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Happy Halloween!

xoxo.

43/52 2014

a regular weeks melds into an even week.  I hope to share some behind-the-scenes Halloween photos! (:

Wednesday 22 October // day two hundred ninety-five :: replying to happy mail.

Thursday 23 October // day two hundred ninety-six :: sunrise glimpse.

Friday 24 October // day two hundred ninety-seven :: bread holes.

Saturday 25 October // day two hundred ninety-eight :: I rented a lens from BorrowLenses and I was so excited to use it! It was a 10-100 mm lens, which sounded pretty awesome because it does wide angle and zoom! Well, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? It turns out the lens only fits the Nikon1, which I don't have. I was so frustrated that I didn't read that right on the page I ordered it from!

Sunday 26 October // day two hundred ninety-nine :: bring your skulls to work day.

Monday 27 October // day three hundred :: this is Charles' mug. I love it.

Tuesday 28 October // day three hundred one :: unattended fire.

xoxo.

NatureBox :: October 2014

I didn't take a picture of all of the snacks in the box this week, so let's just jump right in! {We all know I'm terrible with intros anyway.}

Watermelon Fruit Chews :: I really wasn't sure if I would like these. they actually do have a watermelon flavor, similar to most other watermelon fruit snacks. I just wish that they had the crunch like the crunchy strawberry ones that I got last month.

Toffee Almond Granola :: {I wasn't at the best angle for this one, which is why there are two pictures.} this granola is okay. it has dried bananas in the ingredients, but I still haven't seen or tasted any. it has more of a French toast taste, in my opinion.

Asiago & Cheddar Cheese Crisps :: these are so amazing! they have a ripply texture and are light but crunchy. the cheese flavor is just perfect, with a little bit of a cayenne kick.

Cashew Crumble :: yes, that does say cookie-coated cashews. I don't have much to say beyond that. they're cashews, baked into a yummy brown sugar cookie.

Dutch Cocoa Sun-Crunch :: these are okay, but definitely not something I would get again. they're nice and crunchy, and I could do without the sesame seeds.

xoxo.

42/52 2014

Quite a week this was. The most beautiful thing that comes from death is all of the love that surrounds the family, biological or chosen. I'm trying to keep things positive, though, and move forth giving love as he did.

"'cause when the world gets rough, we've just got to spread our love around." - Chris Aaron, Circumstance

Wednesday 15 October // day two hundred eighty-eight :: I was rushing to take a picture before leaving for work, so I didn't know what to take a picture of. this smells amazing!

Thursday 16 October // day two hundred eighty-nine :: still in such shock to hear of the passing of an amazing man. Chris Aaron (in black) was my third father. {post here}

Friday 17 October // day two hundred ninety :: another struggle for something to take a picture of... here's what I wore

Saturday 18 October // day two hundred ninety-one :: my 2015 agenda arrived from May Designs!

Sunday 19 October // day two hundred ninety-two :: a rare glimpse of the sunrise, which has been even rarer since it's been so grey and rainy

Monday 20 October // day two hundred ninety-three :: kiwi lines

Tuesday 21 October // day two hundred ninety-four :: I finally measured and bought a rug for the entryway of my apartment. it's dark grey. I wanted a more tan one, but I liked the pattern on this one. it's from Target of course. {in case you're wondering, I also bought toothbrushes, mascara, and another frame. I printed out a 5x7 as well. I almost bought a mirror. maybe next week. (; there are so many things on clearance there right now!}

xoxo.

another big heart, lost.

Father's Day 2010

I struggle with sharing stories of my day-to-day life online, because I don't like to share too much personal information for safety reasons. Sometimes I consider making this private, but at the same time, I love the community.

I feel like I can't move forward without posting this, and it's a very personal one.

I'm writing this on Saturday with a very heavy heart. I'm still in such shock and disbelief. It doesn't seem real yet, but it will hit me so hard at the memorial tomorrow and then next week when I see the rest of our "family" again.

On Wednesday evening, the world lost a wonderful man. Just fourteen months and four days after we lost Billy from a heart attack, we lost Chris the same way. I didn't know Billy as well as everyone else did, but it was still a crushing blow.

I actually met Billy and Chris at the same time when they came over to have dinner at my house in June of 2009. I thought that I was sooo cool because Chris Aaron was coming over to my house, even though I had no idea who he really was, just some musician that my dad really admired. Over the past five and a half years, my dad and Chris played together a lot and became good friends. We would go out with their family for dinner and just hang out. Abi is like the little sister I never had, and Chris and Lisa are my third set of parents. I would even call them Mom and Dad, and they would go along with it, calling me Daughter or Kiddo. I am so blessed to call them my family.

Chris passed away on October 15th. I got the call, and I was just asked if I had heard from Lisa or Abi. I didn't even need to be told more than that, and I just knew and started crying. I called Abi right away and we were just crying and crying. I can't even imagine what she and her mom, brother, and their whole family are going through right now.

I last saw Chris and Lisa just two weeks ago and hung out with them for about 45 minutes before their gig. I was supposed to be seeing them again in another week. I will be seeing Lisa and the family tomorrow, and it's just going to feel so strange. I just don't even have words to describe how I feel. It is so heartbreaking.

It has been so wonderful to see everyone's photographs and memories on Facebook these past few days, and I am so thankful that I have been surrounded by people feeling the same way these pas few nights. Soon we will be joined by even more of our crazy, wonderful family, but it won't be the same.

We love you, Chris, Lisa, Aaron, Abi, and the rest of the family and those feeling the pain.

"'cause when the world gets rough, we've just got to spread our love around." - Chris Aaron, Circumstance

xoxo.

41/52 2014

It's almost Halloween! I am so excited! I hope you're ready for lots of Halloween-ish pictures around here. (:

I was able to go out and take some pictures on Monday, and I hope that I am able to catch a sunrise in the next week or two before Daylight Savings. It's been really rainy and cloud-covered for the past few days, so I'm glad that I didn't try to get out to see the sunrise, because I wouldn't have seen one.

Wednesday 8 October // day two hundred eighty-one :: the inbox of my email is full of order confirmations and shipping notifications, so this is going to be a good week for mail. this princess skull is from zulily, and I just love it! the little card that was in my package said "when in doubt add glitter," which was perfect because my hands were covered in glitter from its tiara!

Thursday 9 October // day two hundred eighty-two :: if I happen to have my camera with me when I'm on the bridge and it's up, there won't be a single, pretty cloud in the sky...

Friday 10 October // day two hundred eighty-three :: first StitchFix

Saturday 11 October // day two hundred eighty-four :: another Halloween find from zulily... this one is a little crossbody so that I don't have to take my whole purse with me. it's the perfect size! {I actually found it in the children's accessories.}

Sunday 12 October // day two hundred eighty-five :: when in doubt, take a picture of what you're eating.

Monday 13 October // day two hundred eighty-six :: foggy day on Lake Michigan {Algoma}

Tuesday 14 October // day two hundred eighty-seven :: lesson planning.

xoxo.

Another Post About Target

Don't be so surprised, I'm writing about Target again.

I don't even know why I'm writing another post about Target. Okay, I just have to let you in on what I bought and the great clearance items.

So I went to Target on Tuesday morning because I needed a birthday card and a gift bag for the present. I decided I would also look for something for my Secret Santa for Christmas.

I walked in and of course got my kicks from Shopkick. {I'm saving up for a Target gift card, obviously.} I browsed the See Spot Save section but didn't really look to closely or pick anything up, and I cut through the women's clothes and went over to the accessories department to look and see if there were any cute scarves on clearance. There weren't. I checked Cartwheel, and then I headed towards the toddler clothing section for that gift.

Well, the hosiery section {Is that what it's called?} is right next to the toddler clothing, so I looked to see if they had any cute knee high socks, and they did!! I ended up getting two pairs {pictured above}, but when they're on sale, there are a few other ones that I liked.

I browsed the toddler clothes, but I didn't see any cute boy stuff, so I went to the home department and looked at sheets. Sheets are so expensive! There were some on clearance and others on sale, but I didn't really like them that much, and I almost bought a pink fuzzy blanket that was on clearance in the toddler/baby bedroom section, but I didn't like the color too much. I wandered around the Halloween section before I went to the kitchen section.

There was an aisle that was empty except for a tiny section of some clearance items, and I found some blond wood frames that I bought {5x7 and matted 4x6 - they match the matted 8x10 in my dining room}. I kept walking and then I looked at some lamps and frames and found a black wood matted 8x10 that was 70% off. It was $12 instead of $40 so I bought it. The problem here is that now I have to pick and print photos for these three frames and decide where to hang them.

{here are the frames, along with a red one that also needs to be filled and hung.}

The reason I don't typically get a cart while I'm in Target is so I don't end up buying a ton of things that I don't really need, so I went and looked at the stationery section. There was a coupon on Cartwheel for an additional 20% off clearanced stationery items, which was perfect because the cutest gift bag was on clearance. I also looked at the notecards on clearance, but I didn't buy any.

I looked at birthday cards, but didn't buy any. I really hate picking out greeting cards! It's so hard because I feel like they never fit the person I'm looking to buy one for. So I just went and checked out.

And that's how I ended up spending $24 at Target this week...

When I pull down the notification center on my iPhone, it tells me how long it would take me to drive to work or church or wherever I usually go that day of the week. Today it told me how long it would take me to drive to Target. Oops.

Kudos to anyone who actually read this. (;

xoxo.

*this unsponsored post contains affiliate links

abandoned bricks

here are some pictures of a beautiful brick house in Carlsville because clearly I like abandoned buildings. I've been wanting to take some pictures here for probably a year. the funny thing is that I remember my dad saying years ago about how he and a friend wanted to go in there and take pictures and I didn't get why, but now I just think that the house is so pretty.

what initially drew me in were the bricks, I'm sure. but looking at the building that afternoon, I was so intrigued by the holes in the walls near where the roof should be and the missing porches. the chipped door and those missing bricks add to it too.

this is the front, facing highway 42. the little cement block says "KS 1904."

the side and back of the house. I really want to know why all of those bricks are missing from the back.

you know, I just realized as I was putting together this post that maybe the roof has nearly fallen in because of that tornado twenty or so years ago...

I think my favorite part of abandoned buildings is imagining the stories.

xoxo.

40/52 2014

I really didn't like some of my pictures this week. I feel like some of them are just so boring, but then I thought about what the point of this project really is. the point of this is to take a picture every day and not give up and to get more familiar with my camera. sometimes it's all just how you think about things.

Wednesday 1 October // day two hundred seventy-four :: I love exposed brick, and I thought that this corner of an abandoned building was picturesque. more pictures to come soon!

Thursday 2 October // day two hundred seventy-five :: new scarf from zulily! (:

Friday 3 October // day two hundred seventy-six :: one of my sweet friends got this for me, and it perfectly describes how I feel.

Saturday 4 October // day two hundred seventy-seven :: breakfast

Sunday 5 October // day two hundred seventy-eight :: I just love Liane Moriarty's books so much! Big Little Lies was no exception.

Monday 6 October // day two hundred seventy-nine :: apples

Tuesday 7 October // day two hundred eighty :: I got back in the pool today and swam a mile! swimming is not as easy as I remember it being five years ago! {this one is out of focus :/}

xoxo.