FINALLY, ITS FRIDAY!

Dear Friday, you have no idea how happy I am that you're here... but THREE DAY WEEKEND? I'm happier about you, my friend. I've needed this.

Dear husbands softball games, you were fun to watch for a few weeks this summer. But I have to say...I'm not mad its over ;) it will be nice to have another week night of mine back to relax at home in my sweats. What I will miss? Watching my man hit home runs ;)

Dear Rold Gold pretzel sticks, you make it really hard to only eat the suggested serving size you delicious snack, you!!

Dear fantasy draft #2, I'm ready for you!!!

Dear new cameras, I'm absolutely loving you two! You're making my photos more awesome and I just love it!!

Dear walk in the park yesterday, you were a little sweaty, but it was great to get active in the middle of my day. I walked right over one mile and it was awesome.

Dear little brother, I'm really excited to watch you tear up the drums at your first football game of the season tonight!

Dear hair, get ready to be CHANGED! My natural color is actually pretty dark, and its just too expensive to keep up with my blonde, so...I'm going to the dark side next week!!

Dear gym, I'm finally getting back in my groove. This is my third week of 4 workouts/week, and I'm really feeling like I'm getting addicted. Love this feeling!

Have a great weekend, friends!!

Confessions of a binge-thinker.

I recently read an article that made me realize that sometimes, I'm a "binge thinker". I can't fall asleep quickly at night because of all the thoughts in my head. I play out scenarios in my mind, and overthink the way people said certain things. It's so silly...but hey, its who I am sometimes. I've learned to embrace it, and I figured I'd laugh at myself and make a post out of what runs through my head on a weekly basis;

-I find it extremely hard to decide what to caption my Instagram photos/blog posts/etc.

-Taking a shower, and hearing a thump or creak of any kind, "I'm about to be murdered...."

-When someone knocks on the front door after the sun goes down, its definitely the guy from Strangers coming to kill us all.

-My favorite co worker goes a day without speaking to me at the office, "is she mad at me!?!".

-Once I'm in bed, I have to get back out just once more to make sure I locked the front door for the 7th time.

-If you don't use one smiley face in our entire texting conversation, there must be something wrong.

-My boss asks me to call a client to check in on paperwork. I secretly hope I never have to speak to an actual human on the phone and can just catch their voicemail instead because surely, I'll screw this up somehow.

-Speaking of phone calls, before I finally do make them, I go over the 17 different ways the conversation might go in my head.

-There's no such thing as "just falling asleep" at night.

-I try so hard to plan my future, when I know perfectly well things out of my control are going to happen.

Honestly, I've always been this way. It's pretty humorous...but then there are other times where I feel like I could care LESS about stuff. Pretty sure my brain is equal parts relaxed and psychotic all at once. It's exhausting having a brain that never stops thinking...I kid you not, I have probably 5 intricate, crazy, psycho, nonsense dreams a week, just ask my husband.

Thanks for sticking through this ridiculous and RANDOM Wednesday post... isn't that what Wednesdays are for, anyway? All the random nonsense hanging out in your brain?!

{insert adorable, random sloth to make you smile}

What about you guys; are you able to fall right asleep at night? Can you go right to bed without double checking the lock? Or am I just crazy?! ;)

Things I think I can't do.

My weekend was awesome. Perfect mix of productive (hit the gym Friday, Saturday & Sunday! Woo woo!) and lazy (Disney movie nights with my man)....so you could say I loved it. Nothing really "recap worthy", sorry bout it ;)

Becky wrote a really awesome post post recently! It was essentially a list of things she didn't think she could do in her lifetime, yet hopes to prove herself wrong one day, by doing them. I couldn't get over what a cool idea that was, so I'm "borrowing" it from her :) so here goes!

Things I think I can't do, but hope to at least try...

Run a marathon.

I'm still on the fence about this one. I don't even know yet if I have a desire to run for 26.2 miles straight... 13 was crazy enough, and it was really hard to walk for the next week. But something about  pushing your body to its absolute limits, and accomplishing something at the same time, makes you so proud to have worked so hard...so, we'll see! ;)

Give up pop for a year!
I mean, this is straight crazy status. You have no idea how much I love my Mountain Dew. I truly have no issues giving up Coke, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, etc, as I truly don't drink much pop as it is, but when I'm at a get together where its available, just sitting out, already chilled...its hard to say no! We RARELY buy it for our home, and opt for Powerade or water instead...but giving up that sweet nectar that is Mountain Dew, for 365 days...ahhh! We shall see about this one ;)

Plan for an entire month's worth of dinners.
I know this seems silly, as conquering my first one up there is in a totally different category of goals, but hey, I truly am not gifted in the aspect of cooking, prepping, and/or planning meals. I really want to get better at this in its entirety. I can't tell you how many vegetables, etc, that we've thrown away due to them spoiling from not being used...which in my mind is like watching dollar bills get thrown in the trash. So it would be fun to plan each weeks grocery trips/what we're going to eat, a whole month before hand!

Run 60 miles in a month.
Maybe for a lot of you, this is 'no big deal', but for me? OUCH. My thighs hurt just thinking about it! On a GOOD month, I can get 35-40 miles in...so we'll see about this one!

What about you? What's that one something you've always wanted to do, but just don't know if you have it in you?? *spoiler alert; you DO have it in you! ;)

Football Friday (finally)!

Although I'm sure most of us root for different teams, can we all just mutually agree that its SO exciting football is back!??!?! Although my team lost its last two preseason games... I don't even mind. Seeing those uniforms back on the field makes me SO giddy! I'm linking up with the most beautiful sister-in-love ever, and you should too! Erin didn't really give us a prompt for this linkup, and I kind of love that. ANYTHING goes! So, I'm going to list LOTS of things that I love about football, both past and present!

One of my favorite memories was when we went with our best friends (isn't it cool when you can say that about family?!) to watch the Bengals beat down on the Titans in Fall of 2011! It was such a fun weekend, and the fact that we won was just the icing on the cake!

Another fun tradition is staying IN to watch the game. Lots of folks buy season tickets (which hey, is amazing, and if I had that kinda cash I'd do that too!), but there's something awesome about staying in, everyone hanging out together on one giant couch, eating whatever we want and having a blast... then going outside after a win during a brisk, Fall evening, and tossing around some football!

Did I mention we TOTALLY believe in superstitions!? ;)

But lets be honest...other than the game, what do I love most about Sundays? THE FOOD. I plan to make as many treats as possible this Fall, especially on Sundays. I'll be working my tail off ALL season long with practically two full time jobs, edits, and church volunteering...oh, and maintaining a social life! So I think a few carbs each Sunday are well deserved.

image//image//image//image

What's this football season going to look like for you? I wonder which team the Bengals will be playing at the Superbowl this year!? ;) #WHODEY!

On not feeling good enough.

If you saw my Instagram post the other day, you already know what I'm about to say...but lately? I've had multiple meltdowns about this. Not feeling adequate, idiotically seeking approval from everyone, and just feeling like no matter how hard I work, I can never get ahead. 

Some days I feel like I rock at life, other days I feel like I've been hit BY a rock. Certain days I'm an amazing friend, but a less than perfect wife. Other days I get my extreme cardio workout in, yet fail to read my daily passages. But what's the worst? The way I continuously guilt myself about not being 'perfect' or 'good enough'...feeling like maybe God was disappointed in my attitude, personality, etc. It was super crummy, and a bit dramatic on my part.

It's in those moments that I realize how absolutely ridiculous and selfish my thoughts have been. Why would God allow me to BE this exhausted?! Why do I feel like I can't get ahead?! Then I had a wake up call. God chose to bless ME with an amazing marriage that would lift me up when I was feeling down, TWO jobs to provide extra income for bills and our debt payoff, friends and family to remind us how loved we are. Sure, we all have our 'off' days where we complain here and there about our situation,s but I'm truly trying to get better at that. 

One thing that I'm also trying to get better at is to stop wishing for someone else's circumstances and love where I am, in that moment. Sure, I may not be out of debt yet...but I'm only 23. Sure, I don't have my degree yet, but through that God has taught me patience...and yes, my mom moved away from us a few years ago and never looked back but you know what? That single act made me a stronger person, that I didn't even know I had in me. God allows ALL things to happen to us for some purpose, even if we never truly figure out what it is.

I was in tears the other night praying for the countries around the world who don't have the right to freely believe whatever they choose without fear of being persecuted for it...for the parents who can't provide even enough food for their children, let alone themselves, every night. For the women who have been traded as if they were an item...and to think, I'VE got it bad?! No way.

Sure, I get exhausted from my 9-5 job, which sometimes leaves me drained and feeling too exhausted to enjoy my second job, that is, my passion. Yes, there are days when Caleb and I eat salami roll ups and popcorn for dinner, and we go to bed with unfolded laundry all over the apartment, because *breaking news*...we aren't perfect. But you know who is? My amazing Savior. He created ME, intentionally, with a purpose... and on the days where that's hard to remember? I just read one of my favorite passages; I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

I am not perfect, & some days I screw up, but I'm thankful for people to remind me of God's grace when I need it. Hope this uplifts you, friends! It's almost Friday!!

A colorful soirée!

Like I said yesterday, I had the chance to shoot a last minute Indian wedding reception over the weekend. We got the call last week; the couple decided two weeks ago it was time to get married and they whipped everything together in that little amount of time! I can't even express how beautiful the bride was. All these colors?! I was dying! Unfortunately, it began raining so the 'shoot' at a nearby park we wanted to do wasn't able to happen...so we snuck outside their venue before the reception began. All I had to work with was an unclean strip mall, but I'm very happy with how the shots turned out!

I meaaaaaan!! Girlfriend is rocking the purple lips!

My favorite thing about weddings is just seeing all the unique personalities, decorations, and traditions. I love this gig! I have loads more I want to share, but haven't got around to editing them yet.

On a more random note...last night, Caleb and I went to our worship leaders home and took part in the first Fantasy Football Draft! I've gotta say, I'm really proud of my team and have high hopes for the season!! Any of you ladies football fans?! Speaking of...I can't wait to link up with my soulmate this Friday for "Football Friday"!! Have a great day, friends!

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!!! I'm so happy we crossed paths in this humongous blog land... you have one of the sweetest hearts I know! Enjoy today, and all the surprises it brings :)

& productive, it was!

Friday was one of those nights where once I was home from work, I FLOPPED. Did nothing! It was amazing. Saturday we woke up, and decided to workout at our gym. It was the first time I was back in the weight section of the gym, in QUITE sometime (we're talking like a couple months). It seems that since early summer I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things, and finally, I spent a good hour with Caleb on Saturday working on my shoulders/arms. To say I can hardly lift my arms today is an understatement. I'm hurting! But I kind of love it.

After the gym, we went home, cleaned up, and finally cleaned out our second bedroom. We threw away two or three boxes, gave Goodwill FIVE, and relabeled all the stuff we kept, and we have so much room in our spare closet now! Makes me a happy gal. Is it bad that the majority of our boxes are 'keepsakes' from our relationship, and Christmas decor? #sorrynotsorry

We can finally (almost) have someone sleep over in our guest bedroom now! It's clean!! After all of that, we got ready for a gorgeous Indian wedding reception that we were lucky enough to shoot! It was really neat, and I'll probably be sharing some images from it later this week.

Once we were home, we watched Psych reruns and ate free Chickfila (yay coupons)! Sunday was just as productive, with church, grocery shopping, and another long, AWESOME workout! These weekends with little to no plans will be far and few between this Fall, so I'm definitely taking advantage of them while I can.

Hope you guys had a great weekend! Do anything fun?

Time to be productive!

If I haven't mentioned lately...I'm enjoying August about as much as I can. September starts an insane time for Caleb and I with wedding, after wedding, after wedding. I can't tell you how much I'm going to enjoy my Fall Sundays, I'll be beat! So in the meantime? My weekend's will be either super productive, or super relaxing... this weekend?

SO PRODUCTIVE! I have a huge to-do list. Deep cleaning our bathrooms, grocery shopping, meal planning (thanks to some of your awesome tips!), packing boxes for Goodwill, and you know...hoping to actually SEE our bed in the spare bedroom again (once we clean the whole room out).

Overall, this week was pretty great! A few highlights?

-Watching my man hit a home run and his team win BACK TO BACK games!

-Booking a last minute 2 hour wedding reception on Saturday!

-Running 2 miles outside. I ran three times this week. I think I might FINALLY be getting back into my groove! I'm also eating a lot better this week than I have been since vacation. Yes, since vacation.

Spending our last couple days with this cutie!

Look at those blue eyes!!

Happy Friday, everyone!!!

So, we're official cat sitters.

Last Saturday a couple from church dropped off their adorable little cat that we would be 'sitting' for an entire week. I'm not what you would call a "cat lady", by any means... but I do have a soft spot for their sweet faces and adorable purrs!

Meet Loki...yes, like Thor's brother.

He is adventurous, psychotic, and scared all at once. We love him! It's hilarious, because technically, Caleb's allergic to cats...but if he doesn't rub his hands all over him, then touch his face, he's good. It's kind of like babysitting, you clean up their crap, pick up their toys, and make sure they don't go into the spare bedroom alone...and we get to give him back this weekend! It's a win-win :)

I'm doing typical things "new parents" do... pictures every 4 minutes, snuggling with him like he's the cutest cat in the world, and watching him like a hawk. I'm finding that at 9pm sharp, he turns into this psycho...jumping off the walls, catching invisible flies, and being terrified of even air.

Yet, we're having a blast. I love this little guy!

Also, this happens every time I open my computer... its hard to blog this week ;) see?!

Here's to seeing what the rest of the week holds for us!

I'm hoping the next two days fly by at work...so I can enjoy my weekend! August has been pretty low key (bah, I just made myself laugh there, as this whole post has been about Loki), and every weekend this fall is essentially booked up with a wedding that we're either shooting, or a part of. I can't wait though! Just gotta take it day by day!

Happy Thursday, friends!

I'm just gonna say it, my birthday weekend rocked!

I won't even try to give any excuses as to why I haven't blogged the last couple days. Life took over, and I just didn't care to try and stop it. No apologies here! BUT, I'm back and I can't even begin to explain how much LOVE I felt over the entire weekend with all the birthday wishes!! All the sweet comments from some of you, friends texts, calls, family lunches, and who could forget? The sweetest husband there ever was! Can't wait to tell you what he did for me. Keep reading to find out later!

Friday night, we rushed home from work to make it to a Red's game with some of the youth group from church...it was an absolute blast. While Caleb and I hung out with the kids most of the night, we snuck in a little time together and a few pictures!

Although the Reds lost, it was a great game to be at, and to top it all off! The hall-of-famers were there AND it was firework night! It was a win all around.

We got home after midnight, so we went to bed! When we woke up Saturday, my man wished me the happiest birthday ever and took me to lunch at my favorite place!

Then, then then thennnnn! He took me to Marshall's and told me to pick out my favorite thing. Well, that meant this beauty was coming home with me!!

THEN...I turned around and my man held up the cutest pair of linen pants, and a clearance pair of heels, in MY size! I have to say, I was impressed. He made me try them on, and I loved them so much I got them (so cheap!!) I'm pretty certain I'll be wearing these heels everywhere I go for a while!

I got picked up at 12:30 for the wedding I was shooting with Joe, and was gone all day. It was GORGEOUS, but I did miss my man! He told me he had been at his friends all night, so I didn't expect him to be awake when I got home, at 11pm. I walked in, and I saw a gorgeous satin robe hanging in the hallway, and I could smell something amazing. Caleb came out and handed me a card...that essentially told me I'm the hardest worker he knows, and that he wants me to relax. He opened the bathroom door and literally, I couldn't help but start to cry! Ha, it was like a movie in there.

He had candles EVERYWHERE, and roses....and a hot bath ready for me!!! I can't even tell you how much it meant to me. I had one stinking hour left in my birthday when I got home, and he wasn't about to waste it by letting me sleep! Remind me to keep him ;)

Sunday, my family made me a delicious lunch. I got yummy food, and an amazing present!!! One of the "Pioneer Lady" cookbooks!!! I'm so, so excited!

If this weekend is any indication of how amazing my 23rd full year will be, then I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for all the love, friends!!! Happy Wednesday!

Tomorrow, I turn 23.

It's probably silly, but I always feel like the 'baby' of every group I'm a part of - especially at work. Not that 23 is ancient by any means, but I'll be happy to be one year older. I was thinking about what I've accomplished in this little life of mine and I'm quite proud of myself. Sure, there are things I haven't got around to yet...but I'm getting there.

Yesterday I had a meeting with my boss about college, and I'm thrilled to say I'm GOING BACK TO SCHOOL! Sure, it'll probably be another 4-5 months before returning, as it will take some time to prep... but I'm pretty ecstatic. My junior year, my family didn't have the money to keep me at school, so I was forced to leave mid-semester. Talk about embarrassing. Finally, here I am, nearly three years later, and I'm finally doing it!

What else is making me happy?

-Football started last night. Although we couldn't pull out a win, I didn't even care. Watching kickoff from my living room last night just made me SO incredibly happy! #WHODEY!

-The Buffalo chicken quinoa I made last night. YUM!!!

-This man. Seriously. He has made this week just so awesome!

-Tonight, we have an outing with a group from church to a Reds game! It's also fireworks night, so I'm pumped!!

-Caleb and I saved up a little cash for an upgrade in our DSLR collection, and we bought our new toy last night. She's a beauty ;) tomorrow is my actual birthday, and I'm second shooting a wedding...so I'm hoping to get comfortable with my upgrade!

So although my birthday will consist of probably (finally, as last weekend didn't work out) opening up a joint account, and working for 8 hours...I'm pumped about what this new year of 23 will bring for me.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A long awaited birthday present!

My husband wins for most awesome present giver. I don't know about you guys, but Caleb and I would much rather spend our money on experiences rather than a physical item (most of the time). If you follow me on instagram, you already know what we were up to Tuesday night!

So, my man told me what my birthday present was on valentines day. VALENTINES DAY!! That's how long he's had this planned... I can't say I'm surprised. He and I are both obsessed with One Republic, as well as The Script, so it was just the perfect gift. Time came and went, and it was here before we knew it.

The Script played for a good hour, I mean...they are a headliner band most of the time, so I was so excited. They were such amazing entertainers, and you could just tell they were so humbled by all the fans supporting them. Their originally from Dublin, Ireland...so they have some pretty sweet accents, too!

Then One Republic came on. EEK! I can't even tell you how awesome it was. I love when a band introduces themselves (even though we obviously already know who they are) and talk to the crowd, instead of ONLY singing.

If you read Monday's post, I talked about how I'd probably freak outtttt if they played the song Caleb sang to me at our wedding. Well guess what? THEY DID. Would you judge me if I said I cried for the first full minute...because that definitely happened. It seriously just brought back so many emotions from the happiest day of our lives and I wasn't gonna be sorry about it ;) ... they played every favorite of mine, some old stuff, and even a few covers (that they obviously rocked at), and I was pretty much in heaven the entire time. Waving my hands around, jumping like crazy, and just not having a care in the world how silly I looked.

One Republic sang for nearly two hours. I couldn't believe it! Ryan Tedder's voice is insane...Caleb and I practically had no voice after the concert was over!

Yummy grease face after 4 hours of concerts!

I truly don't have many words for it...the whole night was just incredible. My husband does such a wonderful job at making me feel special. The night before, he surprised me with a "birthday week kick off" present...

Some women might be offended "oh, your husband got you a fitness magazine subscription?", well heck yes he did. He is my biggest motivator, and in NO way thinks I need to "shape up", just knows that I want to be a better, more healthy version of myself, so this gift had me all over the place with excitement!

My actual birthday is Saturday, and I'm working, so it means a lot that Caleb (and some awesome friends) have helped me celebrate all week long! I'm so lucky.

PS - today is my blogs birthday! My Kind of Yellow turns TWO! Yay!

Can a girl get some help?! Meal planning 101.

I feel like with all these resources out there, and the fact that I've been married well over a year now, I should be some sort of wizard at cooking for Caleb and I by now. I don't know what it is, I just haven't grasped onto the concept of cooking for two every single night, having all the right ingredients when I DO actually have the time to cook, and even just that, finding the time. I feel like I need to be better at making my time right after work specifically about my marriage. Half the time we cook together, and then we can enjoy a dinner together at the table! However, Caleb and I have crazy schedules (both with work + personal commitments) so some weeks, we're not home long enough to cook a giant meal and actually enjoy it.

Remember this post last year about how I'd never used my crock pot? Yeah, so I wrote that on August 29th, and here we are...nearly a year later. Still haven't used it. I will be honest, I'm getting MUCH better at cooking in general, everything I've made us, we've loved, and following a (hard) recipe is even proving to not be so terrible... its just the PREP-work that I need help with.

I will say though, last night I made Mediterranean stuffed zucchini and EEK, it was amazing. Guys, at one point I looked down and realized I had a towel on my shoulder, Caleb looked up and said "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, a CHEF!", we cracked up, but for real?? These things were so good we went back for seconds and thirds, and I don't care how silly it was that I'm still proud of myself. I have actual freak-outs about how I don't think I'm a great "housewife" so I'm giving myself 7 golden stars for last nights dinner ;)

Pampered Chef creates wonders. This made my job so much easier last night!

How do you ladies meal plan? Is Pinterest your best friend each Sunday afternoon? Or do you literally sit at your kitchen table and write down ingredients from your fav cookbooks and just go for it?! I just need a little direction because I feel like its my organizational process (the part before the a actual cooking) thats just NOT that great. Also, while you're at it, I could use some yummy side dish ideas. Thanks, in advance!!!

My very own Mexican birthday fiesta!

Can I just say (again), that I have the coolest sister/brother-in-law ever?! We had plans on Friday to go to their place! Erin kept telling me they had a "bunch up their sleeves", and oh my goodness! They did not disappoint. They immediately greeted me with "FELIZ CUMPLEANOS" at the door, and had an entire mexican feast on the table. They had a bright table cloth on, with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH" posters all over the windows...then, she showed me the cutest birthday checklist she personally made me. I meaaan!

We made music videos on the Photo Booth, talked about my goals for my year of "23" (even though my bday isn't until Saturday...hehe), and stuffed ourselves with chips & queso, my fav!

Their gift to me was all about "relaxing", filled with an awesome book, candle, bubble bath, and some misc items that I'm just in love with. So it was just fitting that the first Dove chocolate I unwrapped from my gift said this...

...how crazy?! ;) it was meant to be. After gifts, Wii games, and a few dance parties later, Erin and I snuck outside for some girl talk. It was awesome, its crazy that she and I can talk about absolutely anything and know that nothing is off limits. Just don't know what I'd do without her!

Saturday and Sunday were just as awesome. Caleb and I were both completely lazy on one hand, and even a tad bit productive on the other. Naps were taken, groceries were bought, and laundry was (temporarily) done.

I'm really excited for this week, most of our week nights are free, which I'm thrilled about! However, tomorrow night Caleb and I are celebrating my birthday at the One Republic concert! I am so excited I could cry. He's had these tickets forever and I truly can't wait to see them live! Now I'm just praying every few minutes until the concert begins that they play "Something I Need" (you know, the song my man sang to me at our wedding!). Either way, it'll be a blast. I'm so thankful for this life of mine!

Happy Monday, friends...make it a good one!