Week in the Life Wednesday Photos

Wednesday seemed to be my day.  My day for taking more photos and my day for getting a little more creative.  Maybe it has something to do with it being dad's birthday.  I want to document it all.

 ^^ Morning routine....

^^ Heading home for lunch.

 ^^ Love this pup (and this photo)!

 ^^Making lunch and talking to Dakota on the phone.  Discussing his student loans and getting them paid off.

 ^^Beautiful outside.

^^Back at work.

 ^^Family dinner. 

 ^^ Getting ready to watch the Royals Game! 

 ^^"I'll take that for you..."

 ^^ Cake making.

 ^^ The birthday boy!

 ^^ His oncologist is treating him like he has a cold and therefore, dad said he couldn't blow out candles.  So he used one of his cards instead.  It worked! (I think he just really doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday.)

 ^^ Saying goodnight.  (I love this because next year (maybe, depending on the dates of the next WITL) we won't be doing this anymore because we will be married.  It's going to be so fun to look at these down the road after we have babies, etc.

Week in the Life Tuesday Photos

 ^^ Getting ready in the morning always starts with a shower.

 ^^  Accidentally left my camera on manual focus.  Like the blurriness.  Even though I'm up and have showered, I'm still not quite awake.

^^ Left for work with this beautiful sky.

 ^^Dad refused to be in a photo since he hadn't showered yet.  I asked if I could still get one of just his hands while doing his daily sudoku.  Thankfully he allowed that. 

^^ Had my monthly dinner date with some high school friends.  So thankful for these two.

 ^^Got home and mom wanted to go for a walk in the neighborhood.  

 ^^ Then we sat down to watch September and October's One Little Word videos.  We are so behind but needed to start somewhere.

 ^^ Watching the Royals dominate.

 ^^ Texting my love goodnight, like I do every night we are apart.

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Daddy.

I am so incredibly blessed to be your daughter.

I love you so, so much.

Week in the Life Monday Photos

 ^^ Morning wake up alarms are brutal, especially on a Monday.

^^ Morning routine.

 ^^Watching the sunrise on my drive to work.

^^Driving home for lunch with dad.

 ^^Miss Abby waiting for lunch.

 ^^Most of the leaves have already turned colors and dropped.  But there was still a few left.

 ^^Waiting for Abby to do her thing.  It is surprisingly warm for the end of October.  I'm not sure if I love it or hate it.

 ^^Setting up a menu and tasting with a potential caterer for our wedding.

 ^^Emptying and loading.

 ^^Getting ready to mail some things to our bridal party.

Week in the Life Intro

Another year of Week in the Life.  Yes, this projet is a lot of work, but I love it.  I love how it captures the smallest moments on our daily lives.  I don't flip through my books very often, but when I do, I'm reminded on how important those little moments matter.  I can't believe how much things change from year to year.

Here are how some things changed and how some things remained the same through out each Week in the Life year:

2012 | April

Dad: We found out the cancer is coming back.

Mom:  Still works at a middle school.

Me:  Recent college graduate looking for a job.

Abby: Howls and chases bubbles.

2013 | September

Differences:  My desk in my room is now downstairs and I have a crafting space in the basement, the black car isn't working and we are using my grandpa's car, new computer and ipad.

Dad: Is healthy

Mom:  Still working at a middle school in the 8th grade classroom.

Me:  Dakota entered my life.  I'm a memeber of Junior League.

Other Family Members: My grandma H passed away

Work: I have a job and am a purchasing coordinator.

2014 | October

Differences:  No surgery this time!!!.  I have a borad position in Junior League

Dad:  On a new chemo treatment plan and seems to be doing alright.

Mom:  Still teaching at the middle school, but with a different teacher.  She moves to different classrooms more often.

Me:  Dakota and I are engaged and planning a wedding for next October.

Work: Working at the same employeer, but changed depeartments.  I'm the PDM Coordinator.

There are so many more similarities and differences, but these are the most noticiable changes.

I can't wait to see what my everyday life is like in 2014!

Week Forty One

October 12, 2014

Exploring the colors in the park on the 12th.

(And next year on this day we will be on our honeymoon!!!)

Project Life 31-34

Week Thirty One | What do you do when you go photo crazy on a vacation?....you don't take any photos the next week.  This week I added little notes that happened though out the week and included my 52 week photo and called it done.

Week Thrity Two | This week wasn't much better on the photo front.  Made some delicous peanut butter brownies, started my get messy art journal, watched Abby get caught around the mailbox because she was so excited to see me when I got home after work, and Rory checking out my scrapbooking trash I put on the floor.  (This week was spent mostly putting together my vacation scrapbook--but I got it done and it is amazing!)

Week Thrity Three | Again, not much going on this week.  A great photo I took of Rory with my phone.  I booked three photo session this week and we went to put flowers on Uncle Bobby's grave.  This marked what would have been his 53rd birthday and 3 years since he has passed.

Week Thirty Four | This should include my 12of12 insert, but I haven't printed it yet.  It was another slow week.  A little of Rory, a little of Abby, a little of scrapbooking and a little rain.

12of12 | October 2014

01.  Sunday morning play time.
02.  Cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
03.  My boys.
04.  Rory checking out what's going on in the back yard.
05.  Fall colors.
06.  Us.
07.  Errands and ice cream.
08.  Dinner prep.
09.  Tried a new recipe, roasted red pepper alfrado.
10.  Carving a pumpkin while we watch our shows.
11.  The final outcome.
12.  Miss Abby.

Currently

Life
Happy for October and autumn and everything that it is.
Watching the colors slowly change from green to reds, oranges, and yellows.
Snuggling up in blankets and jackets.
Needing to change out my closet to my warmer clothes.

Inspiration (or lack of...)
Finding myself un-inspired.  It's been so difficult to keep up with my projects and even worse, to pick up my camera.
Wondering why this is and how to try to fix it.  And noticing that it's even worse when coming to social media.  I'm
finding myself wanting to share, but wanting to fall of the social media earth at the same time.
Embracing it as much as possible and backing down on what I'm sharing, despite wanting to grow new followers and gain more comments.

Wedding
Planning a wedding is hard work.  So much has to be planned right away.
We are so close to making a lot of final decisions, but not quite there yet.  More on that later....maybe.
Looking forward to really marking something off my list.
Missing my engagement ring while it gets re-sized.  I've grown quite attached to it, not just becasue it's pretty, but because of what it stands for.
Trying on wedding bands for Dakota.  I'm pretty certain we have one picked out.
Loving the fact that he is so excited and wishes he could have it sooner than he can.  Waiting an entire year sucks, but has it's perks too.
Excited to say that I will have a husband exactly one year from today.
Savoring this time of my life becasue it is going to be so different this time next year.

Pumpkin Patch

Week Forty

October 4, 2014

^^It's far from being the best photo or the photo I had in mind when trying to take it.  (I was rushed, had people waiting to get on the tractor, and used my lumpy backpack on a seat that was way too close as a tripod.) But it's perfect in its own way.  It has the three people I love most in this world.

My family is so good.  They put up with my crazy ideas and traditions.   This is my forth year doing my 52 week project.  This is my forth year going to pick pumpkins at the orchard.  And this is the forth year that this has all happened on the exact same week each year.  

We made it as quick and painless as possible.  This was the first time we went on a Saturday, which wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, but we couldn't drive our car up to the pumpkin patch like we've done every other year.  It's a somewhat long walk so we decided to pay for the hay ride this year.  (A hay ride without any hay...)  Unfortunately we didn't get to walk around as much as we did previous years, and I felt a little bit rushed, but we got some great pumpkins so I guess it doesn't really matter.

^^Team work.  Dad can't carry heavy things because he is suffering from a broken collar bone and mom can't carry much because her asthma has gone into high gear this year. 

I love comparing the years, so below is a  little description about how each year has differed:

In 2011 it was the first year doing my 52 week project and the first year we went to the pumpkin patch.  Ok, not the first time ever, but the first time in a really long time.  I remember laughing as dad claimed he found the best looking pumpkin; the one that looked like it had exploded.  The weather was perfect and felt like fall had arrived.   We had so much fun goofing around that we decided we would do this each year.

In 2012 things were a little different.  Dad was recovering from his second bone morrow transplant and couldn’t go.  It was just me and mom.  We had fun, but we wished dad could go with us to because we know he secretly liked going last year.  It was a little bittersweet.  This time the weather was chilly and coats were definitely needed.

In 2013.  The cancer is coming back but things are still ‘normal’.  This year is was hot and humid.  We had a large storm come through in the morning and it left the farm a little muddy, but it didn’t stop us from picking pumpkins.  Just like last year dad found the best looking pumpkin.  This one looked like it had exploded, been turned inside out and baked in an over.  Dakota came with us and he found the three largest pumpkins on the farm.

This year, 2014, Dakota and I are engaged.  (Next year we will be a week away from getting married!)  Dad's still battling cancer and has a broken collar bone as a result of the cancer growing after not being on chemo for 6 months earlier this year.  However, he has recently started a new treatment plan and seems to be doing alright.  Mom has been dealing with asthma and was having some troubles breathing, but nothing too bad.  She was still very happy to come with us and keep the tradition going.  This year was also very, very cold.  You can't tell, but I have three layers of long sleeves on.  So very different from the year before.