Peace and Pandemonium

A couple of days ago I got to attend a fancy tea party with these three little princesses in a secret garden filled with flowers, magical creatures, and raspberry plants. It was like a dream...

I was tagged a while back. I knew that I wanted to do it but I also knew that I needed to do it right if I was going to bother. I really tried to think about my answers. I hope you enjoy. : )

I'd really like to hear from Wendy H, Emily, Ashley T, Jenny, Alyssa, and Elisha so tag, you're it!



I am.. expecting beautiful things to happen in my life.

I think.. therefore I am.
I know.. families are forever.

I want.. to have personal and professional success.
I have.. so much to be grateful for.

I wish.. for a/c...and for world peace.
I hate.. negativity.

I miss.. the ocean.

I fear.. I'd rather not discuss it.

I feel.. a deep desire to meditate and find peace within.

I hear.. muffled sounds in my right ear after two unsuccessful surgeries to fix an inner ear bone.

I smell.. Sophie's morning breath. I love that smell!
I search.. for balance.
I wonder.. why?

I regret.. not taking math my first year in college.

I love.. finding Sophia's dolls "taking naps" all around the house, with a wet wipe as a blanket. Listening to Matias' laugh, it's infectious! Observing Isaiah while he's learning something new. I cant help but share his enthusiasm. When Steven cooks me a delicious dinner, which thankfully for me is often. Taking pictures. Being creative. Exploring the world around me. The fact that there are endless answers for this question.

I care.. about solving our energy crisis! Lets go solar!

I always.. write to do lists.
I am not.. fake in any way.

I believe.. I am co-creator of my life.

I dance.. to the rhythm of the night. The night. Oh yeah. (remember that song?)

I sing.. quietly.

I don't always.. do what I'm supposed to. I'm a bit of a rebel. ;)

I write.. blog posts like this.

I win.. sometimes.

I lose.. sometimes.
I never.. say never.
I listen.. closely to my kids when they speak. They say interesting things.

I can usually be found..
 doing one or more of the 3 C's...computer, cleaning, caring for my kiddies.
I'm scared of.. verbalizing my fears.
I read.. as often as possible.

I am happy about.. my love, my life, my joy.

My most favorite person in the world just had his birthday. Steven is now the big 34! How blessed I am to have such a wonderful man to love. Yesterday our family went up past Sundance to Cascade Springs. It was cloudy and overcast and perfect! Great for pictures. We got up there before the rain started and left just in time to miss the down pour. We went home through Midway and Heber and it was so beautiful.

Happy Birthday Steven....I LOVE YOU!!!























***Thank you to Claire Noire and Greg for snapping the pictures with me in them. : )***

I recently was given another blog award. What's going on here? When it rains it pours I suppose and my cup runneth over. So now I get to say thank you to Stephanie who so kindly passed this Arte y Pico award my way. I have no idea what that means but it sounds cool. I love art and I also love pico. So there you go.





A big shout out to Stephanie who's blog Live. Love. Eat. (my 3 favorite things by the way) might be one of the tastiest blogs on the internet. Why buy a cookbook when you can get her recipes for free? I wish I knew how to cook like this but alas, that is not where my talents lie. If you don't know what to cook for dinner tonight you should check out her blog. You will be inspired!!

I'm going to pass this award on to Jenny who totally cracks me up. If you need a good laugh be sure to check her out. You will love her sense of humor.

To Birdie, who has always supported me since almost day one. She is so cool! She knows how to "create buzz" and has sent many a new person my way. Love her!!

And to my sister in law Candice who just this morning had surgery on her jaw to correct an under bite. She now has to endure 6 weeks of a liquid diet!! Good luck Candice, and when you can eat food again, be sure to visit Stephanie's blog. : )

Our neighbor is Benjamin McPherson, a very talented artist who paints religious art and does so extremely well. A few months ago he asked Isaiah to be his model for a new painting. We, of course, jumped at the opportunity. Kristina has posted a picture of the painting on her blog. You can see it here. We love it and I'm sure you will too.




***I wanted to add that I did not take this picture. Kristina did. She's awesome.***

On Isaiah's birthday we took the kids to the zoo. We bought a year membership and are looking forward to going back again soon. These are a few of my favorite shots from the day. Ashley took the pictures with me in them. Thanks Ash!

I originally had no intention of bringing my camera to camp with me. I figured it might be a distraction, not to mention I'd have to worry about keeping track of it and keeping it clean and safe while out in the middle of nowhere. However, my friend Leah convinced me that it would be a great opportunity for her and I to take pictures together which is something we've been talking about doing for months. I changed my mind and brought my camera along with me. I'm so glad I did because it presented the opportunity for us to finally have our dual photo shoot.

We went on a hike and took pictures of each other taking pictures. It was a blast! The hills were covered in wild flowers so we had a lot to work with! Here are my shots of her.

















We each liked this camera angle so much that we both took our turn taking and posing for this shot. Here is her version of me.





To see more of her shots of me click here.


For any of you who are wondering, camp was amazing. I'm so happy that I went. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience that I wont soon forget. I felt blessed to have spent the week among such fine young women. I was able to grow closer to our girls and to the other leaders and that alone made the whole experience a worth while one. I am happy to be home though. 5 days without my kids and my hubby was a long time.

A short while ago my friend Alyssa showed me some love and posted a really cool post on her sight. I was totally touched and completely flattered. This blog is a quick shout out to Alyssa who I'm sure is wishing she was going to camp this year!


How's this for hearing yourself on the radio!!!



More to come when I get home...




****I realize that this post sounds a little weird. Now that I'm reading it back it sounds kinda funny. I wrote this in like 5 minutes, immediately before I had to go to camp. Let me explain, one of Alyssa's favorite things is hearing herself on the radio, this shout out was supposed to be the blog equivalent. Hope that makes more sense now. I also now have the time to put the bling logo on. This is what happens when you try to post a blog in a hurry. Confusion! : )****

7 years and 3 days ago Isaiah Steven Haddock was born and oh what a glorious day it was. I daydreamed for 9 months about this boy. What would he look like? What would his personality be like? What were we going to name him? For months I would doodle his name on scratch paper while I was at work. I was obsessed.

Isaiah is so bright. He is intelligent and insightful. He has boundless curiosity, and I especially appreciate his excitement for sharing what he learns. He seems to remember everything he sees, hears or reads. The word genius comes to mind.

We love his warmth, kindness, compassion, and enthusiasm for life. This boy is a joy to have around and his dad and I are so grateful for the blessing of being his parents. Happy Birthday Ice Man. WE LOVE YOU!!

I'm off to girls camp with the young women of my ward. We are going to Mia shalom for 5 whole days. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I will not be in contact with my family for 5 days! That feels like forever. I am really looking forward to the experience though. Spending a week in the great outdoors sounds like exactly what I need. Throw in a little time for meditation and self reflection, a healthy dose of spirituality, crafts, hiking, and some good old fashioned roughing it and I am bubbling over with excitement!

I wanted to announce that Sophia is officially potty trained. She picked it up super fast! I guess she is almost 3 but she basically had it down in a day. We took her to the store to pick out big girl undies and she chose My Little Pony's and Elmo. She looks so cute in her brand new panties and I am so proud of my baby girl! She's growing up so quick. She's such a big girl now!! Way to go Sophie!!!

After 2 months of begging kind requests, I was finally able to get my brother Skyler out for a photo shoot. He's a busy guy with a lot of friends and better things to do, so to finally get this time to hang out with him was really fun! My sister Tavia joined us and the 3 of us went out in search of a good time. I didn't have any specific ideas for pictures which is not how I usually roll. I was very relieved when he suggested going to the Badlands to take pictures. Thank goodness for amazing locations like this. I plan on going back here, this place just oozes coolness. It didn't hurt that Skyler was the model I was working with. Isn't he pretty? Ahem, I mean handsome. HANDSOME!!

But first, a couple of things...

I have very much been enjoying the idea of a concept photo shoot. I allows both me and my subject the ability to work outside of "who we are in rl.. (real life)". I find I have much more freedom in setting up and taking these kinds of pictures. I'm also discovering that it's the perfect way for me to express myself. My beliefs, my ideas, my feelings. It's always me, me, me isnt it? : )

This concept was originally going to be a trip back in time. We were going to have Rachel dress in the different styles of the 60's ad 70's...hippie, disco fever, mod, etc. We got about as far as hippie. : ) It worked though because it gave us a jumping off point and from there it became exactly what it was supposed to.

Oh yeah, and one more thing. Since our country recently celebrated it's Independence Day, I felt it would be fitting and appropriate for me to utilize my first amendment right to free speech and tell you all what I think.

My brother is in the military. He flies helicopters for the army and I couldn't be more proud of him. He loves what he does and even though his political views may differ from that of our pres, he is still honorably serving our country. He is going to be deployed this winter and even though we are all expecting and anticipating it, I have a pit in my stomach when I think of it. Why are we still there? For democracy? Yeah right! Let me just force freedom down your throat and see how you like it. To say I cant wait for a new president is a gross understatement.
While I was researching ideas for anti- war posters for this shoot I ran across a couple of excellent slogans. My favorite being:

"Thank you Mr. Bush, for 8 years of gore."

Yep, that about sums it up. In order to make my life a little easier though I decided to use these two posters because they were already made and expressed equally relevant ideas and feelings.







And now, without further adieu...Rachel






















In case any of you don't know, I feel I should explain the symbol on this ring. It is the Om symbol or Aum. Please follow the link if you want more information. In short, it represents the sound of the creation. It is used in meditation as a mantra. It reminds me to BE STILL.