It's been awhile.

long time no see?  i am disappointed in myself.  i really wanted to put forth more effort toward my blog this year and have not.  i have no excuse.  i haven't had any motivation.  i lost my blogging mojo.  to be honest, i lost more than just that.  i've had a rough time lately.  anywho.. i'm here now, and that's what counts!  right?  i should probably take a look at my 2014 goal list and re-evaluate things.

we went away on vacation and spent 4 days in Gatlinburg, TN.  for the most part we had a great time.  however, i did learn that maybe i'm not cut out for being away from home.  my anxieties kicked into overdrive.  i am not sure if it was due to the fact that it's been years since really being away from home for any length of time or what, but.. i was a bit of a mess at times.  thankfully, i realized my issues and was able to talk myself down.  when we spent time on the strip in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and kept ourselves super busy we had such a fun time.  loads of laughs were had, despite my hang ups.  i realized that i needed to talk to someone and i have.  hopefully, i'm on the upswing.  depression and anxiety simply sucks.

as you can see, i am still snapping away!  i really find such peace while out walking/hiking in the woods and strolling through cemeteries.  luckily, we've had a pretty cool summer and i've not been dreading walking around in high heat.  just last week, i took my second vacation.  we didn't travel anywhere but we spent 6 of 7 days out exploring.  we went to new parks and i enjoyed the time spent with the demon.

i am only sharing a portion of the photos i've taken since last blogging.  feel free to follow me on Instagram. i am still trying to work with black and white images.  it's not as easy for me to capture that perfect shot in black and white.  weird, considering i'm not a fan of color. ha!

i'm sad that summer break is quickly coming to an end.  it's such a mixture of emotions for me.  i can't  wait  for autumn!  if you know me at all, you know that i love everything autumn.  halloween, pumpkins, corn mazes, Horror, changing leaves, cooler weather, hoodies, naked trees.. just everything.  but, i hate that school starts back up.  having the freedom that summer brings is something that i greatly miss once the school schedule goes back into effect.  

i guess that's all for now.  we - as a family - just keep chugging along.  we've had a decent summer filled with grill outs, work, family time, hiking, biking, a couple trips to Kings Island, laughs and tears.  before i leave.. i must share some recent photos of Miss Bella Boo (my brother's pup).  she really is adorably awful. ha!

have a wonderful weekend.  i'll try not to stay away so long the next time.

♥

almost a month...

...has gone by since I last posted here.  Not good.  I don't have much of anything new to report.  I do have loads of photos I can share?  

I have a thing for the sun and taking blinding pictures.  Most of the time, I can't even see the picture as I'm taking it.  

I am still going to cemeteries and wandering among the tombstones and mausoleums.

This is another shot from Spring Grove Cemetery.  How beautiful.  It's just amazing place to get lost for a couple of quiet hours...

I am still getting up and out.  Hiking, walking, wandering...

We've had loads of ice and snow this winter.  I'm thankful that, despite being laid up for the first two months of the year, I've been able to enjoy some fun, cold weather.

We have added a new furry member to our family.  I have a new niece!!  Meet Miss Bella (Bell Boo).

Couldn't you just die.  DIE!  She's too much.   Don't let these photos fool you.  The only time this little girl is quiet and subdued is when her eyes are closed and she is sleeping.  For the rest of her day...for 99% of this littles life...she's a maniac!   But, we love her.  She was a Christmas present for my brother from my sister in law.  It's safe to say he was totally surprised.  She's been a great addition.

I guess that's all folks.  You've seen what I've been up to.  I'm trying to just get through each day with a smile on my face.  It's working.

Until next time...♥

Doing the best with what I've got, yo!

I've been among the land of the living a total of two days since new years eve.  I'm kinda sidelined at the moment with a toe injury.  because of this,  I have to take advantage of the time i'm up and out moving around so I pulled my cell out and tried to snap away... (I guess you don't really "snap" a cell phone photo, do you?)

Last year i attempted a project 365.  i wouldn't consider myself a failure, mostly because i am sure i took thousands of photos during the last year, but i did fail to post each picture publicly.  this year, i hope to share more pictures, publicly, here. 

Instagram is an easy way to quickly share pictures.  It's also very common for me to over edit a picture to post on IG.  It's great fun to play around with different editing apps and filters and be able to post a picture for thousands of ppl to see with just the push of a "send" button.  The pictures I want to share here, I've chosen to not edit much at all.  What you see is what I took.  Good or bad.  It's exactly how my world was seen in that very moment.  I hope you'll enjoy some of them. 

It's been so long since I've given an update on the Demon and his health.. I promise to do that soon.

Oh, and I guess I should  start thinking about that goal list for 2014.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

It's October, ya'll!

I cannot believe it's already October!!  It's my absolute most favorite time of the year.  The Demon and I have been out and about so much lately.  We've been going on photowalks throughout local parks and cemeteries.  

Unfortunately, the weather here is - once again - heating up and it makes me want to do nothing more than vege out on the couch watching loads of trashy reality TV.  But, I have so many pictures  to share on here!!  I have to get my butt in gear and upload and edit.  I'm so far behind...

I wanted to stop in here and say HI!  We're still alive.  I'm still blogging.  I'm still taking pictures.  Please continue to bear with me.  I promise to update you all very soon and flood this blog with pictures.  

Until then.. here are some random Instagram photos for your enjoyment!  (excuse some of the quality.. all phone/Ipod pictures!)

 

Make your Tuesday amazing!

Photo Dump V.4

Again, I've spent too much time away from this place.  There have been so many times I've sat down to blog only to think.. I don't have much to say.  Today, is no different.  I don't have too much to say but I can show you what I've been up to over on Instagram.  I have been taking, at least, one picture a day and posting to my Instagram feed.

I've become almost obsessed with taking these electric tower pictures.  I've never noticed how many I have around my immediate neighborhood.  All of these were taken within less than 2 miles from my house.  I just think there is so much beauty in the simple architecture of these towers.  

Every now and then I do realize it's 8pm and I haven't grabbed one shot for the day!  Usually that will happen if it's a rainy, cloudy day.  In those situations, I scan my phone gallery and hope I can stumble on a picture I may have forgotten to post.  That was the case with the upper right picture.  It is a left over shot from the Demon's confirmation.  I'm glad I found it!

The Demon and I spent Friday the 13th exploring a local cemetery (lower left).  I can't wait until I finally upload and edit all the pictures I took from that afternoon.  There is something about cemeteries that I find so peacefully beautiful.  I really find such comfort walking the grounds and appreciating the time that must have been spent on some of the large headstones.  I am so glad we finally went.  I want to make it a goal of mine to visit more local cemeteries, especially this Fall.  The changing leaves as a backdrop.... love it!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Photo Dump V.2

With these "dumps" would you appreciate an explanation for each picture?  Can I assume that you will understand each shot?  Normally, they are pretty self explanatory...but, I guess I can throw in a random explanation if I feel it's necessary.  Right?

I am thoroughly enjoying getting back in the habit of painting my nails!  However, even with a good base coat, 2 heavily applied coats of color, and an excellent top coat - I'm still not getting very much wear out of any color.  Back to the drawing board!

You've all been introduced to Mr. Mao (top left) and Truck (bottom left) but Miss Boots is making her blog debut!  She's my Grannie's cat and while visiting my Grannie I thought I would take the opportunity to steal a shot of her.  She's a bit camera shy...

I let the dog out the other day and noticed how cool the moon looked and attempted to grab a shot.  Eh, not the greatest.  The t-shirt was a surprise the Demon left in my Grannie's dresser drawer.  She thought it was hilarious!  

The weather here, for awhile, was very wet and very stormy!  Thankfully, it's cleared up but good Lord - it's HOT out there now.  How many days until snow??

Enjoy your day!

(most/all of these pictures can be originally seen on Instagram... go follow me!)

Who *is* that masked man!?

Whoa.. so much has happened since my last blog post.  I am not going to get into too much detail (because I believe I currently have some blog stalking going on right now.. ) but it's been crazy!

Any who, yesterday we went for a late night Target run and the boys stumbled upon the Superhero aisle.  They went a little crazy and, although I've posted all of these on my Instagram, I wanted to save these gems here, too!

As we continued to make our way back up the the check out lanes they found more items they found interesting.

Who knew they were closet One Direction and Justin Bieber fans!  haha, They are too much fun.

Before I leave I wanted to show off the new and improved Spike.  He is the absolute WORST pet to capture in a picture.  He never sits still long enough to get a good one..

Every time we bring one of the cats back from the vet we have to keep Truck caged a bit longer because they are very skittish.  Speaking of coming home from the vet - every time we bring Spike or Mao home from the vet Mao insists on hissing and growling at Spike.  It's almost as if Mao forgets who Spike is while they are apart.  Mao is such a bully.   Okay, back to the picture.. Spike got shaved!  He is adorable!  Hopefully, I'll be able to sneak up on him and get a better pose.  He's too cute and so very soft. 

Enjoy your Monday!

stickygram... i love 'em!

i have no idea if i've mentioned stickygram on this blog in the past.  i suppose i could go to the handy dandy search engine and put the name in and check - but i'm lazy.  anyway... if you're on instagram and you are looking for a way to display your pictures and  you have a metal surface in your house stickygram is the way to go.

i know, right now they seem a bit messy, but, it'll do for now!  the demon and i sat down, together, and chose enough pictures for 6 more sheets for this most recent order.  stickygram was offering a great deal - buy 2 get 1 free so i jumped at the chance to get caught up with printing out which instagram pictures i wanted to display.

i knew i had to print up a couple of my favorite collages. 

wtf happened with the coloring of this pic? 

the demon insisted that this one be turned into a magnet...

these only appear blurry in these pictures, in person they are great!

as i'm posting this i'm watching dawn of the dead so i thought it was appropriate that i include the picture of the demon proudly holding his Zombie Survival Guide.  after watching this movie again, i may need to read up on this topic - pronto!!

i hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  it's beautiful here, but i'm not feeling too hot.  my mission, today, includes laundry and loads of TV watchin'. actually, that's usually my mission every weekend. 

*i'm not getting any type of payment for my endorsement of StickyGram.. but it would be awesome if i had been!*

my week(s) on instagram.

01.  {street}

02.  i love taking empty track pics.  that usually means i've not been waiting around for a stupid train. :)

03.  {an ordinary moment}

04.  {paper}

05.  mao has an unhealthy relationship with wanting to eat my iPod.

06.  we spent a rainy day at children's filled with check ups.

07.  the demon and i took a walk and i went photo crazy.

08.  this dog STINKS.  thankfully, he is getting groomed next week and the following week his teeth will be cleaned.

09.  {stripes}  

i haven't been as regular with posting these recaps as i would like and i have no other excuse but i'm forgetful.  

i hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend.  i have a day ahead of me filled with laundry a watching my DVD set of Harper's Island.  fantastic day!  i'm not looking forward to heading back to work tomorrow.. we're crazy busy!

my week on instagram

it's been almost a month since i posted any instagram recap.  i miss it, so here goes!

01.  it's not often that you see truck taking a nap!  however, call him to join you on the couch and he's out like a rock.

02.  finally!  a bit of christmas tree bokeh.  i have no idea how i captured this shot, but i'm so very happy i did.

03.  the demon may be 14..but i still get some cuddle time.

04.  look at all those goodies!  i received this set of polish for christmas and i am stunned with the quality of these.

05.  {my view}

06.  i am amazed with how well mao has been feeling.  he's such a pretty kitty.

07.  i've driven past this building for years and over that time it's gradually continued to fall apart.  finally, it's coming down.

08.  {heart}

09.  it had been over a month since i painted my nails.  they had all broken, but finally... i dove back into color.

i had a wonderful weekend.  i really needed reasons to smile, and the beast and demon never fail to brighten my life.  i don't look forward to returning to work tomorrow... we're jumping into tax season and i'm not close to being ready! 

my week on instagram

despite being very absent from my blog, i have been clicking away with my phone camera and keeping up with instagram. 

01.  the slipper/shoes that i wore to Festival of Lights.  i know, they are totally NOT cute but they were comfy and it took awhile for my feet to start hurting!

02.  {hat}

03.  {green}

04.  another creepy snow globe!  i took quite a few pictures the other day of snow globes and i hope to share them this week.

01.  another snapshot from the summer vacation we spent doing fun things around the city.  i want to go back to the aquarium (overpriced admission and all) to just spend time taking picture of the jellyfish.

02.  another pair of comfy slippers i bought last week.  these are very cute and very comfortable!

03.  this was a stopped train.  i've never dealt with a train that was stopped and blocking multiple crossings.  it was a real PITA to deal with while on my way to pick up the demon from school.

04.  Festival of Lights!

05.  i love how naked trees reveal all the nests.  this pictures was also taken at the zoo.

06.  our first, and only, snow to date!  my brother and i hit the stores for some christmas shopping and came out to this brief snow shower.

07.  {lights}

08.  before we walked into the Night Hunters exhibit at the zoo we noticed a dog on a leash.  we walked in and this owl is first on display.  all of a sudden this owl started puffing up and it's eyes were HUGE.  i had never seen an owl do this.  i looked around and saw that the dog was in the building.  it was obvious this owl did not like the dog.

09.  throughout the zoo, employees will stand around holding and teaching about various animals.  throughout the summer it's very common to turn around and be face to face with a snake!  during our visit we walked in and were face to face with this owl.  beautiful!

i hope everyone is having a nice sunday.  i'm still not feeling 100% (i've been sickly since thursday)  but I have to get out of this house and run some errands.  afterwards, i plan on hitting the couch and sawing some logs. 

my week on instagram.

Another week has come and gone..another week closer to Christmas!  I have still not started shopping yet.  Yikes!  I also didn't get anything accomplished this weekend that I had hoped.  I wanted to do salt dough ornaments.  I wanted to do white chocolate peppermint bark.  I got as far as purchasing the supplies - on both projects - and that's it!  ugh.  We did manage to have fun this weekend despite not doing exactly what was on my list.  

01-03.  I found and hung old ornaments and fought with the tangled mess of hooks.

04.  {black + white}

05.  {something you held}

06.  Yes, that was really the temperature on Monday.  Just,...ridiculous!

07.  I thought by putting the gate up it would kept the cats at bay

08.  ... I was wrong.

09.  This has to be the largest crouton I've ever eaten!  Apparently, I missed the fact that the bag said "jumbo".

01.  Since it's been so warm we're getting rain instead of snow.  BOO.

02.  {up}

03.  {star} The Demon made this ornament years ago at the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo.

04.  I was looking through the pictures on my phone and ran into some older aquarium pictures from our vacation.  Jellyfish are beautiful!  I especially love how I can see through the tank to the Demon and my brother.

05.  {out + about}  We finished up our weekend with a family trip to Friday's... on a Sunday.

06.  {someone I love}  My brother thought it was hilarious to get this picture.

07.  Spike?  Mao had another trip to the vet this week for a steroid shot and apparently Spike likes to sleep in the cage when we're lazy and leave it in the living room.

08.  One of my favorite finds over this last year are these flower air fresheners from Staples.

09.  Judging from these very bare trees (and the fact that it's finally cold outside!) Autumn is nearly officially over.  And, I'm ready for snow!

St Nick's Day was last Thursday and the Demon found this...in his stocking.

I love it!  If you want to follow me on Instagram you can find me at raisingkane1.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  I wanted to bust out my camera and practice taking low light, indoor pictures because the Demon has his Christmas performance tomorrow evening.  That never happened.

Enjoy your Monday!