Sue Wheelock

New Blog!!!!

2011-05-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

I've moved to my new blog!
www.suewheelock.com

I'm excited for people to see, because I've spent so many hours making/customizing it!
I will miss you my little blogspot blog :(. I don't plan to delete this blog, but will no longer be posting on here. I'm hoping to get a lot of posts done on my new blog soon.

The Smell of Roses...

2011-03-29T15:28:00.001-07:00

Is so potent. I forgot how much I love having fresh flowers in my home. My favorite is when Trader Joe's sells big, beautiful, soft pink peonies in their stores. For now, roses from Ralph's will do.

9 dollar roses + 3 dollar mason jar from Ikea
= something pretty for me to look at for a week

Erin's Senior Pictures

2011-03-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Today I got to spend a couple hours with my younger cousin while I took her senior pictures. I took her to the same hiking trail that Bren and I discovered the other day. It is so true that practice makes "perfect", because I am already so much more comfortable doing shoots now than I was just 5 months ago when I did my first shoot (my friend Amber's engagement pictures). I also feel like I picked up a lot of good tips from following a wedding photographer on her engagement shoot. But, really, it was not hard getting great pictures of this girl because she is just so photogenic.

Happy Birthday Liz

2011-03-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Last night we rented a karaoke room at Round 1 for Liz's Birthday. That place is pretty neat, it's kind of like a Dave and Busters. It's 21 and over, they have an arcade, bowling, and several karaoke rooms that you can rent by the hour. I think all of our voices were soar afterward...

Oh my husband

Hold me closer tiny dancer...

Bye, Bye, Bye

Morning Glory

2011-03-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Brennen and I love to take hikes/walks with Haiden on Saturday mornings. Yesterday we ventured to a hiking trail in Brea. The cool, crisp air was nice but I'm waiting for the sun to come back again!

My Perfect Spring Outfit

2011-03-23T23:39:00.000-07:00

I'm dreaming about putting away my jackets and wearing pretty
Spring dresses.This would be my perfect, simple, fresh
Spring outfit courtesy of Asos..

Disneyland Love

2011-03-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

Honestly, it's ridiculous how excited I still get every time we go to Disneyland. I REALLY want to try to get an adults only Disney date with my husband soon. We bought the passes with the intention of using Dland as an alternative date night to dinner and a movie, but we haven't been having too many dates in general. I'm going to have to see if I can call in a favor and try to get a day free for ourselves, because moms and dads like to go on roller coasters too.

This kid is probably so over

2011-03-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

...me taking pictures of him. I like to practice with my camera. I'm a stay-at-home mom (well and student), but I spend most of my time entertaining my son. So, he's going to be the subject of the majority of my pictures. And I happen to think he's really cute.

I'm Bored. Let's Make a Pizza.

2011-03-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Every Monday night Haiden and I try to think of ways to entertain ourselves, because Bren doesn't get home until after Haiden goes to bed those nights. This Monday night we decided we were going to try to make BBQ chicken pizza. Without looking up a recipe of planning ahead at all, we went to the market and just bought stuff. Safe to say, this is an easy, no-brainer BBQ chicken pizza recipe.

Ingredients: BBQ sauce, canned chicken, mozzarella cheese, dough.

Step 1: mix BBQ sauce and chicken

Step 2: smear BBQ sauce onto pizza dough

Step 3: take a break to make BBQ sauce mustache

Step 4: Add cheese and chicken to pizza dough

Step 5: bake for 10 mins at 450. And enjoy...

It's Always Sunny in Disneyland

2011-03-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

This week has been long and stressful. I had 3 exams and I was basically studying late every night this week. Thankfully, they are over and done with (and I think I did pretty good). I am not only glad the weekend is here because it means the end of my school week, but also because this weekend is going to be great...particularity because I am going to be tagging along on an engagement shoot and picking the brain of professional wedding photographer Jen Harris. To kick off the start of my weekend Haiden and I went to Disneyland for a few hours. Why is it always suddenly much sunnier and warmer once you enter the gates of Disneyland? Do they have some kind of deal with God? I need to start keeping this in mind and always were shorts there.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Love,
Haiden

Linda's Shoot

2011-02-11T21:16:00.000-08:00

Linda is a young cosmetologist. She just graduated and will be looking for her first job as a licensed hair dresser. She also does event make-up and hair and wants to set up a simple website/blog that would have an "about me", her prices, and some examples of her work. One of the pictures we took today are going in her "about me" section. The rest were for fun.

My favorite of the day

Happy Early Birthday Autumn

2011-02-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend I did a "photo shoot" with my niece for her 1-year-old photos. I put photo shoot in quotes, because she does not stay still for more than 2 seconds so we basically threw on a tutu I made earlier that day, handed her a balloon, and I chased her around the park with my camera. Fortunately she is just a doll, so it wasn't hard getting cute photos of her.

And I had mentioned that I made the tutu earlier in the day,well, I might have underestimated how much tulle I would need. hahaha

Missing Disneyland

2011-01-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Haiden and I haven't gone in quite some time and Brennen and I really need to take advantage of our passes and go on a Disney date.

Adventures in the Park-Part Two

2011-01-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

Adventures in the Park-Part One

2011-01-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

My son

Amber and Angelo Engagement Session

2011-01-16T00:09:00.000-08:00

Last month I got the chance to take my friends Amber and Angelo's engagement photos. They wanted an outdoorsy/woodsy shoot, because that is the theme for their wedding. This was my first time doing any engagement photos, so I totally felt lost for the first 15 minutes. How do I direct them? What do I say? "Um stand here and smile, no look at her, no laugh". Luckily they are my friends and were patient with me. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Here are some shots from the day...

Brennen and I also made her save-the-dates on photoshop and had them printed out through Costco as 6X8 greeting cards. They turned out great and were WAY cheaper than shutterfly.

Feeling Inferior to Mark Zuckerberg

2011-01-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

One perk of renting out your spare bedroom to your responsible CPR certified nurse friend? Being able to go on a spontaneous late-night date after Haiden goes to sleep. Brennen and I went to sushi and then the dollar theatre last Thursday night to see the social network. Bren and I later discussed what losers we are for not creating anything cool. I wonder what drama revolved around the creation of the SNUGGIE,Oscar-worthy movie in the making??

Centennial Farm

2011-01-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

Last week I took Haiden on a play date to Centennial Farms on the OC fair grounds. It's a pretty cute little place and it's free! Here are some pictures I took that day.

The cow obviously had a sense of humor

Haiden loved this little guy

We got the chance to see them milk a cow...

and then we got to feed the baby her milk!

Dress Shopping

2010-12-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of going wedding dress shopping with my friend Amber and she has asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. We spent over 2 hours there trying dress after dress, but none seemed to really be what she wanted. Finally, I asked the sales girl to bring a dress that was nothing like she was originally looking for, but I thought we could just try it and see. Well.... it ended being THE dress. It looks great one her and I can't wait to see her in it on her wedding day. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped while we were there.

PS I NEED a better lens for indoor lighting, because flash is my enemy.

These are not THE dress, but I just love these two images of her.

Hot Mess

2010-07-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

I've finally finished looking through all the pictures Bren and I took during our weekend in Lake Arrowhead and I am so glad we decided to go. It was so much fun and was great to get to spend so much time with our friends. Parenthood takes up about 99.99% of your life and it can be hard to make time for each other, let alone all our friends. We got to stay up late laughing and playing Uno. We went on hikes and took tons of pictures and I would definitely say the highlight of the trip was when we all sprawled out in the living room, exhausted from the hike and watched an episode of Wife Swap.That is where we got our catch phrase for the weekend and for life..."you look a hot mess".
I was not easy to leave Haiden for 3 days. I am a very clingy mother. I know I will be that mom who doesn't know what to do when her child goes off to college. I knew all this was one-sided though, because he was so excited to get to stay with the grandma he loves so dearly.

Anywho,the huge 4 bedroom/ 4 bath cabin we stayed in was really great. They had big leather recliners, several televisions, 3 porches, and the very popular massage chair. I loved being able to walk out onto the balcony in the morning to smell the fresh, smog-less air.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend.And btw, I hiked through the woods and streams and over mini cliffs with a tripod for some of these pictures!

On the way to the hiking trail we say a yard sale on the side of the road and decided to take a look.

And Fernando bought a snow board for $40.

One of the night we drove into Lake Arrowhead Village to have dinner.

Dinner was delicious

and I bought a new hat

The End

Summer Fun

2010-06-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have been really enjoying Summer so far. Haiden and I have a lot of fun activities to look forward to. We went to a matinne movie. Popcorn and soda at 10 in the morning isn't what I'm used to, but it was fun and the movie was free! I am also counting down to Yosemite. It is a bit of heaven on earth for me.

Going to the beach.

Disneyland

I've been buying flowers from Trader Joe's and arranging them in vases I have around the house. I LOVE the Peonies. And the Sunflowers are a steal at only $3.99!

Oh and I found these fabulous pair of Michael Kors heels at Nordstrom Rack for 75, yes 75% off!

Perhaps

2010-06-11T00:33:00.001-07:00

I put this together as the inspiration for our bedroom. Slowly, but surely we'll get there.
Deal: The bed from Target for $575!
Splurge: The curtains from Anthropologie for about $5oo for the pair. :(

I < 3 Ikat!

2010-05-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

I love Ikat material, every piece is so unique and beautiful. Ikat fabric is made by hand-tying and hand-dying fabric in a precise way to create the desired pattern. Some of these prints are reproductions, but they are still very pretty.

I have an Ikat skirt and sweater that I really love.

I love all these pillows

I love the colors in this lamp shade.

And I especially love and will be saving up for this chair.

Snow Day

2010-04-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back Brennen and I decided to drive up to Lake Arrowhead for the day to play in the the snow before it got too late in the year. We should have probably checked the snow report before driving all the way up there, because there was no snow! So we ended driving 2 1/2 hours up to Big Bear for the day. I REALLY wanted to just get a room and stay up there that night, but my brother-in-laws going away party was that night as well. It was fun and ,unlike last year, Haiden actually loved the snow.

We at lunch at the Teddy Bear Restaurant.

The view on the drive home was beautiful.

In Case You Didn't Already Know...

2010-03-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

this kid is definitely my offspring.

Photography Pricing

2010-01-18T16:52:00.000-08:00

Session Fees

Portrait Sessions- $100 for 1 hour session

Includes CD of all images
Professional editing of all images
With advanced editing of select number of images

(engagements, senior sessions, family, etc.)

Wedding Photography- $600 for up to 8 hours of coverage
Includes DVD of all images
Professional editing of all images
With advanced editing of select number of images

* All engagement sessions include free design
of save-the-date cards,
which can be then purchased through Costco
for $15 for first 50 ordered
and $5 for each additional 25 ordered

Example:

African Safari

2010-01-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

My future roommate, Liz, wants to decorate the bedroom with an African theme. She mentioned this to me just yesterday, but since then I've spent way too much time thinking of different ideas for her room, and I've probably gone overboard. I've been chanting to myself "This is her room, don't try to take over. This is her room, do not try to take over." I'm not a control freak at all, I just get really excited about interior design. I could spend hours on the different interior design blogs I follow.

My brother-in-law Breck and his wife Bailey are actually on an African Safari right now. They'll be back in 2 weeks and maybe we can use some of their pictures as art in Liz's bedroom.

Here are some ideas for the room

1) Burnt orange wall color
2) Faux zebra hide rug. Or you can DIY one [Link]
3) Safari-style photos for the walls
4) Dark wood furniture
5) Bamboo shade
6) Cool accessories from World Market and Ikea
7) Bring in green with large plant

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

2010-01-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

We'll be getting roommates at the end of this month. My newlywed friends Liz and Fernando are currently renting a back house in Yorba Linda from one of their friends aunt, but are not too happy with living their. It's a far drive from both their jobs, the aunt can be a bit intrusive, and they have a kitchenette, not a real kitchen. They want to save up for first/lasts month rent and the security deposit for a real apartment, but it's hard for them right now to have extra money each month to put into savings. So Liz threw out the idea of down-sizing and renting our spare bedroom for a while.
Brennen and I decided that it could be fun to have our friends as roommates for a while, we absolutely don't use the spare bedroom except to store junk, and we could use the extra money for a lot of different things.
I hope this works out like I'm imagining in my head. Since getting married and being a mom it's defiantly been harder for me to maintain those very close female friendships I once had in high school, so I think this could be an opportunity for Liz and I to become even closer friends.

Christmas

2009-12-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

It's a week later, but here is my Christmas pictures post. Christmas Eve we spent at Brennen's parents. Haiden had a really high fever, 103.6, so he was asleep in the guest bedroom most of the night. Poor thing, he didn't get to open any of his presents and I really wanted his grandparents to see his happy little face as he opened up his gifts. Christmas morning is probably going to be my favorite family tradition. I love being cozy in our pajamas, just enjoying our little family. I found this awesome vintage rocking horse from the goodwill for Haiden and it was only $5! It was fun to see his excitement when he saw it in the living room Christmas morning. We spent Christmas day at my aunt's house. He was doing better there. He was still a bit irritable and didn't have much of an appetite, but was still able to run around and enjoy his new toys.

Christmas Party

2009-12-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while and we've enjoyed a lot of Christmas festivities since, so I'll probably be posting a lot about that this week. We had a Christmas party this past weekend, the first of what I hope to be an annual tradition. It was fun, we had about 15 guests and everyone got the chance to talk with each other. I was really happy that my friends from different aspects of my life got along well. We had a white elephant exchange, which was hilarious. Some people got ridiculous gifts and others got things they actually needed. In one of the pictures you can see a key hook that I used as my gift. Zach, who ended up with the gift, had just moved into his new apartment that day and said he could really use it.
I attempted to cook all the food for the party, but messed up a few things, including the fudge. Oh well, I'm learning.

Audrey Hepburn Print

2009-12-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

Ikea has had a large Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's print at their stores for a while now. I love this print, because it's pretty affordable ($50), large enough, and so versatile. I wanted to buy it and put it somewhere in my living or dining room, but then I saw a picture of it over a bed and would like to do that in our spare bedroom. I don't have any furniture in that room now, including a bed, but once I've taken care of other home projects I'll be keeping my eye out for stuff at the thrift stores.
Here are some examples of how other people used the print.

My Happy Place

2009-12-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

I love going to Disneyland. Haiden and I go all the time and once in a while I'll have the opportunity to go with just my husband on a date.
Here are some recent pictures from Disneyland

Tressa's Baby Shower

2009-12-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had Tressa's Baby Shower at my home. She got a lot of adorable things and Bailey really did a great job on the little center pieces and other decorations.
Every time I see an adorable little girls outfit when Bren and I are shopping I'll hold it up and say something like "AAAW, how cute is this? Should I buy it and save it for when we have a girl?". He always says no.
I really don't know what I'll do if I have all boys. I think I'll have to live vicariously through Autumn, Tressa's baby due in February. I asked Tressa yesterday how she would feel if I offered to baby sit Autumn one day and she came home in a different outfit. She said that would be okay, I will defiantly be taking Autumn shopping!

Some pictures I snapped during the baby shower

Home Redo

2009-11-22T21:25:00.000-08:00

I've been doing mini make overs around my house. When we first moved in it was such a large space to decorate that I just had all the walls painted a neutral brown. Now that we've gotten all our furniture and have settled into our home I really hate all the brown. I want to paint but my living room, office nook,dining room and kitchen are all one very long connected space.
I have soo many ideas on exactly what I want to do with Haidens room and my bedroom, but feel so overwhelmed with how to decorate this large space with so many different elements to it!

Our living room now

Our dining room now, tried some paint looked like toothpaste

Here are some ideas:

Dramatic paint color, not sure if it would work in dining room though

Really want this chandelier over dining table

White shag rug under coffee table

The space is really much bigger than it seems to be in the pictures. There are still a lot of empty space on each side of the couches.

College, the Best 4 Years of Your Life

2009-11-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

Am I ever going to graduate?
I've technically been going to college since the fall of 2004, when I was 16 years old. That was when I started taking night and summer classes at the local community college while in high school. Then I left to UC Santa Barbara for school 3 years ago and have only really taken a break from school for 1 semester after Haiden was born. Since then, Ive taken Saturday classes, online classes, night classes, classes when my mother-in-law happened to be free and I still have 3 years to go!!! I've taken wrong classes, had to go part-time and changed my major 3 times.
It can be a little frustrating knowing that all your high school friends who went to college will be graduating this upcoming Spring and I'll still have 2 years after that to go, plus who knows how many years I'll be in graduate school!!

Don't get me wrong I feel very blessed to even be able to continue school after being a teenage mother ( it feels so strange saying that). I don't have to work, I've never had to put Haiden in daycare and I will eventually graduate.

I just have to keep my eyes on the prize, my diploma and that awesome celebratory vacation I'll make sure we go once I'm, finally done!

Halloween

2009-11-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

Well it's far past Halloween, but I don't post enough and wanted to put up some pictures of our costumes. We had originally planned to be Wendy, John, and Micheal, but we couldn't find a good Wendy nightgown. Last minute I went to the Halloween store and spotted a cute toddler pirate costume. Then it struck me... Captain Hook and Peter Pan! I kind of just threw my costume together and made a hat out of felt. We weren't sure where to find a crocodile costume for Brennen, so we made it.

New Pup

2009-09-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

The night before last a we heard a dog crying all night.We just assumed it was one of our neighbor's many dogs, but in the morning my husband saw a dog in our backyard. We gave her some food and water, she was trembling with fear and spent the entire day hidden in a corner. By last night she began to sniff my hand and let me pet her. Today she is running around our backyard, licking Haiden and laying in my lap. She is just the sweetest little dog, and if no one claims her she might be OURS!!!

I want to keep her so badly, but my Bren is still on the fence. The conversation we had was very much like one between a 7 year-old and her father.
"I promise I'll take care of her. I'll feed her and clean-up after her. You have to let me keep her because I already feel in love with her and named her!"

We'll see.

San Francisco

2009-08-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Continuing my vacation blog, San Francisco
and Santa Cruz.

San Fran was fun, but I defiantly did not have enough time to see everything. I really wanted to visit some cool decor stores I read about in Lucky like Swallowtail and Bell Jar. As my husband knows all too well, I will probably be in the process of redecorating at least one room in our house for the rest of our life. I can't help it, I'll get inspired by something and have an idea for a whole new scheme for the room. I am currently redecorating Haiden's room into something more modern chic. Back to San Fran, I am hoping to visit a friend up there within the next couple of months. I will definitely skip the long drive and fly up the next time.
Some pics of our trip

Vacations

2009-08-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

We've been a few mini-trips this past July and I haven't blogged about any of them. I haven't blogged at all in fact, because I just don't have time. I have 4 chapters to read for school at this moment. I'm running full-speed with my only opportunity to read during Haiden's naps and in 20 second intervals at the park, playground, etc. It will be a nice break next year when Haiden starts preschool.

Well first about Yosemite
It was hot
It was fun
Haiden was a handful to say the least
I saved a squirrel's life (seriously, I did), he never thanked me

Beach Day

2009-06-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the beach for our Friday play group play date. It was soo much fun! When Haiden is around Jeremiah he seems to become so much more courageous and since chelle totally lets Jer go crazy and have messy boy fun I usually let Haiden go crazy too. I mean this child had sand up his nose, went through two sets of clothes, and ate sand-covered gummies he threw on the floor.

And this about summed up our day. Me running after Haiden making sure he doesnt run into the ocean and Haiden bolting from me at light speed.

Please Stop Baking

2009-03-30T21:37:00.001-07:00

Today was Haiden's "Mommy and Me" Easter egg hunt/picnic at the park. Everyone had signed up for candy to fill the eggs, stickers, or baked goods. For some reason I decided to be take on a baked-goods item, cookies. So I make some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies from those packages where you add eggs, butter, water, etc. I followed the instructions with the dough, but must have left them baking too long. Well, anyway so Haiden's teacher announces that we can eat the snacks now and everyone dives for Antionette's beautiful and delicious cupcakes with hand-made frosting. Then I see one mom open the lid to my Tupperware and take out a cookie, the moment of truth. She takes a bite, makes a face and checks her tooth! Seriously, as if my cookie was hard enough to chip her tooth! So I walk over and casually look at my Tupperware. I gave a kind of "Hmm, wonder what's in here" kind of look. I take a cookie and nearly chip a tooth. How could my cookies be so bad? I probably should have tasted them the night before, thrown them out and bought store cookies like one mom. The store cookies were actually pretty good.