Forget yourself...

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people.
Forget yourself."

-Henry Miller

All is well :) I haven't been able to blog much lately. My days are full, full of life and love. I am busy savoring this time, enjoying the simplicity of every day.
<3
I am taking a new direction, starting Monday, which will benefit my life (and hopefully some others along the way). Hopefully I will have a little more time to dedicate to writing here, as often as possible. For now, I am going back to sipping my coffee. While J sings and plays at my side, the fur babies are all safe and sound, the house is pretty clean, and I've got ribs slow cooking for dinner.

Away I go.
& a happy, happy, birthday to my sister Rae <3 who is far from us on her special day! miss you and love you Ms. Pepper! <3

Ahhhhhhhh, summer. I love you.

Currently, it's almost 2:00 in the morning.

My mister is fast asleep on the other side of the couch. I've got 3 out of 4 fur babies just snuggling up to my legs, and I've got a piping hot cup of Acai/mango flavored tea :) I know I shouldn't be drinking it this late, but I am not sleepy at all!

Today was a good day. We took a little trip down to the Schneider Flats in a little town close by called Bloomingdale. They are these three lakes that are tucked away in this wonderful nature conservatory type place. They reserve one of the lakes for swimming only, how cute is that? Every where you look there's a puppy without a leash, just running and playing in and out of the water! The other two lakes are for fishing, and that is what we were there for! Joshy bought me my own rod (he is pretty cute, it's a pink rod with; pink line, pink lures and even pink bobbers! haha!) and a little rainbow butt pad so my tooshy wouldn't have to get all muddy! We snuck down to this nice secluded spot and stood in the water all day! Enjoying the sun, the water between our toes and each others company. There was the biggest hawks nest near by, with little babies just poking their not so little heads out. We saw the mamma scoop up a fish too, it was pretty rad.

The best thing was just being able to hang out with my guy. Laughing and being silly, in the kind of way that no one would really understand. I missed my pup's all day though (we opted to leave them at home for fear of fishing hooks coming in contact with their little bodies). It's kind of silly, but when you are around other peoples dogs and not your own, you really miss them!


I am trying to be sneaky and quiet right now, so tomorrow I will try and post some photo's from our little excursion, since I don't want to go into the other room to get my card and all that jazz.




Fishing again tomorrow?
I think so :)

If you surround yourself with negative people, you'll never feel settled in or become equal

So ignore the bad & the good will surely come, don't think second best-BE NUMBER ONE! Spread some love, don't give to receive. Strive to happy & live to believe!

I love spending time with my best friend <3
xoxoxo

Don't say goodbye, just say so long!

Until next time!

I haven't really written about it yet, but last weekend my sister Rae and my nephew Sky-walker (Skyler) flew out to Alberta. For good. Her future hubby was already out there getting their home ready for them. The night before they left, we spent some special time together. They slept at our house. It was an emotional evening. My sister fell asleep early like a little baby and I stayed up nice and late with Sky (he's 6), we played Little Big Planet 2, we ate candy and chips, watched Star Wars and talked and snuggled. I am so happy for them, to begin a new chapter-a big adventure- in their lives. I am 100% proud of my sister and the woman she has become! & my nephew, well he means the world to me, and I won't stop missing him.

I wrote each of them a personal letter to take along with them, each talking about how much I love them and will miss them. For Rae, I sewed her an apron out of some cute vintage fabric, since she liked mine. For Sky, I put together this little box of stationary, stickers, all kinds of pens, pencils, markers, envelopes..etc. On the inside of the box lid, I lined it with photo's of J and I with him, one of our puppies (he loves them) and one of Rae and I. I added a card with our address so we could be pen pals. I hope he writes :)

The morning of the big move was kind of surreal. We walked uptown for coffee, got her all dolled up to see her guy and hugged Sky as much as I could. We took them to the airport and said our goodbyes. It was sad, we all cried at one point or another. Sky picked me a flower at the airport and told me he loved me, and it was really hard not to bawl when Rae hugged me...I've spoke with my sister since they've arrived. They are doing great! Excited and still getting settled. They already had a new home and a new car!

I am sad for selfish reasons, but this is the right thing for their family and I can really respect my sisters desire for giving her son a great, new, opportunity for adventure!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!
xoxoxox

Sweet, Sweet, Summer!

It's been a wonderful week!

I've had such an amazing week with J.

I wish I could recall every moment of every day to document here. Since I only write here and there, I generally only write a bit. This week has been fun, i'm actually really enjoying this whole work vacation thing! haha!

Here's my weekend re-cap;

On Friday my girlfriend Sara came over, we played video games, hung out and went shopping! I bought this awesome ceramic cupcake and a gift for my older sister's birthday (I got her a retro apron and a cool re-usable mug).

Friday evening I made burgers for dinner for myself, J, and our buddy Ky

le. We had a few drinks and Kyle slept on our couch, it was a hilarious night and I had so much fun just joking around and being silly with those two!! Check out Kyle wearing my Fett helmet (Below), lol, he was soo happy!!!

Saturday morning I woke up super early and headed over to my dads house. I drove Em (my little sister) and a car full of her 16 year old girlfriends to a convention in Toronto. It's called Anime North. It's this super fun, and HUGE, event that showcases Japanese art, music and comics. Em & friends all dressed up as anime characters from their fav. show. I love going to North. This is my third year going and I can't wait to go again next year! There's an insane amount of amazing, talented, artists...and because the place is so full, it's kind of competitive, so the art is dirt cheap! I also love that all of the local comic shops come out. It's a one of a kind place!

Saturday evening I got home and spent some time with the hubby before Zach came over for the night. Zach is J's old buddy. They have been close friends since they were each in the second grade. I actually met Josh through Zach :) He lives in B.C. and is visiting home for the summer. Each time he comes back he stays with us off and on, and hangs out a bunch! The boys jammed it out, played video games and had all kinds of nostalgic conversations. I, however, was sooo tired from North that I actually fell asleep on the couch pretty early! J picked me up some amazing food from this place called Northern Thai and I ate, hung out and fell asleep pretty quick! haha.

Then, Sunday after Zach went home, J and I snuggled and then decided to actually do something productive. He took me out for lunch at Moose Winooski's, which was amazing!! I haven't been there since they renovated years ago, and I have to say, I was super impressed. The food was insane! I loved it!! After we ate, we went grocery shopping..I LOVE grocery shopping, which I know is kind of silly, but I love planning what to make and what not. I saw Krystal in the grocery store too, hehe. After shopping we came home and snuggled some more, this time with the puppies, and then went out once more. On our way out J. spotted a cute rocking chair with a free sign on it, and snagged it for me! Another man wanted it and was trying to get him to leave it, but he knew I would like it, so he stuck to his guns! ha! It's so cute!! We then decided to go hang out at Nick & Char's and watch a movie! We stopped on the way there for snacks (& a super comfy pair of slippers, haha, thanks babe!) and hung out with them long into the night.

Now here I am, it's Monday!! The boy is at work and it's almost 4 in the afternoon! I woke up with him this morning to make him a lunch, but instead he insisted I sit beside him and just cuddle and talk instead...so no lunch for him! haha, sacrifices! After he left I started cleaning the house and worked my day away. I cut fresh flowers from our garden, which is something I do every couple of days. Now I am planning dinner and just laying in bed with my lap top (I steam-cleaned the couch in the living room and it is still wet) with a delicious iced coffee that I just conjured up. Hmmm....Pork tenderloin, corn on the cob and some mashed tater's? Sounds about right ;)

Here's a gazillion photo's :)

Magellan, looking at his baby photo :)

A sleep summer, Suki!

Decals over our bed. I bought these with Krystal last October and finally decided to put 'em up!

My version on a "What I Wore" post, haha!! With my pup Scully just chillin' in the corner.

NUNCHAKUUUU!!! A gift for J. from AN11

A print to go with out zombie head cookie jar in our kitchen :) Also from AN11

Got this while out with Sara!

SIICK Sailor Moon mug from AN11!!

Buttons and a TokiDoki bag I got from A11.

Plush Yoda, was my fav. find at AN11!!! He's soooooo darn cute!!

Piccolo from AN11, another gift for J!

More vinyl toys for J! AN11 too.

Kyle rocking out in my Fett helmet!

Tomorrow, Jen is coming over to spend the day with me while my guy is at work again. We are going to bake some more doggie treats and sew something up.


Life is good, 'aint it?


xoxoxoxox
Shara

The sky seems a bit bluer. The air smells a bit sweeter.

Operation housewife...

COMMENCE.

Well here's the beef.
I've been let go at work.



It was a terrible shock at first. I felt betrayed and angry...and very, very, sad.
A "thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty for us" and a severance package does not make it feel okay. Even though they said I did nothing wrong, nor could I have done anything to change this corporate decision, it was still poopy. It took a few days to feel better, but with the encouragement and love of those around me, have helped to give me strength, to realize that I am much more than my workplace. I realized, through some serious tear shedding, that I am still a photographer. No matter which studio I work for. Mr. Weston, Jim, Alyssa and Ken-you will never, ever, be able to take that away from me. I have a passion for what I do, for the families I get to work with and for trying to be the best photographer I can be. No salary is going to change that!!

Since I was not fired, but rather "let go" I have no negativity on my record and I get the whole summer (and then some) to continue life with payment. So instead of sulking and crying and stressing about what is going to happen next...I am going to take this for what it actually is. An opportunity.

Last week I told Josh that my biggest dream is to be a housewife. I know that might sound silly, and might tick off my mom (who has always pushed my independence as a woman), but this is what I really want. It might not be your dream, but it is mine! I want to spend my days; gardening, sewing, cooking, baking, painting, writing music and musing over the love I have for my fiancée. Doing all of the things I LOVE!!

& when it is all over, I will return to working. I will find something else. Because I am a good person. I am a whole hearted, hard working kind of person. I have some photo shoots lined up throughout the summer already, which will help my portfolio growth outside of a studio. So you can imagine, I am very excited for what's to come. I have been supporting myself and working to eat/live since I was very young. Younger than most. So this is my opportunity to do things for me again. To enjoy my own company, my own wants and to make my ideas come to life!


No matter what, I still am me. Silly Shara, with people who love her no matter where she works.

xoxoxo

It's simple math. The truth can NOT be fractioned.

I was thinking today..

I have loved and enjoyed baking so much lately, I would make my poppa proud. I can put together a recipe on a whim, using simple equations and spontaneity.

I never really had the chance to learn much from him, but I think if he were here today, he would be happy with who I am.