I heart Weekends. Do you?

On Saturday morning, we headed out on a short road trip to visit the Garvan Gardnes, and visit a childhood restaurant that I used to love called, The Pancake House. The pancakes are literally as big as your plate, and AMAZING. I chose the blueberry pancakes. It was the perfect start to a perfect day...even the weather was more like a fine Cali day...



After breakfast, we headed to the Garvan Gardens, where we had visited last year, just before we got married. The flowers were vibrant, and gorgeous this time. Picture perfect place, and definitely a photographers heaven.

I wish some weekends lasted longer...

Dramatic B&W: Her Story

Dramatic Black and White

Canon EOS 20D | 1/400s | f/6.3 | ISO 400

"Her Story"

Unlike most of the children, she kept her distance. She never smiled in any of the pictures. She seemed curious, yet cautious. By her actions, and close proximity she kept to her families shelter, I assumed she was but a few years of age, probably under 4. Yet, she had a story. One of hardships, and fears that I have never known in all of my 25 years. I do have faith, that someday, her story will be one of hope, grace, and beauty.






Now, I'm off to look at other assignments. I could do this all day long...they are so amazing!

Lovelies. :)

Mmm...I don't know about you ladies, But I am SO excited that it is Friday. So here's some lovely tid bits to pass on why I'm so happy...

• I love weekends, because I usually get to eat pancakes. For some reason eating out or making pancakes at home, makes the weekend feel...complete. My favorite is buttermilk pancakes with real butter, and maple syrup. Yes, now you can see why I only eat them on weekends...
• My husband makes me the happiest girl in the world. I have been once again, stressed to the max, trying to get as much work done as possible. I'm just thankful for a husband who makes me take breaks, and enjoys sharing Starbucks moments with me.
• Tonight we are heading to my parents for a good 'ol Chicago style meal (that's where my dad is from...). So while I may be southern, adore my Chicago style food. BRING IT ON. I wonder what my husband will think about it...
• My heart is pretty much heavy over recent turn of events in the blog-o-sphere. The number of bloggers that have had to close their accounts, or take breaks because of harsh comments...that just makes me sad! I love blogging. I love writing. And I really love having you, my readers, as bloggy friends. I'm super happy that yall share bits of your life with me, challenge me, listen, encourage and inspire...yay for bloggers!! :)
  
• And last but not least, check out on my other blog how you can snag some free make-up, I don't know about you but I tend to be a make-up junkie. Just ask the hubs. ;-)

Happy Follow Me Fridays!!!!! : )

Okay, those are my random Friday tidbits...hope yall have a FABULOUS weekend... :)

Date Nights: The Memories...

I'm sure we have all had one of those date nights that will be remembered forever. Maybe it was funny, maybe it was horrifying at the time, maybe it was being random, and stepping outside your comfort zone. Well, the date night story I want to share today was a combination of crazy and funny. :) We had gone out on a double date, and were excited to have a fun outing together...

We all met up that evening to visit a museum, after walking around for a short while, we decided to head out to one of the walking bridges that goes over the river. Nice big, old, train bridge. As we stepped outside, we noticed a few raindrops. But, we decided to keep walking...Now keep in mind we are a good deal away from the bridge. In normal weather it's a least a 10 minute walk. But, when an "hurricane-ish" (no we don't have hurricanes) kind of weather decides to hit, that 10 minutes suddenly feels like an 30 minutes.



But we trudged on, it continued to rain, BUT thank goodness our men had brought nice big umbrellas. So we stayed dry except our feet. Finally, we reached the bridged.THEN BOOM. It started pouring, raining, thundering, lightening, the whole works. It was a mini hurricane unleashed on our poor little bodies. The umbrellas blew backwords, and we were soaked in seconds.

Instead of running back to the car, we decided to stay in the rain...I mean we were already WET. So we sang in the rain, took pictures, laughed our heads off and made some of the best double date memories. Ah...it was fun. But, then we headed back to the car. Then we realized it was late. We were hungry. Cold. Tired, and dripping water like a cat who just got dunked in a bath.



So we loaded up, headed over to J.C. Penny, explained our predicament to workers who gave us some strange looks, and proceeded to buy new clothes. Yep, all new clothes...I even had to buy new shoes, as my tennis shoes were soaked solid. I guess I should mention that we were in another town, so going home to change real quick wasn't exactly an option. ;-)

Now with our new clothes, we loaded up and headed to a fancy restaurant of course. We feasted on cajun pasta and rolls.

Here we are in our new clothes, at the Restaurant...


Sometimes, the best memories, can be some of the funniest memories.


What are your dating stories?

Party!!

Okay, so yesterday I said I should do something to celebrate my 500+ followers...so I decided to PARTY, I mean why not? So I got busy, cooked up some uber chocolate brownies, found some fun freebies to share with you....plus you can ask me anything you want with my new formspring! I never thought I'd join that bandwagon, but why not? You can ask me about my favorite band, how I got into photography, my favorite food (although I'm sure yall know that by now...) So let's get started....

And while you are busy basking in the chocolaty goodness (if you don't like chocolate I'm sorry...perhaps I can make you a vanilla milkshake?) You can fill your time with asking me question like "How can you keep posting these naughty recipes", "Do you ever eat anything besides sweets", you could even ask Hubs a question "Did you know you were marry a chocolate addict" and other random question that float your boat... just type it in the box below, and I'll answer...well...I'll try to. :D



Here's the brownie recipe that was handed down to me by my great grandmother that I never met. A few changes of course, but the basis is the same.

Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

3/4 Cup Butter, melted
1 1/2 Cups of Sugar (I use only 1 1/4 cup, but this is only for the rich chocolate lovers)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 Eggs (Um, I only use 2 cause I like mine uber gooey!)
3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Unsweetened Baking Cocoa (yes, you read that right)
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup White Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Walnuts

Combine all ingredients and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes in a greased or well buttered pan. You REALLY want to underbake these brownies. Just a minute of over bakeing, and they dry out very easily. The top of the brownies will be soft. Let them cool, then sit back and wallow in the chocolate...



Okie doke folks, I gotta get back to work. You can see the fun freebies I was talking about here. So without further ado...CHEERS!

500 + Dear Weekend, I love you.

First off...I hit 500 followers!! How crazy it THAT? When I first started to write about our story, and sharing details, I never would have thought it would take off. And now I have some amazing bloggy friends, who have encouraged and inspired me in so many areas. You guys rock! :D Maybe I should bake brownies and celebrate!! So thanks to each of you for sharing in my journey in the world of bloggers!

We started off the weekend with my favorite-sushi dinner. And it can only get better from their right? On Saturday, we got to attend a local daffodil festival, where I proceeded to take some pictures (of course!). As I was setting up my camera, I decided to do some self portriats of us with my auto timer. Keep in mind when I set my shot, I have focus it, then have promptly 30 seconds to get in place. We did this about 5 or 6 times until we got the shot I wanted. But between the pictures, I noticed a lady staring at us. By the time we were through she was laughing...I supposed she got a kick out of me bending down, setting my camera, then running back to my husband to be in the picture...ha! It's good exercise, I tell ya!

The rest of the weekend included church, smoothies, and some boggle! We also took full advantage of the warmer weather and got some walking in at the park. I love the weekends, I just wish they would last longer...I would be all game for 4 day weekends! :D

I had taken a break from posting freebies & other fun finds for a while, but I'm back after the "hiatus" that I needed. Pretty surprised that it still got a lot of traffic, so I'm pumped to keep the blog going. Not to mention I had to share that I also ran across the biggest list of free MP3 downloads, that I'd never heard about (or at least I don't remember it) you can check it out for yourself!

How Was Your Weekend?

Glimpse of our Love Story

“The only cure for love is marriage” --said to be an old Irish Saying

When Josh and I first started hanging out, we found that we both loved playing guitars. My introduction to guitar was when I received my electric guitar when I was 14. I eventually bought my first acoustic, and later fell in love with a big baby Taylor guitar. I had taught myself how to power chord, but that was about it. I tried, rather unsuccessfully to teach myself "Falling Slowly" a song made popular by the Irish band "The Frames". The haunting lyrics and gentle strumming were right up my ally.

One Sunday evening, after a hiking trip, Josh asked to chill at a local Starbucks for a while, so we could play together. I had the sheet music to this song. For the next three hours he worked on the song, until we were humming and singing along long after the store had closed and locked up.

I found it ironic as our friendship progressed over the months ahead, the song was perfectly describing the changes our friendship would take the closer we got. We both were caught "falling slowly" until eventually we said our vows, and sealed our love forever..

So in honor of Saint Patrick's day I couldn't think of anything more fitting than to share a favorite love song from an Irish rock band that was part of "our story".

The images are from my first ever attempt at self portriats using self timer... :)

"Falling Slowly"

I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You'll make it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

Stress + Coffee = Random Tidbits

Canon EOS 20D | 1/640s | f/10 | ISO 800

"Whispers of Spring..."

Random Tidbits today...

• Last week was beyond crazy with work and other projects. I was SO stressed, it is not funny. Luckily, things are starting to smooth out and I am feeling much better about everything. But let's just say I consumed more coffee last week than I have in a long, long time...in order to get me through the days!
• Sunday evening, we drove around for some photography sessions. LOVED it. Hence, where the Cherry Blossom Photos came from (at least...that's what I think that is...right? Hm...) I also got some great downtown photos that I loved...more to come soon! In the mean time, I've been doing good with my 365 project that I started a couple of weeks ago...
  
• Exercising has been going great...I'm pretty faithful in getting some time on the track and doing Pilates. I am just wanting to focus on some strength training a bit more now. Oh, and I want to get some more aerobics going!
• Over the weekend we had one of the most amazing meals evah! Home-made sausage pizza, with an amazing salad...topped off with Cookie Dough and Pistachio GELATO. Heaven.
• I'm officially in love with the Dark Cherry Mocha's from Starbucks. The other day I heard a girl order a "Dark Cherry White Mocha"...ohhhhh, even for this girl, THAT sounded good.
• Yes, I did just talk about coffee in two different bullets. Yes, make that three. And yes, I am an addict, but if you've followed by blog for a while, you already knew that...

So that has been life for me in a nut shell, gonna do my best to stay more on schedule with posting, hope you are all having a lovely, gorgeous day. :) Cheers!

Pray for Japan Blog Button

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GORGEOUS....

"Fields of Yellow"
Canon EOS 20D | 1/250s | f/9.0 | ISO 400

Oh this weather lately has been G O R G E O U S!!!!! Total flip flop weather. We've been enjoying lots of time outside after being cooped up for so many months. I love spring.

I've been hoarding up gift cards so I can go shopping for new spring/summer clothing in the next few weeks. I def need some pretty summer dresses for our upcoming travels...

Maxi Dress from F21!


And I really love this embroidered number! I think both dresses would be cute with a little cami underneath...and classy pair of heels. :)


What are you looking forward to this spring?

lovers.

i think being lovers is the best thing.
it's even better when we have long weekend, and lots of sunshine!
we celebrated with shopping at the farmers market on friday...
where mom did a mini photo session of us!


i hate pictures of myself.
unless i'm with him.
because i smile a different way.


and sometimes, he makes me
go crazy with silliness.
yep, that would be us. lovers.


"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out."
-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Passport, please!

Royal Chapel, Palace of Versailles

Canon EOS 20D | 1/30s | f/7.1 | ISO 400

When we left for our honeymoon, I was super excited to get yet another stamp in my passport. Only, I had forgotten that I have to get a new one, since my name change. Yup, all that hard work to get my passport filled now reverts back to one empty passport. Until June that is...

We found out that in celebration of my dad's upcoming birthday, our entire family is heading off on a cruise to Alaska, with a side trip to Canada!!!! Can someone say stoked and BLESSED???

This will be my first cruise, and first time to either place...so I'm curious...what is the weather like there in the summer? Have any of you been on a cruise??

I can't help but think of all the amazing photo opportunities...which has me drooling over a new lens to take with me like this one...



And speaking of photos, I have my Flickr up and running...put together a 365 project. My goal is to take at least one picture a day to upload. I'm totally kicking myself to get it together a practice photography every day...anyone else on Flickr??

*********

Exercise log for today...

• 3o minute Pilates
• Ab Workout: 3 sets of 12 for Crunches, Backward Crunches, and Side Twist
• Arm Workout: 3 sets of 12 for Lat Push, Arm Curls, and Shoulder to Side Raise

Love Celebration!

The past couple of weeks had been rather stressful around our house. So, with our 10 month celebration last week, I decided to do something a little special for my husband. So when he walked through the door after work, I ushered him off to relax with our electric foot massage and heated neck pillow. I'd been cooking the evening away getting everything ready. Our dining table was decked out with photos and memorabilia from our wedding and engagement...and of course a little candle light to set the mood...

Just a little something extra to make our night romantic and a nice change of pace from ordinary. It is so easy to get caught up making the quickest meals and eat in front of our TV. So it meant a lot to me for a sit down dinner!

The infamous Penne Pesto. I could eat this every day.

Homemade Bruchetta...enjoy the recipe!

• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 -2 tablespoons of olive oil
• pinch of Italian herb seasoning
  
• pinch of basil seasoning
• Sea Salt (to taste)
• Whole Wheat Bread, cut into small squares (be sure to cut off the crust)
• Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Combine the first six ingredients, then chill. Bake bread squares at 350 for 3-5 minutes or until toasted. Top each square with tomato mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake another 3-5 minutes or until cheese has melted.

We topped off the evening with Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Murder She Wrote (yeah we love it...).