Happy Halloween! + 101 in 1001: #73 Carve a Pumpkin.

Happy Halloween, friends! It's a wet one here in Cleveland, and our neighborhood's trick-or-treating was rescheduled because of Hurricane (Superstorm?) Sandy. Boo. We were excited about handing out candy. Nathan especially. He loves Halloween. In fact, a couple days ago we carved pumpkins while he blasted Monster Mash and the other songs on his Halloween playlist. Oh yes. He has a Halloween playlist. I, on the other hand, never get super excited about Halloween. I mean, I like it OK, but I'm definitely a Christmas girl. And sadly, I listened to Christmas music the other day. It's just so cold outside, it makes it feel like the holidays! :)

I hope you all are staying dry in this constant downpour. While you're waiting for it to stop, take a guess at which pumpkin is mine (hint: It looks like it was done by a 5-year-old) ...

101 in 1001: #97 Blog Every Day for a Month.

I've had this thing looming over me. This single task that was written on my 101 list: Blog EVERY DAY for a month. I was slightly terrified. Ever since I've been part of this industry, I've admired those photographers who not only blog every day, but blog really relevant and well-written content. I can now say from experience that it's really hard! At the same time, I realized that the blogs I was visiting every day were the blogs that would have new content every day. And if anyone out there is reading this, I want to make sure I have new content for them every day.

So, a few things I learned from blogging "every" day for a month:

  1. It's really hard. Period.
  2. You have to hold yourself to a standard of grace. I missed two days of blogging and I was all bent out of shape about it, but you know what? Sometimes you have to cut yourself some slack.
  3. I need to work on getting blogs done the day before so that my content is better ... all around.
  4. I kinda like it. And I think I'm going to continue.

What about you bloggers out there? Do you blog every day? What inspires you?

Just for fun, I wanted to share some of my favorite photography blogs, most of which I check each and every day!

And just because I can't post without a picture, here's another one from my wedding last weekend. The full wedding will be on the blog on Thursday!

Akron Wedding Photographer

 

 

101 in 1001: #25 See Niagara Falls and #67 Visit Canada

Niagara Falls Two 101 things in one post! Whoo! Nathan and I headed up north for an early anniversary celebration since neither of us had seen Niagara Falls. I had never even been to Canada, and now that we live in Cleveland it's all so close. We stayed at a quaint b&b, took in the falls, did some wine tasting, and enjoyed perfect weather. Some things I learned on this trip:

  • Even though Mapquest says it will only take you 3.5 hours to get to St. Catharine's, allow lots (and lots and lots) of extra time for traffic jams and long waits at the border.
  • If you think you packed your brush, check five more times. It doesn't always make it into your bag. If my hair looks like a rat's nest in any of these photos, it's because I didn't brush it the whole weekend. Haha! No joke.
  • Plan ahead when going to Niagara Falls! Nathan and I just kinda winged it and wished we would have taken into account that it was a Saturday in August when we were visiting one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country (world!). We forewent the Maid of the Mist and walk near the falls because of crazy waiting times.
  • Just because the bigger ice cream cone looks amazing when you're standing in line doesn't mean that it's a good idea.
  • Getting a picture of a Canadian flag isn't as easy as it seems. That picture up there was taken riiiight before we crossed the border back to the United States. None of the other flags we saw throughout the weekend were blowing quite right!

Niagara Falls We stayed at the Springbank House in St. Catharine's and loved it! The owners are so friendly and the house is so cool! Plus, it was away from all the touristy Niagara Falls stuff.

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Delicious breakfasts!

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Niagara-on-the-Lake is so cute and quaint! Definitely check it out if you're headed that way!

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls

 The end! :)

101 in 1001: #75 Create an Emergency Savings Account.

I feel this strange need to blog about each and every one of my 101 things. And, guess what? Some of them aren't very exciting, like creating an emergency savings account. Who wants to talk about that? Apparently me! Nathan and I have always been pretty frugal, but when we got married and bought a house, our savings went down the drain. It was slightly depressing to watch everything we had saved for YEARS disappear.

Enter Dave Ramsey. We knew starting an emergency savings account was smart, especially with an old house, but when we heard about Ramsey's Seven Baby Steps, we kicked it into gear. I know we hear it every day, but planning for our future is something we can and should control.

Having said that, it's HARD to save. There's always something else we want to buy, something else we need for the house. If it wasn't for our budget holding us accountable, I'm pretty sure we could go through each month without transferring money over to the savings account. Nathan and I have to set a target savings amount each month and stick.to.it. And even at that, it seems like the thing never grows!

How about you? What are your savings tips?