my husband is grounded from the internet

Lately, Brad has been having a little fun at my expense. He's been hacking into my FB account and writing random status updates, like "I like big butts and I cannot lie...", and confusing most of my FB friends. Actually, the majority of the confused people are the ones over 45. Just sayin'.

Yesterday, Brad posted (pretending to be me), "I need to do something nice for my hubby today. I have been really mean to him lately."

And oh my GOSH. People took it seriously. Like way too seriously. I was getting marriage advice, consolation, and suggestions like, "Give him a hot oil massage". And this was after I posted that I'd been hacked. Dude. The man is now banned from the internet. My poor grandmother is going to end up sending her pastor to our home for marriage counseling if he doesn't quit. lol.

So if we happen to be friends on FB, and my status update looks a little odd? Just assume it wasn't me.
Sheesh.

fiddlyfart

- Spring is being stupid. I was bragging last weekend about how it was all sunshine and 80 degrees and "yay spring is here!!". Well HAHA on me. It's all cold again. Well, cold being 55, but I'm a pansy when it comes to cold weather. Unless it's going to snow, cold is totally useless.

- I remember odd tidbits about people. I think it's just part of being that wallflower/introvert type person. I sit back and listen to everyone's stories and file them away in my brain. Like one of my friends in elementary school had a weird obsession with the Calvin and Hobbes comics as a kid. Or the random gossipy details of certain couples in high school. Or the time a coworker got sick at work and said it was because she ate a funny tasting pickle. Or the time my friend thought she was drunk on root beer in the 6th grade.

- These are the kinds of things I pin on Pinterest. I can promise you I won't ever get around to painting my nails to look like little Easter eggs. But jousting peeps? That I can do.

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- Has anyone else seen the Bible series on the History channel yet? I've only seen a few minutes of the first one, and it looks pretty good. I don't mind a good Bible story, but here's my issue... I don't really like watching real-life Bible depictions, because everyone is always dirty. And not the kind of dirty where they're a little sweaty or hadn't bathed in a couple of days. It's like people rolled around in dirt and nobody told them they had a little bit of somethin' on their face. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that people walked around with dirt all over them at all times. I guess it's possible, but I just have a hard time believing it was that big of a problem.

- Remember how I mentioned I don't have a fancy phone? Well not having a fancy phone, yet being addicted to instagramming kind of creates a problem for me. If Brad's around, I'll sometimes grab his phone. But most of the time, the iPad is closer. So when Noah does something cute, I grab it. I'm aware of how ridiculous I look.

- Noah has decided that he loves to brush his teeth. Like he looks forward to that part of his bedtime routine now. I started singing this little song from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood recently, just for fun. He thought I was the most clever person on earth. I love that I amaze him so easily. So the other day, Noah starts doing this when I sing:

ps. please pretend you didn't notice I was in one of Brad's old tshirts and some pj pants from the 9th grade. I wasn't planning on being recorded (I almost typed "filmed". I'm so cool).

ways in which I embarrass myself

I'm clumsy. Like really, really clumsy.

I trip down the stairs, up the stairs, over my own feet. I've accidentally ran into several poles, a massive column (I kid you not, right after I said, "Follow me. I know where I'm going..."), and a mailbox (I was on a bike).
One morning in college, I was walking to class, and there happened to be two very attractive guys walking with me (just in the same route; I didn't know them). The way I was going, I had to climb about 87534590352 concrete stairs. Well, I lost my footing. Luckily I caught myself before falling down said 85304530467 stairs, but I was so embarrassed that I started laughing nervously, which made it impossible for me to keep climbing without tripping... again and again.
One of the random attractive guys looked at me like I needed serious help and had this "how the heck is this girl in college?" kind of look. He did ask me if I was okay, but I don't think it was an offer to help.

***

I had a goose fly at my head once.
I was walking to class one day, along with about 25 other people. There's a lake nearby, so geese are always around. I saw a goose on the sidewalk but didn't think anything of it. Not until it started flapping its wings. And then took flight and aimed straight for my head.

And of course people stared and one guy asked, "What did you do to it?!"

***

I have a weird sense of humor and laugh at innappropriate times. Then the nervousness of my innappropriateness makes me laugh more. It's a problem.

***

The majority of the time when I talk in group settings, nobody really listens to me. So I'll be in the middle of a story, realize nobody's paying attention, and just kind of trail off mid-sentence.

Actually, that's more sad than embarrassing. Sorry.

***

I yelled at my (former) boss once.
I was pregnant, and she made me mad. Frankly, every employee there had always wanted to do it. I just had enough crazy-lady hormones running through me to actually go through with it.

And of course, when I got home that night, I wanted to crawl in a hole and wrote an apology email. Thankfully, she'd just had a kid, so she understood why I temporarily lost my everlovin' mind.

***

Dancing.

Yep, that's it. That's all you need to know.

***

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lack of sleep means lack of a coherent post.

Last night, Noah fell asleep around 10:30. We don't really have much of a "schedule" when it comes to Noah's bed time. Everytime I try to make one, he's all, "Schedule? What schedule?" and proceeds to prove to me, yet again, that I don't have much control over that part. But thankfully, he's been sleeping for long periods of time again. So if we're not going to bed till 2am, but we still get to sleep for 8 hours? Heck, I'll take it.

Anyway, I thought we were headed for normalville last night. Y'know, where kids go to bed before midnight? HAHAHA.

Poor kid wet himself, which woke him up at 1am.
He didn't go back to sleep until somewhere around 5am.

Someone want to just hook me up to a caffiene IV?
This boy. I love him to death, but geez. Motherhood is not for pansies, that's for sure.
He's lucky he's cute.

(source not found... apparently, the etsy shop this was on closed)

***

It cracks me up that teenage girls are crushing hard on actors my age (like Joseph Gordon-Levitt). I'm starting to realize how funny it must've been to older women when I was 15 and had a crush on Johnny Depp (of course, who can blame me... it's Johnny Depp).
One girl was all, "Did you ever see 10 Things I Hate About You?" Yeah, they were like 2 when that came out. So they're all, "He was sooooo cuuuuute". And I'm sitting here thinking, "Really? I remember me and my friends were all swooning over Heath Ledger. Y'know, the tall, hot, mysterious, manly-man kind of guy?"
Not that Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasn't cute then. But he was no Heath Ledger.

***

My photography business is starting to make me all panicky. I'm hearing nothing but crickets. Thankfully, most of my other photog friends (who are much more talented than me) aren't getting much traffic either.
It's cold and dreary, so it should be expected. I gave my name out for a few referrals, and only got one nibble. It's still my first year being in the business, and I have to remember this happens to everyone. But man, this waiting around stuff is for the birds.

I'm trying to make the most of it and use this time to learn. But still. Nobody wants to feel like they're getting passed over because they're no good. I'm just thankful I have lots of friends in the biz now, because I know they deal with the same exact issues and self-worth feelings.

So even if I'm not all smiles and sunshine about it at the moment, at least I know I'm not alone.

Mischief

Noah has this thing with candles. Actually, it's more like he has a thing for candle wax. I have to keep all candles above his reach, otherwise he runs off with it and proceeds to pick at the wax. Little tiny blobs of candle wax all over the floor. Ever tried to vacuum candle wax? It doesn't work. And I know when he's found one, because I'll suddenly get a really strong wift of "Winter" coming from his room. I mean... at least he smells good.
Like Christmas.

Silver lining.

***

Bath time is Noah's favorite. Always has been. The other night, Brad and I were talking in our room, while Noah was playing in the tub. We were within eye sight, like 5 ft away. I stop mid-sentence at the sound I just heard coming from the bathroom. Water splatting on a dry floor. Yes. Little Man decided to take his cup (that we use to rinse his hair) and pour water ALL OVER THE FLOOR. We're not talking about a little bit either. It was like he dumped the entire contents of the bath tub onto the floor. I grabbed all the towels we own, while Brad ran downstairs to make sure it didn't leak into the ceiling.

It did.

It was raining out of our vent, onto our dining room floor, for a good 10 minutes.

Good times.

***

Noah loves theme songs. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to the theme song to Arthur, Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, etc (on the iPad). Over and over.
However, if you want a good idea of Noah's personality? Go watch the opening to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I swear that entire song wraps up who he is and how he thinks. It's adorable, and it makes him happy.

***

Noah likes to play in my makeup drawer. He doesn't actually apply any of the makeup on. Instead, he takes all the items he thinks are cool looking. Things like my eyelash curler, big brush, tweezers.
My eyelash curler has been missing for over a week now.
Stinker.

***

We got a knock on our door the other day from a surveyor. Apparently, the people located diagonally behind us are selling their house. The surveyor informed Brad that our fence was a foot over the property line. The stupid part about this is that our HOA sent someone out to check this exact issue before we built it. Turns out the guy wasn't a professional. The surveyor wasn't being a butt about it. I mean, the people selling their house have a fence up already, so we're not really intruding on their yard. He just wanted to let us know. Brad had him mark our yard, and he's been working on moving the back wall ever since.

Since our electric fence is down, and the back wall to our fence is down, this leaves me in a tad bit of a predicament with the dogs. I can't take them on walks, not with Noah. Brad works 14 hour shifts, and we see him for maybe an hour a day. So it's not like there's much time for him to either.

Flash (the Lab) isn't fixed. Dodger (the Golden) is. Logically, you'd think we'd have to worry about Flash running off, right? Wrong. Dodger has wandered out of our yard like 4 times already. He's a sneaky thing. I watch them from the window when I let them out. I turn away for 30 seconds and the dog disappears. Drives me bananas.
I always know when he's run off, because Flash is the biggest tattletail. He comes up to the back door, pointing in a certain direction and looking all worried. I swear he's the smartest dog ever.

The plus side is that Dodger always comes back. I caught him twice, and he was just wandering around the neighbors' yards, visiting doggy friends. The other times happened at night before I went to bed, and I couldn't leave Noah to go searching for him (also, he's impossible to find at night...).

I'm so looking forward to having our fence back.

Sunday Funday

Friday I declared it to be a Mommy-Noah Date Day. So after his speech therapy, we headed to Monkey Joe's. He hasn't been since his birthday (back in August). He was having some sensory overload issues, walking around with his hands over his ears for most of the first 20 minutes. But once he got used to the noises and everything going on, he relaxed and went for it. He climbed up the biggest, steepest slide all by himself (with me at the bottom praying to the good Lord above that he wouldn't fall). I will always be the hovering mom, I think. I can't help it. Until he can call out for me or is able to tell me if a big kid is being a bully? I'm the hover-mom.
He was all smiles the whole time and played with a few of the other kids too. After almost 2 hours, I asked him if he'd like to get some ice cream. Little Man booked it out of there. We had a little ice cream date to Ben & Jerry's (where I was good and had the small, greek yogurt kind).

We then came home and played outside until it was dark.
So yeah. We had a great day.

And since I'm in such a good mood, I thought I'd share a few pins that never fail to make me laugh. In case any of y'all need a pick-me-up. Maybe come back to them tomorrow when it's Monday again.

Me on more occasions than I'd like to admit:

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Us:

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I will be doing this to our eggs...

 





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My family has made fun of me for years for doing this...

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Seriously...

 

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Funny protest signs crack me up every.single.time.

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Have a happy Sunday, y'all!

Fiddlyfart

For the last few weeks, I've become obsessed with popcorn. I eat it almost every day. For those of you who have done Weight Watchers before, you know that plain air-popped popcorn is zero points. So when I'm wanting a snack, that's what I go to. To give it some flavor, I spray a little butter flavored PAM on it (sounds gross, but I promise it's good... zero calories? Yes please) and sprinkle a little kosher salt. Voila. So good and guilt-free.

***

Noah was sick with a tummy bug for most of last week. That's my least favorite kind of sick. And my poor kid is terrified of puking. Combine the sickness with sensory issues, and you've got one fun recipe for a freaked out kid.

***

At the beginning of December, I shot my second wedding. I did it for my cousin as a gift, so it took a ton of pressure off me. I just showed up and did my thing. No list of must-have shots, no crazy time frame to follow... they're really laid back. And honestly? That fact alone made me relax and just have some fun with it. They are so cute together.
I don't normally say a whole lot about my photography business and website on here. I'd rather keep it personal and not do the whole "HIRE ME!" thing on every other post. But if you're interested in seeing the pictures, click on over to the blog portion of my website. There are also a few pictures from a newborn shoot I did. She was so precious.

Anyway, one of the reasons I'm mentioning this is to give a little advice. If you decide to hire a professional photographer for any reason (family, newborn, wedding, etc), pick one because you love their style. Yes, price often plays a role. But that shouldn't be your #1 reason. Pick a photographer because you're drawn to their work. And when you hire them, put your trust in them. Realize that you hired them for a reason, and this isn't their first shoot. It's fine to give them a few ideas of pictures you like, but when it comes down to it, the shoot will come out a million times better if you just let them do their thing. My favorite sessions have been the ones where the clients relax and trust that I'm going to do a good job.

***

We have mice again. Not in the house, thank you Jesus. Just in the garage. They love the dog food, and our pups have this wonderful habit of turning over their bowls on purpose.
Apparently, one of our neighbors must have gotten pest control, because these mice just move around the neighborhood in waves. The worst part is that I don't like having to kill them. It makes me sad. Unlike water beetles or termites, mice are kind of cute. So I was researching ways to keep them away, so we can avoid killing them. Turns out they hate peppermint. I'll be heading to Hobby Lobby soon to get some peppermint oil. I have some candy canes left from Christmas, but I have a feeling the dogs will just eat them.
I swear, Disney has ruined me for life. All I can think about is Gus Gus or how we might be killing somebody's mommy.

***

And in case you were wondering what we've been up to lately besides mice, photography, and tummy bugs...

Playtime at the local kids museum...
I think people wonder why I don't ever invite friends for play dates there. Because for me, they don't work. Noah is all over the place, and I never actually get to talk to anyone. However, he did keep coming back to the water table. He is obsessed with those buckets.

Playtime outside...

Playtime on the iPad.
With a rare video appearance. Noah is sitting on our love seat with no cushion, because he spends the majority of his day jumping off the arms of the couches and onto the cushions. And the whole sight makes me smile.
Anyway, it took a while to get him to use the blablabla app. It helps promote speech. But within the last couple of weeks, he's fallen in love with it. But instead of just "talking" to it? This is what he does:

 

Cracks me up.

Happy Thursday!

Woo Girls

I am not a "woo girl".

There. I said it.

Not familiar?

This is a term, created by the very clever How I Met Your Mother writers, to describe the girls that... given any chance... will suddenly holler out a big "Woooooo!!!" at every little, slightly exciting thing.


(I don't know what's wrong with his face here... just ignore that part)
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It used to bug me. Not the actual woo-ing, but the fact that I just don't woo. I've tried, and every time I do, it feels weird coming out of my mouth. Sure, I'll woo at a concert or football game or on a rollercoaster. But in general? I'm so not a woo girl.

I'm the girl people go to when they want to talk about life or kids or marriage issues or God. The deep stuff. I don't mean for it to be that way; it just happens. I'm not the girl that my friends call when they want to go partying or dancing (which is probably more of a favor to me so I don't fall flat on my face).

And while I used to hate that part about myself, I've learned to just embrace it. Embrace the fact that people know I won't tell all their dirty secrets to the next person I talk to. Or that I'd rather hang out in my pj's and have middle-school-style makeovers than spend all night being somebody's DD. I've learned to embrace the fact that some of my friends are woo girls, and that's okay. As long as they love me and my dorky self anyway? I'm cool if they need to woo every once in a while without me.



(video contains a curse word, just fyi if you're sensitive to that)

 

 

decluttering my head

I'm so out of my workout groove. I quit running after the miscarriage, and I obviously just lost all motivation. Then the holidays hit, and frankly, it seemed like a lost cause. I would've just been working out as an excuse to eat food. And let's face it, Christmas only comes once a year, and there's no way in H-E-doublehockeystick that I'm gonna pass up my aunt's sweet potato casserole (don't let the name fool you... it's loaded with butter and sugar... and oh-so-good).

But all that's over now. Pretty sure the lady lumps I've acquired aren't quite what Fergie was referring to, so I hopped back on the treadmill a few days ago for the first time. And I swear I thought I was going to die. The strength is there, but the endurance? Eh, notsomuch. My sides were cramping, and I only went like 2 miles. I guess that's not bad, but I was hoping for more. I'm an overachiever that way I guess.

***
 I finally jumped on the Downton Abbey bandwagon. I spent a couple days catching up on past seasons, and by the end of it, I was worried I was going to start accidentally speaking in a British accent. Except with a Southern twang. I'm sure that would've been super hot.
The show is addictive and really good. The only down side is that it stresses me out. That's an awful lot of drama to throw into one show. I seriously can't watch it before bed, because it makes me all anxious.

***
If you were following the news/weather at all last week, you probably heard about our big fat blizzard we had (#sarcasmfont). I love it when it snows. We rarely ever get any, so come January, most Southerners get all excited if there's even the slightest chance of some.

Yeah. Our area got a few flurries, but that was it.

Womp, womp.

(source unknown)

And while we're on the subject, I'd like to get something off my chest.

Northern and western transplants to our area like to give us a really hard time about our snow excitement. I saw a few calling us "idiots". But frankly, it's usually the transplants that my brother spends all day hauling out of ditches every time it snows. They figure they're super experienced and can drive on slush-covered roads.
If they saw our one little makeshift snow plow? They may understand why most of us stock up on groceries and refuse to come out of the house for two days. ;)

***

You know how most toddlers get really quiet, and that's how you know they're up to something? Well, I think we finally hit that stage with Noah.
He's usually pretty chill, so when he got quiet last week, I assumed he was just playing in his room. I went to go check on him, and to my horror, I walked in to a poop fest. Noah wanted to tap into his inner artist, but since he couldn't get to his paint or crayons, he got resourceful.
It was all over him, smeared into the carpet, on his bedroom door...

He's never done anything like that before (and it doesn't really have anything to do with autism. I've heard of typical kids doing this too). I guess there's a first time for everything, but I'm hoping there's a LAST time for everything too.

***
So remember Noah's Mini Cooper my dad and stepmom got him for Christmas? Well, our driveway isn't really ideal, since it's kind of short and goes to the road. I decided to take it over to my dad's and let Noah test drive it there.
He really liked riding around in it, but he hasn't quite gotten the hang of steering yet. He knows how to make it stop and go, but he's rather go hands-free and chill as he cruises.
Cracked us up.

Happy Monday (and MLK Day)!

30.

It's legit, folks.

As of 11:55pm tonight, I will have officially left my 20's.

My thoughts on that later.

Today, I'm celebrating.

One of my oldest and favorite friends (known her since birth) treated me out to lunch today at a Mexican place. Complete with a birthday song sung by 10 Latin men (and included an awful lot of "mamasitas" for a birthday song), sombrero, and ice cream. 

As we were recuperating from the laughter of that, I saw in the corner of my eye out of the window... two clowns passing by.

No, she didn't order them. But it was still pretty darn hilarious to have the oldest clown in history tell his cute wife with a cheeseburger hat, "This is the wrong place!"

Yeah.

Birthdays are fun.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Mine has been fantastic so far. ;)

our crappy vacation (pun intended)

Okay, it wasn't ALL bad.
But I definitely learned that autism and vacations don't always mesh well. Particularly when it comes to sleep. The first night, it made me sad to see Noah grab his blankets and go to the door (I'm assuming asking us to go home so he can go to bed). There were plenty of highs and lows.

Crappy parts of the vacation:
1. Sleep deprivation. The first night, Noah was up until 2am. The next night, it was 5am. It wasn't until the 4th night that Noah was able to fall asleep before midnight and sleep all night long. After several attempts to help him settle down, we finally figured out he likes to sleep on the couch the best. He also didn't want to be left alone anywhere. So I would stay up with him until he fell asleep, then move the loveseat next to the couch. That way he wouldn't fall off in the middle of the night.
2. Inner ear infection.  Not Noah. Brad. Brad actually had complained a couple weeks before about his ear bothering him. But like a lot of men, he ignored it. So when we got down to Kiawah, it was hurting him to the point of him being miserable. Thankfully, they have a doctor there, and he got it taken care of.
3. Poop on the beach. Noah's sleep wasn't the only thing that got completely thrown off by our vacation. The poor boy didn't poop for 3 days. And of course, when he finally did go, guess where it happened... in the ocean. Brad picked him up, not knowing the state of Noah's pants, and was consequently covered in poo. I think this was the lowest point of our vacation.
4. Miscommunication in packing. First, Brad and I messed up by forgetting to pack our swimsuits. I remembered Noah's, just not mine.
Then the night before we left Kiawah, Brad went to bed early, so I decided to get a little packing done. But all I really achieved was putting away some of Noah's toys away. The next morning, Brad let me sleep in while he finished packing. For some reason, he thought I'd already packed away Noah's clothes we'd put in the drawers. I assumed he got them. Yeah. Noah has several articles of clothing just hanging out in the Kiawah place. Thankfully, my dad is the next one scheduled to go down, so he's going to grab them when he's there.
5. My dad getting called back in to work. My dad and stepmom were supposed to join us over the weekend. Unfortunately, after my dad left work early, he got a phone call that one of their apartment buildings caught on fire. Seriously?! So he didn't get home Friday night until dinner time, which basically was going to make the trip to Kiawah totally pointless. They would've been there for a day and a half at most. So my 30th birthday trip with my family was shot.

But. It wasn't all bad.
There were good moments too. Noah absolutely loved the beach. And he loved the ocean even more, even though the water was ridiculously cold.

Noah made some friends, a teacher and her husband. They were so sweet.

We brought the big guns with us this time. Noah's all about using the big boy tools.

Usually around this time of year, gnats are prevalent out there. Like biting gnats. Except this time? Not one gnat. Instead, there were butterflies. Everywhere. In the midst of my tiredness and all the other stuff, it was a nice little pick-me-up to watch a butterfly fly by me on the beach.
Also, instead of jellyfish, there were hundreds of starfish that were washed up onto the shore. So Noah and I went on a little walk, picking up the ones that still looked alive and tossed them back into the ocean.

 

So despite all of the crappiness, it wasn't totally terrible.
And really, if you're going to have a couple of rough days? Might as well happen in paradise. ;)

Tuesday Randomness

~ I don't like mixing different color inks... like on calendars, notebooks, grocery lists. If I start in black, I can't switch to blue. Even if I lose the black pen. I have to search the house until I find the matching color before I continue. OCD anyone?

~ Are we still using "da BOMB"? Because I've seen it a lot recently, and really... I think it's one of those phrases that immediately ages you. I have this secret fear of being one of those parents that tries to be cool and goes about it all wrong. Like telling Noah's friend when they're 10 that they're outfit is "da BOMB". And then they reach in their pocket for their teeny-tiny, warp speed, hi-tech phone and call the police because their friend's mom is making bomb threats.

~ You know what's really cool? Seeing people you knew as a kid becoming amazingly successful and cheering them on. There happens to be one family I've been close to since like 2nd grade. And I swear, there is something in their genetics that causes them to excel in whatever they do. Their parents are absolutely wonderful, hard working, sweet people. They actually go to the same church as me, and I just got a big hug from one of the sweetest Mommas in the whole world last week. Well, their 2nd to youngest is now playing defense for Notre Dame (#41!!). And their youngest? A phenomenal dancer at NYC Ballet (deferring his acceptance into Harvard for now). Most recently, he was featured in Vogue. You know how cool it is to pick up a copy of Vogue, open it up and say, "I know him!" Very cool.

~ I made my very first homemade apple pie (almost from scratch... the pie crust was the refrigerated kind). I'm trying to use up the apples we picked, so I figure what better time to try it out, right? OMG, it's sooooo good. Want the recipe? Check it out here.

~ Am I the only one that feels weird pinning things like "chocolate explosion cake" RIGHT after exercise/thinspiration pins? It's like Jillian Michaels and Paula Deen are duking it out on Pinterest to see who ultimately wins. Sinful Food v. Gym Rat.

~ Also, why are people pinning their Christmas pictures? And not like to promote a photography business or some craft they did for the holidays. I'm talking, "Jeremy opening his presents. Smith Christmas 2010".

~ And to perk up your Tuesday morning, here are a few gems I recently found. If these don't make you laugh, you have no soul.

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If I ever have a little girl, I'm totally doing this.

Sophia from The Golden Girls:

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This kid is being raised right...

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If you really knew me...

If you really knew me...

You'd know that I'm a glass-half-full kind of girl. I prefer to look at the positives instead of the negatives and give people the benefit of the doubt, even when it's blatantly obvious that they're just not a nice person.

You'd know that I don't have a regular group of friends that I hang out with. They're all very random and very different. Sometimes I wish I had a regular group (like at parties when nobody knows each other...) , but for the most part, I like it that way.

You'd know that I tend to attract really outgoing friends, ones who like to be silly and often the center of attention. It works out well, because I like to be the loyal bff on the sidelines cheering them on. :)

You'd know that if I'm going to consume a ton of calories, it's going to be on some ridiculously good dessert. You know how some people would rather spend them on a big hearty meal? Yeah, that's not me. Pass the Godiva chocolate cheesecake.

You'd know that for some reason, my name was put on a senior citizens' list, and I get all kinds of offers for hearing aids, wheelchairs, and AARP memberships. 

You'd know that my car always looks like a homeless person lives in it. As does any bags I happen to be carrying. I don't prefer it to look that way, but I've decided it's a lost cause. I've always been like this, and I probably always will be.

You'd know that I'm a closet shopaholic. And not just for me, but for other people too. I can't help it. Both my parents are as well. In fact, as a kid, my dad would take us shopping, just for the fun of it. Because unlike most other men in America, that's what he enjoyed doing. I've learned to reign myself in, but man if I had unlimited funds? It could turn into a problem, I'm sure.

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You'd know that I hate scary movies. Hate, hate, hate. Give me something to laugh at, and I'm good. However, I do enjoy a good superhero/transformer/Die Hard movie now and then.

You'd know that I plan to own a farm one day. Or just own lots of land with a couple of horses and four-wheelers.

You'd know that I always lose everything. My phone, keys, and sunglasses are lost on a daily basis.

Along those lines, you'd know that I've also lost a little bit of my writing mojo, which is why I'm having to rip this idea from my lovely friend Katie. Thanks, Katie. :)

Tuesday Bits

The DNC is in Charlotte this week. The city is about to bust with excitement. Y'all thought we made a big deal about snow flurries? You can just imagine what happens when the President comes to town. I swear our highways have never looked this good before.

The realistic, practical side of me wants to stay far, far away from the craziness. Just about every cop in town is busy with the convention. They even bussed horses from up North in for them. We have plenty of horses here... just not any for our officers. Certain roads are blocked, people have been forced to leave their homes... it's pretty crazy. So yeah, part of me wants to stay away from all of it.
But the other side? The fun, spontaneous side of me wants to go down there and see if I can spot any celebrities. Or at the very least, get a kick out of watching the protestors.
I mentioned on here before how I was a Sociology major. One of my favorite classes was Social Movements. It was fascinating, and I always wanted to witness something like that. So just to hang out and watch people get all worked up sounds like fun to me. :)

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I love instagram. But see, I don't have a fancy phone. I have the little freebie phone you get when you renew your contract. Heck, I was excited when I finally got texting on my plan last Christmas. I know, it's sad.
To be on instagram, though, I was using Brad's old Droid, which was connected to our home internet. So basically, the majority of my pictures were taken at home. If there were any taken while out and about, then Brad was with us. He has the fancy phone for work. Anyway, his old phone got some sort of virus, so now my instagram presence has plummeted. It makes me sad. I miss seeing instant updates on what friends are doing, in the form of pictures. And sharing mine as well. Maybe I can convince the hubs I need a fancy phone for my photography business. Maybe.

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I have a reader who, for months, has searched for my blog by typing in my full name and entire blog title. I'm assuming they know me. I hope they know me. I don't mind, but if my searcher happens to be reading this particular post... do you mind letting me know who you are? Y'know, just so I know I don't need to load my shotgun at night? :)

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The photography business is still going really well. And check out the new logo my friend Jess designed for me! Isn't it pretty? She also does blog design (and photography and skin care... she's multi-talented).

I absolutely adore every second of every photo session I have. Lately, the shoots have included lots of sweet, cuddly newborns. And yes, I do take a few minutes during the session just to hold them. This is the best.job.ever.

Feel free to go here to check out more. :)

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A couple months ago, I mentioned that my little cousin, his wife, and their baby would be leaving us soon to be missionaries. Well, last night we had our last family dinner with them before they depart.

These next two have nothing to do with them. I just thought they were sweet. :)

They'll be gone for a couple of years, which makes me sad. I mean, I'm excited to see how God will use them, but it's still sad to watch loved ones leave. We've spent a lot of time with my baby cousin, Nathan, over the years. He came to Kiawah with us almost every year as a kid, since he was close to my brother's age.
We celebrated little Landon's 1st birthday a tad early, since he won't be here for his actual big day.

We're really going to miss them.

Last shot of the entire fam together, minus cousin Nat and my stepsisters. And yes, it's very difficult to get a great shot of 20+ people. Noah with my dad and stepmom cracks me up. :)

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Noah is currently obsessed with two of his Baby Einstein DVD's... the Baby Da Vinci one (that goes over facial features, hands, feet, etc) and the Baby Macdonald one. He's definitely retaining some of the info, because he keeps walking up to family members and sticking his fingers in their ears. He also will walk around crowing like a rooster.
Last night, when every one was singing Happy Birthday to Landon, Noah wanted to be included. Since he doesn't know the Happy Birthday song, he began doing the motions to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". And because my family is awesome, they sang it for him, complete with cheering when he was finished.

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Hope everyone had a fun, relaxing Labor Day weekend!