Ode to Troy Aikman...

While watching Monday night football when I was little I developed a crush on the beautiful Troy Aikman. In all of my 10 years on this earth I had never seen anyone more handsome or wonderful than Troy. I used to actually think that I would grow up, meet him, and we would get married.



Jared thinks it's hilarious and gives me a hard time whenever there's a football game on that Troy Aikman is announcing. A while back, probably around the same time as the baseball card discovery, Jared found an actual plaque that he had with Troy Aikman's picture and name engraved on it. We joked around about actually hanging it in a hallway somewhere, that would have been pretty awesome.

While I'm confessing my embarassing elementary/middle school crushes I might as well admit that Andrew Keegan was pretty up there as well. Remember him? He made a few appearances in 80's/90's classics like Full House, Step by Step, and 7th Heaven.


I even remember writing him a letter once that was something like

"Dear Andrew,
Hi! My name is Tyan Murray and I'm eleven. I think you're a really cool guy and really funny, we should hang out sometime. Don't worry, I'm not one of those crazy fans, I'm just a normal girl but really fun."

Yikes, I don't think that it ever made it in the mail since I didn't have his address and I didn't really know how stamps worked. Wouldn't you be in love with that jean jacket/vest/women's belt combo too?!!

How about some Thanksgiving pictures, eh?

Seperately we are pretty normal (so we like to think at least), but when you get all four sisters together in a car with a camera then throw in some cold weather and cabin fever things get a little crazy!

Started off normal enough...

Still pretty mild, a few gang signs never hurt anyone...


Aww, snap! Then Paige had to go start posing.



Work it Meliss!



This is actually just Kellye looking normal, haha.



You're a tiger! No, no, you're a fish!


Yes, it's true. I'm married to a male model.

And of course, Sean had to get in on the gayness as well - good times!!

Happy New Year

So it's been forever, huh!?

There are several perks when it comes to working for a university and one of them is nice long holiday breaks! Jared and I do the whole holiday switch-a-roo with our families each year and this year we had Christmas with the Jacox's. We spent a week in a cabin up in New Mexico with the whole fam and had a great time (pictures to come).

We got back in town Tuesday night, now it's back to work for three days and then Saturday we are off to Playa del Carmen with my family for a week! So posting might be a little slow/non-existent for the next few days. So when you get bored and have no other blogs to stalk just watch this video, it gets me every time!

Lip gloss makes me happy

I'm not really the adventurous type when it comes to makeup. For some reason I've always been intimidated by any eye makeup other than mascara, so I have my staples from Bare Minerals and keep it pretty simple.

Lip gloss is a whole different story - I just can't seem to have enough! I seem to always be searching for more, even though I have a whole stash at home waiting for me. The hunt for the perfect pink/berry/nude shades is one I think I'll always be on, but I thought I'd share the most perfect ones I've found so far:

Perfect pinks:


Chanel Glossimer in Sirop - I ration this stuff like my life depends on it. It looks bright in the tube but it really is the perfect pinkish/coral shade to boost your natural lip color. Perfection.

Victoria Secret Very Sexy Lipgloss in Rumor and Secret - Much more affordable and has great staying power.

Perfect berry:


Neutrogena Lip Sheers in Shimmering Blush - A sheer berry tint that is really moisturizing. And you can pick it up while you're buying groceries - bonus.


Perfect nudes:


Mac Lipstick in Freckletone - A peachy-nude that gives just the right amount of color, goes on creamy and smooth.

Flirt Lipgloss (at Kohl's) in Heavenly Honey - Affordable and fun. It goes on sheer and shiny, perfect to layer it over lipstick.

Jared's trip down memory lane...

I think every little boy, at one time or another, starts a baseball card collection - cause that's what little boys do. Jared is no exception; when he was little he would mow the lawn with his brother on Saturday mornings and as a reward his dad would take them to buy a pack of cards. (or he would steal them from his uncle Andrew, for which he says he has since apologized for) About a week ago, while going through his parents attic, he discovered his long lost collection - but it was a little bigger than he remembered it being.


In true Jared fashion, the collection has the most cards I've ever seen - but not just baseball cards, no, there are football and basketball cards too. Who even knew they made those! Some are carefully organized and preserved in binders while the rest are piled in little bricks filling an entire plastic storage container.


So for the past week he's had fun going through them all and resorting them. Every once in a while I'll hear "Look at this! Nolan Ryan rookie card!" or "Look at this! It's Ken Griffy Jr.'s DAD!" It's pretty funny. I don't know what we're going to do with all of them, but who knows we could be sitting on a small fortune - so Jared says!

I love the Lobby of Hobbies

Something about Hobby Lobby makes time stand still when I'm there, and leads me to believe that my crafting abilities are far superior than they actually are. I don't know what it is. I was talking to my friend, Shelby, about this strangeness and she totally knows what I'm talking about!


You walk in and an hour later you find yourself in some random isle thinking, "Why wouldn't I make my own rubber stamps! Brilliant!" What!? I've had to talk myself out of taking up so many random, useless crafting hobbies - like stamp carving - it's kind of insane. Last night I was totally mesmerized by all the different sizes of hot glue gun sticks when I realized that I've used a glue gun once in the past 4 years, I don't need the stinking glue sticks.

Hobs (as Stew and I refer to it as) is a dangerous place. There's no telling how much time or money you will spend on things that you never knew were absolute necessities. I was lucky yesterday and escaped only one hour and $12 later. But next time I can only hope to be so lucky.

Family Time Part II

Everyone always says "Your poor dad!" when I tell them I have three sisters, but I always tell them that he wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would we for that matter.

I remember begging my dad to let me stay up past my 8:30 bedtime when I was little so I could watch the rest of Monday Night Football, and I remember laughing hysterically with the rest of my sisters when he tried to teach us how to punt in the backyard (none of us quite got the hang of it!). Football is something my dad taught me to love, for which Jared is grateful I'm sure!

He also taught us how to shoot, mostly bottles or paper plates set on tree branches - we're still girls so we're not about to kill anything. But shooting skeet is the most fun, we always loved going skeet shooting with the boys in high school - especially to see the look on their faces when the only girls in the group pulled out two Brownings in perfect condition. Of course we had no idea that ours (borrowed from Dad) were the best guns in the group, pretty funny.

Dad still has the best shot, but Melissa takes the cake when it comes to throwing the skeet. Kellye is left handed so we're always a little nervous when she's trying to turn the safety on and off, love you Kel! And Paige's alter ego, "Hank", is a pretty good at target shooting. Mom, on the other hand, isn't too fond of guns in general so she is the photographer!

Kellye shooting, Jared shooting backup.


Melissa and Molly


Jared shooting, me shooting backup.


With four daughters I think he likes having a son-in-law!

A bit of my (temporary) portfolio..

Until I have my own photography website up and running the blog will have to do.

I love taking pictures of kids, these are a few of my favorites!

Discovery Channel rocks my world

You've done it again Discovery Channel! First it was Deadliest Catch, then Man vs. Wild, now Everest: Beyond the Limit has me totally hooked.

I have no idea why but I love watching pretty much anything having to do with Mount Everest. I am not a climber, or even a camper for that matter, but something about Mount Everest documentaries and shows are completely mesmerizing to me.

Check it out Tuesday nights at 9:00. There are only a few more episodes but after Dec. 18 there will be a follow up show called "After the Climb" on Tuesday nights at 10:00.

Intense!

My first photography job...

These are some of my pictures from the wedding I shot a few weeks ago...