Hold on to your hat!

I have SOOOO many things that I want to accomplish this weekend.

• Grocery Shopping
• Library
• New Layout for this blog
• Update FotoJenic with all of the photos that I've taken over the last sixish months
• Take some photos for next week's You Capture
• A super secret project that I'm sorta really excited about
• An icon and the McLinky for my Thankful for...Thursday meme
• Another super secret project that involves mucho ass kissing
• Curtains - I have a sliding glass door in my kitchen that seriously needs some curtains. It's a project that I KNOW I can do. I just need to buy the materials and DO it. (This project may have to wait until next week when I get paid again, since my wonderful husband took $100 out of the account last night for God knows what...)
• Catch up on some tv shows, like pretty much ALL of this week's shows
• Move all my musica to my desktop, so that I can chuck my piece of garbage laptop out the window ...just kidding ...sorta

Yeah, I'm going to be a busy girl. But I'm really excited about it. These are all pretty fun projects for me. Anything that involves making a mess in my kitchen or playing on the computer makes me happy. Should be a fun and productive weekend!!! :-D

You Capture - Sweet!

It's that time of the week, kids! It's time for You Capture!



This week's theme was sweet. Naturally, I thought of things that taste sweet. And while I did think about expanding my horizons and photographing things that I think are "sweet," as in super!, I waited til the last minute to take my photos this week. So, I came up with a few sweet things in my kitchen.

An ear of corn from this weekend's BBQ with Hubby's mom. I was incredibly surprised at how sweet it was!

Next, we have a couple shots of caramels...I bought these for some cookies that I intended on making months ago, and never got around to it. Now, the caramels sit in my spice cabinet, waiting to be found by Hubby.

And finally, my favorite bottle of wine (perhaps the reason I'm rambling a bit more than usual tonight. A glass or two bottle will do that, ya know...). I really only drink dessert/sweet wines, so this is perfect. :-)

To see some more sweetness, go on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out some of the other Captures for this week!

You Capture - Colors

Well, after a brief hiatus, I have some new photos to share for this week's You Capture!!! The theme for this week was colors. I was all over this! So many beautiful colors all around. I love this time of year - when everything is coming back to life and so vibrant!

My colors this week all came from the outdoors - it's got the best lighting and it's usually pretty easy to find things to photograph. So, without any more jibber jabber, here they are!

The barn in my hood that I'm in love with. I just like how all the colors play together.

Tulips by the sign to the building that I work in - I looked at these flowers for days before I finally stopped and took some photos on the way out of the office one afternoon.
These next three were all taken at my parents' house - there's so many things to photograph there. I <3 going "Home" sometimes.

This last one is something that I snapped while I was stuck in traffic Tuesday. I was on the entrance ramp to the highway and as we creeped along, I glanced over and noticed this field of yellow. I don't know what they are, but I really like how they've just taken over this little area - surrounded by the dirty, noisy commotion that goes on everyday. I snatched my camera up, switched the lens real quick and started taking photos. I was worried that I wouldn't get any good ones. But as it turns out, I think this may be my favorite this week.

I <3>

Joy...And envy...

This week's You Capture topic over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is Joy. I didn't take any photos for this week's challenge. I kept on trying to think of things that really bring me joy, and I was at a loss. That's not to say that I don't have things that make me happy...Spending time with friends, cooking/eating a nice meal, hanging out with Hubby, playing WoW (sometimes), having a clean house...They all make me happy, but I just can't come up with anything that really makes me feel joyous. I haven't looked at any of the other posters' photos, but I have a feeling that many of their ideas of joy will be photos of their beautiful children with huge smiles... Which, as of late, has the exact opposite effect on me.

Unfortunately, so much of my time is spent feeling envious. A good majority of the blogs that I read (and really ENJOY) are written by women that are mothers. I found out this weekend that two of my sorority sisters are pregnant. I feel like every time I turn around, someone else is having a baby. And I feel so ... jealous. I want to be happy for everyone. And I am. And I wish them all the best. But at the same time, I can't help this feeling of why not me? I know I have time (though not as much as I'd like). And as an old friend put it 'good things are worth the wait.' But haven't you ever wanted something so badly that it hurt? And you just sit and watch so many others around you that have been blessed with this amazing gift?

Hubby says he's not ready. I don't believe him. He were trying two years ago. He made the announcement to our families that we were going to start trying to get pregnant. And then I don't know what happened. Maybe he came to his senses. Or maybe he freaked out. Or...I don't know...

It's not like we're using any kind of protection. I've been off the pill since we got married. He's never used anything. I try to keep track of my cycle, and Lord knows that when I think I'm ovulating, I make the first move. But it's obviously not enough. I don't know if the problem is with me - For a long time, my periods were very irregular. I saw a doctor about a year ago, who gave me a prescription which got me back on track. But I never went back to the doc. I don't know if I'm actually ovulating. And then Hubby...Like I said, he doesn't use any protection. But he does have this habit that's said to lower a man's sperm count...

I'm almost two weeks late. I was quite sick on Tuesday - stayed home from work. I was kind of excited and really should've waited, but I peed on the stick anyway. It came back negative. So, am I just stressing myself out, thinking about it all the time, and that's what's causing me to be late? Maybe the test was wrong? (Insert wishful thinking here) Yesterday, when I came in to work, I was talking about it with my girlfriend in the office, and she went and googled signs of pregnancy. She was asking which symptoms I was experiencing. Some I had, others I didn't.

I just want this so badly. I hate feeling so envious. I keep trying to tell myself that in time, it will happen. Just keep on keeping on and you'll get there. My parents were 30 when they had me, so I guess I have time. But I'm tired of waiting.

You Capture - Letters

O.M.G. This week's You Capture was really challenging!!! Like more so than last week's rustic challenge. The topic for this week was 'Letters'. I was really straining my brain to come up with ideas.

My first thought was letters, like at the post office. I hadn't yet been to my local post office (we just moved in September - give me a break!), so I swung by on my way home yesterday (damn the rain!!!) and when I got there was quite disappointed. Living in a small farm town, I should have known better. The post office was just a house. Literally, an old house with a couple mailboxes outside. So, I dropped that idea. It really wasn't what I was going for. My backup plan, which I'd dropped before I even got to the post office, was photos of graffiti. I love how it looks - I think it's very artistic - and if I had the right opportunity, I'd take TONS of shots. However, that would probably require me going to some unsavory part of town. And that's not something that I'm thrilled about doing on my own.

Sooo...As I'm driving home from the post office, it came to me! I'd walk around the neighborhood and come up with photos to represent each letter in the alphabet. A is for Apple, style.

I ended up not getting all 26 letters, but here's what I did get. I think I might finish this at a later date...I really am happy with the idea that I came up with.


A is for abandoned...This bike was just laying there all alone. No kids in sight. There aren't any houses nearby.

B is for Baseball Diamond

C is for Cat...Woofy was waiting in the window for me when I got home!

E is for Easter Bunny...I'm a little slow to put away my decorations...So what?

G is for Garbage Day

H is for Home Sweet Home (not mine...But someone's!)

K is for Kite

L is for Lightpost

M is for Mother's Love...My girlfriend from work brought her daughter in to work last week...I just love the way she's smiling at her baby girl.

N is for New Life...I can't wait to see how this tree in my front yard looks when these buds open up!!!

P is for Pinecones

R is for Red

S is for Sunny

Z is for Zebra...I really liked how these folks' grass looks like a zebra print...Maybe I wouldn't like it so much if it were my own grass, which is still brown, btw.

I'd love to hear what you think! And for more unique representations of 'Letters,' go on over to:

You Capture - Rustic

Wow! Was this week's You Capture difficult!!! The topic was rustic. When I first saw that last week, I thought 'What does that word really even mean...?' When I think of rustic, I think of old log cabins, lots of wood and certain foods. Actually, when I fantasize about owning my own restaurant, I think rustic would be a very good term to describe what I see in my head. Kinda log cabin-ish, dark colors, heavy comfort food, like beef stew and homemade mac n cheese. But what to photograph for this challenge? The more I thought about it, the more I thought about things like old barns or old wooden farm houses. My town is totally surrounded by farms, so I thought this could be easier than I'd first expected. And I had the idea to actually make some beef stew for dinner this week. And then Wednesday night was already here and I hadn't gotten a chance to take the photos (or make the stew) that I'd been planning in my head. Doh.

That being said, I did take a couple shots at my parents' house on Sunday. That sunroom that I mentioned in my crazy dream is all made of wood on the inside. My mom's got a country kind of style, so I took advantage and got a couple shots there.

Cowbell that hangs in the sunroom...I thought it was kinda rusticky...Yes? No? :-)

Wood is rustic...Wood comes from trees...I really just like the angles in this shot.

This is totally not rustic, but I love it. This robin was just hopping around in the muddy leaves. My fam had just been admiring the birds at my mom's feeder (cardinals, chickadees, finches) and I saw this guy avoiding the masses. My final rustic photo. I like this one a lot, too. I don't remember where this bird house came from...Something my mom picked up at one time, I'm sure. I'm going to say this is my favorite one this week because I feel it best represents the topic.

You Capture - Fun

This week's You Capture Challenge was FUN! No...really...that's what the topic was. I mean, yes it was fun to do, but the topic itself was 'Fun'. So, I had these grandiose plans of going for a walk to the skate park around the corner, and taking photos of some of the kids doing their thang. But that never happened. I just didn't have the time or, frankly, the desire to walk over there. And what if I did and the kids were all 'Who are you, Lady? Why are you taking our pics?' No...I decided to drop that idea. So, instead, I tried to come up with some things that I find fun.

My first fun thing is cooking. And I've been doing a lot of it lately. Last night, I made one of my favorite!! dishes - Chicken Breasts with Balsamic & Mushroom Sauce (I'll be posting the recipe later tonight or tomorrow). Soooo...Here's my tasty photos!

Not a TON of ingredients, but OH SO TASTY!

Browning the chicken breasts...I really am finding that the more I cook, the better I get. Fancy that!

The sauce is just starting to get bubbly here...And by now, the whole house is smelling like garlic and balsamic vinegar. Great combo!

I'm really fond of this one. I think it looks pretty yummy and I really like how the colors are so bright.

My other fun topic is getting ready for work/going out/whatever. I love doing my makeup and my hair. I have TONS of eye shadows. I really like taking the time to make myself look nice in the morning.

I'm not such a huge fan of this makeup case photo...It just looks kinda sloppy. But I wanted to document just how many shadows I have...And there's so many more underneath the curling iron that are hiding beneath the nail polish bag. Every chance I get, I wear turquoise, so I can wear this awesome shade of blue on my eyelids, too.

My favorite photo this week is either this last one or the last cooking photo. I'm not sure which I like better...Help me decide...?

You Capture - Signs of Spring!

I finally did it! I managed to get my stuff together and take some photos for this week's You Capture over at I Should Be Folding Laundry (which, btw is one of my FAVORITE blogs of all time!!!!)



This week's challenge was Spring. Pfft! If you remember from this post, Mother Nature dumped a bunch of snow on us this weekend. So, my signs of spring, really look a lot like winter. :-/


I think this first one is my favorite...The little bumps are actually buds on the bush - a sign that spring is TRYING to come to life, covered by the snow. Gives it a really cool looking texture, I think!

This one comes in a close second. It's the bush in my front yard. I just love how everything looks so magical when the snow sticks to it.

I had more, but these two were the best of the bunch.