Checking things off!

This weekend was awesome, and tiring! Friday we were able to have a fun night around a campfire with tons of people from our church. I got started on my Fall Bucket List, by making a delicious, perfect s'more!!

Saturday we woke up bright and early to drive about 45 minutes to Cleves, OH and shoot an awesome, first ever Women's Conference at a friends church. Not only did we have a blast doing what we love, but I got to worship right alongside these women, listen to their amazing stories...AND be with my husband. I mean, that's a win-win-win...right?! Oh, and I finally had a coffee and put pumpkin spice creamer in it...not bad #cliche (I'll stick to my apple cider, thanks!)

That afternoon we headed back home, had pb&j's for lunch...and relaxed until our free date night! We were lucky enough to go to a UC Bearcats football game (thanks, Er!). It was kind of fun that it was so cold. I got to snuggle up to my man all night!

We left into the 3rd quarter since our team wasn't doing so great, but once we got home, we were finally able to get (almost) caught up on the best show ever (THE WALKING DEAD, DUH!!). After church Sunday, I devoted my entire day to finishing up some edits.

I absolutely loved editing these sunset photos (EEK!)!!!

That night we hung out with Erin and Jared...and our Bengals unfortunately couldn't pull out a win, but you know what? I guess ya can't win 'em all! We'll get 'em next week!! I hope everyone had a blast of a weekend!!!

Some fun on Friday.

I'm thrilled its Friday. As always. This week went both slow and fast at the same time. I had a few really fun moments but didn't take many pictures...but here are a few I was able to snag.

1) The most adorable Fall plates you ever did see. Kroger has them on sale and I REALLY want them!

2) WING NIGHT at Quaker Steak. The service was absolutely horrible. I ate like a bird all day to save my appetite...and we waited 40 minutes. The tables next to us was already getting their THIRD round of wings before we even got our first. The waitress didn't even act sorry. In the end? I stuffed myself silly and didn't let it bother me too much, but it was fun hanging out with my Dad for a bit.

3) I'm trying so hard to teach myself to french braid my hair. Guys, I suck, & these few short layers I have are really screwing everything up.

4) My first run of October just had to be documented. I'm so excited to kick October's butt. I have so many goals for myself...and I JUST KNOW I will be successful.

I was also able to have a few ladies over midweek. I think its so important to squeeze in as much time with our closest friends as possible. Whether everyones just sitting around stuffing their face with chips and salsa, or unloading about some really personal things, time with our friends is something to be cherished! A few of us were able to get together Wednesday and we had so much fun!

We have another free(ish) weekend before October begins to get psychotic, in a fun way.

Tonight our church is having a fun Fall kickoff night around a campfire, and the weather report says its gonna rain. Luckily we have a back up plan, but I'm praying it stays nice out!! Tomorrow Caleb and I are shooting a Women's Conference at a local church, so that should be fun! I'm assuming the rest of the day we're going to flop and do nothing while we can :) Sunday our sweet Bengals are back on and I can't wait to see Tom Brady cry!!

Any fun plans for you this weekend?

My Fall bucket list...that I WILL complete!

I (along with the rest of blogland) am so happy its October. Although Caleb and I have a pretty jam packed schedule the next 3 weekends, we're ready for them. In the midst of all the craziness that this month brings, I'm excited to create (and hopefully achieve) all the things on my Fall bucket list.

Oh, you mean no one has ever made a Fall bucket list? *insert sarcasm* I know, but I feel like if I'm not intentional with this list, none of it will happen. SO, in true blogger fashion, I'm writing a post on it.

Drink fresh apple cider.

So I've never had a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. I KNOW, what the what!?? ;) I just love the taste of warm apple cider so much I can't stray away from it! When I was young my family and I would always go to this cute farm called "Rousters Apple Farm", and they have since shut down...so I'm determined to find a spot in Cincy where I can get myself some!!

Have a silly, ridiculous, selfie filled Fall photo shoot.

I don't even care if Caleb and I have to take a dang tripod out in the street that we find with a ton of leaves, we need to get out and use our cameras more for personal use. I think BECAUSE I shoot weddings, sometimes I forget to document my own life with my DSLR. I stick w/ my phone, etc...which in some cases is fine, but I want to get better about it. There are SO many beautiful trees already changing in our complex, leaves falling, etc. We just gotta make it happen!

Cropped photo from our engagement shoot (2012)

Carve pumpkins.

Caleb and I have NEVER done this together. We talk about it every year, yet just never go out and buy them. So we decided that we would...even if its on Halloween!

Celebrate Caleb's golden birthday.

He will be 26 on the 26th, guys! I'm so excited and can't wait to celebrate with him!

Make s'mores.

Like, around a REAL fire. No microwave stuff (although, that's an acceptable option when you're desperate). I miss bonfires...and thankfully my church is putting on a Fall hangout at a local campground and we are so excited for all the chili/s'mores we can eat!!

Play in the leaves.

Yeah, I'm 4 years old. But its literally the best thing ever. Just throw a few in the air, you'll see.

Shoot an entirely rustic, Fall themed wedding.

I know this is already planned, but I am so out of my mind excited for this day. I get to shoot a wedding back in our college town of Mount Vernon next Friday and its a ton of friends from school. Not only will it be so fun to see a bunch of old friends, but to also get to shoot their big day? I'm pumped! They are having a burger bar, s'mores, mini-movies playing, and I'm hopeful there are huge piles of leaves around for them to play in ;)

Take more walks.

That's one of our favorite things to do...but I'm determined to soak up this last full month of extra daylight. I am going to miss it so much come November...so I want to make the absolute most out of these late nights!!

Bake a REAL apple pie (possibly with my mom/grandma)!

I've never done this...and I think it would be so much fun. I'm talkin from SCRATCH, y'all ;) any of you ever done this? If so, please share the recipe!!

Any fun ideas I left off my list?!! Please add to it below...I REALLY want to make the most of this Fall!!! :) what's on your list??

(Linking up with one of my favorites, Shanna!!)

When exercise gets put on the back burner.

Man, its been easy to be lazy lately. I've kind of had this whole "you work hard Kayla, you deserve to relax tonight" mentality.... but who am I kidding? The love handles have started talking, and right now they are telling my relaxed personality to shut up, lace up, and hit the pavement...oh, and to stop eating so many moon pies.

September was an insane month, and we finally got a free weekend last weekend. So you bet we took advantage of it. But I kind of forgot how much I LOVE working out. Caleb and I were on a great gym schedule for about 5 weeks before I got sick, and then he hurt his toe...so now that we're both better? It's time to GET GOIN!!

I know that TOMORROW starts the gorgeous month of October, but since Tracy's link up is today? I'm listing my workout goal right now!

Running
I typically do some kind of mileage goal, but I think instead I'm going to stick with my old goal of hitting the pavement 4 times a week. I think this is doable. If I HAD to put a number on it, I'd say I'd like to hit somewhere between 30-40 miles total.

Time
When I run outside alone (without Caleb), I have a hard time pacing myself. I tend to do about 10 minute miles. When I'm on a treadmill? I set it for a little over an 11 minute mile. However, I really want to work on getting a little faster and get a 9:30 minute mile.

Weights
I'm really excited to get back to weights again. I was making some serious improvements and finally seeing a new muscle in my arm...and I really hope I can get back in the groove. Being able to do one more set of something makes my heart SO happy.

What are YOUR workout goals for next month??

When you're actually a productive adult couple...

Remember how excited I was for this past weekend to be filled with NOTHING?! Well somehow, Caleb and I changed our minds and decided to use this (once in a blue moon) free weekend to our advantage. Friday evening was pretty lazy, I'll be the first to admit that...but Saturday? Oh boy.

Saturday was full of early alarm clocks...quick showers... and all the adult things.

We made a trip to my credit union, and finally made my individual checking a JOINT CHECKING! That's right y'all, we SHARE a bank account (finally) and clearly that caused for an excited (and devious) faced selfie.

Then, we went to Caleb's bank to close his checking and open up an official 'emergency savings' account to put our emergency cash in...so we aren't tempted to touch our cash and hit that 'transfer' button like my bank makes it so easy too.

After those super adult-like things were finally done we thought "why not keep the streak going!?" ...so we went car shopping. I'm just kidding, it wasn't a total spur of the moment thought. We'd actually been thinking of buying a used car for a while (my poor car is so old and unsafe the mechanic actually told me to stop driving it). But we really did look for HOURS, and with not much luck and a few rude car salesmen later...were feeling a little discouraged by midday, so we decided to grab lunch, and head home to wait for the Bucks vs UC game. After a quick hour of relaxing and internet surfing, I hear Caleb yell "UM! GET IN HERE!" to see an adorable little silver car online at an amazing price with hardly any miles on it for sale at a Subaru Dealership only 25 minutes away. I truly thought it was too good to be true, but we got our shoes on and hit the road to see it for ourselves.

Would you believe if I told you the car was still there, with only 18K miles on it, at an incredible price?! We took that beauty for a test drive, and fell in love. So we talked them down and were able to drive that baby home. GUYS! We bought our first (used) car as a married couple! WOOHOO!

Once we got home, we decided to take our baby for another ride around town, to pick up snacks. Did I mention I've NEVER hard a car with air conditioning?! Yeah...NEVER!

Sunday was full of deep cleaning (like crazy), laundry, and watching football. I missed my Bengals since its their Bye week but I have to admit it was nice not having to worry about a win or loss! We had a night of worship at church and that's where we finally got a picture (together) with our new baby!

Also? We made a big payment towards our debt this month (again)...and I realize I never blogged about our August budget/payoff/etc...so I'll have to do that later this week! Hope you all had a great weekend!!

Just your usual Friday post.

Ohh Friday, here we are again. Finally. You have a funny way of taking your sweet, sweet time, and I don't appreciate it. Thankfully in just a few short hours, my weekend of NOTHING will begin. I can't wait!

Some quick highlights from my week:

Editing some gorgeous photos from last weekends wedding. Her flowers? I'm in love with.

-Spending an entire evening with our favorite little girl ever. We took her to dinner, grabbed a junior frosty, then went on the longest walk of all time...all hand in hand. Jumping, skipping, laughing. For those of you that don't know, this is sweet little Nora, Josh and Marie's adorable little gal. Not that Caleb and I are ready for kids AT ALL yet, but when we are, I hope we get one like her ;)

--I am already almost finished with edits from LAST WEEKEND! I'm on a roll. Trying to be as productive as I can with my time (and to minimize stress), I've been editing an hour each day while I'm at work so I have more free time with Caleb in the evenings.

-Seeing my Lyndsie! She came into town, made homemade guac, and we had ourselves a ladies night!

-Finding a couple dozen CD's from middle and high school and reminiscing on old times, and hilarious pictures.

-Not guilting myself over NOT being a beast at the gym this week. #thingshappen

-This shot from last weekend. I just love this wedding

Hope you all have a great weekend ahead of you!!! I know we do :)

A few things Caleb has taught me.

It blows my mind when I think about the fact that Caleb and I have been married for almost a year and four months already. Time flies like CRAZY! I was thinking about how this blog once revolved around our relationship, our engagement, OUR wedding planning...and lately its been all about me, my life, my problems, and my "stuff". So I thought I'd throw it back and talk about a few things Caleb has taught me along the way.

(This is one of my favorite photos ever. His reaction when he saw me walk down that aisle on our wedding day!)

Ranch dressing goes on everything. Even if I don't agree with this, his logic is hilarious.

Sometimes, you've just gotta let stuff go. I can't tell you how many times I've come home from work and told him some long story about something that bothered me. I used to get offended when I didn't get much of a response from him, but now I realize he just has this amazing ability to 'brush things off' as if its nothing. I so wish I could be like him in that aspect.

It doesn't matter what people think of you. It never does. I came out of the bedroom before church one Sunday and he said I looked amazing. I began to shrug. I was wearing some adorable new heels, and had convinced myself (even though I felt really cute) it was too 'fancy'. His opinion? Life is too short (for me) not to wear heels whenever I feel like it, and who cares what people think anyway?!

An after-dinner walk is always a good idea. Back when we were dating, we used to take walks all the time. Since we've been married its been hard to make time for small things like that, so we've been taking a ton of late night walks and these sunsets aren't terrible to look at either ;)

It's okay to go to bed with a dirty kitchen. He would always laugh at me for getting these 'cleaning fits' at night right before bed. Almost like I couldn't sleep until the place was near-spotless. He told me that no matter what, the kitchen will always need cleaned. So sometimes, why not wait until tomorrow morning?!

How to fish. He absolutely taught me how to fish. Fishing is how we spent all of our time the first month or two of our dating relationship. He was with me when I caught my first ever fish, and he even taught me how to hook a worm. Yuck.

Guilting yourself is dumb. Especially on weeks where I'm sick, or not feeling my best...if I don't get my usual number of workouts in, I'm grouchy. I complain about how lazy I am, etc. He reminds me that life happens, and its okay to flop on the couch for an entire evening (and binge watch our favorite shows).

Loving someone a little extra is always worth it. Caleb is the best. Plain and simple. He always does small things to make me smile...whether that's surprising me with a Vanilla Double-Decker Moon Pie when I come home from work, or just by cleaning off the table after dinner... he's constantly pursuing me. I only hope I make him as happy as he makes me.

Sorry for the semi-sappy post...but we only get one chance to do this thing called life, so why not hug a little tighter, worry a little less, and laugh a little louder? Happy Wednesday!