Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Around Here: May

We have been enjoying some warmer temperatures recently but, some days, it still like spring has not fully arrived, as we have had so much rain during May.  Below are some items that have occurred around here in May!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and I hope that I have a few more months to go to finally finish!

-attended Pups in the Park!  We had a great time together again this year!

-we are soon on our way to Michigan to meet our nephew, Liam!

-burning spring scented candles in our house!

-opening our windows and letting fresh air into the house!

-we have been doing some spring cleaning this month, including: cleaning our decks and getting our decks finished for the warmer months; finishing our gardening and planting; and cleaning the interior of our cars!  (Due to the rain, we had to reschedule our window cleaning, which desperately needs to be done, for next month.)  Next, I plan to tackle cleaning our closets and attic, while keeping in mind this mantra!  It always feels so good to let go of items that you no longer need or bring you joy.

-enjoying long walks around the neighborhood and dinners together outside!  Victory still very much loves going for rides in her Hound About!

-getting tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in September!

-began reading Consolations by David Whyte — a really good read so far.

-watched the first season and started the second season of Bosch.

-started the miniseries, The Night Manager.

-still using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Wednesday!  Wishing you a great week!

Great Sites: E-cards

I love sending cards, and I also enjoy sending e-cards!  Everyone loves receiving cards and e-greetings!  Below are some of my favorite places that I use to send e-cards!

1. Gratefulness.org – Is a global organization offering online and community-based educational programs and practices, which inspire grateful living.  You can also sign up for daily emails (words for the day) in your inbox, too.

2. Care2You – Care2 support various animal and environmental causes to promote change on local, national, and international levels, which also offers fun e-cards to send.

3. Punchbowl — Punchbowl comprises fun e-cards and e-invitations!

4. Jacquie Lawson – Jacquie Lawson e-cards contain fun and animated e-greetings, with fun illustrations!

Happy Friday!  I have been under the weather this week, and hope to get some rest this weekend.  If the weather holds, we will be going to the Pups in the Park tomorrow!  We enjoyed ourselves last year at Pups in the Park!  Wishing you a great weekend!

Around Here: April

April has been a really busy month for us personally.  Below are some items that have occurred around here in April!

–Victory is officially a ‘Big Cousin’!  My sister had their baby, William Alexander (Liam), born on April 27, 2016!  We are excited to meet our nephew!  An image of Liam is shown below, courtesy of my Mom.

-We recently visited Keeneland and we had a great time together!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and one portion of the deliverable remains to be completed; I have a few more months to go to finally finish this large endeavor.

-burning spring scented candles in our house!

-opening our windows and letting fresh air into the house!

-enjoying date nights with Doug!

-started gardening and working to get our decks ready to use!

-enjoying the warmer temperatures with long walks around the neighborhood and dinners together outside!

-taking Victory for long walks in her Hound About, which she loves!

-I finished reading, Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It, a good read.

-started watching The Girlfriend Experience, and so far it is pretty good.

-using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Friday!

My Sister’s Maternity Photos

While I was in Ann Arbor recently visiting for my sister’s baby shower, my sister, Kassie, braved the cold weather, as it was in the thirties, and we took a few portraits at Island Park, so that she can forever remember this special time in her life.  Kassie looks so beautiful and she is glowing.  A few of my favorite images are shown below.  Kassie is nearly 34 weeks pregnant in these images below.  (Dress: A Pea in the Pod).

My Sister’s Baby Shower

My sister, Kassie, and her husband are having their first baby very soon!  This past weekend, my Mom and I hosted Kassie’s baby shower luncheon in Ann Arbor at Zingerman’s, one of our favorite restaurants!  I had fun selecting the invitations since I love tangible cards!  The weather was cold, so we held the shower on the heated and enclosed patio, and fortunately there was no rain!  The cake turned out very well, too.  The cake design was inspired by the invitations, which helped tie things together, which the Zingerman’s Bakehouse created and helped design.  For favors, the Zingerman’s Bakehouse made cookies, which were also inspired by the invitations: a silver star; a red heart; and a blue onesie, all sealed with a custom-designed seal!  Kassie received many very nice gifts from all of her guests!  Of course, we gave her the Ergo as one of her gifts!  Everyone had a great time and the appetizers, the food, and the cake were delicious, as always!  Everyone also enjoyed the flavored water station as well.

A snapshot of Kassie’s baby shower is shown below!  We cannot wait to meet our soon-to-be nephew in several weeks!  (And, lastly, our matching polka dot dresses was fortuitous!)

Around Here: March

We have been enjoying warmer temperatures this month, thankfully!  We also hope that spring officially arrives on time this weekend!  Below are some items that have occurred around here in March!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and one portion of the deliverable remains to be completed; I have a few more months to go to finally finish this large endeavor!

-still working on a new design for my website, which I hope will be finished later this spring/summer.

-co-hosting, with my Mom, my sister’s baby shower in Ann Arbor, this weekend, at one of our favorite restaurants, Zingerman’s!

-burning spring scented candles in our house!

-opening our windows and letting fresh air into the house for the first time in months!

-enjoying fun date nights with Doug!  We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Delaware last weekend!

-enjoying cooking with Doug and trying new dinner recipes.  Here are a few of our recent favorites so far this month: chicken tortilla soup and lasagna.

-we are soon going to prep and clean our decks to get ready to use this spring and summer, including getting our windows cleaned!

-putting up our spring door wreaths.

-still enjoying my yoga class!

-enjoying the warmer temperatures with long walks around the neighborhood and dinners together outside!

-getting tickets for Pups in the Park, which we enjoyed for the first time last year!

-enjoying this podcast and this podcast.

-enjoyed this interview.

-I began reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande — a really good read so far.  Also, we heard Atul Gawande speak several times at previous New Yorker Festivals.

-if you haven’t read this book, you should — it is a really good book and it really puts life in perspective.

-watched the first season of Love — a fun television series.

-started the fourth season of House of Cards!

-we’re very excited and looking forward to going to Michigan to meet, hold, and photograph our soon-to-be nephew!  We can’t wait to meet him!

-using my Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make incremental progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Thursday!  Have a wonderful weekend!