ONE MORE LOAN!

Moving brain is a real thing, guys. Something totally slipped my mind and I don't think I ever wrote about it. WE PAID OFF OUR 3RD LOAN!!!!!! We only have one more to go (although its pretty large), and this is how we feel about it...

 We have been working really hard and it felt so great to wipe it out. I know that only having one more loan left to pay off will motivate us like never before. We're dedicated, have our eyes on the prize, and can't wait for what our future will look like, debt-free!!!!!

It feels so great to be married to a man who shares all my same views. Not only on politics, but when it comes to our money. Sure, we'll still have a little fun here and there, and when we do, we'll use cash! We have the same goals in mind, and know that above all else - we want to be able to bless others like CRAZY someday. So watch out loan #4, we're comin' for ya!

In other news, we're finally feeling like we're getting settled in our new place. We've even hung a few things on our wall, are doing laundry regularly again (thank goodness), and its really beginning to feel like home. Next item on our agenda? Find a reasonably priced dining room table!!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

A happy list from my weekend.

Although I took next to NO personal pictures this weekend, it was an awesome one. Since my brain still can't really comprehend that its already Monday morning again, I'm making a list -- cause who doesn't love a good list?!

-Caleb and I enjoyed way too much popcorn on Friday night while finally seeing McFarland, USA. It was AMAZING. Probably one of my new favorite movies!

-Shooting wedding #22 of the year. Pretty crazy to think we've done this many weddings, but we've had so much fun. We had a pretty sweet set up for dinner on Saturday. 40 minutes in a separate room where we got to watch college football. Fine by me! ;)

-The bride and groom from this weekends wedding. O-M-G. They are such awesome, laid back, hilarious people. Their love for each other was so so evident and I think we snagged some new favorite photos.

-My Bengals are now 3-0!!!!!!! We all nearly lost our voices from all the screaming, cheering, and excitement! I have high hopes for this season, and I love that my family is so passionate about the game, too.

-I got the chance to dress up in a pretty hilarious get-up for a secret project my church is putting on. I definitely got some crazy looks from the older crowd, but hey, it was worth it. Can't wait to see the final product!!

-Caleb and I finally got out for a run together in our new subdivision. My thighs are still burning from it, but it felt good to get back at it. With this move, all forms of exercise (other than lifting boxes) have been on the back burner.

-Bengals snuggies. They just make Sundays better.

-Time spent with my man. In the midst of this crazy season of life, its great when your man invites you to lay on the couch together to snuggle. Snuggles are my favorite, especially after a long day.

Enjoy your Monday, friends! Make it count!

Friday brain dump - and puppies!

This cup of coffee (aka a crap-ton of sugar and cream with splash of coffee) needs to kick in soon. I am insanely tired. It's been a WEEK, y'all! ;) we had our final walk through at our old apartment this past week and I had yet another annoying encounter with the front desk lady. Luckily the maintenance guy was awesome and said we should get our full deposit back - cue happy dance! After that was done, I had some time to kill before Caleb got home so of course the only logical thing to do was drive to my aunts to play with her new puppy, Mojo. Is he not the cutest thing in the world?!?

I had an engagement session at Miami University last night. I'd never been there before and holy moly, that campus is BEAUTIFUL! It really made me want to rewind about 6 years and go back to college days! JK...kinda.... ;) the couple brought their adorable mini Husky (I didn't even know that was a thing??!) and she pretty much stole the show all night. I wish I had sneak peeks to show you but I didn't get home until 11 because after their session they invited me to the most hole-in-the-wall place to eat afterwards, and I never turn down mac & cheese bites. So this picture of Leena and I will have to do for now. This Friday post is turning into puppy central, but I doubt any of you mind?! ;)

Caleb and I have made a significant dent in our unpacking process, yet somehow it still looks like a tornado ran through our living room. Our moment of "awesome" this week was when we realized we had our cable guy set it up on the wrong side of the room and when we called to see how much it would be to change - they wanted to charge us about $150. HA! No thanks. A late night Walmart trip, 50 foot cable cord, and a little sweat later, Caleb did it all my himself. We may have celebrated with leftover pizza...again.

All in all we had a great week and I'm ready for the weekend! Thanks again for sticking with me when my posts are probably a pile of random junk. Is moving brain a real thing!? ;) I hope you guys have some fun plans in the works! Can't wait to read about them. 

6 things for my Fall!

I'm so sad I missed this link up when it went live yesterday, but hey, I suppose when you pick up everything you own and move to a new home, that's what happens! ;) Anyway! Lets get started. Fall is upon us and I'm over the moon. I've officially dusted off my booties, rearranged my scarves and am stalking Targets $1 section for the cutest glittery pumpkins I can find.

I decided instead of writing all the things I love about Fall (cause listen, we'd be here all day), I'd post a few things I want to do this season!

Throwback to last Fall. You're never to old to play in the leaves.

1. Visit a fall festival of some type. The plans for this are already in the works due to a couple free Saturday's (say what?! FREE SATURDAYS?!!?) next month, and I'm pumped. There's something so fun about finding your way out of a corn maze, and picking out pumpkins.

2. Speaking of pumpkins, I'd actually like to carve some this year! It's something I say I'll do with Caleb EVERY year, and yet it never happens. Now that we have a small deck, I'd like to USE it! I'm thinking something Disney themed?!

3. Sit by a campfire. It's one of my favorite things to do!

4. Make a crock pot potpourri...I'm eyeing this one in particular! I mean, can you even imagine how good that probably smells?!?! Perfect when having guests over!

5. Make the best s'mores ever. Last year our church put on a really cool fellowship event to kickoff Fall and everyone got to experience my amazing s'more making skills...

6. Take more personal photos. I'm so busy carrying around my DSLR capturing OTHER people's moments...I want to get better at capturing my OWN with more than just my little iPhone camera.

Like I said, I could go on and on about things I want to do this Fall, or reasons why I love it so much, but we'd probably be here all day. I'm just ready for life to slow down a bit, for the weather to get a bit cooler, and to relax and enjoy the last few months of the year to the fullest. I've also got some things up my sleeve for Halloween! Stay tuned!!

Have a great Thursday, friends!

Moving is straight up hard.

When you spent the majority of the weekend moving and you think you "only have a few things left" at the apartment you're moving out of... that really means you "have a crap ton of stuff left over there and it'll take way longer than you think". Somehow the clock strikes 8:30 and you realize you haven't had dinner yet. One way or another you and half your family end up in the same parking lot and they encourage you to just order a pizza. So duh, you listen. Thirty minutes later, this happens...

In all seriousness, moving is straight up hard. I really didn't think it would be so time consuming, but it really is! I'd be fine if we don't BUY an actual home for another few years and just save up a crap ton (which is the plan, btw). However, its been a fun adventure. Somehow, things are just falling into place. The cable/internet has been installed, the washer and dryer are delivered, and our groceries are finally in our fridge. Did I mention we actually get a pantry in this new place?! A PANTRY?! I almost forgot what one of those looked like! ;)

In light of losing my temper last night when a box sliced my hand open, I've compiled a small list of things you'll learn when in the middle of a move...

-your patience will be tested
-you'll argue with your adorable husband about where couches go
-you'll eat an embarrassing amount of pizza
-you'll only have about 3 outfits that you rotate for a week or so
-forget about sleeping, there's too much to do!
-and when you do sleep, you'll sleep like a rock from being so exhausted
-you never know where anything is when you actually need it
-you'll have enough boxes to build a new house
-you won't hit the gym, lifting boxes is your workout!
-you swear to yourself "you're never moving again"
-but then years from now get excited when you get to move again ;)

In all seriousness, that list above is real. BUT we've made the best of it. We've survived our first real move of the marriage and now we have a lot less crap because of it!! So I'm thankful. I'm excited to see what new adventures we get ourselves into in this home, and see how we make it ours.

Anyone have any hilarious moving stories?! I could use 'em!

We were productive!!

While I slaved away in my cubicle all day Friday ;) the boys got us all moved into our new place. So after a bit of unpacking, we celebrated our move with a bit of Mexican food like any normal human would, ha!

Saturday morning we decided to get our favorite donuts in the world for breakfast, because...well, donuts...

...then prepped for our 21st wedding of the year! I can't believe it! I was excited for this day because the bride and I really hit it off from the first time we met. She even texted me when she woke up and couldn't wait for us to arrive! She's such a fun gal and I knew she'd be a blast to work with. ALL DAY she made sure we had anything and everything we could need. Granola bars, water, air conditioning ;) I loved it! Sure, it was a LONG day, but with clients like these? It's so worth it.

& as always, here's a few sneak peeks from their big day!

Her sisters "introduction" into the reception was awesome, ha!

We got home around midnight and didn't fall asleep until well past 1AM so we decided to stay home all day Sunday. We got SO much unpacking done but of course stopped during the Bengals game and CAN I GET A WHO DEY!?!!!? So stinkin excited about this season. I pray we can continue with this winning streak!!!! Our boys are lookin' good!

Our weekend ended with running a few errands and witnessing one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen in a while!

Another thing I'm pumped about today? Amy + Erin's grand opening of their Etsy shop!!! Not only are they having a sale for their first day, but you'll get a free Halloween sticker sheet with your order. You know I'm excited!!!! So click that link and get to shopping, ladies! Make this week a great one!

Our last night.

Last night was bittersweet. It was our official last night sleeping in our apartment. This has been our home for nearly two and a half years. In this little apartment we've laughed, we've wept, we've been lazy, we've worked our butts off, and love every second. We've celebrated birthdays, surprised each other, woke up on Christmas mornings, baked cookies, slept under a fort, worshipped in our living room, etc., so its a little difficult to leave. On the flip side? I realize that "home" isn't about the location of the roof over my head, its about who I'm with...and as long as I'm with this guy, I'd be willing to call anywhere "home".

We've spent every night this week finishing up all the packing and while I'm at work today the men in our family are doing the grunt work, and we plan on paying them with lots of pizza and lots of hugs. We've thrown a ton out and its felt so good to get rid things we hardly use. I've come to realize I don't need 3 round cake pans, 7 cookie sheets and a billion random kitchen utensils I haven't touched once. Goodwill is gonna have a blast ;)

All in all this has been a jam-packed, but awesome week. We're so excited to begin this new chapter in our lives! We're praying God will continue to enable us to work hard and be debt-free soon, then we can begin saving up for a hefty down payment on a HOUSE!!!! Thanks, as usual, for following along!!! Enjoy your weekend!

Home is wherever I'm with you.

A who-dey happy weekend!

I knew my weekend was going to be really great around 2:30 on Friday when a random co worker offered to treat our entire department to Starbucks.

Then that night it got even better when Caleb challenged me to do something with "all these old bananas rotting on our counter" ;) ...... an hour later I made this! We spent the rest of Friday evening packing for our move!

Saturday, after the gym and cleaning our place...we had our 20th wedding of the year!!! I cannot believe I'm even saying that! It was a fantastic day and the bridal party kept us laughing all day. I also may have gotten called out into the middle of a dance circle, and rocked it ;) the bride was insanely beautiful and football-obsessed, so you know I loved her from the get-go!

We got home pretty late but popped in a movie and enjoyed some quality time together! We're now in the "single digits" of weddings left in 2015. I can't believe it!

Sunday morning we had church, then I went out with one of my closest family friends, the Bach family! They treated me to lunch at Coffee Emporium and we had a blast. I hadn't shot a family session of them in over 3 years!! So it was definitely overdue. Their daughters are all in the youth group and I consider these gals family. Aren't they beautiful!?!

Then I hopped in a few ;)

After their session was over, I headed to Erin & Jared's and watched the BEST SEASON OPENER EVER! It was the strangest feeling to be beating a team by THAT MUCH. We are so used to stressing/worrying up until the very last second... so beating the Raiders was amazing. Regardless, I'm thrilled that the season is underway!!!

oh and guess what I got in the mail yesterday?? MY ERIN CONDREN PLANNER. More to come on that. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!!!! WHO DEY!!?!?

On writing in a real journal.

I've been a little absent on my space here, but its been somewhat intentional. As I've mentioned before, Caleb and I are in a crazy state of life (busiest wedding season yet, moving to a new home, etc.)...days at work feel long, then I come home after a few meetings with brides/couples, and we have a ton of packing to do, so honestly? The last thing I want to do that late is figure out what I'm going to blog about the next day.

I just want less pressure on myself. I find myself turning more and more to my gorgeous little yellow journal (and a few others because I'm a crazy list maker). There's something about holding a real pen in my hand and writing down my truest feelings. Stuff I'd never imagine putting on here. Not because this blog is "fake", but because some of it is insanely personal to my life, and it belongs to me. So I won't sit here and apologize to you for possibly being absent in the future, because I think sometimes its good for the soul! So, if you feel like sticking with me through this chaotic part of my life, awesome. If not? That's fine too! We'll see what happens!

Now that that's out of the way, I had a pretty crazy week. Somehow this 4 day week felt like a 6 day week. Crazy how that works, huh!? Fall ball is back, so last night I watched Caleb tear it up. Call me a sap, but watching him do something he loves (even like old man softball) makes me happy.

We also went through our entire guest bedroom closet and got rid of SO much stuff (it was nearly packed to the ceiling with storage bins). I can't begin to tell you how amazing throwing stuff away is. We had a rule that if its sat for 2+ years and we a) forgot about it, or b) haven't used it .... it goes to Goodwill! Our entire living room is covered in brown boxes, but I'm loving it. It's making us really organized and I'm hoping this means our new place will be clutter-free!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend ahead!!! Happy Friday!

Fully recharged.

I can't even explain how amazing this extra-long weekend was! We managed to make it to the gym ALL 3 days (hollaaa!) and spent most of our time doing whatever the heck we wanted! It was glorious.

Friday evening was supposed to be spent at my old High School watching my brother play drumline at half-time...but there was a huge storm blowing through that ended up canceling the game, so we grabbed wings at a local joint instead! Saturday after the gym, we grabbed lunch at Olive Garden (thanks to past clients who treated us with a couple gift cards!!!) and saw No Escape at the theatre. O-M-G. My heart was pounding the WHOLE time and it was amazing! I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes action flicks!

and NO, we didn't sneak this candy into the theatre.....

We came home, ordered some pizza and BUILT A FORT! We've been talking about doing this for a while and finally figured out how to make it happen... it was pretty epic.

We accidentally fell asleep under it, and decided to stay out there. Sure, it wasn't the most comfortable night in the world, but we were so proud of our little fort we wanted to make the most of it!

Sunday morning our church closed its doors and had a "Rise and Build" day! Our whole church broke out into about 8 or 9 groups and served our community in various ways (serving meals, painting homes, doing yard work for elderly, making stockings for Christmas, etc.)! It always feels good to give back.

Sunday night after a LONG, much needed nap...we went to our favorite supermarket, Jungle Jims (I know you're jealous, Becky), and grabbed a whole bunch of sushi and decided to have ourselves another movie night in - of course, we went with another action flick.

Monday morning we got in a good workout and grabbed groceries all before the clock hit noon! When we got home, we cleaned up and organized stuff to get ready to spend most of this our evenings this week packing! Our move day is so soon!!! I honestly needed a weekend like this, free of ANY real obligations, to just focus on Caleb, to focus on fun, and to really just relax. I hope everyone had a great time, too!!!! Now, who's ready for Fall!?!?! 

September goals and goods.

ITS FRIDAY! This makes me really happy seeing as half of the day yesterday I thought it already WAS Friday, ha! August was definitely busy, but now that its over? I'm READY for Fall. I'm ready for football, crisp leaves, and bonfires. Since this week was pretty low key I'm not doing much of a recap, but instead, some goals I want to accomplish!

Kickoff Bengals football season! I'm SO ready for Sunday get togethers with my favorites and cheering on our favorite team!!!

Have another successful month full of photography. We have 3 weddings, and 2 engagement sessions, plus quite a few scheduled consults already. I want to stretch my creativity more than ever, and can't wait for the leaves to start changing!!

Bake something!! Lisa never fails me when it comes to pumpkin goodies, so I'm going to attempt making these this month!

link

Spend more time doing things I love. With the craziness that comes with the Fall wedding season, its kind of hard to make time for other things that are also important to me (Bible reading, date nights, journaling, me time). So this month I'm going to do my best to make more time. Wake up a little earlier to read, take a couple extra days to edit so I can date my husband, etc. Excited to see how this goes!

Move into our new home. I'm obviously not talking specific details on here, but one thing I can tell you? We're extremely excited to have a fresh start somewhere else. Of course we'll miss our apartment...this has been our only home since we've been married, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts for that reason. However! We think this move will be a huge blessing for us, and we're excited to make new memories in our new place! Maybe I'll share some details on decorating to come once we're settled?!!

Make more time for the gym. I did really well the first half of August, but the last 2 weeks have been really busy/stressful so the gym didn't make it on my daily agenda very much. In September, I'd really like to get back in the weight room and make some serious progress!

All in all, I'm ready for a new month!! If you follow me on twitter, you probably saw how excited I am about my most recent purchase!! I finally hopped on the Erin Condren train and I'm insanely sad that I can't use this beauty until 2016! I'm really regretting not adding the rest of the 2015 months in!

I hope everyone is able to enjoy this long, awesome weekend!!

When strangers are nice.

I pull into the McDonalds drive-thru and order an apple pie, act surprised when they tell me they are 2 for $1, and say, "I may as well"...I reach the second window to pay for the rectangles of heavenly goodness and am caught off guard when the adorable employee says "oh my goodness girl you just look beautiful!!", and begins to compliment my necklace. It's sad how this almost made me uncomfortable, and I nearly tried bringing myself down as if it wasn't okay to accept the compliment, but I ended up thanking her. Sure, I mean, I was thankful for the compliment, but I drove on anyway. I then started to feel bad for dismissing her kindness. Why do so many of us think we have to be down on ourselves when others try to compliment us?

I know that not everyone is this way, but its something I'm realizing I need to work on more. Why do I feel the need to reject kindness when its offered? I think that a lot of us are afraid if we accept these things, it means we're full of ourselves, think we agree with them, etc., when in reality - we should be thanking those people. Not only thanking them, but EMBRACING what it is that they've said!

I may not wake up every day thinking I look all that great, but I think this world needs more people who are confident in themselves. Who can accept a compliment without belittling themselves. Sure, we may have flaws...but who doesn't? This world is made up of millions of IMPERFECT people...so we should learn to rock our flaws and be proud of 'em!!

I know this was a random post, but it's just been on my mind lately. I hope you all have a great week. I've so enjoyed some time off. I had one engagement session this week, and one Skype call, its been nice to focus more on my home and myself. Make it a great Thursday, friends!