I know, I know...

...it's been awhile! But I'm here for an update!

I hope you're all doing well! I'm afraid that I haven't been a loyal reader lately. I opened Google Reader today and had over 200 unread posts! I had to click "Mark All Read," I'm sorry!

My first week of work went really well! The people are really nice, and it seems like a great environment. Last week, I just worked in the retail part of the bakery, getting to know their customers and products, and how they run their business. This week of training should be even better since I'll be training for the type of work I'll actually be doing, so I'm really excited about that and I will definitely try to write more often now that I finally have my laptop back!

I also had a fantastic weekend! My hubby and I drove to our hometown Friday night. A very close friend of mine got married on Saturday and it was so nice to share the day with them and celebrate the beginning of their married life together! April and Eric also went to the wedding, so we got to spend a lot of time with them, which is always nice. I took almost 600 photos, but to be totally honest, I haven't really looked at them that closely yet. Once I sort through them and do some editing, I promise to share them with you!

On Sunday, we spent some time visiting my father-in-law, his girlfriend, and my sister-in-law, before heading up to visit with my brother-in-law, his wife, and my niece. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, both Saturday and Sunday, so we enjoyed the sun and each other's company. My niece is getting so big and is as cute as ever! I also took a bunch of photos of her, but I haven't even uploaded those yet. After our visit, my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, his wife and my niece all came to my parents' house and had dinner with us and my grandparents.

It was a really great weekend, and we drove back this morning so my hubby could go into work this afternoon. I don't know what it is about my hometown, but I always feel so peaceful and relaxed when I'm there. It's a wonderful combination of being surrounded by family, and the sheer beauty of everything there. It never fails to make me emotional and fill me with an overly happy, calm feeling.

Speaking of being overly happy, it amazes me how much more I love my husband as time passes. I never thought it was possible for me to love him more. But time passes, and we just seem to keep growing together. We have our moments, of course, but we seem to be in such a relaxed, good place lately. I really wish I could more clearly put it into words, but it doesn't seem possible.

On another note, I've completely fallen head over heels in love with another man...Edward Cullen! ;) If you're wondering how I could resist editing wedding photos and photos of my niece, it might, just possibly, be that I had to finish Eclipse...

That's all for now, but I'll try not to be as much of a stranger!

Let them eat cake!

I'm still getting used to being on my feet all day, so I'm pretty tired and not going to post much tonight. But I wanted to share with you one of my favorite parts of my new job so far. I have to taste test all the different cakes and pastries they sell! Ummm, can you say YUM! Best job ever!

I have to know what everything tastes like to be able to make recommendations and describe things to customers. Today, I tried carrot cake. I don't even like carrot cake and it was AMAZING! Then I bought a mini lemon dessert and a mini cheesecake to bring home for my hubby and I tonight. DELICIOUS!

If I'm not careful I may put on 20 pounds... :)

Is this June or April?

Dear Mr. Sun,
I've only seen you 2 or 3 times this whole month of June. It's summer now and I miss you. Not to mention the fact Ms. Rain has far out-stayed her welcome. We'd all be a lot happier and would really appreciate it if you came around a little more often!
Your friend,
Sara

Photography as a business

I told you already how two different people have approached me about photographing their weddings in 2010. I didn't in any way solicit these inquiries, so it is really exciting for me! I know that the driving force behind them asking me is that I won't charge anything near what a professional in this area would charge, but I also know that they wouldn't ask if they didn't think that I took great photographs.

I haven't agreed to either of these weddings yet, but I am doing a lot of research and thinking a lot about the possibility. I would absolutely LOVE to say yes to both of them, but I am in no way under the delusion that photographing a wedding is easy. There are no do-overs with a wedding! You have to be focused, creative, and have your exposures right on every single shot. It's a lot of pressure and a lot of work! This is their wedding day and these are the photographs they will look back at for many, many years to come. I wouldn't want anyone to be disappointed with their wedding photos, so I need to be sure that I am confident that I can provide them with great photos and not miss any of the important moments, despite what I charge them!

And after all that build-up, I'm finally going to get to the point of this post! I was talking to a friend a few days ago about wedding photography because she's getting married next week and we got to talking about what I might charge if I decide to accept these two jobs. She then mentioned how she thinks it's ridiculous how expensive photographers are, and then you have to buy the prints which are also really expensive compared to what you might pay if you bought the same size print at your local drugstore.

A few years ago, when I got married, I honestly felt the same way. However, the more I get into my lessons, and research different aspects of the photography business, the more I find that I'm thinking like a photographer. There are very good reasons why photographers charge extra for discs of all their images, and for why their prints are more expensive. The public just doesn't think about what these reasons are, so I'm going to write about them today in hopes that it will create a better understanding.

First, like I said before, photographing a wedding is a lot of work and a lot of pressure. You have to know your camera well, you have to work quickly and pay close attention to everything going on around you so that you don't miss any important moments, you have to be creative, know how to frame a shot, choose the correct exposure and focus sharply without having the time to think about it. Photographers can be expensive because you are paying for the education they have paid for, their experience, and the expensive equipment they have to keep updated.

You also have to remember that you are not just paying them for the 8-12 hours that they are photographing you on that day. You are also paying for:

• the time they spend preparing for your wedding by:

1. scouting your ceremony and reception venues for good spots to take your photos
   
2. learning what you want from your wedding photos
3. and learning which family members will be important at the wedding
   

• their travel to and from your event
• the time it takes to upload your 500-1000 images
• the time it takes to back up all those images
• the weeks of time it takes to edit all those images
• the time it take to process, package and ship your orders

A lot of people also want discs of their images so they can print the photos they want for cheaper. I know I certainly wanted discs of all my wedding images so that I could make my own album. There are a few issues to address here. First, let's talk about the price of prints. Yes, you could go to a drugstore and print the photos you want for cheaper, but you are also getting a lower quality print that is processed by a computer and their is little to no custom attention paid to the prints by a human. Most professional photographers work with a custom lab that they have a relationship with. Their prints are printed on higher quality paper, with more attention to details like how true the color is, and often times their prints have a special UV coating that will protect your prints for many years. The custom lab also gets to know the photographer personally, and they take the time and effort to make sure every print meets the photographer's standards.

You also have to think about copyrighting and the photographer's reputation. It is your wedding and they are photos of you, but the photographer owns the images, even if they grant you permission to print the photos. The images are their creative expression, just as if a painter had painted you. You did not paint that painting, the painter did, so you can not claim that it is your painting. In terms of their reputation, think about it this way:

• Ms. A photographs your wedding.
  
• She then gives you all the images on discs and the rights to print them at a drugstore.
  
• You print those images and they look fine to you. (But they are not the same quality or to the same standards they would be if Ms. A had them printed for you through her custom lab.)
• You then show your wedding prints to your family and friends. (But they may know more about photography than you do or they may be a better judge of quality.)
• Your friends and family are now judging Ms. A's talent, professionalism and work from your sub-par drugstore prints.
• Ms. A may then lose business or not get the amount of respect she deserves for all of her hard work and talent.

Make sense? By just giving you the images, they also lose money on prints you would have purchased from them, which is why most photographers will charge you for the discs of the images.

As you can see, there is a lot more to it than most people think about. If you put yourself in the shoes of the photographer and think about these images as their business instead of something you're entitled to, the costs involved become a lot more reasonable.

Bye bye belly button bar

Don't you just love alliteration!

Anyway, change is a difficult thing for me. Even when I know a change is what I want, it still gives me anxiety. I'm a creature of habit and I like my routines. And like the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But changes help us evolve and can often be for the better once I adjust to them.

Small changes are always easiest for me when other big changes are happening. So with the start of my new job just a few days away, I decided to make another small change. I took out my belly button piercing! Seems like a silly little change, hey?! lol But it's huge for me! I had my belly button pierced on my 18th birthday, almost 8 1/2 years ago, and I've always loved it. In fact, I still like how it looks, but I've been thinking about taking it out for a little while now and I thought now was as good a time as any!

Just having it out for a few hours now, Ive realized how much I played with it without knowing. And my stomach looks so strange to me!

With my belly button bar:

You can't really tell in this photo,
but the stone on the bottom is purple.

And without:
May look like a normal stomach to you, but to me it's so strange! We'll see if my hubby notices tonight without me telling him! ;)

Nerves are kicking in!

This week is flying by! But since it's my last week being unemployed, I kind of expected it and I'm starting to get a little nervous. Before I say anything else, let me assure you that I am excited about this job, I think this is going to be a good environment for me, and I think this job is one that I will truly enjoy! That being said, I'm also scared to death.

See, I don't have the best track record picking jobs. Excuse my French, but I've worked for a few MAJOR A$$HOLES! And I let them suck the life out of me. I've just gotten to a point in my life where I've figured myself out and I'm actually really happy. I'm terrified that even though this job seems great, when I start working, that it will not be what I expected or that I'll throw myself into my job 200% like I usually do and I'll lose myself again. Have I been in this pattern of taking care of myself and making sure I am happy long enough that it will stick with me?

It seems so silly and selfish and ungrateful, but besides the fact that I know we can't live off of my husband's salary alone, I've really enjoyed being laid off! I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and I don't have to answer to anybody!

I'm worried that when I start this job, they won't like me or that I'll have trouble being myself. I'm worried that I won't do the job as well as they expect me to or that I won't learn quickly enough. But mostly I'm worried that I'll get stuck in another job that I hate, with people who don't respect me, and I'll stay just to be responsible, at the risk of losing myself.

I know I shouldn't worry so much. I used to worry about everything and caused myself serious anxiety on a daily basis. Having gone a good 5 months without that tight feeling in my chest, and feeling it again now, I don't know how I didn't end up in the hospital before.

So, I'm trying hard to take deep breaths, enjoy my last few days to myself, and not worry so much. But I can't deny the fact that the nerves have kicked in! And I'm really hoping that if I start writing about how unhappy I am and get too far off the path I've set for myself, that you all won't be shy about setting me back on track!

I ♥ Faces {Sepia}

I can't think of a darn thing for Not Me! Monday this week, and since I love sepia toned photos, I decided to enter I ♥ Faces' Sepia themed contest instead.

I took this photo of my niece, Athena, a few days after she was born and I just love it! The light from the window just lit up the cute little features of her face!

BIG things to come!

That's right...I have a lot of BIG, EXCITING things in the works right now! I'm starting a new job soon, I'm moving right along in my photography classes, two different people have approached me about possibly photographing their weddings in 2010, I have a photography blog and an Etsy shop to sell my photography in the planning stages, and my best friend designed my very own logo for me, which will soon turn into business cards and letterhead and custom headers! And that's just a small taste of the exciting things to come!

I know I haven't been writing as often as I used to, but I haven't disappeared! I'm just working hard and I promise to share all these new and exciting things with you as they come out of the planning stages and become more concrete.

This extremely difficult period of my life has evolved into one of the most exciting times of my life and I'm so excited to experience and enjoy every second of it! I have learned so much about myself and what makes me happy, and I plan to take advantage of that knowledge in every aspect of my life. So please stick around and check in on me, even if I'm not posting every day! Like I said before, the list above is just a very small hint of what's coming from me and I can't wait to share it all with you!

In other completely unrelated news, after all the photos of me in my anniversary post, I was told that I don't share photos of myself often enough. This often proves difficult since I'm usually the one behind the camera! I do have a blurry, mirror shot of myself that I took about a month ago, that the blogoshpere never saw though. So since I'm in no condition to be in front of the camera today (trust me on this one!), a blurry, mirror shot will have to satisfy you for now!
Hope you're all enjoying a fantastically gorgeous June weekend, like I am!

I'm so excited...

...and I just can't hide it! I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!

I didn't write yesterday and, honestly, I wasn't planning on writing today. After finally finishing my last photo project, I was anxious to get back into my photography lessons and I just didn't feel like I had anything to write about! However, I am writing so there must be a reason, right?!

I WAS JUST OFFERED A JOB!! I interviewed about a week and a half ago for a position at a bakery doing wedding cake sales and consulting, with a little networking and marketing to expand their clientele. Today, the owner called and said she was sorry it had taken her so long to get back to me, but that they had several great potential candidates and they really wanted to think it through and choose the person that they thought was the best fit. Then she said that she thought I was that person and offered me the job!

I'm so excited! This job is right up my alley! Not only do I think I'll be really good at it, but I think I'll really enjoy it too! Not to mention that the wedding networking can only be positive for my photography goals as well! Yes, that's right, I'm not giving up my photography classes and I've set even more goals for myself since 2 different people have now asked me to potentially photograph their weddings in 2010! So exciting! I'll start training in 2 weeks and officially start the first week of July! I already have lots of networking ideas for them brewing in my mind, one of which involves a new blog so I'm hoping you'll all be supportive and help me spread the word when the time comes!

I'm so grateful for the support you all have been to me and, don't worry, I promise to keep up with my blogging too!!

December 20th 2005

I graduated from college, a semester early, in December of 2004, and had a six month internship in the spring. When that was finished, I had a big decision to make - accept the summer position I was offered at the place I did my internship, or move to South Carolina with my boyfriend of four and a half years as he prepared to attend golf school. I struggled with passing up an amazing opportunity that would probably never come again, but there was never a question in my mind what I would choose.

In August of 2005, we moved to Myrtle Beach after 4 years of a long distance relationship. We were really happy and excited. We were finally together and living on our own, in a very new and different place for us. We had talked about marriage many times, and had even looked at rings for fun, but I didn't think the proposal would come until after he graduated. Further more, I didn't think he'd ever be able to surprise me. He's not very good at hiding his excitement, and when he's planning something special, his face, words and voice are an instant giveaway. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting it, but he did surprise me!

Though we were enjoying our new life together, we both missed our family, and planned to fly home for Christmas. Since we were spending so much money on plane tickets, and because we were just starting out and didn't have much money to begin with, we decided not to go all out on Christmas gifts for each other and only do stocking stuffers instead. So a few days before we flew home, we decided to have our own little private Christmas celebration.

That morning, he had class early. When I got up, he was already gone. I wrapped all his stocking stuffers and neatly arranged them in his stocking before I left for work. He had a break between classes and went home for lunch, but since everything in his stocking was wrapped, I didn't worry about him sneaking a peek. He finished his classes and then went to work for a few hours himself. When I got home from work, he was still at work, and his stocking looked like he had been looking through it. The stuff I bought just barely fit in, so I had arranged it a few times to get it to fit just right and it did not look the same. I was MAD! I called him up and asked him if he had looked. He insisted that he hadn't, that it had fallen over, a few things fell out, and he just tried to put them back in. I don't know why, because it wasn't even a really good story, but I had a long day at work and I believed him.

When he got home from work, he still had to wrap my presents. I was excited for him to open the little things that I got for him, and waited anxiously as he filled my stocking in the bedroom. When he came out, he handed me a rose, which I thought was strange as part of my Christmas present, but still sweet. I really wanted to have him open his stocking first, but he insisted that I go first. Besides the rose, there was a candle and a DVD of the first movie we watched together. At this point, I was a little bit suspicious that something might be going on, but as I reached back into my stocking, the last gift inside was a stick of chapstick. That extremely tiny twinge of excitement and hope that any girl gets when something sweet and romantic is going on died, but I thought his gifts were sweet and I was still excited for him to open his stocking.

We had complete opposite ideas for our gifts. We had set a price limit, and he bought a few more expensive items, and I bought a bunch of little things to really fill his stocking up. He started opening all his gifts and seemed excited. When he got to the bottom, he said, "What's this??" with a big smile on his face. I thought he knew it was the box of Gobstoppers I bought for him by the shape of the box and was being sarcastic. But when he pulled it out, it was definitely not a box of Gobstoppers.

He pulled out a jewelry box, got on one knee, opened the box, and asked me to marry him. I was in shock for several reasons! First, he asked me to marry him! Second, somehow he successfully surprised me! Third, the ring was GORGEOUS! And finally, I handled all our finances and we had joint accounts, so I couldn't figure out how on earth he paid for it!

He said some other sweet things that I truthfully don't remember. The whole night is a very happy blur in my mind, but I vaguely remember saying yes. Right there on our couch, me in my sweats, he had just proposed!

Apparently, he had the ring hidden in his golf bag for 2 whole weeks and managed to keep it a secret! While I was at work that day, he had taken everything out of his stocking and hid the ring at the bottom.

Everyone is surprised when they ask who I called first and I say that I didn't call anyone. We were flying home in 2 days, and I thought it would make a much better announcement in person! It was extremely hard to keep it a secret!! My dad had just had back surgery, so only my mom came to pick us up at the airport. I hid the ring in my pocket for the hour and a half ride home, and slid it back on just before we walked in the door. There was so much excitement just with seeing everyone again and all I said was, "Well, we have an announcement..." and held up my hand. It was a perfect moment that I remember so clearly. The lights on the Christmas tree were sparkling, my parents' house smelled of spruce and fresh baked cookies, there were tears and hugs and lots of smiles.

It was a very special Christmas that year.

After a year and a half of planning, we tied the knot! And here we are 2 years later. There are a million things I could say about the man that is my husband, but if you read my blog regularly, you already know that he is my world. He is the most supportive, hard working, loving, funny husband in the world, and I am so blessed that he chose me to be his wife.

Happy Anniversary, my love! You are my everything!

Not Me! Monday!

It's Monday again, so you know the drill! It's time to confess all the things we didn't do this week. After you read about my week, head on over to MckMama's blog to read what she and everyone else have not been up to this week!

If you follow me on Twitter, you are, by now, well aware that I have not become completely obsessed with the Twilight series! I did not read all 500 pages of the first book in two afternoons. I am not falling head over heels in love with Edward and I certainly did not, even once, consider leaving my husband to marry Edward. Nope, not me!

I did not take a trip to the bookstore as soon as I finished, intending to buy the other 3 books in the series! Nope! I was definitely not disappointed to discover that Eclipse and Breaking Dawn (books 3 & 4) are not out in paperback yet, and as a result only walked away with New Moon because I'm still cheaper than I am obsessed! Nope, not me!

On a less obsessed lighter note, I did not bake a batch of the BEST cookies Saturday! My best friend made them once and I LOVED them, so I would never attempt to make them myself and risk going into a cookie coma. I have not eaten half of them by myself already! If I had, this would be the awesome recipe:

Lemon-Glazed Candied-Ginger Cookies

Cookie Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light-brown sugar (I only had dark brown sugar and it worked fine.)
1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger (Warning: Unless you REALLY like ginger, do not attempt to pop a piece of this delightful looking stuff in your mouth. It does not taste as good as it looks!)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Glaze
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup water

Sift flour, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add ginger and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture and then beat on medium-low speed until dough just comes together. (I noticed that the dough is really sticky so be prepared.)

Shape dough into two 1-inch-thick discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 disk on a lightly floured surface (I noticed you have to flour it really good and your rolling pin because as the dough warms up it gets sticky again.) to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out 2 inch circles. Place the rounds 1/2 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate rounds for 10 minutes.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are set and edges are light gold, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Which confectioners' sugar, lemon zest and juice, honey, water and a pinch of salt in a bowl until smooth. (I thought 4 cups of sugar was a ridiculously large amount and divided all of these ingredients by 4, only making a quarter of what it called for and it was just enough.) Drizzle glaze over the cooled cookies. Let stand until glaze is set, at least 20 minutes. (Recipe originally from Martha Stuart)

And this is what they don't look like:

Yuuuum, right?!

And if, like me, you don't want to waste that 50 cent lemon that you barely used, you can use it to clean your microwave. Not that my microwave ever has stuck on, greasy bits in it, but if it did, I could squeeze the leftover juice in a bowl, throw in the lemon itself, fill the bowl with water, and stick it in the microwave for 5-10 minutes until it steamed up the inside. The lemony steam would make any of the stuck on bits easy to just wipe off and the microwave would smell of lemony goodness.

And then, if you still didn't want to waste that lemon, you could put it down your garbage disposal and grind it up, so that your disposal then smells of lemony goodness too!

I mean, if you had made the cookies and had the barely used lemon on hand that is! ;)

Happy Not Me! Monday, everyone!

28 years ago today...

...my parents became husband and wife. Yes, that's right, today is my parents' 28th wedding anniversary! To my knowledge, neither of my parents reads my blog, but I thought it was only right to wish them a happy anniversary because of the impact their marriage has had on my life.

I've written a few times about their marriage before, but through their example, my parents have taught my sister and I what marriage is all about. It is a choice every day to love the person you committed your life to. It is not always rainbows and sunshine and it takes work every single day. However, you can never truly appreciate the beauty of a rainbow without a little rain, and with the right person beside you, with respect and loyalty and a lot of love, every single second is worth it. Their marriage is such a blessing to me and to my marriage.

So,

Happy 28th Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

I love you both so much, and I am so grateful to have parents as supportive, encouraging, giving and as full of love as the two of you!

I'm a little teapot...

...OK, I won't sing! Wouldn't want to hurt any of your ears! ;)

Yesterday, I mentioned that I found inspiration in a teapot. So, I figured I'd share the results of that inspiration with you because a) I just feel like it and b) who doesn't love pictures?!

One of the photographs I had to take for my photo project for school had to use framing as a photographic technique. Basically, anything can be a frame, a window, a doorway, an arch etc. I think this is a great technique, but I was having trouble taking the photo. I think I was looking too hard and trying to see frames where they weren't. Then, when I wasn't looking, I finally saw one!

This is the photo I used for that part of my project:

I've always loved this plant because it's potted in such a cool old teapot, but the handle of the teapot also frames the plant perfectly!

For my photo projects, I can't do any editing, so that is SOOC. But I love editing, so I couldn't resist doing one for all my bloggy friends!

What do you think?

Also, I didn't walk yesterday or today so I haven't taken any photos of "Wonderland" yet, but as soon as I do, I'll be sure to post them for you!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! :)

Fix-it Friday!

Friday already?! Another week that just flew by! This week's photo for Fix-it Friday was taken by Melanie from Blogging Mum. I love the tight crop, but that also limits what you can do with it a little bit. Let's see what I can come up with!

Original:
Fix #1:
For this fix, I:

• Cropped tighter.
  
• Flipped to make it a mirror image.
  
• Increased the brightness.
• Converted to black & white.
• Reduced noise.
• Increased contrast.

But I wasn't really happy with the result, so I started from scratch and tried again.

Fix #2:
For fix #2, I:

• Increased brightness.
• Rotated slightly.
  
• Cropped.
• Decreased saturation on everything but the eyes.
• Reduced noise.
• Increased contrast.
  

This week's photo was a tough one for me. I can't say that I love either of my fixes really. But looking back at them, I think I like the first better than the second. I tend to gravitate to black & white though.

Which do you like best?

Slacker!

I just now realized that I hadn't posted again today! I don't know what's wrong with me and why I've turned into such a slacker! Well, I guess I'm not really a slacker. I have been busy searching through and applying to gazillions of jobs. But today I'm exhausted, so that might explain my absent mindedness. I hardly slept last night. When I got into bed, I tossed and turned and just couldn't get comfortable. Then, when I did finally fall asleep, I was in that weird half-sleep state where you're dreaming but you are aware that you're not fully asleep. Know what I mean? And on top of that, the dream I was having was horrible! In my dream, my brother-in-law, sister and best friend all died, and I hung someone!

So, needless to say I was a little out of it today, but I still read through my favorite blogs this morning. My best friend does a series on one of her blogs every Thursday, called Lost in Thoughts, where she talks about what is inspiring her that week. I love reading it because she is such an inspiration to me, but it reminded me how this week I was feeling quite uninspired. Instead of just sitting around wallowing in uninspired pity, I decided to read a book that really inspired me the first time I read it.

Annie Leibovitz At Work is a really inspiring book. In it, Annie Leibovitz, herself, talks about her career in photography. I don't want to get into a full book review, but I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested. Anyway, after reading only a few pages, I turned around, looked at something I see every single day, and was inspired to finish the photography project I've been struggling with for school! Hooray! Now I'm really excited to move on to my next unit and I'm hoping the inspiration will continue to flow as I learn more and more new things.

Hope you all have a great evening! I promise I'll remember to post tomorrow!

Lost in Wonderland

I just realized I didn't post anything yesterday! I don't have an excuse because I was completely unproductive and didn't get anything done yesterday, so it must have just slipped my mind!

Anyway, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've gone on some awesome morning walks yesterday and today. Usually, I like to walk in the evening with my hubby, but he's been working late and is too tired by the time he comes home. So after taking a week or so off, I decided to start walking in the morning by myself.

When my hubby and I walk, we have a loop that we usually do that has some great hills, but it's on a really busy main street. I walked it once by myself and I just didn't feel comfortable. So a couple weeks ago, when my hubby and I were out on an evening walk, I asked him to test out a new route with me and we found this nice, quiet neighborhood with little to no traffic. It basically loops around and you end up coming out the same way you came in, so any traffic it does have is just people going to their houses. There are no hills unfortunately, but I feel a lot safer walking there by myself.

Anyway, that's a lot of build up to what I really want to tell you. This is a funny little neighborhood. When you first walk into it, it seems really cute. Cute little houses with flower beds and fences on a curvy little road. But as you walk further into it, it feels to me like I'm walking through Wonderland. All the houses are one story, tiny little cottages and they look almost exactly the same. I feel like a giant walking through the Land of the Little People or something. And there's one front yard that has like 10 different kinds of trees of all different heights in a small little area. It's so hilarious.

Reading that back, it doesn't sound as funny as it looks and feels, so you probably think I'm crazy. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll take my camera out with me and see if I can capture the "Lost in Wonderland" type feeling I get when I walk there.


In other news (not that anything I have to say is news worthy), our neighbors upstairs got a new puppy a few weeks ago. She's so darn cute I can't even stand it, and she was outside playing so I went out to chat with my neighbor and took a few photos of her.

She looks so sad in this one, but she's still the cutest little thing!

I just love this one of her digging with her nose in the grass!
I might actually use it for my leading lines assignment for school.
So if any of you photography buffs are reading out there, let me know if you think this is a good leading lines photo please!

I ♥ Faces {Happy Birthday}

I know, I know, two posts in one day! But the kids theme over
at I ♥ Faces this week is "Happy Birthday" and I had the cutest photo, so I just had to share!

I took this photo of my cousin's daughter, Natalie, on her first birthday. Whenever I look at it, I can't help but smile and I really want to put a thought bubble above her head that says, "Why on earth would they set my cupcake on fire?!? And what the heck are these crazy people singing?!?" LOL

Not Me! Monday!

It's Monday again, so you know the drill! It's time to confess all the things we didn't do this week. After you read about my week, head on over to MckMama's blog to read what she and everyone else have not been up to this week!
This past week was not cold, damp and rainy here. Nope, it's the end of May, so there was lots of sunshine and nice, warm spring days. If it had been dark, cold and rainy though, I never would have been such a baby about it that I actually had to turn the heat on!

Nope, certainly not me!
And even if I had turned the heat on, I would not have still been so cold that I put on my snuggie and hobo gloves while working at the computer.
I have never been known to wear gloves while typing. Nope, not me!

And despite a fairly productive week, it did not take me until Thursday to post photos and talk about my Memorial Day weekend in my hometown! I think we all know that I'm much more punctual than that!

Finally, I did not have another interview yesterday! And if I did, said interview would not have lasted 2 whole hours! The level headed person that I am, I am not taking such a long interview as some kind of sign, and anxiously waiting by the phone. Nope, not me!