do people really fall for this stuff?

I got this random email that really made my day. It reminded me of something Jim would write to Dwight for a prank.

"Hello Dear,



With Respect,



Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you.I know this mail may come to you as a surprise, since we have not known or written before.

After you receive this mail kindly contact me on my private Email contact below. introducing myself, I am fatimamohammad the Only Daughter of the late mohammad Dominic, my father was a gold and cocoa merchant based in accra , Ghana and Abidjan ( Ivory Coast ), he was poisoned to death by his business associates on one of their business trips recently.



Before his death, He called me on his bedside and told me that he has a sum of 6.500,000USD deposited in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan Cote d' Ivoire, that he used my name for the next of kin in depositing of the fund.



I will need your assistance as follows:



1) To assist me in retrieving this money from the bank.

2) To serve as the guardian of this fund.

3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and to secure a residential permit in your country.



Moreover, I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for your effort/input after the successful transfer of this fund to your nominated account overseas.

you've got mail.

i've been working SO hard to build this business of mine. so hard that sometimes i get a little to sensitive about things. today i took something super personal when i shouldn't have. ryan had some great advice.

"you need to be like tom." -ryan

"tom who? tom hanks??"-me

"yes, don't be meg ryan's character. be tom! it's not personal, it's business." -ryan

hahaha i love my husband.

New Blog Design!!

Jodie Hansen of Jodienoted designed this gem. I feel so lucky to have her as my sister! She's been such a support to me and she's just so dang talented. Take a looksy. You won't be sorry. Oh and if you are looking for a photographer. Pick me. It'll be fun. :)

Here it is!

Sami Jo Photography

what a stud.

Kase had his first soccer game last night and he scored the 1st goal. (And 2 other ones after that) He scored 3 of the 4 goals and me and his Mommy couldn't have been any prouder. Luckily I got the 1st goal on tape! Ignore my proud Aunt giggles. It's quite embarrassing.

coon's age.

It's been a while!

Quick update.

June:

They celebrated their 1 year Anny!

Celebrated Sami' 24th.

Played in the sun.

Sami Jo went to Jackson Hole for work.

Ryan bought me a pillow pet.

Sami Jo bought him Cheeze-Its.

They went Mt. Biking. A lot.

July:

They celebrated the 4th in Star Valley.

They went to Draper days and had a blast.

They both worked their butts off.

They went on the worst trip of their life. Wind Rivers. (315 mosquito bites later) Funny now. Miserable then.

August:

They celebrated Ryan's 25th!

They went to Star Valley for fair week.

They went to the cabin with Ryan's family.

Ryan started school! :):) Only 2 more semesters until graduation!

Sami Jo quit her jobs to do Photography full time.

Sami Jo recieved her business license in the mail. :)

Sami Jo got an Iphone.

Ryan had hair to his shoulders, then a mullet, then buzzed! (stay tuned for pictures/full blog post

Ryan's still mourning his loss.

Sami Jo misses it too, but likes not getting a mouth full of hair every xoxo.

They both still want a dog.

September:

They are loving fall.

They are loving the college life/hating the actual school part. Poor Ry :(

Sami Jo still says to her Mom, "I'm SOO lucky Ryan married me!"

Ryan continues to make Sami Jo very happy.

Ryan is working 30 hours a week + school. Trooper? Yes.

Ryan continues to be Sami Jo's shoulder to cry on.

Sami Jo continues to make Ryan laugh.

They still cuddle and kiss like those annoying couples you see at the mall.

Quotes of the month:

Papa Mike: "The world is round for a reason, it will either come around and pat you on the back, or kick ya in the butt. But it will catch up to you."

Nana Vandi:"Dori. Like the shoe off finding Nemo."

Mikey after we were talking about people saying watching Sponge Bob makes you stupid but Bugs Bunny is way to violent. "I'd rather be violent than stupid."

Mikey after Papa Mike said, "I live in a house with 2 teenagers that act like they are 5 years old and 2 years old." Mikey,"I'm the one that acts like I'm 5 right?"

Ryan, "You were really good looking when we met, but you just keep getting prettier."

Ryan, "You looked SO good in that one piece swimsuit."

Kase, "When I'm not with you I'm in your heart huh?"

"Be of good cheer, your future is as bright as your faith." President Monson.

That's all.

Can I get 3 cheers for conference almost being here??

I will end this blog post with this awesome video from a few weeks ago.

My friend Katie took us fluming. It was awesome.

just maybe.

I got this wonderful idea from this uplifting blog. One day I will be able to come up with my own ideas for blogging. But for now I will be a copy-cat-cutie.

Maybe I'm watching You've Got Mail for the 3rd time this week.

Maybe I want to hug complete strangers that look like they need a pick-me-up.

Maybe meeting Tom Hanks is #1 on my Bucket List.

Maybe I still get home-sick.

Maybe I think Ryan picking me makes me the luckiest girl in the world.

Maybe I want a dog so badly that I've seriously considered buying one and hiding it in our apartment.

Maybe this cold I've developed these past couple days is annoying the crap out of me.

Maybe I wish I wish I grew up in the Little House in the Prairie days.

Maybe I always feel like I'm not doing all that I should.

Maybe capturing the beauty of moments and people is why I love photography.

Maybe I love clothes.

Maybe I'm a girly girl that loves dressing up and looking hot!

Maybe I'm a tom boy that loves to get dirty.

Maybe I'm not good at school.

Maybe I regret seeing Something Borrowed yesterday instead of Water for Elephants.

Maybe I've wanted Be Delicious by DKNY perfume for 4 years.

Maybe I can't read Love You Forever all the way through without crying.

Maybe I can't wait to read books to my kids.

Maybe I would rather get a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils then a bouquet of roses.

Maybe I think my Dad and Lilac bushes are the best smells in the world.

Maybe I've been super moody these past few days.

Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic.

Maybe I love corny. Everyone needs corny.

Maybe I love rocking out to Katy Perry.

Maybe I still sing in the mirror with my curly brush dreaming to be a famous singer.

Maybe starting my photo business is harder than I thought, but will I give up? No.

Maybe my favorite part of my body is my legs. I'm so thankful for strong legs.

Maybe I wish that I could adopt all the kids in the world that need a home.

Maybe I want to adopt so badly I think about it every day.

Maybe I want to be exactly like my mom when I grow up.

Maybe I love my siblings too much.

Maybe I'm the proudest Aunt you'll ever meet.

Maybe I care/cry/laugh/love too much.

Maybe change is hard for me.

Maybe sometimes, I wish that all of us Hansen kids lived at home together again.

Maybe I have regrets.

Maybe I LOVE my curvy, HEALTHY, flawed body.

Maybe I haven't legally changed my last name to Shurtleff yet.

Maybe I think quoting Another Stakeout and The Mask is cooler than quoting Anchorman.

Maybe getting up at 5am for work still sucks big time.

Maybe sometimes I feel like a bad friend/family member/wife.

Maybe sometimes I feel like I don't help the world enough.

Maybe I'm dramatic.

Maybe I wish I was African American. Seriously, in 3rd grade I would pray to wake up looking like a member of TLC

Maybe ever since we left Moab I've wanted to go back.

Maybe I'm extremely passionate.

Maybe I'm conservative.

Maybe I love my smile.

Maybe this past year has been the hardest year.

Maybe this past year has been the best year.

Maybe I can't watch the news because it makes me cry.

Maybe I get called a hick at least once a week.

Maybe I'm obsessed with Glee and all I wanna do is sing all day.

Maybe I can't find any of the pictures I take interesting unless there is a person in it.

Maybe Ryan's laugh was the first thing I loved/noticed about him.

Maybe this sounds a little repetitive?

Maybe I'm done?

Yep I'm done.

your turn!

xoxo.

MOAB!

The perfect weekend. It started with shooting a wedding in SLC and then their reception in Moab on Friday. see pictures here

Then we had a fun filled weekend full of biking, hiking, camping, laughing,SUNSHINE and eating. It was my first time Mt. Biking. Seriously, before this trip I was terrified to ride my bike off of a curb. Our first ride of the trip was slick rock. Holy Guac! It was nuts. I biked my little heart out and 5 hours later we finished. I'm hooked. All I wanna do is ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. Ryan and his sibs were so patient and such good cheer leaders. It was such a blast! Oh and how impressive is Ryan's hair?

summer day.

Like most of you I'm sure, I've been CRAZY busy. I took my trip to Austin which ROCKED, and ever since I've been back it's been non-stop GO GO GO. Lucky for me, what's keeping me the most busy is my photography. I'm getting more and more sessions booked and I feel very blessed! I quit Happy Sushi so now I'm down to 2 jobs, not 3. So I actually had 2 days off last week! It was awesome! And what made it even better is I got to spend my days off with my nephew. I'm so lucky to have my best buddy just 10 minutes away. We enjoyed a day in the sun at 1st dam. We blew bubbles, kicked the ball, threw the ball, fed the ducks, played in the water, and went on a hike. I locked my keys in my apartment so we were out playing for 5 hours until Ryan got off work! We took a break from the sun for about and hour and then we headed to Ryan's soccer game. Kase fell asleep on the couch during our break so I thought he would just chill at the game in my lap and relax. But nope, Ryan's niece was there along with a couple boys around Kase's age so they ran and played soccer for 2 hours together. It was the best day. I loved seeing you sunshine.. see you again in a few days... (hopefully)

cute kid.

Check out this cute kid. He was at the wedding I shot today. After I took his picture he said, "you are the nicest photographer lady." hahaha. So cute.

See more pictures from the wedding at samijophotography.blogspot.com

mac book!

Somebody got a macbook... and Cs5 photoshop this week.... :):):):)

I bought it for my photo business... But the photo booth's been quite entertaining. Haha.

spring is here!

I got to spend a day in the sun with these 2 cuties!

Play Date!

Kase and I had our weekly play date yesterday while Storm Cloud ran some errands. We went to the Fun Park first where Kase won the 1,000 ticket jackpot on the fish game. (The most you can earn at one time at the Fun Park) The same thing happened a few months ago when we went. I swear.... He's the luckiest kid. I need to take him to Vegas! Haha. So we had to figure out what to spend 1,000 tickets on. We got a bunch of fun, random stuff which included this over sized tennis ball. We had so much fun playing with it. I'm so blessed to have Stormi and Kaserman live in Logan. I love getting to see them all the time!

days off.

What does Sami Jo Shurtleff do with her 2nd day off in 3 weeks....She sleeps in until ten and eats breakfast in bed. Awww yessss!

happy birthday storm cloud!

SURPRISE!


We had a surprise birthday party for Stormi on Friday! We had so much fun hiding and plotting how we were going to surprise her when she walked in. We decided on having the lights off, Megan and Mom hiding in the hall, and Mikey hiding on our back porch, and Ryan watching TV. Haha. It was so fun and Katlin Storm was very surprised! Success!! We played apples to apples, ate treats, pizza, and yummy Root Beer Floats!

blissssss!

So happy. So happy to finally be able to do what I love. Things are getting busier and busier with photography and I finally feel like I'm progressing and getting better, and finally on the road to where I want to be. I had my first shoot with my new camera tonight and it turned out so well! Check it out at samijophotography.blogspot.com. I have 4 weddings, 3 bridal sessions, 2 engagement sessions, and 2 family sessions these next 3 months. (and hopefully more..haha) I'm so ecstatic!! I've had so much support from my family and Ryan. I feel so blessed.

"Believe it or not, someone once said to me ” I can’t believe people pay all that money for pictures of themselves” Moving past the giant insult to my career and personhood, it got me thinking. People invest in photography to remember life at its best. Life the way it is right now; today. Because it will never be this way again. Styles come and go, and no matter how cheesy some of those photos are, I’m still humbled that they can look at those photos to remember life the way it was. "

I stumbled upon this quote from one of my favorite wedding photographers Josh McCullock. (http://blog.joshmccullock.com/)

Way to be Josh.

missing them.

currently. .

Currently. .

eating. . .a turkey sammich. numms!

reading. . the help. thank you mandi. i'm so head over heels in love with this book. READ IT!

watching. . .modern family, the food network, ellen, jazz games, and i'm planning to watch the documentary "babies" tonight on netflix.

listening to. . .country music. blaring in my car always. it makes me feel like it's summer.

smelling. . .blueberry cheesecake scentsy.

dreaming of. . .being a successful photographer, dancing, april 28th (austin trip), my family being happy, decorating my house how i want, and kobe bryant breaking one of his ankles.

anticipating. . .i will say it again... AUSTIN!!!!! i miss my sweeties clay, jodie, and hallie mae. they miss me too.

loving. . .being married. i am so grateful for ryan. my love for him is through the roooof!, the unique beauty in everyone i see, art, laughing, having a healthy body and mind, and being able to come home to a warm house every night.

creating. . .images.

appreciating. . that ryan and i both have jobs.

learning. . . to do the splits again, fouettes.. etc. yikes.

celebrating. . .storm cloud turns 21! on the 27th! cupcake party!

(got this idea from thecountrychronicles.blogspot.com BEST BLOG EVER!) because sadly, I can't think of what to blog about by myself. haha.

eyes on fire.

This is why I love dance. If only I was as amazing as she is. So beautiful. I saw this routine about over a year ago and still think about how amazing it is! Haha!

just dance.

I dance everyday in our living room. Sometimes for Ryan, but most of the time by myself. I have such a passion for dancing, and I miss performing so much. I love expressing myself through dance. I was on the dance team in high school and haven't performed since. I've been looking for a dance class for a few months that works for me. I finally found one! It works with my crazy schedule and also fits in my price range. It's a Spring time miracle! It's located in this little dance studio downtown Logan. It's a Jazz/Hip Hop class! We even do performances at random events around Cache Valley. I can't wait to start my first class on Tuesday!

:)

see photo blog for Vegas pics. :)



Take a button while you're at it. . :)

Our Last Day!

We went hiking in 70 degree weather. It was SO NICE! Today is our last day in Vegas. I'm going to try to soak up as much warmth as I can! I will make a big post with lots of fun pictures later this week! Have a good day.
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