Family Beach Trip

I consider myself pretty dang lucky to have been able to spend a week at the beach with my family this summer. We had such a great time and I truly enjoyed having my heart stolen my nieces and nephew for seven straight days. There is something so refreshing about seeing the world through a child’s eyes. They kind of make everything new again.
Here are a few snapshots of our time together. You can also see more here.

Blogging Hiatus.

It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve blogged anything. I guess I’ve just been a little busy lately. Anyway, I just had a McDonald’s hot fudge sundae for lunch and I’m feeling pretty damn good so I thought I’d take a few minutes to say hi and share a few thoughts with those of you who are sweet enough to read my blog.

The 10 year anniversary of 9/11 was really quite emotional. Watching all the documentaries, interviews and news coverage of that day just really got the better of me. I was humbled by the magnitude of it all and found myself in tears more than once over the weekend. As sad as it was to watch and re-live, it really helped me put things into perspective. It made all of my problems and worries seem trivial and ridiculous.

I’m still struggling to get out of vacation mode. We got back from the beach on August 26 and I feel like I should have bounced back by now, but I’m still eating like a tank (hello, hot fudge sundae for lunch on a Monday) and weaning myself off the booze. In addition to that, my efforts to work out have been laughable. Since I’ve been back, I’ve only ran twice and walked the dogs three times, a pretty far cry from my normal hour long workouts 3-4 times a week. Hopefully this week will be a little more ambitious on my part.

I could not be more excited about this time of year. We’re finally getting a break from the heat and humidity and with temps in the mid 80s now, there is a cozy feeling of fall in the air. With the beautiful weather, the beginning of football season and pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, it’s as if the stars have all aligned and made one glorious season for all of us to enjoy. Amen.

I cannot wait for the official announcement of the iPhone 5. Waiting for Apple to come to Verizon has already made me several years late to the iPhone party, so my line of thinking is…why not wait for the latest and greatest? I despise my BlackBerry. It’s like still having a flip phone with a retractable antenna at this point. It’s the biggest POS, freezes all the time, has slow as shit internet access and it has somehow password protected itself and can only give me access to my work email. Balls.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll be back with more later. Y’all have a great day!!

Cody & Kathryn~Engaged.

When Kat and I discussed the idea of doing engagement photos, she told me she wanted to do them at Cody’s boss’s house because he lives on a small farm with mini-donkeys & horses. Sold! There’s really no better way to get me out of the house with my camera, than the promise of mini-donkeys. This encounter has only fueled my pre-existing obsession with the big eared beauties. I’m sure you can see why…

Happy Birthday, Chico!

Oh how the time flies. 8 years ago today, my little Cheeks was born in Shelby, NC. At 12 weeks he flew out of Charlotte, NC and into Burlington, VT to start his life as a Yankee. Little did I know that just a year later we’d be in Charlotte and living in his home state of North Carolina.
I know people think I’m crazy when it comes to my dog, but I can’t imagine life without him. We’ve been through everything together, all the scary times, all the heartaches and all the happy times. There isn’t a tear he hasn’t licked away or a smile he hasn’t shared with me. I couldn’t ask for a more loyal and loving dog.
Happy Birthday, my sweet boy. Thank you for never letting me be alone. You are the best doggy friend a girl could ask for and I'll always be grateful for you.

This was the actual color of the sky on the night this was taken. Everything was rose colored just after sunset.