Friday is here!

Happy Friday! I'm really excited because Caleb surprised me with Beauty and the Beast tickets for tonight at a new theater near us and I'm dying to get off work and have a fun date night out with my man! We had a pretty jam-packed week, full of work! Lots of Skype calls, a consultation and a photo shoot!

I tried my first vanilla iced coffee from Starbucks on Tuesday and even though I did add a little sweetener, it was AH-MAZING! I wish I didn't have such a sweet tooth, but hey, it's part of me!

Wednesday we decided to grab Jersey Mikes for dinner since 100% of their nationwide sales that day were going to local charities! The Cincinnati locations chose to support "Cancer Free Kids", and goodness, these subs are top of the line. Fresh ingredients, and a 100x better than Subway, in my opinion!

Last night I met up with a friend from high school to document her sweet babe turning 1! Rowan is too adorable, and can we talk about her strawberry hair color?!!? 

I was in a Fitbit step challenge this week and man, I sucked, ha! I should know better than to accept these challenges on busy weeks...I never make time to get those extra steps in! But I'm excited for next week because it's a new week, a new month, and I'll have some new fitness related goals. With vacation being right around the corner, I've gotta whip myself into shape!

We've got a wedding to photograph tomorrow, and this couple has so much fun stuff up their sleeves! Can't wait to show you all! Have a fun weekend!

My Spring List!

I could really get used to these warmer temps! It's so cool how each season brings its own bit of goodness. I love Summer for its sunshine and late nights. I love Fall for its chilly temps and blanket scarves. I love Winter for the snowfall and the holidays.

BUT! There is always something so magical about Spring. All the dead stuff comes back to life, the sun stays out later and the temperatures slowly begin to rise back to a comfortable, breezy level! Since I haven't written a goals post in a while I figured I'd make a loose list for the season of Spring!

Ease back into running || I used to run ALL. THE. TIME. I loved it, and I really do miss it! So this Spring I'd like to ease my way back into it and hit the pavement some! No real pressure, just going to try and enjoy it!

Make more breakfast || Caleb and I absolutely LOVE having breakfast for dinner, and my Breakfast board on Pinterest makes me drool anytime I look at it, so I need to start trying some of them!

Get crafting || I feel like back in my high school days (and even early college) I was super crafty. Always DIYing something, making a collage, some decoration for my room etc., and I miss it! This Spring I want to pick a couple of fun projects and make one or two of them happen!

Get a new bathing suit || I've been really dying to get an adorable one piece (they have come a logn way since early 2000's) or a high-waist two piece. I love the styles of these and this site has SO MANY cute ones!

Restore some old photos || Looking through old photos is probably one of my favorite things to do, hands down. But when you think about it - those old film photos are the only copies we have! I can't imagine not having them! I want to be able to look back on these for years and years. I'd like to start a project of converting my families old film memories we have to a digital copy (I've heard FotoBridge is a great company to use)!

Plan a fun date night || Whether it's a date night in, or a fun night out on the town, I need a reason to get my creative juices going again!

Make more time for reading || Both my Bible, and books. I own an insane amount of books and my list never ends, gotta start putting a dent in it!

Send some snail mail || This is another one of my favorite things to do! No need for a special occasion, "just because" mail is the best!

Be more consistent || With my exercises, and with my eating healthy, with my journaling, etc.! When I do these things, I just feel a lot more confident and happy, and that's always a plus!

I hope the weather continues to be awesome and warm and full of sunshine! Spring is absolutely one of my favorite seasons and it just gives me a renewed sense of hope and excitement! I'd love to know what's on YOUR Spring to-do list this season!

Our weekend!

Hi, friends! Thanks for all your well wishes last week. His Grandmother's funeral was beautiful, and it was nice to hear so many wonderful stories about her over the years. She was one special lady! Please keep Caleb and his family in your thoughts and prayers as everyone goes back to reality today and tries to continue moving forward :)

Thursday evening I started to feel a little tickle in my throat, but nothing too terrible, so I just shook it off and thought it was nothing. Turns out I felt TERRIBLE when I woke up on Friday, but I trekked into work anyway. My boss took one quick look at me and sent me home. It was definitely for the best, since we had a wedding to photograph on Saturday and I needed to rest up and get better!

I'll be honest, since I was so sick, I didn't feel like being anywhere but my bed all day with some hot tea and  a serious amount of cough drops! But once we arrived at the hotel on Saturday to start photographing, we had a great day with everyone. Bright (yes, coolest name ever) was such a stunning bride, she seriously was so chill the whole day; nothing could stress her out! She and Evan were so obviously in love -- it's always easy to capture people like them!

Thank goodness for Caleb. I couldn't raise my voice for this crowd to save my life (as far as directing full bridal party shots/etc.), so he was definitely a life saver all day! He always is. I really can't imaging photographing with anyone but him. He just gets me, and knows exactly what I need!

Sunday was pretty relaxing. We had a consultation in the morning, and I was able to score a bowl of my favorite soup (broccoli cheddar from Panera - woo woo)! We didn't have youth group that evening so we watched an unhealthy amount of Netflix and became couch potatoes while the rain kept on outside, and I didn't hate one minute of it.

Have a great week, friends!

Caleb's sweet Grandmother.

Today is a bittersweet day. Caleb's sweet Grandmother left this world last Thursday, and went to meet Jesus. This morning is her funeral and while we're sad to know we can't see her big smile in person any longer, or hear her witty jokes, we rejoice in knowing she is with her sweet husband again!

We're so thankful for the time we got to spend with her here on this Earth. There really is nothing quite like a Grandmother! You could always count on her to be honest, give great advice, and make you laugh like crazy. Please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers as they mourn the loss of this amazing lady! It's much appreciated :)

Spring is here!

Spring has finally sprung! WOO! I can definitely tell with this rainy, mild weather here in Cincy today! But hey this just means we're a little closer to warmer weather so no complaints from me!!

We had such a great weekend. Friday evening our plan was to head to my brothers to play some music BUT after a trip to Urgent Care he found out he had Influenza B so we made the smart decision to stay home, instead! Saturday morning we woke up pretty early, and headed to one of the most disappointing rummage sales we've ever been to, so that didn't last long! We decided to hit up the library shortly after, then had a delicious breakfast out together. We spent the day relaxing around the house before I had a fun night out with some ladies!

Caleb's cousin Natalie is getting married next month so we celebrated her with a fun Bachelorette party at a tasty Mexican restaurant! We had such a great time, and I'm so so thankful for the family I married into!

Wow, I could really use a tan!

Sunday Caleb and I grabbed groceries after church, then we took a 3 hour nap. IT WAS AMAZING! I must've needed it, and I'm finally feeling like I've caught up on sleep since daylight savings time!

Shortly after, we headed to youth group. This was a special night as Caleb was speaking and it was my cousin Nick's last week! I haven't mentioned it here (mostly because I'm too emotional to say it out loud), but my Aunt and Uncle and two cousins are moving to Nashville. We are extremely close so it's been a hard pill to swallow! We're SO excited for them, though, and made sure to make Nick's last night of youth group one to remember. We covered him in prayer and filled our bellies with lots of cookie cake!

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Confession session

I confess...

 ...that I cannot wait for This Is Us to come back in September. I keep hearing mixed reviews of the season finale. Some people loved it, some didn't at all. Personally, I loved it. It was just so honest! I think people just expected it to be more of a tear-jerker because that's how it ALWAYS is. I'm excited for season 2!

...I miss my mom. We were talking yesterday and she said she may extend her trip (she's a traveling nurse) in Maine through the summer! I'm happy for her, but I miss her and her goofy self.

...that Caleb and I have been watching a LOT of movies lately. We've been putting together movie nights w/ people from church/friends and there is always at least 10 of us going to see a cheap movie on Tuesday nights. We're trying to keep up with it once a month.

I miss summer. End of story.

...I'm sick of this cold weather. We had 70 degrees just days ago and now it's 18!? My throat is starting to feel sore. I'm ready for Spring!!

...that as much as I love Joanna Gaines, I found a necklace that was basically a glorified shoe string on their Magnolia Shop site for $48. Come on, guys!!

...I didn't wash my hair today. Whoops.

...that I suck at waking up early to work out. My friend and I have made a pact that begins next week to start working out BEFORE WORK again. Because lets be real, once you're at home and you see that glorious couch, it's too difficult to NOT flop on it for the rest of the night!

...that I have the best husband in the world. He's truly my happy place. I'm also feeling really thankful for the awesome family I married into.

...that we're in the home stretch of our debt payments. Only a few more months until financial freedom! That feels amazing to say!!

...our house is a mess the majority of the time, and by "mess" I just mean there is constant laundry to be done. I don't get how it never ends!?

...that I am SO READY for a vacation. Sandy beaches, warm weather, SUNSHINE! Ahhh!

Hope you all have a fantastic Thursday. We're almost to the weekend!

Underwhelmed schedule.

It's no secret that Caleb and I, for the majority of our marriage, have been pretty busy people. With each of us juggling full time day jobs, a photography business, church commitments and a young adult ministry, it's a lot! That's not even to mention keeping our marriage and social calendar alive! A lot of that had to do with the fact that we knew it was temporary, which is key. We knew that in order to get out of debt quickly (within a few years), we'd have to hustle - work hard - take on a LOT of jobs. While this was true, we also didn't realize what a toll it would take on us. I knew it was getting bad when before anyone would ask us to commit to something (even a social event) they'd preface the sentence with "now I KNOW how busy you guys are, but...", and that broke my heart.

Last year is when we knew it was time to make a change. As I mentioned before, we started our own photography business, and that gave us a little more freedom to run our own schedules. I decided for my own mental health/sanity that it was necessary to only allow ourselves X amount of projects a month, no matter how much money we may lose out on.

We also decided to say no to some church commitments here and there. As much as we hated to say no when it came to volunteering, I realized that it didn't make us bad people. No one expects anyone to say yes to everything, so why was I setting this unrealistic expectation for us that we HAD to?! What was so freeing is when we actually began to politely decline, people surprised us with answers like "that's totally fine!" or "hey, thanks for at least considering!". There were no hard feelings, and my soul felt a little more free each time.

I began to see how much more available I became to not only my friends and my husband, but to Jesus, most importantly. I was able to spend my mornings in prayer, instead of rushing to get out of the door. I began to have less "clutter" on my calendar, and more intentional hangouts with my friends. Nights that used to be filled with rushing around after work were now being spent in comfy clothes and a messy bun, actually making a good dinner and spending time at the table with Caleb. 

Lysa Terkeurst is one of my favorite Christian authors/speakers and she wrote a book called The Best Yes where she said "If I really want an unrushed life, I must underwhelm my schedule, so God has room to overwhelm my soul". DANG!

I'm amazed at how much I've changed in just the few years we've been married. Not in some dramatic, life altering way, but just in the small things. I'm waking up everyday asking God to help me be the best ME I can be that day, to not get caught up in the hustle of hard work, and to just be.

I hope you can take some time this week to slow down, and be more aware of how you spend your time, and how it makes you feel. We all have the same amount of hours in our days, let's make them count! :)

I'm back!

Ohhh hey there. Remember me? I sort of took an accidental hiatus from blogging and most of social media for the majority of March so far.  It was totally unintentional but hey, I didn't mind. It was a nice break, but I'm back, baby!

Last week was slightly uneventful so I don't feel a need to rehash it. I'll just start with our fun weekend! Friday evening we ventured up to Columbus to spend a quick weekend with some friends! Megan and Andy are actually friends we met through mutual friends years ago, and I'm so glad we've kept in touch!! They are some of the most selfless, genuine people we know!

Friday we started by basically depleting Kroger of all the snacks on the shelves, and getting sushi-take out. I mean... I dare you to find a better way to spend your Friday night ;)

Saturday, Megan and I were up bright and early for Barre 3 class. She's a long-standing member there and has a TON of free class cards so she was nice enough to let me use one! The only other Barre class I've taken was a few years ago with Megan at the exact same studio, and I just love it. Seriously, it's SUCH a good workout, and everyone is so friendly. So much toning, etc.!

When we got back to their house, the boys had been slaving away in the kitchen making breakfast! I'm talking bacon, eggs, toast, cinnamon rolls, a fruit plate, you name it - they thought of it! Shortly after, we all got cleaned up and headed out to see where the day would take us.

We hit up the library, an old historic book store, then stopped by this little hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place for lunch and had the best Pad Thai ever! We were in heaven.

That evening we shot an impromptu photo session at sunset of them and I'm thrilled with how they turned out. We went back to their place to order local pizza, and lets just say Megan and I stayed up way too late talking, but hey, that's what girl time is all about. Am I right?!

Sunday finally caught up with us, and we were DRAGGING! Caleb and I couldn't be saved by all the coffee in the world, but we said our goodbyes and hit the road. Once we made it home we managed to stay awake long enough to get lunch with my family, then each had our own 2 hour nap. It. Was. GLORIOUS.

So while I might be a little sleepy today, it was absolutely worth it. I hope everyone had a fun weekend and an even better week ahead!

Attitude of gratitude.

This morning was another crazy one! Our power is still out. There were confirmed tornadoes right in our town, which is insane to think about - over 110mph winds! I can't even fathom that! This was an uprooted tree near our neighborhood that one of our church friends captured - most of the streets were blocked and our town/surrounding towns had severe damage.

So while I could sit here and gripe about having no power, no heat, a ton of spoiled food we have to throw away, and having to take a cold shower again; I won't. Today, I want to focus on the positives.

I'm so thankful for my in-laws who insisted we come stay with them last night, prepared us the biggest chicken and dumplings meal and kept the treats coming all night.

I'm so thankful for an air mattress and blankets and warmth last night.

I'm so thankful for a husband who tells me how to get to work when every normal route you'd take is damaged/closed/not an option.

I'm so thankful for a roof over my head, even when there's no electricity/heat inside.

I'm thankful for an employer with electricity so I can keep my devices charged so I'm not driving around town with a dead phone.

I'm so thankful for our incomes - even though we lost a ton of food in our fridge/freezer, we have the means to head back to the grocery store and restock when necessary.

I'm so thankful for the clean up crews in our town who are trying their hardest to make everything back to normal!

I'm so thankful it's almost the weekend and there is lots to celebrate!

I'm so thankful for YOU all, who come back to read day after day. This blog may not be as interesting as it once was (back in the wedding planning days, lol) but it feels good to still keep up with it and write whatever is on my heart that day.

Have a great day!

Currently {March - already?!}

Well this morning was the exact definition of crazy. Both of our phones jolted us awake around 3:00AM due to severe weather in our area (flash flooding and the spotting of a tornado), so of course we go our main level to turn the news on. The meteorologist says to take cover if you live off of a certain main road (which we do), and then our power went out! So we sleepily went down to our basement and just stayed down there for about an hour. Around 4:00AM we were able to go back up to our bedrooms and fall back asleep. Fast forward to Caleb going to work. Since so many roads were closed Caleb's oldest brother couldn't pick him up at our house (they all carpool sometimes) so I had to drop him off at a local gas station, and we had to convince the traffic cops to let me cross through a barricade to come back home - luckily they were nice and understood our situation was unique! Needless to say, I'm tired. It was interesting taking a shower in the dark this morning and driving through a storm so bad I could barely see out my windshield but hey, I'm safe. Our families are safe. That is what matters! Let this Wednesday begin!

Phew! Now that that's out of the way - here we are with another month, which means another new Currently prompt from Anne and her new co-host Carrie! This is one of my favorite link ups because it always leads me to finding some fun new blogs to follow!

Currently I'm...
Watching: The Office (per the usual), The Man in the High Castle (we're only 2 episodes in since they are about an hour long each), and a lot of our Golden State Warriors since they are back from the break and have had some 7PM EST games! Woo

Eating: healthier foods! It's crazy how just a couple days of being healthier really makes your body feel so much better!

Saying: more prayers. The last month or so I've used my morning commute to unwind and talk to the Lord. It's been a great way to start my day!

Wearing: Lots of black pants. I have about 3 pairs that look identical, so I'm hoping no one in my office thinks I'm just not washing my clothes ;)  but really - the weather here has been so back and forth, and they are such a staple in my wardrobe (and real talk, I never feel like shaving my legs)!

Posting: more of our wedding photography now that we've had a couple of weddings already this year! It feels good to be proud of the work we're doing!

aaaand my co-worker just tossed me two free boxes of Thin Mints - DANGIT! Trying to be healthy here lady ;) at least they freeze well!
Have a great day, friends!