peace

happy international day of peace!*

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

~Mahatma Gandhi

i like to doodle

happy friday, loves!*

how was everyone's week?

i'd say mine was pretty good!

still getting settled into the new house,

but everything is coming together nicely.

even though we are only renting,

it's still so cozy and homey...

it makes me so excited to actually own our own house

in the hopefully near future.

this weekend is a busy one

(are there any that aren't?)

brett and i are taking a mini roadtrip to wvu tonight

to see widespread panic in concert!

i'm pumped!

on that note,

time to finish up work,

then the weekend will officially begin!

a little something to leave you with:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –Mark Twain

{sometimes i like to doodle...

especially at work

while i'm waiting for a big report to load

that takes forever

and freezes up my computer

until it's finished loading.

yes, these are the times i doodle...

and occassionally i shall share some of my doodles with you :)}

have a wonderful weekend, everyone!*

through the eyes of my iphone

my iphone pretty much comes everywhere with me.
and i take a lot of pictures with it.
so sometimes i like to look through my photo library
and see what it's been seeing lately.
so here's my life the past couple days
through the eyes of my iphone...

in our new house, we have a backyard (!!!)

and there is this family of deer that frequent it a lot.

we were sitting outside on our patio saturday morning

drinking coffee and chatting

and they decided to join us.

i love living outside of the city now!

gorgeous sky on my commute to work

there's something so calming and peaceful about the early morning

p-i-t-t let's go pitt!
we have season tickets to pitt's football games this year!
brett and i both went to pitt
and i now work at pitt
so we are big fans!

i just started reading a new book:
"the happiness project"
by gretchen rubin
i'm only a chapter in,
but i really like it!

heaven in our backyard
we got this hammock from brett's aunt for my bridal shower
but haven't been able to put it up... until now!
living in an apartment in the city on the 2nd floor
wasn't very hammock friendly...

waiting for the bus one morning

i love me some coffee
and my hipstamatic iphone app...

yuengling beer bread!

i am on a baking roll lately...

i think it's because of the changing season

once again, heaven
i could lay here all day...

i call these my "penny lane" sunglasses

;)

coffee & blogging on my day off last week

first pumpkin spice latte of the season!

which now brings back the memories of

going to the bridal show last fall with jess and brita,

when jess showed up at my house

with surprise pumpkin spice lattes!

loooooverrrrr you, ju!

i told you i was on a baking roll...

my speciality oatmeal raisin cookies!

brett says these are his favorite! :)

***

so that's been my life the last couple days...

i love having my iphone with me

because i can snap pictures at the most random moments.

i don't always have my real camera with me

so it's a really nice substitute.

i love you, iphone!

be happy

well, friends

it's friday at 2:30pm, which means...

my workday is drawing to a close and
it's weekend time!

but just wanted to stop by real quick and say:
hope you all have a wonderful weekend
and don't forget do at least one thing that makes you happy!

because what is the point of life if you are not happy?
:)

until next time!*

annnnd i'm bored

please excuse me,

for i am bored...

01. What is the date and day?: september 10, 2010 - friday!
02. What is the time?: 2:02 pm
03. What time did you wake up this morning?: 5:15 am
04. What did you eat for breakfast?: starbucks pumpkin spice latte & special k cinnamon pecan cereal
05. Was it tasty?: delicious! oh, how i've missed the pumpkin spice latte
06. What did you do first thing this morning? yawned & showered
07. Who was the first person you spoke to?: hubby, brett making fun of me for not being able to get out of the garage
08. Did you work or go to school?: currently at work
09. What kind of mood have you been in all day?: sleeeepy
010. Any particular reasons for that?: just trying to adjust to my new schedule since moving
011. So what have you been up to today?: showered & got ready, got in a fight with the garage door on my way out of the house, caught the bus, went to starbucks, and now i'm currently at work... but soon to be done!
012. What has the weather been like?: chilly! i'm not used to this... where did the warm weather go?
013. What clothes have you worn?: my "cowboy" jeans (as brett likes to call them... why? i have no idea), brown shirt, tan gap zip-up hoodie, brown sandals
014. Jewelery?: engagement and wedding rings - that's it! i even forgot to put in earrings today...
015. Make-up?: bit of mascara & blush
016. What friends or acquaintances have you seen?: brett, co-workers
017. Did you see a boyfriend or girlfriend?: hubby brett
018. Who have you been most annoyed with today?: no one has annoyed me today! yet...
019. Who or what has made you laugh?: reading this blog - seriously hilarious
020. What did you eat for lunch?: turkey sandwich and a peach!
021. Any alcohol today?: not yet, but it is definitely on the adgenda!
022. Did you do anything you weren't supposed to?: no, unless you count surfing the internet all day long... :)
023. Argued with anyone?: nope
024. Watched any movies?: nope
025. TV?: nope
026. What music have you listened to?: jackie greene's album - "till the light comes"
027. Have you travelled anywhere?: just to work
028. Is today a special today for any reason?: it's friday! i'd say that's pretty special!
029. What shops have you been into?: just starbucks
030. Have you bought anything?: no, i used my starbucks gift card from ju for my latte this morning!!
031. Have you had dinner yet?: nope
032. If so, what did you have?: --
033. What are your plans for this evening?: do laundry, organize the new house, prepare for darron's visit!
034. Do you think today has been a good or bad day?: it's been pretty good
035. Did anything disastrous happen?: nope
036. Or... anything generally out of the ordinary?: nope
037. What are you doing tomorrow?: tailgating, then going to the PITT game!
038. What underwear are you wearing today? haha is this necessary?
039. What shoes have you worn?: brown sandals
040. What time is it now?: 2:15 pm

sorry for this useless & pointless post...

life is beautiful

i would very much so like to have a piece of your pizza

amidst the craziness of moving, we made a little getaway to DC this past weekend to visit lee & jess! we had so much fun! we stayed from friday to monday morning. we played games, drank beer & wine, ventured outdoors to hike, played with the pup, ate ice cream, drank iced coffee, grilled out, narrated riley's daily thoughts, and the list goes on & on! but most importantly, the pictures...

{on the road to dc!}

{picking up the essentials!}

{yay, family photo! riley, jess, jack, & lealon}

{jess & lee at rappahannock winery - they're club members!}

{me & brett at the winery - guests of club members get the perks too!}

{cheers to friends who are family & family who are friends}

{group shot in front of the vineyards}

{me & jess - sunshine & wine!}

{enough wine, onto the beer - at dogfish head alehouse}

{hiking along the potomac}

{brett made a new friend}

{brett also decided to jump off a rock into the water!}

{how gorgeous is this??}

{brothers!!!}

{riley: "i would very much so like to be in the front and lead the way"}

{a pup & his momma}

{brett climbing rocks, what else is new :) }

{riley: "i would very much so like to jump in this water right now"}

{lee & jess & a pretty view!}

{brett & i taking a breather in the beautiful sunshine}

we had such a great time this weekend! we love to visit lee & jess down in DC whenever we get the chance! we've been so busy lately, that it's been a while since we were last there. they were always coming to pittsburgh for various events. so it was really nice to be able to go to THEM this time. hopefully, we will be making many, many more trips down to visit them. the gods know we can't be apart for too long...

thanks for an AWESOME weekend, lee & jess!
love you guys!!
:)

one month already!

yesterday was our one month anniversary of getting married!

i can't believe it's been a month already...
it feels like our wedding was just yesterday!

ever since we got home from our honeymoon
newlywed life has been hectic
with brett's new job and us moving into a house!
yesterday was spent unpacking and organizing our house
and we were so distracted that we almost forgot it was the 7th!

brett went to the grocery store around 8:30 last night to get something for dinner
and while there, i got this text from him that said
"put some wine in the freezer, it's our 1 month!"
so i threw in a bottle of chardonnay from sterling winery
(that we got on our honeymoon)!

when brett got home, he whipped up a tasty dinner of
cheesy garlic bread and spinach raviolis,
and we cleared a tiny space for the dining room table
and had a wonderful little one month anniversary dinner
among the boxes and boxes that still need unpacked,
and it was perfect.

the end.
:)

packing, packing, packing

so, this is what our house looks like right now. this week has soley consisted of: sleep, work, eat, and pack. it all happened so fast. i didn't really have a moment to sit down and look around our house and reminise about our memories here... before we knew it, we were throwing stuff in boxes, taking down decorations, and now the house looks so bare. it's kinda sad. we lived in this place for about a year and a half. lots of big moments of our lives took place while living here: we got engaged and we got MARRIED while living here. along with lots of other little memories. but while it is nostalgic, we are so so so happy to be moving. we made this place as homey as possible, but it was still a 2nd floor apartment in the middle of the city. so we are more than ready to make our new place even more homey and wonderful, living in the suburbs!

ps - i think packing/moving makes you crazy... sometimes you just need to take a break from all the packing and drink a 40 with your husband to ease your mind... at least that's what works for us! ;)

so in other awesome news, we are going to visit lee & jess (my brother & his fiancé/my best friend) in dc this weekend!! we are so so excited! we can't wait to see their new place (they just moved into an awesome townhouse!) and have lots and lots of fun! tomorrow, i'm working a half day, then we are heading down to dc and staying until monday morning. then we are hurrying back to pittsburgh to start the big bad moving day!

in other words... this weekend is going to be AWESOME!

hope you are all doing well
and have lots of fun things to look forward to this weekend!
that's all for now!

september!

happy first day of september!*

and can we take a moment to realize that
it's september?!

where did summer go??

we're moving!

happy monday, loves!

i started my morning with a laaaaarge cup of iced coffee.... it's going to be a very busy week! so, as mentioned in my last post, we were starting to look for a house in the suburbs to rent, instead of living in an apartment in the city. well, this weekend we went and looked at a house, loved it, and now.... it's official! we're moving!! into this adorable house!

it all happened so fast! first, we posted our apartment on craigslist and within a day we had over 50 emails of people that were interested in renting it! and we were all worried that no one would want it. so we showed it to one person yesterday morning and they took it! so easy! so once that was squared away, we officially accepted this house to move into NEXT WEEK! hence why i said it's going to be a very busy week!

we have to pack up our entire apartment this week (we have a lot of stuff) by friday, because we are going to visit lee and jess in dc this weekend! so while i'm at work during the day, brett is home right now packing away... and i will be joining him as soon as i get home from work! it's a lot to pack, but we can do it in 4 days! {cross your fingers}

it's going to be a lot to do, getting out of the old apartment and into the new house, but we are so excited! there are so many things we are looking forward to! so here's to a crazy, hectic, but great week!

hope you all had wonderful weekends!!*

we're hooooooome!

hi friends!*

it's been a while! how are you all? we are officially home from our honeymoon... i didn't want it to end; we had such an amazing time! california is so beautiful. i took over 1,000 pictures! it was a picture perfect 11 days of bliss with my husband. i couldn't have ask for anything better. but it was bittersweet. i didn't want it to end, but at the same time i was ready to get home and get settled into our lives as newlyweds! (don't worry, i plan on doing a separate post about our honeymoon, with some pictures!)

during all the planning of the wedding and honeymoon, my life was craziness and i wasn't able to update my blog much... so i have lots of updates! my husband, brett is an engineer and has been looking for a good career position for the past couple months. he had a really great interview right before we left for our honeymoon & they said they'd be in touch the week after (while we were on our honeymoon). well, we never heard anything while away, so he was losing hope. but just yesterday the company called annnnd..... he got the job!!!!! i am soo proud of him and so happy! finally all his hard work has paid off! and now that we know where brett is working, we can finally move out of our apartment in the city and get a house in the suburbs! i am beyond excited about that! everything is falling into place perfectly and i couldn't be happier. :)

that's the big news of the moment, but there are lots of things i'm looking forward to:
~brett's new job
~moving out of the city & into a house in the suburbs!
~decorating & coordinating & organizing our new place
~finally unpacking all our shower & wedding gifts
~visiting lee & jess labor day weekend
~the start of pitt football season (we got season tickets this year!)
~many upcoming concerts: widespread panic, robert randolph, the black crowes, the wood brothers... to name a few
~fall: pretty trees, pumpkin patches, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin beer, apple cider,breezy but nice weather, fall clothes & toms...

i am loving summer (it's still my favorite season), but i am getting very excited for fall! especially because we are hopefully moving into a place that i will actually be able to put pumpkins outside and decorate for the holidays!

so much goodness coming up, i can hardly contain myself! here's to getting back into the swing of things and more frequent blog posts.

have an amazing weekend, everyone!

ps - check out my 365 in year 25 blog - it's been updated!!

HONEYMOON BOUND!!

this past week has been a complete whirlwind... our wedding was the best day of my life (so far). i can't believe after over a year of planning, it's now over. it's bittersweet. my current emotion is a mix of happy (ok reaaaaally happy!!!) and sad: happy because our wedding was perfect and we have the most amazing family and friends, but sad because it's all over and we may never have all of those people in one room together again. it was a really, really special day. i want to relive it over and over and over and over again. it was just simply perfect.

i am in such a happy place in my life right now. i've had a permanent smile on my face since last friday. i just can't get over how blessed i am to have the most amazing family, friends, and husband. everything is exactly how it should be and we are exactly where we should be in our lives. life is just very, very good. and sometimes i just stop and think about everything, and just smile even more. i am just really, really happy. and i think this feeling is going to last the rest of my life... :)

so the wedding was on saturday, august 7th and we are leaving for our honeymoon this saturday, august 14th! i can't believe we will have been married a week already at that point! last week at this time, i was running around doing errands and icing cupcakes and making favors! but nonetheless, i am SO excited for our honeymoon! i mentioned it before, but we are going to CALIFORNIA! i am beyond excited! i've never been west past ohio, so this is big stuff for me! and i haven't been on a plane since i was about 3 years old, so i am even more excited!! i think we get a window seat!!

we are flying into san francisco, then renting a car and doing a little california roadtrip! we'll be gone for 11 days, 10 nights. i cannot wait!! throughout our roadtrip, we will head to: sausalito, sonoma/napa valley, yosemite/sequoia/kings canyon, pismo beach, santa cruz, and san francisco! i am just so excited!

i hope to maybe do a blog post from our honeymoon at some point, but who knows if that will really happen. :) but regardless, i will definitely tell you all about it once we get back!!

"all you need is love"
:)

WE'RE MARRIED!

i know it's been a while,

but i've been busy...

GETTING MARRIED!!

august 7, 2010

best day of my life

thus far

:)

{all photography by the AMAZING heather neckers}