Surviving 9-5.

Don't get me wrong, I'm insanely grateful to have a full time job M-F...but its not always the easiest. Co-workers can stress me out, client calls continue to come in like crazy, my inbox gets flooded...some days are easy, some aren't... but no matter what, there are a few things I just NEED to get me through my week at work.

Morning chats with my favorite co worker!

A cute necklace...something about a cute necklace (or any adorable accessory, really) makes me feel more professional...which in turn makes me work a little better. So maybe Caleb should start letting me buy ALL the cute necklaces?! ;)

Texts from my cute husband.

Emails with my soulmate. Seriously, Erin & I email daily. I'm glad I have someone like her...how is it possible to talk to someone every day and never run out of crap to talk about/update each other on?!

Hot tea in my favorite mug.

My lunch breaks. Seriously, I'm lucky to get a full hour for lunch and while I mostly stay at work and edit photos on my break, my favorite thing to do is to take a lil trip to Target and marvel at all the things I can't buy.

Swagbucks. If you are looking to make extra cash while you are already working? Click this. It's legit, real cash... I take surveys, mini polls and watch videos and get "Swagbucks" that you can redeem for gift cards/cash.

this made me LOL...fellow SBers will get it.

My mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks...seriously, I think I eat all day.

Pinterest...lately I've been on a "digital organization" kick.



My brain is kind of mush right now... we have a very exciting weekend ahead of us and my brain is in total "anniversary/getaway" mode!! Can you blame me?! ;) happy hump day, friends.

Some good weekend news!

Caleb and I had such a great weekend...even with an insanely long day Saturday. I have some exciting (for me) news: my foot is feeling better!! I don't want to be too excited (just in case), BUT three full days have gone by and no pain whatsoever! I hadn't realized it until I got home after being on my feet for nearly 12 hours at the wedding, and was so excited that I could walk normal again!

Another exciting thing happened on Saturday: not one single headache. Caleb packed a huge cooler full of food/drinks to keep my belly full and my body hydrated all day, and it WORKED! I'm talking pretzel chips, hummus, powerade, water, york peppermints, breakfast bars...the list goes on. It was awesome. I'm hoping a huge cooler full of goodies becomes a new wedding tradition!

Although it rained pretty much all day - we had a blast with this adorable couple. They even had a real SKYLINE bar on the patio... oh my word, it was magical.

We had a blast dancing our faces off for nearly two hours...and didn't get home until well after midnight. It was worth it :) Sunday was an amazing message at church and then we got a spontaneous lunch with my family. That evening was our last evening for youth group at the old building (they finally sold it!!). We spent nearly the whole night playing uptime frisbee, and I have to brag on my skills, guys ;) proof:

You know, I tend to let myself get so overwhelmed by looking ahead on my calendar...and it stresses me out a bit. But in the moment? During the "busy-ness", I'm still thankful. We had an incredible weekend, we danced a ton, laughed a lot...and I'm so thankful! I need this week to fly by though, so Caleb and I can celebrate TWO years of marriage in Pittsburgh!! Woohoo! Have a good day, friends!

Our anniversary plans!!

Happy Friday. I knew this was going to be a great day from the moment my mom surprised us this morning with a heaping box of Holtman's Donuts. I love that woman! ;)

I mentioned very briefly yesterday that Caleb and I made the spontaneous decision to get away for our anniversary at the end of the month. Before I dive into that, HOW in the world is it almost my SECOND WEDDING ANNIVERSARY?! I feel like I was just wrapping jute around all the centerpieces, planning the introduction songs and ordering the cutest yellow flats I'd ever seen. But alas, here we are... preparing to celebrate our second anniversary. I'm so lucky I get to do life with that husband of mine.

Anyway... we were initially planning on staying local for our anniversary, as there's so much of our city that we still have yet to explore, but we ended up deciding we wanted to see a new city together. Somewhere within driving distance...nothing TOO expensive... so what did we come up with?

Two days in Pittsburgh!

via

I know, you might be thinking how can we even  GO to the Bengals rival city? ;) Well, I'm looking past their one flaw (the Steelers) to explore the beauty that they have to offer. We've heard amazing things about the city and there seems to be SO much to do and we won't be able to fit in everything, obviously...so this is where you come in!! If you've ever been, or are local, where should we eat? What should we do? We want your help!

In other news, I shot one of the best engagement shoots I think I've ever done last night, more on that to come next week, hopefully! I hope you guys have a great weekend!!!

Last things on a Thursday!

It amazes me how many photos I take in any given week..seriously, thank goodness the free iPhones we got last summer were the largest ones (as far as storage space goes), because I have over 4.000 photos on my phone and that number grows daily. I have a love/hate relationship with that little "camera". Why? Because its SO insanely easy to carry with me instead of lugging around my big DSLR, but it also makes me THINK I need photos of anything and everything. I swear, before I was a blogger I really don't think I snapped photos of my food...but here I am, and I'm not even sorry ;)

Thursdays also mean random blog day... so I'm back with a "last things" prompt!

Last photo I took... got dinner w/ some friends last night and ordered the most delicious mashed potato pizza. #NOM eating outside was also amazing...since Caleb isn't a huge fan of doing it!

Last sunset I enjoyed...

Last thing I bought...a bunch of old school Disney pins from an antique yard sale last weekend.

Last time I was really happy? Walking hand in hand last night with my man as the sun went down.

Last dress I wore... apparently Caleb loves this dress and I've never worn it. Time to dig out the summer clothes!

Last song I was obsessed with? Touched the Sky by Hillsong United. O-M-G. Listen right now!

Last thing I did for myself? Painted my toenails. How is it that toenail polish can last through an entire summer, but anytime I attempt fingernail polish? It's gone the next day? That's why I don't even bother!

Last person I texted? My hottie husband, duh.

Last trip we booked? ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND GETAWAY! More on that to come tomorrow -- cause I need your help! ;)

Last post I bookmarked... find it here!

I have my third engagement shoot of the year tonight, followed by my husbands softball game that I hope I can make! Any local gals familiar with historic Loveland? That's where we'll be - and I can't wait! I'd also really like to do a whole post on photos I've taken lately...I miss doing that.

I have to say, the response and support I got from yesterdays post was so so uplifting...I can't thank you all enough. I'm one happy girl today!

Happy Thursday!

It's just a season.

It happened. The anxiety attack I've been fearing for a while. It crept up like a thief... and really frightened me. This isn't me, I thought. I didn't know what was happening...and its not like this happens a lot, or ever, but there I was, trying to fall asleep next to my husband, and I couldn't control my breathing. Then I start trying to speak and let him know I wasn't sure why I felt like this...and then came the tears. It made no sense to me?! He had no idea what to do, other than hold me and tell me to just cry it all out. Cause sometimes? That's all you can do...even when it makes no sense.

Let me tell you a little something about my life - its insanely busy. It kind of makes me laugh when people have to tell me just how busy I am, like I'm not aware or something. I work full time by day, shoot weddings on the weekends and meet with couples in the evenings for consultations, timeline prep, engagement shoots, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love every second of it...but some nights? The Devil tricks me into thinking that this is how it will always be, that somehow I can't handle all of it...and that I'm going to royally screw up eventually.

The silver lining to being busy right now? I know it won't last forever. Caleb and I KNEW 2015 would be one of our busiest, most insane years. We're paying off a ton of debt and working our tails off...and while we do enjoy it and this photography business is our passion, it's proving to be incredibly tiring! But that's what you have to do sometimes...work extremely hard & get extremely tired. One of my best friends told me this week, to make sure that EVERY SINGLE DAY I am doing something that will get me closer to my dreams, and a lot of the time? That means hard work. Dang, I have smart friends.

So I'm here to ask for prayer...and for a little accountability. Caleb said I need to schedule "me-nights"... nights where I come home from work and leave my laptop in its bag; no editing, no emails, no phone calls, etc...and just be. It's funny to me that I'd never thought of scheduling nights off...like it wasn't a possibility? This insanely tiring year has already taught me so much about myself, but its also teaching me a lot about prioritizing, and I love that.

Being in the thick of something is hard, no matter what it is... but the reward is always worth it.

shameless wedding photo because I'm happy in this photo and I love my dress.

He's a smart man...and I'm glad I listened to him. I'm promising myself that starting next week, I'm going to be better about making time for ME! Maybe I should start with a hair appointment? My girl Becca is almost back from maternity leave and I'm excited that I'm going back to blonde. I truly feel like its more me and to be honest? I just kinda miss it! I'm ready for summer!! ;)

Celebrating our free weekend!

Guys, I can't explain how perfect the past weekend was. SO MUCH FREE TIME!!!! You should know that almost never happens, so we soaked in every. last. second. Friday evening we stayed in for dinner and relaxed, nearly finishing Season 2 of The Following! I know I mentioned we'd be waking up early Saturday to get our day started, and that's exactly what we did!

We scored big at the first few yard sales, and FINALLY found a Wii. We've searched for YEARS! We couldn't contain our excitement but somehow we managed to negotiate a crazy good deal (seriously...they practically gave it away)!

We scored a couple other amazing items throughout the day and then got so hungry, we just had to get Skyline for lunch...as if we had a choice ;)

We spent the rest of our afternoon snapping a few prom photos for my brother - seriously, how is his Junior year almost over?!! I can't handle the fact that he's about to be a senior.

Sunday at church we heard such an amazing message on marriage. It motivated Caleb and I in a new way and I'm just excited I get to do life with that man! After church, we went to my grandparents with my mom while she made lasagna for lunch! Then Caleb and I handled dessert... you guys. I've made this before but OMG. Make this now!! Lisa shared this on her blog back in November and I instantly fell in love. It was so easy and Caleb and I had a really fun time baking together. Maybe we should do this more often!? The pumpkin is perfect, hardly even noticeable actually...its just gooey goodness, you can't go wrong!

Then us ladies had a selfie session outside...because, why not?

I know this photo makes no sense, but it makes me laugh. Guys, is my grandma not adorable?! 67 years YOUNG, baby!

We had an amazing weekend. I know it sounds silly, but I was almost in tears talking with Caleb about it. I needed a weekend like this. It was almost like my body hit a reset button. I'm so thankful for my family and friends and all the free time I had! Now? We've got 7 weddings approaching, all in a row...but I know we can do this! How was your weekend!?

PS - Caleb and I made a spontaneous decision to make a road trip for our anniversary at the end of the month! I can't wait to share our plans!

T.G.I.F!!!

Sweet, sweet Friday! Finally, you've arrived! This upcoming weekend is the last weekend in a while that Caleb and I will have a ton of free time. We plan on soaking up every last second. I'm seriously talking about getting up at 6 or 7AM just to enjoy as much of the day as possible. We have big plans consisting of early morning thrifting, a fun lunch date out, and even using another gift card for a date night (seriously, gift cards miiiiight be my love language...those, and funnel cakes).

I took a friends advice on Wednesday evening and invested in a $2 case of tennis balls to roll under my foot. Ohh man, sweet relief. It hurt so good! Although it still feels bruised from the inside, I can walk somewhat-normal again! Yayyy for small victories.

This week I was also able to finally see our new branded flash drives we'll give out to clients as part of their wedding photo package! I think they are so cute!! HOORAY!

Last night we enjoyed another Thursday night full of softball games...my man got a home run!! I'm seriously sleepy today, but I will NEVER regret staying out too late to watch my man do something he loves! Only makes me wish I had something like this. Maybe its time to take up ballet again? Or volleyball? #twoextremes

I'm just in love with my medal. Nope, I'm still not shutting up about it. It's just so pretty!!!

Speaking of my medal (see what I did there)... look at how amazing I look running 13.1 miles - BAH! #sarcasm don't you guys wish you could look like a flying butterfly, too!? Bah!

I've enjoyed packing my lunch this week and eating a bit healthier.  Love me some good fruits and veggies! Get ready for your eyes to pop out of your head. Is this not THE largest blackberry you've ever seen!?

What was a fun moment from your week?
I'm really excited to soak in all the free time this weekend. Do you have any big plans?