Weekend recap before the recap

So I apologize for the lack of a recap today. My husband took his laptop to work to keep him occupied on his 24 hour shift. My laptop doesn't have the program I need so unfortunately, I can't upload any pics yet!

For those of you who aren't aware of what CQ is, it basically means he sits at a desk in the barracks for 24 hours and checks in any visitors. I guess you can compare it to a RA for anyone who went to college.

However, when he has this duty... So do I. Since he doesn't get to sleep for 24 hours, he gets the next day off to recover. For me? It means he gets to sleep all day and I'm on mommy duty all day, again.

I can hardly complain though as my friend and I went shopping today and had quite the success in the retail department. Little Man got a ton of new warm clothes from Baby Gap, our favorite! Additional 40% off sale prices?? I'll take it all! (Just kidding, but I did well...)

To make my husband's 24 boring hours more bearable, I put together this little package and dropped it off. I highly recommend everyone try these desserts.

Nutella in Crescent Rolls, rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked according to package instructions. My husband used a few choice words to describe them so trust me, they're that good!

And on another exciting note, Bubba took 7 steps last night! I can hardly believe my little man will be walking soon... Where does the time go!?

Hope everyone had a great weekend and I promise, a recap and pictures to come tomorrow!

Parents visit North Country

Hi everyone!

My parents are visiting us, so no post today...but here are some pictures and a recap to come soon!

Featured Photo Friday

Sigh, can you feel the love? I love everything about this photo. When I first saw it, I knew I had to use it for Featured Photo Friday.

I love the looks on their faces. I love her dress. I love her hair. I love the soft lights in the background. In my head, I felt like I could piece together a story. They were on their way out for a night on the town and stopped for a quick embrace on the street. That's probably not what it is, but I felt like it told a story when I first saw it.

This photo comes from Ali Shryock Photography and she wrote a little something below to introduce herself and her photography business. Please check out her Facebook page and website for more amazing images!

Everything I am is centered around the birth to my daughters.  It was my precious miracles who inspired me to pursue the world of photography. As my family grew I began to love capturing their progress of life through portraits. With each captured moment I developed my skills and found photography to be my passion.  Five years ago I took that passion and created Ali Shryock Photography specializing in natural light photography with a focus in child and family photography.  There is nothing more precious in life than those special relationships with people that our hearts have connected to in life.  It is in those bonds that I find my desire to create an environment that allows families to be comfortable and just capture the natural beauty of who they are in those precious moments of life. 

Happy Friday!

An Eeyore kind of day

You know those kinds of days where one bad thing happens and then everything else just seems to piss you off or puts you in a worse mood? When you feel like a giant black rain cloud is just following you and raining on your parade? I have those a lot.

I have a problem. It's called letting things go. I can't. Once something bothers me or is on my mind, it ruins my mood for the entire day.

How do you snap yourself into a good mood? For me, it's usually shopping and since I was having a bad day last week, I basically used up all necessary funds to go again today.

Maybe a workout? Well considering my gym doesn't offer child care and I haven't enrolled him in day care yet, kind of SOL. I have friends that are probably available but let's face it, that's the perfect excuse to stay sitting on the couch instead of on a bike at the gym.

Mind over matter. Easier said than done. I'm a pretty positive person but sometimes I just feel defeated, like there's not a thing in the world I can do to lift myself up from these moods.

So that's where writing comes in. Sometimes I just need to clear my mind and get it out. I'm a pretty open and honest person, but sometimes I can't pinpoint exactly why I'm upset or frustrated in the first place.

Until I start writing. Then it becomes clear and I realize that maybe what was bothering me isn't that big of a deal. Hell, maybe it's even silly and I need to just drop it and let it go.

I'm human. I make mistakes. I'm Italian and tend to have a hot temper. I definitely overreact and I harp on things. Yes, I am 25 but I'm still learning who I am and who I want to be and that only comes with time and experience.

So today, I'm going to practice letting things roll off my shoulder. I'm going to count my blessings and not sweat the small stuff. I'd probably have a lot less stress if I didn't over think everything and just let certain things go.

How do you get out of a funk? I'd love some ideas if you have them!

Here's to trying to change my mood...

Circle of Moms Top 25 Military Moms

So remember all that voting I kept asking you to do? And that beautiful badge at the top of my page? Yep, I was voted into the Top 25 Military Mom blogs by YOU!

One of my "winnings" if you will, was a featured spot in The Roundup on their website. Want a glimpse into being a military wife and mom? Take a look here!

Thanks again to everyone who voted! It truly humbles me and melts my heart to know I have so many followers and supporters throughout this journey.

Enjoy!

Fall Bucket List

I love fall. I've probably told you that 5,000 times and anyone that knows me knows that I am absolutely obsessed with it.

This year, we've decided to do a bucket list with fall themed activities. Although we didn't get to check anything off the list this past weekend, we did happen to participate in our first fall related activity and it was SO much fun.

Stay tuned as we complete this bucket list (ignore the 2011, I found it on Pinterest) and of course, pictures will accompany :)

A Second Chance Wedding

What I'm about to tell you, well you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you while I was strapped to a lie detector and receiving Chinese Water Torture.

It's that crazy.

Zach and I had set a date for our "big" wedding after we had gotten married in Georgia. We had started planning, attended Bridal Shows, visited venues and picked the wedding party. And most importantly, I had bought the dress. 

You know, the dress that you try on and your mom cries because she knows it's the one and has never seen you look more beautiful and happy? Sigh, yes, that dress.

But the Army had other plans. And these plans included deploying my husband to Afghanistan during the time we had planned for our wedding. While clearly I needed the groom, and so with the hubby's orders came the cancellation of our wedding. 

Now we know that every little girl dreams of her big day. Walking down the aisle and feeling like a princess in the most stunning gown imaginable. Well me, I literally had that dress ripped from my hands as fast as I could say deployment.

I returned it to the store. It devastated me to look at it and I honestly couldn't afford to keep it sitting in my closet with no wedding date in sight. I cried when I took it back; that was my dress, my dream wedding, and all it meant to me at that moment was having my husband being shipped off to Afghanistan and not getting the wedding we deserved. 

A few months ago, two friends of mine who also happen to be amazing photographers, approached me about a "wedmock". A wedmock is a chance for anyone that has ever eloped, had a simple wedding, couldn't afford professional pictures at the time, or maybe just wants to get all dolled up again for no reason to do just that. Choose a location, choose flowers, choose a cake, etc. and "mock" a real wedding! 

We had a small, intimate wedding in Georgia so although we have a few great snap shots of that day, they weren't professional nor were they in a beautiful, dreamlike location. 

 

That's where this wedmock comes in. So after my friends had told me about it, I needed a white dress. I was thinking of something simple, maybe something I had, or something I could borrow. But then as we all dreamt up a bigger picture, I needed a real wedding dress. 

Obviously I didn't want to buy a new one, but maybe I could find one secondhand to buy or borrow. A friend from home had seen my Facebook post and graciously offered to send me hers so that I could wear it for the shoot. 

I had seen her pictures and thought it was a beautiful dress, but as I ripped open the box that the mailman had just dropped off, I froze.

It was the dress. MY dress. The exact same dress that I had picked out for my own wedding and had to take back to the store. You can't tell me that's coincidence; it was meant to be. I was meant to wear that dress. I cried, again, but this time they were happy  tears and tears of bewilderment. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined to open that box and see the dress I had fallen in love with years ago. 

Even weirder; it fit like a glove, alterations made for her and all, and I was finally able to wear the dress I was forced to give up. 

God, the universe, and fate work in mysterious ways. This sweetheart of a woman who so selflessly let me borrow her dress was put into my life for a reason. These photographers, on top of being my friends, chose me to do this wedmock without even knowing how much wedding pictures and this dress would really mean to me. 

It poured yesterday. I mean torrential down poured when we first got there. But all of a sudden, a rainbow (a double rainbow actually) appeared, and then sun began to shine. I don't want to get all symbolic or deep on you, but think about it. Really think about it and the past couple of months my husband and I have had, and you'll see, a bigger force than us was behind this wedmock. 

Thank you to A for letting me borrow something so special. Thank you to 516 Photography and Bethany Payne Photography for taking such amazing pictures and for being so easy and professional to work with. You ladies truly made something possible that I wasn't sure I was ever going to be able to have. Keep up what you're doing, you have more of an impact on your clients that you know.

Here's to second chances :) 

Head over to these fantastic photographers Facebook pages or blogs to see more of their amazing work!

516 Photography
Bethany Payne Photography

516 Photography on Facebook

Bethany Payne Photography on Facebook

2 Year "Dating" Anniversary

Since I'm running around like a crazy person for a photo shoot tonight (which by the way is so special and it's going to be a m a z i n g ), I decided to revisit a post I wrote about the hubby and how we met.

Let me break it down for you again, in case you've forgotten:

2010-
August: We meet.
September: We start dating.
November: He leaves for Basic Training.
December: He comes home on leave and we get engaged.

2011-
January: He goes back to Basic Training.
March: He graduates Basic Training and we get married.
April: We move to Fort Drum and I get pregnant.
May: He deploys.

Yes, things moved very fast. But maybe this post will give you a little insight into our relationship and how we just fit.

My family had just moved to a new private lake community a city away from where I spent my whole life growing up. Things in my life were hectic to say the least; I was living at home, working a job just to pay the bills, and to put it mildly, partying my ass off. Although I had graduated college over a year ago, I still felt the need to act as though I never left. I didn’t have much direction in my life, and it seemed as though I was just waiting for something or someone to come along and change everything; and then he did.

I had been in Cincinnati for the weekend celebrating my best friend Emily’s birthday, and left early Sunday morning to make it back for Sunday Funday. For those of you unaware as to what a Sunday Funday is, I must first explain what it means in general, and then what it means to those in my neighborhood. A Sunday Funday typically means day drinking-that part is universal. A Sunday Funday in my neighborhood means starting to drink at 11:00 am, tying up 3 pontoon boats in the middle of the lake, blaring music as loud as we can, and breaking out in dance parties on the boat. Most people check out (or pass out) around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. considering the days festivities begin so early.

Since I was the new girl in the neighborhood, this was my first Sunday Funday with the friends I had recently made. Maybe it was my nerves or maybe it was underlying personal issues, but it was on this Sunday that I would have a little too much fun (making for a Not-So-Funday-Monday). This was a day that would go down in the books as “Spring Break ’94″ based on it’s insanity. I wasn’t the only “fun” one that day, but I’ll spare the details for everyone’s sake because most of it is just down right embarrassing.

The day we met haha

Now after hearing that, you are probably wondering how the hell I managed to snag such a keeper. Well, I wasn’t “fun” the whole day. I walked into my best friend and neighbor Brian’s backyard and immediately noticed a boy with a pair of gorgeous green eyes that I had never met before. We were introduced, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him the rest of the day. We talked and flirted, and even managed to take a mini photo shoot on my phone (one that wouldn’t be discovered until the next day) and I knew that there was something about him that I was very interested in. Like I said, that day was pretty hazy for everyone, so it would be a few weeks before Zach and I began talking and hanging out. Blame it on the a a a a a a alchol.

Once we realized that the feeling was mutual, we were inseparable. Up until that point, I had never believed anyone when they told me when you know, you know. Well I can assure you, after spending only a few short weeks with Zach, I believed it more than ever. Soon after we had begun dating, Zach informed me he would be joining the Army and leaving for Basic Training. A lot of people questioned me when I told them we were staying together…”It’s going to be hard,” “You haven’t known each other that long,” “How do you know he’s the one?” etc etc.  I think I heard every comment and question in the book. But at that point, I had fallen in love with the most amazing person I had ever met. I knew he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and therefore, I was in it for the long haul. So at that point, I just knew.

The night we got engaged

Although the Army forced us to be apart a lot sooner than we expected or would have wanted, our relationship grew from our time apart into a relationship that can make it through anything. We learned how to communicate, we learned what was important to share when he got phone privileges (which was very rare), we learned how to express our love for each other through our words in our letters, we learned to trust each other from miles and miles away, and we learned that our love can endure all.

Featured Photo Friday

Ok, so if I didn't already have an obsession with her work, after reading her motivation behind it, I'm almost in tears with the beauty of this photographer as a person as well.

Today's photo comes from Bree at Bluebird Pictures and it was so hard to just pick one photo to feature. So make sure you head to her Facebook page or blog and admire the rest of her work!

I love everything about this photo; the lighting, the location, and of course, the adorable baby!

Please read the words below for some insight on this amazing woman. Thanks again Bree, for letting me feature you :)

when it came creating my own type of look and brand in photography...at first I wanted something real clever and unique

The more I thought about it though,

 I wanted to represent myself and my work

and most importantly my motivation to start

in a different way,

it's sort of a story....

As a kid I was lucky enough to think my Grandpa was a full fledge superman and he really flew.

If it wasn't a money hunt around their giant Logan home 

it was a special trip to his office, up beaver canyon to ski or out to dinner at Angies

If we were really lucky we

went up with him in his airplane.

yes my grandpa was a pilot 

( told you he could fly)

but that wasn't his job

he was an attorney by day

hero by night.

Instead of a dog, my grandpa gave his daughter a monkey. Instead of disneyland, they went to egypt. We still spend countless hours hiking Arches and taking respite at his Moab retreat

My mom was born on and grew up swimming off the beaches of Guam.

For many many years, my cousins and I

found so much happiness and even more memories with both our grandparents.

 Cryptonite eventually found it's way into my picture perfect story

Superman got really sick 

 instead of taking adventures 

he spent time doing more crossword puzzles

and bird watching

 My grandpa,  who survived as a POW in a NAZI war camp, the hero, died of Cancer

not too long ago.

This man began and eventually finished his life in Logan Utah. As a small child he'd walk to this store for penny candy and ice cream

The last goody I brought him before he passed away was some of their famous chocolate

my eyes tear up even writing about it, he meant so very much to a lot of people.
I hope he realized that.

If I take anything with me 
from this hero's  life,

it's that the sky is litterally the limit.

 give, laugh, travel, dare, live, cry, learn,

fly, love.

bluebird is my sky.

Sorry for Slacking

I apologize for the late posts the past few days. I had to say goodbye to one of my closest friends, family really, and so I've been holding my baby and cherishing my time with my husband a little more the past few days.

I finally finished one of my Pinterest crafts today; I love it! I could have used a stencil but decided to free hand it and I think it gives it some character. I used Sharpie markers and acrylic paint, put it in a cold oven, preheated to 350 degrees and "baked" for 30 minutes. Should be permanent!

Today was also a beautiful fall day in upstate New York and I wanted to give Nolan a chance to explore and play. Eating leaves and grass never hurt anyone, right?

Ignore the crappy photo quality, they're from my iPhone! But it was too cute to pass up taking pictures :)

Check back tomorrow for Featured Photo Friday...you're going to love it :)

September Birchbox

So yes it's super late and yes I'm falling asleep; It's been a long emotional day for a multitude of reasons however, I wanted to share my September Birchbox with you and review all the goodies!

For those of you who don't know what Birchbox is, it's a service that delivers new beauty and lifestyle samples to your front door every month. This way, you can try a product to make sure you like it before you purchase the real thing. How many times have you wanted to try a new shampoo or nail polish but worried you'd hate it and be pouring your money down the drain (literally)? Well, no more wondering! This is where Birchbox comes in.

For me, this is a once a month treat to myself. I work hard to be a good wife and mommy and often neglect my own needs in order to make sure my boys are happy. So what better way to spoil myself than to receive and try new products every month by getting them delivered right to my door!

Still need convincing? It's only $10 a month and it's always a surprise. Who doesn't love opening mail and packages, especially when you have NO idea what's inside!? So here's what was in my Birchbox, and as I learned today, they differ from person to person. What was in yours?!

Benefit Cosmetics: The POREfessional- LOVED! It's a primer to camouflage pores.You can put it on before you apply makeup or after you already have, and I could seriously notice a difference. It was light, fluffy, and non-greasy and I loved the smooth finish it gave my face.

Color Club: Birchbox Custom Polish-Definitely out of my comfort zone but I really liked it! I just recently started wearing nail polish and have no idea what is in when it comes to nail color. So thank you Birchbox for giving me a clue! It also dried pretty quickly which is a must for me.

kate spade new york: Twirl- I wanted my husband's opinion on this one and his response? "Oh yea!" haha so I guess that means he liked it. It was very sweet which is what I usually go for and I have to admit I will probably be purchasing this when my Emporio Armani runs out :)

Nexxus: Pro-Mend Split End Treatment System- Didn't get to use this yet but anything that's going to help in the hair department is okay in my book. I've dyed my hair so many times and am looking forward to giving it some much needed TLC.

twistband: Hair Tie- I absolutely love the concept and actual product. I'm guilty of always having a hair tie on my wrist and with these, it almost looks like a bracelet that I meant to accessorize with.

These products were topped off with a cute little tili bag, a fall look book and a $25 gift card to Madewell!

Very pleased with my first experience and cannot wait to see that little pink box at my front door next month! Don't miss out...you deserve a little spoiling :) Go here to sign-up for your own!