Obligatory Spring Photos

Signs of spring are filling my heart with joy. How is the weather where you are?

It's my Birthday!

It's my birthday! Today I am one year older. Feels old, but when I look in the mirror, I only see 23-me, and that number was quite a few years ago. My goal for the next year? To learn more about God and become more in tune with His will. I want my heart aligned with His.

One day, when I was out shopping at Goodwill, I came across this beautiful red embroidered dress. I can't believe someone gave it away. I decided to wear it when these pictures were taken over Christmas break. My friend Beth was visiting town for New Years, so I donned my new dress and enjoyed the long-sleeves in the cool weather. The day was perfect: we went out for coffee and made banana bread and took silly pictures, and in the evening I snuggled with my husband and read a good book.

Beth is so spunky and fun to hang around. I wish she lived closer, but I'll take what I can get. In the above picture I tackled her right before the shutter went off!

So yeah, I'm older today. Is it just me, or the older you get the faster the years seem to go by? And birthdays just keep feeling stranger. But here is to another year, another year of me. So far I like getting older. Don't know if that will always be the case, but for now, I'm content. Every day I ask for God's joy and peace to grow in my heart.

Amazing Fog

So, a few weeks ago my husband and I stayed in a hotel for our one year anniversary. The next morning we slept in, and when we awoke there was this amazing blanket of very thick fog covering the hills. It was wet, breathtaking, and disorienting all at once! I've never seen fog like this!

Naturally I had to take pictures in it.

While my husband was showering, I slipped outside. It was just me and the fog and I felt like I was in wonderland. After a few steps everything turns white...

Later, we drove above the fog and saw it spread out all over the mountainside like thick bunches of fluffy cotton candy.

I could spend all day staring. So much fun. By the time I was done taking self-pictures and my husband had finally packed his bags up and joined me--my hair was fuzzy and damp from all the dew. I guess spending all day in a cloud really wouldn't be ideal to ones hairstyle, no matter how dreamy. Oh, well. Still worth it! He took this time lapse of me and then we took a few fog pictures together.

Polka Dot Skirt

 Hey guys! I made a lovely polka dot skirt last month, and just now got around to wearing it! The weather is turning chilly here, so I paired it with this lovely silk green top that I bought from my local Goodwill.

I really want to make more skirts like this. I installed my first non-machine-eaten zipper (seriously, my sewing machine laughs at me every time I attempt a zipper, but this time I prevailed!) and the skirt is two layers. I love it. It came out a little big, but you can't really tell.

The dotted necklace I'm wearing is also thrifted. And isn't my hair getting long?  Super excited about that. Wonder what I'll do with it next?

I'm linking up with Fall Fashion Week for the next six days! You should totally link up too. Because, I would love to know how you would wear a dotted skirt!

A Kitty-Eared Day

This past weekend Mr. Adventure and I decided to go revisit the place where we took our engagement pictures! It has officially been a year since he asked me to marry him! If you didn't know, we took our engagement pictures ourselves, with my camera, tripod, and remote, and thus we decided to take some more pictures, of course, to commemorate the event!

Taking pictures with your love is fun! It is amazing to look back and see how much we have grown over a year! The hat I'm wearing is for sale here, if you are interested!

Wedding

Last weekend's wedding was a blast. I wish them many happy years.

Peachy

A few weeks ago I went to the park to take some pictures for the sole purpose of redoing my blog. I also got completely caught in the rain! It was fun. And wet. My camera got a little moist and I was worried, but it was fine. And, I was in such a hurry to get it in the car I didn't get any pictures of drenched Carolynn, only of sunshine Carolynn. Hah.

I am wearing a dress from Ross, Dress for Less, and a handmade "pineapple" crochet shawl, made by my friend Paula from back in my college days. (Where have you gone to, Paula? I can't find you on facebook anymore)

Anyway, I finished my circle rainbow scarf for winter/fall, and started on reconstructing this little black dress for the blog--and am eagerly awaiting the marriage of my best friend this weekend!

I shot these pictures in manual also. Manual, I've found, is annoying because I tend to move around when doing self-photography, and that makes pictures a bit blurry.

Anyway, other then getting ready for my friends wedding and the beautiful fall weather, I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and trying to pray daily. I don't want to be a lukewarm Christian---I want to be sold out to Christ. But so often I run away from him, because its hard and I'm lazy and afraid. I need to learn the value of hard work, of pursuing God with all my heart every day, instead of just ignoring him and thinking I'll do it tomorrow. Its frustrating. By Christ alone, I will get there. If I let myself get in the way, I won't. I always appreciate prayers--for God to be my center, that I will trust in Him alone, and be a good steward of all he has given me. 

Shooting in Manual Mode

Lately I have been trying to shoot in manual mode on my camera. I won't lie, it's difficult to get the lighting, focus, and aperture right for my pictures. But this is an necessary step if I want to grow as a photographer. By shooting in manual, I can eventually learn to take pictures in the sunlight.

Oh, and don't worry, guys! I have not given up on my book (yet). At don't plan to. Thank you for all your sweet comments on my funny (but oh, true) story yesterday. I never knew I would learn so much about myself...or that it would be so difficult to accomplish this goal. More on that later. Just know, right now, I kinda...feel sorry for my husband (I love you babe). Uh, I can be a mess when things aren't working out my way. I think sometimes we all need to be reminded we aren't the center of the world. And that some things aren't the end of the world. Even if it feels like they are. Oh, and that hard, difficult things are worth striving for.

On that note, I am redoing the blog, today! Just for fun. Hope you like it!


As I change, so does this space. Thank you for coming along for the ride! Also, did you guys know about this giveaway for a 250$ etsy gift card? I entered--its through the Etsy facebook page and totally legit!

Update?

I've been reading a lot lately! And writing. I'm really going to publish a book. Yesterday I had a very vivid dream and now have ideas for two more books! My novel is about 10 pages now. So many pages to go. I have to have at least 50 thousand words. Fifty. Thousand. Alas, since I don't have word, all I can go off of is my Notepad--and it looks like I probably have maybe 500 words so far.

Anyway, how is everyone doing? I'm really excited about fall; its just around the corner and happens to be my favorite season. Said everybody, always. I love the crunchy leaves and earth-tone colors, they always pair well with my hippie clothes and I  think I could live in skinny jeans if it was socially acceptable.

Oh, these pictures are dedicated and inspired by Oh Whimsical Me, because she always poses with a book or a coffee cup. Go say hi to her. You won't regret it. (And you'll probably leave hungry for vegan food)

In other news I'm going to update my webpage this week. I usually do a new design every 3-4 months and I can't wait to see what happens! Eeek! 

Don't Give Up

Don't give up. I know you just started exercising, and nothing seems to be happening. Every day you look at yourself in the mirror and think, why am I even doing this. I'll never be skinny. Don't give up. Don't compare. Your body is beautiful. Tone it and let it reach its full potential. Know that you will never be someone other then yourself. And that's okay.

Maybe skinny shouldn't be your goal. My goal is fun. I have fun jumping around in Zumba and making an utter fool out of myself. I have fun glorifying God as I swim laps. I try to work out because it should be a lifestyle, not a means to an end.

I never weigh myself. I don't care. It's not about reaching a "perfect goal". I'll never be perfect. One of my breasts will always be bigger then the other. My nose will always be slightly crooked. I have stretch marks and pimples and spider veins and hardly any chin. But I'm me.

It's not about you. Being healthy is about glorifying God. I'm a christian. I don't want to go to waste, or to give in to gluttony or greed. I want to live an active lifestyle because an active lifestyle is good for God. If you aren't religious, it still shouldn't be about you. Put the focus outward--take the stress off yourself, take the criticism elsewhere.

Are you living the lie that skinny is worth starving for? Don't live that lie--or even the lie that real women have curves. Real women can be a size 2 or a size 22. They are round and tall and rectangle and small and pear shaped and apple shaped and funny and smart and... It's not how you look. It's who you are. Really.

I just started the 30 day shred about a month ago. I know, it says 30 days, but I'm doing an every-other day, or every-two day, because, honestly, I haven't exercised in awhile. It's hard. I want to give up sometimes. I can't see any difference yet. But you know what, I'm going to keep going.