Family Photos

2018

"The Martins"

Worry Cactus & New Music

 There is something to be said about discovering and falling in love with music.


I am passionate about things. I always have been. I feel so much more strongly about the arts and about nature than a lot of people and I sometimes struggle to find ways to communicate those feelings. The people in my everyday life are amazing people but... I don't have much in common with them (except one or two on certain subjects) but I really have a hard time with this.

One of the things I struggle with most is how much I want to talk about music- and not just talk about it- feel it and have discussions. I want discuss that feeling of falling in love with it. 
To me, music is the only way to feel life sometimes.  It's the only way to communicate feelings and to just be in the moment.  It bridges a gap and I don't know what I would do without it (that's why I studied Audiology in school- so I could help people hear music).

So- this Aurora is one of those musician/artists that I am falling in love with at the moment.  And true to myself, I am doing it passionately.   You see, I go for a period of time where I listen to the same stuff and it's all good but I crave something new.  Not just a new song but a whole album.  Something with emotion and work and just ugh- this was it:

Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend 

I linked it above.  

I listened to a song I just happened to come across on YouTube and then I dove into the abyss- I learned about her- where she was from - watched documentaries and fell in love.  I love her style, her view on life and most of all her amazingly wonderful sad but happy music! :) I'm content for the moment.  Until I need more... more music ... new music and that need to fall in love again :) 

Ok- this post was supposed to be about my worry cacti that you can find in my store link in the navigation bar above!  I hand make each one of these out of felt, buttons, glue, thread and a whole love time time and love.  They are not perfect but they are so much fun.  You can set them on your desk at work or at home.  Write down your worries on the paper that is provided (I also have extras you can print from the printables tab above) and place it in your cactus's mouth so they eat your worries before they eat you!  You also get "care" instructions.  

These are my favorites that I have made so far below.  They are one of a kind since I do not use patterns.  I get bored when I use patterns.  Please check out the store as I will be posting more as often as I can :) 

The bottom one I still have some last minute things to do but it has turned out to be my favorite.  It's a shelf you can either hang on the wall (yes it has hooks) or you can set it on your desk and I got some lights that go on the inside to give it a special touch- yep- cactus lights! :) 

Okay-I'm up way too late for a work night- enjoy the music and my cacti I have created! :) Night and thank you for reading! 

My favorite so far... still have to do some finishing touches but I'm pretty pleased! 

1 Year

     A year went by already! HOW?! It truly went so fast and it defiantly had it's ups and downs. They say the first year of marriage is the hardest and I have to say, yes, yes it is.   That does not, in anyway, mean it was bad but it does hold new challenges that you have to learn to work together on.  We came out so much stronger.  I am so head-over-heals in love with this man.  He is my world, truly.  

     So to celebrate one year we ventured up to our wedding venue about 45 mins north of us.  They were setting up for a wedding so we hiked some of the trails.  I surprised him by starting a tradition for us - I took a nice box and placed our vows in there along with a few our favorite photos from our wedding.  I added our "Mr." and "Mrs." shot glasses and our Brennivin airplane bottle of liquor from our honeymoon that we were saving for our Anniversary.  I also put in our vow stone that we used on our wedding day.  We found a spot in the woods, sat down on the ground and opened the box together. He really loved it.  We snapped a few Polaroids to put in there for next year, downed the shot, read our vows to each other and enjoyed our photos then closed it up for next year - this is such a nice tradition to start and I'm excited to add photos each year and maybe try some new shots together!  

After Succop we went to Moraine State Park to bike and have a picnic.  I made all the food the night before so we could pack up the cooler in the morning, put our bikes on the car and get on our way bright and early!  Once we got to Moraine we hopped on our bikes and got about 6 miles in before I had an issue with one of my bike tires so we decided that it was time to find a place to eat.  

Yes, that thing was huge... ew.

So we found our picnic spot after driving up the road a few minutes.  We laid the blanket down and enjoyed each others company.  It was so nice to just STOP and enjoy without anything else going on.

 Ya for some reason I am holding the fork between my knees, I think I didn't want to set it down. Haha, I'm so weird! 

 So, once we got home we hung out with the dogs, ate some dinner together and then brought out the top of our wedding cake to eat.  It was actually pretty good still! We had a few bites and then threw it away- I felt bad for throwing that whole cake out but I don't think you're really suppose to eat the whole thing after a year in the freezer. 

 Since we share our Anniversary with my parents, I decided to make them a gift this year.  I saw a painting like this on Etsy but they wanted 70$ for it and I decided to try to paint something similar myself.  I was so proud of this!  Chance liked it too, he insisted on being in the photo! I put their wedding date and initials in the heart on the three- they hung it up in their living room- it made me so happy! 

  

So- here's to our one year and my parent's 41st!  :)

Thanks for reading! 

Dear Chance

     So. It's been five years since I first laid eyes on you at the shelter. Five years since you were dumped under that bridge covered in fleas, filthy with dirt and bruised from the abuse...I saw your photo and new I had to meet you and when I met you I knew I couldn't leave without you. We picked each other and now it's been five years of love, cuddles and kisses. You bring on challenges and try my patience as you required special attention...But I would not trade it for the world! I have learned so much from you and felt love in ways that I didn't think was possible! You are my best friend bud! Always my best friend! We will battle our anxieties together and overcome them at some point! I love you to the moon and back Chance, Happy Adoptaversary! -and here's to many more!

Our Rehearsal & Our Wedding Day

The Big Day...

Video By: Filming the Bride
Photography By: Oakwood Photos 

Wow, It was already 7 months ago! HOW?! WHEN!?

     I haven't been able to sit down to give myself enough time to clear my head and write this post.  I mean, how in the world do you sum up one of the biggest days of your life in a blog post? ... honestly, I don't think you can. 

     So... 7 Months later...here we are...  My name has officially been changed and I am now SHANNON MARTIN!  I have to admit that I've been avoiding writing this post.  I have had so much on my plate and it's caused some serious anxiety issues while trying to get my to-do list completed but for some reason, it only seems to keep growing.  I had started to write this as a long detailed post of what I remembered through the day but it just because so long and I was detailing everything when I really should let the photos do the talking, I mean that's why you have photos taken of the big day.  So... I deleted what I had written.

     I do have to say though, get a photographer AND videographer for you wedding day.  You will NOT regret having both!  The photos are so beautiful and the video put everything into motion.  The day goes so fast and you forget a lot that happens!

     Our photographer and videographers were incredibly talented and if you are in the Pittsburgh area, please look them up, I linked their sites at the top of this post! Also- our DJ was incredible!  I still have people asking for his contact information! Check him out at: DJ Loyal if you are looking for an amazing DJ! Just make sure that you find someone that fits your style, it's so important that you love their work! 

 Before I get into the wedding photos, here are some photos of the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner since I haven't posted those either.  It ended up STORMING and rain was predicted for our wedding.  I was staring to get bummed but I knew it was a possibility and there was a plan B if it rained.  We would just have the ceremony under the pavilion and there would be lots of umbrellas involved that the venue provides.

This is right before it stormed at the rehearsal:

I don't know what I was doing with my arm in the photo below... 

My sister and I with the pouring rain in the background :) 

Yep, blurry Cell phone photos:

 Butler Country Club where our Rehearsal Dinner was: 

I got my sister and old view finder for a matron of honor gift... it had photos of our childhood... I think she and my mom LOVED it! 

Okay, Now for the Big Day- sorry to smush this all into one post. 

     I remember getting up in the morning and saying goodbye to the dog sitter (who was so sweet and happy to watch both our crazies) and then driving up to Succop Conservancy bright and early!  What a name for a venue- Succop.  I got a lot of funny looks when I told people where we were getting married as it's pronounced "Suck Up".  It was about 50 mins from our home so we got a hotel block of rooms that night in Butler, PA and made sure that we had enough time to get home the next day after breakfast at the hotel, grab our suitcases and head out for Iceland!

Oakwood Photo & Video

The photo below is right when we arrived before everyone else - we snuck a few before it got crazy!

All the photos below were shot by Oakwood photo and video, Thanks Alexa! 

I picked my favorite the best I could- if I could, I post all of them. I am in love with our wedding day! I really feel so very lucky to have all that I did!  I know a lot of people in this world may not be as lucky.  I hope you enjoy the photos and my rambles and I can't tell you how happy I am that I am going to hit that publish button soon on this post so I can cross one more thing off of my to do list ;) Thank you all for checking it out! <3

Here's a shaky cell phone video but I think it perfectly sums up our night:) 

P.S.   I also wanted to post some of the photos I took after I made some things for my family for the big day!.  I made my Mom, Dad and Sister some special keepsakes for the big day.  The first one is a patch for the back of my Dad's tie, the second is a handkerchief I learned how to hand embroider for my Mom with the American Sign Language sign for "I Love You."  It was always our thing together.  Then I hand embroidered on for my Sister as well.  We call each other "Seester" and it just seemed like the right thing to put on there! I also posted the cake topper that I made and our ring pillow because they are super special and were super tedious to make!

 My cake topper mess: 

My ring pillow started out as a drawing and then I just watched YouTube videos until I learned how to do all of the stitching :) 

Okay. I'm done ;) Going to publish this post and thank you to all who are reading this!