The lucky winner

so here is the picture that we decided to use for the invitation:




It was way hard cause there were so many good ones, but don't worry we'll use a lot of the ones you see on facebook at the different receptions etc cause they are too good to not use 8) It was so funny, picking this one- First we each went through all the pictures seperately and wrote down all the ones we liked. Then we went through that list and fine-tuned it and picked only the ones that REALLY made us excited. Then we compared our lists and only wrote down ones that we both selected. Then we went through and selected ones we thought would work for an invitation-since we're most likely doing an invitation with a single photo now and not the costoco/collage technique. We got it down to 6 photos. Then we each had to pick 3 favorites of the 6 and wrote them down on seperate pieces of paper without letting the other see- we picked the same 3, so then it was down to 3. Then we picked our favorite 2-again, the same ones. Then we picked our favorite and walla! we picked the same picture. Thanks to being naturally unified in our opinion it was easy and we're both happy with it 8)

Summer Splash

it's amazing how much easier it is to get over swimsuit shyness when you have new cute swimsuits ;)





My goal is to be tan...ner....by the wedding...ok my goal is to have people be able to look at me directly without blinding themselves with my translucent skin.

In other news we picked the picture we'll use for the invitations! I'll post some engagement pictures on facebook. 8)

Gary Sholund Richards

Where to start, where to start...if any of you know my dad,you know that there are layers there. So sit back and relax as we peel back the layers that make my dad the man who can easily scare any young men and then turn around and coo at babies...ok, he doesn't coo...but kids love him.

So the initial layer-the visible layer....scary I know, haha jk. So while growing up my dad had quite the reputation for sternness. I think it's a combination of things. He is a go-getter. He likes to take charge and get the job done and can be incredibly focused-skills he has acquired over the years by providing for us I'm sure. Also, he isn't the type of person to wear every emotion on his sleeve. Don't get me wrong, the better you know him you can read his expressions-they're just more subtle than other peoples'. It's like....ya know how there are some people who are very animated, will laugh at things that aren't funny? well...dad will give an appreciative smile but he's sincere. He's not going to act a certain way if he's not feeling it.
While growing up I prolly felt that dad was too strict/had too many rules etc...but looking back I see that everytime he gave me the choice while still letting me know how he felt about it, and I did what I wanted-it ALWAYS backfired. It was actually pretty annoying (ya know how kids hate it when their parents are right.)

Some things that you may not have realized about him:
-he's an AVID BYU sports fan. ok...so this is an obvious one. (football, basketball, volleyball being the 3 biggies, but also watches rugby and enjoys challenging members of the racquetball team to play when he's in town).
-he is athletic having played golf earlier in his life and now has moved on to racquetball going 3 times a week and playing all guys way younger than him and beating them for the most part.
-he is a lover of musicals. Every sunday since I can remember was game night (which brings me to my next point: he loves card games) we would play games and listen to musicals. I grew up on: Les Meserables, Pirates of Penzance, Guys and Dolls, 1776, and others.
-He will at times walk through the house and sing along quite loudly and sill..ily? to the songs
- he is a lil OCD-and REALLY likes cleanliness. Once my parents were out of town for a few weeks one summer and I had some friends over for 4th of July and as they were leaving I mentioned how I had to start cleaning up and they all stood and stared at me in shock. "but...your house is so clean!" yeah...I cleaned for a few hours and then dad got home, looked around and said..."Whitney, will you sweep the kitchen-it's a wreck" 8)
-on that same note he is a germaphobe-won't touch hand rails in public, use public restrooms, and doesn't exactly love shaking hands. (he's kind of like Monk...only not so bad as that)
- My dad has that dad ability to just know where he is or where to go or how to get somewhere. I don't know what it is...maybe it's a guy thing, but honestly if we are on a roadtrip dad just magically knows/has a sense of where to go-even if he's never been there before, and he's not checking the map every ten minutes and just has the confidence that everything will work out...which..is prolly why it does.
- my dad was always very supportive/protective of mom. I remember once one of my brothers said something or was disrespectful in some way and let's just say we learned really quick that that would not be tolerated.
-he was always an example to me of quietly doing what was expected of you in regards to church. He isn't one to toot his own horn and frankly he doesn't like being overly praised, but will always fulfill his callings and I was really impressed by that. I know he doesn't love small-talking with people, whenever a meeting is out we are out the door-we don't mingle, but as a bishop he would smile and talk with everyone around him. That taught me that it doesn' matter if you feel shy or socially unmotivated, that's no excuse.


I could go on and on but mainly I'm just greatful for a dad that lived all of the convictions that he believed in and was a great example to me and my brothers. Sure he has his quirks and that's what I love most about him. I always know I can go to him with any problems and that he will help me/it will all work out.
Happy Father's Day dad! I love you.

for whenever I begin to take life too seriously

Baby Laughs And Falls Over

Mr. Happy | MySpace Video

roll 'em

I love movies. Always have...and most likely always will-though I wonder if they'll be able to come out with just as good ones as my childhood. I realized today one of the probably many reasons why I love movies. The ones that I love are always associated with memories and moments from my life.

There's Little Women- I would always watch this with mom-it was our time to cuddle and just for 2 hours feel like we were in a house of girls and not all boys. I also connected with this movie cause I always wanted a sister and felt like this was as close as I could get.

Twister...well...I grew up in Oklahoma and always LOVED storms/tornadoes and the feeling I would get when I saw one blowing in. (mom also shares this passion with me-once there was a tornado coming. we were all in our "safe room" and dad had to go outside and get mom to come in who was just standing and looking at the sky)

the Indiana Jones/old Star Wars series. These we ALWAYS watched when we would go visit Grandpa Richards on their big screen tv which always seemed cool. Plus all my brothers loved these movies which meant I instantly loved them as well. I even had a phase where I wanted to be an archeologist.

Father of the Bride (I & II). This movie always reminded me of dad. Very loving and protective of his family and very aware of finances ;) Being the only daughter I always knew we had a special connection/bond from father-daughter dances to now being the father of the bride.

Family Stone. This movie me and mom discovered-I can't remember now, who found out about it, but we both just LOVE to watch this movie. I love the feeling of family in this movie-it's very accurate. There are parts that make you cry, laugh, and it just reminds me of our family. Like in this family, teasing/joking is the main love language of my family. We obviously love each other but we're not afraid to call each other out on our stuff...and when ever we get together we just seem to fall back into our different roles as kids.

Though I don't have special connections to ALL movies...well...I have connections with most. I don't know why, it's just how my brain works...or at least I remember where I was in life/what I was doing when I saw a movie-so watching them again feels like when you look through an old photo album.

I know most people watch movies for entertainment and that's cool, but there is so much more to be gained by actively watching/thinking/applying things to your own life.

shrug, I dunno...I just watched family stone and it's like taking a quick trip back home again or seeing an old friend.
alright, alright, enough of the warm mushy stuff- go watch any of the above movies if you have not seen them-that's an order!

Everything is Illuminated

This movie always puts me in a nastolgic mood for my mission. This movie really nails the over-all mentality/personality that is so common over in eastern europe and the funny situations that arise when west meets east. A line that I like from the movie: Everything is illuminated in light of the past. It's our past experiences that give us understanding and that we are always connected with our past-carry it with us whereever we go to some degree. You want to see proof of this-just look at all the psychiatrists and how busy they are 8)

It really is another world over there, but a world that I slowly began to understand-maybe not in a concrete way, but I at least began to feel it/get it. Here are some pictures that I never get tired of looking at that seem to capture the essence of the land/people I met over there:

Hilarious-thanks Council Bluffs!