Quack

Something that made me smile this morning...

I hope you enjoy your Wednesday!

Photos from Etsy seller Sharon Montrose

Who loves nerds?

I DO! I DO!

Essentials...

We've had a string of nice weather days recently, and it has made my day(s). This past weekend, I spent a considerable amount of time outdoors...

Taking a walk in a park I don't normally go to with people I don't normally take walks with. I had conversations I wouldn't have expected and got open blisters on my feet from my newest loved flip flops.

I sat by myself on my old Mexican blanket (sans swine flu) in the grass on the sunniest day of 2009 so far (Saturday) with my essentials: iPod with newest music purchases and favorite-est old music, newest loved flip flops, and reading material (currently a photoshop mag).

I enjoyed the creative pursuits of the "BFFs" (a term affectionately applied to my parents' most common hang out pals) in their fruit art endeavors. I spent the weekend in and out of a conference at church, taking portraits of the attendees...

Including this guy, who could balance 4 chairs on his chin.

I'm in the beginning phases of putting together an art show. This is incredibly exciting for me because it's becoming reality. I got approval for the show and just need to plan it now. Any ideas? Any blog readers done this before? Tips and suggestions welcome and encouraged!

First rollerblade of the season

Well, I just got back from... the first rollerblade of the year. It was everything I expected it to be. Hot, Tiring, Sunny, and Lovely.

I have a lot on my plate for today so I can't stay long - but I did a little blog stumbling using Stumble Upon and found some pretty funny photos and interesting things to ponder. Enjoy!

Via here

above 2 via here


via here

Some of my favorite things to photograph...

My dog, Roxy. She always has the best looks on her face - and she loves me unconditionally.

My cat, Crackers. He's not super thrilled that I am his owner at times, but he will snuggle up to me if Rox isn't around. And I love his angry/annoyed 'expressions.'

Sunsets. My friends Nate & Cort get to look our their window at trees and sunset for awhile longer before the leaves overtake it.

The boy. Eric. Since he's started loving me, he's gone from relatively camera shy (anyone remember the closed smiles pictures of our early days?) to an always willing subject (and a natural!)

Just a smattering of the photographs I take over and over and never cease to find joy from. And I don't even care if other people grow tired of them, because I won't. That's what matters in this case isn't it?

a warm fuzzy feeling

Did you feel it? Can you smell it in the air? It's summertime, around the corner.

What happened to spring? Toledo is in this teeter totter of high 40s then 80s and once again, we get our "transition season" stolen from us.

I'm not complaining. I'm just baffled! Everywhere you look, these brave flowers are peeking out of the brown grass. I love how they usually are found all bunched together - as if they need to huddle together as they wait out the cold. We've even had a flowering tree flower and lose the petals already. It's pretty exciting to think of all the trees and blooms we will see in the coming weeks, or even days. I've posted earlier about how spring never ceases to amaze me. Every year it's as though I hold my breath till I see those little tiny green leaves start to appear. I hope I never lose that.

This will be the first spring that I will not be in school since I was 5. So naturally, when the boy informed me of his upcoming finals I was a bit surprised. Finals were always the cue that summer was fast approaching and this year I don't have that to go by. My natural clock is confused.

May is next week? Are you kidding me?!

On Monday, when I posted the weather report and it's gotten even better since then. 80s on Friday and Saturday. I expect to see even more brave blooms peek their heads out this weekend.

Can't wait.

Color

My green walls + blue flowers = confused camera

This is why they made custom white balance!

On another note, Eric and I saw Adventureland tonight and we definitely got more than a few laughs from it. I'd probably even rent it to watch it again. There is a lot of swearing which can get annoying but other than that, pretty funny flick.

Most of all, I enjoyed a relaxing evening with the boy. We even picked up his wedding band from the jeweler but found out they ordered the wrong size. Boo! Another week and I'll have to lose my ring for up to 3 weeks to get appraised! That is gonna suck.

Here's hoping Wednesday is a great day! Goodnight all.

Relief at the end of the day

Work was pretty rough today. It's so unfortunate, because I went in with a smile on my face and a "spring in my step" so to speak. I remember thinking it was surprising that I could feel this way on a Monday morning!

Well, I hate to inform that it did not last. I won't go into specifics but it was just a trying day. I did come out of it having learned that I need to have a little more respect.

Mondays are nice because I usually get to eat dinner with my family after a long TurboKick class at the gym - so I knew the day could go up from there. And it did - Eric had the meal prepared for my Dad and I by the time I got home from the gym and it was delightful. Mom, who is in Hawaii for a couple weeks, called to chat a bit, and it's so nice to hear her voice!

And to top it off, when I came up to my room I found these "crazy daisies" on my TV.

Seriously, I love that boy. I hope he doesn't get offended if I tell the world that he's not great at anniversaries or birthdays (he's like my Dad in that he finds cards & flowers a waste of money) but he sure knows how to surprise me.

I've decided it's even better than receiving flowers on an anniversary or whatnot. I really needed a reason to smile today and Eric knew how to do just that.

Monday...

So it's Monday. I had a lovely weekend, with beautiful weather and pleasant company. And now... here I am at the beginning of another week. As I was preparing for work (which I'm late to) and trying to figure out what kind of outerwear I need today, I checked the weather.

Guess what we have to look forward to this coming weekend??? See below:

Beautiful. I'm already ancy.

PS

Tabbed browsing = amazing.

Sundays are the best

Not until after I had been wandering from one site to the next, feeling inspired by all the beautiful talent out there, did I realize that I should be documenting my finds to share with you. So I backtracked a bit and found some of the highlights:

How stinkin cute is that card? From Etsy seller modernemotive these adorable cards are available (customized of course) for $5.50 each with envelope. I'm wondering how cute they would be as Rachel loves Eric...

Moving on:

Another blog added to my "Reads" list! I love love love this one called 100 Layer Cake. It's filled with photos, links, and INSPIRATION! Gotta love it. And even better, they provided me with even more web strolling with their "Blogs-we-love" page. Seriously, I will be here for hours. Thank goodness for Sundays!

And then...

Sometimes I'm caught totally overwhelmed with great photography. These photographers over at Our Labor of Love completely take my breath away. It's a tough feeling because I respect their work and love to see truly beautiful photography, but at the same time feel horribly inadequate. Practice practice! Maybe someday I'll be a rockstar photographer, but until then I will have to look at the eye candy at blogs like these.

And finally...

I am a woman in love with.... letterpress printing. I knew I was stumbling onto something fabulous when I came across some work done by Hammerpress via a blog I can't find at the moment.

And then, coming across Studio on Fire via blog Green Wedding Shoes I just knew I have found another love.

These two are examples from a letterpress company in Salem, OH called the Cranky Pressman. Check out his flickr page for the rest of the work. It's absolutely fabulous.

Wouldn't it be just perfect if we could do letterpress wedding invitations? I will have to speak with the boy about this. ASAP.

I have photos from the weekend of sun and warmth, but I think I'll do that tomorrow since I've overloaded you with all my web-strolling finds. Please take some time to check out some of those links! Well worth your [free] time :)

With all of this creative overload, I have neglected my stomach. It's just far too cold and way too much effort to head out for some grub. Pretty sure my options are limited to a PB&J for dinner. How sad. Back tomorrow,

until then...

Wordle

Blog-perusing is one of the best ways to find cool new things. Today's "Cool New [to me] Thing" is Wordle. All you do is either copy and paste a bunch of words into the box or link to a page on the web. I linked to my blog - can you tell?

A few things:
1. Why does Deadliest Catch have to make such a big appearance? Oh, only because it's a SWEET show!
2. Seriously, why does Like appear so big? It's not like I say it, like, too much. I think I have like a pretty good handle on not saying it, like, too much.
3. I am pleased to see that the boy's name made it into my wordle.

What a cool site! Go waste some time there :) That's it for today's "Cool New [to me] Thing."

Opening Day!

Today is opening day for the Mudhens. Thus officially begins our city's baseball season! I unfortunately cannot make it to the game tonight, but it looks like there will be fantastic weather. I can't wait until I can get down there for a game!

Insert Clever Title Here

I got a new keyboard today! It's the one in the back, obviously. But I just had to show the contrast between the old and new. Typing is still slightly difficult but I'm sure I will improve quickly. The new keyboard smells like plastic and packaging, and I kind of like it!

On Sunday when we were at my aunt and uncle's for Easter lunch, Eric and I checked out my Uncle's laser engraving machine. The thing is literally amazing. Dave made us these little "hockey pucks" as he called them, and aren't they neat? I'm trying to come up with something creative for the wedding to utilize his talent for engraving with lasers - got any ideas?

I'm totally bummed. I missed the season premiere of Deadliest Catch. I know, I know - after all that fuss I made earlier. I was having a lovely dinner and pleasant conversation at the boy's mom's house and got home about 30 minutes ago. No worries however, I will utilize this incredible invention called DVR to record it while I sleep tonight.

Yay for Deadliest Catch tomorrow before work!

Fishy

I am so excited.


Tonight... Season 5 Premiere of Deadliest Catch. 9PM on Discovery!

It's not a show you would probably expect me to enjoy, but ohhhh boy do I enjoy it. For some reason, I missed season 4 when it aired - but I caught up on some of it Saturday during the marathon. This season looks as intense as ever! You'll know where to find me tonight at 9...

The Boy

Since I first started seeing Eric, he had many piercings - the industrial, gauges, lip ring... I had always been a fan, and he would comment that he likes mine too (nose, and a couple ear piercings). On the day that he proposed, I noticed they were all gone. Apparently, he decided that he was sick of them, and took them all out... at the gas station! Just like that, his face is metal-free.

And I'm ok with it. Really. It took some getting used to, but it's not like I miss them or anything. The reason I'm writing about it is maybe to give you a little glimpse into my life with the boy. He's spontaneous and stubborn at the same time. He makes decisions in a few seconds that change his life forever - the prime example being our engagement - and he doesn't look back. It's impressive, admirable, and frustrating to me all at once.

And I love him.

Easter

Some of my favorite parts of today...

Finally getting a pic of this group of friends - and dressed up at that!

Finding out Eric is a pretty good doodler... especially on eggs.

Feelin for my little nephew-man and his complete exhaustion...

This rare, beautiful moment.

Catching a glimpse of the friendship between these brothers.

Seeing and appreciating my family and truly feeling thankful
for all the creative, loving, patient, kind, and zany personalities of us Holts.

Taking Back Toledo... kinda

The boy and I went downtown tonight to check out a new pizza place next to the Mudhens Stadium with our friends Liz and Marc. Afterwards, we crossed the bridge to International Park to walk along the river and see the sun setting over the skyline.

No matter how much I want to live in a bustling, thriving (warmer!) city, I will always want Toledo to succeed. No matter how much I complain about this city, I still find myself strangely proud of Toledo. Sure, we are struggling just as much, if not more, as other similar sized cities - but it seems like there is hope. This fall, we will see the new hockey arena open with another wave of new businesses opening around it. It will be interesting to see downtown Toledo continue to grow and become an exciting place to be.

Notice:

I hate to say it, but I'm kinda blogged-out. I hate that my blog posts are becoming sub-par and I'd rather announce a break to get re-energized and re-creative-ized than scramble at the end of the day to take a picture of something in my room or around the house and think of something to say. So, here's my official notice of a blog break. I'm unsure how long - I'm thinking just a couple of days. Maybe inspiration will strike today and I'll be back tonight. Who knows?

I apologize for my silence until then. Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Spring Cleaning

I'm getting rid of stuff. All sorts of stuff. Tonight a huge bin of CDs went from this:

To this:

Many thanks to the boy for doing most (ahem, nearly all) of the grunt work. Love him!!! I'm super exhausted and tomorrow is a long day so I'm off to bed. When will you tackle your spring cleaning??

The gym

I've been working out a lot in the past couple months. A couple weeks ago I got these new kicks. It's been interesting seeing my energy, body, and outlook change as exercise has been re-introduced into my daily routine. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I still really just want to come straight home after work and lay on the couch with the boy and CHILL - but most of the time I stick to it. It's really starting to pay off too...

So, I have 10 weeks until the fam trip to the beach.

And a year and 2-ish months until I get MARRIED!

If that's not incentive, I don't know what is...

A Bad Mommy

Whenever I spend the night somewhere other than home, I know I have someone who will be very unhappy when I get back. This morning, I returned from BG and right at the top of the stairs sat my very unhappy cat. I swear he will give me this look all morning until I've overfed him, let him sit on my lap petting him while he still pretends to be mad, and cleaned up whatever messes he's left me. I think I'm still in the 'doghouse' so to speak. Better get going!!

Network!

My sweet new business cards came in the mail today from moo.com!! Now I can really network - like a real professional! How exciting!