{Looking Back}

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO Justine Miller Photography for the images you're about to see.

I meant to write this sooner... On December 24th to be exact. But, of course... the holidays are busy for everyone!

On Christmas Eve 2009, Ty and I got engaged. It was the best Christmas present of my life... and still is. From now on, every year... Christmas Eve will be extra special!!


So much has happened this year... and so much has changed! But, it all seems to be in good ways! New jobs... great friends... tons of special occasions... and now we are married!! 


I hope everyone had a year as great as ours... I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas... and I hope you are looking forward to another fabulous year as much as we are! 


Below are our Engagement photos taken this past February, by the fabulous Justine Miller Photography. You can visit her website on the link above... and you can visit her blog HERE!


I couldn't have asked for a better year... and I definitely couldn't have asked for a better photographer to capture our memories! Thank You Justine!!

And, Thank You Ty for making me one happy girl! 

{Star Of Wonder}

Last night, we had the pleasure of joining Ty's parents at Phoenix First Assembly Church for their 32nd Annual Star of Wonder Christmas Celebration Performance.

I wasn't exactly sure what this was going to be like... but, this performance definitely exceeded my highest expectations. The music was incredible, the actors were amazing, it was just such a wonderful performance right down to the tiniest details. And, how can you beat live Elephants, Camels, Zebras, Tigers, Etc?! This show had me crying within minutes... and of course a lot of laughter too! It was just awesome.

Check out their website for more details & information. I believe that tomorrow is last night they will be showing this performance - so, if you're looking for something to do tonight... I would highly recommend it! (Especially if you have children!)

{It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas}

Well... some would say that I am not the best or most domesticated wife. But, in my defense - I've only had 3 "official" months of practice.

I have never been one to get into the holiday season cheerfully... because when I think of holidays, I think of money. And, considering that I never have any -- I kind of just brush off the whole idea of holidays and do my best to ignore that holidays are even occurring.

This year... I learned a few lessons. Simple decorations, easy & cheap celebrating, and family and friends can easily provide holiday cheer without spending a lot of money. It helped to have a little nudge from some important friends :

Our roommate Erica rants & raves about how fabulously her mother would decorate their house each year for Christmas. I could tell that she was yearning for some holiday cheer... so, we made an attempt to do a little decorating -- partially for ourselves, but mostly for her.

Then, we visited our friends Bobby & Alicia's house and it looked like a Christmas Elf vomited Christmas everywhere. I say that in a good way. It was almost enchanting... and definitely inspiring. Luckily, that very same night -- they gave us their old Christmas tree and a ton of other decorations and even amazing holiday smelly candles & oils. 


Alright... I can take a hint. We decorated. Are you guys happy now? ... I'm not gonna lie - I am very happy. It's such a great feeling to come home to a house full of Christmas cheer... even if we don't have money to spend on Christmas like the rest of this crazy country. I'm also not gonna lie again... My husband did most of the decorating. But... Thank You to everyone that gave us a little nudge! ;p 

{Dew Drops in the Garden}

Well... they are actually rain drops. And, we don't have a garden -- because, well... we live in Phoenix.

But, when I first saw these photos -- "Dew Drops in the Garden" was the first phrase that came to mind. "Dew Drops in the Garden" is actually an album by Deee-Lite, It holds a special place in my teenage memories.

Anyway - back on the photography subject... Ty took these photos while I was at work the other day. We had rain. It was weird. (It doesn't rain much in Phoenix, so when it does... It's Sorta a Big Deal!) Unfortunately my work schedule doesn't really allow me to take photographs in the day light (except on weekends - which I usually spend drinking too much, because... well - I have to recover from that work week!)

Luckily, Ty's work schedule is a little bit more flexible and he's been providing most of our blog content lately. I spend my evening hours trying to figure out why our computer isn't working... Google is my best friend these days. Today - I fixed the computer a bit, not sure what I did or why it worked. But, I actually had enough space to upload some photos onto the hard drive, and even use Photoshop! I teared up a little bit!! So... here ya go. And, thanks Ty!!

{Frustrations... And Ducks}

We have had so many issues with our (non-existant) website... our blog... and our computer lately. It's highly frustrating. Without going into too much detail, I will say - these frustrations are, but are not limited to:

Partitions
External Hard Drives Screwing up my Partitions (is that possible?)
Not enough Hard Drive Space (but having no idea why)
Not enough Scratch Disc (which makes it impossible to edit photos)
Updating Software... And Updating more Software... Then having to update Software again before I can update more software.
Website Developing or lack thereof
Forwarding Domains (that don't work)
The Blog Lay Out (and these TINY pictures!!)

There's much more behind this short story... but, I'm done telling it. I wish we had a MAC genie to help us through all these tough times. But, needless to say - it's a learning process... and quite an annoying one, at that.

On a better note, Ty went to McCormick park yesterday and got some nice shots of all the birdies that are visiting us for winter. These brightened my day a little bit, because: 1.) I love when my husband finds inspiration (and gives me something to edit.) 2.) He's getting so good, I hardly need to edit (which is good because my computer won't let me edit right now.) 3.) I love nature. 4.) I love birds, geese, ducks... and well, I love all animals. So, these pictures put a big smile on my face!

PS ~ Don't forget, if you'd like to see a picture in full-size, just click on it.
And, if you'd like to help us earn a few cents towards a new computer - click on an ad or two! ;p

AAAAAND - Nevermind about the Tiny Pictures! I just figured out how to make them bigger! Woot! Woot!