signing off

I've put a lot of thought into this, but my heart is just not in this blog anymore. For many reasons, I'm going to be starting a new blog. I will not be linking it to this blog, because I am seeking more anonymity and privacy. I've made most of my accounts - Facebook, twitter, and Instagram - private.

I'm super disappointed Google is getting rid of Google Reader, and I'm really scared they will do away with Blogger, so that was my final push to relocate.

If you would still like to keep in touch, please leave your email address in the comments section, and I will happily send you the url for my new blog.

Thank you to everyone who has followed along with my life since 2008 {and just shy of 1000 posts!}. There's more to come - just on a different site.

photography workshop

I had such a fun time on Saturday with these ladies. They had all recently gotten dSLR cameras and wanted to learn how to use them. I held a four hour workshop with a lot of help from Paige and her mom, Joyce. Everyone seemed to be getting the hang of it by the time our workshop was over, so I'm hoping they'll keep practicing. If you've ever learned to make the switch from using automatic to manual mode on your camera, you know just how awkward it feels in the beginning. But we're all still learning in our own ways.

i love...

watching fat snowflakes falling

discovering a new restaurant downtown

deep conversation

perusing photography boards on Pinterest

Zack Galifianakis

snuggling on the couch

that daylight saving time is two weeks away

14 days of love

In an effort to celebrate everything a little more, Jason and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day for the first 14 days of February. If you are an Instagram follower, you've been able to see our acts of love each day. I wanted to compile them in one post and explain them a little bit. It was such a fun thing to look forward to each day, I'm kind of sad it ended. We'll definitely incorporate acts of love more often, and do this again next year.

1. I am often up at 5:10 in the morning at the gym, so on the first day of love, I stopped by Starbucks to get Jason a coffee. It was Friday, and he woke up with a sore throat, so it was much needed and appreciated.

2. I love nothing more than foot massages. When I usually ask for them before bed, they last all of a minute and are done so enthusiastically, so it was a big deal when Jason gave me the longest and best foot massage ever! I love that he even emailed me a coupon.

3. Jason loves crêpes, so I made him some on Sunday morning complete with Justin's chocolate hazelnut butter.

4. Jason consulted Google for some of the cute sayings he left me. I love smoked almonds.

5. Jason was bummed that I got to hang out with the kids all day when I was tracked out, and he had to work. He also had class that night, so he knew he couldn't even get dinner. I planned to meet him at Whole Foods {he goes there before class} and surprise him. We all had dinner together before he went to class.

6. I have a love affair with the Whole Foods olive bar.

7. I listed out favorite memories throughout our relationship and wrote them on hearts and taped them to the bathroom mirror for Jason to find in the morning.

8. I was PMSing majorly on this day and wanted nothing more than chocolate. Best chocolate ever.

9. We went downtown to try vegan hot chocolate at Escazú. Delicious.

10. With so much grad school reading, Jason doesn't get to enjoy his favorite magazine often. 

11. I love bubble baths.

12. Jason surprised me with this text and walked the dogs before going to class. That's usually my responsibility and not my favorite thing to do in the winter. Hate it.

13. & 14. I started a love notes journal for us and we both wrote entries to one another. We're going to keep this going.

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

day at the museum

I was tracked out last week and so were my cousins. With my last job, we were never on the same track-out schedule, but now, our schedules overlap some, which is awesome. I was able to pick them up on a random Tuesday and spend the day with them at them traipsing around Raleigh. First, we headed the Museum of Natural Sciences and then the Museum of History. They are right across from one another, which is super convenient. They are also free and a great place to spend a winter day.

I think the kids were most impressed with the dinosaur exhibit and loved the video that went with it.
Kayla enjoyed finding the various plants and animals listed around the museum. She was really good at spotting everything.
Kaden enjoyed the poop exhibit. I don't know what else to call it. It had various types of poop, and you had to match the poop with the animal. 
I think they enjoyed the gift shop the most and deciding how to spend their $10. I think they would have spent it all on candy, until we had a little lesson on the side. They each got a piece or two of candy, but also chose something they actually saw in the museum. I thought it was really funny how Kaden spent a lot of his childhood wearing an eye patch to make his other eye stronger, and then chose to buy a pirate's eye patch. Maybe, we should have gotten him a pirate eye patch all along?

fly with me

Laura, a friend of mine from college, and her husband, David, a private pilot, invited Jason and me to fly with them two Sundays ago. I know, I took a little time off from blogging. We also have pretty amazing friends. Jason has been thinking of getting his private pilot's license when he finishes graduate school, so it was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

It was really fun going to a section of the airport we had never experienced - the private side.

The terminal looked so small when taking off.

We flew over Durham, Chapel Hill {you can see my favorite stadium above and the Dean Dome in the far left of the photo}.
We also flew over Downtown Raleigh, North Hills, and Meredith College. All of my favorite places.

It was a pretty windy day, so the turbulence was pretty unreal. We had to stop and get a Ginger Ale on our way home. Thanks again, David and Laura! You can see more photos of our day in my Instagram feed. There is a link on the right, and you don't have to sign in or sign up. Just click on it {that's mainly for my aunt, Lori}.

branding and such

 

I am so excited for my mom. She finally has decided to get focused and sell her pottery through Etsy. She's been doing pottery since 1999 and trained in Seagrove, North Carolina. However, she hasn't been super focused in her vision and goals for her business. I absolutely love branding and designing logos and websites. I just like to do it on the side and for fun. She already had the name for her business and website, so I went from there. I created a mood board, too. We still have lots to do, such as take product photos of her pottery to put on Etsy and design her booth for future festivals. But, the branding stuff is taken care of, and so is her website. It's a work in progress, but the bones are there. Check it out!