Silly Saturdays - Vol. 1

I was feeling homesick  the other day.

Solution?

Send this picture to my parents, sisters, and best friend and ask for a silly  picture in return:

Honestly, it helped.

And it made me smile :)

Here are the beauties I received:

I love them...every single one of them.

 

I'm thinking of making this a weekly tradition...let's call it: *Silly Saturdays*

Now, I will be expecting another round of fun pictures from everyone in t-3 days...I'm excited!

 

(*Project photos to come :))

Target Inspiration.

I was done with work a little early yesterday, so naturally I went to Target.

And my trip to Target?

It was an inspiration.

I saw this display and thought 'Yes! We need more color.  Color changes everything.'

After scouring every single aisle, I found a few cheap/discounted items and headed home.

On the drive home, I was certain I would be sleeping within the hour, but once I brought my new items in from the car, it was on.

I started cleaning, organizing, decorating, AND I started three new projects. 

Buying a few new items from Target lit a fire under me that hasn't been extinguished yet...

I woke up this morning and headed outside to do some spray painting for a project I'm working on for Gray's room, and then painted something for the bathroom and next?

I'm thinking the kitchen needs a little spicing up...

I need to step away from the computer, before my motivation runs out.

Oftentimes, my motivation is short lived...unfortunately.

Have a great weekend!

And for sure you should make a trip to Target.



St. Patrick's Day ♣ - Pirate's Cove

We didn't necessarily have plans to celebrate  St. Patrick's Day.

Dusty, Gray, and I were hanging out and not doing much when Dusty had a brilliant idea...

Pirate's Cove.

Let's go to Pirate's Cove.

Pirate's Cove is where EVERYONE is welcome.

It's awesome.

All kinds of people, dogs, modes of transportation, choices of swimwear...this place is fun.

I'm pretty sure one of my favorite parts about it was the dogs...definitely the dogs.

They are free to roam...on the beach, in the restaurant, in the water...wherever they want to go, they can.

I love dogs...apparently I'm not ready to be a dog owner though...remember Otto?

But I sure do like to be around them.

I had my favorites...basically the big, sweet dogs.

The one who did his business on Dusty's sweatshirt and anything else he could lift his leg by?

Nah, he wasn't my favorite.

This was my first time at Pirate's Cove and it definitely won't be my last.

Any visitors in the future?

We are hitting this place up.

Inspiration on a Saturday.

*Follow your dreams.

*Do something every day that scares you.

Just a little inspiration for the day.

Inspiration for you and me both.

Find a way to do what you love and just be happy ♥

Marathon Walk

Dusty surprised me for my birthday and arranged for us to stay at a condo from Wednesday until Sunday.

Fun!

And so sweet of him :)

So, today after work, we ventured out into the unknown for a bit of a stroll.

It was gorgeous.

We rocked our new shoes from his mom...

...and we may have overdone it on our first time wearing them.

Our 'stroll' turned into a marathon walk due to our lack of sense of direction/familiarity with the area.

Once we saw the glorious sight of our condo and the pool, we knew what we needed to do...

Ahhhh...it felt so good.

Still not able to escape the creatures though...

It's about time I embrace those suckers.



Birthday Time!

First and foremost, I would like to wish a BIG Happy Birthday  to my wonderful, big sister, Amy.

She's 36, by the way :)

We have the same birthday date...11 years apart.

Was Amy excited about sharing her birthday?

No, she was not.
Thankfully, she is over it these days...and she loves me ♥

And I love her.

*This is a pretend picture of us today on our shared birthday...on the beach.

I'm on the left, she's on the right...I don't wear bonnets.

Exciting news!

Guess whose thesis is officially completed?

Mine!!!

I cannot explain how great this feels.

Yes, I technically could have finished it earlier, but I am a bit of procrastinator.

At least it's done now, right?

I would like to apologize to my mom for giving her a few gray hairs during this process.

Please forgive me.

 My mom was so relieved after hearing the news, that she even agreed to having a whiskey drink with me...gotta love that :)

And my sister Angie and her husband bought myself and my Dad a celebratory beer.

My parents were more than willing to join in on the festivities...I like it.

Cheers to me being done with grad school!

California Trip ♥

I'm back.

Last week, I met up with my family in California for a little vacation and it was awesome :)

I couldn't wait to see everyone and spend a whole week together.

We even managed to survive the week under the same roof.

9 adults and 7 children...7 children all under the age of eight.

Jealous?

Seriously though, it was fun...really fun.

I ♥ my nieces and nephews so much.

*Amelia putting on a gymnastics show for Ruby and Oliver

*Emery loves her Papa and Papa sure does love his Emery :)

How pretty is California?

 So pretty.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful trip.

It was great to spend lots of time with you all.

Miss you already :(

On a different note:

I have good news - I am already almost over phone pictures.

This post does not look good and I realize that.

I will be breaking out my 'real' camera this week.

My plan: to slowly learn how to shoot manual - no more of this automatic nonsense.

If I want my photography to improve, now is as good of a time as any to start learning.