I made it!!

DAY 30!!

Can you believe it, I actually did it! 30 blog posts in 30 days. It's finally over!

This NaBloPoMo thing has been quite interesting, I must say. It was a good challenge, to post every single day for a month, definitely more difficult than I expected! I managed to do it - even though I *may* have cheated just a bit...there were times when I had to back-date a post, or days when I set up 3 or 4 days of posts, but hey, end the end I have 30 days of blog posts which is all the challenge said I had to do!

I hope you enjoyed all of the randomness that has come out of the past 30 days...I definitely strayed from my blog's "theme" of photography here and there, but that's ok, all in the name of a good challange.

I'm very happy to go back to *normal* posting...more like weekly instead of daily. :) Don't worry, I won't abandon the blog or anything, but I can say I will probably take a day or two break from this bad boy. But I will still continue to update with my photographic adventures, along with whatever we have going on in our lives, so come on back!

Thanks for sticking it out through the month...and if you managed to read every post major kudos to you! :)

A Little Recap...

Well, the 4-day weekend is coming to an end...and although I am not thrilled to go back to work tomorrow, I am ready to get back to life. This weekend has been exhausting.

Thanksgiving was great - we ate tons of turkey, and spent great quality time with the family. Unfortunately, I didn't take too many photos. I guess the whole stuffing my face thing took over. :) I did get one shot, of my dad-

He is notorious for spilling something on his shirt at every family meal, and it was no different on Thanksgiving! :)

It was certainly a great day - we ate, we hung with the family, we went to K-Mart (somewhat of a tradition now...), and we came home and had a nice relaxing evening together with a bottle of wine. It was our first big holiday as a married couple, and it was wonderful!

Black Friday was also fabulous!! Ash and I left the house bright and early at about 3am, and headed for Wal Mart. We stood in line for a solid hour and a half, got our TVs (score!) as well as a bunch of other sale items we were going for. I think we set some sort of a record - we were done shopping, and back in bed at home by 8am. I won't lie, if we had just a *smidge* more money in the bank, we may have stayed out longer, but we pretty much wiped ourselves clean. :) All in the name of a good deal - it was totally worth it!! I will post some pics of our fantastic new TV and new Christmas tree soon!

Saturday we spent more time with the family, celebrating my Uncle Keith's birthday. Again, not too many photos...but we had a wonderful time! We also went out to dinner and out for ice cream afterwards, it was a fun evening!

Now it's Sunday, and the weekend is coming to an end. I've cleaned the house top to bottom, and started putting up the holiday decor. We got all of our outdoor decorations up on Friday, taking advantage of the beautiful weather! I will post a few teaser shots now, but don't worry, more to come! I'm taking a short break from the decorating to blog, but once I'm done I'll be sure to snap plenty of photos!

Here's a little sneak peak of my new FAVORITE decoration...

My light up hippo!!!! She is just TOO cute. :)

And a peek at our outdoor lights - which worked for all of 5 minutes while I took the photo, and have now blown a fuse. :( So, we only get half at a time right now, but the hubs is working on it ;)

Well, that's it for my recap! I hope that everyone else had as busy and fun of a weekend as we did, and spent lots of good quality time with the family. I'm so thankful for my family and our closeness, this time of year always reminds me how great it is!

We did it!

The hubby and I's first attempt at fostering a pet is complete, and it was a success! Today our little Bob was taken to his new home, where he is sure to have a long and happy life with his new family. We are told he will live with another cat and dog, which he certainly got used to living with us! I am so happy that we were able to save this little guy's life, and give him a wonderful forever home. I might be just a *little* sad that he isn't living with us anymore...he sure was a cutie pie. But I know that he is in a great place, and I couldn't be happier. I sure will miss his cute little face though!


I will say that I'm not sure how cut out for fostering I am...it was really hard for me to see him go. Even after he only lived with us for a week. I truly am happy that we found him a home, but I won't lie, I may have shed a tear or two after he left - I just couldn't help getting attached.


So, in memory of our little Bob-a-roony (as we so lovingly called him), here's one last picture of his cute little face.

We'll miss you, Bob! Have fun at your new home, with your new family!

The big day!

Well folks, here we are... it's BLACK FRIDAY! I won't lie, I'm not actually typing this pre-shopping at 4am. BUT, by the time this posts, I will probably be feeling like this...

Hopefully I will have a ton of great deals to show for it...and a new TV!!!! I'll be sure to post details of the day soon...stay tuned!


*note* I know, I have totally cheated the past couple days with some lame-o posts. I'm a busy chick though, so I can't help it! I promise I will have some fun posts soon - the turkey day festivities, holiday decorations, and of course my black friday recap! Hang in there...

Happy Turkey Day!

Just wanted to drop in and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are having a fun, family, and turkey-filled day!

I'll be sure to take a ton of photos of our family festivites...more to come soon!

Already shopping...

So remember in my post the other day about Black Friday that sweet TV on sale at Wal-Mart I said I had my eye on? Well, Matt and I decided that it will be our Christmas gift to eachother. :) We are going to purchase it (assuming Ash and I can brave the crowds and get one!) instead of buying each other a big gift. AWESOME. I am so so so so so excited it's not even funny.

So excited in fact that I've already started shopping for a TV stand to put it on. :D The entertainment center we currently have is about as old as our TV (actually probably older) and in no way would it work for a flat screen. Darn. The hubs said he would modify it (i.e. chop the top off...) but I thought we could spring for a new stand and just call that part of the Christmas gift. Good plan, huh?! ;)

So here are a few I've found so far that I'm liking...


This one is at Nebraska Furniture Mart, and I love the style and design, I just need it to be a dark brown rather than black.


This one is at Wal Mart and I believe they called it a "TV Armoir". Ha! How cool. I love all of the drawers...pretty much anything with storage potential is amazing in my opinion. However not sure if it looks to "bedroom-y"


I think this is my best find so far. It's the right color, still has a little storage, and is actually made as a corner unit, which what do ya know is where we're putting it! If I remember right it was on sale for $67...not too shabby!

So the hunt is on. I can't bring home a TV and not have anywhere to put it! I know it's a Christmas gift, but uh, who wants to wait a whole month to watch TV in HD?? Not I!

Speaking of cats...

Just the other night I snapped some of the funniest pictures of Marley I have ever seen...


Just chillin on his laptop...downloading some new songs for his iPod. :)



We did not set this up folks! Hubs was on the couch on his laptop, and got up to go into the kitchen leaving it on the couch. When he came back, this is what he found! It was definitely a "hunny! come quick! and bring your camera!" kind of a moment. And I'm so glad I caught it.


I have the craziest pets, I'm telling you what. You never know what you're going to see when you turn the corner in this house!

Meet Bob

This is Bob. He made his way into our home over the weekend...


So here's what happened - We went to a party this Saturday, and it was down on a farm that belongs to the grandparents of one of Matt's friends. As soon as we walked up, we saw these 2 little kittens wandering around, just as cute as could be. There were also a couple of dogs there, who as the night went on proceeded to torment the poor kitties. After a little while, I decided to pick this guy up, and give him a break from the terror - that was my first mistake. While I was holding him, I was talking to Matt's friend whose grandparents live there, and he mentioned that they did NOT like these 2 kittens running around. I couldn't believe such a thing - I mean look at that face! Anyway, he said something about how they were planning to 'get rid of' these kittens, one way or another. I knew what that meant, and it wasn't good for the little guys. So my friend Ash and I each picked up a kitty, and proceeded to hang on to them the rest of the night. We even named them - Bob and Fred. Well by the end of the night, I just couldn't leave him. We knew what was going to happen if we did, and the animal lover in me just couldn't bear to think that these poor little guys wouldn't even get a chance at life. So, now, as I sit here and type this, Bob sits in my lap. :) (and Fred now lives with Ashley)





How cute is this little booger?!?! I so so so wish that he could stay a permanent part of our family, but I don't think I am going to get my wish. The hubby was not too keen on bringing him home in the first place - the only way he agreed to it was if I promised to find him another home. As much as I want to keep him, I know how small our house is, and we already have 3 animals running around, so it's really just not a good idea. He is staying with us for now, but ultimately he needs a forever home. So I'm playing foster mommy. And even though he's not 'technically' mine, I still took about a million photos of him today. :)









So. If you know anyone that may be interested in this little stinker, please let me know! He's been pretty great so far, he's already learned to use the litter box, and he gets along with our other furbabies pretty well. Daisy thinks he's her new toy to play with, and the cats aren't really sure what to do so they've left him alone. He is quite the lover, just loves to snuggle. I know that even if he doesn't get to live with me, I will find him a wonderful home, and it will be much better than his fate had I left him on the farm.

Daisy and Bob even became snuggle buddies already...


Please leave a comment or email me if you or someone you know is interested in giving him a home!

Look what ELSE I got!

So I told you the other day about my very cool new camera bag...well today I want to show you the super cool gift my hubby gave me! He actually gave me 2 gifts, the first one was some perfume, not as exiting. Well, it is called Daisy, which just happens to be our puppy dog's name, so that's kind of cool. :)

Anyway, on to the cool, thoughtful, original, homemade gift!

First a little background. Last year around this time, we were hanging out at Bed Bath and Beyond, and I spotted a plant stand on sale for $5. It was small and simple, and just what I had been looking for the previous summer - and on clearance! So I snatched it up, and this year we dug it out of the shed come spring, and put it to good use! It wasn't the most exciting plant stand, but hey it served it's purpose.

Now just a few weeks ago my hubby was telling me about a kitchen he was working on remodeling (he does that stuff for a living you know... click here to check out his website - I know, I know, shameless plug :), and was telling me that the tile they picked out was really nice, and he just knew it would be something I'd love. Well he took a picture once it was finished, brought it home to show me, and by golly he was right! I told him he could go ahead and do our kitchen backsplash with this tile at any time. :)

So I'm sure you are wondering how these 2 stories are connected... well. Don't ask me how he got the idea, but he decided that as a little ad hoc gift, he would rip out the original top to my plant stand, and replace it with some leftover scraps of the tile I love from that job! Random? Yes! Awesome? Totally! I was totally surprised when I saw it, in fact I couldn't even remember what it had looked like before! Luckily the hubs knows me pretty well, and took a "before" picture. :) I of course had to make him take an "after" shot too, so that I could share this awesomeness!

Before:






AFTER!




How awesome is that!? Now, the OCD in me is a *teeny, tiny* bit stressed that the one dark square isn't in the center...but I am told that this is just the nature of this tile, and there was nothing he could do about it. :) I'm sure spread out over an entire backsplash the differences in the tile would look really nice. Not that this doesn't look nice! It looks about 100 times better than before! And still only cost $5. Can't beat that! Way to go hubby!

Happy Birthdy to ME!

Last weekend was my "birthday weekend" (I've said it before...in my family you don't just get a day, you get a whole weekend!) This of course kicked off with the usual Saturday celebration at Mama T's. Unfortunately, there aren't many photos... for one, I was a *little* busy, you know, being the BIRTHDAY GIRL! And also I put the hubs in charge of the camera, and, well, lets just say he doesn't quite have the love for photography that I do, so he didn't take nearly as many photos as I would have.

Either way, I do have a few images, and of course I will share! :)

Here I am opening my way-cool present (which I showed off here just the other day!)


And here I'm opening another sweet gift...KU gear! You can never have too much KU gear!


And then we have the most important part, the cake! My family is super duper awesome, and went to my fabulous cake lady extraordinaire, Annie O, and got me my very own birthday cake! It was a chocolate cake, with fresh strawberry filling, vanilla butter cream on the outside, and topped with chocolate ganache. Can you say Y.U.M. Of all the cake I have had from the amazing Annie O (including my wedding cake), I'm pretty sure this was my favorite. I had never had this chocolate ganache stuff before, but oh man I didn't know what I was missing! Oh what I would do for a piece of that cake right now!






Y-U-M!

So like I said...not many photos, that's all I got. But it was a great celebration, and a great birthday weekend!! Stay tuned, tomorrow I'm going to tell you all about the gift my oh-so-thoughtful husband gave me! :)

Black Friday

First of all, a disclaimer. This post has nothing to do with photography, nor will there be any "real" photographs included. Deal with it. :) I have to post every single day people, I have to go with what's on my mind...

Now, for those of you who don't know what Black Friday is...one word: Madness. It is a day of pure and complete insantiy. It happens every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, when all of the biggest retailers put on their best sales possible to kick of the Holiday shopping season.

Just to give you a better idea of the insanity, here are a few pictures I found via Google when I did an image search for "Black Friday"








This is not an exaggeration, folks, this is really how this craziness goes down.

I had the pleasure of experiencing this for my first time last year, and oh man. An experience it was. This picture is pretty much exactly what I saw that day. And I may or may not have pushed and shoved my way through people just to get that one "hot item". It. Was. Awesome.

Last year I did the majorty of my shopping (and found the best deals) at Nebraska Furniture Mart. We waited out in the cold for almost 2 hours at I-can't-even-remember-how-early in the morning, and then rushed in with all the crazies to get the goods. We then waited in line to check out for another probably 2 hours, sweating our you-know-whats off being all bundled up still from waiting outside. Again, It. Was. Awesome. I have decided to tackle this feat again this year, with my friend Ash in tow, and possibly a few others. Last year I didn't even know I was going shopping on Black Friday until Thanksgiving night, let alone plan what I was going to shop for! This year, I am much more prepared, thankyouverymuch.

I have stumbled upon the website of all websites for anything Black Friday related - BFads.net. They somehow manage to come across copies of all the ads way before they are released to the public (which usually isn't until Thanksgiving day), and so kindly share all the secrets with us crazies. Today I have found the Wal Mart ad, and I couldn't be more excited. I already have my eye on a few items, and as of now this is my plan for our first stop next Friday. Here are a few deals I'm hoping to snag:

This digital picture frame will be $29! Regularly $69.

I found a similar deal to this last year at NFM, and gave them to just about everyone I know. :) I don't know who I would buy one for this year...but I'm sure I can think of someone!

This Christmas Tree (which I almost had Matt convinced to purchase last weekend for $40) will be only $25! We finally have room in the living room for a REAL tree (ok not real as in live tree, real as in larger than one that sits on your table which is all we had room for before:) It will be VERY interesting to see how our animals deal with this...we will be putting it up un-decorated for probably a week as a 'trial run' to ensure it is not destroyed. :)

And last, but most certainly not least, this TV. 32" LCD HDTV for $248 (Regularly $349). I think we are the only people left in the US without a flat screen/LCD/HDTV television. I won't lie, I don't really know what any of that means, but I know that we have some seriously ghetto TVs, and it's time to upgrade. :)

I have also seen ads for Target, Lowes, Game Stop, and a few others, but so far Wal Mart is the big winner for me. I am anxious to see how the NFM ad compares, because last year that is where it was at. I would much rather spend my 3am adventure at Wal Mart, though, because they are open 24 hours and even though the sale doesn't start until 5am, all the waiting can be done inside, in the heat. Much nicer than out front of NFM freezing my BUTT off.

So here we are, one week out from the big day. Expect an update in the next couple weeks with all of the AWESOME deals I (hopefully) got!

Look what I got!

For my birthday last week I got overwhelemed with awesome gifts...but one in particular I wanted to share...



My new Camera Bag!!

Quite a while ago I mentioned that I had found it online, and was hoping to get one of my own one day. Well my fantastic parents got one for me for my birthday!! Hooray!!



It was fully customized, I picked the colors and pattern myself. It is a perfect fit for my camera, with a bit of room to spare for all of my accessories I don't have - but hope to get in the future!



It came from Wicked Stitch Designs, and I recommend that you go check out their website RIGHT NOW and order one for yourself! They have tons of bags from camera bags, to diaper bags, to purses! All custom made just how you specify.

Now that I have this great new bag, I want to take my camera around with my EVERYWHERE, mostly just to show off the bag! But that is certainly not a bad thing!

Thanks Mom & Dad!! :)

4 Months Ago Today...

Do you remember what you were doing 4 months ago today? I do! I was GETTING MARRIED! Holy Cow. I cannot believe it has been 4 WHOLE MONTHS! It seems like it was just yesterday.

Anyway, I realize that 4 months is no great milestone, or anniversary by any means, but since I was thinking about my wedding today I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos from the big day (who am I kidding...we all know that I will take ANY excuse I can get to look at or share my wedding photos :)

Let's start things off with this stud...

Yep, that's my hubby! :)

And here's another of him...one of my FAVORITES.

Checkin himself out in the mirror... he knows he looks good ;)

And these are my 2 flower girls...you just cannot deny how CUTE they are!



This was taken as we were waiting for the ceremony to begin


And this one was taken after the ceremony ended as we were waiting to be announced...can't help that I got thirsty! :)


My bouquet - I LOVED the design of it, and I LOVE this picture of it! (Man I am just full of love today aren't I?!)


And our goregous, YUMMY cake


This is another favorite...My dad and I as we got to the end of the aisle


First kiss!


One of my favorite portraits of us...already framed in my living room!


Our FANTASTIC wedding party


Bet you didn't know we hung out with Elvis on our wedding day ;)


And last but not least...the ring shot...only fitting for it to be on the hood of an antique car!


Well I could go on all day sharing my wedding photos...they never get old (to me at least ;). But I'll stop here. As I'm sure you already know, they were all taken by Josh Solar Photo who as I'm sure you also know, I LOVE!

I really can't belive it's been 4 months since the most wonderful day of my life...but I will just continue to relive it through photos for oh, I don't know, probably the next 100 years. :)

Happy 4 months Mr. G! Here's to 4 more, and 4 more, and 4 more...until 4ever! (I know, I am SUCH a cheeseball)