happenings

Believe it or not, there really are other things going on around here besides baby prep. :)

I am a little past the halfway mark of my busiest wedding season ever. The months of May/June were a doozy with 6 weddings in a row and not a break to be found between them. But, thankfully, I had an awesome three week break in July and enjoyed spending extra time with Tommy on those weekends! I was happy to get back to work late July and kicked off my last half of the year with a few local weddings. So here we are now, 12 weddings down, 8 more to go for 2011 and loving every minute of them!

Tommy is at the beginning of an insane travel schedule. He's in a two week long training course right now, only to leave for a week long business trip two days after he gets home. After his return from the business trip we are taking a family vacation and will get home just in time for his 2 week annual training. Woohoo! And people wondered why I was "early in the game" regarding baby prep. ;) I knew our months of Aug/Sept/Oct were pretty much going to be a no-go with any sort of nursery/baby plans (or furniture building) so our only option was to take care of it during our July mini-vacation. And that we did!

Red moved back to my mom's house. We were sad to see him go, but my sanity was at stake (and truthfully, his was as well). Tommy has decided to comfort himself with thoughts of "we'll have him again someday when we move to a large, open plot of land." Whenever that happens...!

Tommy's paternal grandmother passed away very recently. While it is a heartbreaking thing to experience with anyone, we truly are blessed with incredible family who chose to spend the time of mourning to instead celebrate her life and praise her work here on earth. She was one amazing, strong, talented and giving woman and I look forward to sharing stories of her life with our children. She is missed dearly.

As always, we have a lot of things going on. Tommy and I are looking forward to settling into our home in early November and simply waiting to welcome this little baby into our lives. We have no plans to travel or work on any projects for a few months after the baby gets here... simply to settle into a routine and our new reality as parents. I am so excited!

In the meantime... as they say... time flies when you are having fun! So here's to the next few months flying by!

a digital detox...

1. because it's summertime...
2. because I am far too addicted...
3. because I have a million and one other things to do besides browse facebook...
4. because my real-life relationships are nurtured through one-on-one time, not @replies or tweets...
5. because my doggies need to go on a walk...
6. because...

Do you really need more reasons than that?

As of this moment, I am digitally detoxing and will only be accessible through email (lizATsincerelylizphotoDOTcom) or blog comments (they come to my email) until further notice. No more Facebook messages or Twitter replies... if you need me, you can call! Or email. :)

I am sooooo looking forward to the free time that will surely come in abundance after this moment! ;)

gathering my thoughts

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." -C.S. Lewis

One thing I have learned in recent years and really take to heart is that planning encourages living intentionally, in turn adding quality to your (my) life. I plan a lot more these days than I used to. I plan meals for the week, budgets for the month, traveling for the year, the list goes on. I even plan in days off, and I let Tommy lead the way on those days. He is much more of a spontaneous soul. Sometimes this poses a challenge when I am booking weddings a year in advance - but I think we do a pretty decent job balancing each other out. :)

I have been thinking about this week ahead and I simply wanted to gather my thoughts. The Sunday after a wedding often feels like my brain is sleeping. I know I have a lot of work to do, but I cannot think straight long enough to sit down and make a to-do list. I kind of won't let myself. Sundays are my day to rest - so I tell myself probably 5 times every Sunday "Stop thinking about work. Sit here and do nothing." Hah.

So here we are on Monday... and I need to gather my thoughts for the week ahead. My blog shall be my notebook.

Goals for this week:

• Have new tires put on my car (by Wednesday AM)
• Make a trip to ikea (for a new bookshelf for the office!)
• Cull/sort two weddings
• Edit and deliver one wedding
• Prepare and schedule 2-3 weddings for the blog
• Prepare and schedule 2-3 portrait sneak-peeks for the blog
• Collect and sort images for submission to the local bridal guide
• Design and order marketing cards for wedding venues

I think I can... I think I can!

a little bit of nesting...

So... we finally got the nursery cleared out, the walls painted, and the furniture assembled. What makes me giggle a little is that it all totally happened in one week. :) What can I say? The nesting bug has bit me! I love this little room! I even sat on the floor in it yesterday with my laptop to do a little work... it just makes me so happy!

I am grateful to have this bit of nesting motivation because my goal was to do all of this during the months of August-September, knowing I have a crazy-busy October ahead of me. So now I just feel ahead of the game! I am more confident that come November 1st I can be d.o.n.e. All work completed, nursery totally ready, Christmas shopping done (for real), and completely ready for baby. At least... that is the plan. (All you mom's of 2-10 kids can go ahead and laugh at me now... I know, I know.)

This is a very early sneak peek of the little bit of nesting we've done in the nursery. We obviously have to fill it with baby stuff, but I am also holding off on accessorizing the room too much until after we know what we are having.

So I plan on waiting on a few final details until after baby is here, but in the meantime I have been playing a bit on pinterest. There are a few things I know for certain I'll get up before November... here's a peek at some of my inspiration:

gratituesday: a good birthday

With a new blog, comes the return of Gratituesdays. :) Ohhh this makes my heart smile so much!

This week has been AWESOME. So many blessings have been poured upon us and I cannot stop smiling. It has been a few years since I've had a good birthday, for many reasons. Mostly because my husband was either deployed, on travel, or at drill during my birthday so I have spent the days alone. And thats okay (especially when I knew to expect it)! It just made this year that much better.

Tommy did have drill this weekend on my birthday (Sunday), but he did everything he could to still help me have a great day. I received a vase of sunflowers and the sweetest card from him... he threw together a last minute gathering with some of our closest friends (I call them our pajama friends - the ones I don't clean the house for ;))... and he let me behave like a spoiled child all day long. He knows just what I love. ;)

However... there were a also few unexpected blessings this week that I am excited about! First of all, I woke up the morning of my birthday and for the first time ever, felt our little growing baby kick from the outside! Eeeeek! This means we are just one step closer to Tommy finally feeling the baby move... and that makes us both super happy. Second... I also found out around lunchtime (on my birthday) that the August issue of The O Magazine finally hit the shelves... and if you haven't heard my super exciting news about that, then head over to my business blog for more info. :D

Altogether... it was a really great birthday... gearing us up for a wonderful week. I feel like it has been so long since I have had a good birthday, so I am on cloud nine this week and overall just really thankful!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!