National Handwriting Day

In a desperate search for a blog topic this week, I come across a lot of really random information. One of which is today being National Handwriting Day!

I thought this would be something fun to include because handwriting is such a lost art and it's not something you get to see much from bloggers. So here is a glimpse of my bestest handwriting ever because I'm publishing it on my blog. I actually sat down and carefully wrote this out.

I have a friend who is an amazing calligrapher and she gave this to me for her birthday. Yep, her birthday (long story). I love it so much! I wish she could write all the things for me, haha!

Coincidentally (or maybe not) I came across a beautiful penmanship photo which led me to a penmanship sub Reddit thingy. I don't "Reddit" (it redditing a verb?) and the only reason why I know it exists is because every once in a while a story will pop up on my Facebook news feed about some outrageous story posted to Reddit. Anyway, this is the photo. Penmanship in all of it's glory.

*This phot is not mine*

One day in the distant future if I ever have hobbies again I hope to pick up the art of writing beautifully. I don't really have the desire to learn calligraphy but I do envy people who can write beautifully. I put this book on my wish list and one day I will get to it.

Buy here

Birthday Week: Gifts from Everybody!

I don't know about you but I think Birthdays are quite special. I mean not every one gets to have one every year. And who doesn't appreciate special shout out for their birthday?

Although we do not do huge birthday parties every year - I still want my little guy to be able to celebrate in a special way.




I think the person of honor would like to receive some extra's as well. So I thought I would share with you his birthday extras:

Random thoughts from months gone by

Disclaimer: This was written in October 2014. That will explain some of the confusing references like December events and apple orchards. Recently, a couple of things happened that made me feel kind of crappy. I hate that I can get so affected by other people's actions/decisions. I'm trying to look on the brighter side of things though and it helps.

An extended family member sold my Uncle's house. Now don't get me wrong- she had every right to do so and was the best decision for her family, I just wish she would've told us me before she did it. I'm also not saying that she has to reported her decisions to us but it would've been nice to have the opportunity to buy it and keep in in the family. I know this makes zero sense to anyone who is reading this but I loved that house and definitely would've like to have it. I keep telling myself that it wasn't meant for it to stay in the family but I really had high hopes and dreams of making that my vacation home. I think I sound kind of bratty but I don't have the time or energy for a full back story to help everyone understand.

Not too far from the house. We used to walk here often.

January/February recap

So here's a quick recap of the happenings of January & February.  So after New Year's, I continued through January with a few Mommy & Son dates...

A few family outings...

Happy May!!

Yep, it's official. I'm averaging a post about once every three months. When I first started I was able to post daily, now... I just wish I was posting weekly. I have to catch up on the goings on of the last three months- which I plan to do over the next couple of posts. But first a little housekeeping blogkeeping.

 I missed this little space of mine. I always have thoughts running through my head about potential blog posts but unfortunately can never get around to it. I guess that's life. Many of the bloggers who inspired me to blog (especially the first blog I really followed) are no longer blogging. I'm not sure if that means it's not a cool thing anymore or we have all gotten really busy. I still keep up with my favorites offering a comment here or there but I don't have an online presence like I used to.

Happy New Year!

I am the worse at this. Keeping up with my blog. I am now average one post every two months. That's not cool.


But anyway... Happy New Year!!! I am looking forward to everything 2015 has to offer- I just know its going to be an exciting year. Over the next couple days I am going to work on getting back to blogging (easier said than done) (fingers crossed). But I really want to do my end of the year recap that I have done the past 3 years. It's so good to have it all recapped in one spot- as a memory keeper of sorts. For now I'll leave you with this gem from our New year's celebration.

Wishing you an amazing 2015!!!

Happy Friday!

I am so excited for the weekend! But then again when am I not excited for the weekend? I have another busy weekend ahead as usual and it's noticeable by my lack of posting. I tend to fall behind when I have a lot of pictures to "edit".

I wanted to share an October recap (which in my head I was going to write about last Saturday the actual start of November). Since May, I've been trying to do a photo-a-day project but I tend to fall short by two days, every single month. And it's already happened for November.

But by the looks of things we had a pretty awesome month. I'll have more to share... as soon as I finish editing.

Have a great weekend!!

Goodbye April!

It's been quite awhile since my last post.  26 days to be exact. And honestly, not much has happened since then except a whole lot of nothing.

There was some celebratory hanging out for the new found warmer weather.

I must admit, I was really happy to see 60 degrees. It was completely disheartening when it started snowing again a few days later.

There was some shopping for new play things.

Okay, not really. But this boy is obsessed with all things transportation including

Thursday's thoughts

1. My son will be 2 and a half on Sunday. I've kept him alive for 30 months!!! I cannot believe how far he's come. He sings, talks, dances, and is a smart as a whip! (how smart is a whip...really?) I think I am going to schedule a photo shoot. I'd like to do a cute theme but I have no ideas. Here is a shot from his 1 and a half shoot. I love these pics so much!

2. I am currently having a really bad allergic reaction to something. It's bad. My upper body is itchy, red, and swollen. I've become best friends with Benedryl. I have an appointment with my allergist for next week but if this doesn't die down by tomorrow I am going to ask if I can come in before then.  3. I have a crap ton of posts in drafts just waiting to be finished. Only I can't find the words. 4. I am out of storage on my phone again. This is becoming annoying. I realize that I am probably the only person who doesn't dump the pictures from their phone but it's because I don't have the heart to delete them. I have them backed up to multiple places but still. I feel like if I deleted it I am going to need it and won't be able to access it quickly enough. I am slowly getting over that though. Here's a few that's not making the "oh I simply cannot delete that!" cut.

My son hi-jacked my phone and decided to take shoe pics a la Bey & Jay

He's so cool. You can't tell him anything!

Eating Miso soup like a champ! He's loves when we go eat at a hibachi restaurant. And you see that empty bowl of salad next time him? He devoured it. 5. At the end of next week we will be going on another road trip for a work conference for hubby. It is at that point that I will recap last year's conference trip... Oy! 6. It's almost Friday!!!!!

Friday

Sorry, but I have another fluff post today- you know sometimes you need that. I am going to link the post up to Five on Friday cause well- I like meeting new bloggers and what better way to do that then with a link-up!

First, I really wanna talk woman to woman with you guys. I doubt that there are any men (beside family) who read this whatsoever and it's time for some girl talk. But you know how long winded I can be so I feel like it's going to take too long to write it all down then I get discouraged and then I go two weeks without saying anything an then I'm back where I started... sigh

I'm a little angry at myself for missing this opportunity this year. I have a picture from 1/9/2014 but it's not anything comparable to the two years prior. And this disappoints me. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal- but it kind of sort of is to me. I didn't set up either of those shots so it's no big 'light bulb' moment that I don't have one for this year but it's too late to recreate it cause that date is long gone!

My blogiversary is coming up next month and I've been reflecting on that.  Should I take a hiatus? Should I revamp? Should I not worry about it and keep doing what I'm doing? I see so many successful blogs take off in no time and it gets me thinking- what defines a successful blog, why haven't I obtained "that", do I even want "that"? I do know that I want my Wordless Wednesday's posts to be more about my photography. I lost the battery to my big girl camera back in October and I finally gave up hope that I would find it 2 two days before my son's first Christmas play and went out a spent a fortune on another. I haven't picked up my camera since Christmas day, so we see how that plan is going.

Then it got me thinking about what type of goals I wanted to achieve. I attempted to make a 30x30 list and not only could I not think of 30 things but I done think I finished half my list. Is there anything wrong with that? I mean aren't we always a work in progress?

I have two parties to attend next month (one of which I probably won't actually be able to attend) and the host from both the parties asked me for some party planning help. I was honored and excited to help! Which brings me to two more points- I started writing a post of party planning tips (because I love it that much) but never finished it. I miss my days as a wedding planner intern (why have I never shared this with you guys?!) Sadly, I don't think I could ever make a full fledged career of it mostly because I don't like working weekends and I don't know that anyone would fully trust me to plan an entire event for them start to finish.

I know I really need to have more Faith in myself and find some confidence from somewhere.

I am committing to doing this in 2014. But I'm doing mine in reverse. I am going to start with week 52 and work my way up (or down depending on how you look at it). I think my money will gain more interest this way.


Hope you guys have an amazing weekend!!!

Laughter- it's good for the soul

Eh,

I have been MIA for a bit. I am still trying to restore order to my life after the whirlwind that was a 2 weeks Christmas vacation. I wanted to pop in for a moment to share this. It made me laugh out loud and sometimes you need to laugh- it's good for the soul.

Top 10 of 2013

Radio and TV stations everywhere are playing the top moments from this year. Weather it's songs, movie clips, commercials, etc- now is the time to recap the year gone by. So, I present to you my top posts of 2013. In the past, I was able to do it by page views but I honestly think my stats are all screwed up so these are my personal favorites:

#10 I liked doing the research for I pity the fool. I'm not an April fools day prankster but I do have a sense of humor and enjoy a good laugh. Initially, I honestly thought that these were real! I wonder what they will come up with next year!

#9 When I initially wrote this I felt it was a cop out posts of sorts. Pinterest roundups are the number one rule for getting through writers block. But, I actually did all these and LOVED it! I never did a follow up post on it because the only pictures I had were crappy iPhone pics and I didn't feel they were post-worthy. Next time, I'm doing a follow up to share my results and why I recommended it.

#8 One of the things I would like to do going forward is offer more helpful information on my blog. It's easy to go on and on about yourself and what you are doing but there's more to life than that. Sometimes, i feel like my thoughts and opinions wouldn't be helpful to someone else partly because I assume everyone already knows this stuff and partly because I just need  to exude more confidence in myself. But, I got some feedback on the post I wrote about what I liked to use during my son's second year and it turns out it was in fact helpful for some people.

#7 I'm one of the select few people on the planet who enjoy planning parties and celebrating occasions. We have a lot of grief and tragedy that surrounds us and I think it would be shameful to one day have your life snatched from you and you haven't had a chance to celebrate any particular event (big or small). Elaborate isn't always my thing but acknowledgement is. You never know when it's all going to come to an end so you might as well celebrate while you can!

#6 Road trips are our thing! We've done around 26 this year (someone buy me a gas gift card, please?!) and we don't plan on slowing down. We have so much fun being out and about- I hope we get to not only continue but broaden our destinations as well!

#5 What a difference a year makes!! I think I have to do this more often!

#4 I've never really had a definition of "me". I read a lot of other's 'about me' and Instagram bio's and think, "wow! I wish I had something snazzy to say about my self like that" but the right words elude me. This post helped me dig into who I am and put words onto paper. While I still don't have a snazzy IG bio- I do have a new 'about me' page that I was pretty pleased with. I've also learned a few more things about myself that I'm looking forward to updating.

#3 I am grateful not not only be able to have had my son but to be around everyday to watch him grow, learn, and influence his little developing life. Maybe because he's my first I continue to be amazed at what he is capable of achieving. He has aspired me to grow, do better, become better, to be a better person.

#2 I'm a plan ahead'er (that's the second time I've used that word here) so it makes sense that I would enjoy getting my goals on paper. Plus, I'm a list maker so combining those two makes for one of my favorite posts. Which reminds me I need to create short term goals to reach these long term ones. Sound like a New Year's resolution to me!

#1 I don't know if it's my sense of supermom or my desire for women to stick to get and uplift each other but writing and researching my international women's day post gave me a renewed sense of hope that maybe, just maybe... one day working moms will one day get fair treatment and benefit for bearing children and still trying to contribute financial support to the household.

Thoughts...

Every once in a while you need a brain dump. I'm unloading right here....

Don't forget I'm still co-hosting this awesome giveaway!! You know black Friday, small business Saturday, and cyber Monday are this weekend. How awesome would it be to have some extra shopping money?! Hop to it- ya only got one day left!

Our family pictures are back!!! I'm so excited! We have quite a few to choose from and that's what I would call a success. I absolutely loved what our photographer was able to capture. She deserves a gold medal. I'm going to be sharing a few sneak peeks with you soon- so stay tuned!!

I need a vacation. Like a plane ride away with ocean water, a bathing suit, and an umbrella drink type of vacation. Although I'd settle for a car trip and bathtub. I just need a few moments to not be someone's employee, take a break from all of the obligations and rigmarole.

I didn't know how to spell rigmarole until I needed to write how much I needed a vacation.

It's Thanksgiving y'all!!! I've been waiting for today for quite sometime. I'm usually good for dessert so I made apple pie, sweet potato pie, and I'll probably throw in one more item as the day goes on (depending on if I can get some kitchen space). Now I'm off to go eat until I have to be rolled away from the table :) Hope you enjoy!


BONUS!!!!! Use code FREECAL at Shutterfly.com to get a free 8x11 calendar. Make a great Christmas gift!

I'm linking this post up {tomorrow} with Darci, April, Christina, and Natasha for 5 on Friday. I have something else I want to post tomorrow and I have this thing with posting twice o the same day. So, you got my 5 a little early :) Ok- for real, I'm off to eat.