Category — Me

Well, here it is, after about a week working on it (on and off and while on vacation), here is the new look for my blog! I am not sure I could love it more! Possibly because it’s the first time my blog has been basically created by me, I altered a WordPress theme with Shawn’s help and made my own header and buttons. Yay me!!

For the category buttons on the right, I was completely inspired by Elise and followed her tutorial, which you can find here. (So thank you Elise, for your wonderful tutorial and inspiring blog design!) I had originally wanted to do something more similar to hers with the photos, but didn’t have enough photos for my buttons and I really wanted to finish this makeover this week. I also didn’t think that the photo buttons would have gone as nicely with the new header as these do. The header was completely done in Photoshop and, I must say, I am quite impressed with myself!

I have gone through all of my old posts and re-categorized each post to fit my new categories. The one thing I have not done, and will not go back to do, is re-size all of my photos. I know that they now bleed over into the sidebar, please forgive that. There are too many pictures on my blog for me to go back and try to re-size each one to fit the new design of the blog. What I can do is promise that from here on out, the photos that are added will definitely fit inside the lines (wow, I don’t even like the way that sounds!) of the blog layout. Again, I apologize for this inconvenience. Maybe one day, when my wedding is no longer a month away, I will go back to change them. But for now, I am at peace with them bleeding over a little.

So all that being said, please come back frequently to check out the blog and see what’s happening over here. With the wedding being 31 days away (OMG!!) there’s sure to be lots of goodies to share with you all! Also, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the re-design!

Tonight I am home alone, and will be for the remainder of the week. It has left me feeling a little lonely and weird, I haven’t been alone for this long since my brief time of living alone three years ago. So for my second list, I am longing for the comfort of things I love. Since laundry had to be done tonight, this seemed like the perfect list for tonight.

some of my faves by slcarabine featuring GAP

1. Jeans
2. Sweaters
3. Fun color/pattern socks
4. Long sleeve tees
5. V Neck tees
6. Layers
7. Sweatpants
8. Scarves
9. Flip flops

So here’s to finding comfort in the things you love and here’s to the end of this week coming as quickly as possible!

Spring is just around the corner! As much as I have loved all of the snow we have gotten this winter, I am finding myself longing for those imminent signs of spring. This first list includes the things I am most looking forward to about the pending change of season.

*all images above from we heart it or flickr

1. daffodils
2. warm sunshine
3. longer days
4. my birthday!
5. lightweight jackets
6. bright colors
7. happy, chirping birds
8. green grass
9. Easter egg hunts
10. blue skies

This is a short list, but it is all encompassing! I cannot wait for longer days and more sunshine. I love that I live in a place where we have serious changes from season to season, there is definitely something to love about each season.

image from weheartit

I thought that I would have had a lot of new goals for this year, but as it turns out, planning a wedding will take precedence over any other goals and plans you think you might have had! So as it turns out, my New Years goals for 2010 are to plan an awesome wedding and get married!

However, I do like to have something on-going to at least attempt to tackle. Previously this has been my 365 photo projects, which I have gotten about 30 or 40 days into and then putttered out on. Hopefully, this new project will be more successful!

These days, my own personal blog here has been more than neglected. This is mostly due to the fact that I am doing a lot of blog writing for these two blogs: Allure Studios and Shawn Grimes Photography. This is a fact that makes me sad, but I love writing for all of these blogs. I just need to find a way to blog here that is easy and time-friendly.

While reading this blog I was completely and totally inspired by her new project of 52 lists. I bought the book listography last year in hopes that it would spark a creative jolt in me and be something fun to work on. It has been sitting collecting dust, until I read Andrea’s new plan for her own list project. I thought that this would be just the jumpstart I needed here on my own blog, and so I started thinking about how to make it my own.

Andrea is focusing her project on one list a week, for a total of 52 lists for the year. I want to do at least that many. What I am thinking is that I would like to do one stand-alone list for each week on a random theme or something of interest. But I think I would also like to use lists more as a way to journal here about everyday happenings. Lists are quick and easy and I think would be just the right thing I need to do some quick and easy, but meaningful, blogging here on my personal blog. So please consider this the formal introduction to my new project: my life in lists! I hope you all enjoy this new adventure I am embarking on and maybe find some inspiration for your own lists!

1. Pumpkin Farm, 2. My Gratitude, 3. momiji leaves, 4. Untitled, 5. Autumn in the Vineyard, 6. Gnarled Beauty, 7. Autumn Deer, 8. last autumn colors, 9. The colours of autumn XX

A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to laugh, a time to weep
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
A time to gain, a time to lose…

These are both lyrics from The Byrds’ song “Turn, Turn, Turn” and verses from the Book of Ecclesiastes from the Bible. As a young person these verses spoke to me on some higher level than most other verses in the Bible and the song was always a favorite of mine (especially after seeing Forrest Gump) because I liked these verses so much. Now, as an adult, approaching my 30th year, these words ring so true to who I have become and all that I have learned, endured, and enjoyed along the way.

This time of year is always a time of reflection for me. These words just seem very fitting for this time of year. I have been teaching my little ones at school all about Harvest and what this time of year means, why we celebrate Thanksgiving, and so on and I have found myself thinking more and more about gathering and reaping and thankfulness and what that looks like in my own life, today.

For me, this is definitely a time to gain. I have gained so much in the last year. I have an incredible amount to be thankful for. Despite the tough times that I have triumphed over the last few years, I really have begun to see a light at the end of that mournful tunnel. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and my traditions changed this year. I still got to spend time with my family and those close to me, but it was a different group of people this year and a different experience altogether. It was a wonderful day. A day to celebrate family and friends and loved ones both far and near, with us and no longer with us. For my family and friends, I am especially grateful.

It’s definitely a time to build up. At this point, I can honestly say that I have a lot on the horizon, and even more to look forward to in my life. 2010 is going to be a great year!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well and if you haven’t done it yet, count your blessings, reflect on the trials and tribulations you have endured. Be thankful.

…for today. I was catching up on reading Ali Edwards’ blog, which I frequent, but have gotten behind on, when I came across this quote she posted, credited to Steve Jobs:

Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned out your own inner voice. Most imporant, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

It completely spoke to me this morning as I am in a place where I am remembering pieces of my past and contemplating and planning bits of my future. I really feel like this quote was written specifically for me! I mean, I know it wasn’t, really, but it definitely embodies a lot of my thoughts and feelings about life and how to live it. My experiences have led me down very different paths from most that I know, and I read this and felt as though this could be a personal mantra of mine.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all something that really inspired me and spoke to me this morning. I hope that you can take something from it.

the weekend was fantastic, the wedding was amazing, but i will be back with details for that later on. for now, i just wanted to share that something new i will be trying is a photo editing class with Jessica Sprague. this is a very beginner’s class and i am so excited that i will be able to take this and use the skills i acquire during the class to help Shawn with his photos and help with editing. if this is something you might be interested in, you can find the details here.

my new summer job is interning for shawn grimes photography. it’s an unpaid position but it’s so much fun!! shawn and i work so well together and we make an awesome team. so while i am home this summer i am in charge of gathering ideas for shoots and doing some graphic design work for marketing materials and photo editing. it’s so much fun and out of my normal comfort zone, but i love that i am getting to try my hand at some new things and finding out how much i actually love photoshop! my work this week has been focused on idea gathering and making collages for the Tirschman family. their two children, kyan and kady, are adorable and at the end of may we got the opportunity to photograph these two cuties for the second time. below are the collages i made this week for this wonderful family…

today has been a great day…

for starters, i found out that, yes, it is official…they are back!!!

“they” are no doubt, one of my all time favorite bands and they are reuniting and touring this summer and beginning work on a new studio album. i was so excited to hear this that i was giddy with laughter this morning on the couch while i was reading all about it. you, too, can read all about it here and here. i can tell you already, i will DEFINITELY be attending their show this summer! and i cannot wait!

today was also a good day because the sun was shining and it felt so good to be out and about enjoying that wonderful vitamin d and warm air. such a beautiful spring day.

to top all of this off, shawn and i made an impromptu stop at pier1 today to look for some possible props for photo shoots and an hour later we had a truck full of goodies…but no props we bought ourselves a lovely pair of papasan chairs! (you can see our first photo of them here). they may seem a little non-traditional, a wee bit bachelor pad-ish, and generally a regression from a typical couch-focused warm and cozy living room…however, that is how we roll! as soon as we sat in them in the store, we knew we had to have them. and we were right! they are awesome!

so all in all it was an awesome day after a very rough week. i cannot wait to see what next week brings…all from the comfort of my papasan chair….ahhhhhh…

this is SUCH a cute idea! i found the blog love you more than blank this morning and was instantly smitten. i love this blog and the whole idea behind it. i haven’t had a chance to read all of the sentiments yet, but i will be thinking about mine and adding it sometime this week. you can email them here with your fill in the blank valentine sentiment. if you send one in, let me know so i can look for it!