BLECH

Hi all! I'm having emailing problems. I am periodically receiving emails, but I can't send anything out. My server is working on the problem. If you have emailed me, I promise to get back to you as soon as I can. :)

Happy Friday! We are off to the movies. I've gotten my workout in. I'm about to do a photo shoot of 2 Webkinz getting married (my DD even paid me to do it!). And it's beautiful outside. Woot!

First day of summer

It is officially summer vacation here. Love that. Love still being in pj's. Love not rushing to make breakfast. Love it that there's a Project Runway marathon on right now, and my wonderful daughter is watching it with me. Love the blue sky. Love the promise of TIME as a family without homework.

I am going to work quite a bit this summer. So thankful for that. :) I love what I get to do for a living. But even with work and deadlines, there is freedom in summer. BBQ's. Good friends. Easy laughter. Sprinkler and watergun fun. Walks with the dog. Bike rides. Going to the pool. Picnics. Hikes. Camping.

What are you looking forward to doing this summer?

Recycle Wednesday #3

Instead of buying something new, buy something old. Or better yet, use what you have...make it work. Get creative. Saves money AND adds self-expression! What can be better than that!?!

It's our son's last day of elementary school today. tears. welling. heart. bursting.

I love you, buddy.

Gone

Ever feel like you're under a dark cloud? Like every laugh you do is forced. Edgy. Stiff. Uptight. Heavy. Distant. Like you can't see things for how they really are.

Like you are looking out a dirty window.

When I feel like that, I fight with everything I can to not give in (with a little Zoloft help, thank you very much...a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do).

Today it's gone. The darkness is gone and I'm feeling good and I'm thankful and I'm going to take it and run. And smile. And breathe. And pay attention to everything around me.

happy Tuesday. happy warmth-in-the-sun day.

Recycle Wednesday #2...confession:

I am completely addicted to paper towels.

And I feel GUILTY every time I use them. They can only be used once, can't be recycled, fill up land fills, and during the production of them, they are bleached with chlorine gas, which releases a very bad chemical which can cause major damage for wildlife and people. Also, most paper towels are made from virgin trees (for the softest and most bendable paper), so there go the trees and the animals that live in them. Most of these trees are in Canada. Sorry Canada!

So, my goal and challenge is to use them only for emergencies.
Here's what I'm gonna do, every time I have some clothes to donate to Goodwill, I'm going to go through the t-shirts. Any of them that have stains will be cut up into paper towel size pieces for cleaning. I did this last week and cleaned all our toilets and sinks with half a shirt. I have a special bag in the laundry room for these rags (because, yuck) and I plan to wash them weekly.
I'm still going to use paper towels for throw-up and dog accidents. And as soon as I'm done with the pack I have, I will be switching to paper towels made from recycled products.

Happy Green Wednesday! :)

One more

because I can't get enough of her piggie tales.

I'm going to go for a walk, try to get rid of my headache, work on some new pendants, and maybe get my ETSY store off the ground. More on that later! ;)

sneak peek on the run...

It seems that being "on the run" is my pace of the month. :) But there was no way I was going to keep these little photos to myself. This family is just so sweet! Plus, the mom's super cute dress inspired me to buy my first dress in YEARS. Thanks for that! :) Enjoy your sneakity peekity!

I made a huge mistake tonight...

I watched "I Am Legend."

And now I will always have to sleep with the lights on. I am not even kidding.

Don't watch it. Resist with everything within you. And enjoy your dark rooms at night.

Repeat 10 times.

Here's what I'm gonna do today...
1. I'm gonna enjoy the blue sky.
2. I'm gonna breathe deeply.
3. I'm gonna smile. A lot.
4. I'm gonna stay in the moment.
5. I'm gonna look for the beauty in the day.
6. Even though it's a busy day, I'm not going to wish it away or long for tomorrow. "Today" is here for a reason. And so am I. And so are you. :)

end of school hubbub...

(another favorite...)

I swear, I think the kid's school is getting back at all the parents by killing us with activities in the last few weeks of school. I can just see them laughing in the teacher's lounge. Evil teachers.

Off to help at the kid's school and pretend to have more energy than I really do.

I may have to indulge in a ginormous latte. And a diet coke. And some chocolate.

(I just did spellcheck...is "ginormous" really in the dictionary?

*EDIT*-First round of lattes down.

off and running...

happy thursday, ya'll!

Recycle Wednesday

I'm gonna start a new series..."RECYCLE WEDNESDAY!!!"...that includes a little tip on how to save the world. Come on, we all want to be super-heroes, right? :)

Tip of the day...as soon as you're done with your current dish soap, switch to one that is vegetable based. I got Seventh Generation lavender floral and mint dish liquid, and on the back, it says that if every household in the US replaced just one bottle of 25 oz. petroleum based dish washing liquid with 25 oz vegetable based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 US homes for a year.

Yay for that! :)

good with a wrench

After discovering a bird's nest in our drier vent (you know, the big fat hose that leads to the outside, the hose that blesses the world with much fine lint and steam), I removed the nest (don't worry, there were no eggs) and all the lint backed up behind the nest, reattached the hose, and pushed the drier back in place (I am FREAKISHLY strong), I CRUSHED the hose to the point of needing replacement.

Sooooooo, after talking to a nice man at Lowes, I got a skinny duct-like thing-a-ma-gig, and got it all set up and put together lickity-split and am drying a load of towels right now.

I feel like a million bucks. I love fixing things.

Sorry, I was too excited to take any pictures during the process. I know you are bummed, lol! :)

H.O.T.

I think this may have been my most favorite shoot ever. I loved everything that came from the camera. Yummy. She so beautiful and was game for anything. Love that!!!! She's putting out a CD, so I felt the creative freedom to play, both during the shoot and with post-processing.
Enjoy your sneak peek! I can't wait to finish proofing your shoot! :)

Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed...

by how happy I am. I love this guy. He's more wonderful, smart, funny, and amazing than I ever knew when we got married. No, it's not our anniversary...I'm just feeling warm and fuzzy for my best friend in the whole world.

Thanks, honey, for sticking like glue.

What am I doing?

I put this morning aside to do some creative stuff. Maybe some art journalling, some scrapbooking (even though I'm not sure how I feel about scrapbooking...still feeling ambiguous about it, but I truly have stories that I don't ever want to forget).
And I've spent the last 30 minutes reading blogs.
Okay...time to stomp my feet and shout "BEGIN!" :)
And look, even my scrapbook paper is on a diet!

Welcome to the neighborhood, foxy!

Okay, not the greatest images I've ever done, but it was done with one hand, while driving, through a window.

What a good mama!

This little fox family lives just a few minutes away and we love seeing them on the way home from school when they are out of their den. It's so sweet how everyone drives slowly on this road now, to make sure the pups are safe.
Sometimes, aren't people just the best?!