merry belated christmas everyone

Dec 28, 2017




Earlier this month we took our annual Christmas photo.
I could not find my remote clicker so most of the pictures were me trying to run around and get in position. The dogs kept going a little crazy and would not stay put for photos. I did buy a new clicker already so future photos will be much easier! This has been a four year tradition for me and the second one for us as a family. I remember being so nervous putting Liam in my Christmas photo because we were serious but we had our bumps in the road. Commitment was difficult for me and putting someone in my card to send out to all of my friends was a big deal! How funny to look back and here we are, we're married!

We spent the holiday eve with his parents and headed to Seattle to visit my brother and future sister-in-law. Liam has never been to the west coast so it was a great way to get started! We hope everyone had a great holiday and has a very happy new year!

xoxo

holiday tree findings

Dec 21, 2017


The last few years I have gone out Christmas tree shopping for myself. With the craziness of living between two houses, we decided not to get a tree this year. I picked up a fake tree during Black Friday shopping for my apartment but the Christmas spirit has not been in full effect for me.

A few weeks ago we went out to help a few friends hunt for the perfect Christmas tree for their new home. It would be their first tree in their home, how exciting! For me, it was an opportunity to whip out the camera and actually take some pictures! It was a lot colder than I expected but who doesn't love this weather for Christmas activities! I truly believe I would be confused in warm weather states during the holiday season. Pretty sure I will regret saying that since it was 3 degrees last week.



If there is any one of my friends who loves picking out Christmas tree's it's T. She loves Christmas and wanted their tree to be at least 9-10 feet tall, in person it is gigantic. We were happy to help them pick it out and cut it out!


As we left to take the tree back to the truck, the boys decided it was too much to carry so they wanted to drag it back. T was not having any part of that!

philadelphia christmas market

Nov 30, 2017


We spent last Sunday in Philadelphia, hitting up our favorite place IKEA and walking around the city a little. It was a bit chilly so we didn't want to walk around too much, but I love this city and the food.

As we walked around IKEA, I realized how awesome of a husband he really is to me. I was looking for a glass box we had seen at the beginning of the 'tour' but could not find it in the Marketplace. He walked all the way back through the entire store to see where he could get the box. The display was the last box in the store and he had to fill out paperwork to get it. He's seriously the best.


We stopped at LOVE park near the City Hall. I love seeing the hall. It reminds me of my early days of college when we used to go dancing in Philly and drive by this on our way home, hanging out of windows screaming and singing at each other. We walked around the Christmas market looking at all the little shops, trying not to freeze. We bought him the cutest and warmest mittens (it was cold).


Sipped some hot chocolate.
Ate some appetizers aka pretzels.
I appreciate his enthusiasm to everything we do together. He is like a kid who sees new things that I some times take for granted because I have seen it so many times. He sees it from a whole new light and I love it. It makes me appreciate it all more.


Plus, we got see some awesome German sausages being cooked. Not that I eat it but it was still pretty awesome to see it! It was amazing to spend a whole week together after we got married. We got married and spent two weeks apart so it was like a mini honeymoon as he said (there will be a real one).

the elopement

Nov 19, 2017



On a chilly November day, I walked out of the car to meet my future husband. He was late, of course, but it wouldn't be him if he was on time and in place. I walked across the grass and tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around to see me for the first time in my dress and faux fur. He said the fur shocked him because he didn't realize I would be wearing one. Well, duh it was surprise.

We hugged, we kissed, and we got ready for the ceremony.
It was simple and intimate. We gathered with our friends, said our vows, I cried the entire time I said them. I cried when we got there and I cried when he said his. I thought it would have been him to get emotional, I'm not the emotional one normally (crazy, maybe, but not the lovey dovey one). But in that moment, I knew all of the ups and downs we had gone through in the last 18 months was worth it. It didn't matter anymore and all I could focus on was, this is who I plan on spending my life with and sharing in all of the wonderful moments that life has to offer us.




And then we kissed. We were married, husband and wife in this crazy world together.
It was cold, so cold without that faux fur on but it was worth it to get that ring on his finger properly. I couldn't have been happier in that moment.




We took a few photos around town. The town that brought us together, the Company that brought me to this town to meet him. I left New Jersey almost three years ago in a very different place than I am now. I have grown up so much in the last five years and it amazes me to think that a week ago, I got married to a man who puts up with my independently stubborn nature.

He is so amazingly kind and caring (sometimes too much if that's possible). He works his butt on to finish school, work full time, and take care of the dog. He builds me all of my crazy Pinterest ideas at the drop of a hat and he rarely ever tells me no. He cares for me so unconditionally it amazes me. I love the moments he plays with my hair until I fall asleep and carries me to bed when I fall asleep on the couch before him. It's one thing I miss living apart from each other.




As I put together our photo book from the engagement and the elopement, I came across an email I sent to myself almost five years ago. It had a quote that helped me get through a tough time in my life when I had split up with my then boyfriend. After reading it, it made sense then but means so much more now:
I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
It was a long road to you but I could not be happier that I waited for you to come into my life. I have been through so many bad moments so I could appreciate every waking moment with you. All of them that make us stronger together. We have a whole lifetime for adventures. I am so happy to be your wife.


November 11, 2017 

engagement photos

Nov 2, 2017



Sneak peek of our engagement photos.
Rachel Liz Photography is amazing and I cannot wait for her to shoot our wedding. It was so much fun and she did such an amazing job capturing us.

two months.

Sep 11, 2017

Life has been crazy these past few months.
I moved two hours away from Liam for a new position at my company.
We live 'long distance' but see each other almost every weekend so it's not that bad. We work it out, I miss Fifa though so that's my struggle bus.

We built our first wedding table.
We have 9 more to build.

We're getting hitched in two months, but planning for a big wedding next September.

Exactly two months, I am a wife. HOLY. CRAP.

watkins glen visit

May 29, 2017

The weather called for rain the entire weekend but we got lucky and it was mostly sunny. It rained today in the morning, which was helpful for us since we didn't have to water the grass with our too-short hose. We have been desperately trying to grow the grass from our driveway project. We spent our weekend at GlassFest watching fireworks, eating out, and yard work.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We could not have asked for better weather for an outdoor hike around Watkins Glen State Park. I have lived in this area for almost two years and finally visited! It is a staple in our area, I can't believe it took so long for me to get there. It was a bit crowded but it is to be expected on a beautiful holiday weekend. A few of our friends college friends came to town and we headed there in the morning.

I mentioned to Liam that I may want to take our engagement photos here because it is so beautiful, but it would have to be when it isn't so crowded during the off-season. Less people, better pictures! I'll have to mention it to our photographer.


After our visit to the gorge, we stopped at the wineries on the West side of Seneca Lake. My favorite winery on our stop is Herman J. Wiemer, a good and tasty Late Harvest Riesling and the too-expensive Riesling Josef Vineyard 2015. We went home with a bottle of Late Harvest and I can't wait to crack it open on a nice summer night with a delicious homemade dinner.

mother's day shoot

May 23, 2017

This photography thing is a lot of fun for me.
I am still trying to figure it out, what's the right exposure, is my shutter speed okay? My picture is too dark, move it this way. It comes with time and practice, so this was great! My friend Jason wanted to do some Mother's Day photos for his wife for her first Mother's Day. Perfect time to take out the new camera and snap some photos!


After looking at these photos, my heart melted with the two of them. She normally loves spending that time with dad, he's always the one to easily put a smile on her face but this day, she was not having it. We had the hardest time trying to get her to smile for us, this is why children's photography is not my thing hahaha. Her grumpy face though, the cutest thing ever. The eyebrows are key. But really, the two of them are the sweetest pair.

We tried to have her hold the letters 'M' and 'O' so we could spell MOM in picture frames. Again, the grumpy face is hilarious. We'll have to try again later. I blame the sun and the random protesters that were standing behind us as I was taking these photos. Yes, random political protests in our tiny town exactly at the spot we wanted to take the pictures! Also, the entire day was cloudy and perfect for snapping away and when we started, the sun in her eyes. HUZZAH, that's what happens on outside shoots.



I can't wait to take more!

reading list | 05

May 14, 2017

Writing book reviews would not be my daytime job, I don't have a way with words like some people when they write reviews. Imagine the people who write and choose the New York Times bestseller books. Not me.


I have been reading on and off, some books really keep me going and others I only keep going because I started already. Book #5 in series of 2017 is All the Light We Cannot See. It is based in back in history during wartime. It walks you through two characters and their stories as they grow up to present day. I loved the short chapters, it kept me reading.

There was a great storyline.
Marie-Laure is attempting to make it through the war with her father and uncle, walking blindly through a new city. Werner reminds me of Liam, curious and full of technical capability. As I read Werner's dialogues, I would tell Liam how they were similar. This was another book in the time of Hitler, surprising that I have read historical fictions and enjoyed both!

This is a must read for the summer. It is from a few years ago, but worth going back to.

happy may

May 3, 2017


Tis the season for beautiful florals and a bunch of birthdays.
May is one of my favorite months of the year because it begins the warm weather and my birthday! In less than a week I turn 30! I don't feel 30, nor do I remotely look 30, which everyone tells me is great. It's great to an extent but when everyone believes you are a teenager, it's a struggle. Celebrating with friends is my favorite part about birthdays. The best part of my birthday is that I get to share it for the rest of my life with Liam.

Now that the weather is getting nicer, we are prepping to get back to working on the house and fixing her up nicely. We have a ton of projects to do, I don't think it ever ends when you are renovating. It's the beauty of it all. The pollen is getting to me, I make sure to carry around my life line of Zyrtec. Anyone else having these issues?

Some plans for May.
We have our first wedding of the year. One of Five. Yup. We thought it was less but we added two more. Cinco de Mayo wedding! I love weddings! Love love love weddings. We haven't done much planning for our wedding and ended up changing the date to a week before so we could get our photographer. I absolutely love her and wanted her badly enough to switch it.

Since ROCtheSHOT I have been wanting to shoot more and was so excited to participate in the Styled Shoot. I will definitely post about it soon. For my birthday, we bought a new camera! I upgraded to a full-frame Nikon D750. After the shoot and seeing all the people with full-frame and how easy it was to shoot, I craved it! YAY FOR BIRTHDAY GIFTS! I want to get into photography and start shooting people, maybe second shoot for a wedding. My goal this year is to shoot at least one wedding, even if it's a second shooter or a small five person wedding!

It's going to be a good spring! Well, once the weather gets nicer! Hopefully where you are, it's spring weather!

updating the driveway

Apr 19, 2017

We had a 3-day weekend for Easter and nice weather so it was a win win situation to do some yard work! The previous weekend we spent raking all of the dead leaves into bags, which we realized was not a good idea. We found out that our neighborhood will come to pick up the leaves if you leave them in a pile in front of your yard. So we will be dumping them next for next Monday's pickup! The weather cooperated for the most part with some showers in the middle of the day. You can see by the bright sunny skies to the gray hues it turned later. Poor Liam in the rain, this is why he's so awesome.

We also found out that our truck needs a real hitch.
The former owners, or even the ones before them, attached the hitch to the bumper, which we bent last weekend when we were trailering the stump grinder. We took it to our local shop and it was recommended not to trailer because our bumper would be ripped off! Oh god. So we were able to get the help of friends with trucks to trailer stuff for us. It's so nice to have friends!

Before it looked like the pseudo driveway there, we had a pine tree and two bushes that created our driveway. You can get a glimpse of it here from when we started the renovations. Whenever it rained, we had a huge mud pile and the truck would get stuck. We went from 1-car to 2-car mud pit. So we wanted to make it better and here we are with this past weekend!

Now we have a driveway!
Semi finished. I saw semi because we need more rocks to have it completely flush with the sidewalk. Also, the yard is now in shambles with soil and rocks scattered throughout. This week it will rain and we will be gone for the weekend in New Jersey. The last few days, Liam has been fixing the shed roof, which was leaking. Liam was enjoying all the heavy equipment he got to use during this excavating. Look at how different it is! So much of our greenery removed to clean it all up. I wish I had a better picture of the house before we did all of the removals.

I love being able to park our cars here without sinking into the mud. We also have a large driveway on the other side of the house where his dad parks and we park our other car. Yes, we have 3 vehicles, sedan, SUV, and a truck- we're all set! I can not wait until we clean up the grass and put some surroundings around the driveway and create garden beds.

Projects on top of projects on top of more projects now that the weather is getting nicer! Yay for moving toward completion! From anyone who has done home renovations, it's never complete haha.

life lately

Apr 14, 2017


Seriously, I am still loving the photo session from Roc the Shot and just signed up for their Styled Shoot. Super excited to see that shoot and meet the girl boss who made the planner I mentioned before. It is going to look so awesome and I will probably be jealous that my wedding won't look like it!

We went to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago and I have yet to upload photos and chat about the awesome city. We had such a good time there and plan on revisiting when the weather is warmer. The reason we visited was to see a concert from a singer who I loved in high school, not a solo artist and still amazing. I can definitely say that concert was unlike any I have ever been to and loved it.

Wedding planning has not been happening. I think we understand that we have so much time left to plan things that there is no real rush for us. We booked our venue as I said before and we could not be more excited. I have been searching for photographer, videographer, caterer, bakery, you name it but nothing is set in stone. Plus, we are still trying to save money for everything. Weddings ain't cheap!

Spring cleaning is happening in full effect around here. Last weekend our friends rented a stump grinder and brought it over and helped us with the yard. We bagged 9 bags of leaves and still have a few more to do. This weekend will be yard work and housework. WOO!

The weather around here is getting warmer and it has been super nice to take the dogs for a walk. There is more light and we don't have to bundle up to walk. I especially love the walks when the two of us get to have our little family back together and enjoy some alone time. It becomes relaxing and gives us some exercise.


Enjoy the weekend, I hope the weather is nice wherever you are!

roc the shot

Apr 6, 2017

Photography has always been something I wanted to pursue further, even if it was a hobby and not a career. I never intended on having photography as a career, but as a side gig? I could totally be down with that. Getting started and building a portfolio and a name for yourself is the hardest part, it is always the getting started part that is difficult. This is how I feel about working out too.

I did a lot of wedding vendor searches and I came across Rachel Liz Photography. I think I found her on Green Wedding Shoes or through other avenues like clicking too many links and having a million windows open. I am sure anyone planning a wedding can relate to this mess. But back to the real reason for this! I found Rachel Liz Photography and loved her work. It came to my attention that she taught a photography workshop and it was so exciting for me! It had been a long time since I really took my camera out and used it for taking authentic photos.

So I dusted off the ol' camera and signed up for two workshops with Roc the Shot. It is taught by Rachel Liz Photography and Lindsay Stephany Photography. Workshop I is geared towards people who really do not understand their camera, they teach you how to shoot in manual, the ins and outs of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I think I could have gone without this one but it was great to understand the idea around manual settings. Workshop II is geared towards people who want to make a business out of photography or get into the business. There was only three of us in the class and it was really fun learning about how people create a business around it. We were able to practice shooting a couple. We learned all about posing tips, interacting with clients, and creating your brand/business.

It was awesome.
I learned so much! I got to practice! Now all I need to do it figure out how to use Lightroom. They have a class on that too! Although, I don't think I will be taking that because I am going to sign up for their Styled Shoot. This workshop will be all about wedding photography! They will create a wedding and we'll be able to shoot it to add to portfolios. I am so excited to see how this one will turn out!



What I learned after the workshops?
    1. I take too many pictures, I need to be better at taking a few good shots instead of 100 'meh' shots. 2. Manual mode isn't so difficult, but Aperture setting is okay too. Don't use the Shutter setting. 3. Dude should always keep their hand sin their pocket unless his hands on his girl. 4. Rochester is not that far of a drive, yay for day trips. 5. Practice. Practice. Practice. 6. I need to find my style and what I like.

I miss having hobbies and I am excited to see what I can come up with in this hobby.

wedding wednesday: we booked a venue!

Apr 5, 2017

HOORAY!

We signed our papers last Thursday and put a deposit on the venue and I could not be more excited. We won't be getting married until Fall 2018 so we still have a long ways away before we decide on many things. Well, I'm pretty sure I have decided on many of those things already but there will be room for adjustments.

I was dead set on eloping and having a small gathering of our closest friends and family. I started planning it out in Rochester, NY and calling small venues. Liam agreed, he was okay with the idea, he just wanted to marry me. One day I was searching on Wedding Wire for venues and I thought there was no way there would be a venue in this area nice enough for us (me). Lo and behold, this beautiful venue I came across. I fell in love. I called right away and talked about the details, I texted Liam and he laughed. I have changed my mind on venues, eloping, weddings almost 4 or 5 times so he is used to it by now. We went to see the barn a week later and now here we are! We have a venue!

The details inside are so perfect. It is an old restored barn with beautiful structures. We will have the ceremony on the property, there are a few places available and I am so excited! There is so much potential, we also plan on building our own farm house table for inside the venue. Maybe not for every table but we will create a mix of farm house and round tables. Yellow Brick Home did a great DIY patio table that we will be using!

Get ready for the wedding DIY to begin! Well, maybe in a few months when it is warmer and we are done with the house renovations.

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