New Paint = HAPPINESS!

     So, this summer has been so busy to say the least.  We did get a chance to go away for a week to the lake and had a pretty nice time away from the routines.  We shot a few photos but not like I usually do. I actually relaxed! It was much needed.  When we got back we started planning on painting the living room since the color was bringing us down.  When we moved in we wanted a bold color and we chose a pretty dark one.  We tried to love it...we even tried to like it.  It wasn't happening so we planned on changing it as soon as we could.  We also decided to start some of the major wedding planning which has me feeling like I am doing a lot by myself... I feel pretty alone on it and I know when it gets closer (it's just about a year away) people are going to be putting pressure on me and that's when I don't function well.  So I am trying to get a lot done by myself.   

     

     And now for the BIG news.  I was a smoker for 12 years. Notice I typed "was".   WE QUIT! We quit together. It has been the HARDEST most CHALLENGING thing I have ever done.  I was just sick of being bullied. DONE.  Quitting together is helping.  We are each others support team and it's made it easier. We quit 17 Days ago and have NOT smoked at least 255 cigarettes! I downloaded an app on my phone that tells me all sorts of things including hours of life I gained back and how much money I am saving! I could go to ICELAND every year on the money I spent on smokes.  So here is to a new chapter of bad habits and standing up to bullies! 

I only edited a few from Conneaut. I'm behind on a lot of things but here are two of my favs. 

   This was the frames I finished as a little project with water colors and a quote I LOVE, "The wolf that wins, is the wolf you feed."

     So to keep up with battling the cravings I have decided to take spin classes one or two times a week.  IT IS AMAZING! I adore the classes and am thinking of buying a package deal so I can save some money (It's still less than smoking).  So Saturday night I booked the class for Sunday morning with Brian's sister and started prepping to paint our living room.  We tapped off all the walls and moved furniture.  We figured it would only take the day Sunday and we could rest on Monday since we were both off for labor day.  I woke up extra early to make it to spin with Stef on Sunday morning and the doggies wanted to stay in bed.  I went to class and biked 9 miles.  That's not all you do though.  You do arm exercises while on the bike and core exercises.  You speed up, slow down, tighten the petals to make it harder like you are going up hill and sprint on the bikes.  It's one hell of a workout but makes me feel so good about myself after.  First time, I thought I was going to puke my lungs out.  I'm getting better at it though.  They turn down the lights and play loud, fun, motivational music and the instructor even encourages me during the class to NOT smoke and asks me every time I go how I am doing!  I usually wouldn't talk about smoking.  It wasn't something I was proud of but I am proud of quitting!  I find myself missing it out of habit, it's strange how much I let it take over my life!

     These are some before photos of the TERRIBLE paint we chose.  The first photo is when we first moved in and didn't have a couch yet but that's all I could find since I didn't take a lot of photos in that room (poor lighting).
The others are right before we put the paint on. I wish I remembered to take a few before we moved everything.

 OUR FIRST COAT! It was so dark before we knew we would have to do at least two layers of paint.

 Doggies were NOT happy.  THEY DID NOT want to stay in different rooms than us.  To be honest, if we didnt' leave them in the bedroom, we would have paint in places we didn't need it.

 After a while, Bear did make himself comfortable.

 AFTER! I'M IN LOVE!

 SO MUCH BRIGHTER! HAPPIER!

 There are still some things I'm going to change and have to update. We do need another coat on some spots.  We really didn't want to do a third.  We do have touch ups to do and I officially hate painting.  We got in on baseboards, floor.... my armpits.... anyways. I need to get some off white for the ceiling to covers mistakes from that first awful color we had and I would like new curtains and a new rug.  I also want to sand our end tables and paint them.  ONE THING AT A TIME.  Now that I'm not smoking, I have more time to do things :).

 By the way... I didn't mention this went all through MONDAY! We thought we would be done Saturday.  Well. WE WERE WRONG.  Our living room walls go all the way down the hallway and the door frames needed painted.... that took for freaking ever. We are pooped.  It's done though! So we are glad of that.
SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS:

 Happy Tuesday everyone! Thanks for reading my post on wall painting. ;)

Boating in Pittsburgh!

This summer has not been the best as most of you from Pittsburgh know. It's rained a lot. We are finally getting some decent weather and decided that on August 9th we would get our first boat ride of the season in. It was FUN! We didn't stay out too long but just enough to really get some sun in our lives.  Amazing friends, amazing family, amazing memories.

Threw this together kinda quickly- may still play with it a bit but I have so many videos I want to make from this summer that my mind is on overload.  Keeping my photos/videos in order seems to be a horrible weakness of mine and I am NOT good at it.  I did learn how to reverse video which sparked some new creative ideas in my mind and I will be at the lake next week so...maybe some cool projects! <3

Happy Summer everyone, while it lasts!

Zucchini Parmesan Chips

     We planted a few things at the beginning of summer not knowing if we would really be able to grow anything.  This is our first house.  First time planting things in the ground for us.  We got Zucchini, Mint, Oregano and Parsley!  Since we have all the rain this summer (seems like everyday) the Zucchini took off and it's insanely large!  I had an animal eating it at some point so I did battle with chicken wire for the first time... I hope to find a better solution next year because I am NOT working with that again!  Now that we are warding off the animals, we are finally getting to reap the benefits of our little, tiny garden!

  (This is how it started out, I do not have an updated photo but all those plants are much larger now- I should have placed the parsley further away from the Zucchini!  It's taking over.  The leaves are HUGE!)

OK- ANYWAYS!!! Enough rambles! We harvested our first Zucchini yesterday.  I went to the store and picked up a few items I needed to make the Zucchini Chips and made them today!  We used the Oregano, Parsley(for decoration) and of course our Zucchini! 

HERE WE GO!

You Will Need:

• Cooking Spray
• 1 Zucchini 
• canola oil
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (3/4-ounce)
• 1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley (for decoration)
• Oregano    

1. Preheat Oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and spray pan with your cooking spray.  

2.  Slice Zucchini about 1/4 inch thick and dice oregano: 

 3. 
      a. Cover bottom of bowl with canola oil 
      b. Place Oregano, 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese and 1/3 cup of Plain Bread Crumbs into a separate bowl with some salt and pepper for taste .  

 4.  Dip zucchini in canola oil to cover each slice and then into your mixture and lay them across the pan. 

 5.  Once oven is preheated, bake for 25 minutes.

 6. ENJOY!

I used some marinara sauce and then placed some parsley on the side for good looks!

Let me know if you guys try it out! SO GOOD!

What Makes Us Human - Vulnerable

vul·ner·a·ble

ˈvəln(ə)rəb(ə)l/

adjective

1. susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.

   "we were in a vulnerable position"

   synonyms:

   helpless, defenseless, powerless, impotent, weak, susceptible "he was scared and vulnerable"

   • (of a person) in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, or risk of abuse or neglect.

     "employees must be better trained in how to deal with vulnerable young people"

   
   

     

      So- I really wanted the next photo in the series to be a happier one but it is the end of 

my "staycation" and we did a ton of work around the house and I have been feeling so 

happy about it...until today.  After realizing I had to go back to work tomorrow, I felt very sad, depressed and, well, vulnerable.  These are the things that make us human- these feelings- and sometimes it makes me realize there are some major things I need to change in my life.  Have any of you ever felt that you couldn't move on from something? How did you? If you are reading this, feel free to leave a comment below.  

     I feel overwhelmed with work, wedding planning, new house things, my to do lists and then spending time on hobbies, friend and family (the fun stuff).  I don't feel a balance and it makes me feel vulnerable and sometimes it's a little much.  I really hope you enjoy the new photo- It was fun to do on my last day off for a while. 

The paper airplanes signify all of those things in life headed for me or away from me.  The things I have to let go and the things that I have to let in.  If you are feeling at all this way -  It's totally okay! This is life and it's important to understand that EVERYTHING will not always be in a perfect balance.  Let it in and let it go!

Some other of my favorites from today:

Some behind the scenes photos:

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
          (below: before I worked with hues and saturation etc.)
   
   
   
   
   

1. 
   

Scented Wax Bars

I found a lot of my supplies on amazon.com and had a lot of things at home.
Here are some links for some of the supplies:

Soap Mold

Lavender

Bees Wax

Essential Oil

What makes us human... Paranoid

par·a·noi·a

ˌperəˈnoiə/

noun

1. a mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically elaborated into an organized system. It may be an aspect of chronic personality disorder, of drug abuse, or of a serious condition such as schizophrenia in which the person loses touch with reality.

   synonyms:

   persecution complex, delusions, obsession, psychosis

     I am creating a series of photos that has to deal with emotions. The ones we feel on a daily basis, every once in a while and if you are lucky enough, ones that only some people experience.  I have suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks for years. I am obsessive compulsive and it drives me crazy but I am also a very happy and out going person.  I don't always see the glass being half full but I do sometimes and that's enough for me.  I know many people have it worse than I do and I truly am grateful for what I have.  I suffer from an emptiness of knowing I am not doing more with my life and chasing more dreams but I am also okay with it at the same time. It's a constant pull/battle in my mind.  

     I wanted to put together a series of photos that show a lot of emotions I feel and I'm sure many of you do!   What better way than to do it through art! I love surrealism and wanted to portray some of these photos in that way but also some more realistically.  I hope you enjoy the series. I got the idea when I was thinking about how each emotion is so individual and so complex that it's almost like another person/personality was showing through me during each panic attack or each time I was having trouble with my OCD and even when I was happy with my family or out on an adventure.  Life is tough but these feelings are what makes us human.  We feel so we can empathize or love or cry....

Anyways, I wanted to start with a darker one- I love creepy, dark, strange things and I got this idea when I took a photo of Chance on the couch and saw his shadow behind him.  

This photo is Paranoia.  

I know that I suffered from this in many different ways.  Thinking ex-boyfriends were cheating or that my co-workers may be talking about me... but also with my OCD.  It was like death was coming for me if I touched something that I didn't know what it was (like something spilled on a counter or something sticky on a chart) or that touching a handle on the door was going to make me very sick because of germs.  I work in the medical field which is not great for the type of person I am but it also has made me stronger.  This photos shows a darker side of my mind and how paranoia can really take over ones self.  The dogs are there because they help me get through a lot in life (as does my fiancee but he is out of town).  Enjoy guys! <3

Where the idea came from: 

BEFORE: 

Bear trying to eat the remote for the camera: 

FINAL PHOTO:

Summer Night

I was trying to get back into the mood of taking photos. This one was a little difficult. I only had my backyard which I had to watch for the dogs landmines that I had missed cleaning up and rushing to avoid the storm that was quickly moving in.  I don't know how I feel about this one. Truly. Not the come-back I was looking for but hey. It was a lot of work and overall worth posting. I think some of my favorite things about this shoot was the behind the scenes photos that I caught. 


On a side note- I posted a video under the life tab of our dogs... YEP- we have two now- I don't know if I ever ended up writing about that or not but our second fur baby is little Bear.  I'm not going to write about his adoption in the life tab since we have had him a few months now but FYI we did adopt him at the same place as Chance. ANIMAL FRIENDS! We are very happy to have these two little guys in our lives and they are happy they have one another as well!   Please DON'T SHOP- ADOPT!

 Chance is happy to take photos:

 yep- caught Bear peeing during the test shots...

 and Finally: The BEFORE:

 and THE AFTER!:

Anyways. I'm pretty bummed I haven't kept up with this blog or my photography or anything else for that matter. We bought a house, we are engaged and planning a wedding and we have two fur babies and full time jobs. It just gets hard to do what you love sometimes. MAKE TIME FOR IT THOUGH! It's worth it. Trust me!  I am going to try to go back to school after the wedding as well. Thinking of a different path to take career wise... as always. I have so many things in my head I overwhelm myself sometimes. I'd love to blog more of my photography and my crafts or even my food blog that I started and never really expanded on. I'd love to open my own business.... time to figure my S&*# out and get going on something fun and exciting for me- but for today- I hope you enjoy the photo! 
Thanks for reading this guys! <3