LoChristine

Music Monday!

2012-01-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

PJ Harvey - Down By The Water (Acoustic)

what a talented lady. . .

changes.

2012-01-29T22:54:00.000-05:00

I have been avoiding this post for many reasons.

Emotions have been too raw.
I didn't want to put something out there out of anger that I would regret and could not take back.

A bit of time has passed, so here goes.

Marriage is hard.

Such a simple statement with so much packed behind it.

Hubby and I have been together for a little over 7 years. We are raising a family together. We built a very successful business together. We created a life and future together. We've certainly had our problems over the years, but no specific/major issues. I admit, we fell into quite a rut - lacking good communication, lacking passion and excitement, letting our relationship fall by the wayside. I certainly feel that I've been taken for granted and I let it happen. I'll own up to that. As I've addressed before, I have issues with boundaries for myself. I'll also own up to the fact that I turned into the classic nagging wife.

Still, none of this justifies what happened. Ryan stepped out of the marriage. There's not really any other way to put it. I was blindsided, confused, angry, betrayed, devastated. . .you name it. The other woman is still in the picture. I could say many many things here in reference to her or her character, but I am better than that. I will be better than that.

We're at a point of separation right now. I have no idea what the future will hold. We're trying to maintain normality for the kids. We are still best friends. We still talk regularly, go to the gym together, etc. Weird. I know. Our lives are very intertwined and meshed together. This might require an entire restructuring of my whole outlook on life and my entire future.

Only time will tell.

I am trying to be in a place of peace, a place of hopefulness right now. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking and refuse to let this turn me into a negative person. I know the future holds good things.

Music Monday

2012-01-23T08:30:00.001-05:00

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks
love it!

snow finally arrived!

2012-01-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

We've had a bit of a lackluster winter, in regards to snow.

Well, we finally got hit with about 5 to 6 inches on Friday.

That means sledding time!

It'll all melt tomorrow in the rain and 40 degrees temps they are calling for, but at least we had a bit of time to enjoy the snow:)

Music Monday

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've decided to reinstate my old tradition of Music Monday! So much music to share. . .

great tunes.

absolutely love this video.

This week you can even listen to the whole album on NPR!

Click Here to listen to it!

a friend, a friend!

2012-01-11T17:25:00.000-05:00

Little M finally has a neighborhood friend. He lives two doors down and they play almost daily.

Fantastic.

Helps me out with this.

a time for reflection. . .

2012-01-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

My sister and I have started a tradition of meeting for coffee in the town of Findlay, OH once a month or whenever our schedules permit. Now that she lives in Ohio, as opposed to New Mexico, these little coffee dates are possible! I cherish this time together and definitely reflect on how lucky I am to have such an amazing sister.

The drive to Findlay allows me an hour and a half of uninterrupted "me time" to think through things and make plans. I always feel so inspired and ready to blog when I return home, but then the marathon of daily life distracts me. So, here I am now, just finally posting a while after our visit:)

The large wind farm I pass on my drive always reminds me of Don Quixote (The Man of La Mancha). Classic.

On the drive, I generally focus my thoughts on how to better myself and my career. I just cosigned jewelry at 2 new galleries, as you can see in my 2 previous posts. These opportunities keep presenting themselves to me, without any searching on my part. Definitely a sign that it's time to make LoChristine Jewelry a successful thriving business. I struggle with my ability to take time for myself, something I hope to remedy in the near future. Not that I am the most selfless, holy person out there, but I tend to focus on others and their needs before my own (maybe because it's easier). Managing my husband's career (which obviously pays our bills at this point) and taking care of the house and kids takes up the majority of my time. But there is certainly time for me. I am going to take that time and do something with it.

A Few Plans:

(necessary for the new year and if I tell you all about them, you can hold me accountable!)

- Expand LoChristine Jewelry and switch to more environmentally friendly or recycled materials

- Look into starting an advice or Q&A blog. . .I've always wanted to write an advice column or book, I think starting on the internet might be easiest. . .Lots of thought and planning needs to go into this, but it's on the horizon.

- Get back into the things that matter to me as an individual

Good things are coming.

I can feel it.

‎"Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning."

- Mahatma Gandhi

the old switcharoo

2012-01-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

The removal of Christmas decor always seems to spark a time for home improvement and creativity.

We have once again re-arranged our house. This time, I think it's for keeps.

Flip-flopped the dining and living rooms

and got a new (non-black) couch.

Loving it.

Having the dining room not directly next to the kitchen may not be the most practical, but what else can you do? Old homes like ours are simply just NOT practical.

new tunes

2012-01-09T17:51:00.001-05:00

Gillian Welch's "The Harrow & The Harvest"has been at the top of my playlist lately.

I just can't get enough!

more!

2012-01-09T16:30:00.000-05:00

Shipped out another order the other day.

Definitely keeping me busy:)

It's about time to restock my etsy. . .

expanding the business. . .

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Select pieces of my jewelry can now be found at Freidel's Fine Art here in Fort Wayne.

I will soon have jewelry displayed at a another gallery in Defiance Ohio as well.

Opportunities just keep presenting themselves to me. I feel blessed, motivated, and determined.

It's time to kick this business into gear.

I can be as successful as my husband.

I can do anything I want.
Go me!
Haha.

I have a few other ideas I want to pursue in 2012.
We'll see what I can do.

it's almost Christmas!

2011-12-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's been over a month since I've last posted?! Where does the time go?

So much to post about, but I'll keep it simple for tonight.

We've been busy prepping for Christmas.

I can't believe it'll be here in just a few days!

Little M making some candy.

Miss W after wrapping one of Ryan's gifts, he just can't figure out what this could be:)

And, some of the cookies we made! With my mom here, we've done lots of baking and treat making!

Celebrations start in 2 days.

Are you ready?

my new friend. . .

2011-11-18T13:30:00.000-05:00

now rests on my hand.

i love it.

thanks hubby.

Also worth noting, Ryan is now featured on the Tattoo Art Project blog.
We'll welcome any free advertising we can get:)

look who i stumbled upon. . .

2011-11-17T12:30:00.000-05:00

our neighborhood Cooper's Hawk.

We had some new visitors, of the bird variety, to the yard yesterday (I'm thinking they are some type of wren) so I went to get my camera in hopes of catching a shot. I definitely need to work on my bird ID skills. It's been quite sometime since any new birds passed through so I was quite excited. By the time I got back outside, all the birds were gone and the obese squirrels were attacking the feeder.

I stood there snapping away for a bit, until I finally looked up and saw the hawk sitting a few feet from me! Sheesh, talk about being unaware of your surroundings. Guess I need to pay a little more attention to what's happening around me.

All raptors are just so amazing.

The power.

The beauty they possess.
Love it.

I pity my poor birds and mice when this guy comes calling, but I welcome any chance for a close encounter. Selfish, I know.

my new lady.

2011-11-09T13:19:00.001-05:00

I am so excited! She's perfect for photographing my necklaces and doing a bit of crafting!

I think I'll have to name her though. . .

relaxing weekend.

2011-11-07T20:38:00.003-05:00

We spent the weekend relaxing together as a family before Ryan headed off to NYC this morning.

There were two bike rides in the glorious sunshine.

Some thrifting at both Salvation Army and Goodwill.

What I learned:

1) Miss W's style seems to be an interesting mix between the 80s and nursing home attire. Haha.

2) Little M has gone crazy for Christmas clothes.

I limited her to this one Christmas item, that she now wants to wear daily:)

3) Salvation Army is much much cheaper than Goodwill. (not like either place is expensive though!)

And finally, some holiday stuff of a Christmas variety might have gone up.

Definitely the earliest for our house. Ever. But pretty:)

Ryan is gone for an entire week! What kind of trouble can we get ourselves into??

warming my heart:)

2011-11-05T13:11:00.000-04:00

Parent-Teacher Conferences for Little M on Friday.

Her teacher had nothing but positive feedback and this writing assignment:

Seriously, I just couldn't stop smiling:)

These are the moments, as parents, that make all the struggles and difficulties disappear from your mind. It's all worthwhile.

Handy house guests? Indeed!

2011-11-03T11:25:00.000-04:00

Have they been earning their keep (see here if you don't know who I'm referring to)? Definitely. I know you are curious for more details.

First off, my dad installed a window in our back door.

So necessary.

Especially in our small kitchen.

Especially with a black door.

Amazing what a bit of light can do.

The problem? Old homes have small doorways. Our backdoor is a mere 30in wide, requiring a special-order door. We were not to keen on the $225 price tag on the cheapest door available, so my parents (our handy house guests) came up with a brilliant plan! For only $20, they got a window. . .my dad cut a hole in the door and installed the window. . .I pulled some old black paint out of the basement and putting the finishing touches on!

Second, he replaced our entire circuit panel.
See difference from the before:

Yikes!

to the after:

Attractive and safe too!

He's also in the process of re-wiring a great deal of our house.

Hmmm, what else?
-fixed the girls' bathroom leaky faucet
-fixed the girls' bathroom toilet
-flipped around Ryan and I's closet door
-installed new house numbers on the front porch
-replaced some lights
-etc.

Gotta love the DIY projects:). And handy house guests:)
My dad is on the roof right now doing some gutter repair work.
We are so appreciative.

Happy Halloween! just a day late:)

2011-11-01T10:18:00.001-04:00

Our fierce little she-devil.
black lipstick + long black wig on a pale red-head = hilarious.

our fantastic pumpkins!

and just a little Halloween fun.

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday!
Happy November 1st!

Dygert Nature Preserve

2011-10-31T10:53:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I had the day to ourselves on Sunday (a rare occurrence), so we decided to enjoy a nice fall hike. This is my favorite season. . .Unfortunately, our busy schedules have forced us to miss out on some beautiful hiking scenery. Glad we were able to seize the day yesterday and venture to a new place. Dygert Nature Preserve had a very calm serene feel.

The timer went off when we were being ohh so serious!
How funny, especially in our matching outfits:)

More hiking next weekend? Hopefully!

And Happy Halloween to you all! Pics to come later:)

zombies. . .

2011-10-26T20:32:00.000-04:00

Time for our annual Zombie Walk photo! Check out the others here and here.

It just gets better every year.

I think it's an excellent family photo. Do we frighten you?

Miss W and her man. Creepy.

Little M and I trying to look vicious.

Miss W is the perfect zombie and is great at staying in character! Love it!

the birthday gals

2011-10-26T13:30:00.000-04:00

Miss W and Little M celebrated their birthdays a few weeks ago.

So amazing to think they are now 8 and 16. Wow.

With their birthdays being only 3 days apart, we had a weekend packed full of birthday celebrations. Maybe a bit too much celebration if you ask me;-)

They are growing up to be such wonderful ladies. We couldn't be more proud.

Next year we might try to cut it back to one giant celebration instead of multiple smaller ones. . .We'll see.

(I've been away for a bit, so I'm just trying to play a little catch up here:)

beauty of fall

2011-10-09T20:00:00.000-04:00

Leaves are falling and colors are changing!

Monstrosity 2

2011-10-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

Horror Themed Artwork

Cash Bar

Definite Good Times!

Visit my husband's website or the facebook event invite for more info:)

tunes for fall

2011-10-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

For some reason, I love listening to irish/celtic music in the fall.

It just seems fitting.

Cherish the Ladies, Nickel Creek, Joyce Fry, Gaelic Storm. . .all on my playlist.

fall is in the air

2011-10-02T11:18:00.001-04:00

and I am overjoyed. I just love this time of year for so many reasons:

fun knit sweaters, knee high boots, colorful scarves, hot chai tea, hiking amongst the falling leaves, smores over the bonfire, pumpkin spice candles, Halloween, the Zombie Walk, both my girls' birthdays

. . .I could go on and on.

My yard is beginning to wind down.

Butterflies are enjoying their last bits of nectar from our sunflowers.

We pulled off our last few watermelons last night.

The large sunflowers are starting to droop.

Random cantaloupe has appeared growing out of the compost.

And our mums are showing their glory!

The animals are preparing as well.

Our little doves have hunkered down in the yard to escape the wind.

The squirrels are stealing all the food in preparation for the upcoming cold.

And the birds are flocking to the feeders!

What do you love about fall?

oh the birds

2011-09-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

On our way back from Massachusetts, we stopped at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (our second visit here). This place is amazing and beautiful.

We were extremely excited to see two juvenile bald eagles. As I said, amazing.

I just wish we had more time to explore, maybe next time.

2011-09-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Anniversary My Love.

(from one of our first dates at Cedar Point back in 2004!)

We have come a long way in the past 7 years.

I cannot imagine what the future holds for us, but I am excited by all the possibilities.

from hell to paradise in just a few short weeks. . .

2011-09-24T15:00:00.000-04:00

After visiting steamy Phoenix in August for Hell City, we ventured to cool Massachusetts for the Paradise Gathering. And, this time, we brought along a little redhead.

She is a great car rider. Ryan and I probably complained more during the ride than she did!

Ryan was busy working away, so Little M and I spent our time exploring the resort and playing with the other kids. I definitely think she had a great time.

For me, well, it was a bit tiring. And I had quite a headache the whole trip, but enough complaining. . . It was definitely a memorable and worthwhile trip:)

I must admit that I am actually excited that I'm not going on any more major trips with Ryan until January. Time to get some things crackin here at home!

the trip out west

2011-09-04T13:56:00.001-04:00

A few photos from my hubby and I's westward venture last week.

Simply gorgeous land and sky.

It can't be beat.

Meteor Crater

Hell City Tattoo Fest and a few of the pieces Ryan did there:

Definitely a lovely trip. I'll seize any opportunity to go west.

Next - off to Hancock Massachusetts in two weeks. We're planning to bring Little M along for this one. The life experience and adventure are worth far more than a few days of missed school:)

flowers flowers

2011-09-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

The iPad.

2011-09-01T10:43:00.000-04:00

Will it make my life easier?

That remains to be seen.

As I hinted at before, Ryan traded out tattoo work for another iPad. Yep, now we each have iPads that he traded out for! The barter system is really amazing. Who needs money anyway?

My first mission - to make it look like mine.
So I customized it with a fabulous skin from GelaSkins.

My second mission - to learn how to use this thing.
It seems pretty self-explanatory but there is so much I have not delved into yet.

I got quite frustrated when I tried to blog and it wouldn't let me type. Hmph.

I downloaded the Blogsy App so we'll see how well that goes. . .and no flash? Come on now.

But, seriously, I am so appreciative to have this amazing gadget:)

I thought our Phoenix trip would be a great time to test out its usefulness, but we were a bit too busy. (and the hotel had no WiFi) I'll just have to start playing with it more at home now.

Back to school.

2011-08-21T09:37:00.000-04:00

Already. This summer seems to have flown by. We did a lot, but there is still so much to do. Guess we'll have to push it to the fall.

On Monday, Little M is beginning 2nd grade and Miss W will be a sophomore. Wow.

Little M is super excited. She informed us that she would love to go to school year round:)

Miss W, well, she's not quite as excited.

Let's see if Little M can maintain her excitement throughout the year and maybe Miss W can gain some.

(Just us having a little family fun together at the Cherish the Ladies concert before school begins :-)
What else do you do during intermission?

Westward we shall go.

2011-08-20T15:38:00.001-04:00

and I cannot wait.

On Monday, Ryan and I leave for our long road trip to Phoenix (27 hours is not bad, right?). We love to drive, though, so we are quite excited. We've made the trip twice before (see here) and always find some great places to stop. Where to this time? Meteor Crater? Yes, I think we will. Who knows what else we will stumble upon.

We are headed to Phoenix for this:

So excited. I just love the wide open spaces of the west.

(Definitely works out perfectly for Little M that grandma and grandpa just moved in.)

The parents are moving in.

2011-08-17T15:30:00.001-04:00

Yep, you read that right. My parents are moving in. Poor Ryan.

Haha, just kidding:)

My parents are planning to purchase a home here in Fort Wayne. However, the home will not be available until April. My parents put their house on the market a few weeks ago with the knowledge that the housing market is not really at its high point, planning that it might take a while to sell. Surprise! Their house sold in 3 days. Definitely a good amazing thing, so we offered them a place to stay:)

Ryan and I have tried to turn our basement into a cozy semi-apartment for them. Pics to come later.

We certainly know how to have fun together:) Little M has literally been counting down the hours until they get here. I think she is expecting a nonstop party all day, every day. Haha.

We all enjoy one another's company, so there shouldn't be any issues. . .

I'll keep you posted;-)

cicada killer wasps. . .

2011-08-05T21:50:00.001-04:00

are taking over our backyard!!! Seriously.

There are holes and tunnels everywhere, especially right up by the patio.I know they dig with ease in our sandy soil.

The holes and tunnels are a bit unsightly, but the real issue is these guys buzzing all around.
The wasps don't bother me much because I know they will not hurt us, but Little M is terrified of them.

They are almost the same size as our hummingbirds!

Even though they are quite large themselves, the wasps do seem to have a bit of trouble hauling their load home. . .

Normally, a wasp or two would not be a problem. We simply have too many of them in our tiny yard. Five were buzzing all around me as I sat out back the other day, and there are many many more.

Any ideas on how to send these little guys on their way?
I hate to hurt them, but I'd like us to be able to use the yard more!

Open Up A Can

2011-08-01T14:59:00.002-04:00

Of. . .

Sometimes you just need to.

Haha. Hubby and I are here in Columbus for a few days. He's busy tattooing away and I'm taking care of my sister and brother-in-law's cats and garden while they are hiking in the U.P. It's a delightful time except for the fact that a bat just flew right over my head, and I am inside! Off to catch a bat, before the cats do.

Wish me luck.

Don't worry, I won't open up a can on the bat. I am off to rescue him:)

Crafting Day with My Sis!

2011-07-30T16:58:00.000-04:00

The girls and I ventured to my sister's house earlier this week for a girls' day:)

The weather was beautiful.

Jen and Steve's house and garden is fantastic.

It was a great day.

We hiked the nature trail that my brother-in-law mowed into the landscape.
The highlight: eating wild blackberries!

We tie dyed shirts, and they turned out pretty amazing!

Little M and I experienced our first game of croquet.
Miss W is quite skilled! Who knew?

We spent a great deal of time in the garden.
We all love it and dream of the day when we can have one just as large.

We even got to take home some goodies!!

Now only if Jen and Steve would move back to Fort Wayne, maybe even next door, life would be perfect:)

Garden Updates. . .

2011-07-21T16:01:00.001-04:00

Despite the extreme heat and lack of precipitation, my plants seem to be fairing well. Daily watering is getting a bit annoying, but what can you do?

The birds love to stop by for a drink.
It's amazing how they all flock to the yard when I turn on the sprinkler.

Several squirrels spend the day laying around the shaded parts of the yard/sidewalk.
This definitely drives the cats nuts!

When not relaxing in the yard, the squirrels try to steal my corn. Argh.

My flowers are thriving.
My only regret is not planting any mexican sunflowers this year. What was I thinking?!

I did plant these.
Here is my lone sunflower. I am anxiously awaiting more to open.

Ryan loves his jalapenos (and pretty much all other hot peppers).

We decided to try some purple peppers this year.
Definitely pretty, but we've yet to taste them;)

With some farmers market goodies (wish I had room to grow blueberries and zucchini), Little M and I baked 4 loaves of zucchini bread and a dozen blueberry muffins.

My sis gave us quite a load of lettuce

and peas from her super amazing garden.
We then made homemade salsa with our peppers and tomatoes!
I definitely need to grow cilantro. . .

With all the beauty, you have to mix in a bit of trouble.
That trouble being Ryan and his fireworks. . .he seems to be quite skilled at blowing up my plants "by accident." He tried to redirect this pyromania to a doll's head, but she just never gave up.

I can't seem to believe there is only about a month left until summer vacation is over for the kids. Crazy!

jealous?

2011-07-20T21:56:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, I'm not the only want that gets worked on around here. Little M also gets special marker tattoos:)

A fruit bat, a nuthatch, what's next?

2011-07-19T13:24:00.000-04:00

Ryan finally got me in for a tattoo session yesterday. Although the perks of being married to a world famous tattoo artist are great (namely spectacular artwork for free), there are some drawbacks. Well, maybe just one drawback - he's usually too busy to get me in! He says he is planning to make more of an effort to book me in and finish a few pieces. . .since I am a walking portfolio. . . but we'll see if that happens;-)

I had the crow and owl from a previous session two years ago, so Ryan added in the fruit bat and white-breasted nuthatch yesterday. I plan to have an entire leg sleeve of birds and bats. We have a bit of a list going for future sessions. I am pumped!

hippie time at the conservatory

2011-07-16T15:39:00.000-04:00

While Miss W was spending some quality time with her boyfriend the other day, Little M and I ventured to the Botanical Conservatory. It was totally hippie time! I was loving it. . .

Little M had to pose with all the props, of course:)

I would love to have this in my yard or house! Ryan might disagree though. . .

How appropriate that I happened to be wearing my peace and love shirt!

Good times.

We have definitely been "living local" this summer. Aside from the conservatory, this week alone we have visited: Bortolo's Downtown Pizza & Ice Cream, Lindenwood Nature Preserve, Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Three Rivers Festival, Pint & Slice Pizza, Munchie, Barr Street Market, etc. Wow. That's quite a few places!

Tomorrow we are off to a family reunion in Michigan, then a date with friends to see the new Harry Potter!

Three Rivers Festival

2011-07-09T17:26:00.000-04:00

The annual Three Rivers Festival began this weekend. We had hot beautiful weather to kick off the festivities. . .

Ryan, Little M, and I watched the opening parade this morning. I must admit that we could not make it through the whole parade. It was too hot. . . and we were slightly disappointed in the lack of larger floats/balloons. On the plus side: The parade begins in our neighborhood, so we only had to walk a block or two to see it:)

Miss W and her man participated in the annual Chalk Walk. We were quite impressed with their piece. Wonder where Miss W got her art talent?! Haha.

Miss W and her man cooling down in the fountain after finishing their piece. Hope chalk washes off easily!

I'm sure there is much more festival fun to be had this week.
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Fourth of July Weekend

2011-07-06T08:48:00.004-04:00

Hope you all had a wonderful extended weekend for Independence Day.

We filled our time these past few days with a multitude of activities:

1. Feeding the geese at Swinney Park. A favorite past time since the park is so close to our house. A word of caution, don't try to feed mama geese out of your hand like Miss W did here. She got nipped by the protective mother. Don't worry, it wasn't serious.

2. Swimming, feeding the fish, and sunning at Metea County Park.

Enjoying nature at Metea.

I would love to own property like this one day. I can dream, right?

3. Lighting off piles of fireworks at my mother-in-law's house.

Playing in her large yard.

Enjoying delicious treats.

(A better daylight pic of my fabulous cupcake toppers, that I won in a blogger contest from one of my old college roomies! She is so crafty! Also notice that we made red white and blue cupcakes:)

Breaking open a candy-filled pinata.

and socializing with family.

On our drive home from Miami, Ryan and I stopped at a fireworks store in Tennessee. My husband was like a kid in a candy store. It was hilarious. We managed to get a huge number of fireworks to entertain the entire family.

3. And, finally, venturing to Fort Wayne's new boundless playground.

Definitely a very cool place. If you can make her out, Little M is under that stream of water!

We were impressed.

Aside from all this, we also managed to go to a TinCaps baseball game on the evening of the 4th to enjoy the game and watch a very impressive fireworks display at the end. I must admit though, I am fireworked-out for a while. I think I experienced a bit of fireworks overload and need a break. Good thing I have a year to recover.

We seem to have packed a lot into the last few days. Now, a time for rest. Ha.

Tattoolapalooza Miami!

2011-07-05T13:32:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I had a great trip to Miami. He was quite busy (as usual) but we still found time for a bit of fun. And NO stolen items this time! WooHoo! We are planning a return trip for January 2012, there were just too many people Ryan couldn't fit in this time. . .It's amazing the amount of clients he has all over the country. Hard work does pay off:)

A view of Ryan's booth. (his apprentice Dimitri is in the green shirt) Notice the girl being body-painted on the left. I'm sure the guys enjoyed the view:)

Totally random, but we saw this while we were out walking to get food. Some type of spiky caterpillar?

Overall, a successful trip.
Our next big road trip?
Phoenix AZ at the end of August. I cannot wait to venture out west again.

2011-06-21T19:56:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we head to Miami! Ryan and I are both pretty pumped for this trip. Our other Miami trips have been quite adventurous (see here and here), to say the least, but the good always seems to outweigh the bad.

If you live anywhere near southern Florida, come check us out at TattooLaPalooza!

I just finished making a somewhat hilarious Miami mix for the car ride down.
Including tunes like:

Will Smith - Miami
Flo Rida - Low
LMFAO - I'm in Miami *****
Pitbull - I Know You Want Me
etc.

Oh the good times we have. . .

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-21T15:55:00.000-04:00

Hope all you fathers had a wonderful Father's Day filled with love and appreciation:)

Little M and I took Ryan golfing on Sunday, followed by shopping and a cookout. Definitely a nice peaceful day. Miss W is in Florida with a friend so she wasn't able to join us, but I doubt she was too brokenhearted!

Gotta seize any chance to play in the sand!

Ryan did quite well for his first time out this year! Thanks to those "big guns" he can hit pretty far:)

A feather fell from the hawk perched up there. Little M was excited to grab it!

Myrtle Beach

2011-06-18T16:15:00.000-04:00

Sunny. Hot. Relaxing. Fun.

All words to describe our little getaway to Myrtle Beach. Definitely quite touristy (as we expected), but fun nonetheless.

Little M really did a fantastic job on the 11hr car ride. We were so impressed.

Everyone got a kick out of the lazy river.

We dined at fun new places,

spent a lot of time at the beach and the pool,

rode rides,

and more rides,

and visited Ripley's Aquarium. So amazing to have sharks swimming above and on both sides of you.

Here my mom, Little M, and I were taking our last walk on the beach.

All in all, it was a great trip.

Next stop, Miami Florida (for Ryan and I).
I'll post about that later!

Vacation!

2011-06-10T18:00:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we head to Myrtle Beach for a little family vacation!! Everyone is definitely excited and ready for a little rest and relaxation. The only bad news - Miss W cannot go with us. The schools here had a great deal of closings for snow in the winter so school got extended much farther into the summer than originally planned. Poor Miss W has finals all day on Monday that she cannot miss. The upside: She was fortunate enough to go on a cruise with her grandparents during spring break and she'll be leaving in about a week to go to Florida with a friend. So, we don't feel too guilty. . .

A few pics from our last family vacation to Hilton Head, about 5 years ago:

It's amazing how much the girls have grown up since then!

Hope you are all able to enjoy the beginnings of summer.

the basement continued

2011-06-10T11:37:00.000-04:00

It's been a slow process, but I've still been working away on the basement. I scraped and peeled, and scraped and peeled, . . .then lost my motivation with the steps. So, I painted them to mask the ugliness that was left until we are able to put a sheet of new wood on top of each one. Hopefully we'll have a bit of time to do that project (and maybe finish the kitchen) in July.

The steps are now a light gray to match the floor. We plan to put a new sheet of stained wood on top each step to spruce it up:)

Our large "theater" screen. Very cool for movies but a bit overwhelming to me for video games. My eyes/brain cannot handle it.

One of the furniture pieces I repainted. We furnished the basement with furniture, rugs, pictures, etc that we had sitting around the house.

The futon I recovered and painted. Ignore the old TV sitting by the wall, that will head down to Ryan's shop soon. I also plan to recover the pillows, Winnie the Pooh is not really our style! Obviously, our cats love to curl up in the cool quiet basement (see Rusty there:)

As I mentioned, we weren't going for anything too fancy. Just a nice place to chill and watch movies. Miss W and her friends definitely seemed to enjoy it last weekend, so we might have scored some points with the teens ;-)

Bad things happen in 3's right?

2011-06-09T14:22:00.000-04:00

Number 1: The day began with a trip to the BMV to get plates for our new cars. After a short wait, Ryan and I felt that we were punched in the face. Or maybe the gut. Or both. The clerk told us the total cost of our plates would be $610. Ha. I think both our jaws dropped to the floor. That's quite a shock to the system when you are expecting something much different. We asked "How can that be?" The clerk's reply, "What do you mean? That's how much plates cost." We politely informed her that I checked the cost online (at the BMV's site) and it was less than half that. We made her go through it all again and guess what? Our total came up to be less than half of what she originally told us. Hmm. Makes you wonder what was happening there. Or how many people this happens to who don't realize it. . .

Number 2: After leaving the BMV (and still trying to recover from it all), Ryan and I drove past the shop only to find graffiti on the front window. Ryan was DEFINITELY not happy. Thankfully, it was only on the window, not the brick, and was not too large. Still, why on earth do people think its acceptable to destroy one another's property? I just don't get it.

Number 3: After a bit of a cool down period, we decided to head out to grab a bite to eat and swing by the bank. Our mistake here lies in the fact that we choose to eat in the car. With the sunroof wide open. Under some trees. Can you guess where I'm going here? As soon as Ryan finished eating, we were dive bombed by bird poop. Oh yes, right through the sunroof and onto Ryan's lap! At this point, we just had to crack up. Nothing like some bird poop to make you laugh.

LOOK OUT!

Or you might have to go do this!

All this before 10am. We were a bit scared to continue the day.

grand opening success

2011-06-08T20:40:00.000-04:00

The grand opening art show for Revolution Tattoo Gallery was definitely a success:)

Great artwork

Live music

Good company

What more could one ask for?

(I neglected to take any photos so I stole a few from a friend just to give you a taste of the place. I'll try to post some better photos soon:)

A view of the gallery from across the street.

Some of the artwork getting ready to be hung.

More artwork awaiting display.

We attached metals rods at the top of the brick walls and then hung the artwork by chains. It seems to work quite well!

One of the back tattoo stations.

And finally the beginning of the show!

If you live in the area, feel free to stop out anytime to see the gallery or check out the artwork. We hope to have the business website up and going in the near future. In the meantime, you can check my husband and his business out at www.facebook.com/revolutiontattoogallery or www.ryanhadley.com

Revolution Tattoo Gallery
1105 Broadway
Fort Wayne, IN 46802

the goods.

2011-06-06T09:47:00.001-04:00

Check out this great treasury featuring the works of artists from my town!

Thanks Kamiann for putting it together!

(I admit that my etsy shop has fallen by the wayside lately. House projects seem to be taking precedence at the moment. . .)

the case of the disappearing pot

2011-05-26T16:24:00.000-04:00

We have had torrential downpours, hail, and a bit of backyard flooding in the last few days. My yard cannot stand up to this kind of pressure.

Yesterday, I look out back and see this.
Notice my orange flower pot in the back left seems to have been eaten by the earth.

Upon closer examination, I find this. Aaaa!

It might be hard to see, but there is a giant hole to the right of my bird bath also.
Looks like that is going down next.

Can you see that some of my marigolds have disappeared into the earth as well?
Someone could break an ankle around here.

It's amazing that we can even walk through the yard without all the animal tunnels below collapsing.
Now, I have to figure out how to repair this damage.
Lucky, are you to blame???

the basement transformation is underway. . .

2011-05-26T09:19:00.003-04:00

Oh the basement. It has been so many things. Once upon a time, the basement housed Ryan's art room, then it housed my jewelry area and looked like this. We then moved my jewelry supplies upstairs and the basement became a bit of a catch-all for our crap. And, yes, I mean lots and lots of unorganized crap. We finally decided to tackle this disaster (it's not good to walk into a space and immediately get pissed off! Clutter = Evil). The basement plan: a bit of a multi-purpose room. We are transforming the front of the basement into a theater/guest room. The back of the basement will be for storage of tools, holiday decor, etc. With our lack of a garage and an unusable attic (no floor), this is all the storage space we have.

We are definitely not going for a professionally finished basement, just something of our own design. The basement was not dug out deep enough for us to put in a real ceiling or anything so it'll have that more exposed feel:) I repainted the basement floor, the same shade as I had painted it before, but this time with a more glossy paint (easier to clean). Ryan built a theater screen (much much cheaper than buying a screen). I painted and covered an old futon and loveseat we had sitting around. The pillows are next. Pictures of this area to come soon.

Now, I am in the process of fixing the stairs. I tried to take the easy way out a while back and cover up the linoleum covered steps with carpet. Well, the easy way out is generally never a good lasting thing. The carpet held up for a while, but was eventually torn up by the cats and began to harbor a lot of dirt. Before I said clutter = evil, well carpet = evil too. It's just plain yucky.

Shredding just a bit don't you think?

What was underneath. . . Maybe some people's taste, but not my own:)

Where I am now. If I could just get the rest of that up, I would paint the stairs. Hmm.

Gotta love the home improvements on a 100+ yr old house!

the bird story

2011-05-24T19:20:00.000-04:00

The baby robins left the nest! It's amazing how quickly they grow up.

After the robins left the front porch, these two little guys moved in.

They have literally been on the porch the entire day. So cute!

In other animal news, "Twitchy" still stops by for a daily visit. He slightly resembles a rat now without his fur, but he is as playful as ever!

The Sacrament

2011-05-20T21:31:00.001-04:00

The grand opening of the new place is tomorrow! If you live nearby, stop in and check it out!

Revolution Tattoo Gallery

2011-05-20T16:22:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the new studio. What happened to the old (Ryan Hadley Studio)? Well, let me try to explain: Although my husband had a fabulous studio. . .that he designed himself. . .that we constructed ourselves. . .that was a huge success. . .we decided it was time to move on. Ryan's studio was beautiful but the building it was located in was rapidly deteriorating and the landlord was not up to making any improvements. Where would I even start in listing our complaints? No heat, the continuous smell of raw sewage in the back room, I could go on and on. It was not a place where we were interested in investing any more time or money, definitely not a place we'd look to purchase in the future.

In a spur of the moment decision (very much our style:), we decided to move into a newly remodeled building in downtown Fort Wayne, only a few short blocks from the old location. This new spot provides a street-front location, on site parking, new everything inside, and a landlord who cares! Ryan offered a partnership to his old apprentice for the new studio, taking a bit of the responsibility and financial burden off himself. All in all it was a win win situation. Leaving the old place was certainly hard (emotionally) on Ryan but we know it will pay off in the end.

One side of the building. . .more photos to come soon.

Revolution Tattoo Gallery
1105 Broadway
Fort Wayne, IN 46802

(Don't worry. This is it. I told Ryan we cannot move again, I don't think we can take the stress.)

soon they will fly!

2011-05-19T20:18:00.003-04:00

We love watching the growth of the little robins on our front porch. The whole family is into it! It's amazing how quickly these little creatures grow and how carefully their parents guard them. It's almost as if the mom and dad can sense us watching through the front door because they'll stop feeding and immediately crouch down over the babies. We can't wait until they attempt to fly. . .

See two of their heads peeking out?

"In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous." -Aristotle

flower power. . .

2011-05-17T14:24:00.000-04:00

On this somewhat cold and drizzly day, I thought I'd try and cheer myself up by sharing a few photos I took last week of the flowers in our yard. The weather this spring just cannot make up its mind. 50s one day, 80s the next, rain, sun. . .I'm just waiting for those consistent warm sunny days:) In the meantime, I'll relish in my photos of sunnier days.

We had our first little hummingbird checking out the salvia last week. Maybe it's time I get a feeder for those little guys. . .

the market is open!

2011-05-15T19:07:00.000-04:00

One of our outdoor farmer's markets just opened for the season on Friday, so we made sure to be there!

We came home with all this, plus: a cantaloupe, banana bread, sugar cookies. . .

a tomato plant (please ignore the empty raised bed in the right of the frame. I hope to plant here tomorrow!),

rosemary, oregano, and peppermint (with which Little M has suggested we make gum;)

two bell pepper plants, and a jalapeno pepper plant!

I am taking the easy (umm lazy) way out this year and starting the majority of my garden from started plants. We shall see what happens!

Bye Bye Toaster!

2011-05-13T13:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I parted ways with my beloved Toaster (aka my Honda Element).

It was a bittersweet day.

Do you ever get emotionally attached to any of your vehicles?

Ryan and I opted to trade in the Toaster and get 2 cars (for the same payment we were making on the Element. Crazy!) It just made sense financially. Plus, Ryan was in desperate need of a reliable vehicle. His '64 Impala is still in the restoration stage and, well, is just not very dependable. There was a bit of an incident earlier this week with the Impala breaking down, I was out of town. . .oh the drama. Anyways, it was the last straw.

Here are our 2 new (well, new to us) vehicles. Ryan got the Infiniti G35 on the left and I am the new owner of the Ford Fusion on the right. Ryan's headlights are being replaced next week (you might notice the fogginess) and I am having a sunroof installed! Yippee! We might miss a bit of the functionality of the Toaster but we'll make up for it in gas mileage and style. Haha:)

creatures of spring

2011-05-11T13:18:00.000-04:00

We have had quite an array of birds this spring. Our bird watchin' family is getting into it! Thought I'd share a few photos with you:

such brilliant colors!

We have lots of these visiting!

The bees are back. They were definitely slow moving at first, but now they are buzzing all about.

Lucky, the groundhog finally reappeared. Lucky was looking pretty large so maybe he's not the man we thought he was?? Maybe there are babies looming about? (sorry for the blurry photo)

A new visitor this year!

Look up in the left corner of the front porch. . .

A robin's nest!

Woodpeckers are always stopping by for a treat as well.

Notice the sparrow with the white stripe on his head? I've been digging into the bird guides this spring, trying to learn new things:)

And, finally, an image of our new pal "Twitchy." We are not quite sure of his ailment, but he has lost almost all his fur. It makes me sad. . .Don't you just want to pick him up and squeeze the little guy? Little M loves to sit outside and feed him peanuts. . .he definitely has little fear of us.

The joys of backyard gardening in the inner city!
If you are an animal, stop on by.
We have the "cool" yard to hang out in.

food allergies?

2011-05-10T10:40:00.006-04:00

After months of random headaches/neckaches/stomachaches, we took Little M in for allergy testing.

Not the most fun thing ever, but we thought it was pretty fascinating.

It turns out that Little M has allergies to different molds (certainly not a good thing with all this ridiculous rain we've had this spring), grasses, soy and corn. While thankful that she is not allergic to our cats, we were a bit distraught by the corn and soy. In this processed food world that we live in, everything contains these two items! Luckily, the doctor did not seem too concerned because these are not any sort of severe allergies. We are simply doing our best to try and cut back. . .and to see which things cause problems. This has definitely made me more aware of what we are putting into our bodies. Reading the labels on a lot of food is just shocking. I mean, who looked at an ear of corn and said "Well now, how can I put this in every food out there?" We need to take things back a few steps and move into simpler natural ingredients.

It's definitely time for me to step up and make an effort to change the way my family is eating.

not so sunny LA

2011-05-03T11:57:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I ventured out to LA the other week to visit friends. This was my first trip to California and I was hoping for 80s and sun! No such luck (60s and clouds), but there is still a great deal of beauty in the place. I must admit, the trip was not exactly as we expected. Definitely not a getaway for the two of us, definitely not good timing but this was our own fault for decisions we made along the way. We seem to thrive off living in chaos. We certainly don't live a dull boring life. Ha. Anyways, I have to say, it was worth the 4 hour flight to spend quality time with good people. An added benefit - Spending time with other people's children can definitely make you appreciate your own:)

Here are a few random shots I took on the trip:

To live in LA, I would need lots and lots of money so I could have a view like this:)

the Korean Bell of Friendship

Beach view from Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier. Little M would love this place, probably more than Navy Pier in Chicago!

Grauman's Chinese Theater

Check out the sign in the middle. Apparently Jesus is returning on Ryan's birthday this year. Who knew? ;)

Randy's Donuts - does this look familiar to you from any movies?

We made it back to rainy Indiana safely (we both have developed a hatred of flying;-) and jumped right into moving studios! More on that later. . .

time, oh time, where are you?

2011-04-28T14:20:00.002-04:00

Seriously, there has been way too much going on here lately (good things. . .so no worries:) I have lots of catch up on. In the meantime, I thought I'd entertain you with some tunes (remakes of older songs).

Ryan and I loved this on The Voice.

Which reminded me that we were also impressed with this from Rock Star INXS (remember that show?)

another year older. . .

2011-04-16T12:56:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I celebrated my 31st birthday on Thursday with a hike at Eagle Marsh.

It was a bit breezy, but overall, a lovely day:)

We stumbled across a little pile of bones.

Saw quite a few frogs.

And an abundance of birds.

Ryan had a momentary freak out after a snake slithered across the path in front of us, but he recovered. His fear of snakes is hilarious!! I wish I had some video of the times we've encountered snakes on our hikes, it's sooooo funny to watch him yell and run. Oh my.

Definitely a good birthday.

80s in April? I'll take it.

2011-04-13T14:30:00.000-04:00

We took full advantage of our random 80 degree day on Sunday. Days like this don't come around often this soon in the season. . .

We hit balls in the park.

Hiked at Kokiwanee Nature Preserve.

Grilled out and did a bit of yard work.

If only every day was this glorious!

spring break!

2011-04-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

This year's spring break is all about having fun with Little M. Miss W, the lucky gal, is on a cruise to the Bahamas with her grandparents so Ryan and I felt we had to try and do something exciting for Little M!

Spring Break began with a little road trip to Columbus Ohio to:

Visit with Jen and Steve (which is always an entertaining time),

Party in a hotel,

Do some shopping,

And eat some treats of course!

Back at home, we made a trip to Science Central with some friends.

Always a good time to be had

where learning and fun are combined!

Next on the list was a visit to Glo-In-The-Dark Mini-Golf!

Something fun and different to do:)

What else will the week bring? Bowling, a birthday party. . .

justice. . .

2011-04-01T20:20:00.001-04:00

A great treasury, Her Name is Justice, featuring my cuff put together by Rebecca at RebecCards!

transforming the kitchen. . .

2011-04-01T10:49:00.000-04:00

The kitchen is the heart of the home, or so they say. Although I am no where near as great a chef as I would like to be, our family seems to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. And, honestly, the kitchen is one of the ugliest rooms in our house. It's a bit of an embarrassment, especially since most guests enter our home through the kitchen (if they park out back). Ryan and I decided it was way past time to remedy this situation.

I am almost embarrassed just to show these photos. . .

The counter is chipped, cheap, and too light of a color for our taste. The floor needs help.

The cupboards are also too light of a shade. I can never open the blinds above the sink because the view is not something you'd want to look at. The joys of inner city living. Our neighbor's back door is just a short distance from the window and he enjoys standing right outside his door smoking cigarettes countless times each day. It's a little awkward if I'm standing there washing dishes staring right at him.

Ok, enough with the complaints. Time for action.

The first step was re-painting the cabinets.

A bit of a pain, I must admit, but well worth it.

Next up, tiling the counter tops. We bought some fabulous slate tiles and are excited to start that project as soon as hubby can find a free moment away from work. We also have plans for flooring and a simple fix for the window. . .More to come later.

phunk-n-ink

2011-03-31T19:29:00.000-04:00

Great convention name, I know:) Ryan worked our local Fort Wayne tattoo convention this past weekend. He was crazy busy as usual, so I brought the kids down for a bit to check it all out.

Here are a few fabulous photos of the weekend by Ryan's friends at Douglas Photography.

Little M was most fascinated with the Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow. They also had BMX riders and suspensions for entertainment. Little M wanted to stay and watch the suspensions, but I told her that was a little too grown up and a little too gross for her viewing pleasure. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just google "body suspensions." All I can see is eek!

Little M was talking all about "Thrill Kill Jill" when we left.

We made sure to inform both girls that these performers are specially trained!

We have yet to take the girls traveling with us for an entire convention weekend. Maybe one day soon.

a few days home with the little sickie. . .

2011-03-31T12:47:00.001-04:00

Little M has definitely had more than her fair share of illness. The poor girl seems to catch everything she comes into contact with. She takes a multi-vitamin and extra vitamin C, and eats tons of yogurt and fruit. . .We are open to any other immunity booster suggestions out there. She would be grateful.

Little M was stricken with a pretty bad bronchial infection this time around. The doc said they would treat it like walking pneumonia with a strong antibiotic, rest, and fluids.

Here we are in the car on the way to the doctor's office. I'm so nice for snapping photos, right? We really wanted to avoid the doc and antibiotics, but Little M kept getting worse so we broke down and went on day 5.

We spent a lot of time laying around this week - relaxing, playing games and Polly Pockets. Moses, not one to be left out, tried to take full advantage by climbing on top of everything I was working on to lay down too!

Little M was definitely back to her old self yesterday (aside from the cough) harassing poor Rusty. Here she said he was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood. He really appreciates it, can you tell?

She was excited to be able to return to school today and I was excited for life to return to normal!

the vultures are back. . .

2011-03-30T16:08:00.000-04:00

Every spring, these interesting creatures roost in the trees near my parents house. We get excited to try and find them in the neighborhood every year.

Do you see them? We stumbled upon them on our way home one evening. (Sorry, I only had my little camera with me.)

They always look so mysterious in the barren trees behind the grand old houses:)

the projects begin. . .

2011-03-24T09:09:00.000-04:00

The warmer weather this past week was all the inspiration I needed to begin a few spring projects.

My pops came over to help clean a bit of debris out of the gutters.

I re-painted a bench that I picked up at a garage sale last summer. Our yard needed some color:)

And I spruced up our vents with a bit of spray paint. It's amazing the difference a fresh coat of paint can make.

Don't worry, it hasn't been all work around here. We do like to play too.

The chalk has re-appeared.

And so have the birds. Thankfully this flock was only here for a day.

And, we bought a fire pit! Our new favorite activity is smores by the fire at night:)

I think I appreciate spring more every year.

signs of life. . .

2011-03-23T20:53:00.002-04:00

I was so excited to find all these signs of life popping up in our flower beds. It definitely gave me gardening fever!! Too bad I won't be planting for a while yet:)

It's hard to believe that just a short while ago, this was all buried beneath our backyard sledding park (compliments of Little M and Ryan).

Just praying for no more snow!

filling in the arm. . .

2011-03-14T20:40:00.001-04:00

Ryan finally squeezed me into his schedule the other day to begin filling in my arm! Yay! We added in a moth and flame. . . It looks amazing, of course, but I thought I'd show you the not-so-amazing part;) My skin is oh so special and sensitive. Whenever I get tattooed, I swell so much! I tried to snap a few photos in the mirror (sorry my cell camera sucks!) to show you how large my lower arm was. It was pretty hilarious.

hammering away on my arm.

the aftermath.

nice, huh? Our cat Moses was trying to be in the photo too:)

Thankfully it's almost all healed now. I'll post a photo soon to show the finished product.

The things I put myself through. . .

Who knew. . .

2011-03-10T14:51:00.000-05:00

it would take me this long to switch computers and get settled (I mean, I haven't posted in like 2 weeks!)? Oh my. . . but, I am excited to say that we are proud new owners of an iMac! Yep, we made the switch from PC to Mac. I definitely cannot complain, it's just a bit of a learning process, and a process to switch over tons of files from not one, but two older computers. My eyes have gone a bit wonky and my brain a bit fried, but most of the info is now on this machine here. Hallelujah.

Feelin' the love. . .

2011-03-01T19:03:00.001-05:00

from all these fabulous treasuries!! Thanks so much everyone!

Break Free by Shellie Artist

All Things Spring by Knee Deep Originals

Freedom by Klamel

Choose Your Season with FAM Team by Valerie's Gallery

In other exciting news, I am offering FREE SHIPPING on all items in my shop. How long will this last? No one knows so grab it while you can ☺

a treasury of leaves. . .

2011-02-25T15:42:00.000-05:00

My Earth Brass Cuff was included in this fabulous treasury by The Feminine Touch !

Head on over and check it out:)

Motor City Tattoo Expo

2011-02-25T13:47:00.000-05:00

If you live near Detroit, check out the Motor City Tattoo Expo this weekend. Conventions are always entertaining:) Ryan is there working away, feel free to stop by and say hi!

on the business side of things. . .

2011-02-24T13:15:00.000-05:00

My new cards arrived! Love their simplicity. . .

A few pieces have been sitting around in my Etsy Shop for a bit too long. I am considering altering a few of them, as I did the one below, and relisting them. Or I could pull them out to sell locally. Or maybe I'll have a sale on those older pieces. Hmm, what to do?

And, finally, I have decided it's time to utilize a more formal inventory system for my jewelry to keep track of what items are for sale, where they are listed, what sold, etc. I currently use a mixture of handwritten forms and computer files. Honestly, it's a bit of a mess! I am considering just a simple Excel or Google spreadsheet, or maybe something like Bento? (Hubby has plans to trade out tattoo work for another iPad in the near future. I just love the barter system!) Hmm, once again, what to do?

I am open to all helpful suggestions☺

beautiful day for a hike. . .

2011-02-21T20:30:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, the girls and I made a little trip to McNabb-Walter Nature Preserve. The sun was shining, the temps were in the 40s, and most of the snow had melted away. It was a beautiful day.

Can't beat the sunshine.

Trees are so fun!

More glorious sunshine.

They love it when I force them to pose!

Something happened here. . .

Today, the freezing rain came, then the snow returned. We are anxiously awaiting spring, but greatly appreciate these little breaks in the weather!

the joys of an old house. . .

2011-02-17T20:10:00.001-05:00

When your house is 100+ years old, you know to expect a few surprises from time to time. When I entered our bedroom the other day, I noticed a rusty smell and this lovely new design on one of our front windows. Apparently we have some sort of leak in the window frame. . .a blockage in the gutters. We'll just put that on the To Do List for spring.

On a more positive house note, Ryan and I decided we were finally mature enough for a couch. I mean, a futon can only last so long before it becomes a bit annoying, don't you agree? We settled for a black couch and loveseat. Great choice for a family with 2 white and orange cats, I know. The cats have left the new furniture alone for the time being. This is probably due to the fact that we've been covering it with tin foil when we aren't using it! Hopefully we can remove the foil one day. . . Ryan also busted out this owl painting for the living room. I'm so glad he's on board with my love of nature and birds in the house decor.

I definitely felt the black furniture gave off a very masculine feel at first, so I am planning to add a few throws and toss pillows to make it all a little more gender neutral:)

Some ideas:

Branches Pillow Covers by Maries Cosy Cushions

Pretty Bird Pillow by b. poetic home

Maybe I can make my own? I'm still on the lookout for some colorful throws. . .

cookies anyone?

2011-02-17T15:09:00.000-05:00

I obviously had some trouble ironing those patches on. Can we say crooked? ;-)

love is in the air. . .

2011-02-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hope you all had a day filled with love and good cheer for Valentine's; actually, I hope each and every day of the year is filled with love and good cheer for you. Ryan and I went to a concert at Come 2 Go last night with three great performers - Peter Mulvey, Pamela Means, and Ralston Bowles. We actually attended the same show there last year. . .I hope they keep this tradition coming.

Peter Mulvey is definitely one of my faves :)

You just can't beat live music.

Expert Toilet Fixer, That's Me. . .Thanks to My Pops

2011-02-09T08:00:00.003-05:00

Jealous? I know you are. I had to fix three toilets in two days. Yes, not 1 or 2, but I said 3! Are we really that hard on our toilets? Hmmm, I guess this is probably a discussion I don't want to get into and you definitely do not want to read about, so we'll just leave it at that. (If it makes you feel any better, one of the toilets was at the studio, not our house:)

I don't really want to discuss toilets here, just the fact that I can fix them. And do any number of other home improvement/repair tasks. . .Moving furniture up and down the stairs? Fixing computers? Just let me at it. There is no better satisfaction than being able to do something myself. If you know me, you know that I hate (HATE,HATE, HATE!)) to ask for help for something I think I should be able to do myself. This value of hard work was instilled in me from my parents, but the home improvement skills come from my dad. He is a jack of all trades, the master repairman. There seems to be nothing that he cannot do. One day, that will be me.

Happy Birthday Pops!!
Thank you for being you.

snowed in.

2011-02-02T21:11:00.001-05:00

Two days. . .no school. . .no work for my hubby. . .school already on a 2 hr delay tomorrow. . .The weather this winter is really just amazing.

Just a little recap:

Icicles + Deep Snow = Great Fun!

Shoveling + Shoveling + Shoveling = Insanity!

Long Johns + Coffee/Snacks + Wii = Insanity Relief

Rusty was treated like a king (by Little M, who else?). First providing him with a foam & blanket bed by the heater. . .

Then with more blankets, pillows, and a crown! Rusty is certainly a trooper.

Little M and daddy got in some quality time together, I was able to get a few things done. . .


And even the birds seemed content!

I think these relaxing days at home were just what we all needed.

and the art show was a success!

2011-02-02T09:24:00.000-05:00

As if there was any doubt:)

Hubby's latest show, one. was packed. Seriously. Check out the photos below.

You can see me in the front middle. . .posing with a water bottle? Who knows. It was virtually impossible to move from that spot for quite a while.

Our friend's band, Darkroom, performed for their very last show. They are pretty incredible. Check out their music if you get the chance.


Ryan and several of his fellow artist friends collaborated on a piece of artwork during the show.

This was definitely a hit (people were fascinated, as they always are with others' talent:), so this will most likely become a tradition at all future art shows.

Even Little M contributed a piece. And it sold! Oh the excitement.

You can check out more photos from the show here.

sledding.

2011-01-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

We decided to take Little M out for a bit of a sledding adventure today, just enjoying a bit of family time after all the craziness surrounding the typical art show (more about the show later:). On her first downhill sledding attempt of the season, Little M managed to do some sort of backbend/rollover thing. Scary. She is definitely quite accident prone. . .We were afraid of damage to her neck but she only seemed to suffer from some pulled stomach muscles and recovered quickly. Thank the Lord.

We all tired out pretty quickly. Climbing back up those hills is quite a daunting and exhausting task. Next time, we need to sled somewhere where they have a ski lift to take us back up. Haha. In my dreams. . .

a bit more about the art show. . .

2011-01-25T21:32:00.000-05:00

Ryan was interviewed for the local news about the upcoming art show. He may have been a bit nervous, but I think he did a great job:)

one.

2011-01-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

New Art Show!

Next Saturday (29th) at my hubby's studio.

Part of the Drop Your Avante Garde event in downtown Fort Wayne.

Be there or be square.

One of hubby's pieces for the show.
Isn't he just amazing?

Home Alone?

2011-01-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a moment home alone is all you need. . .

Check out this great treasury put together by Glasserie!

snow day!

2011-01-20T09:50:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a snow day, well more like an ice day, for Little M. We definitely filled our day. . .

Starting with a trip to the gym and a visit to Barnes and Noble,


(where I picked up our current book club selection. I'll let you know what I think after I read it:)

Later time was spent creating felted balls,


This was really quite easy and fun! Thanks Jen and Steve for the great Christmas gift for Little M:)

We then made our very first batch of homemade brownies. Well, not exactly homemade, but from a bag of chocolate chips. Delicious, but tastes more like a cake/cookie as opposed to a brownie.

Little M later spent some time out in the snow so I could get my work done! Things are looking up on the self-play front:)

All in all, it was a great day.

How has the weather been treating you this winter?