Rebecca - Senior Session

I recently had the opportunity to take senior photos for my niece Rebecca at their beautiful property in Finley. This meant open fields, horses, hay, streams, bicycles, and cowboy boots. We even got her boyfriend in on a few shots. Oh young love. :)The sun could not have been more perfect and the photos turned out like a dream. Rebecca is a gorgeous young woman with a bright future ahead of her. She is full of spunk, fearlessness, and kindness and can rock a dress and shotgun at the same time. Love this girl! Congrats and enjoy your senior year, Becca!

5 Year Honeymoon

This past August we celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss. Or as Jeremiah's favorite joke goes, 3 years happily married. 5 total. Hardy har har, Mr. Atkins. I cannot believe we have been married five years! It seems like it was just yesterday Jeremiah was bringing Lil' Jackie cat treats to steal my heart and taking me on wild and crazy trips to woo me. It all worked and I'm glad it did. Being married is the most meaningful adventure I've ever been on and one of the most awesome experiences in life. Even for all you marriage haters (I know I was there) I recommend it. ;)

For our anniversary, we originally planned to go to the San Juans, but that quickly changed when I decided I wanted to go to a Seahawks game instead. And Jeremiah being the awesome guy he is, bought me tickets for our anniversary. Lets try and forget about the 500% mark up on Stubhub we had to pay. Yikes! We still planned to do a weekend or day trip on our actual anniversary, as well. However, we are in the middle of a serious indoor remodel of our home and when the weekend came upon us we both looked at each other exhausted and had no desire to do anything. Haha. We both just wanted to stay home, keep working on the house, and get some sleep. So not like us! We love to get away and use every celebration as an opportunity to do so. So you know we were tired! It was nice to know neither one of us was letting the other down by not wanting to go. So Jeremiah got his Swiss Army Victorinox watch he'd been eyeing for a while and I got my game. So excited we still have that to look forward. It will be the perfect celebration of the place we got engaged and a welcome to Fall. 

Xx!

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!

* Never posted this on the old blog because I intended to add more pics, but eh who cares. This will do! :)

In May, I crossed another 2013 goal off my list and made it to New York City!

We originally planned to do a tropical getaway and even considered a cruise. We had a very short window of time in which we could take a vacation so as the time got closer and everyone and their dog was giving us advice on where to go or not go and blah blah blah we decided to fool them all and go to New York! Then came the annoying questions of, "Why are you going to New York?" Why not?! I have wanted to go since I was a child and most people never make it there if they have no reason to and we didn't want to be those people - since we really have no other reason to head that way, either. I am so glad we didn't listen to other people. This was the perfect trip for a couple of DINKs. I cannot imagine doing this if we had children! We went at the perfect time of year. There was a glorious heat wave that made the old concrete jungle hotter than the TC's so we were happy to get away to the city for some fun in the sun! There's so much life to live and adventures to go on and I am so glad Jeremiah loves to experience it all with me! Mr. Atkins, I adore you and your love for life and me!

Overall, the trip was a blast/exhausting/intense/nonstop/unpredictable/expensive and probably a once in a lifetime thing. So of course, we crammed in everything we could! I have some great recommendations if you ever need them! :)

In the meantime, here are some of our favorite Big Apple moments:

Times Square - Arriving just in time to see the Lego X-Wing Fighter before it moved to San Diego that night!

M&M World/Toys R' US (with indoor ferris wheel)/Hershey's store - 3 Childhood dream stores right in Times Square and just a hop skip and a jump from our hotel.

9/11 Memorial and the new Freedom Tower

Wall Street/NYSE (New York Stock Exchange)/Charging Bull - NYSE is a beautiful building, but don't let the bull fool you. He is not worth wasting your sweet precious time in line for a photo.

5th Ave Shopping - Saks. Tiffany. Bergdorff Goodman. Need I say more?

FAO Schwartz  - Channeling our inner Tom Hanks in Big. Except for the whole avoiding the athlete's foot on the Big Piano which was crawling with barefooted little rif-raff.

Apple Store - Man heaven.

J&R Electronics - Ditto to the above. Although, we did buy an external charging device for my phone to charge up the battery. Can't be without Google Earth on the iPhone in the big city!

Staten Island Ferry - It's free and offers fantastic views. Plus, seeing the hustle and bustle of the local working folk makes you feel less touristy. Or maybe more. I'm not sure on this one...

American Museum of Natural History - Unlike Night at The Museum, nothing came to life. Bummer. And we even brought gum!

Zabar's - I am obsessed with bakeries and authentic foods (at least the ones I can have) so I found Zabar's before we even left and knew we had to go there. It's a Jewish market with cheeses and baked goods galore. All delicious! Took our fair share back to the hotel that night.

Keen's Chophouse - Only surviving original building in the theater district. 138 years old and features smoking pipes from Babe Ruth and ex-presidents, in addition to the best steak of Jeremiah's life!

Empire State Building - It looks like a Christmas tree!

Macy's Flagship Store - 9 floors of glory with beautiful old wooden escalators. We may have spent one too many days here trying to find Jeremiah new shoes.

MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) - Fantastic and authentic art. Best museum the city has to offer.

Seeing Wicked - And to think I didn't even want to see a Broadway Show! Loved it!

Brooklyn Bridge - No big deal. Just walked across in 91 degree 70% humidity. Oy!

Chinatown and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - The website made it look better.

Harbour Cruise - We cruised around Manhattan and saw Lady Liberty up close and personal, in addition to the amazing views of the city and it's famous landmarks.

Shake Shack - One of the best burger chains in the US. And the custard and shakes are beyond words!

Today Show - Waited around in hopes of being seen on the small screen, but alas - no. But I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of Matt Lauer in the window on commercial break. ;)

MOMA - I can appreciate lots of art. Even when I don't understand it all. But I will never allow myself to consider that throwing a dildo in a glass case or making a naked video of your self boxing yourself is art. There are much more useful ways for one to spend their time. That is a self-indulgent and selfish use of oneself and time, if you ask me. You do not better the world or bring beauty or talent by doing these types of things. I have very strong feelings on this! ;)

Top of The Rock - We heard Top of The Rock had better views than Empire State and it's true! It's not quite as high, but is still insanely high and the view is truly unmatched!

Rockefeller Center and where the famous rink and tree and go.

Central Park - I think the below photo says enough of the beauty.

Traveled by plane/subway/boat/taxi/foot and spaceship - Okay, maybe not the last one. ;) After all that crazy travel we upgraded for the ride to the airport to the Denali parked outside our hotel. Pretty sure I've never spent that much on vehicular transportation in my life.

Saw Upper/Lower/East/West Manhattan/Chelsea/New Jersey and everywhere in between. Amazing city with amazing history. No place like it.

I really do LOVE New York!

XX!

The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Today was the big day - the day I got my braces off. After two and a half long years of cutting my corn off the cob and every other fruit and veggie into bite size pieces, I headed to Dr. Ostler to reveal my new straight pearly whites. It should have been a fantastic day. Not only were my braces coming off, but our new California King Sleep Number Bed was set to arrive. But for some reason this day went wrong from about 4am.

Here's a quick look at how it all went down:

Had to work early due to orthodontist appointment.
Woke at 4am with bad stomach pains and never fell back asleep.
Went to work, where it was obvious to all I did not feel well, and left for my appointment with a less than happy tummy around 9:30am. Figured the anxious/excited feeling I had about the braces coming off might have been part of it.
Once at the appointment, my tummy was not happy and neither was my bladder, as a result.
Hygienist had trouble getting a few brackets off and it hurt - this was by far the worst part of the entire braces experience.
Ask to use restroom thanks to bladder/tummy issues. Due to leaving my purse in the car, I put my iPhone in my back pocket and forgot. Next thing I know, kerplunk! Why, why why?!?!?!?!
Head back to chair and let everyone know what just happened. Still feeling yuck and end up needing to use the restroom a few more times. They think I'm sick and need a towel and garbage can next to me. Super embarrassing. However, it is very hard to explain IC to people so I just let them think that.
They hurry along and send me to get impressions where they have trouble and have to take them twice. The impressions aren't so bad, though, thankfully!
Come home and see the bed arrived in the few hours I was gone that morning and they left it in our driveway. Thanks, guys. Thankfully, Jeremiah ran home and helped me get it inside.

All in all, the braces are off and the bed arrived. I have no clue if they gave me any instructions at the ortho because I was so out of it/embarrassed/feeling blah. This stuff only happens to me. I swear! Hopefully, tomorrow when I get my retainer it will go much smoother - my day included!

XX!

Elizabeth - Senior Session

While I haven't done a photo session in ages, I was asked by niece if I would take her senior photos. There is a lot of pressure in doing that - But I said yes. I felt really rusty and in over my head during the shoot and I am sure they could tell. I haven't completely given up on photography, but I certainly do not have the gear or editing software to take the photos I wish I could. I am happy with how these turned out, but for sure need to invest in an editing monitor. For now, here is my session with the beautiful Elizabeth.

 

Confessions of a Houseslob

I sit here writing this covered with Crispy Rice on my torso and in my hair. Not because I have children, but because I just love food and went all ravenous on this box of Nature's Path Crispy Rice.  I feel this is important to mention because it says a lot about me and what I'm about to admit.

I'm a lazy slob. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, but I've said this before and I'll say it again: You know how some people say things like, "Deep down inside of me is a tough, determined, tiger (or whatever other animal they identify with), with the heart of a champion just waiting to break free and conquer the world?" Yeah, we'll deep down inside of me is a 500lb man sitting on a couch eating Bon Bons while watching Designing Women and drifting in and out of sleep all day. Only to have to be removed from said house by a wall being knocked down and then being transported to a hospital like a whale in a net via helicopter. Okay, this may have been a Jerry Springer episode I once saw, but you get the gist. 

I struggle with self motivation and discipline. I hate to do things I don't want to do or that I don't find fun. Which is odd because I grew up a dancer and discipline is usually ingrained in you. But I may have been slightly rebellious and missed out on that lesson fully. I wish this wasn't so, but I can't figure out how to be different. I see all these perfect little Facebookers and Pinteresters posting all the awesome things they do to their home, cook for dinner, or businesses they start and think, "How in the h-e double hell do they have time to do that?" Naturally, I judge them and tell myself their families are probably suffering and obviously they are sacrificing something big to be that awesome. Then I kick myself because I have all these awesome ideas and things I want to do, but can't seem to do them. I can barely convince myself to cook dinner most nights.

One thing I have learned to accept about myself is that I never was the girl who couldn't wait to get married or be a wife or mother. And although I'm married, that's still who I am. I still don't want to be a homemaker. I hate housekeeping, crafting, gardening, and cooking. Baking is another story, but housewife duties bore and irritate me. After I accomplish a lot around the house I don't feel like a bad-A wife, I think, "Crap that took a lot of time! I could've done something way more fun than that shizz." So while being Susie homemaker looks enticing, deep down I know that does not make me happy.

I guess in the end, it all comes down to priorities. As long as my house isn't a total pig sty, I'm cool to do other things I find more important and let a few dishes chill in the sink. And if you stop by you will most likely see these dishes sitting in the sink, in addition to a couple pairs of shoes on the floor, clean laundry in a pile upstairs, a blanket on the couch, books on the end table, mail and a pile of change from Jeremiah's pockets on the entryway table, and maybe more. And I'm (almost) okay with that. For some keeping their home immaculate is a priority - for me it's not. 

Also, I've realized decorating, crafting, gardening and the like are also not my life's passion. I try to emulate you sassy little housewives posting your crafts, home cooked dinners, and planting your flowers, but since I find myself not enjoying the process and wishing myself elsewhere my crafts end up looking like a 5 year old made them, my food is overcooked and there's a huge mess, and my plants die. Trying to be someone you're not is never easy nor fun.

So while I do fight that fat man inside of me trying consume my life, I accept that my life's passion does not lie in being a housewife and will even go so far as to say God did not put that passion in my heart. My husband knows this. And although there are times he wishes I was a little more housewife-ish, he can laugh about it. After all, he's a total metro and his priorities do not lie in the typical man chores some men take pride in. What a pair - talk about a match made in Heaven! Hired help may be in our future. 

X, A!