Tuesday, May 27, 2014

I'm ok with it....

So, this weekend went by way too fast and while I had so much fun I finally realized something. I'm not 21 years old anymore and you know what.....I'm ok with it.

Friday night I went and had a nice meal with my mom, sister, Molly and chunky Charlie. We had a really nice time and it's not something we do often anymore because we are all super busy but I'm glad we got to spend some time together, just us. We went to Aspen Creek, that place is so yummy. We all had the spicy chicken salad and we at some shrimp that was supposed to be like Bang Bang Shrimp and some chips and queso for apps. (Molly's choice). The imitation bang bang was really tasty and spicy just like I like it. I will for sure try that again sometime. My salad was ok and I ended up tossing my leftovers when I got home because the smell was making me ill. Eww.

Saturday was AWESOME! I got up and was able to go for a run before the little bug even woke up for the day. I always get really excited when I wake up before the babe. These days it's becoming more common. I'm such an early bird. After I did a quick 3 miles I went to the grocery and then the hubs had to run out to Cabela's so me and the little one decided to go to the park. We went to Greenwood Boat Docks park for the first time and it was SO nice! They have this whole little water park and there are different areas for kids to play in. When we went there were people using a few pavilions for birthday parties and there were canopy's set up in different places. I honestly love it! And it's five minutes from home. You can't beat that and I  can't wait to take Charlie to play in the water area. She's going to have a blast but I'll  have to wait until it's not super crowded when we go. After we went to the park I called Ryan and he was almost home so we decided to go try out the new ice cream place on Dixie called Chillers. It was nice but expensive. I think we'll probably just support Valley Freeze from now on. We love that place and we would rather keep our money local when we can. After ice cream we went home and hung with the little bug until I had to leave to go get my massage. I've had a groupon since last November and it expired at the end of the month so I knew I had to get in there soon and just get it done. It was nice. I'm so chatty though and feel awkward during massages if I'm not talking so I talked to my therapist while she was giving me my massage. We talked a lot about books and kids and stuff like that. It was nice and the time just flew by.

After my massage I went to Farnsley Morman Landing for a mommy and me photoshoot with my friend Holly and her adorable daughter Max. We didn't have the ideal time for a photoshoot that's for sure. 4pm and in direct sunlight but we made it work and I have some GREAT images from that shoot. I know Holly will be pleased. :-)

When I left there I went and got a pedicure and then went home to relax before the little one had to go to bed.

......I feel like I need an entire new blog post for Sunday.....

Sunday arrives.

Morning routine with the kiddo commences and then I took her to my mamaws house to stay the night. After giving mamaw a list 1 1/2 pages long of dos and donts' of Charlie's routine she kicked me out and said they would be fine. Ha :-) I didn't doubt it.

I arrived at Cabo San Lois first, as I usually do. I swear, I can TRY to be late for something and I still show up early. I don't know how that's even possible. A kid hasn't even hindered my routine. Oh well, I guess I'll always be early for everything. A few of us hung around and talked for a while before the party really started going and that was really nice. Once more people started arriving and more alcohol started being consumed things got really interesting. Brian and Kristin really made sure this day was going to be fun for everyone. There were pool games, beer games, flip cup, beer pong, and cornhole. Everyone was pretty content doing their own thing and mingling.

I had a lot of fun on Sunday but I realized that my Saturday with my little family was more fun. I honestly love hanging out with my friends and being with them in general but I just can't drink and party like I did when I was younger anymore. And I'm totally ok with it.

I spent the better part of my 20s drinking, partying, playing Navy and acting like a goofball with my friends and now I just don't want to do that anymore. I'm not sitting here saying that I'm never going to drink another drop in my life or I'm not going to hang out with my friends anymore because that's not the case. (Unless they don't want me around) I'm just saying that I don't need to bong beers and get wasted to have a good time. :-)

On Monday morning when I woke up I couldn't wait to go get and see my little bug! I went and got me and the hubs some breakfast first, picked up my dishes from the party and then went to mamaws house to see what her and the kiddo were up to. When I pulled up mamaw was walking with Charlie in her stroller and Charlie had her superstar sunglasses on. She looked too cute! I hung out and talked with mamaw for a while then me and the bug went to the mall so I could get this scarf I've had my eyes on for months at Yours, Mine and Ours. They had ONE left! I couldn't believe it. AND it was half off because they are closing for the summer. I also got another scarf and t-shirt because the deals were just too good to pass up.

Monday evening we went to my mother in laws side of the family for a bbq. It was SO nice to just hang out and relax with family for the day. Charlie was being a little goofball as usual and all she could say was gah gah (dog) because there were two dogs there. She loves dogs and animals. I'm just over cautious when it comes to dogs and her because I was attacked by a dog when I was younger and my mom was too by our own dog when I was in high school. You can never be too careful because you just don't know what's going to happen.So anyway, Monday was super nice and relaxing and I'm glad we got to spend some time with family.

Wow. That was a SUPER long blog post. Weekends are crazy. I'm 3 days behind on my 365 project so hopefully that gets caught up soon.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. As you can tell, I did!

xxx

Ryan

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Weekly 365 Update

Not much to add today. Just updating the good ol' 365.

135/365
Jumped in bed with her to get this one :-)


136/365
Annoyed with my camera antics.


137/365
First attempt at "Freelensing"


138/365
Being a silly girl


139/365
She loves her blankie.


140/365
A little tired.



xxx

Ryan

Monday, May 19, 2014

Love is such a lovely thing.....

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Fran and Greg's wedding at The Buechel Train Depot on Saturday. Fran is my step mom Jeannine's sister and like the rest of the Blocker family she has been very kind and loving towards me since the day she met me. I attended the wedding as a guest but I couldn't resist capturing some images for them to enjoy. This blog post is pic heavy so you've been warned.

Congrats again Fran and Greg, your wedding was beautiful and I'm glad I got to be there to watch you both unite in love :-)

Here are a few of my favorites..........























 They are kinda weird.








4 Generations






 xxx

Ryan 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

I've been busy.....

Hello friends! Hope everyone is having a great week! I know I am. Well, it's super rainy and dreary today but that's ok because it gives me time to update the good ol' blog or blob as my dear husband calls it.

It's been a busy week time since I posted last Thursday. On Friday Charlie and I drove out to my sisters for an awesome Mother's day dinner that she cooked for me, my mom and my grandma. It was so sweet of her. She also got us each these cute little gifts! I felt awful, I didn't even get her a card! She knows I love her though and that I think she's the best! Charlie started the usual fussiness around 645 so as much as I hated it I knew I had to eat and run. She started her squealing about 10 minutes from home but once we got in she was ready for bed. Whew. Friday was fun.

On Saturday I was supposed to have a mommy and me session with a friend of mine but that got postponed and we are now doing it this Saturday. The weather last Saturday morning wasn't great for an outdoor session that's for sure. Saturday morning I ran errands, went to the grocery and then that night I watched two friends get married and it was BEAUTIFUL! Jamie and Cody got married at Mellwood Arts Center in the same room where my wedding reception was. I love how they can curtain that room off for the ceremony and reception. I had never seen it done in person but now that I have I can say it was very pretty! I had to go to the wedding solo because hubby stayed home with the baby. We didn't have a sitter and I kind of wanted to wake up on Mother's Day with my little girl there with me. Anyway, after the wedding we danced and tore up the dance floor until I finally had to get outta there around 11 or so. My friend Brian thought I bailed early when I was outside talking to friends so he was blowing up my phone. (He always says that I leave events super early now because I have a kiddo (He has none so he doesn't get it lol) ) Told you I didn't leave B! Haha.

Sunday morning I got up around 630 and decided to try and go for a run. Yeah, that was a terrible decision. I think I maybe did 1.78 miles. Ha! I should have known better. I didn't drink much the night before but I did have some wine so that wasn't great to run on. After my run I came home to my loves and then Ryan went to church with his mom, dad and my bro and sis in law. I would have went but my daddio and mamaw were coming over to visit me and Charlie. They hung out for a while until  Charlie got fussy and needed a nap. I tried to catch a nap before Ryan got back but that didn't happen. He got me some yummy food from Cracker Barrel and it was delicious!

We all rested for a bit then went out to my bosses house for her son Ethan's homecoming. He just graduated from Marine Corps bootcamp. It was a lot of fun and it was nice seeing him again and asking him all kinds of questions. He and Ryan talked for a while of course because Ryan is a Marine Vet and wanted to know all the details of the San Diego bootcamp and what he thought of it. Ryan went to boot camp at Paris Island and he claims it's the "Real" bootcamp. Ha! Charlie was such an angel during this little outing. She played with her toys and had a good time talking to all the dogs. I was really impressed with how well she just took everything in stride. She didn't even get fussy until around 7 and then we decided we should head home. Mother's day was awesome.

OH!

And I got an awesome Mother's Day Present. I'm currently taking a workshop over at In Beauty & Chaos called Capturing the Everyday Environmental Portraiture with Children. You can read more about it HERE but a friend is teaching it that I've gotten to know over the past year through her photography on our 365 group. Kerry is awesome and I'm already loving this class! So that was my Mother's Day gift from Charlie and Ryan. He knows the way to my heart is through cameras, lenses and of course education and workshops! This workshop deals with Children so obviously you're going to be seeing a lot of Charlie pics on my 365 project over the next 4 weeks. Hope ya don't mind! :-)

Ok, this is a LONG blog post. I swear I keep telling myself I need to write more and stop letting it all pile up! Oh well. Let's finish this post with a 365 update!

Hope everyone has a great week and weekend. I'll be posting again soon.....

128/365
In motion.


129/365
Blueberry Snacks.

130/365
Welcome home Ethan!

131/365
Tiny & Wild is RIGHT!


132/365
Dramatic Light.


133/365
I know I've told you how much I love my in laws sink. More proof. (Engaging my subject)


134/365 
Dinner time. Again, engaging the subject and setting the scene.





 xxx

Ryan

Thursday, May 8, 2014

A dose of cuteness for your Thursday.

GOOD MORNING!

I've had coffee today so excuse my excitement. As promised I'm here to deliver your dose of my 365 project. These pictures are all of my little bug. When I can't find anything to take pictures of I've always got the cutest girl in all the land to snap a photo or two of.

Here we go:

124/365
Had fun splashing around in grandmas sink on daddy's birthday dinner day. I've always wanted a sink that sits in front of a window. Look at that LIGHT!? Photogs dream right there. For our next house, this will be a requirement. Ahh.....7 more years.....


125/365
Not quite ready for bed yet.


126/365
Getting a quick bath after dinner at grandmas house. Again with that light. Drool.

127/365

Our friends left their baby pool at our house after the Derby party so we threw some water in it and Charlie had a ball. She was wearing a bathing suit but decided to go to the bathroom so we got changed and just decided to go nakey. She loved it. 

Here she is contemplating life and other things after a hard day at daycare....

Seriously. This kid is too much. I just can't handle the cuteness.

Hope everyone has an amazing day! I've got a special photoshoot planned tonight that I have to keep under wraps until the 17th! UGH! Surprises are so fun though :-)

xxx

Ryan