crazy things going on up in here

Hello there!  I don't know if you remember me but I sometimes blog in this space right here and then weeks go by.  I don't know why it's taken me so long to announce some pretty big news.  But here it is accompanied by some totally exquisite photos of me and my big teeth.







My baby boy is going to be a big brother this summer!!!

This past week.

I've been trying to focus on where my time goes.  I am terrible at time management and I'm sure a lot of people can say the same... but really I should say that I AM THE WORST with time management.  I want to take care of my baby, teach him, and play with him.  I want to have time to make good meals for him, take long walks (because that is what he loves), and also make sure that he is rested.  I sometimes think I want to do the laundry but I really don't- I just know that my clean underwear will eventually run out.  Sometimes I also think that the dishes have to be done right now or else they will never get done.  Add in also wanting to be a good daughter and friend and trying to keep in touch with those I love.

On top of that I want to book more portrait sessions, work on said portrait sessions, blog about them, blog about anything else, and make up routines for a Zumba class that I someday want to teach.  Then, kind of out the blue, I found a love for food shopping and coming up with meals that I feel my family will enjoy.  I have always been a fan of eating but cooking or baking the food has never really been my strong point- I am hoping to change that a bit.

I know that there is only so much time in each day so I'm starting to focus on certain things on certain days/weeks- with taking care of my son being something that always take precedence, obviously.


I love The Little Red House and have enjoyed a couple of recipes from Sheena's blog.  I made this acorn squash recently and Jbear loved it.  This week I drooled over her chicken soup recipe and the accompanying photos.  Mine looks more like pea soup but the chicken is just hidden.  I used mustard greens instead of collard and regular white beans instead of butter beans.  It was SO delicious... so much in fact that I couldn't wait for a reasonable soup eating hour and just had leftovers for breakfast.  



J loves letters and numbers like crazy!!  My sister in law suggested that I embark on an alphabet project where I teach each letter (phonetically) for a whole week.  We talked about Captial A and lower case a using the chalk board, a huge piece of construction paper and crayon, a paper cut out of an A, and play-dough.  He was excited to go onto B then C but we kept going with A a few days this week.


Now when he sees the play-dough he screams, "AAAAAAAAAA".


Tumbling class.


Bubbles!!!

So I'm aware that this post is random and all over the place but this was our week in review, kind of.  I don't feel that I need to be everything, or do everything I just want to try.  However, knowing myself I have to set some limits or else I'll just get overwhelmed and do nothing.  The way I see it is like this- I'll always be me, a wife, and mother.  Some weeks though I'll be a photographer, an aspiring Zumba intructor, a homemaker and a really great friend who calls you back within a few 24 hours.  Somewhere in between the laundry will hopefully be done.  

Crazy for Zumba!

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post.

Remember when I posted that I took my first Zumba class?  Well from the very first class I took in June I was hooked and I never wanted to miss a class.  One day it hit me that I should look into becoming a Zumba instructor so I signed up for an Instructor Training course.  I was excited but extremely nervous and wondering how I was going to last from 9am to 6:30pm dancing my butt off.  Well the day finally came and it was AWESOME!!!  I never sweat so much in my life!  I still have so much more work to do before I actually become a Zumba instructor but I've got my certificate and I'm on my way!  The training course was taught by Tanya Beardsley who is so incredibly talented, crazy gorgeous, and wonderfully sweet.



And here I am totally uncool with my goofy smile and showing Tanya how I can shake my booty.

Whenever I do teach my first class will you guys come take it??

Inspiration!! Dance!

I want to talk about inspiration!!  For years and years I would spend an obscene amount of time online just staring at photos, blogs, website layouts, knitting projects, recipes, etc.  I would look and look and look for hours thinking that I was soaking in ALL this inspiration but I wouldn't complete a single task.  I still look online and check blogs basking in what others are doing and the majority of the time I do think- "Oh, I'm not creative enough to do that" or "I'm not talented enough to get to that point".

But now, I'm trying to think a bit differently.  When I look up dance videos and see people going nuts and just busting loose I try not to think, "I'm way too old for that, my body simply can't move that way" instead I push the couch and coffee table out of the way and go at it.

Here are some videos that inspire me like crazy.









I have so many more favorites but I'll save them for another post.  Right now I need to take advantage of Jbear's nap and pretend I'm one of Justin Timberlake's back up dancers!!


This week I'm going to be talking a lot about my inspiration- photographers, blogs (and bloggers), style and more.  I hope you'll join me and divulge what inspires you!

My Jazz Shoes Are So Excited!

I just read this on Mighty Girl's blog and I knew I was going to be inspired.  She posted this video and I just knew I had to start!



Matt Cutts talks about 30 day projects and I feel like this is right up my alley.  Yes yes I am still working my way through my 30 days before my 30th birthday list (which was in fact 4 days ago) but I am jumping on this now.  I also kind of like that it's the 1st of the month when I'm starting this.

Okay, so a little over a month ago I posted this.  I wrote a lot but was also kind of vague.  So here it is: I want to dance... plain and simple.  I love going out and dancing but what I really want to do is performance dancing.  I used to dance when I was younger and although I wasn't very good I still loved it.  My love would come back in tiny bursts, especially when I had the opportunity to photograph a dance theatre group's dress rehearsal.  My two loves combined- dance and photography.  I didn't have the dedication or the discipline to continue but now I definitely realize the mistake I made in stopping.  However, I'm trying to focus on the whole "it's never too late" theory.

So, along with looking for dance classes to take in the area I am vowing to give myself at least 10 minutes a day to just dance.  It can be in the form of a dance class or just busting a move in my living room while the Jbear naps.  I hope this all leads somewhere but for now I just want to dance!!

Joel is doing a 30 day project too- he will be shooting film for 30 days.  While he was out, shooting with our Canon A-1, I rolled up the rug and danced along to this song:



and this one

If you gave yourself 30 days to do something you've always wanted to do, what would it be?  

it's a new day

Do you have friends that are so completely inspiring?  It's not how they portray their lives via photos or status updates but how they live and what they do (or maybe don't do).  I have so many people in my life who inspire me in different ways but so many times I don't do anything with it.  I get all pumped up and then... nothing.  Nothing at all.  I talk big but I feel like I might be living small.  Living simply is not the same as living small.  I live a simple life but it's not lived to it's full potential.  I shy away from opportunities and just talk and talk and talk.  I just don't DO.  And I need to because I really want to.  So I'm taking cues from my friends and grabbing everything I love about them to give my life some oomph.


My dear friend Kate is a stay at home mother and really knows how to spend the 24 hours we are given each day.  She cooks & bakes, does fun activities with her children and takes time to sit outside and enjoy the sunset.  She isn't on facebook and doesn't watch t.v.  Jodi is the friend that never says no- she is always up for an adventure.  She has rheumatoid arthritis and makes the most of the energy she has and has even started a portrait project bringing a voice to those who suffer from autoimmune diseases.  My friend Yvonne is a teacher and loves to travel.  She decided that she wanted to teach in Europe and has been working hard to make that happen.  In a month she is going to be moving to Germany to teach at a school in Berlin.  I could go on about all my friends but I want to get the part where I share how I've been motivated.


Today I am claiming my new day.  I called on Kim to help keep me on track with these new plans and I just can't describe how excited I am.  I am digging deep for the motivation I used to have and I am going to pull it all out- or else Kim might beat me up.  In time I will totally share but I just wanted to blurt this out.  Once I figure out how to put my ideas and plans into writing, I will.  I can say that I am going try my hardest to use my time more wisely, go after what I want and say YES a lot more!!!


So, this song played the other night when I was out celebrating my brother's birthday and it has definitely inspired me in a few ways.  I'm such a sucker for the 90's!!!