and they've had so many bumps along the pregnancy way, I was screaming and jumping up and down when they told us. Her due date is Feb 20. I'm soooo psyched!

Old made New

I was just feeling creative today and wanted to work on creating more Fine Art shots for my portfolio. This is a super crop of an older image of mine. What do you think?

Breaking Dawn

I finished the book yesterday. Here's my review on it(I'll try not to spoil anything, but if you haven't finished the book yet, don't read this just in case I get overexcited.)

1.I totally loved how everything turned out.

2.It was a bit longer than it could have been.

3.I wanted to rip Bella and Rosalie's heads off for 1/2 the book, but loved them by the end. Not so much Rose though. She's still a biddy.

4.Finally those 2(B+E) get friendly! It's about time! I almost died laughing imagining Edward biting a pillow.

5.I didn't like books 2+3 at first because of the whole Jacob+Bella thing, but after reading #4, I have renewed faith in Jacob and Bella(not as a couple, obviously! Edward rules!)

6.Not a huge fan of the name Renesmee, let alone Nessie.

7.Garret is amazing! Hello, talk about a shockingly amazing speech. Who saw that coming? Genius.

8.I love the cottage. That makes everything even more perfect.

9.I liked how the book showed Jacob's perspective too. That was a nice change.

10.Twilight will always be my favorite of the series because it makes me the most giddy. I love the tension between Bella and Edward. I'm giddy just thinking about it!

11.I'm a little confused about how Nessie came about. I didn't think Edward had it in him, literally.

12.I'll admit it. I cried out of joy and sadness many a time while reading. When Edward called Jacob something special(I'm trying to be vague) at the almost fight, I burst into tears.

13. I'm glad things worked out with Jacob, and also that Bella didn't feel the same about him, after. Also, I'm glad that Jacob is part of the Cullen family too now.

That's all I can think of for now. So when you finish the book and make your assessment, please leave your comments! I want to know what everyone thought about it.

3 Announcements

First, I finally broke down and made a facebook page. I'm pretty sure it's going to ruin my life because I'm already addicted.

Second, I've made some changes to my website so check that out.

Third, the trailer for the 6th Harry Potter movie is out now! I got chills watching it!

Just a reminder

I just wanted to remind all you Twilighters that Breaking Dawn comes out Aug. 2nd!
Also, there's a second trailer out now. Go to www.twilightthemovie.com

Happy 27th Lover Dover!

Yesterday was Bran Bran's 27th birthday extravaganza. He didn't have to work, which was superb, so we decided to do something fun during the day. At first, we thought about going to 7 peaks but decided against that plan since it's highway robbery.

all day adult price: $19.95 (x2)
+
parking: $5
+
double tube: $7
+
gas
= poverty

In the end we opted for the cheaper version of 7 peaks, my mom's pool. It was still really fun and my family came over to swim too.

The evening's festivities consisted of Joe Vera's for dinner, banana splits(Brandy's not a cake fan), and fireworks.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Oceanside Beach Trip 2008

Oceanside, California = Best place ever!

Every year my mom's side of the family retreats to Oceanside, CA for a week or two. We used to stay on the marine base there, which was great because we'd all park our motorhomes right on the sand and were beachfront. But, since the gas prices are astronomical now, my mom's the only one left driving. It was still really fun this year, but it was better when we were all in close quarters. Now we're all over the city.

Anyways, here are a million pictures from this year's trip:

Brandon and my bro-in-law Nate flew in towards the end of the trip. This pic was right before we went to a nice restaurant. Don't be mistaken, we wore sweats and no makeup most of the time.

My cousin's little girl.

Rylie about to get hit by a wave. Could you tell?

Lillers in my favorite swimsuit ever!

Gracie loves to touch he camera

Oceanside beach. Best beach anywhere.

My sis Alison and Rye Rye

The Redd girls

Me with my hot cousins Katie and Linny, who are both available p.s.

My second favorite thing to do at the beach. Frisbee! At one point we had 8-12 people playing at once with 2 frisbees and a football. So fun.

Love this beach!

Me and Brandy at one of my favorite places in the world, Oceanside Harbor.

Oceanside Harbor. Best seafood in the world comes from here at Harbor Fish and Chips. We've been going there as long as I can remember. It really has the best chowder and fried fish you'll ever eat. This trip, we ate there 3 times in 10 days. It' s that good.