miscellany

I don't post enough of my randomness anymore, do I? Only posting one or two posts per week--even if they are full of fun pictures-- is pretty lame. I'm aware of this fatal flaw and therefore, I present to you some miscellany madness. 

1.  Remember when SNL was really funny and they did "Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy"? For some reason I had a burning desire to title this post "Deep Thoughts, by Julia H." but did not. I did, however, google Jack Handy and discovered a little gem found here.  Let me just quote the best one ever:

Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself down. I'll go over to the person's house and ring the doorbell. When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A Jack-o-lantern with a knife in the side of it's head that says, "You." After that I usually feel a lot better, and no harm done.

Freaking genius. 

2. Speaking of genius, have you ever used iTunes' fabulous Genius function? Um, it creates a playlist for you and I'm digging it. Thank you, Macintosh, for being your pimp self while encouraging my laziness. 

3. What the hell is going on with Rihanna and Chris Brown? I secretly adore both of these youngins and I hate that this happened.....I hope we find out the real scoop soon. My love for celebrity gossip just got rekindled with this story, for real.

4. Guess what my Mom sent me via email? A scan of epic proportions. One of my first EVER scrapbooking masterpieces. I was 13 years old, you guys. So cut me some slack.

Um, yeah. Sweet geometrical shapes, huh? And the bug stickers are divine....I still remember those little footprint stamps because they were actually Magic Markers! Ah, the good old days. Who knew I've been scrapbooking for almost 15 years? That makes me feel ancient, just so you know.

And those little boys with water guns would be my baby brother [who is now almost 22 years old] and his friends. Where has the time gone?

5. I'm totally reliving my glory days right now. Back when I studied my face off in PT school me and my friends would spend quite a few hours inside Starbucks, because only lame underclassmen studied at the library. Or actually, we studied so much we had to rotate between two different libraries, Starbucks, Bread Company, and home. Regardless....sitting at Starbucks for endless hours each night/weekend brainwashed me. It is how I finally succumbed to the glorious black gold called coffee. I started off drinking hot chocolates, then graduated to the uber-satisfying White Chocolate Mochas because it barely tasted like coffee and was basically a sip of heaven. Slowly but surely I converted to a full-blown coffee drinker and I blame it all on studying at Starbucks.

So tonight, I decided to come to Starbucks with Mr. Student himself....except while he studies I get to horse around on the internet on a sweet laptop, and revel in the fact that I will NEVER study here again. Never. But it does make me feel reminiscent. I mean, who would have thought: almost five years after I graduated with my Masters degree I'd be back at Starbucks, supporting my husband while he studies for PT school. Life is ironic sometimes, isn't it? 

6. I'm reading the next book for my book club and I'm sure many of you have read it, too. It's She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. I could have SWORN that I read it many years ago but I'm not remembering it as well as I should. I do know that his other book, I Know This Much Is True, is probably one of my top five books ever. I am positive I've read that one, twice actually. Any thoughts on She's Come Undone? I'm only 10 pages in but I think I like it. 

7. I made a new header and I quite like it. Come and see.

8. Dirty Milwaukee rumor: we could get 6-9 inches of snow from Tuesday night through Thursday. I no likey. I want Spring pronto. Enough said.

9. I've been running a lot as evidenced by my 'Miles run in 2009' counter at the bottom of this blog. In fact I've come to love my time on the treadmill mostly because of the personal televisions on each machine. I once swore I couldn't run more than 30 minutes on a treadmill without wanting to beat my face into the clock. But now I've managed to pound out 10 miles at a time on multiple occasions. Mostly I run between 6 and 8 during the week nights, but still...I never thought I could do 10 on a hamster wheel. 

It's kind of like how I used to say 50 degrees was my absolute minimum for running outside, and now it's fallen down to 25 degrees as a minimum. This climate is making me a different runner: one that has acclimated to colder temperatures and longer runs indoors. What a difference a year makes, no? In fact, I'm even crazy enough to consider running in another full marathon sometime sooner than later. I just can't commit to the training again, but perhaps in the Fall?

10. Can you tell I'm feeling nostalgic tonight? Three of these miscellany facts are about time going too fast, life changing, and me wondering where it all went. Do you guys ever get like this?

11. I know a lot of you readers are in this same category, too: Not-Quite-Newlyweds-But-Not-Quite-Ready-To-Be-Parents. My thoughts on this phase in life varies widely: sometimes I'm all about being young, and free, and without child. I love the fact that Nate and I can just go out to dinner, or sleep in late on the weekends without worrying about a sitter. I love saving money and not having kids certainly helps the bank account. It's pretty sweet to spend quality time with my husband and to have the luxury of working on our marriage without being parents just yet. We get to work on 'us' before it's all about 'them'.

And yet, sometimes The Fever takes hold and I simply cannot wait to be a Mom. When my pesky biological clock starts ticking so loudly that I lose all concentration, I have to forcibly stop my mind from leaving the present and jumping into the future. I mean, one of my biggest areas of improvement has to be planning too much....being too Type A and not living in the moment. Why do I always have to look for the next step in life? Why can't I just be content and be present? It sounds easy enough, doesn't it? And yet, it's something I have to work on every day. 

It doesn't help when I feel like babies are freaking everywhere. They are invading my brain and taking over the planet, if you ask me. Stupid babies. Why are you so cuddly and cute [at least from a distance and through a computer screen]? 

Anyone else with me?

Whew, that was a lot of miscellany. Sometimes it's good for my soul to get it all out via the blog. Yep, much better now. 

Hallmark Holiday

Valentine's Day: a day that is like every other day in the year except Hallmark, flower companies, and restaurants make a killing on this day. Us? We decided to go to brunch today instead of dinner just because 1. brunch is our favorite meal ever, and 2. we are old fogies and wanted to avoid the evening crowds.

I was unaware that we'd be purchasing gifts for each other on our SEVENTH V-day together but when I realized Nate was sneaking around behind my back to get me something, I had to think fast. This is what I came up with and yes, it was a hit:




And he bestowed upon me that padded-cup workout tank that I lusted over last week. Such a good listener, this husband of mine. I taught him well:)

The day begun with a fresh coat of white fluffy stuff:



And even though it was a typical winter gray day, I managed to snap a few shots of my favorite model:









It will never get old. I just love pictures of my dog, okay?

So off to brunch we went and OMG it was good. I mean pink mimosas are a fabulous start to any day, right?



And not to mention stuffed French toast: cream cheese and chocolate this time around. Divine.


After thoroughly stuffing our faces and consuming enough fluids to last all day Nate agreed to my request of a mini photo session outdoors. He must love me a lot, don't you think?




One thing I love about a new camera is that every little detail in the world is suddenly very apparent to me. Love the color on this tree, don't you?


I even handed over my baby for a few frames.


Austin Powers made an appearance.


Warning: if you let your husband take charge of photographic opportunities, this is what you'll receive. At least I was having a good butt day, I suppose.


Lady, how many pictures are you going to take?


Enough to make me happy, duh.


You know those quintessential sandy beach shots? Here's our version.


I'm sorry, I just had to do it.


This was much easier to get with our point and shoot. I get a little anxious about holding the SLR away from my body like this but I somehow managed.

And there you have it: a day like any other plus a little extra fun and a whole lotta pictures. I hope everyone enjoyed their Hallmark Holiday!

album design and whatnot.

I feel like I'm still coming up for air after a whirlwind of holiday business. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or anything....after all, that is how I purchased my pimp camera. But in the midst of the chaos I never had time to show a few pages of each album and that's just not fair, is it? Plus, I like to look at these to gear up for another wedding season/warm weather/pretty colors/flowers/etc. I just love it a lot.


First we have Michelle, who just so happens to be my new cousin. Remember when I blogged about their wedding? We ran their photo booth and had a ball. She adores purple in case you couldn't tell:)









Then we have Christy who is basically the sweetest person ever. She is the sister of a previous client and they both used SJ Macky as a photographer, who is also the sweetest. Sweet, sweet, sweet.











And lastly we have a very special album and one that I think is a FABULOUS idea for all daughters out there. Stacy contacted me to make her parents a 30 year anniversary album. She did lots of work on the front end by gathering up photos and letters from her parents' friends and family. Then she sent everything to me and I worked my magic:) The end result was a super cool album that Stacy surprised her parents with over their anniversary dinner. Some of the letters from their friends made me get a little weepy. Thirty years together is freaking amazing and I hope Nate and I maintain friendships over the years just like they did. And if my Mom wasn't album obsessed and already made her own variations of their lives together, I'd be all over this one. Enjoy!







Of course, all of these albums are now up on my website in their entirety.

I'm going to be honest here: I feel like my little business is at a crossroads. I've gotten to the point where I have to turn clients away because I simply to not have the time. I've experienced some intense deadlines which obviously strips me of my creativity. I feel torn between focusing even more time and energy on the biz in hopes that it grows enough to allow a decrease in my 'real career' hours. How freaking sweet would that be?

But honestly, I don't make near enough money on these albums to drop a day at work....it's just not realistic. Another option would be to quit the biz altogether so I can spend more time with my new camera and possibly training for another marathon [gasp!]. I am slowly realizing that I only have a few precious hours each evening that I can devote to myself....the rest of the day is sucked up by work, the gym, dinner, chatting with the hubs, and sleeping. Album design used to be my creative outlet and now with the new camera I feel like album design can sometimes feel like a 'job' and not as much fun as it used to be.

I just don't know, you guys. I'm torn. I have to make a decision one way or the other pretty soon just to appease myself. But either way I won't be accepting new orders until April or later....I've already got about 6 albums lined up in front of me again! Any suggestions for a struggling business owner?

Anyway......onto another album: our 2008 everyday album is officially complete! It was a whopping 87 pages which basically qualifies as ri-DONK-ulous. I think the largest one prior to this baby was around 50 pages. But then again, this covered 365 days instead of just one day:)

I'm quite proud of it and cannot wait for it to arrive. Here is my front cover.....it's a take off from that blog post everyone did about 'a picture for each month' or whatever.



And then because we all need a shot of four seasons, I included some more of my favorite pages for your pleasure:






















What a year. What an amazing year, huh? Man, Photoshop has really been earning it's keep around here lately. And my head kind of hurts now...but you likey?