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Better “Every day” photos to tell your family story

I have a horrible memory. Like, I can’t even remember what I wore yesterday kind of memory. So remembering most of my childhood and life in general is out of the question. I’ve tried to be a good journal keeper throughout my life, but photos are how I piece together my story and remember things from my past. Words are great. But photos are how memories come to life. And unfortunately there aren’t many photos. Which means there are a lot of holes. I don’t blame my parents for that. Back then it wasn’t really an option. Technology, convenience, and practicality wasn’t near where it is today.

I was looking through old photos in our family albums and I started thinking of all the photos I wish I had. There are some things I vaguely remember that I wish we had a photo of. And what about the ones I don’t remember? And my parents don’t either. Parts of my story that are just…..gone.

How many times have you said, or heard someone say, “I wish we had a photo of that”? Sometimes we’re referring to the big moments, or the funny moments, or the crazy moments, but usually it’s the EVERY DAY stuff that we wish was documented. The stuff that was once a huge part of our day-to-day life and story.

What did my bedroom(s) look like growing up? What was on my walls? What was my favorite toy as a child and what did it look like? What outfit did I insist on wearing over and over and over? What about photos of my Rainbow Brite collection, Pound puppies, Cabbage patch doll, our neighborhood football playbook, our old record player, our steal-the-flag gang, my elementary playground, childhood friends, my bike that carried me everywhere, the dirt hills we spent hours and hours playing in, where I ate all my meals growing up, my baby blanket, the inside of my car as a teenager, my piano teacher….

It’s the every day stuff. 99% of our existence that is a HUGE part of our story. The every day stuff is what adds together and makes a life. Makes a story. Tells WHO we are. Who our kids are.

I don’t take pictures because I’m passionate about photography. I take pictures because I’m passionate about the people IN the pictures. And the stories of their lives.

Over time I’ve learned how powerful a photograph can be. And over time, my goal has been to tell, without words, who someone is. Who my children are. Who our family is.

Photography has become a tool in my life to help me be a more intentional, present, and aware mom. To appreciate my children more. To be aware of who they are and who they are becoming. To document their lives. The good AND the bad. And to document my OWN life. Who I AM. Because MY story matters too.

Photography has given me more patience. More love. More compassion. More awareness. And more importantly, more intention to live a purposeful life.

That’s why it’s SO important to me. The EVERY DAY photos. The stories. And why I want to share that gift with other people and help others tell the story of their lives through photos by taking the RIGHT KIND of photos, not just aimlessly taking a lot of photos.

I sat down and spent some time making a list of photos I wish I had. I weeded through that list and narrowed it down to the every day photos ideas I personally still want, and ones I know my kids will be thankful for one day.

And now I’m sharing those ideas, tips, and tricks with others to help people document the stories of their lives through photographs.

The EVERY DAY PHOTOS GUIDE. It includes ideas for every day photos to help tell your family stories. Explanations on what type of photos to take, photo examples of those ideas, and specific photo tips to help you get the best photos possible with the tools and skills you have right now. Any camera. Any skill level.

This is a NO stress photography guide. You can take a photo each day as you read the ideas, or you can dedicate 10 or 20 minutes one day and take several of the photo ideas at once. Or you can just hold on to the ideas in your head and take them as those every day moments happen. It’s up to you. And you can take them with a dSLR, a point-and-shoot, or a camera phone. This is not a “take a photo everyday” kind of project. It’s a “document the everyday moments when those everyday moments happen” kind of project. I’m trying to help get the ideas in your head and then when those moments happen, you can stop and take the time to document them to tell your story.

This is not just for parents or grandparents. It’s for anyone looking for ways to better document their story through photographs. Yes, some of the ideas will be geared towards documenting our kids lives, but this is as much about documenting our own story as it is about documenting kids and spouses. And there will be ideas for younger kids as well as older kids.

The eBook is now available! You’ll definitely want to check it out if you have a desire to capture the stories of your family through photos.

I also recommend you read some interviews from some AMAZING people (people you may have heard of–still can’t believe they said yes to this) sharing their stories, photos, and why “every day” photos matter to them. Just click on their name to read their interviews.

Chris Jones from Mitchell’s Journey.

Becky Higgins with Project Life.

Natalie Norton

Chari Pack with Persnickety Prints.

Courtney Slazinik with Click it up a Notch.

And check out all the details to get YOUR copy of the Every Day Photos Guide eBook! Tons of ideas! Tons of tips. Your story deserves to be told.

For more photography ideas, tips, inspiration, health ideas, and just plain old GOOD STUFF, you can follow me on Instagram here (or search @ltross) , Pinterest here, or Facebook here!!

You can also click on the “photography” tab in the menu bar above!

You should DO it.

I’ve decided this is my year to DO more and think less. To TRUST more and fear less. To BE more. To LOVE more. To ENJOY more. To have more adventure. To make my days more meaningful. To LIVE more. To ACT.

I’ve wanted to go rock climbing for a long time now. I’ve never been. I’m not afraid of heights. I’m much more afraid of not being good at something.

If I’m being honest, I don’t always love trying new things because I don’t like looking stupid. I don’t like NOT being good at something. I don’t like being uncomfortable.

But I love adventure. And in the long run, I actually do like new things. It’s just getting through that initial hurdle of…..doing it.

I went rock climbing this week. Thanks to a persistent friend who has been by my side since we were 9 years old. She asked several times. I kept turning her down for what seemed like good reasons. But they really were just excuses. So when she asked again this week, I said “yes”. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous. Because like I said, I don’t like being uncomfortable and doing things I’m not initially good at.

But we went. And I climbed. And it was harder than I thought. But it was more fun than I thought too. And it was a crazy trust exercise that I failed miserably my first time to the top (because I held onto those hand-holds for dear life on my way down instead of repelling like I was supposed to–but I was with HER. The friend who knows me. So she just laughed instead of taking offense).

By the end of the night my forearms burned like they’ve never burned before. And my hands were raw. But my spirit was full. Because I did something I’ve wanted to do but just never had.

It got me thinking about all those things we want to do but don’t. Why? What stops us? The reality is we’ll never have enough time or resources or money or courage or perfect circumstances to do the things we want to do. We just have to MAKE it happen. And do it. Because life is now.

I have a suggestion (a challenge if you will. And you will). Write down (Yes, WRITE IT DOWN) a few things you’ve wanted to do but haven’t yet. Then pick one. And schedule it. And figure out a way to DO IT without making excuses. If you really want to do it, then do it. Make it that simple. And then when you finish that one, go on to the next one. And schedule it. And DO IT.

I also suggest telling someone about the things you want to do. Sometimes having someone else know about our dreams and ideas and things we want to do helps make those things happen.

It doesn’t have to be big things. Just things. Things you think will fill your soul and bring you more joy.

Just for kicks, a few of mine are:

1. Complete a triathlon. I wrote more about this in my goal setting post

2. Do the flowrider. You know those simulated surf things they often have on cruises–we have some here in Utah and I really want to try it. I’ve spent my fair share of time watching other people try it. And eat it. And I laugh. I want to try (but when no one else can watch me). But maybe if you’re lucky I’ll post a video of me trying.

3. Participate in a cyclocross race. This one is laughable because I’ve never even watched one. But I have some friends/relatives who do it and it just sounds fun. I’d like to try.

4. Waterski at the same time as Mike (my husband)–behind the boat at the same time. This one is weird, but I just want to try. I have to get good enough though to get up and stay up as long as he can. He’s way better than me. I also want to wakeboard at the same time as my daughters. Just for fun.

5. Go on a family RV trip to Yosemite (or wherever really). I grew up with a motorhome and it broke down every.single.trip we ever took. And my mom hated that thing. And my dad loved it. Some of my fondest childhood memories. I want that for my kids.

Many of these things make me nervous. They cause a little (or a lot of) anxiety. But they also cause excited anticipation. I just have to get over the initial nervousness and fear and just DO IT.

I can’t tell you how many times I think of this quote:

(Quote by Lara Casey–Her book is amazing!)

Because “you know all those things you’ve always wanted to do? You should go DO THEM.” It really can be as simple as that.

Food finds worth sharing.

I feel like we should all have a moral obligation to share good things with each other when we find them. Anytime I discover a new good thing and share it, I often find my friends already knew about it. And I wonder why on earth they didn’t share it with me. Seriously. Help a sister out. Let’s just make an agreement that when we find something good worth sharing, we share it. Deal?

With that being said, today I wanted to share some “good food” finds. Different foods we’ve discovered around here that we love. And thus, I’m sharing. I could probably break some of these recipes up into individual posts, but I’m not a food blogger nor will I ever be one (because cooking is definitely not my thing), so I condense these into one post.

{If you like any of them, you can hover over the photos and Pin it to Pinterest to access easily from there. Juuust so you know. You can also follow me on Pinterest here. I only pin good stuff. Not lame stuff. }

Onto the food.

I found this trail mix at Costco and I’m addicted. So so good. The perfect quick snack. Handful here. Handful there. Good. Stuff.

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I’ve tried my fair share of brown rice. And generally I don’t like it. It’s always too dry. Or too hard. Or too gross. But this Brown Rice from Trader Joe’s is perfect. It comes frozen and you just have to heat it up in the microwave for 3 minutes. Fast. Easy. Good for you.

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I’ve also tried just about every Hummus out there. And this is definitely my favorite. Olive Hummus. I’ve only been able to find this specific kind from Walmart. I like to eat this with Pita chips or Pita’s from Costco.

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I’m generally not a big fan of fish. I sure wish I was. But this Panko breaded Tilapia from Costco is pretty good. It’s mild. Not super fishy. It comes frozen and you just bake it in the oven. We eat this with the brown rice from Trader Joe’s and sweet potato chips (see below). Quick easy meal with minimal work. My kind of meal. 2015-02-21_0005

No-Bake Granola Energy bars.

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These are really good, easy to make, and a great snack to keep me full from one meal to another. AND my kids will eat them. Huge plus.

Here’s the recipe:

2 C oats

1/4 C sesame seeds

1/4 C pumpkin seeds

1 C peanut butter–natural (I use Skippy–tastes the best)

1/2 C honey

2 C unsweetened shredded coconut

1 C flax seeds

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 C mini dark or milk chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and roll into balls. Put in freezer overnight. Keep in refrigerator or freezer.

I usually store mine in the freezer, and then pull a handful out at a time and keep those in the fridge.

Spinach Protein Waffles

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My kids love waffles. But it feels like an hour after they eat them, they’re hungry again. These protein waffles are super filling and you can blend in a bunch of spinach to make them even healthier.

And we love Kodiak cakes for Pancakes as well.

The recipe:

1 C Kodiak cakes (I buy a big box at Costco)

2 eggs

3/4 C milk

big handful of spinach

Blend all ingredients up in a blender and pour into waffle iron. I doubled the recipe and it made about 14 waffles. These also freeze really well. I just put them in the toaster. I first saw a version of these on Instagram by @cleansimpleeats. She has a lot of great healthy food options.

Sweet Potato Chips

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I’ve never eaten a lot of sweet potatoes until recently. And we quite like them these days. Just peel the sweet potatoes, slice them with a Mandoline Slicer Grater , spray a cookie sheet with coconut oil (you can buy spray coconut oil at Walmart or other grocery stores), spread out on cookie sheet. Spray the sweet potatoes with coconut oil. Then sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until desired tenderness or crispiness. I like ours a little more cripsy.

Make sure to use the safety feature on the mandolin. The first time I used this baby I sliced off a pretty huge chunk of my thumb. It wasn’t awesome. Just one of many reasons I shouldn’t be found in a kitchen.

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Another kitchen tool we’ve been using a ton lately is a Brieftons Tri-Blade Spiralizer. It’s weird how just cutting vegetables a different way can make them taste so different. I’ve been making a lot of “zoodles” using zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots. I just make the zoodles using the spiralizer and saute them in a pan with a little olive oil and season with sea salt. Sometimes we eat them plain. Sometimes we put a sauce on them (from whatever other dish I may be making). Of course they don’t taste like noodles because they aren’t noodles, but they can make a really good replacement for noodles. And the “zoodles” are kid approved by 3 of our 4 kids (that one kid shouldn’t even count though because he won’t eat anything “weird”).

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And lest anyone thinks I’m always eating healthy, we LOVE these:

Reese’s Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

6 C Rice Krispie Treats

14-16 Reeses Peanut Butter cups, diced (not too small–about 9 cubes per peanut butter cup)

5 Tbsp butter

1 10oz. package of mini marshmallows and 2 heaping cups of mini marshmallows

1/3 C peanut butter (I use natural peanut butter-Skippy brand)

1/2 C chocolate chips

{A few hours before you make these, you can cube the Reeses and put them in the freezer to help them not melt as much.}

In a large bowl, combine the Rice Krispies and the Reeses cubes. Set aside. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.

In a large pot, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and continually stir until marshmallows are melted. My mom taught me to remove the marshmallows AS SOON as the last one melts to avoid burning. Remove from heat and pour over cereal and Reese’s mixture.

Stir gently until all combined. Pour into 9×13 pan and press mixture down.

In a small bowl, melt the peanut butter in the microwave. Then melt the chocolate in a separate bowl. Transfer the peanut butter into a ziploc bag. Transfer the chocolate into a separate ziploc bag. Cut a small piece out of the corner of each bag and drizzle over the Rice Krispie treats.

Let set. Sometimes I put them in the fridge to speed up the setting process. These are always a HUGE hit when we take them to events and parties.

Last, if you haven’t tried this Spinach Protein shake, you should definitely try it. Best protein shake I’ve ever tried.

Do YOU have any good food finds? Seriously. Share them with me! Just leave it in the comments below. One thing (or lots of things) your family loves.

Kids are here

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the mess. The mess of having my little people in the home. The constant picking up. Things left here and there and EVERYwhere. Sticky. Crumbs. Toys. Legos. Broken Crayons. Wet towels. Backpacks. Spilled milk. Doll clothes. Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. Anywhere. And did I mention everywhere?

I was researching a different project and I came across a website “Kids Were Here” and it inspired me to try something different. To stop. And pay attention. And appreciate the littleness around me. The learning. The exploring. The playing. The living. And even the mess making.

I won’t lie and say I always (or ever) love the mess and toys left about. But doing this project over the past few weeks has helped me to be less frustrated and more grateful for my kids and the every day stuff. The residue left behind by happy, healthy, active, and loved kids.

Photographing the every day moments, like these, helps me to slooooow down. To look. To be aware and present. And sometimes even helps me appreciate the mess. For just a second. (And then I make them clean it up.)

Try it. For a week. Stop and photograph the sign that kids are there. Use your “nice” camera. Use your phone (be sure to read my phone photography tips first). Whatever you have. Just stop and pay attention. And document the evidence there are kids there. The little things that make up their days. The messes and the toys and the projects. Pay attention more to how those things actually make you feel. Instead of seeing those messes and fingerprints and things left behind as a nuisance, see how you feel after a week of photographing it. My guess is it will change you. Even if just a little bit.

More than anything, these photos just make me smile. Cause kids are awesome. And sometimes maybe I forget just how awesome they really are. Photographs help me remember.

Kids are here.

Hiking Lone Peak mountain

Last summer for our anniversary, Mike and I decided to spend the weekend being active. Doing things we normally can’t do with 4 kids. My sister took the kids for the weekend (we very rarely leave them) and we beat up our bodies. Friday we went paddle boarding down the Provo River (we actually did it twice it was so much fun). Saturday we spent the entire day mountain biking in Park City. My kind of mountain biking. You ride the ski lift to the top and just ride your mountain bike down. I only flipped over my handle bars once so I call it a success. Mike nearly got blinded from all the mud that I was spraying in his face but he’s looked at these MTB Goggles since then so it won’t happen again!

And Sunday, we decided to summit Lone Peak in honor of our 12 successful years of marriage. We’ve both hiked mountains before. And we aren’t beginners in the outdoors, but we definitely weren’t prepared for this. Mike’s famous phrase for the day was “I have no business being on this mountain.” It was hard. Really hard. But SO so cool. Something I’ll never forget. Truly an experience of a lifetime. It was a go big or go home kind of weekend.

I took our GoPro along with us and took little video clips of the trail the entire way up. The terrain changes quite a bit from the bottom to the top. I pieced together those video clips in this video. If you ever plan to hike Lone Peak, this gives you a quick idea of what it will be like. If you never plan to hike Lone Peak, you now to get to enjoy a 10 minute cliff-notes version.

And the photo version.

Starts out as a dirt path that goes virtually straight up. It’s called Jacob’s Ladder and the ladder part is no joke. It was like a ladder. Up. Up. Up. Steep.

I remember getting to this point and seeing that peak way off in the distance. We’d already hiked a tough part and seeing this I realized how far we still had to go. But the views were unbeatable and the entire way up I kept thinking “this is so amazing”.

Then you hit a meadow. It’s the only “flat” part of the entire trek. We saw a tent in there. Some people hike to the meadow, camp there overnight, and then head for the summit the next day.

And then come the rocks. And the giant boulders. And “the chute” as I called it (big rocks, straight up).

After the meadow there’s no clearly defined trail. So you have to follow Cairns the rest of the way up (man-made stack of rocks to show the way). They were generally pretty easy to spot.

And then the final summit. The part I was definitely not prepared for. I was ready to turn back. I was high enough. It was good enough. And the views were incredible. But Mike kindly stepped passed me and said “we’re going to the top”. And so we did. And I was shaking. And more scared for my life than I’ve ever been before. I hike. I don’t climb. We had no ropes. And the drop was straight down on both sides. One bad step, one missed hand hold and it would have been bad news. I’m not a huge risk-taker nor have I ever been climbing (like, real climbing, not just hiking) so this was all new to me. I’m sure people who do this kind of thing a lot wouldn’t have been as nervous as me. But I was truly scared.

There were two people sitting on the summit as we made our final ascent. And they encouraged me from above. Told me which ways to go and which ways not to go. Were it not for Mike (and those two strangers who had already walked the “trail”) I’m sure I never would have done it. By the time we made it to the very small tippy-top, I was terrified. And I couldn’t stay on the top for long for the fear I had of doing that last part all over again so I could get back down. And for some reason the video I took up there didn’t record. Boo.

Proof I made it as high as possible.

But. I can definitely say it was worth it. Despite my terror. The views were unbeatable. The terrain was varied. The scenery was breath taking. The physical journey was incredibly demanding. And making it to the top was satisfaction I haven’t had in a long, long time.

I turned on RunKeeper on my phone to track how far it was to the top. From our car at the base of the Jacob’s Ladder trail to the very top of Lone Peak, it registered as 5.67 miles. And took us 5:54 to get there. We went slooooooow. And had to take a lot of breaks.

I also wore my heart rate monitor the entire day cause I’m curious like that. From our car to the top of Lone Peak and back to the car it took us a total of 9:51 and said I burned 5868 calories. Just under 10 hours. We’re not fast hikers. You better believe I went and bought a pizza after we were done and ate nearly the entire thing by myself.

The way down was much more physically taxing for us than the way up. My quads were shot and having to get down those huge boulders on the way down and then the really steep part of Jacob’s Ladder was tough. The last hour I was hurtin’. Bad.

But we made it. And it was truly incredible. And I’ll probably do it again at some point. Just need to let enough time pass so I forget a few things. 🙂

For anyone interested in doing this hike, a few tips.

*Try to go when it isn’t super hot. We really lucked out and the weather was unseasonably cool when we went. I can’t imagine what the hike would have been like it it was hot.

*Bring plenty of water. We each had a full Camelbak and 4 disposable water bottles each. Even though it wasn’t hot, we still went through almost all our water.

*Pack in good food that is sure to give you energy. We had a lot of Powerbars, trailmix, high energy, easy to grab and eat as we walked kind of food. We also packed in lunch (peanut butter sandwiches). You need a lot of calorie energy to get through this long day hike.

*Make sure your phone is charged. Weirdly enough, I had cell reception on the peak and was in the middle of FaceTime with my kids and my phone died. Boo.

*Make sure you start early enough in the day to finish before it gets dark. We had plenty of time before the sun set, but we didn’t want to end up on the mountain in the dark.

*If you have a GoPro, definitely take it. I wish I would have worn ours strapped to my head while we hiked the last part to get to the summit. And it was great to have to take our photos on the top.

*Bring a jacket. It gets chilly up on top. It’s probably best to layer.

*Make sure you have a camera. Duh. I used our GoPro and my cell phone camera (iPhone 5s) for all my photos. And I love the panoramic shot I took while we stood on the peak.

*After you finish the dirt trail part of Jacob’s Ladder, you have to follow cairns the rest of the way up. For the most part they were easy to find. A few times we had to search. Just keep going up and you’ll stumble on them again. There seemed to be a few different ways to get up.

*I personally would wait until all the snow is gone. Hiking this in the snow, especially the final ridge, would be pretty difficult.

*Go with good company. And someone who doesn’t complain. Or it’s going to be a long, awful day. I’d love to take my kids one day, but it will be years (and years and years) before any of them are ready for a hike like that.

And just for fun, since I didn’t do this, here’s a video I found on YouTube of the final stretch to the summit. Makes me a little sick to my stomach to watch and remember how terrified I was. I gotta build up my bravery for hiking.