Twenty-Fourteen: A Recap (part 1)

The last time I updated this blog, it was April. In the 8 months that have passed since then, it's something of an understatement to say that a lot has happened.

Nevertheless…a LOT has happened.

With that in mind, I'm going to break this down into somewhat chronological order. There will be some criss-crossing back and forth across timelines, but it shouldn't get too confusing.

April-May: ranch preparation

I had applied to work at Wind River Ranch again for the entire summer as a wrangler. Since getting the job, and deciding that I would drive there myself instead of flying/taking a train, I spent most of the time beforehand working and getting my car ready for such a journey. At this point I was still working at the gym 6 afternoons a week and cleaning houses in the AM. (I finished up a 6-month weight-lifting regimen and a Couch-to-5K program around the end of April as well—something I really miss is true weightlifting. But oh well.)

On May 3^rd, my little brother got married. It was a very, very small occasion—originally only the parents were invited, but I managed to finagle my way in under the pretense that they needed a photographer. (The finagling was only just.)

Look at the happy couple!

After the wedding—the day of, if one wants to be particular about it—I drove to my aunt and uncle's house in northern Arkansas. The plan was to stay at her house for about a week, then drive down to Texas to see some friends that I hadn't seen for 4 years, and then drive from Texas to Colorado. I had been on road trips before, but never by myself. I remember being pretty excited at the prospect—unfortunately it seems to have awoken a strange desire to see the United States in its entirety by car. We'll see what happens with that.

While in Arkansas, my aunt and I went to Crystal Bridges (this fantastic museum comprising just of American art), the Bluebird Factory, I shadowed her to work a couple of days…the week ended up stretching to almost 10 days just because we were having so much fun. During this time I was offered a job (jokingly, I thought) by my aunt's boss. It turns out he wasn't joking…but I didn't realize this until some time later.

Then I drove to northern Texas to see Christa and Ashlee!

I've known these two for quite a long time—back in 2010 we had 'The Great Illinois-Texas Transfer' where they flew up to stay with me for a week, and then I flew to Texas to stay with them for the following week. I was only able to stay for a couple of days this time, but it was wonderful. 

Also, here's a picture of me on a longhorn bull. (Or maybe it was a steer.)

I got up very early on a Tuesday (or maybe a Wednesday? The days blurred together) and made the 15-hour drive from Christa and Ashlee's to a town outside of Denver, Colorado. My Google maps sent me up through Amarillo, across the panhandle of Oklahoma, and through the southern deserty-bits of Colorado. It was one of those things that, at the time, seemed terribly exciting (except for the bits across the desert—that got a little boring) but in retrospect was kind of crazy.

I think that doing something like that on my own, with no one else to rely on in the moment (sure, I could call people if I needed something, but I was the one who had to do the actual driving and keep myself awake through the long hours of flat desert) had an interesting effect on me. It increased my confidence in myself as a navigator (much of the trip I had to use a map because my phone didn't have service) and made me realize that I could actually do these things by myself. I mean, I knew in my mind that I could do it. But until I had actually done it, there was nothing to confirm that mental knowledge.

So it was, one very long day later, that I ended up at Kas' house outside of Denver. From her house to the ranch is about 1 ½ hours, and having a place to recoup before going to said ranch was indescribable. I also knew that she wouldn't be going back that summer except for visits, and it was really nice to be able to catch up before plunging into the ranch activity.

(Part 2 will be loaded with pictures, fret not!)

::Engagement Shoot: Gabriel and Abigail::

Or Gabi and Abi, as they are affectionately known.

Gabi is my brother-in-law (that is, he's my sister-in-law's brother, so I guess we're kinda related? We say we are, and that's what counts XD), and he's officially getting married on the 22th...

(On a side note: WOW. Where did that time go? O.o)

...to the lovely Abi Morse. They asked me to take their engagement pictures while I was down in Florida last November, and of COURSE I pounced on the opportunity. Thus, the following is their official engagement photo shoot. I've been waiting for MONTHS to get this up.... :3 *rubs hands together*

Oh yes, everything's after the jump!

November in Florida

So as I mentioned last month, I spent all of November in Florida. Since I haven't done a single post concerning that yet, I think we are far overdue for something more than a little recap, yes? Yes. So let's do this thing!

 

As I may have mentioned before, my brother and I drove down to Florida on November 4^th. It took roughly 24 hours and 3 (4?) tanks of gas to make it, but make it we did and I had an absolute blast helping take care of my nephews and seeing them for the first time in 7 months.

I taught Wade to say that his name is Bilbo Baggins, and Ben was starting to say 'Baggins' when I left, so I consider my work there complete. XD

Wade loves his bear and horse...when I arrived the first thing he showed me was that horse. I sent it to Ben from Colorado (obviously Wade commandeered it instead), and I'm not sure if Wade made the connection that it was from me, but it would be pretty awesome if he did. :D

Also, Ben is freaking ADORABLE. I mean...they both are, but look at that face!

STAHP IT.

Oh yes, and Ben loves his thumb too. It's what keeps him sane when he's about to lose all composure. (Immediately beforehand he had been wailing about something...but the magic thumb cures all emotional injuries!)

Wade may or may not be slightly camera-shy...he likes for me to take pictures of his things, but not of himself. XD

 I did get lucky here though!

I took LOTS of video of the boys, and may or may not turn it into a full-fledged video in the near future. It's in Adobe Premiere waiting for editing...so we'll see about that. 

Even though they can't reach the sink very well they try hard. And usually they end up grabbing a cupful of water and slinging it across the sink...but they're adorable and I don't care. 

Wade also loves his monkey backpack (or 'munkee papack', as he calls it).

He got a haircut too!

And he smiles on command. 

This was after a super-long day with no naps...Isaac brought him in, laid him on the floor, and Wade INSTANTLY fell asleep. I kinda want to get this printed and frame it.

Over Thanksgiving I took family pictures for everyone, which involved going to the Acevedo's house and wandering around in a nearby nature preserve whilst looking for the perfect photo ops. I also took did an engagement shoot for Gabi and Abi (Lydiana's brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law) the following day, but that's for a future post.

There's Ben going all gangstah on us...

Contrary to what it may seem, they don't mind being carried like sacks of potatoes. XD

Wade and his Tio Obi!

Wade thought that Tio Obi needed a hat too.

And Ben looooooves his thumb.

EMILY! I hadn't seen her since last March at the wedding, so we were long overdue for a visit. ^-^

And she's PREGGERS! It's kind of a strange feeling, to be honest...I mean, we grew up together, and she's younger than me, and...and...yeah. Just a little weird. XD

Planking?

Wade: "Climb?"

Next post: engagement pictures for Gabi and Abi. They turned out AWESOME. :D

Home Again, Home Again

As the title says, I am now home! There's been a LOT of stuff packed into this trip, the drive home, and wrapping it up while at home, so have a recap list thingy until I can get my act together and post pictures.

 

1. I took family pictures for two families and did an engagement shoot over Thanksgiving weekend.

 

This means that I have a ton of pictures. Fortunately, I've got them all edited and organized on my computer at home; unfortunately, I'm now at work and separated from my laptop. (For those of you that may be concerned that I'm slacking on my job, all it consists of is cleaning and answering the phone. Since cleaning is done, I'm sitting next to the phone awaiting phone calls with bated breath.)

 

The engagement shoot was for Lydiana's brother Gabi and his fiancé Abi. Let me just tell you now that they are freakin' adorable and I can't WAIT to do the post for them. We went to a reserve a couple of minutes from the Acevedo's house, and it was an absolute pleasure to shoot. I'm just waiting for Abi to get the 'save the date' stuff selected and posted on her end before I start throwing pictures all over the place.

 

2. Thanksgiving was spent at my brothers' in-laws, which was strange and fun at the same time.

 

I say 'strange' because for as long as I can remember my family has spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with my grandparents down the street. Since they're both gone as of last February, this means that we're having to create some new traditions that don't involve seeing close family.

 

I say 'fun' because my best friend Emily Rose is married to my brother's brother-in-law, and the other brother-in-law is the one who had the photo shoot, and everything was delightfully mixed and I got to see people that I haven't seen in months/years. I also stayed with Emily and Obi, took pictures of them, went to Mount Dora (which is a whole whopping 107 feet above sea level!), and generally had a blast.

 

3. After Thanksgiving I drove to see my friend Tricia on the East coast of Florida.

 

This meant driving all by myself the breadth of Florida, and aside from the excitement of getting to see Tricia for the first time in a year I had the strange feeling of freedom and independence that comes from driving to an unfamiliar place alone.

 

Seeing Tricia was AWESOME. She and I have kept in contact via letters and occasional phone calls for the better part of three years, and she is that brutally honest friend that is so gentle and sweet about the way that she unfolds that brutal honesty that instead of off-putting it's very endearing. My biggest regret is not getting any pictures of her, because she was 37 weeks pregnant. There was a moment of trepidation where the baby dropped during my stay, and I wasn't sure if there was going to be a surprise early baby. Thankfully that did not happen, and she's still trucking along towards 40 weeks.

 

We basically spent the whole visit drinking tea and talking. I think both of us needed the opportunity to catch up. XD

 

4. On my way back across Florida from Tricia's, I got a phone call about another pregnant friend of mine.

 

Emily Rose's sister in law, Emily Lynn, went into labor around 5 AM that Sunday. By the time I got back to Isaac and Lydiana's place at 10:30 AM, she had delivered a baby girl at 33 weeks. Both are doing great, and I got to see both of them yesterday, but for a few hours it was pretty tense because we didn't know why she was going into premature labor. We still don't, but by the looks of things they will be going home in a couple of weeks.

 

5. Wade and Ben kept me crazy busy.

 

Enough said? XD

 

6. I started watching a new TV series (like I need another distraction in my life).

 

I've made it through 1 2/3 seasons of Once Upon a Time within 2 1/2 weeks. I've been truly too busy to pick it up again since coming home, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

 

7. The trip home was shared with another friend of mine, Jean Marie.

 

I hadn't seen Jean Marie for almost 2 years, and all I have to say is: THAT NEEDED TO STOP. Seriously. I never realize quite how much I missed her until I saw her last Saturday night, and it was like 'you fit a perfectly Jean-shaped hole in my life please don't go away'. Ya know what I mean? And while we have exchanged the occasional letter and comment on each other's Facebook posts and keep in contact that way, nothing replaces actual, face-to-face, REAL communication. I can't even describe it.

 

The whole trip home and consequent visit will have to be another post, because it was definitely an adventure in itself. Mwahaha.

 

You know, I'm liking this adventure-taking side into which my life has been morphing.

 

8. I've recently started working at the gym again.

 

I started Monday, as a matter of fact. A week or so before I came home from Colorado Mom called me to say that I had been offered the evening hours at the gym. Since I had nothing else lined up, I jumped on it and am now officially employed. Between cleaning houses and the gym, I should be set before May rolls around again.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

I think that wraps up the list-making...I'll be back with more posts and pictures later, but tonight/tomorrow will be my last days spent with Jean Marie and Shelby before Jean goes back to Florida, so don't expect anything before then. XD

One Day More

In keeping with Les Miserables obsession and the tendency to repeat old jokes, I'm re-using this blog post title. (Basically...whenever something important is happening on the morrow I re-use that phrase. Anyway.)

 Guys. You would not believe how....how.....excited? Nervous? Attentive? I can't think of the right word right now. But basically I've been checking and double-checking everything today and now I think I have everything officially together. The laptop is the last thing to be packed. 8D

I was going to take the horse for a ride today, but after going to the gym I felt like I was going to die (one day I'm okay with running, the next I hate it). So I took a short nap and woke up to it POURING outside. Sigh.

Case in point. It was wild, man.

 I also managed to shatter a glass today, completely by accident. See, I made these lemonade popsicles a while back. They're really good, but SO tart that I could hardly eat them and there were 3 left. (My mouth is watering now at the thought of all that sourness. Yum.)

I took the popsicles out of the freezer and immediately dropped them into a glass. The glass in this scenario is one of those heavy-duty, seamless ones that no one in our family has ever broken, which is a miracle in itself.

About 30 seconds after they hit the bottom of the glass, I was holding it in my hand and heard a 'tink'. I looked down in horror, heard another 'tink', and next thing I know I'm holding a glass that has been neatly sliced in half. It didn't fall apart in my hand (thank goodness) but it was SCARY. See?

 

It was like one of those Pinterest things on how to cut a wine bottle or Mason jar, but totally by accident!

ACK.

The weirdest part was, it stayed together very well and even was waterproof enough for me to pour my rapidly-melting lemonade icicles into another glass. (That one stayed intact.)

In OTHER other news, I shaved Javert today! He has this crazy thick coat that I adore, but it's been hot for the past few days and I can tell that he's starting to get miserable (and shed like crazy). It took me about an hour, but he has been completely shaved with no casualties. He doesn't even look like the same dog.

 

His little collar is on the smallest hole now, instead of on the largest.... *sniff*

My dad didn't recognize him either. He saw this weird grey dog with black points running down Main Street and didn't realized until he followed said dog home that it was Javvie.

My brother and I took Javvie swimming at Wildcat Springs yesterday too. He liked wading, but he really did not like swimming. Or going higher than his chest. *sigh* We'll make a water dog of him yet!

Okay. I promised that I would go to bed early, but I really doubt that's going to happen...I'm too wired. 8D The next time I post something it'll be from Colorado! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Florida Babies

Taking into account the absurd amount of photos that will be posted, read more after the break!

(Disclaimer: I didn't take pictures every day, and these are in no particular order. I may or may not inject anecdotal stuff periodically as well.)

May I Present....

....the new Mr. and Mrs. Obed Acevedo! (Or Mr. and Mrs. Emily Nelson, depending on which side of the family you prefer. :P) Obviously I'm going to have a TON of pictures on here, so more after the break!

(Apologies for not posting anything lately--I bit off somewhat more than I could chew for this post. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things soonish though)

In no particular order.....

The past two days have felt like two weeks. So, in no particular order (and with some pictures tossed about) here's what's been up.

(1) Tuesday was a one-year noniversary, as evidenced in the last post. That in itself is/was exhausting.

(2) My grandmother also passed away on Tuesday at 3:18 PM, 45 minutes after I had left to spend a couple of days at a friend's house. She was 93, still at home, and the last time I saw her was Tuesday morning around 11:20. She was sitting up, lucid, and gave me a hug goodbye before I went to work, so I got to say goodbye at least. I haven't cried yet, but today I've felt like I'm about to at any moment.

(3) My friend Shelby and I decided, seeing as how we're both single and boycotting Valentine's Day, that while I was there we would watch the most emotionally devastating movies we could possibly think of and settled on The Green Mile and Schindler's List. I had no idea what the former was about, and had read the book of the latter but still wasn't quite prepared. They were both exhausting and traumatizing--I'm glad I saw them, just to say I did, but I'll probably never watch either again.

(4) On Wednesday I went with my Shelby's family to St. Louis for a doctor's appointment for her younger sister. Three hours there and three hours back, with quick visits to Trader Joe's (I love that place, and have decided that we need one here XD), World Market (for bacon chocolate), and Whole Foods tucked in there somewhere. It was a very long day...but fun too. I have pictures from the trip, to be added towards the end of this post.

(5) I'm behind on my schoolwork, but all I feel like doing is crying and sleeping. I think it's a combination of lack of sleep and being emotionally pummeled all week. O.e But I want to post some pictures before signing off, so here goes.

This is Sherlock and Watson (no joke, that's actually their names and it cracks me up to no end) snuggling on the couch. They like having their bellies rubbed.

Getting ready to watch The Green Mile (and apparently Shelby hates having her picture taken....... O.e)

Tom Hanks!

Last time I was at World Market in Florida I got bacon chocolate, and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then. So when I saw there was a WM in St Louis I practically dragged the others in to show them. (The St. Louis one was bigger and cooler with a wider variety than the one in Palm Coast, actually. Just so ya'll know. :P)

To be honest, the strawberry/salt one was much better than the bacon chocolate. As a die-hard bacon fan this is hard to say...but it really was better. So delicious and sweet and salty...gah.

Yeah, so somebody can't seem to make a normal face in front of the camera. XD

Shelby's youngest sister was sick with a head cold, so we sat with her out in the van while the others went in to the hospital. We were parked on the roof so after a while we got out to run around and take pictures--I'm hardly ever on the other end of the camera, so I gave it to Shelby and let her have at it.

Crazy windy.

And sunny. It was almost blindingly sunny, actually. Being on the roof of the car garage probably didn't help either.

That's not my hat, by the by--Shelby let me borrow one of her cloche hats. Downton Abbey has me wanting to bring hats back in to style.

"MAJESTIC!!!!"

(I was trying to pull a Thorin-Oakenshield-looking-majestic thing and just ended up looking deranged. Sigh.)

I think this is the only normal picture I got of S. She won't stop making faces, gosh durnit!

...case in point. XD

The spoils from shopping...I think that going into natural food stores (stores in general?) is dangerous. There were so many delicious things to see and try and buy...gah.

Murr' Chrusmurs!

(or, Merry Christmas!)

Christmas at my house is...how shall I say it...very relaxed. We go over to Grammie's in the late afternoon, but for the majority of the day we laze around. We didn't even get up until 8:30 this morning (I didn't, at least...), opened presents, ate a late breakfast at 10:00, and now it's time for naps and a day full of NOTHING. *turns on Josh Groban's Christmas album*

I love it. :3

(I know a family here in town that's expecting 65 family members today and has to feed all of them. I don't know about ya'll, but that sounds stressful and terrifying. O.o)

But on to Christmas stuff! I was more excited about Mom and Dad's gift and the dog's present than I was about mine...is that weird?

We gave Mom and Dad a coffee-maker because the pot on the other one is broken. This is one of those snazzy ones that has a button to fill one cup at a time, instead of funneling it into a pot and having it sit all day. It's a purty cool coffee-maker.

Oh! Javert's present! I'm ridiculously excited about this, actually.

It's a spiky collar! :3 Now he can be a big bad dog and protect us more effectively....unless it's from the resident wild cat, in which case he whines and cries because he's afraid of the cat but doesn't want it on our property either. -.-

I think it looks rather snazzy. When I showed it to him it was like he knew it was his, because he perked his ears up and got all excited. XD

I got tea and a traveler's press! Observe:

I love tea, but I have so much now that I probably won't need any for a couple of years. At least. O.o

On a side note: the ginger mint tea is POTENT. I popped the lid off to sniff it and got a snoot full of ginger dust. I couldn't smell anything other than ginger for the better part of 20 minutes.

I love Republic of Tea. (Even though they're probably Communists or something with their 'citizen this' and 'citizen that' and 'minister of such-and-such'. XD)

By the by, we DO have a white Christmas thanks to the snow storm that moved through last week:

It looked like this (and worse) all day last Thursday. (Or was it Friday?) There wasn't much snow, but it had rained before the temperature dropped, and with the wind and ice people were going off the roads like crazy. The main highway was closed until the wind stopped because it was deemed too dangerous to drive. O.o

Kitty prints...

Javert liked it too.

And with that, Merry Christmas!