The Cowboy in Me

Do you ever wonder if there was another time period that you would have liked to live in or experience even for just a day or two? For instance there are days when I think that it would be awesome to be a flapper during the Jazz Age of the 1920's. I know that I have friends who would love to spend time with the ancient Egyptians and their hieroglyphics. When I was younger I loved Musicals, (OK I still do) Grease was one of my favorites and after seeing it for the first time I wished so badly that I could have grown up and gone to high school during the 1950's. Being the History buff that I am I can say that I would have loved to experience many different time periods and cultures, but the one that I can't seem to get out of my heart and mind is that of the Cowboy.

I'm not sure what it is about the open fields, the horses, hats & boots, the sunsets and long days in the fields working outdoors.. I would die to be a real cowgirl. When I was in high school and college I used to fantasize that if I were to ever run away from home that I would run away to a horse and cattle ranch and learn the ways of the cowboys and spend all day out in the fields working. In fact that has always my dream summer job - to work at a cattle ranch and ride horses all day.

In fact a while ago I came across this article in National Geographic about 21st Century Cowboys.. I about died after reading it over and over. It was fascinating and after talking to Taylor about it for quite a while we honestly came pretty close to going out and finding work at some of the Ranches - the only problem was that we didn't have much experience and made more money coaching summer vb camps. One of these days I will have a horse of my own that I can ride out in the open fields and off into the sunset - with my husband and kids of course. If you really want to know who's life I would love to have it's Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman. She's living the life that I hope to be living someday ;)

Now you may be wondering why I am even talking about all of this in the first place. Well the reason is that yesterday Taylor and I got to actually ride horses - we didn't walk or trot on a trail.. I'm talking a full gallop/sprint... well I was galloping a little more than was Taylor. There aren't very many things in this life that bring that kind of joy to my soul. It is absolutely invigorating to be a top of such a big and powerful animal at a full sprint. I can't really put into words what I felt other than pure joy. It was the best thing that I have done in a long time. One of these days when we have some land and a home with our kids we will have horses... mark my words. Yesterday, while we were riding, I stopped and asked the little boy that was on his horse if he knew/understood just how lucky he was to grow up with horses and could ride them whenever he wanted. He kind of looked at me with a funny face and said "Ya I guess I am pretty lucky" and then rode off. It was pretty awesome.

So there you have it. I am a cowgirl at heart and would love to spend my days in the country on a horse. What about you?

Pictures courtesy of Ree Drummond @ The Pioneer Woman and Robb Kendrick @ National Geographic

Hope's Bridals

I have been anxiously waiting to post these pictures for about 2 months now. Hope asked that I hold off on publishing any of them in hopes of keeping her dress a secret from Trey, and now that they are married and he's seen her beautiful dress I get to post these :)

This shoot was a blast. Hope and her stunning bridesmaids worked it the entire time. I had a very difficult time deciding which of these to post and believe me there are a lot more that should be up here. I love the contrast of colors with the dresses and the background more than anything.

Family Pictures

And it's official... the annual family photo shoot took place last month when we were once again all together for a mere 5 days. This year we did things a little differently, we took some more serious pictures than we usually do.. you know because we're such a serious group of individuals ;)

On a more exciting note: Kristin started a blog!!!! and it's great! All I can say is that it's about time ;) I would encourage all of you to check it out at some point because I can guarantee she won't disappoint.

With that said and done... here goes nothing.

Happy Holidays!!

baja & tyler

Tyler flew in for almost 15 hours to say good bye to Kristin before she left for her third season in Russia. He didn't have much time and was thrilled beyond belief when Kristin mentioned that we were going to do a quick photo shoot (we all know how much guys in general just love getting their pictures taken ;)

Here's to my beautiful sister and the love of her life.

My personal favorite part of the shoot
Tyler's "2 minute break"

and we're back...

After the shoot Tyler was adamant that I knew exactly "what I put him through"...
once he was behind the camera he was much more comfortable and totally worked it.
He loved it and to be quite honest.. he did a pretty good job

I Love you Baja!!

"...better than the Blue Bacon Burger!!!"

"Lolo this is the best burger I've ever had!!" - Baja

Last night I was on this fabulous website - which I quite frankly spend quite a bit of time on for different reasons - and came across this delicious looking burger. It was honestly one of the best I've had... in fact Taylor made the comment "with just a little less blue cheese I think that's better than Training Table's Blue Bacon Burger." (which is huge because he's obsessed with the Blue Bacon Burger) So there you have it. It's simply the best ;)

List of ingredients:
2 pounds 80/20 Ground Beef
1 Red onion, sliced
Crumbled Blue Cheese
Real Mayo
Tabasco Sauce
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
Kaiser Rolls
Your favorite lettuce

Place the ground beef into a medium mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper. Add a few dashes of Tabasco and mix the meat and seasoning well. Set aside.

Next, for the onions, heat a medium skillet over low heat. Add in 2 Tbsps butter, dump in the sliced red onions and add 2 generous Tbsps of brown sugar. Give it a toss to combine the ingredients, then allow the onions to caramelize over low heat for about 20 minutes, tossing occasionally.

While the onions are caramelizing, make the spicy mayo: place 1/4 cup of mayo into a small bowl and simply add a few dashes of Tabasco to taste.

Next, slice the Kaiser rolls in half and spread each half with a good amount of butter and place them fact down on a grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Lightly grill the rolls and set on a plate until you need them.

Lastly, form the meat into patties and place on a grill pan or skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Allow to cook and flip when you so desire. Now while the patties are still on the grill add a large helping of the caramelized onions over the top of that glorious patty, followed by a helping of crumbled blue cheese (this is extremely strong cheese and can over power the taste of the burger... so be careful) As it finishes cooking, spread the spicy mayo on the Kaiser rolls and transfer the burger onto the bottom half of the bun. Top with a handful of greens and finally the top half of the bun. Mmmmm!

Splash of Color

One of my absolute favorite things about living here in Utah are the different seasons. I haven't been able to decide what my favorite season is because there are things about each of them that I would die for. For instance, I love the long warm summer days and nights that I get to spend with my loved ones under the stars. The early Spring flowers and cool breezes are wonderful, and Winter's fluffy snow brings more happiness to my soul than I would care to divulge right now. What I love about Fall is the crisp fresh air, splashes of colors in the mountains as the leaves change and the fact that I get to start wearing my boots and jeans and again.

Earlier this week Taylor and I decided to spend some time up the canyon and enjoy the colors before the cold weather set in. Our timing couldn't have been more perfect.. the next day the mountain tops were dusted with snow. Yes, the weather here is quite dramatic and I love it! So here's to Fall and her beautiful colors.

"I'll trade you your Mark McGwire for my Don Mattingly"

The following post is written by Taylor aka T-rex... you're all in for a treat :)

When I was growing up, I spent almost every penny I earned on baseball cards and other sports cards. I couldn't get enough of the the things. I think I liked the fact that they had every statistic you could imagine on the back. Me looking at the cards was like Ken Jennings flipping through the pages of some almanac in preparation for another rout on Jeopardy. I distinctly remember pestering my dad about the virtues of Alex Rodriguez when A-Rod was a rookie. The premises to conclusion that A-Rod was so very good were to be found exclusively on the flip-side of his various rookie cards.

Today I was at Walmart with Lauren picking up some Club stuff when something beautiful caught my eye. Some beneficent genius has decided to see packages of packages of old baseball cards. A box of 16 packs from the 80's and 90's for about $20. A veritable treasure trove of nostalgia and memories. I decided straightaway that I would have to patronize this new business.

Lauren was understanding, if not thrilled with the prospect of laying down a Hamilton for dated cardboard toys, but was adamant that I not chew the gym inside the wax-paper packages. I told her that would ruin the experience, but was unpersuasive. What can you do? Here's to being a kid and indulging kid-type compulsions and memories. Goonies and mambas anyone.

Val & Roger

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to shoot this fabulous couple's wedding in downtown L.A. at the Grand Kyoto Hotel. Valarie is the sister of one of my teammates from Austria, so I got to see Kim as well - double bonus! The entire day was a blast, but I think my favorite part was when she walked down the isle to an instrumental version of Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child of Mine". It was AWESOME!!! :) Here are some of my favorite images from the day.

Chilean Treat

The other night I asked Taylor what he wanted to make for dinner and he immediately started to describe a Chilean dish that sounded amazing, so we headed to the store and made it for dinner. I was a little nervous and wasn't sure if my family would like it but it ended up being quite the hit and everyone loved it. I asked him the name of this salad and he thought about it for a minute, looked at me with a smile and said "you know.. I don't know what it's called." So maybe you can help us come up with a good name. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Here are the ingredients:
1 full avocado for each person
chopped up lettuce
lemon juice
salt
pepper
tuna salad
diced tomatoes
crumbled feta cheese
Italian salad dressing

Steps:
First, make your favorite tuna salad - we were lame and just added mayonnaise to the tuna with some salt & pepper, but I know there's tons of good tuna salad recipes out there.

Next go ahead and chop up the lettuce, dice the tomatoes, cut your avocado in half remove the pit and peel off the skin.

Once the lettuce is on the plate place the avocados in the center of the lettuce and fill them with your fabulous tuna salad. After you've done that go ahead and add the tomatoes, feta cheese, Italian salad dressing, and some fresh squeezed lemon juice to your lettuce and tuna filled avocados and you've got yourself a delicious healthy salad.



And for the extra tuna - because I always make too much - I love to mix in some diced tomatoes and pile it on top of saltine crackers... mmmmm!



Enjoy!!

Kyra & Colton

I have known Kyra for quite sometime now and I was thrilled when she got in touch with me to shoot her engagements. I think that the best thing about this shoot was her smile. She was so incredibly happy the entire time. It took Colton a little while to warm up to the fact that there was a camera in his face, but after a couple shots he was good and a little more relaxed. It was so much fun watching them interact with eachother and it's clear that these two are going to be happy. Congratulations Kyra!

A magnificent obsession.

Here's a little something that I came across earlier this summer and wrote it down so that I would remember it... and found it the other day. I think it's simple and pretty powerful. Each time I read it I am reminded that I can do pretty much anything that I want to do so long as I put my whole heart in it and I am confident in me. I don't know who the author so I can't give them credit but I would like to thank them for their words of wisdom that have gotten me through some of my days.

"Fall in love with your life. Give yourself permission to have a magnificent obsession. Life is an amazing adventure. Have the courage to follow your passion wherever it may take you.

Plead guilty and often to loving your family & friends.

If you want love, give it away, that's how it works; and where love is present life is full. So, follow your life's loves to the end. Do whatever your heart leads you to do - but do it!"

Greek-Style Pita Sandwiches

This summer Taylor and I bought a new cook book that we have been getting some great recipes out of and I decided that I wanted to share the really good ones with you. So here's the first one - Greek-Style Pita Sandwiches. The best part about this recipe is the Tzatziki Sauce that came with it... it's to die for!!!! We have been looking for a good recipe for quite some time now and we've finally found it!

Ingredients for Pita Sandwiches:
- ingredient amount is for 2 people -
2 (8 inch) Pita Breads
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 small tomato, sliced thin
1 ounce of feta cheese, crumbled
2 grilled chicken breasts cut & shredded



Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cucumber, peeled, halved, & seeded, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of Greek yogurt (whole milk, cream top, plain yogurt)
2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint or dill

Steps to mix Tzatziki Sauce:
1. Toss the cucumber with salt in a colander set over a bowl and let drain for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the yogurt, drained cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, and mint/dill in a bowl and season with salt to taste.



Spread tzatziki sauce inside each pita, divide the grilled chicken evenly among the pitas and add tomatoes, lettuce, and feta to each sandwich. Then drizzle some more tzatziki sauce over the top of all the ingredients because it's so unbelievably good & ENJOY!!

Evans Family Pictures

We had a span of two days this entire summer where everyone in the family was in the same place. So of course we took a family picture, but this year we decided to get a little creative and as usual it was quite entertaining.

Paps was thrilled to get on top of the playhouse for the picture, but getting down was a different story. After a good 10 minutes of pure hesitation, lots of laughter and a little bit of pressure he finally made his way down. It's always nice to have 4 older brothers around for times like this ;)

The gandsons weren't too happy to be doing their own shoot with Paps


Here's Luke showing us his "guns"

This was the only thing the kids wanted to do for the entire 2 weeks they were here. It's amazing that nobody got hurt.

After seeing how much fun the little kids were having on the tramp the big kids decided they wanted a turn.

and now it's time to relax...

Lauren Evans Photography

I'm excited to announce that I am now officially doing Wedding Photography along with just about everything else. I have spent the majority of this summer shooting weddings and putting a website together so that I could finally be "official". Please check out my website (laurenevansphotography.com) and tell everyone that you know. You can also click my logo at the top of my side panel and that will take you to there as well.

The following pictures are an engagement shoot of my ballroom dance couple - Hope & Trey. This shoot was a blast. I took them to Star Mill - an old antique shop in American Fork that is a pretty place. Anyway the thing that impressed me the most about Hope & Trey was their passion for one another. Let's get something straight... it's one thing to be passionate with your loved ones when your in comfortable settings... but with a camera constantly in your face it's a different story. I loved this shoot precisely because of this element - their passion - they weren't intimidated by the camera and had no problem doing their own thing.. which in the end.. gave me a chance to catch their true emotions for one another. I can't wait for their big day.

                      
 

                                          

Virginia Beach's (second) Finest

This past weekend we got to spend it back East with some of our good friends. Taylor and Brian have been trying to play in a tournament all summer and we were finally able to make it happen. After 2 long nights of practically zero sleep and lots of training the boys had a great day in the sand. The weather was totally unpredictable all day complete with everything except snow and they still played great. As usual I got to spend the day taking pictures and laughing my head off with these two. Brian's family postponed their BBQ for a good 2 hours to watch them in the final match - which was definitely one for the books. All in all it was a fabulous day at the beach!

it's been a pleasure boys.

Abandoned Train Station Shoot

Paps. You tell me whether or not you think this kid is photogenic... (just so you know during this entire shoot, I didn't mention one time - no not one time - where or how he should look or not look at the camera) he's a natural ;)

Earlier this summer Ethan had asked me to take his senior pictures and this location - an abandoned train station - immediately popped into my mind. It was perfect! Also, I've been experimenting with some new things that I have recently discovered in Photoshop (believe me folks there's more to do in this program than I ever imagined there would be. and would love to hear your thoughts. So there you have it... senior pictures... a little less unconventional and a lot more fun.

The Sunshine State

So this summer has taken the majority of my family to the great state of Florida. I did a GMS camp there in June... Kristin and the National Team played in the Pan American Cup and the NORCECA tournaments... and my youngest brother Taylor (who is now officially a lot taller than me - which officially makes me the shortest in the family) recently got back from Miami where he was training with the USA Boys Select High Performance Team and won a gold medal!!!! Yay for good beaches, great weather and a lot of good volleyball.

*I didn't take any of these pictures.. credit goes to my parents and the USA vb photographers ;)

viva las vegas!!!!

I think that the only real good thing about Vegas is Patrick, Liz & Jacob... well I guess David Copperfield wasn't too bad.. just expensive. Thanks for the great couple of days guys.. it's always fun!

"only in America!!!!" (to be sung)

So yet again it's been about a month... it looks like this is starting to become a bad habit. Here we are celebrating Independence Day at the annual Cul-de-sac of fire. One big party complete with sumo suits, fire works, quality eats, and our own concert from Brookes & Dunn! What a night.

Weber Ranch Getaway

So yet again it's been about a month since my last post. Things have been busy and I should be posting about the Fourth of July right now... perhaps the next post or two. I'm going to have to do a little bit of catching up. So bear with me. One of these days I'll be totally caught up and posting about our more recent activities. ;)

Here we are with our good friends Rob & Sarah hanging out at her families ranch having a wonderful time. Everything about this little getaway was awesome. Thank you for inviting us!!

Rob & Taylor were in charge of cooking our tinfoil dinners








the master chef herself








happy birthday baby!!

Long Over Due

We've officially been home from Austria for exactly a month and I haven't done a single post because we've been so busy with projects and just about everything else you can think of that comes with family and friends. A lot has happened and I'm going to do my best to update you with the pictures that I have taken in the last month. I haven't taken as many pictures as I would have liked, but the ones that I do have are pretty good... at least I think they are.

First: Taylor's Grandma had her 75th birthday party the day that we got home. We went straight from the airport to her party for a great surprise. It was so good to see her surrounded with the ones who love her the most. She truly is a great woman.

Second: Taylor & Cole went to Prom!!! They were looking as handsome as ever and their dates were beautiful. I can only imagine how much fun they had with their group. As you're about to see they have quite the personalities and I laughed pretty hard as I was shooting them.

Third: The NCAA Men's Final Four was held at BYU and we got tickets - thanks to Grant & Jackie. USC upset Penn State and UC Irvine beat Ohio State in the Semi's. The match between USC and UC Irvine was great. Honestly I didn't care who won.. I just wanted to see good volleyball and we did. Irvine ended up beating USC in 5 exciting games.

Fourth: Taylor & Cole's High School State vb Championships. They played great the first day upsetting one of the top teams in the state and throwing a wrench in the seedings. The second day wasn't so good as they ended up taking 5th but all in all I think they were pretty happy.

Fifth: Taylor and I played in our first outdoor sand tournaments and did pretty well. We both played with completely new partners and had fun. I played with Heather Olmstead and after losing our first match pretty bad we ended up coming back through the losers bracket and defeated the #1 team that has won every tournament so far. Totally surprising and lots of fun.

I think that's about it for now.. here goes!

- Prom -

the boys

the girls

the group

NCAA Championships

State Championships

Extra shots from Kristin's camera down at THS

the end.

Hopscotch Around the World... in a day

We decided to take the Evans family for a whirlwind tour of the world while they were here, so we took a day - yes a day - and we saw everything from famous European Castles and the Eiffel Tower to the Great Wall of China, then we headed over to Egypt and back to the Taj Mahal. Our next stop took us to Mexico to see the Mayan Pyramids and then we were off to The Vatican City to pay the Pope a small visit. Our last stop took us down to Australia for the one and only... Sydney Opera House. Here we go!!

OK, so we cheated a little bit and went to Minimundus - a park near the lake that displays 150 miniature models of architecture from around the world. Not only is each model built out of the same materials as the original, but every detail is exactly the same. To be completely honest I didn't expect it to be nearly as cool as it was.. the buildings were unbelievable!!

This model of The Vatican City cost nearly $1,000,000.00!

Evans Family Crosses Pond, Visits Klagenfurt

Last week the Evans family came to visit us! Here's the first of a couple of posts.. touring our beautiful city, large parks, one tree in particular & of course Lake Wörthersee. Thanks for the great time! WE LOVE YOU!!

Rex was the designated Tour Guide and I was the photographer


























Paps attempting to explain the foreign building plans to Emma


The local Gem Shop




"Here in Austria, the water is so clean you can drink
from all the wells, streams, lakes, and fountains."
-Sandra-
















our favorite tree








Paps trying to dodge a small, bird-like bumble bee

Chess. Now there's a game of kings. pII

Do you remember this post? It is one of my favorites and I couldn't resist adding to it when I happened upon this magical cove again.



"Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity."
-Vladimir Nabokov-







"Chess opens and enriches your mind."
-Saudin Robovic-







"Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game."
-Wilhelm Steinitz-



"Not all artists are Chess players, but all Chess players are artists."
-Marcel Duchamp-



"Chess is imagination."
-David Bronstein-



"The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess."
-Benjamin Franklin-





"The way he plays Chess demonstrates a man's whole nature."
-Stanley Ellin-



"Chess is in it's essence a game, in it's form an art, and in it's execution a science."
-Baron Tassilo-







"We like to think."
-Gary Kasparov-





"Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make people happy."
-Siegbert Tarrasch-







"You know, comrade Pachman, I don't enjoy being a Minister, I would rather play chess like you, or make a revolution in Venezuela."
-Che Guevara-

Saturday

Sunny day at the Lake. Mmmm.. ya it was a good day.





























On your marks.


Get Set.


GO!