Waiting for the Great Pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you a fun, safe and "spooktastic" Halloween this weekend!

Movin' on Up

I have my FIRST "unofficial" photography session this weekend!

One of my friends from work just got engaged (congrats K!) and I convinced her to let me take her engagement photos! Although I am FAR from a professional, I am still learning in hopes of one day actually becoming an amateur "professional" photographer (does that even make sense?)!!

I know, I know. I also promised you another website devoted specifically to my photography, but that hasn't happened yet. You see, I like to procrastinate occasionally on my primary obligations (statistics, laundry, playing with the cat, twiddling my thumbs, etc) and therefore wind up with absolutely hardly any time to do things I actually enjoy. Although after last post, I'm sure I totally just contradicted myself.

I digress... so I have a challenge for you, my web-savvy readers. You can help me decide on the color scheme for my new website (which will be coming AFTER December once I finally get the heck finished with this Bachelor's Degree!). I've put a voting tool at the top of the page for you to make your decisions.

so... VOTE AWAY. It will give me something to do when I'm supposed to be writing my 5-page case analysis that's due before midnight tonight. Which I haven't even started. Must have forgot about that one!

King of the Hill (and other procrastination activities)

Here's my baby... king of the hill. The hill is really more like my nice zebra-print pillow which I HAND MADE with fabric that cost more than I'm really willing to admit (sorry B). Meh - what's a few kitty nail pulls anyway?! Good thing he only lasted long enough for me to take a few hundred pictures. I may have blinded him with my flash.
So in other news, Bobby and I did absolutely nothing all weekend and it was fabulous. When is the last time you did nothing? When I say nothing, here's what I'm implying: fatty Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Saturday morning (which started at approximately 9:48 a.m.), about 3-4.5 hours of watching College Football (Saturday), a trip to Target just because, about 3-4.5 hours of watching PRO Football (Sunday), home cooked oatmeal, a long and leisurely bike ride around the neighborhood, and about 9389034 cups of hot apple cider - my seasonal favorite. All-in-all, it was wonderful.
AND because I have a Statistics Mid Term to work on this week (which is due on Saturday), I thought I'd celebrate by telling you, my dear readers, 25 things about me (cue: "You're so vain..." song). For my blog-stalking friends, I hope to see the same "game" on your blogs.

1. I have extremely fickle feet. When they are hot, they swell which often results in me having to lay down and hold my feet above my head (great ab workout). When they are cold - look out! Cold feet make me irritable.

2. Speaking of feet... I hate "naked toes" (as my loving husband likes to call them). I don't necessarily mind them on other people (much to my sister's dismay), however, I can't stand them on mine. And just in case you were wondering, I had a French Pedicure on in the picture above...
3. The name "Melissa" means "Honey Bee." Perhaps that's why when I wear my "Sour Lemon" colored shoes with black, people tend to make fun of me for resembling a bumble bee.
4. I cry all the time. Home Depot commercials at Christmas time, Hallmark commercials, a good chick-flick, a BAD chick-flick, you name it. I'm a serious weeper.
5. I'm secretly in love with Brett Favre. And Jude Law. 'Lawd have mercy.
6. I HATED Baseball before I met Bobby. In fact, a few months after we started dating, I specifically remember (and he does too) asking him "Can we not go to any more baseball games?" We frequently went to Oriole's games one summer. My severe hatred ended when I started working for the team. When asked during my interview what my favorite current player was, I swiftly responded "I just love Jim Palmer. He's such a talented pitcher." Even though Jim Palmer is about 65 and hasn't played baseball in 30 years (I can hear my mother-in-law laughing now). I still got the job somehow... (Man, I miss Baltimore. I love this picture... taken at a game that went 10 innings).

7. My favorite noise in the whole world is the sound of our door opening when Bobby comes home from work.
8. I hate politics. This time of year makes me cringe.
9. I have always wanted to be a Southern Belle. Accent, etiquette, the works. Until I met Bobby, I was headed South-Bound to East Carolina University. I decided to stay in Maryland with my love, but my mind has "gone to Carolina" (oh! the pun!).

10. Photo-editing makes me happy. It makes me feel artsy when I don't have an artistic bone in my body.
11. I love my handwriting. When I was in elementary school, I used to write so slow because I enjoyed watching myself write. I used to copy my sister-in-law's handwriting because I thought it was so pretty (Oh my, Jen, how I was so enamored with you when I was little! I still am!)

12. I can't get enough of magazines. Give me the gossip, the style, the home decorating, the Martha. I don't care... there's nothing more comforting that getting lost in a comfy blanket with a good magazine. I miss my "In Style" subscription.

13. I love watching Bobby play the guitar. It makes me swoon like I was a high school girl.

14. I want to join the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. I secretly wish I could still fit into my high school cheer leading uniform and just pretend - I'm on the far right (mind the photograph... oh, the days before digital photography).

15. I love to people-watch. Stick me on a bench at the County Fair (or the local Wal-Mart) and I'll be completely entertained.
16. Sewing makes me feel so domestic and June Cleaver-like and I LOVE IT!!!!! I wish I had the time to do it more.
17. I am SO excited to be pregnant and have a baby (Lord Willing) eventually, but I am completely terrified of the whole pain and blood thing that's involved.

18. I used to hide candy in different places in my room growing up. More recently, I hid Gingersnaps (yes, the grandma cookies) in empty oatmeal boxes in the pantry so Bobby doesn't find out. Well, he caught me and now I have to find a new hiding spot.
19. I own over 30 pairs of shoes. About 80% of those are high heels.

20. I love change. Not big change, just change that I'm in control of. Re-arranging our room, switching out the curtains, changing my wardrobe seasonally, CUTTING OFF MY HAIR (just kidding, I like it). It makes my little heart content.
21. I hate touching the bottom when swimming in a lake, pond or ocean. I absolutely refuse. Bobby hates going to the beach with me now because I always cling on his back. Take me to Hawaii or Mexico where you can see the bottom and I'll be a much happier girl.
22. I love taking pictures. I love capturing someone's mood, the moment, or just a pretty scene. God's creations never cease to amaze me and I see them the best through the lens of my camera.

23. I HATE shopping for jeans. They are one of my least favorite things to wear and I can never find a pair that fits me correctly...except for my skinny jeans, which are looming creepily in my closet, begging to be worn again.
24. I certain that I could survive on the following foods for the rest of my life: Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich, caramel candies, Potato Skins, Cashew Nuts, and Caramel Macchiato's.
25. The thing I love most about being married (as someone asked me the other day)? Never having to go home when the day is over.

Ok, now that I've completely eliminated all my readers at this point, I will surely miss you all. Good-bye forever!
Just kidding. Now you give me 5 things about yourself and then we can all sing "You're so vain... I bet you think this song was about you..."

Orange Juice Sunrise

Why Orange Juice? Because I don't like Tequila.

God sure has been performing with his paintbrush these past few mornings! I've had the pleasure of waking up to these almost every day this week.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of relaxation and enjoyment as you take in the crisp fall air. I will NOT be up early enough to witness another one of these sunrises because my alarm will be turned off. Completely. The only alarm that will be going off tomorrow will be the sound of Killian ramming his head against our bedroom door at lightening speeds in an effort to wake us up.

Sorry Buddy, not today!!!

Avoir un bon weekend, mes amis!

Melting Heart

I am pretty much useless whenever there is a baby around.

This Saturday, Bobby and I drove up to B-More to help his little Bro, Joe (a.k.a. J-Money) with his Eagle Scout Project. I'm not much good when it comes to heavy lifting and power tools and concrete and wood and stuff, so I just tagged along to take pictures and document the whole thing. I was doing a great job until about 2 hours into it when Bobby's other brother showed up with their baby (who is now an 8 month baby) Ben. I came home with more pictures of the baby than I did of the Eagle Project (just kidding J-Money, I have a lot of them for you). Anyway, this kid is the cutest thing... I mean the baby-blue's... I can just feel my knees weakening. This boy is going to melt a lot of hearts some day...


Look at that smile!!! (Mind the bag of concrete)

How cute is this? I love it...