Photography Post

 

This beautiful Mama is on the blog today and also in labor. Click HERE to see all the shots. I cannot wait to meet her little one in the next two weeks! Good luck Camilla!!!

The final week + some letters

 

Yesterday, I almost gave in and bought some shorts, and a dress, and flip flops and a few other things from Target. BUT then I realized that it’s the 28th, only two more days till the month and this challenge are over and I decided against it.

Since we live in the middle of nowhere, there really isn’t much temptation to spend money. Literally, the only “extra” money I’ve spent this month has been on photography, which has been for clients, which has been paid for by said clients. Hence, I’m thinking I did pretty good.

In the first two weeks of savings, I saved a good chunk of money by not giving into temptation and shopping. I had saved a total of $465.00. Yesterday’s little shopping spree would have cost me an additional $135.00. So In total, for this month, I’ve saved $600.00. HOLY *&(#. Really?

That just took me by surprise, and yes I did have to get the calculator out to make sure my addition isn’t off. That’s my car payment plus at least a week of groceries, and the only thing I did was cut out my shopping habit. Now if only someone would teach me how to coupon so I don’t have to spend over a 100 every week just on groceries.

Well… tell us how you did this month, Janna and I are dying to hear some success stories!

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Dear Colorado Wildfires please stop burning my beautiful state and leave my friends and their houses alone. I’d really appreciate that!

Dear 100+ AZ weather I don’t really have much to say to you other than you suck. But I’ll deal with you, because being miserable and complaining does not seem to have an effect on you.

Dear Lilly, I don’t think you comprehend how much I love you and what you mean to your dad and I. We’re so glad we adopted you and that you have become a part of this little family. AND yes, you can have whichever part of the couch you like.

Dear Husband I really enjoyed our dinner conversation tonight, and I’m glad that you are aiming to become your boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss. Please know you have my full support if when you decided to run for president.

Dear Work, I love you, really. You’ve been good to me and I can’t wait to see what comes next in this new chapter. We’re going to kick some booty and teach folks how to use their cameras!

Dear Friends and Family in Colorado I’ll be back on August 2nd, and it will be great. Whoever needs to book a session with me and my camera needs to let me know ASAP.

It’s Okay to be Thankful

Today is Thursday… I’m still having to deal with the fact that week is practically over and I don’t know where it went. I wanted to join in on two little link-ups today, because I find them totally appropriate for the moment.

 

and

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It’s Okay…

… to have coffee, cake and two apricots for breakfast once in a while

… to miss my mama like crazy

… to be completely and utterly in love with your dog

… to think that said dog is absolutely adorable when she cuddles with her toys

… to want to trade lives with said dog or the neighbors dog as they lay around and take in the sunshine (for a day)

… to have a sink full of dishes … it’s actually kind of gross and I’m avoiding the kitchen so I don’t have a meltdown

… to get dolled up just to sit around the house

and

… to not get out of your sweats all day

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I’m thankful for …

… the monsoon that we got yesterday, it cooled things down a lot

… the little rain that Colorado got

… the fact that my friends and family are safe and away from the fires as of right now

… my husband, family and friends

… the internet and the ability to do my job and classes all from the comfort of my home

… my clients

… my life

Sometimes the little things get overwhelming. Sometimes I don’t see the big pictures because I’m so concentrated on the little things. Sometimes I get so stressed that even ice cream and a bubble bath can’t calm me down. I take for granted what I’ve got and always want more. I forget to be thankful that I’ve got a roof over my head, food on the table, a loving and caring family, friends who’ll be there no matter what, unconditional love from a little dog named Lilly, a good job, an education and so on. I forget that there are millions of people out there who never had the opportunities that I had, and only dream of half the life I have. Really, I feel ashamed that I’ve been so ungrateful for all the good in my life.

And yes, the weather here is still hot, but it’s only temporary. Come September it’ll cool down and I’ll once again be able to breath normally.

SEEEEEE… this too shall pass.

Hope you all are having a great Thursday!

Keep Colorado in your thoughts and prayers. My beautiful state is being destroyed.

While I complain about the heat in AZ

my beautiful Colorado is burning up.

Literally, Colorado is burning.

The above are photos taken/posted by Facebook friends and family.

I cannot believe what is going on. In the 14+ years that I lived in Colorado we never had wildfires that were this big and spanned so far.

So far over 32,000 people have been evacuated. Tens of thousands are on pre-evac orders. Over 200,000 acres of land has burnt. Hundreds of homes have been lost.

My parents are in Aurora, Colorado, the suburbs of Denver. They are literally surrounded by fire right now, but it’s still a bit away from them.

Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs are home to many of my friends. Fires have never been so close to home before. I grew up hiking, camping and hanging out in these beautiful mountains and cities.

I wish there was something I could do for them. Instead, I sit around and complain that it’s really hot here. And that I hate the AC because it’s cooling me down. I’m pretty pathetic.

My thoughts and prayers are with my friend and family in Colorado. My beautiful friend Janna has the fire knocking on her back door. Nina’s husband Brent, a Denver firefighter, is heading south to help fight the fires. Several friends are packing up their lives and don’t know if they’ll see their homes again. Please keep them all in your thoughts until this is taken care of, and do the RAIN DANCE if you can. 

In need of a vacation

The title to this blog is a fact. Nothing more.

I am very much in need of a vacation. Between work, school, photography, Lilly and this house, I just need a drink (maybe 10) and some sunshine.

These flowers are sitting on my kitchen table. They make me happy.

I’m not really sure where all my days are going? I get up at 6 AM … every single day, because Miss Lilly does not like sleeping in … at all. So I get up, have coffee and get my day going. Before I know it, it’s 8 PM and I feel like nothing got accomplished. Maybe it’s just the Arizona heat getting to me.

Yes, she is on the brand new couch. She’s a spoiled brat 

Speaking of Arizona heat, it’s been over a 100 for over 3 weeks now. It’s really gross. I hate hot weather, and I’m not really sure why I agreed to moving out to the desert… since by definition it means HOT!

I literally get depressed when it’s sunny and hot for an extended period of time. I want rainy, gloomy days. I miss rainy, gloomy days. I hate air conditioning too, I would rather it never be hot so I never have to use it. I freeze when the air conditioning turns on. AND since it’s hot all the time, the AC has been on, and I’ve been freezing.

F. you Arizona. Is it really necessary to be this dang hot?!

There really isn’t a point to this post. But I did want to bring this up, in case there are people out there who hadn’t heard about it and see the video.

 

I don’t even know how kids have gotten so mean and disrespectful. I know that when we were in middle school, we thought we were such grown ups and could do whatever we wanted to, BUT we knew full well that we need to respect our elder and something like this would have gotten me disowned.

 

This poor woman could be any of our grandmothers. And if someone made my grandmother cry, it would not end well for them. I sure hope that I can be the type of parent who raises my children to be respectful and caring, especially towards adults.

 

Well… That’s all I’ve got folks!

Hope you have a good Tuesday!!!