aaaaand

I'm done.

My first 'professional' photography experience, with people I didn't know and junk.  It wasn't product photography, as I previously thought.  Just some 'elemental' shots of the work shop, people, etc....though I did get a crap ton of photos of the product, because it's flipping sweet: woodwork.  This guy makes the coolest bowls, cutting boards, and other stuff.  I think the shop is called "Out of the Woods" and it's located in Newport, though there is no sign at the shop and they have literally no internet presence.  We met at their home and walked two doors over to the shop, which is apparently an old slave barn?  Also the guy says he saw the ghost of the slave who lived there.  I thought he was joking, but Rob thinks he was serious.

All in all, they were super nice and make awesome stuff and I'm probably going to buy some at their sale tomorrow morning.

what's going on

I am currently enjoying a luxury that I took for granted in my previous nanny positions - the parents are not here. Don't get me wrong, little girl's parents are cool and everything, but nannying for a work-from-home parent can be pretty annoying.  However, little girl's mom has been out of town on a business trip all week so I've been experiencing a little more normalcy.

Also, tonight after work I am finally going to meet up with my beloved cousin Hannah, and we plan on devouring some Chipotle and watching movies.

Tomorrow, we are getting together with Rob's family for a cookout, which will be fun.  We do not see them as often as we should and I am so excited to see our nephew Ethan!

And Friday...dundundunnn...I am having my first official photography assignment.  I am doing product photography for one of Rob's freelance jobs.  I am super nervous as I am not actually a trained photographer and if I think about it too much I kind of want to throw up.  Then I realize that they know this about me and they're not exactly paying top dollar and it will be great practice.  But I still kind of want to throw up.

So, currently I am googling every piece of information I can find on product photography.  And I'm going to have to fit in some time before Friday to try some of this stuff out.

I'll let you know how it goes.

feliz dia del padre!

-ish.

No, my dad's not Spanish but the man has spent the better part of the past year trying to learn the language.  So, in honor of the day that is for the dad, some pictures of my awesome dad through the years:

I could go on and on, since when I have a whole bunch of pictures of my dad from a slideshow thing I made for his birthday a few years ago.  But I've already gone a bit overboard, so that'll be it.

Happy Father's Day!

nerd disappointment.

Maybe you are also a nerd and are aware that tonight only, in select theaters throughout the country, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was re-released.

When I first discovered this via a movie preview a month or so ago, I almost peed my pants.  See, I frickin' LOVE Lord of the Rings.  And sadly, I never saw them in the theater back in the day.  So I was super excited at the chance to see it.

Well, Rob knew this about me and bought us tickets for tonight.  WE HAD THEM.  And then we were late.  Not really late, but late enough that the movie started and the theater was so dark but there was enough light I could see that it was PACKED.  So we (I) decided that we should just get our money refunded.  I was so mad that I almost cried.  Except I didn't.  I just yelled at Rob instead.

And there's Tuesday.

some things.

Firstly, I'm 26 now.  Since Saturday. I am officially closer to 30, than 20.  Okay, okay - I get that I was closer to 30 one day after turning 25 but you know what I mean.  It's really weird.  I don't feel like I should be this old, but I am.  Time goes by faster than I'd like.

Next order of business: I want a new job.  It's not that I particularly have a problem with being a nanny.  I mean, I've done it for years and years and years.  Like almost 13 years if you count the semi-regular jobs I've had since I was 13.  That's half my life now, dangit.  But, I am ready to move on.  I will probably/definitely continue my current job through the summer, until little girl starts preschool in August or September, but after that, I want to move onto something new.

It probably won't be a drastic change.  I still want to work with kids, but just in a more educational aspect.  If you know me/read this blog you probably know I have a degree in early childhood education, but my license is expired.  I don't really want to go back to school but I'm not sure what to do with my degree.  I'm thinking of looking into after school/tutoring programs and possibly even being an IA (instructor assistant) in a district that can support them.  I would consider school to go back to learn a specified skill, like sign language or Spanish or something if I could get a job in a school in that capacity.  But I just don't know.

The problem is, Rob and I have an agreement that whenever we start a family that I will stay home with the kids.  I get that the stay-at-home mother is kind of outdated but I kind of believe in it, if it's financially feasible.   Plus, I feel like I've been raising other people's kids for the past however many years so it would be kind of weird if I didn't raise my own.

Why does this even matter right now?  Because I am hoping we can start a fam in the next couple years (as in, I want to have kids before I'm 30) and I don't want to waste all kinds of time/money on going to school if I'm not even going to have a job for that long anyway.  Plus, there's nothing I am super passionate about (sadly) that gives me motivation to pursue any type of career.

Well, that's it for now, I guess.

one year one day

You know how you see those "Your trip begins at michigan.org" billboards and scoff at them?  

Or those Pure Michigan commercials but don't actually take them seriously?

Well, it turns out that those peeps up in Michigan are kind of on to something.  Because this past weekend Rob and I took a road trip up to St. Joseph, Michigan and it was AWESOME.  It was seriously such a great trip and exactly what I needed in so many ways.

Awesome trip started with our hotel that was so clean and new and nice and our room was so spacious and had a balcony and a view of Lake Michigan.

After we got settled we headed to Silver Beach, which is a super nice and sandy beach a mile or so down the road from our hotel.  I didn't get many pictures the first day because my camera battery died.

Every day we walked out on this pier at Silver Beach.  The first day there were approximately 30923490284902 high schoolers out here but they cleared out by Saturday.

The little town in St. Joseph is so cute and quaint and there were random sculptures all over the place.  This sculpture was called "Donqui Xote" and Rob thought it was genius so I took a picture.

On our last night, we hung out around the beach to the watch the sunset.

As it got later, we moved up to a lifeguard tower to watch the sun go down.  And I even used my fisheye lens.  Fancy.

Seriously...what a beaut of a sunset.

We left on Sunday afternoon, but before we headed out we checked out an outdoor flea market type thing that was all over the place.  There was so much vintage/antique gloriousness that I almost exploded.  But we got out spending less than $15, including this presh little deer salt and pepper shaker set I got for a couple dollars.

And then....we came home and my parents had done SO MUCH WORK TO THE HOUSE!

My mom weeded and mulched the flower beds.  And our house is no longer handicap accessible!!  If you've been over before, you may see that the wooden ramp is no longer there :) :)

New, firesafe door installed in the kitchen.

Ahhh....home.

Happy anniversary to us!

umm?

I just have to say:

This morning I exercised and then cooked breakfast for Rob and I all before 8:30, then proceeded to go to work for 8 1/2 hours, came home and cooked dinner, and then cleaned the living room, dining room, our room, kitchen, bathroom (i.e. THE ENTIRE HOUSE), and just finished mopping.  Not to mention I did a load of laundry.

I am a champ today.

Perhaps it is because I now own the new Death Cab and my life is no longer on hold.