We just took a family vacation to Fenwick Island, DE and we even got to take the doggies. Brian and I were so happy they were able to join us on the trip. We went with my parents and my sisters family and rented a house only a few hundred feet from the beach. The weather wasn't too bad either considering it was the end of April. I made a highlight reel of our week which included relaxing, bike riding and exploring Asseteague Island. We got to see the wild horses and it was childhood dream come true. I do have to mention that one of the nights we were walking the dog we witness a fireball. The video above is only a short clip of it that my sister took but the whole thing was much longer. The sky turned all sorts of bright colors and it almost looked like daylight it was so bright!
Even a police officer pulled over and asked what we just all saw. He was also a little confused. Honestly, it had to be one of the most exciting things I've ever seen. If you go here: FIREBALL VIDEO FROM SOMEONES DASH CAM and fast forward to the one in Delaware you can see what I mean by how long it actually took to cross the sky. There apparently another one in Germany that same night.
ANYWAYS. I am so glad we got to do this with the dogs and they absolutely loved the ocean- though they were horrible for the 7 hour car ride.
I posted some photos below of some of my favorite parts of our vacation.
Blood Mary with crab meat and angry beans! So spicy and so good!
This is the new photo I have completed for the oracle card deck and for Chance and I's project that we have wanted to do together (Yes, I'm assuming my dog wants to be a part of this). This is photo #2 of the deck. I have not decided yet how many I would like in our series but - that's two completed! I may do anywhere from 35-50 total - we will see how it goes! First one here: Focus We spent the weekend at Conneaut Lake (I will make another post about that once I get my photos together). We had a great time though- I did rush this photo- I actually fell asleep and only had Saturday night to do it and my Dad had just finished dinner. I shot this in maybbbeee 10 minutes? I wish I had more time to set everything up but I did what I could in my time slot. This has to be at least 11 photos edited together... It took some time but I am really happy at how it turned out! I like the misty look to it as well, makes it feel rather dreamy! I hope you all enjoy- I included some behind the scenes, please don't mind my hair and lack of makeup- I literally had just woken up :)
The before and after
The Card:
and some behind the scenes :)
Bear and Brian made it in the one below. LOL! They always have to get in my shots somehow! ;)
and of course, the always distracted model Chance!
Well, Happy Summer- It's official! This makes me both happy and sad. I'm sure that you know why this makes me happy- the sun, warm/hot days, cool nights, fireflies, bonfires... and sad due to the fact that the days are going to start getting shorter now. I celebrated by having a small bonfire, a glass of wine and enjoying the extra long twilight before the last rays of the sun brushed the tops of the darkening clouds with a soft white glow.
For some reason, summer nights just bring me back to childhood when we would spend our days at the lake (about 1.5hrs north of us) and stay at our cottage. We would play games with all of our friends and run around outside for hours. We couldn't get enough of "night games" and telling ghost stories and sometimes... even went skinny dipping!
(P.S. I included photos of Chance and Bear since they had a play date yesterday at Brian's sisters house. She already has three dogs so they were all having a blast - it was like a mini dog party. Bear is a little shy at first as you can see in the background of the group photo but did eventually open up throughout the day. It takes him a while to get comfortable with new situations/people/other dogs. She was able to send me photo updates and I just couldn't get enough! They were so tired and happy last night and that made me so happy! We can't wait for the next play date.)
Hi. Hello! My Birthday Happened. Yeah. May 13th is THE day...
I was actually born on a Friday the 13th which I'm very proud of! My Mother almost had two Friday the 13th babies- my sister Erin, who is a little over 2 years younger than I, missed Friday the 13th by two hours- She was born in the early morning of Saturday, September 14th! That would have been cool though!
So here's the recap on things this past week or so...
Oh! Before I start- I need some opinions:
I am saving for a new Nikon DSLR camera. I have to say that the focus is going on mine and it's about 7-8 years old. I would love to switch to a Canon BUT I have a lot invested in my lenses with Nikon... so I think I'm stuck. I can tell my photos just aren't as sharp anymore! I want to pay for it up front- it's so easy to just stick things on credit cards- I find that working to save up and pay for it not only helps me not build debt but makes me realize what I really want to put my money into! Do you guys have any thoughts on some Nikons? I'm looking at this one: D7200. I'm not shooting weddings anymore - it's more for me and my artwork and taking photos of family and what not - opinions????
Ok- next:
Brian and I joined a 5k on June 17th called Restore the Shore - I will keep you posted with how training goes. I'm determined to be healthier and do some 5k's this summer!
Now on with the blog post:
My Parents took me out Saturday May 6th for an early Birthday dinner and then headed back to their house for cake! They had raspberry sparkletini waiting to celebrate- which I love!
I have a thing for unicorns and they know it...
Meems even put one on my cake- she is adorable and I just love it!
Thanks Mom and Dad! <3
On Sunday, May 7th, my Mom and Erin took me out to breakfast. We did it a week early because my little sister was going to be graduating college on the 13th!
CONGRATULATIONS SEESTER!
I am so proud of her!
They took me out to breakfast and invited a surprise guest! My dear friend Nikki came along! I was so excited to see her and have her join us, it was so thoughtful of my Sister to invite her along!
We ate at a small diner near the Airport called Eggs N'at (it's a Pittsburgh thing). It was so good but very busy there.
Nikki got me the most beautiful print and frame from Etsy! I have a thing for lavender if you didn't know already- I mean, I have it tattooed on me ;)
Nikki, Me and My Seester!
Mom aka: Meems
After Breakfast we stopped at my Sisters house to change into comfy clothes and she took us to hike along the Panhandle Trail which was really cool! It actually was where an old railroad was and they put down a stone path. The entire trail is 29 miles - we only hiked about 2.5 of that!
It was a beautiful day to hike- a little on the chilly side until you started to get moving. It was so nice to be outdoors and in the sun!
Look at all the nature! It's so refreshing!
Side Note: I can't tell you how much my life has changed with my new job. I have time to do these things that I didn't before. The medical field was so difficult to work in- unless you want to do it and have no free time. Here's to new chapters and taking chances!
Okay - onward...
We stopped by this small town on our way back to her house that seemed like it was out of a story book! It only had a little corner store where you could get bread, milk, ice cream or pizza! The homes were so old and had so much character- they were all so well maintained!
I had to try their Strawberry Banana Smoothie and it was SO GOOD!
We stopped back to her house before we left back home (she lives about 30 mins from the area where I live) and got to visit with her adorable puppy, Rocky!
He's such a good boy! He doesn't tear up his toys like our dogs do!
So on my Birthday, Brian asked me what I wanted to do for the day and then we planned to go to dinner in the evening. We ended up staying home since Chance hasn't been feeling too good and we were gone a lot of the day and didn't want to leave him again. I am okay with doggy snuggles and kisses instead of dinner anyways! :) My request for the day was to go hiking at North Park and then for him to take me to get a new record! Sounds like a perfect day to me! We found some pretty awesome trails at the Park and hiked for about 2 hours!
I really like being in the woods
After hiking, we stopped by the record store... Brian really likes music but it's not on the top of his list of fun things to do so this was really exciting to me! He got a Jimi Hendrix record and I picked up Simon and Garfunkel and The Mama's and The Papa's! I LOVE The Mama's and The Papa's - I am so glad I picked it up and for only 6 dollars! WOOP WOOP!
Here's Chance and Bear as we hung out that evening:
I feel so bad- Chance must have jumped on the bed and hurt himself and he's been acting a little sore lately so we are keeping an eye on him and if things don't improve soon, we are off to the vet.
That face though...
Brian then gave some gifts - he's so thoughtful- and sang Happy Birthday to me! :)
I had a great Birthday this year- even thought I think it's the first year I wasn't counting down or even relatively excited about turning a year older... ;) Thank you to everyone who made it so very special!
I have to also include that I help plan our yearly retreat at work and I get to view the hotels- well I found one that we HAD to go and see to take a site tour! I want to stay there on my own sometime even though we live right outside of Pittsburgh- I'd have to spend one night downtown with Brian there- it was incredible and so unique! Here are a few of the 100 photos I took to give you an idea of how neat it really was:
I feel like these photos don't do it justice. It was that amazing and unique!
Another Side Note/Random Thought:
I have been trying my best to keep up with blog posts- I tried doing it twice a week and then once per week but I think it's going to be pretty sparatic. I am still working on the constellation prints and some monsters when I have the time (and if my plate wasn't full enough, I am trying to write a book too! That will take a lot of time though and I only write when I'm in the mood so that I don't stress myself out over it)- I really hope to get an online store going ASAP! NO EXCUSES!
