taking time for myself

I think this next week I'll be taking conscious efforts to slow down a bit. I'm not one of those people who likes to have a constantly full schedule. I thrive off of down time. I love having time to rearrange trinkets, read a good book, and browse my favorite blogs. These last two weeks have felt a bit all over the place and I haven't had much time to do those silly things. I call them silly like I should be defending my love for them, but in reality I think every one could use to settle down their crazy schedules and read a good book or redesign their dusted mantle. My heart feels rested and creative juices reenergized when I make time for these things, it's really not so silly when you think of it like that.

With that being said, there's a cozy blanket and page-turning book waiting for me on the couch :)

here's to books, and reading lots of them

After my last post, I think today calls for something lighter, and a bit more colorful. Thus, books. 

I talked about this in my goals post, but for the sake of avoiding link overload, I won't link that post here. However, it's about 2 down from this one if you wanted to check it out.

BOOKS.

I want to read more of them, and especially these colorful classics. I usually get a bit lost in the classic novels, but I'd like to push myself a bit more this next year and navigate my way through the difficult language they often use. 

I have always loved to read and only within the last couple of years have I struggled to find books that keep me hooked for more than 7 or so chapters. I read a lot of great books last year, but I also started and never finished a lot of so-so, "B list" books. A possible future blog post topic?? I need a page turner to keep me interested, I can't have any of that Nicholas Sparks mushy stuff. Throw me a thriller with intense, controversial topics and you won't move me from the couch!

In addition to the classics, here's a few of the books on my list this year: The Divergent series [namely because it's said to mirror the Hunger Games trilogy with it's Utopian feel], Salem Falls, and I'd really like to finish the Harry Potter series! I don't know about you, but sometimes I suffer from impulse book buying. It's a real thing! I love to buy books, so I'd also like to work my way through the many piles of unread books stashed on my bookshelf. 

Do you read books? What are some of your favorite authors? Sure I have tons of "to-reads" stashed on my shelf, but I'm always happy to impulsively add to that collection :)

Stream of Consciousness

Starting blog posts has never been my strong point, I feel like the intros are always a bit awkward and clumsily put together, so I'll dive in. 

These last couple of months have been a fair competition of bad and good, exhaustion followed by reward and stressful situations squashed down by moments of humble understanding. I've felt God speak clearly to the notion that He>I time and time again. It's a wonderful realization when you understand there is One greater than you and I who sets the world in order. I tried controlling a lot of circumstances this Summer, and I'm still finding my place in that battle with God. But I rest in knowing His plans out-do mine 100% of the time. 

I'm usually a Summer kind of gal, I thrive on the sunny days, cool nights and BBQs with friends. But I'm also big on "new seasons, new months, new years" and the idea that a fresh slate accompanies each. I need that new slate right now, I want to throw control in God's hands from the start and thrive because I've done it His way and not mine. The approaching slate? Pumpkin spice lattes, homey scented candles, big sweaters, and the promise of the Holidays. Fall, I covet your grand appearance. 

So, Summer...

There have been a lot of happy things among the crazy so far. 

Things like greenery in my home, and blue skies every day. 

A trip to Tahoe with my sweet family

to include: a family reunion, daily beach trips, a dinner on the lake, lots of games, hiking Eagle Rock with my love, great food, a fancy night spent by an outdoor fire pit and delicious drinks, and a walk through the cutest local nursery. Because it's not a trip until I've satisfied the 60 year old lady in me by perusing the aisles of perennials.

Summer AAA baseball games at our local team's stadium.

My brother works for the local team and often gives our family tickets to go see them play. I've grown up going to these games but it amps up the fun when I see my little brother running around on the field. I've yet to catch a free t-shirt from the "t-shirt launch gun" he shoots out at the audience. Hmmph ;)

A night at the State Fair with one of my best friends.

I was invited by a friend to join her at the state fair last week and it was so great. The best part? All she wanted to do was look at animals and go to exhibits just like me. Rides are fun at permanent parks, not 14 day pop-up fairs...I'm not trying to sign my life away for 30 seconds of "spin you upside-down, jerk you in circles until you throw-up" fun. Oh, and her sister worked in the animal nursery with all the little babies so that was super fun to see as well!

A ton of photography work and also new succulents. 

Photography has picked up SO much these last couple of months, it's incredible to see God pouring out His blessings on this business He allowed me to have. I've worked harder on this than anything in my life and I'm finally seeing the fruits of my labor. However, I don't want to get caught up in myself and thinking I'm awesome so I'll just throw it out there again that God is the awesome one who gave me the coolest stinking job ever, and I'm forever grateful. 

Also, succulents...they are cool. I love them and I will never have enough.

A couple images from my first ever styled session!

My wedding season begins on August 17th...I'm nervous, excited, and feeling oh so very blessed.

ummmm random

We saw this fallen down fence as we walked through the scenic parts of Sand Harbor {GO there if you ever venture to Lake Tahoe}...it reminded me of the shore back East. I'll be sharing the rest of vaca pictures sooner than later! 

It's been seriously non-stop the last week..since the Fourth of July to be exact. I've since had 3 photo shoots and a 27 hour week at Starbucks. I'd say that puts me somewhere around a 50 hour week when you consider the 12 hour wedding and editing time. Right?! Haven't been to bed before 2 in like four nights because I've been editing session after session. I hope this is what it feels like to be a pro because I wouldn't trade it for the world! Late night edit sessions..revamping my blog..nailing down a logo..so much fun to me. Probably sounds like homework to most, but it's kind of the coolest thing ever for me. 

Ummmm I have no clue where this post is going and highly doubt more than my eyes will read it so since it's 1:45 in the a.m. I best be getting some shut eye. 

I might regret this post in the morning :)

for your laughing pleasure

I can't get enough of these dumb e-cards. I don't know why they're so funny to me, but here's a few of my favorites lately. All via Pinterest, of course. Hope you get a little chuckle out of some :)

and the most applicable one to my life at the moment...

It's appropriate to mention that I no longer have anything left to learn in college. In other words, I've mastered just about everything there is to know.

Obviously you have no clue where I'm going with that, do you?

Last night I took my very last set of lecture notes...EVER. So I wasn't lying to you. I have nothing left to learn. From this point on it's all presentations, papers and finals. I can't even handle how awesome that is. And what were my last notes, you ask? I learned about subliminal persuasion. That's correct, I now know how to subliminally persuade you, watch out!

Maybe I've already subliminally persuaded you in this very post....you'll never know. That's awkward.

Too far?

Coffee, a planner and a purse

As we speak, I am sitting on our bed with F.R.I.E.N.D.S season 5 playing in the background while Mr and his best friend play Skyrim in the living room. It's a one player, xbox game so naturally his friend brought over his own TV so they could play together. Geeks. But I love it. Our room is clean, belly's are full and I don't have to work for another week. I'd say I'm thoroughly enjoying tonight and soakin up the happiness. I also need to mention that I'm proud owner of a dot com now! All readers will automatically be redirected but just so we're all up to speed I am now nicoledianne.com :)

...

So as of lately

We spent the night hanging out at a local coffee shop a few days ago, and I quite enjoyed myself. Notice my new planner? I basically never want 2012 to end just so I can use this planner for the rest of time. Oh, and Mr has sufficiently made fun of my decision making process over buying the perfect one. Clearly he doesn't understand the importance of finding the very best :) See if I write down his important appointments pshh..

Out back of the coffee shop there's twinkle lights, heaters and a fire pit. I wouldn't be upset my backyard looked like this someday. 

In other news, we've been spending a lot of time with our friendlies lately. Blonde boy on the left is a musician and scored an entire movie over the last couple months. His movie debuted this week so we all dressed up and had a night out in honor of him and his awesome accomplishment.

I'll be in a wedding this weekend so we had a bachelorette party for the lovely lady in purple. And yes, we are drinking out of boy part straws. I enlarged the picture for your viewing pleasure...wait what?

 

And last but not least..
Say hello to my new purse. I begged and pleaded with Mr to let me buy this, it's only my fourth purse in four years including my $4 thrift store find..so I indulged and I'm most pleased :) Happy wife happy life, yes?

I'll be off to wedding festivities for the rest of this weekend so here's to hoping I last longer than 10 minutes in my heels.

Thoughts On College

This will be long. I don't even know if I'll proof read through this. But when the mind starts rolling you gotta get the pen to the paper. Errr..fingers to the keyboard?

This school semester has been very eye opening. I'm so content with my coffeehouse job, part time photography, little apartment and tight budget..right now at least. But the "responsible" thing according to most, is going to school..getting your degree..then entering the 9-5 world. Well that's nice and all, but not what I'm about. I know I'll never regret getting my degree and receiving a college education, but if I could do it over I never would have gone to a state school. I'd much rather have gone to a photography school and enhanced my skills/knowledge of something I'm absolutely passionate for. I was advised to go for a "stable" generic degree in case my dream of being a photographer didn't quite pan out. While that advice is not terrible, it's definitely put me in a position I'd rather not be in.

I went the generic route and now my professors are asking for passion in my work, and that isn't something I can force. I mean sure I could fake it, but something about that just feels wrong to me. So, I told a particular professor that there will never be passion in my writing for her course because I'm simply taking her class as a graduation requirement..nothing further. She was shocked that approaches to rhetorical criticism wasn't at the top of my list. But at least I was honest. It felt better than giving her fake work.

 As I sit through school 12 hours a week I'm in a constant state of regret. I thought going the generic route was smart because my options are wide open..but writing 15 page papers about topics I could care less about is really starting to eat away at me. For lack of a better example...we're gonna go cliche here and say.. I'm so close to the finish line so I can't back out now but I wish things had gone differently after I graduated high school. I wish I had gone with my gut feeling and worked toward my passion instead of what the world deems valuable. Maybe to most people working 9-5 is valuable because it pays the bills. I want to do something I love, something I can wake up and be excited for. I find value in adoring your work.

I've worked so hard to get this far in college and I'm real proud of myself but sometimes I wonder if all the stress and tears were worth it in the end? Yes I said tears...I don't cry, but mixing deployment with dumb classes I could care less about brings out the tears every once in a while.

I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to receive a college education, and I acknowledge that many are not as fortunate to do so. But I'm struggling right now. Struggling to find meaning and purpose in a degree that has done nothing for me and won't help much in the future either. I've always had this attitude toward school but thought maybe it would change as I reached upper division. Not so my friend. School isn't meant for everyone and I think it's ridiculous when people say that you need school to be successful in life. Success comes from determination and creative will power, not from reading hundreds of textbook pages. Sure some people..well most people I guess..use their degrees to get them further and it's proved successful for them. I just don't see that happening with my degree. Who knows though, next year around this time I could be writing about the wonderful things my state school did for me. I doubt it...but I'm not gonna throw that option out the window yet. It's tough getting to this point, hundreds of tests and quizzes later and still realizing that school wasn't for me.

I did my family proud and in the standards of today's society I made a smart decision but I sure wish I spent the last 4 years hearing the shutter of my camera open and close instead of a textbook.

just barely here

Oh, hey.

Remember when I didn't have 4,132 things to do every day? 

That sure was nice.

eep that's gross

but still kinda cute.

mushroom in my houseplant

:)

mindful musings

pictures to edit..text books to be read..work memorization to be done..emails to be answered..bills to be paid..gas tank to be filled..phone calls to be made

fun to be had?

i would like to think that i deserve a little fun amongst the exhaustive list above.

overwhelmed and ready for a break. life is busy and deployment is ever present. longing to kick that word to the curb, go days with out thinking about or even remembering the days of deployment. i've grown spiritually, independently and emotionally...that's all very true. but i'll save that post, those words will come at another time, as it's end draws closer maybe. reflecting on the growth and things i've learned will take some time. i want to remember some things, not many..but some. i want to reflect on it to the fullest.

but
feeling so blessed to have a job and education, time to fill the empty void of husband-less nights. thankful for mr and the man he is. thankful for his heart and the love he shows me every day. thankful for anniversary flowers and notes from across the ocean.

overwhelmed by the undeserving love of my Savior. though i neglect Him most days, never on purpose of course, the list above tends to fill the time. thanks for remembering me Jesus. when i'm not faithful to devote deserving time to you, i'm welcomed back with open arms. the idea of this blows my mind. who else does that? no one. i'm blessed and undeserving of such a love like this. thank you my Jesus.

the thoughts need to roll out, unedited and choppy sometimes. it might not make sense to most, the short sentences and barely finished thoughts. but they're written down now, stored somewhere in the archives of these posts.

maybe i'll look back in 4 years and remember thoughts after my first two weeks on the new job and senior year of college. i hope to remember the blessings in my life and always cherish what i've been given.

cliche? absolutely. but it's cliche for a reason.
Jesus is good to me, and i'll be forever grateful.

watercolor pretties and jumping men

.. giggles .. and inspiration ..

via
peonies image

I think I need to buy some watercolors!

And that last picture...
you laughed out loud like me
right?

funky mcfunkster

I haven't been updating much here lately because
I'm in this weird funk.
I don't know where else to get my thoughts out though
because sometimes journaling isn't enough.

It's so hard to keep positive lately.
This wall just keeps coming up.
I try and shake it off and remind myself R&R is on the way.
But so much has to happen before then
and it feels so far out of reach.
I just wish I had one friend who lived close to me
going through a deployment.
Just one.

I've been sick for about 4 days now with an 

enormous ulcer in my throat.

Nice and graphic for you, you're welcome.

Well it's painful and

I'm over it.

If I have to drink another meal I might

just..

drink another meal because

that's my only choice.

I haven't been able to talk with Mr much lately because

Iraq hates Skype and the internet in general.

That's the conclusion I've come to.

Summer school started and I had to miss two days 

due to this awesome ulcer. which in reality is like missing 6 days because

each class is 3.5 hours long.

awesome, amazing and stupendously wonderful.

right?

My posts have been choppy and awkward lately

and I'm attributing it to this funky mcfunkster that I'm in.

Do bear with me and pray for me.

Deployment's are no slice of yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

nope.

On a completely unrelated note
my couch smells like skunk and
there's no telling why.

this that and the other thing

I hope you all enjoy a nice memorial day and remember

the real reason for this relaxing day off.

To those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, 

we show the utmost gratitude and respect to you.
We also continue to remember those
currently serving our country overseas.

To my Mr in Iraq,
I'm so proud of you for serving our country and
protecting my freedoms.
Whether you see it or not, you deserve
thanks and recognition.
I love you noodle!

...

I spent my weekend enjoying time with great friends from high school!

here's a few pictures from our night together..

hope you have a safe and fun weekend!

...

I'm guest posting HERE today,

so be sure to check it out and read about my road trip

across the country.

randomness

let's address the
elephant in the room.
i can't seem to make up my mind
on a blog design. 

either that,
or i'm addicted to photoshop. 

i'm not claiming one or the other
so 
i'll let you be the judge.

just don't be mean, capiche?
it's like rearranging a room
sometimes it takes a 
few tries to get it right.
you know?
...

in other news,

i'm taking summer school. and it starts in less than 13 days.

boo for that.

summer will be here come july but

graduation next spring is like music to my ears

so until then i will study

and study

and then study some more.

so i can have a career in photography?

i know, doesn't make sense to me either.

but i study because

i know i should get my degree.

or maybe i just say that 

to convince myself.

who wants to persuade me all this

school stuff is worth it?

i'm all ears.

but not toes and arms.

just ears.

ready set go..

Helmets are weird

Especially when you grocery shop in them.

 

However,
she WILL be prepared in the case of an earthquake.

superb driver here

i'm really excellent when it comes to cars.

three days after i purchased my car (new yrs eve), a hub cap fell off mid drive..

bouncing back, scratching, and denting my car

two weeks ago i pulled into a cement post while parking at school

and put a nice shiner on my license plate.

last week i locked my keys in the trunk.

today i ran over a tire on the freeway. 

a nice man did indeed pull over to the side of the freeway with me and

duct tape my car back together.

perhaps i should invest in a bike, or public transportation.

especially with the recent jump in gas prices. maybe i'll save a few bucks.

and on a side note...
i cannot WAIT for friday.
i've jumped onto the bandwagon.

awkward happenings

this post will most likely bore you.

there's probably no point in posting it,

as you will soon see

but it's always nice to remember

awkward things isn't it?

here goes...

AWKWARD

1. waiting in line at chipotle, and saying sorry like 5x when they assume i want things in my burrito bowl that i actually don't..and after paying for my food the man next to me says

"wow i'm surprised you didn't say sorry for paying" and once i received my drink says

"you didn't say sorry, you just said thanks, that's great!" jeez sir, SORRY i'm polite!

2. a random man asking me if i wear contacts and when i reply yes he says

oh wow good, cuz your eyes are trippy.

ummm thanks?? (they're normal, and brown.. for the record)

3. running into our neighbors who have really loud, inappropriate sex..

and them accidentally seeing my glare of disgust..oops

4. interrupting my roommate and her boyfriend as they have date nights and cuddle on the couch...

"sorry guys.. just gettin a midnight snack.. carry on, please.."

5. texting my boss instead of my brother

in other news

i bought new book ends today..

seriously cute way to keep organized, i think.

see, i told you this would be boring

and now you also probably think i have weird eyes.

i promise i dont.

caught my fancy

 all of these pictures caught my fancy

and inspired me for future photos.

 each is so lovely in its own perfect way.

i especially love the colors.

i love His promise.

a basket full of books

what a nice day!

a suitcase full of some classics and some new,

what an even nicer day

so much fun

that ring...

 

can i go here?

awesome, thanks.

just love love this!

'tis true.

no one is like YOU.

you can thank Jesus for that

:)

all images via