Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer...

This Christmas does not really feel like a Christmas only because it is HOTT outside! I hate that because you cant wear cute Christmas clothes, drink hot cocoa outside or do anything that has to do with a bonfire and blanket outside...really stinks!

I have been steady at work with buying a wrapping Christmas presents. I need to stop by one store tomorrow to get nicks last present and then I will finally be done.

Here is our Christmas schedule as of now.

Friday, December 24Th: Candle light service at the church at 6pm, then off to look at Christmas lights with the family..then I will head to the Medrano's to spend Christmas Eve night with Nick and his family.

Saturday, December 25Th: Wake up Christmas morning and open presents with the girls, go have Christmas lunch and dinner at Nana's as usual (only this year it is only our immediate family) and then I'm headed to nick to spend our usual Christmas night together.

Monday, December 27Th: Uncle Scott, Aunt Karen, Kristen, Lauren and Ethan are heading over to our house and then we are going to open the grandkid presents from Meme and Papa :)

Tuesday, December 28Th: The girls and me are headed to Arkansas to spend some good quality time with our daddy :)

Stay tuned!
xoxo Madison

Five on Friday...

Since I have not wrote on my blog in TOO long, I am going to write about five things that are new in my life and going on right now and also am going to try and have pictures of everything.

1.) I have passed my first semester of UHCL with all A's and one B! I honestly doubted myself more than I should have, when I saw online my grades I almost passed out. Now that I have that under my belt, I cannot wait until Spring semester because that means it is the last semester of my Junior year in college...then Fall 2011 is my senior year! I cannot beleive how fast it has flown by!

2.) Makaela and Haleigh are out of school starting today for their two week vacation for Christmas break. So im excited to have two full weeks with them and be able to spend some good quality time with the girls.

3.) Nick and I had a few issues, but now we are back in action...and thats all Im going to say about that topic.

4.) Chris and Whitney are pregnant and finding out what their baby is going to be! Im currently waiting on a call from them RIGHT NOW saying that it is a boy or a girl. I can't wait to spoil this baby.

5.) Im so excited about my future in teaching, but also in photography...I have gotten so much positive feedback from all the clients that I have taken pictures for. It seems like every week I have a photoshoot and I cannot beleive how fast it has picked up!

....okay guys, I promise I will write at least once a week from here on out!

a little bit frazzled!!

I am so disapointed in myself how I have let my blog desinigrate over the last two months! I cant beleive that I have done that. From here on out I will never do that again. I have flew past my first semester at UHCL and am full fledged into finals and Thanksgiving break coming up! I cant beleive this year has went by so fast.

Updates:
-Chris and Whitney are pregnant!
-My photography business is doing wonderful!
-School is absolutely stressing me out!
-I dont have enough time in each day!
-Homework is overwhelming!
-I feel like I dont get enough time with Makaela and Haleigh!
-Same with nick (always missing him)!
-My blog looks pathetic, and I need to step up my game with it!
-For Spring Break 2011, Im going snow skiing with the Medranos, Chris and Whitney and Nick!

So that's it for now...yeah...its alot and im so stressed out. After making that list, I just want to go to bed thinking about all of it!

On top of that, I have a 30 page report due in 2 weeks...oh lordy...

see you SOON!!!

catching up :)

Since the last time I have wrote, which has been entirely TOO long, alot has been happening. I am a full time university of Houston student. It is totally kicking my butt and I have never been so stressed out in my life! Last weekend I held my first Annual Fall Mini Shoot Session. I went and bought 3 bales of hay, loads and loads of pumpkins, flowers and other adorable fall decorations. I am really getting into photography and the more I take pictures, the more I fall in love with it. I will post a few shots of my fall mini shoot that I took...also, Nick has 2 jobs and he is going to school full time right now. With that being said, I hardly ever get to see him :/ which really is not fun...

Makaela had her first homecoming game and I even made her a mum. I will post a picture of that also at the end of this blog :)

Haleigh is doing great in school, and is growing up so quickly.

We had to get rid of Rex ( our big black doggy ) because he was tearing EVERYTHING up! So 2 days ago we went to the Houston Humane Society and bought a adorable dog named Valerie. I will have to go take a picture of her tomorrow :)

So for the next few days I am going to be going HEADSTRONG on school and photography. I vow to never go this long without writing on my blog again. I seriously cannot believe that I have slacked off this much.

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

I have been so busy lately, I am going full time to University of Houston Clearlake and it is totally kicking my butt. I have been doing SO much photography and craft's and other things! I will start writing in this blog AT LEAST once a week from now on, I PROMISE!!! :)

Franklin Family Portraits

This weekend I had my first family portrait session. Thank goodness we did it on Saturday because the rest of the weekend has been a wet mess! The mother was a high school friend and we even cheered together! What a wonderful surprise it is to meet old friends and find out they have wonderful families of their own now! It was not only a great photo session, it was a fun mini high school reunion! :)

To see more pictures, go to MNPhotography's facebook page.

Leopard cake for a fabulous friend!

This Labor day weekend I had alot of crafty things to do. Nick's cousin Tommy asked me to make his sweet girlfriend Madeline a cake. Considering Madeline and me are friends..it was super hard to keep a secret lol. Here is the end outcome..a super girly pink and leopard cake!! (: Also, a girl named Chelsea asked me if I would make an embroidered diaper bag with a onsie and blanket it in...so this weekend was FILLED with business! (: here are a few pictures..

FAMILY UPDATE: Nana has recently been in the hospital because her heart has been acting up :( on the bright side, she is at home and recovering. We are praying for a safe and easy next couple of weeks for her and plenty of rest. Makaela has made jazz band we are over joyed. She is so good at playing the trombone and we are so proud of her! She seems like she excels at everything she does and puts her mind too! Haleigh has started 5Th grade and is taking it by storm. She is such a wonderful student and shes definitely the one person who keeps this house laughing and in a good mood! :) shes so sweet. Although, today she had to get her tooth pulled...yeah it sounds so bad...but she didnt even shed a tear! WHOA!!! lol This next Sunday I am starting teaching a 3rd and 4Th grade Sunday school class...lets see how this goes :) I'm super excited! Mom got a job in baytown as a receptionist at Remington Park....I went and visited with her at her job and it looks so fun! Its so pretty there too! (:

Meme's famous Taco Soup!

So, I stole Meme's famous taco soup recipe and decided to make it tonight. I thought it would be a cute idea to take pictures of the process instead of just write out the recipe! :) I just got home from my night class so if my grammar is bad...its because I'm sleepy! :) Here is the recipe!


and WOW! It was amazing! mmmmm...

What you will need, the picture is missing the hamburger meat.

Another thing you will need, a sweet Meme to write you out her recipe :)

Brown your hamburger meat.

Add one package of ranch seasoning.

Add one package of taco seasoning.

Add two cans of diced and crushed tomatoes.

Once the seasoning and tomatoes are in there, stir everything up.

Add a can of Pinto Beans.

Add a can of black beans.

AND ADD A CAN OF KIDNEY BEANS! I forgot the picture lol

Add a can of creamed corn.

Add some picante sauce, doesn't really matter how much you put...just whatever you prefer.

Let simmer on the stove with a lid on it for about 10 minutes.

EAT UP!! :)
(If you crumble some crackers and shredded cheese it makes it 10 times better!)

20!

guess who's 20?





ME!

First day tears......(for me at least)

All I have is two words for this post.....





STOP GROWING!!!!


No, I'm just messing. But Today was Makaela and Haleighs first day back to school. Makaela is in the 7th grade and Haleigh is in the 5Th grade. Whether I showed it or not, this morning on my way to class I was a basket case. I remember the days when Makaela couldn't even walk and when Haleigh was in my moms stomach. I wish they would stop growing so much. I like them at this age. I'm not ready for boyfriends, cars, dates, homecomings, proms, 8Th grade dances, first kiss, first dance.....oh how I will be CRUSHED when those days come...lol. I love you Makaela Danielle and Haleigh Brooke. You are two of the most beautiful young ladies I know and I am so proud of you two and CANNOT WAIT to see the amazing young women you become.


-Love,
your big sister