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.