Enjoy Project | Engaged

"Every atom of his flesh is as dear to me as my own: 
in pain and sickness it would still be dear. 
His mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, 
it would be my treasure still."
bronte

ps. lydia jane

"I love the ground under his feet, and the air over his head,

and everything he touches and every word he says.

I love all his looks and all his actions 

and him entirely and all together."

bronte

I'm going to be his wife!

Enjoy Writing | Oh My My My | Part 1

i had a dream last night,

i dreamt that i was swimming

and the stars up above,

directionless and drifting

change of time - josh ritter

On October 31, 2005, after a fun, flirty and busy night at a church harvest festival (we all know that church's don't celebrate Halloween!) I came home and rolled up into the corner of our couch. "I'll get up in a minute… Just a minute…" and I promptly fell sound asleep for the night. I fell asleep and dreamed the most memorable and emotional dream I've dreamt thus far. The dream was a delicate and heart-throbbing story about myself and a tall boy named Brian. In my real life I did not know this "Brian" I was dreaming of, he was a fictional character in my head, a combination of my imagination and David Beckham. Brian was tall, tan, slow-moving and kind, simple and precious, quiet and a little shy, fiercely loyal and undeniably smitten with me. The dream had this blurry, water color, sun-in-your-eyes, water splashing, nighttime shadows quality. I'd see flashes of Brian, I'd hear conversations we were having, I'd watch the two of us walking side-by-side and then we'd vanish, I'd see "through my eyes" until purple light blurred my sight and I'd also observe myself from afar - and this all occurred in no concrete setting, just rolling, abstract dream gloss. Sounds echoed as my relationship with Brian spun through my dream. "I do like you, Brian. I really do. I just… don't want to hurt you. Or I don't want you to think I ever led you on." "I know you aren't leading me on," he'd offer, as casually as one might order a milkshake. "I mean, if… If it…if this didn't… if maybe we weren't right for each other in the end?" "Well, that's the risk I took, the risk with a prize far sweeter than penalty bitter." "I'm so confused, though. I don't know where I'm at, or how I'm feeling. And I know you like me a whole lot. And I'm scared." "Take your time," Brian, at this point, was looking right at me and smiling, "Don't worry. You really can take your time. I know you'll come around. I just know it. I'll race you to the car!" The dream continued "through my eyes" and I remember just looking at him, wondering how he could be so calm. I was unnaturally fearful (at least I assumed this was not a natural part of dating) and I was a quivery, unsure wreck. How could he just sit there, gentle and unworried, steady and handsome? I had no concept of time as my doubts and his reassurances continued. Was this a big long conversation? Did this happen over several days? Several months? I did not know.

Much like the closing of one movie scene to the entrance of another, the chatter quieted and the "screen" went black. The next scene transitioned to a bright and sunny land! There were cheery tall green trees all around, and water thumping in the background. A small red and white boat was tied to a wooden dock and it bumbled up and down in the easy movement of the lake. Or shore. Or riverside. Or whatever it was we were near. Brian was walking ahead of me, in a white shirt, and we were walking through the woods, following a path that led us down to the water. I could draw you the picture right now. Brian and I to the right, tall trees to the left and front, small window of water and sunshine greeting us in dead center, about 100 feet ahead of us. This was the first scene in my dream that was concrete, a real place that could be in our everyday world. Though I'd never personally visited this place before, it was finally a real place! No more hypnotic sludge!

And then it happened. That marvelous, mysterious, enchanting, famous it. I just knew. I knew. I knew. I didn't not know. I was clear. I was sure. I knew. I loved him. I loved him! I knew "where I was at." I knew "how I felt."  I knew. The mind that had tangled together the bow on his gift finally opened the box! "Ah-ha! This is what he's been talking about! He's known along!" The heart that was analytical and concerned had stormed out of her cubicle, un-knotted her bun, and was now running barefooted out the glass swirly-doors to a world of opportunity. "This is why he waited! This freedom and confidence and desire is what everyone has been talking about!" The person that was too afraid to feast for fear of never eating again, was too afraid to play because I might have to go inside at the end of the night, was too afraid to knit together what might have to be torn apart was now passionately fearless. I loved him.

As I dreamt on, I marveled at what had come over me at the peak of that path in the woods. My arms had become more like my waving hair, and the hairs on my neck had turned into outstretched arms, and my eyes finally took the place of my heart as I could now see, and my heart substituted with my stomach, because my stomach had a sleepover with my toes (and the tip of my nose). It rained inside me. It rained and rained on down. When the drops hit the bottom of me, they splashed back up into giant, warm waves. I felt like a jungle and a painting and circus and a queen. Loving him sent me to Mercury, with a pit stop to a lazy Sunday afternoon nap in a Georgia porch swing. Simultaneously still and wild, here and there, dizzy and yet finally thinking straight. I knew I had fallen for him long before this moment. I knew he had become "the one" through his patience, his reassurance, his confidence, his persuit. He had done nothing in that moment in the trees, just before the waterside, to win my affection (he was simply walking ahead of me, stepping over a log) but somehow it all came crashing down on me in such an overwhelming, instant and surprising manner.

Then I woke up. I immediately knew I had been dreaming. I slammed my eyelids shut and repeated my thoughts to myself over and over again. "Go back to sleep! GO baaack to sleep. You were only awake for a second. I know I love him. I didn't even get to say goodbye!" It didn't work. I lay there on the red and green plaid couch, feelings still alive and well in my body, tears tracing my eyes. You may think I'm being a touch melodramatic in my description. You might have that "Gross! I'm eating! This is not toothache sweet: it's cavity sweet. You're just a cheesy romantic with no concept of the real world" feeling. I tell you the truth: This dream was every bit as overpowering, emotional and sensational as I've described, probably more, in fact. I cried that November 1 morning because I missed Brian. I felt like someone had died. My insides throbbed. It was one of the strangest and rarest experiences of my life, and I was just 16. It remains one of the oddest and most thrilling moments I can remember. It was eerie and truly too emotional for what it was.

I wrote the dream down and I noted that I was certain I would have a "moment" with that sort of clarity whenever I met the one for me. I had a gut feeling that I would have a specific time I would say "Yes, this is when I knew I loved him." Over the years I made mention of the dream to only a select few people. My ears always perked when I met a "Brian" - in a bridal party, at Starbucks, at a church meeting. But for the most part I didn't think of the dream in my daily life. But when it came to mind it was always as vivid and clear as the moment I dreamt it… (to be continued)

Enjoy Pinterest | Pearls

"a girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

coco chanel

I have a little confession to make about pearls, the renown "classy" jewel.  I think it's a little matronly or a little cheap. Ah! I said it.  While I do love pearls, it seems like I often see a cheap ad with a girl in an awful dress with BRIGHT white "pearls" (probably bought from a local Claire's or something) or I see Grandma in the grocery story with a lovely string of pearls and it's precious... but... not... exactly... modern? That's the point I'm trying to make: pearls are classy, pearls are lovely, but I don't find them modern.

So for PinThursday and in effort to give this jewel a chance, I did some searching for pretty, modern uses for the pearl!  Every girl needs a good pair of pearl earrings (I have some!) but I love this glam-edition of the pearl earring.  Gorgeous.

from j. crew

Now HERE is a perfect example of a pearl being used in a modern setting.  Well done, J. Crew, well done as always.

from j. crew

I can't find where these shoes are originally from (help?) but I would also consider these highly fashion-forward, feminine and modern. Love them.

from capsitios

I'm not impressed with the chain and ribbon on this coin purse, but I love the different sized pearls!  I would not only use this, but I would brag about it if it were mine ;)

I'm curious how this would lay on a normal girl (aka: not a model or mannequin!) but I think it's wonderfully creative and fun.  I'd love to find some coral pumps and extra black eye-liner to wear with this!

from rachel gilbert

Black pearls, I'm convinced, are never ever matronly OR cheesy!  It's on my dream list to own one of these bad boys someday:

from zales

For the record: I DO find real pearl necklaces stunning.  I do.  I just think I've seen it done wrong too many times that it makes me leery ;) It's like saying "I don't like strapless dresses." Well, I like some strapless dresses! On the right body! With the right fit! But man, a bad strapless dress? It's baaaad. I hope that makes sense!  Show me some of YOUR pearl-loves on the EnjoyProject board! Do it to it!

PINTHURSDAY RULES:1] I created a group board called "Enjoy Project"... follow it!

2] Every Thursday I will blog about a particular topic (today, for example, is pencils.)

3] Leave a comment with your Pinterest name and I will add you as a contributor to the group board.  Also leave a link to your favorite/rad find for the theme.  (So leave a link to some awesome pencils - colored pencils, mechanical pencils, etsy pencils, skies the limit!)

4] Once you are added to the group, you can pin your find right to the page.  If you would like to contribute to the group, but do NOT want to be an official contributor, leave your Pinterest name and link and I'll post your find myself, with credit for the find to you.

5] We'll collect ideas together! Sitting all alone on your computer, scrolling through pages and pages, waiting for pins to fetch, is very isolated ;) This way we can interact together! And get to know one another.

6] Once a pin is in the group you can (obviously) re-pin to a different board if you'd like more organization for yourself.

7] Be kind, have fun and enjoy one another, please and thank yaaaa.8] When pinning on this board, use the #enjoyproject hashtag! It will make it ever easier to find when we have more and more posts.9] My goal is to have the board available to the current topic for one week.  So you have from Thursday-Wednesday to post pencils! Then Thursday-Wednesday to post _______. (I'm not giving away next weeks topic just yet ;) haha).10] Enjoy yourself. And the ideas. And the other people. 

Alright! You ready? Go pin!

Enjoy Weddings | Josh + Samantha | Strong Mansion

“happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; 
it has no taste.” 
charlotte brontë

Rain barged into Maryland last September.  Day in, day out, the rain sang on our rooftops and waltzed through our streets.  It was the wettest September I can recall.  September 17, however, was quite still.  Moody, but still.

In an old house in Paris covered in vines, er, in Dickerson covered in moss, were twelve (or so) girls getting primped and glossed. (Well done?)

The wedding festivities began at the front gate of Strong Mansion - lovely mossed initials of the bride and groom.

Inside the stately chateau are the ever tasteful and clean rooms.  Room after room after room.  It doesn't matter how often I shoot at Strong Mansion, I never tire of the rooms.

In a sparked minute, the stillness was gone as my sweet Samantha echoed from the doorway up to the third floor.  She is an animated, excitable, loud, dear little miss.

As soon as she arrived their was a different feel to the muggy and quite grey day.  

"AH! I have to write Josh's letter! Am I the worst bride in the world? Other people do this, right?" I laughed and nodded. "Ohhhhh-fshoooo! Hahaha! Ah! Okay! I need to focus!"  Samantha scribbled away.

I can hear her saying that:

After her letter was all finished and sealed with love, Pretty Miss eagerly donned her favorite dress. "I love my dress. It's my favorite dress.  Oh I can't wait to put it on!"

As happy as Sam was to wear that gown, the next minutes only grew happier.  She read Joshua's letter for her.

She high-fived and loved seeing her father.


She fiddled and adorned, in all her animated goodness ;)

Now, all that fun and happiness nearly overwhelmed Pretty Miss.  In a moment of a planner-girls heart sink, Samantha realized she forget to bring the video tutorial on tying her sash for the bridesmaids to follow.  Samantha is, again, very opposite of me in gifting (it's a trend.  I'm serious.) as she is extremely detailed-oriented, efficient, on the ball and planned.  After two or three attempts at tying the sash it wasn't working right, time was ticking down for the ceremony to start, "How could I forget to bring the video!", I stepped out of the room so that the constant clicking and extra body wouldn't raise the stress.  I peered back in to find Samantha taking deep breaths into the mirror repeating "It is oooookay! Alright! It is ooookay!" It made me laugh so much inside.  I love this big personality of a woman.  

Within seconds she was back to her carefree, thrilled and riotous self. 

With no time to spare we glided down the stunning wooden staircase and readied ourselves for the joyous ceremony.

I've mentioned it time and again, but Strong Mansion's grounds will forever be my favorite.  Not only did I shoot my very first wedding here (which spoiled me!) but I also went on my first date with MisterMister here ;)  I don't think you are technically supposed to do that, but, hey, who isn't drawn to a man who sneaks you onto the grounds of your favorite mountainside mansion for a sunset picnic!  There is a whole funny story that goes along with that first date that includes Park Police and beef.  Maybe I'll tell it sometime ;) Also, my house-mates, Dre and Becca, had their wedding reception here!  It's just THE most special place!

Samantha unshockingly had plans up her sleeve for the ceremony.  Strong Mansion does not have a center aisle because there is a beautiful lilly pond in the way ;)  Guests sit on either side of the pond.  Most brides I've seen have walked on the outskirts of the guests and made their way to the middle at the altar.  Wellllll, Samantha decided to have some wow-factor by coming behind the altar and emerging through the woods!  

After some deep breaths and reassuring thoughts from her father, she was ready to become a wife.

(Can you see up there ^ the ceremony site?  The groom and the pastor have their back to Samantha and her dad.  They are facing the lily pond and the mansion.  I hope you can visualize that haha!)

When Samantha's musical que arrived, in typical wedding magic fashion, the sun burst out from the clouds.  Colorful guests rose, Joshua waited happily.

Dad held his emotions together (just wait to see when he lost it, however.  Good luck not crying yourself!)

Thanks to the beautiful lily pond I also can't shoot in the middle of an aisle like I'm used to.  It makes for a fun challenge - I hike through stone walls and mossy trees, and tip-toe along waterside, I pull out new lenses, it's great fun!

Instead of having a unity candle or sand ceremony, Josh and Same had a tree-planting ceremony!  They poured dirt into a potted evergreen and the mothers watered it.  I love the originality!

Mmmmmyea.

After the ceremony (which, I know there weren't many pictures of BUT did you notice anything different about this post?  I decided to post only horizontal images! If I didn't shoot the image horizontal, I'm not posting it.  Sometimes you have to mix-it up with a wedding post!) the guests enjoyed a classy cocktail hour and reception.

My favorite piece of advice:

At every wedding the Strong Mansion staff sets up a table for the late Mr. and Mrs. Strong.  It's very honorable and ethereal at the same time and I love it.

My favorite part of this photo? The little lady with her fairy wand and crown of flowers.  Adorable.

It always seems appropriate to rave about the newlyweds during their portrait session.

Joshua, in five words: Young at heart, sincere, loyal
Samantha in five words: Contagiously happy, goofy, organized, vivacious 

They're constantly affirming each other: to each other's face, behind their backs, in their writing and e-mails and phone calls.  I use the word "constant" very carefully, but I do mean it.  In maybe 12-15 hours spent in person with them, and another dozens or so e-mails and phone calls, they literally don't go ten minutes without speaking highly of each other.  

They are romantic.  Which, I need to pause here for a moment, and comment on.  "Romance" to every girl and guy is going to be different.  Some truly find an expensive dinner and roses deliciously romantic.  Others, however, would find that a complete waste and awfully cheesy.  Some would find a handmade card or gift dear and precious, while others might find it lame and half-hearted.  One thing I've learned is that outward, consistent, distracting (almost), blatant, and public displays of romance are met with strong opinions from those observing.  Folks either love it or HATE it.  "Ew. Get a room.  Are they seriously doing that here?" or "That is adorable, and true love.  How refreshing to see a couple unashamedly affectionate!"  Most people would expect and even desire to see affection and goofy touchiness and smirky giggles at a wedding.  We clink our glasses and jeer and want more! We just don't want it in normal life, please.  I'm proud to say of Samantha and Joshua: who they were on their wedding day, close, silly, smiley, "cheesy", alive, tender, attentive, together and smitten is who they are in real life.  And I love it. I love that they are unashamed of each other. 

They make a scene wherever they go: they are truly a riot.  I saw a good ol' Pinterest pin that describes them well: "I'm probably going to fall in love with you if:
- you don't realize how good looking you are,
- you employ old fashioned terms of endearment,
- you do not bat an eye when I spontaneously launch into a different voice or accent in the middle of a sentence,
- you smell like something incredible from my childhood,
- you have enormous dreams,
- you distract me from my 'real' life,
- you know how to listen,
- you are self-deprecating but it comes across as funny, not uncomfortable,
- we can't stop laughing around each other
- and you fall in love with me a little."

I love incredible them.  They are quite dreamy.

We just flash-forwarded a bit, but remember how I warned about Dad "losing it"? Settle down with your pretzals and water bottle for this one (or am I the only one that has a "blog-reading" snack?)  It's toast time in the wonderful world of Josh and Sam's wedding day! Toasts are great, right? See? The bride and groom are happy and great.

Samantha's dad take a minute to thank, honor and barely tease Josh.

Everything is meaningful, everything is great.

Dad teases a bit harder.

Oh ha-ha-haa! Everything is silly, everything is great. 

Josh and his new father-in-law give each other a masculine ol' slap on the back - they respect each other greatly.

And now Dad has a few words to say about Samantha.  He starts to cry.  Ah! Quick! No! Don't cry! Daaaaaad! Samantha rushes to the rescue.

Okay! Smiles! We're good.

We're laughing.  We're not emotional! We're ready.

Fantastic. Carry on!

Oh wait, Dad. Don't lose it! Come back to us!

Nevermind.

Let it rain, let it pour. You're rolling in the deep.  And he hasn't even started sharing what he would like to.

Hup-hup-hup-huuuup's, eye-dabbing guests, sniffles and sighs ensue.

Maybe even some blubbering.

Dad tried again.

After fairly little progress (and some genuinely loving sentences) Dad and Samantha call it quits.

Cheers!

*clink* *clink* *clink* *clink*

I adore this picture.

To life, laughter and love...

... cheers! Happy marriage, Josh and Samantha! I love you!

Enjoy Project | Making Gift Boxes

success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.

tommy shaw

Haaallloooo friends near and far!  Though today's project was technically a Valentines gift, I cannot wait to use the idea again on client packages, birthday presents, baby shower gifts, and more!  Wouldn't it be fun to write out a new baby's name?  Or a couples' initials?  Or one word you think just "fits" the occasion? I'll answer that: Yes, it'd be fun. You can obviously use as many or as few boxes as you need, for any occasion under the sun!  Heck, you can make one and send it to me for no darn'tootin reason at all! BECAUSE FUN IS ALWAYS FUN, not just on special holidays.  A'right.  Let's get it on like Donkey Kong.  To start with you need to print out letters and cut them out very, very carefully.  

Next, you tape the letters onto your gift boxes (I bought 50 square boxes online... You can pretty much get these anywhere).  I used painters tape (the blue or green kind) so that it would be easy to pull the letters off and they wouldn't rip or shred the boxes. Press the corners down hard!

And then spraaaaay awaaaaay!  This literally took 11 seconds.  So easy.  If you wanted to tape along the sides of the boxes with painters tape, I'm sure that would look beautiful.  I didn't because I'm lazy and dumb.  

After the spray paint has dried for 15 minutes or so, peel the letters off!  And wa-la!  I used chalkboard spray paint... but I think you can use whatever kind you want.  I think?  I didn't try.  Because I'm lazy and it was really cold outside.  

This part of the project is a take-it-or-leave-it part ;)  I wrote a word with a chalk pen (the kind they use at Starbucks or for menu boards at restaurants) that described my man starting with the letter on the box.  Inside the box was a little gift that went along with that word.  Somehow it really wasn't complicated... it seems trickier now that I'm typing it!

To contrast the dark and simple exterior, I wanted the insides of the boxes to be like exploding fireworks in a dark moonlit night! (Too much...? Yeah.)

Okay, so one of his "O" words outside the box was "Oh-so-kind!" (which is fully cheating, but YOU try to come up with a word starting with O that describes kindness!). Octopus on the oven (I'm trying to set a world record for "O" usage in a paragraph.  Oliver.)  Inside the "Oh-so-kind!" box was his favorite candy bars, so he'll "Stay Sweet!" Candy is sweet, sweet is kind, I'm kind and give him candy - it really all works so well. Oprah is at the opera in Oklahoma.

I filled these boxes up by paying next to nothing.  Many of the items were either free treats in my gift box at Alt Summit (like the black SquareSpace beanie, canned Izze, and other items) or were bought using gift cards from Alt Summit (I got a free $20 gift card to PinHole Press just for attending their mini-party!) He also got a wooden pocket knife with his name engraved on it that I bought in Park City during the Sundance Festival for $9.  Add some ever necessary mints and gum (come on, we ARE dating after all), cheap disposable cameras for a new date-night activity and a hand-written letter, and he really had it pretty good!  Even though his girlfriend is a cheapskate ;) (He instagrammed all of his goodies if you want to see)

(I was pretty proud of my other O word: over-the-top.  He is one of those people who has to go above and beyond in everything he does, he's not satisfied unless an idea is the very very best it can be.  Basically, he's a perfectionist to the core.  So his gift inside "over the top" was a blank PinHole Press notepad where I encouraged him "to stay dreaming!" I love all of his grand, nearly-impossible dreams.)

Turned out better then I expected!

To make sure the boxes didn't empty themselves during transportation (a friend hid them for me in his basement apartment), I tied these babies up with peach string!  Which was two tons of total fun in and of itself.

Fun, huh? :)

Enjoy People from Oklahoma | Meeting Niagara Falls

"It was one of those smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it,

that you may come across four or five times in a life.

It faced - or seemed to face - the whole eternal world for an instant, and then

concentrated on you 

with an irresistible prejudice in your favour.

It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood,

believed in you just as you would like to believe in yourself,

and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best,

you hoped to convey."

f. scott fitzgerald

My Oklahoma boi-fraaaan has spent the majority of his 24 years in the states of Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.  Thanks to family road-trips and school conventions he made it to surrounding midwest states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado and the like.  Basically, he's been everywhere I haven't.  Because, I, on the other hand, have spent the most of my 22 years in a giant U of North America: New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, The Carolina's, Florida, Georgia, Mexico, Arizona, San Diego and LA, Nevada, Monterey and Northern California, Washington and Seattle, and finally up to Vancouver.   (Not to mention the various European and island jaunts to Panama, Aruba, The Grand Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Jamaica, London and other English cities, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland.)

When MisterMister moved to the east coast in his Amazing Race to win a particularly confusing girl, he was instantly smitten with the new surroundings.  Flat land, dirt roads, short trees, long straight drives and eternal skylines are what he's used to.  He loves the winding roads, the super tall trees, the mix of mountain/river/city/country/suburb the DC area boasts.  He loves the history and the tall trees.  I think his favorite part of Maryland is the tall trees (well, and all the traffic lights. Boy oh boy does he love himself a good long traffic light! Or two! Or three! ;)

Sometime in the summer he had a work project up near Niagara Falls.  Though my dad is from upstate New York and I've been to that state dozens of times, I'd never seen The Falls! Tragic! We decided to channel our inner Jim and Pam and make an experience out of it.  I flew up to Buffalo after his work week, and he whisked me away to America's most famous falling water.  

If you though he had a thing for tall trees, you should have seen his demeanor around tall water! Class act.I'm about half the size of those rocks down in the corner:Happy, blink-y, scruffy, plastic, misty fun.This weekend together changed something in us.  It was our first week apart since dating, we wore ponchos, we picked flowers, we sang to the Tarzan soundtrack, we drove home together in a truck for 16 hours, we concentrated on each other, we celebrated a monthiversary, we enjoyed wonders, we sat on thorns, we ate snow cones, we sparkled, we talked, we people-watched, we created new inside jokes, we sat next to each other in the bench seat of his pick-up, we were silent, we slipped on wet rocks, we didn't drink margaritas, we laughed, we made up scenarios "if you fell into the rive right here, what would you do?" (my plan was always to find the nearest rock or log, his was always to swim to shore), we opened presents, we changed.  

I'll end with the same quote I started this post with:

"It was one of those smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it,

that you may come across four or five times in a life.

It faced - or seemed to face - the whole eternal world for an instant, and then

concentrated on you 

with an irresistible prejudice in your favour.

It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood,

believed in you just as you would like to believe in yourself,

and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best,

you hoped to convey."

f. scott fitzgerald

Enjoy Videos | Happy Videos for a Hospital Day!

make me laugh and i'm yours
unknown

Thank you everyone for your care and kindness after the sad family news I posted about yesterday.  You all are quite lovely and it sure makes a girl and her mama bear feel loved!  On a much more enjoyable note, I've spent the morning decorating mama bear's hospital room!  It's so cheerful now!  Our nurses yesterday called her room the "Oh Suzanne Spa" (I was giving her a pedicure and manicure most of the afternoon) and today the nurse and tech just call her space "The Happy Room."  That's what we like to hear!  In continuing with the theme of happiness, here are some fun videos that'll make you smile:

(Who doesn't love sneaky books playing together? Come on.  I think everyone in the entire world can agree that that is a happy little situation.)

My mom's FAVORITE place in the world is Disneyland.  I actually mean FAVORITE. Not her favorite place to vacation, or her favorite childhood memory... no, no... Disneyland is her favorite PLACE.  Her parents, who lived in Orange County at the time, visited Disneyland in it's first few months of being open, and they took my mom (who was born in 1958) as soon as possible.  Some people don't seem to enjoy the "magic of Disney" the way my whole extended family does.  To be honest, I probably wouldn't get it either if I hadn't been raised by a second Disney-loving generation ;)  Disneyland is NOT a theme park, it "a whole new world." I love this little video because it shows how Disney has truly remained the same the last 60ish years, while at the same time growing exponentially!  It takes great skill to keep the current Disney Parks as charming, sweet and imaginative as the original!

I never watch the weather (why would you when there is an app for that? Amen?!).  But.  If this quick-witted jokester was my weatherman, I just might have to tune in ;)

Feel free to recommend any happy and fun videos you particularly like!  If mom needs something new to do I'll be sure to show her :D

Enjoy Writing | My Mama Bear

"i wish nothing but the best for you."
adele


Two years ago I wrote this post for a Breast Cancer Fundraiser:


"One a foggy nearly winter morning in 2003, my parents gathered all of their children in the family room and told us they had something to tell us.  

Mom had breast cancer.   

That conversation started an unforgettable and life-changing year for me.  That night I practically bled tears as I laid in bed, trying to sleep and eventually I snuck into my mom's room and slept next to her bed on the floor.  I was scared.  But there is nothing like being loved by your church, neighborhood and even complete strangers.  By the help of literally hundreds, my dad, my six younger siblings and I were fed, carpooled, hosted, given clean clothes, had Christmas gifts wrapped, and adventures had while my mother battled cancer.   What a fighter.  Watching her faith gave me faith.  She was peaceful, hopeful and strong.  She made us laugh when she lost her hair (hardest moment of my life when I came home from school and saw her bald, sleeping head) by buying and wearing a colorful clown wig.  She never let us worry.  She lived out her marvelous hope in God.

But I think the hardest part for her wasn't the chemo, or the surgeries, or the recovery, or the steroids… it was missing our lives.  At the time she had a one-year-old, two-year-old and four-year-old who she couldn't snuggle with at night.  That killed her.  Her babies were growing up and they had to spend most their time with someone else.  And that's when I first got serious about photography.  I took pictures of those kids so she could remember them during that year.  Rolls and rolls and rolls of film simply telling of the story of little Michael, Shannon and Lauren.   All of the wonderful women who came to help us always let me show them my "favorite" pictures and they were oh-so encouraging and supportive.  And one dear girl offered to let me shoot at her wedding that upcoming summer.  And that's how it allllll began.   

My photography business is so closely tied to my mom's breast cancer." <-- This original post I wrote ended with the following lines: "Mom is thankfully in remission and is as healthy as a peach.  Praise God!  But I wanted to be a part of this fundraiser for any daughter who ever has or ever will watch their mom experience cancer.  As hard as it is, there is so much hope.  And God can do unimaginably wonderful things through such trying times. " 


Today, however, a few of those lines are no longer true.  It has not changed that there IS hope.  God still does unimaginably wonderful (and even beautiful) things through hard times.  But, as much as it completely stinks to say it, mom is no longer in remission or "as healthy as a peach."  The last few days have revealed that her shortness of breath the last few months were caused by a collapsed lung, and her lung was collapsed because of cancer on it.  

I believe in a Miracle Worker, a Healer, a Sustainer, an All-Powerful Creator, a Tender Father, a Good King, a Sweet Shepard, a Friend Who Weeps, and a Warrior Who Fights for His people, and He lives in His Heavenly Home, which just so happens to be my home, too, thanks to His personal invitation and love for me.  He is all I need, and all my mother needs, and all we all need.  But, He Himself has wept with grief, because sometimes life does just hurt. 

 I'll be here in Florida somewhat indefinitely to help take care of my mama bear.  I brought her some ballin' pink and blue monster-face socks. I knoooow, I knoooow, I'm a really great daughter ;)  I don't want to turn this blog a sob-story or whine-fest... but, this is about my life and there is much about my life as creative artist/photographer directly linked my mom.  And mostly I just love her with all my heart, and it's hard not to write about what your heart loves the most.  Prayers would be most appreciated, for my dad who is a sleepless Mr. Mom these days, Mama Bear and her lung (no more collapsing, please!), all seven of us kids... especially the little guys (they are too young to remember going through this the first time and it's still a bit overwhelming) and for the medical staff (may they be smart, kind and maybe even funny! We all dearly love to laugh!) You better believe I'm completely enjoying every and any little thing that finds itself in our day: the little old man with the deep accent where I bought a salad, laughing at Mad About You on my laptop together, giving and getting back scratches, reading the homemade cards from the little kids, coughs (coughing is a good sign, the Doc says, so we want lots and lots of coughs!), the Florida sunset through the hospital room window, making fun of mom's sweet but slightly dumb nurses ("I mean, I'd love to have her over our to our house for dinner!  She just forgot to bring my medicine for the third time."), worship music on in the background and just alone time with my mom.  Thanks for listening!

Enjoy Pinterest | Patterned Skirts

"we found love in a hopeless place"
rihanna
(this quote has nothing to do with this post, but the song is stuck in my head.)

I'm running out the door to coach my first ever championship game!  I'm a nervous wreck and my brilliant and talented team is facing the higher-seeded home team.  On game day I have a hard time being very productive and focused, so all day long I just distract myself.  Today the distraction came in the form of patterned skirts for PinThursday!

from asos

I do believe this is my favorite skirt of the bunch.  I want to marry it.

from forever 21

I would love wear this with a trendy neon tank (brown, toned and freckled, of course!)

from ruche

While I absolutely love this skirt (with a crisp peach blouse and some pearls?) I don't know if I could get away with a man in a speedo lounging on my clothes.  Still love this though ;)

from modcloth

And we will end with a fun shape!  This could be worn with so many outifts!  And has a very forgiving and attractive shape. Oooo la la!

from polyvore

Get on board (haaaaaa. Get it?) and pin away on the EnjoyProject Pinterest Page! I wanna seeee youuuur patterned skirt loves! (Information on how to do that below!)

By the way, remember last weeks Rain Boot PinThursday?  Well a sweetheart named Jessica Swift joined the EnjoyProject board and pinned some of her OWN designs!  They are adORabLE.  Please check her website out!
PINTHURSDAY RULES:1] I created a group board called "Enjoy Project"... follow it!

2] Every Thursday I will blog about a particular topic (today, for example, is pencils.)

3] Leave a comment with your Pinterest name and I will add you as a contributor to the group board.  Also leave a link to your favorite/rad find for the theme.  (So leave a link to some awesome pencils - colored pencils, mechanical pencils, etsy pencils, skies the limit!)

4] Once you are added to the group, you can pin your find right to the page.  If you would like to contribute to the group, but do NOT want to be an official contributor, leave your Pinterest name and link and I'll post your find myself, with credit for the find to you.

5] We'll collect ideas together! Sitting all alone on your computer, scrolling through pages and pages, waiting for pins to fetch, is very isolated ;) This way we can interact together! And get to know one another.

6] Once a pin is in the group you can (obviously) re-pin to a different board if you'd like more organization for yourself.

7] Be kind, have fun and enjoy one another, please and thank yaaaa.8] When pinning on this board, use the #enjoyproject hashtag! It will make it ever easier to find when we have more and more posts.9] My goal is to have the board available to the current topic for one week.  So you have from Thursday-Wednesday to post pencils! Then Thursday-Wednesday to post _______. (I'm not giving away next weeks topic just yet ;) haha).10] Enjoy yourself. And the ideas. And the other people. 

Alright! You ready? Go pin!

Enjoy Project | Nick + Whitney | The Oaks Wedding

i was thirsty so i drank,

and there was something 'bout the way

it tasted so familiar

time, love.

time, love.

change of time | josh ritter

Training for a marathon.  Building a new house.  Commuting three hours every day.  Planning a wedding.  Traveling.  Running a family business.  These topics are childs' play for Nick and Whitney. 

If there has ever been a motivated, capable, hands-full yet thriving in the busy-ness, completing the details, fulfilling the phrase "live your life!" couple who could handle all these things at once, it has to be Nick and Whitney.

Whitney is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met, because she has to be one of the most opposite of "me" I've ever come across.  She's like a Jamie Delaine or something ;)  I seem to thrive off of people who aren't like me.  I love Whitney's OCD administrative skills, her ability to plan and manage schedules, her impeccable and careful attention to the little things, her grand dreams accompanied with specific steps on how to get there.  Now, if I just told you that you might think "eh, she sounds boring."  But let me assure you: boring she is not!  She is FULL of personality.  This crazy brilliant system she has going works, because she is living life, man.  I'm telling ya.  She has FUN.

Here is a classic Whitney picture:  three pairs of back-up shoes.  All color-coordinated, all ready and in their place, all perfect.  I would have probably NEVER thought to buy back-up sandals and rainboots in case of rain!  But not only was her idea smart and reassuring, it was super cute!

She's really just "on it."  She's there for you.  She's got it taken care of.  She has an idea? Boom. Done. Ordered. Printed. Next idea? Let's do it. Boom. Spread sheet. Done.  She makes things happen, and she works hard.  I really wish I had more of "that" in me.  Sometimes dreamers can really be the most lazy people... we need more people of action in this world!  And Whitney is most certainly a dreamer in action.

I can't tell you how many e-mails I got from her with galleries for wedding inspiration, floral ideas, color schemes and general information.  She wanted me to be up to date, involved and really a part of her day.  I loved those e-mails.  

Her heart and soul were in this event.  Now, some may say "If you focus too much on your wedding, you aren't making your marriage the priority!"  Trust me, I understand the sentiment, I get what that phrase is referring to.  But I must say, oftentimes a persons extreme focus on the wedding is a reflection of their gigantic hearts.  Their hearts for their families, friends, parents and spouse.  Whitney wanted this day to be perfect for everyone.  She wanted everyone (who drove ALL the way across the bay bridge ;) haha) to be showered upon with memories and celebration.  She was no casual "eh, I don't care, whatever" participant in this day.  She was engaged in every element, and when wedding day came around, it was so personal, emotional and meaningful.  It's the difference between a Stouffer's frozen lasagna and a homemade, hand-made pasta, slow-cooked sauce, fresh baked lasagna.  The person who puts hours of time into the lasagna doesn't "care more about the meal than the family."  No, no... it's BECAUSE she cares for the family she desires to give them the best meal!  That is how Whitney is.  

Ashley, Whitney's sister, got married at Glen Echo Park.  If you've been around for a while, you'll know that Glen Echo Park is one of my most cherished venues.  I ADORE GLEN ECHO.  Well, besides Glen Echo I have a running list of venues that I want to shoot at in my general area.  Leave it to these sisters to choose perfect locations ;) because The Oaks was on the Dream List of mine.  I actually jumped off my chair when I read Whitney's e-mail telling me the good news ;) Isn't this place perfect? 

Love. her. ring.

This feels like a very Lydia Jane shot to me ;)

I have to say, I'm very 50/50 on the whole first look thing.  As a photographer I adore it - who doesn't want more uninterrupted time with your couple?  There are few things I enjoy more then pleeeeeenty of time to shoot!  And there is the sweetness of a moment with nobody else around.  It's like being proposed to in public vs. private.  However, the other side of me - the girly side! - can't help but love the traditional, chilling, gasping, musical entrance with a fatherly pass-off.  I know you STILL get to have that when you did a first look, but I don't know... their is something about the idea and legacy of that ritual that I love.  All that said, I don't have much of a preference with what couples would like to do.  I can offer suggestions, especially as the photographer.  I do like more time!  But I'm going to be bold here and let you in on something: first looks are REALLY awkward sometimes.  "Honey, it's just you and me... and strangers recording our every move, hoping for us to cry or kiss passionately... or something."  Maybe Jasmine Star has some magic trick she does to make all her first-looks go flawlessy, but I sure didn't learn that in the workshop! So we arrive at Nick and Whitney's first look.  Truth be told, it was beautiful.  Honestly.  If I could be guaranteed to have a first look be so special, happy and gorgeous, I just might do it myself.

After their happy, normal (aka: not awkward!) and relaxing first look, we tooook ooooour luuuxurious time doing portraits!

We had a lot of grounds to cover at The Oaks... especially since Whitney knew that place like the back of her hand!

This looks so New England-y to me!  <3

Oh Kyle and Ashley.  We were created to be friends.  I've been back to their house for dinner a couple times, they were one of the very first to meet my boyfriend (who wasn't my boyfriend at the time!) and we even spent Fourth of July together this year.  I miss you guys!

After all the group pictures were finished, the photog crew and the almost-weds drove down the road to a sweet little bay town.  I love the rush of taking photos in a busy place, seeing everyone stare at us as we walk down the road, marching through crowds making no eye contact, being all "Ye-ah. YE-ah. What?"  It's very glamorous.

(It's also a fun challenge to make it appear like there were not many people around.  This streets were not empty, my friends!)

Now we arrive at the wedding climax, the great build-up, the part where the tension peaks.  Our vehicle full of media crew and talk-of-the-town couple pulled back onto The Oaks property about 20 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to start.  While we were gone the storm radar took a turn for the worst, and the grassy, waterfront wedding under the giant oak trees seemed to be a precarious option.  While we were out, however, none of us answered our phones (or felt them ringing for that matter.)  With the bride and groom gone and rain approaching, they wedding team made a game-time decision to move everything under the covered dock.  

It's not that this option wasn't a perfectly wonderful location, or that Whitney wouldn't have even made that decision herself, it was just a little confusing to drive up and see half the chairs in the grassy location, the other half on the dock, speakers being moved, floral arrangements being transported across the lawn. What on EARTH was going on?!

That sliver of just a few minutes gave me a front seat view of Whitney and Nick's relationship.  I haven't described Nick much to you thus far.  All that I've said about Whitney is true - and I could say much more!  I truly LOVE her, and I LOVED shooting HER wedding because I SO love HER.  But I have to hand it to him, Nick is one quality man.  In all this commotion, and in the mounting stress, there was nothing I could say to relieve Whitney, nothing her sister or mother or girlfriends or wedding coordinator could do.  She wasn't going ballistic or anything, in fact, she was remarkably calm!  But you could tell her sweet, planners heart was racing a bit.  And Nick was the only one who could help.  "I understand how you're feeling.  I've talked to _______, _______ and ________. The change is being made.  We will be getting married on the dock.  It will be beautiful and I personally will make sure it is exactly like we talked about for the Plan B."  Whitney visibly calmed.  "Do not worry, Whit.  I've got this under control.  You finish getting touched up and I'll see you in just a few minutes."  And like *that* she had not a care in the world.  And that right there, ladies and gentlemen, is a man.

Patient, calm, gentle and also bold, "fix-it" and decisive.  Manly!

I really am glad that the weather looked like it was going to be bad, because I loved how personal and unique the dock ceremony was.  Though it never rained, I think it was just a little special touch to the wedding to have it over the water ;)

One mis-step and I would have been Kristen Phelps, the swimming photographer!

I love all the things children do to get through a ceremony ;)

After promises, pledges, surprises, and I-do's, Nick took just another situation on this wedding day into his own hands! Ow ow!

Yayayayayyayay!

The reception had Whitney-love glazed all over it.  From her perfect flowers and darling cake...

... to the nautical feeling shutters...

... to an album about Nick and Whitney's home that built together, or "The Home That Built Them"...

... to her creative table names!  At their engagement shoot Whitney brought props and we spent an extra hour taking photos for the table "numbers."  Each table was named after a vital part of making a relationship work.  They took a silly picture to go with each word.  Cute, huh?!

Such a feast. Such. A. Feast.

Some of the best I've ever come across.  I love you four!

The night the best I've ever seen yet.  With the guests all lined up on the gorgeous deck, and newlyweds down on the grass, fireworks lit up the night, reflecting on the glassy water.  It was perfect.

Thank you for the magic, the love, the friendship and the fun.  I will never, ever forget this wedding! Love you BOTH.

Enjoy Project | Making Tortilla Soup Unmatched

"i'm not a glutton,
i'm an explorer of food."
erma bombeck


Last week was terrible on "Making Things Tuesday".  I am here to redeem myself, with my most prized talent: tortilla soup making.  Other than Making Messes and Chewing, I believe Tortilla Soup Making to be my finest skill.  Desperate times call for desperate measures... and things were desperate over in Craft Land.  So today we are making things in the kitchen.  I'll teach you all my secrets.  I have a stockpile of secrets.  These secrets have a lot to do with getting used to the smoke when burning food and how to lick the spoon without the people around noticing.  Let's begin.

Before you cook anything you need to lay out all the ingredients on the floor, in cute little bowls, and photograph them (withOUT your feet getting in the picture.)  That is the path to success ;) Just playing.  Though I rarely implement this idea, it actually helps greatly to prep all the food and measure it out before you start to cook.  That idea would really only work if you had a little extra time.  Also, if you wanted to do this soup recipe the REALLY easy way, with hardly any work, you could throw all this into a pot at once and let it cook altogether.  It doesn't have quite the same effect as the elbow-grease version, but it's still real good ;)

And now we are primed and prepped and ready to put the pedal to the metal!  The broth is THE most important part of soup.  So make it count.  Set your chicken (with bones!) in the pot and fill pot with water until it covers the poultry by an inch or so.  (I used three large pieces of chicken and two tiny wings.  It doesn't really matter... the more chicken you use, the more you'll have in the soup!  The less... the less you'll have! haha)  Add 1/2 cup or so of chopped celery, and other 1/2 cup or so of chopped onion and a final 1/2 cup or so of chopped carrots.  Feel free to use more!  

Throw in some celery leaves and cilantro stalks and you are well on your way to being Flava Flave.  Take pot off your living room floor and put on stove on HIGH and bring to boil.  Keep child away from stove.  Let her finish eating her stolen corn tortillas.

While broth is heating, getcho're fresh veggies out and chop up half a red onion, a whole tomato and four or so stalks of green onion.

Put vegetables in a yellow cast iron skillet ("frying pan" is for beginners ;) Okay, okay, I'm just playing again.)

Drizzle veggies with olive oil and add 2 TSP of black pepper, 1 TSP Seasoned Salt and 1 TSP white salt.  (Seasoned Salt is capitalized because it is very important and official.)  Turn stove on to medium-high and let the vegetables sizzle and crackle and moan.  Keep stirring so veggies cook evenly.

Yum!  I love when the juices start to bubble.  I feel like Ratatouille. 

After 3-5 minutes (or sooOooo) add as much corn as you'd like.  I just dumped what was left in the bag I had in the freezer (an official measurement, I know.)

Mix the corn in and see if you can do a little salsa jig while you stir. "Ay ay aaaaay!"

Alrighty.  After 15-20 minutes of heating, the chicken should be mostly if not all cooked in the broth.  Remove chicken and let cool for a few minutes.  Take out fork and knife to remove chicken from bone and skin.  Then use your hands to remove chicken from bone and skin.  (I really tried to use the knife... But I have terrible hand-eye coordination.  And that's also why I couldn't make lay-ups on my Varsity basketball team.)  Fair warning:  this is the worst part.  I hate taking the meat off the bones.  HAAATE IIIITT.  I always come close to making the soup a vegetable soup.  My heart starts to beat a little faster.  "Why am I anxious?  Calm down.  It's fine.  Stop it."  I always promise myself I'm going to use boneless skinless breasts next time (which you can do by the way: just cook the chicken in store bought chicken broth, not water).  But I want the taaaste of reaaaal brooooth, my mouth counters.  My belly chimes in too, in total agreement.  So I press on.

Looking at pictures like this help.  "Pain is weakness leaving the body!  No pain, no gain!  I suffer for my soup!" (props to you if you know where that last quote comes from...) "Keep your eye on the prize!"

And somehow I manage to carry on.  So! Now!  Take your chunks of chicken and plop them back in the broth.  Dump the contents of the skillet into the soup - oil, juices, veggies, everything.

Add all the seasonings to the soup as well (we already use the salt and pepper to cook the vegetables, though. So don't add more of that just yet.) 1 TBS CUMIN, 1/2 TBS Garlic Powder, Chili Powder and Cayenne Pepper.  (CUMIN is in all-caps because it is the most important, the others are very important too.  Just not MOST important.)

Mmmmm. I like culurrr. (And dang moccasin crept into the corner of this picture.)

Take the pot back to the stove and collect your liquids from the ground.  (That sentence felt weird leaving my fingers, homeboy. Oh no! What is happening to me?! I feel so shady.)

Crush the whole tomatoes in your chicken-y fingers and drop into pot.  Also dump about half of the juice from the can into the pot.  Then go ahead and pour 1/2 a cup of white drinking wine (alcohol burns out when cooked... don't worry.  You won't get tipsy.)  Glug a 32 oz package of chicken broth into the pot as well. Glug glug glug.  And finally: 3/4 a cup of root beer.  I know.  I know.  You think I'm pranking you.  I'm not.  Trust me.  It gives a smoky, sweet, hearty flavor you just can't beat.  Let this all simmer for at  LEAST an hour.  But try to let it simmer longer then that.  I like to give it six hours if I can.  There is no shame in making this the one day and then setting the pot in the fridge over night either!  You just can't rush these things.  You know what happened when you rushed your first dating relationship.  It didn't end too good, huh?  Give the ingredients time.  No pressure.  No rush.   Good ol' fashioned face time.  

Whenever you are ready to serve the soup, throw some oil and some cut corn tortillas back on the skillet and do yourself a favor.  Fry up some chip strips, let them drip on a paper towel, show them your love by salting them just a tad and dare yourself to only eat 10 before dinner time.

This right here is one of my Top Three Foods of All Time.  I'd eat these every day if I still fit into my highschool jeans.

After all the hard work of simmering and connecting, the soup will have MUCH less broth than it began with.  Don't be alarmed.  And don't worry about it seeming too water-y before the "big simmer."  It'll steam out.  At this point give it a little taste test.  More salt? More spice?  More vegetables?  Add what you think it needs.  Every time I cook this it's a little bit different.  Sometimes the vegetables are more flavorful than others, sometimes there is more chicken than others, etc.  I added more cumin and salt to this batch, and about 1/4 a cup of salsa.  Salsa is never a bad idea.

THEN YOU GET TO SCOOP THE SOUP.  AND YOU ARE REALLY CLOSE TO EATING IT.  Garnish with whatever makes your heart sing.  I listed out what I used, but please be creative! (Confession:  I also feel like Ratatouille when I grate the cheese off the block right into the bowl.  I also kind of feel like a server at a fancy Italian restaurant.  "Tell me when...")

The Face of an Angel.

The reason I love soup is the same reason I love writing:  You can do almost anything.  With baking?  It needs to be pretty perfect.  It's like math.  It's a science with a formula and the most precise and careful win!  Soup?  It's a creative collaboration of trial, error, preference and taste!  You could add rice to this, or black beans, or cover the top with cheese and broil it for a minute or so, or use more carrots, heck, I bet it would even taste good with some potatoes!  Options are endless, my friends, endless.  Go make your soup and eat it, too.  And if your version tastes really bad, it's not because my recipe is flawed.  It's because you're a bad cook.  Haaaaa haaaa.  Just playing, for one final time today ;)

And here is the handy-dandy print out! The ingredients and directions are color coded.  So the part in pink will need the ingredients in pink, the part in gray matches up with the ingredients in gray, etc, etc! Oh, and remember, you can save this recipe to your a recipe pin board by pinning any of these photos!  It'll always link back to this post :D

Let me know if you make it!  And better yet: take pictures of it!  I'd love to see your creation. Enjoy Tortilla Soup Unmatched!

Enjoy People from Oklahoma | Gingela

One thing I genuinely appreciate is a person who can make me laugh with one line.  Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy funny story-telling, comedic build-up to the punch line, or a long streaming scene of humor that snowballs on itself (like The Office episode where Dwight sets the office on fire and Angela throws her cat into the ceiling "The fire is shooting at us!")  But those swiftly, smartly spoken one-liners have a different skill to them.  You must be sharp and engaged, quick and amused.  


Last year when I stumbled across Angela Sawyer (or "gingela5's") twitter via Pioneer Woman's twitter, I was hooked.  Every tweet made me laugh.  I love her focus on work blues, being a "fat girl" (aka: anyone not a size 0 who eats raisins on Thanksgiving?) and her dogs.  Short story: Her tweets make me laugh.  But they also make me say "YES. SO true! Happens to me all the time!"  Here are a few examples:

- Tip: when you're the passenger on a road trip, before distributing fries, eat some out of BOTH containers. That way you get a few extra.

- My hair never looks cuter than when I'm getting ready to hop into bed.

   

- Yes, I got this cut on my wrist digging through my car because I thought a mayo packet happened to be a fun size butterfinger. :(#fatgirl

I asked this fiercely loyal Oklahoman (all native Oklahoman's are fiercely loyal, I've learned) to tell us a bit about Oklahoma life and guest blog for me today. Enjoy! (And go follow her on twitter!)

--

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma…where the wind comes sweeping down the plains…


What is there to say about Oklahoma? Not much, so let’s talk about something more exciting. ME!


Kristen emailed me about a week ago and asked me to write a guest blog post for her. She simply told me to write about Oklahoma and told me to run with it and write whatever I wanted to write. Since my life is excruciatingly boring I told her I’d just lie and embellish like I do in real life.

By the way, my name is Angela—you can call me anything you want but never, ever call me Angie. Ever. I’ve lived in Oklahoma my whole life in a little town called Oklahoma City. Okay, maybe it’s not a small town but I’m sure there are still some people out there that think that we still ride horses everywhere and have to stop for cows when we’re driving down the road. People, we have a Wal Mart—we’re in the big leagues here! Actually, the suburb I live in, Edmond if you want to get technical, is a thriving city. We have not one, but two Targets and (be ready to be jealous) about four Chick-Fil-A’s within minutes of my house. I have a lovely husband and two dogs that make my life miserable, but I love them. While life may not be fast-paced and crazy, my husband and I take time to enjoy the laid-back environment of Oklahoma.


I’ll begin by telling you how I earned my first million dollars…Okay, okay, okay…that would have been a major lie and embellishment. I’ll be truthful and in turn bore the snot out of you from here on out!


We fill most evenings working out (aka kicking my husband’s butt in the gym) or relaxing with the dogs. Our favorite thing to do in the OKC is going to Oklahoma City Thunder games. As luck would have it, my dad got us season tickets this year so we get to go to every home game. Unfortunately, I always spend 90% of the game people watching or catching up on Twitter so I only catch about 10% of the game. I’m sure that’s exactly what my dad intended when he bought the tickets for us.

If you’re a wuss when it comes to weather, don’t come here. Especially in the springtime. While this is one of my favorite things about Oklahoma, many people don’t appreciate the beauty of a tornado. Which I think is crazy—who doesn’t love running to a shelter two or three times a storm season? It’s great exercise. In fact last year we spent three or four hours of my husband’s birthday huddled in a shelter with our dogs and about a hundred other people. It’s actually the exact way I’d want to spend my birthday but he wasn’t too thrilled with it. It got me out of giving him a gift—we came home to our house still standing and I just said, 'Happy Birthday!'


My husband and I are easily entertained, so that’s probably why we love Oklahoma so much. I’m using the word “we” loosely. He has to love Oklahoma whether he wants to or not. That’s just the kind of love I show him… 'LOVE OKLAHOMA or ELSE!!' At this point he’s probably wanting the “else” part of that threat. We love here and if I had it my way I’d never leave. Oklahoma is Okla-HOME-a to me! (If you didn’t roll your eyes, you should have. That was a lame joke.)


Thanks for taking a small, tiny peek at my life in the great state of Oklahoma!"

Thanks so much for the post Gingela5! You crack me up.  Keep on keeping on ;)

Enjoy Weekends | Intsagram > 2 and a Video

"i spent the best two weeks of my life, thus far,
with you.
but i had to go back home."
karen abad

Today I bring you not a collage with many photos, or a post with much to say.  I bring you one photograph from my past week.  It's one of my favorite pictures of he and I ever.  It sums "us" up so well.  My hair straightened (that's his favorite), he in a Patriots jersey (our new favorite team to cheer for thanks to the Shorey family of EGM), my new pink water bottle from Dre and Becca that I take with me EVERYwhere, little Jaxter trying to decide if he likes me (this little guy is the first baby among "my age" friends), snuggling on the couch, laptop in the background to sneak in a few minutes of work, that mistermister of mine falling asleep.  I love it.

You should follow Elizabeth on instagram (she took this photo and is the handsome baby's momma!)
- She has a way of making plain little things so memorable and lovely.
- She has been married for just over a year and also just became a mommy! It's fun to look into her fun, happy, new world.
- She is very loved by me. So, spread the love!

When you have a spare four minutes, enjoy this sweet, quirky, and loveable couple.  It's hard not to watch this and feel lighter and cheerful.  Happiness is contagious. 

Enjoy Writing |

"we are a world of lottery winners. 
for everyone of us here right now, in every begetting,
there were at least 7,999,999 losers.
they don't even know how almost they were."
notes from a tilt-a-whirl | nd wilson

 "You have been given your body. You have been given your ancestors, your natural strengths and your natural weaknesses.  The backstory is all in place.  You have been drawn, described and placed on a stage unlike any other - the Globe.  And you have been given your freedom to act.  Your story has already begun.  It began when that lucky, eager sperm stood on the winner's platform and listened to its national anthem.  One tail flick slower and you would be someone else.  You would be named Theresa now and you wouldn't be you." (quote from ND Wilson)

Not one part of our anatomy is a mistake.  Not one piece of our growing flesh puzzle came as a surprise to the Creator.  Not your brain and how it functions, not your waist and how long it is, not your toes and how fat they are, not your elbow and how it's "double-jointed."  We, down to the molecular, cellular level have been planned by God, and after making His plan for us, He specifically tailored us, knitting our body together in another persons body.  Synonyms for womb include abyss, emptiness, hollowness, nothingness.  From nothingness, He created life.  During an abyss, He planned something. "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." (Jeremiah 1:5) "In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16)

Amy Carmichael is an historic hero for her heart, courage, love for and service to the people of India. "Every night before she went to bed, little Amy Carmichael prayed ardently and enthusiastically for God to turn her brown eyes blue as she slept. Like many brown-eyed Irish girls in the 19th century, she adored the typical image of feminine Irish beauty that included blue eyes and white skin. So, she prayed fervently--prayed with a hope that it seems only children can muster--for God to change the part of her that seemed to be designed wrong. She desperately hoped for God's intervention--but it never came. Amy had brown eyes from the day she was born to the day she died."  As this famous story goes, it becomes beautifully clear that Amy's brown eyes were intentional.  As she grew older and was living out God's plan for her, He opened her spiritual eyes to His purpose of her dark human eyes.  "The missionaries she worked with did everything they could to fit into the culture of which they were becoming a part. Amy reflected once that she now understood why she had brown eyes--a blue-eyed missionary would have been an oddity that never could have truly fit in with the people--and she was thankful that God had persisted in God's intricate and elegant design instead of catering to the wishes of a girl who had not yet met her calling."  (quote by Joshua Hearne)

Not every brown-eyed girl is called by God to be a missionary in India, but every pair of brown eyes was made because they were precisely what God wanted, what He planned.  Surely many brown-eyed girls have wished for blue eyes, and surely most of them never saw a "reason" for their brown eyes like Amy did.  But that's okay.  Every part of our miraculous, beautiful human machines has a purpose.  Short legs, scrawny legs, stiff legs, moles, wrinkles, marks, dimples, plump cheeks, wizened skin, cleft palettes, full lips, hands with two fingers, nail beds, finger prints, cuticles, hand wrinkles, knuckles that crack, curly hair, fast-growing leg hair, hairy backs, crooked teeth, pearly teeth, broad shoulders, slumpy shoulders, hearts with holes, spines with bends, brains with fluid, muscles that are too hard, frames that are big, frames that are small, skin that is dark, voices that are raspy, eyes that never see, ears that hear perfectly, feet that never walk, the milky body of a 20-week old life, the decomposing body of an 102-year old life.  Your body is not an accident, your body has not gone by unnoticed.  Your body is your costume for this stage, The Globe, and God himself sewed it together.  He created it for you.  It was not a mistake.  You are not a mistake, though you may have been quite the surprise to your parents, God "made [you] in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth."  He cares for you.  I'm full convinced that this changes everything.

Enjoy Pinterest | Rain Boots

it's raining, it's pouring,

the old man is snoring!

The 2012 Maryland winter was been as mild as they come.  It's been lovely for a summer-lover like me who can't wait for shorts and sandals, because there have been days this summer where I WORE SHORTS.  The "Snowmaggedon" Blizzard shut down the entire government two years ago.  I wanted to cry multiple times, mostly when I was falling into waist-high snow at night after slipping on ice.  But you know what mild winters remind me of (besides safety, hope and eternal sunshine?) SPRING! It's right around the corner, I get more excited every day, spring is near! Sound the alarms! Rejoice in the streets!

Today's EnjoyProject pin board is dedicated to the fancy footwear we need to survive the April Showers.  Or we need to distract from our pasty winter legs.  My one and only pair of rain boots died in Ireland last year, so I buried them there (some people have funerals for their pets, I have funerals for my shoes.) That leaves me needing some new kicks.  Here are some favorites so far:

I had never really considered ankle-high rain boots (in some ways that seems to defeat the purpose of a rain boot) BUT, these modern, cream beauts are hard to ignore:

These are probably a tad too Oliver Twist for me to rock, but how I wish I could wear these red lookers: While these mauve waders my appear ho-hum, I really adore the dark buckles on the side AND would love to wear them with a neon yellow skirt.  I'm all about mixing blush neutrals and neons (okay... the whole WORLD is into that right now... I know I didn't come up with it.  But I jumped on this trend train and held on tight!)

 

PATTERNED RAIN BOOTS? Be still my covetous heart.

Now here is a pair of red boots I could get into!  I just adore the shape of the heel, the sweater cuff and the confident red. Mhhmmm.We'll close this cookie jar after one last bite of my personal favorites. Tom Joule boots are my footwear soulmates. (Should I go there? Should I... No...Ah... I.. can....not... STOP. SOLEMATES! Sorry. I tried.)  I've been waiting for a love like this all my life.  Aren't they beautiful? And sensitive? And strong? *Sigh*

Alright pinners! I posted the rules below so you can refresh yourself!  Get yourself added to the EnjoyProject Pinboard and show me some boots that rival those Tom Joule's! Major props to Yana... she jumped right in last week and posted up a storm! She made my day and her Pinterest boards are so fun. You should check. it. ouuuut.


PINTHURSDAY RULES:
1] I created a group board called "Enjoy Project"... follow it!

2] Every Thursday I will blog about a particular topic (today, for example, is pencils.)

3] Leave a comment with your Pinterest name and I will add you as a contributor to the group board.  Also leave a link to your favorite/rad find for the theme.  (So leave a link to some awesome pencils - colored pencils, mechanical pencils, etsy pencils, skies the limit!)

4] Once you are added to the group, you can pin your find right to the page.  If you would like to contribute to the group, but do NOT want to be an official contributor, leave your Pinterest name and link and I'll post your find myself, with credit for the find to you.

5] We'll collect ideas together! Sitting all alone on your computer, scrolling through pages and pages, waiting for pins to fetch, is very isolated ;) This way we can interact together! And get to know one another.

6] Once a pin is in the group you can (obviously) re-pin to a different board if you'd like more organization for yourself.

7] Be kind, have fun and enjoy one another, please and thank yaaaa.8] When pinning on this board, use the #enjoyproject hashtag! It will make it ever easier to find when we have more and more posts.9] My goal is to have the board available to the current topic for one week.  So you have from Thursday-Wednesday to post pencils! Then Thursday-Wednesday to post _______. (I'm not giving away next weeks topic just yet ;) haha).10] Enjoy yourself. And the ideas. And the other people. 

Alright! You ready? Go pin!

Enjoy Project | Backyard Wedding | Richard + Evelyn

here in your arms where the world is impossibly still
with a million dreams to fulfill

sting | until

Few events compare to a wedding in the backyard of the bride's current home.  Few events require such invasion of personal space ("This is where he picked me up for our first date." "I ran into my parent's room and cried... He just didn't like me and I knew it." "I primped and prettied in this bathroom, I came home to this bed, I walked these halls, watched out these windows.").  Few events take over your whole world, turning life into a wedding factory.  Cleaning, storing, gardening, decorating, visualizing, transforming for a wedding alongside lunch dishes, morning showers, errands, refrigerators that need the vegetable drawer cleaned out and homework.  It is quite a feat for families to accomplish.  There is no escape from the ever-nearing and yet all-elusive wedding.  The result, however, is that the wedding day itself has an undeniable and contagious weight of charm, hard work, intimate, familial celebration.  It's really an experience to behold. Richard and Evelyn's wedding was my 100th wedding, and it did not disappoint (I also shot their engagement shoot in this backyard!)

Our bride today, Evelyn, has the privilege of being daughter to brilliant, engaging, well-spoken Dave and lively, bright, uncommonly organized and capable Nancy.  This family, along with the groom, Richard, developed a beautiful wedding theme: Romantic Garden Library.  Every element of this wedding was either classically amorous, involving fresh, local plants or including books and great literature.  Starting with the type-writer key necklaces all the bridesmaids received from Evelyn.

The entire upstairs of this brick cottage home was transformed into an airy "ladies suite," with one room cornered off to use as a "bride's refuge."

From the window in the bride's refuge, she and her little ladies could watch guests arrive.  They shrieked when long-time friends pulled up, they oooo-ed at colorful dresses and dashing bowties, they rapped on the screen and enjoyed the confused faces darting back and forth below.

Guests certainly enjoyed an over-the-top view when they entered the party.  From homemade hand-cut (and burned!) signs, to a real, working antique vehicle (which served as the gift table), to the extravagant flower gardens tangling the property - it was rather inspiring.

The "Welcome Tent" had chairs to lounge on, drinks to mingle with, fresh flowers, photographs of the clearly loved couple and name cards for the reception.  These name cards were not only handmade by the bride and her mother, they are book marks, to continue the library scheme.

Once you presented your gift to the ancient car altar in the side yard, and grabbed a sip of something sweet, you would find yourself enjoying the continued details of the back yard.

It is hard to briefly point out this lean green machine of a garden, where food was grown for months to use for the wedding meal.  Vegetables, herbs, greenery... You name it.  Talk about locally-grown garden-to-table, huh?!

The kitchen smelled truly celestial as the local caterer chopped away at the newly picked ingredients.

I particularly loved the soft pansies on against the dark chocolate cupcakes.  Entirely lovely.

This cake bar is particularly special because the middle cake (not the cupcakes) was the exact same recipe Evelyn used to woo Richard.  Her hail-mary in this Get His Attention Contest was a birthday cake, a really really fantastic one.  And, hey, it worked! ;)

Sweet daughters of the caterer were joyfully working alongside him.  I love how family-oriented this whole wedding was.

Alright, back to the back yard.  The official shed-turned-bar was one of my favorite pieces of this day.  Nancy and Evelyn proved that with great taste, patience, and some imagination can honestly make anything beautiful.  There were literally shovels and lawn mowers hidden inside the shed... but the front? Adorable.

More writing, perhaps?  I think yes!  While MabLibs are becoming more popular at weddings, I have to applaud Evelyn and Richard for their extremely funny and borderline risky MadLibs.  I had a hoot reading over everyone's answers ;)

The bartenders were friends of the family... also friends of my family... also parents of Sam, of Sam and Emily! I'll be shooting their wedding in just a few weeks :D

The reception table numbers were made from real cuts of wood.  Nancy sanded, stained and either stamped or burned the numbers onto the wood and turned them into bookends.  I. Know. Right?

I loved their idea of making a giant "program" or itinerary for the night.  Typography is always wanted, in my book, and it was a bit of a different take on the ordinary programs!

I really should post more images with people in them.  The people at this wedding were hilarious and full of personality - from artists to professional athletes to little bow-tied children to business genius'... It was a motley crew, and I loved them.  

   

Ceremony

The ceremony was rich was history, meaning, literature and love.  I was moved.

How nice does that red look with the green?!

Day traded shifts with night as we created history, as we celebrated.

The buzz of content friends and clinking glasses sang upon the sleepy neighborhood.  We, like a moon in the night sky, shone with color and love.

Romantic? Check.  Garden? Check.

I won't even try to detail for you what this reception was like.  I can't do it. I'm not talented enough.  I do not know enough words or know enough about arranging words together to be able to communicate how special this evening was.  The toasts were THE best I've ever heard.  The laughter was uproarious, the tears were constant, the conversation was endless.

Evelyn and Richard, you are wonderful and wonderfully loved.  It was a career highlight for me to be a part of your wedding, to enjoy your company, to watch your enjoy each other, to learn new vocabulary words, to feel alive and wide awake at the end of the day, to dream about the kind of celebration meals God has awaiting us in the future.  Thank you and congratulations.

Enjoy Project | Making a Valentine's Banner

"a life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, 
but more useful than a life spent 
doing nothing.”
george bernard shaw

Well, folks.  Today I come to you from the pits of a creators despair.  The grand idea, the motivated and patient effort, the setbacks that don't phase, the setbacks that make you a *little* frustrated, the setbacks that make you walk away and nearly scrap the idea all together, the hope of a new take at the project to keep it alive... and then... yeah... you just stop.  I am committed to posting according to schedule everyday but this is not my favorite thing I've ever made ;)  

I think the whole thing went wrong when I had an idea (that I STILL think could work!) and I had free fabric samples (from the Alt Summit gift box! Woohoo!), and I forced the two to work together.  I should have just used a different material from the start.  I should have saved the fabric for a different project.  Oh well.

The original idea was to cut out letters, so as to leave the negative space of the fabric, and have the wall color show through the letters (it looks kind of cool on the wood, right?!).  I wanted to create a vertical banner because, as much as I think bunting and long banners are cute, they are quite done these days ;) And I thought I was perhaps being a little different in going a different direction! Literally.

Well, after about three hours, hot glue guns, irons, flopping letters, cardstock, paint pens, and a sad sad Kristen I called this project quits and will try again a different time.  I need to use either felt or cardstock... something sturdier than cotton fabric.  I also need my Craft Angel to cut out the letters for me with his sturdy, perfectionist hand.  I feel like this ended up being a fine.  Not cute.  Not whimsical.  Not fresh.  Not modern.  But if you feel like you could take elements and make it work, I'd love to hear tips!  And I am going to give this a whirl some other day with the proper materials.  

In the meantime, I refuse to let this post be a debbie-downer today! SooOoo I decided that "making memories" counts as "making things"... Can I get an "amen!"?  Last Friday, when mistermisterchickendinner arrived home from a three-week absence we had a lovely date day.  He arrived at my house around 5:21 am (around...) and we stayed up until 7 am.  He finally needed to get some sleep (so did I... it's very tiring blow-drying your hair at 2:30 am).  After a looooong nap until 10:00 am we headed out to Great Falls, Virginia.

There were only a scattered few runners and tourists there, so we for all intents and purposes had the place to ourselves.  So we taught ourselves how to waltz on the "dance floors" (look out points). And we took pictures. Here is proof:

I told him that this was my artsy picture of the day.  He is responsible for the first picture of this post, which is clearly more artsy than my shot.  He told me he could take over my business as an artist if I needed. 

Afterwards we drove around Potomac, Maryland and gasped at the mansions.  I'm sure nobody knew that the two blondies in the scraped up Corolla weren't Potomac natives.  We blent in seamlessly.  After we were fully inspired and mentally broke, we headed into Washington DC.  (Don't worry about it: Virginia, Maryland and then DC all within a couple of hours. We get around.)

I wanted to take a picture of us in the city.  It went something like this:


He: You need to update your phone so you can take a picture with the side button.
Me: I know, I know, I know. I will. But I can't now.
*click*
Me: Alright you're not looking at the camera. Let's try again.

He: Kristen, this is seriously hard to do.  Let's use my phone. It's updated. 
Me: Make sure you look at the camera this time!
*click*
Me: Were you looking at the camera?!
He: I was TRYing to! But it's hard to take a picture with this dumb phone! And the sun is in my eyes! I'm shielding you like a man.
Me (reviewing the last picture): Oh, oops, okay, camera is still on.
(scroll through last two pictures)
He: YOU are a hypocrite! YOU weren't looking at the camera!
Me: Because it takes you thirteen months to push a button!

He: Turn this way, the sun doesn't hurt my eyes.
Me: Excuses.
(He was right.)
*click!*
He: Aw, that one is good!
Me: No, it's not... The Red Guy from The Wiggles is walking into my head.
(He doesn't know what The Wiggles are because he grew up TV-less, so he ignores that comment.)
He: Alright, let's try one more time. Kiss on the cheek?
Me: (apparently really not down with that idea?) No.

We gave up on the perfect picture because Founding Farmers reservations were encroaching.  So we went, studied the menu like a mid-term outline, photographed our food, devoured our food, discussed our food, took home our unfinished food, picked food out of the box, paid and cancelled our plans for the rest of the night (including skipping a couples seminar at church to stay home and watch The Bachelor on Hulu).

On our way to the car I made more art:

It was an add for Vodka.  But you'd never know it.

And then I made my final masterpiece of the day: A complicated sunset landscape of the ethereal Mormon temple on I-270.  Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was skilled like me? Don'tchaaa?

Go make something.  Even if it's stinks.  Because memories are better than perfection.

Enjoy People from Oklahoma | Carlotta

“no friendship is an accident. ”
o. Henry, heart of the west

Carlotta is an old soul.  That sounds somewhat hokey (and I actually haven't met this pretty little fourteen-year-old face) but she is incredibly methodical, peaceful and observant, beyond her years. Her blog is consistently filled with lovely life details, precious thoughts, creative endeavors and just plain ol' inspiration.  Enjoy the following post from the first of four Oklahoma people I enjoy:

Hey there! I'm Carlotta and I blog over at Pastor's Girl's Ponderings. I'm so excited to be here today...I think we all agree that Kristen is pretty much the best, yes? She asked me to post about Oklahoma...which, considering this is where I live, is a subject close to my heart.

I'm an Oklahoma transplant--I've only been living here four years. But dang, when I moved here I never expected to fall so in love. Oklahoma tends to be an over-looked state--country you just drive through or fly over and never give it much thought.

But it's a state that's rich with history, breath-taking views, and some of the sweetest people you will ever meet. I love the mix of big city (which is large enough to feel cultured but you still run into people you know everywhere) and country, the wide, wide open spaces, and tucked into the valleys, hidden caves and rocky paths begging to be explored.

I love the wild mustangs running free, the abundance of cows dotting the fields, and--yes, I'm going to go here--the wind that sweeps down the plain. Oklahoma is full of surprises and discoveries just waiting to be made. I love every inch of this glorious state...and I feel so blessed that I get to call it home.

Much Love,

Carlotta

  

Enjoy Project | Videos | I'm Kristen Bell

"He's coming for the PAR-ty?!?"

Tell me you've seen this? Please please please watch this. Even if you've already seen it. It'll make you smile, and smiling is just delightful.

I've always been a bit of a Kristen Bell fan (her name is perfectly spelled).  She is kind of my ideal blonde-haired, spunky, sweet, well-spoken, All-American girl.  I liiiiiiiike to think I'm kind of like her. (Don't worry... I know I'm not.  But it's just like how you know you don't look your doppleganger, but it still feels good that the computer thought you looked most like Angelina Jolie.)

Enjoy this awesome girl and her weird animal fetish and fantastic emotions.

Enjoy Project | Instagram > 1

This is your FAIR WARNING.  Don't say I didn't "told you so!"  I am telling you so.  If you decide to take that giant leap and follow me on Instagram, there are a few cautions I must alert you to, some common "annoyances," if you will.

FAIR WARNING NUMBER ONE) I post about my relationship... a lot.  I post about carrying-on a bouquet of dried roses on an airplane, about missing him, pictures of him where I think he looks hoit hoit!, our texts, and our dates.  Okay?  If that is barf-ilicious, "so done" or annoying to you: you've been waaaaarned.  Also, we like cheesy/movie lines. We think they're great. We sometimes instagram them. It is what it is. Love us or leave us ooooor tolerate us.  

FAIR WARNING NUMBER TWO) I post about food... a lot.  Eating is my second favorite part of life.  The jury is still out on what #1 is, but #2 is definitely food.  And sometimes since #1 is undecided, food takes it's place for a bit.  I eat a lot of food, I eat really good food, I make food, I buy food, I think about food, I thoroughly enjoy food, and I instagram food.  Get. Over. It.  

FAIR WARNING NUMBER THREE) I post about babies and children... a lot.  If you aren't really a "kid person" or if you have no small children in your life, I understand why these might seem like redundant posts.  "How many times can you post that kid sleeping? Gracious."  Here's the deal:  Every instagrammed picture of a child represents at least nine other non-instagrammed moments.  And the moments are awesome.  And their faces, smells, discoveries and reality is just more then I can handle sometimes.  I love children.  (Especially Baby Behr, McKenna, Noah and Emma, Audrey, Addie, Makenna, Hailey and Selah, Emily and The Jaxter.)  I love children, believe children can change your life, believe they are important in their existence, brilliant in their naivete and wonderful in their lack of "productive-ness", and I instagram children.

FAIR WARNING NUMBER FOUR) Alright, this one is slightly different.  Instagram photos of landscapes seem to be more acceptable then the previous three.  But I'm not going to water this down: I am the girl who sees a sunset and whips out her phone for a great Instagram snap.  I'm one of the throbs of "Ah! Pink sky tonight! AWESOME!" in your feed after a grand sunset.  My b, myyyyyyy b (so people still say that?).  I just think they're really cool.  And I love the places I get to go and see... even if it's just a little ol' ride home from basketball practice turned watercolor melting sky explosion!

THE GOOD NEWS SECTOR!

- I do not instagram screen-caps of a quote I have in my iPhone notepad! Never have, never will.

- I do not instragram photographs of myself with a toilet in the background!

- I do not insagram myself in a bathroom. Ever.
- I do not instagram EVERY meal I eat. 

The End. Still want to follow me?