34. oh great.

     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!  

I don't normally do posts like this but...

Zodiac Prints

              

     I was recently inspired by prints I had found online of the Zodiac signs and how they reminded me of my Dad who always had me interested in the night sky.  I will forever remember him telling me, "Always look up" -and because of that, I've seen some very incredible things! 

     I made a short video because I really wanted to show the process on how I create these!  I am not quite finished with them but close!  The ones I have "completed" are really more of a rough draft so I have some work ahead of me.  Sometimes you just need a couple of tries during the editing process to get them just right - BUT- I hope to have all 12 Zodiac signs done very soon. I can then start creating the prints for the store :). 

     I will write an update as soon as they are ready to be purchased online and I will include the link to the website where you will be able to find them(I'm leaning towards Etsy which I already have a link on the right side of the blog for).  I hope you enjoy watching my video as much as I enjoy creating it and the prints! 

What's your Zodiac sign? Do you feel like you can relate to your sign?  Let me know in the comments below!

                

         

A Recap

     Welp. I have finally finished my wedding photo album.  HOLY POOP - IT WAS TIME CONSUMING! I can totally see why people pay so much money to have someone else do it! I think partly because it's my own photos so I want each and everyone of them in there! 

Now that it's done, I can focus on editing some of our wedding video and putting together a small album of my Bridal Shower, Bachelorette Party and our Rehearsal Dinner and after those are checked off I can start the project I'm so excited about... scrap booking our honeymoon! ICELAND!

     I have been so antsy and really wanting to edit the photos and to put together a better video than I had slapped together right after the trip.  I have so many awesome photos I didn't post when I was blogging over there that I am really looking forward to putting them on the blog!  I am not tackling it currently because I am the type of person who gets overwhelmed way too easily and need to focus on only one or two projects at a time and now that I plan on blogging more... it will just be too much.  

     I have been thinking of some fun things to blog on here! I may do a post on my tattoos soon and maybe a hair tutorial but right now I may just do a weeks recap as things have been pretty busy this past week.  

     Though, I have a really fun project that I filmed a short video for and as soon as I get all the prints edited (I'm on 4 of 12) I will post the video and the prints here and I am hoping to get them in my store to sell! I really wanted to be able to post them today but I couldn't get them finished in time...it will just have to wait (There was 50% on shutterfly, had to finish my wedding album first... can't miss 50%)!

     Ok so on with the post ;) 

   I held my first Easter Dinner and we had both of our parents over! I was nervous and wanted to make it really special so I did my best with the table settings and food! They were also so wonderful to bring some side dishes over! We were able to set up our dining room table that we have on the back porch since it has been so beautiful out! Here are a few photos from our get together! 

 Creepiest cake ...ever. Thanks Dad ;) Love you!

Once everyone left Brian and I had a fire and relaxed, we both took off the following day to get caught up with a few things!

I think Easter turned out lovely! 

April has been very busy and I'm making time for myself lately.  I've been working out since the start of the new year and really learned that you have to give yourself time for it or it will never happen.  I'm really hoping to get into a 5k soon!
I have been trying to control my weight a little better since behind diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. The photos below are a few years ago (I just noticed I don't have any recent ones, I will have to update that) but it gives you the idea of how I fluctuate with my weight. The below photo is a 30 lbs weight difference!  It's tough. But I'm getting to know my body better and now that I have a reason for the weight changes, I'm not as frustrated with myself! 

    My goal is 7-10 more pounds, the same weight I was in the photo on the right.  I have been walking as much as possible during my lunch break and walking an incline or running after work for about a mile on our treadmill.  I like to walk the incline to work my legs and bum and I wear ankle weights (2.5 lbs each foot) to make it a little tougher.  I walk up a 10% incline.  The neighborhood is beautiful that I walk in during lunch with so many pretty homes.  

 and I always have my buddy close by while I'm working out!

     We have also been doing a lot of projects around the house- sorry for all the cell phone photos - I promise to start using my other camera more- sometimes it's just all I have at the moment :) 

     I wanted to paint the front door a pretty color (it was brown).  So I did.  I really love it except we have to power wash brown paint off the lower half of the house.  I will look 100 times better once I do that.  I don't mind paint on the lower half of houses, covering the cinder bricks, but it's just not for me.  We get a ton of sun too and the paint bubbles and peels and is a pain to keep up with.  

Before- brown door- sorry it's a bad photo

During 

After 

We have so much we still want to do to our home and we have the time this year since we aren't planning our wedding! 

They love to watch when we do yardwork

My plant babies! I'm doing okay this year- haven't killed any of them yet!

     We also decided to put a flower bed around the tree in the back after our fire pit didn't work out since the dogs kept getting caught on it.  I am so happy with how it turned out!  We did buy a new fire pit - one we can move...

 I have been crafting a ton to get my store started and hopefully do a craft show.  I dream of someday working from home... really. Anyways... things have been kind of a mess because I have craft supplies upstairs, downstairs, on our porch... everywhere. 

   

    These are some things I have been making.  My monsters are going to be for sale too- each with their own names and reasons why you should adopt them and if they are a good fit for you.  They are 15$ but we will be donating 5$ of each sale to Pets for Vets.  I will explain further once I make some more, take some nice photos of them and post them online.  This is kinda behind the scenes of what's going on... Spike is my favorite so far! 

 also- key chains ... 

     Fold over purses... this was my rough draft purse and please don't mind the monsters arm in the top right of the photo.  I plan on taking some nice photos for the blog of these products and then they will be available for purchase on the link to either Etsy or another site I decide to sell on.  

 Okay- dog photo break- aren't they the cutest!? 

     Below are some of the salads I've been making- SO GOOD! I'm really trying to watch more of what goes into my body and cut down sugar too... I really like to put the fake crab meat on them... I know it's not the best for you but YUM!  Since I've been working out and really watching what I eat, I'm down 9 lbs!

I can't remember what these were called but my Dad made me try them... they were so good! I will have to ask him again! 

     So- before I said things were getting out of hand with my craft supplies, well i just about had it on Saturday and couldn't even think straight.  I went out to Home Depot at about 7pm and stayed up until 3am to put together my craft supply shelving unit in our laundry room.  I just couldn't stand having things everywhere all the time! I can't tell you how happy I am to have this and it freed up so much space upstairs in our spare bedroom! YIPPPIEEEE! 

Well... :) That's all I've got for now- Tomorrow is May! My Birthday month! I will keep posting some fun things on here - maybe not so much any recaps as I think maybe some other things may be more fun ;) Let me know what you think! 

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!