Girl Confessions: Link-Up

 

These are cleansing for me.

1. My dad leant me his vintage Asahi Pentax camera (actually all Asahi Pentax cameras might be vintage now…not sure about that). Super excited to learn how to shoot properly with film. It’s been years since I’ve used 36 mm. Film is more expensive to develop now so I’ll have to be more sparing with my photography but I’m excited to try a new kind of medium.

2.I am straight-up addicted to Caribou Coffee. I can’t explain it except that after about half a cup of this roast and I get insanely happy and energetic. Call it a crutch. Call it crack cocaine. #soworthit

3. I am finally doing the deep cleaning I have been longing for. That means de-cluttering the closets, completely re-doing the file cabinet, and re-imagining the office space/guest room. Pictures to come!

4. I love cooking but I seriously hate doing the dishes. And this makes me not want to cook. How sad is that?

5. My friend and neighbor Melissa moved to South Carolina last week and every time I walk downstairs and don’t see her car parked next to mine or her twinkle lights in the window, I get sad all over again. Bah.

6. I’ve pretty much had to put a moratorium on watching or reading the news. I grew up in Aurora, Colorado and I’ve had a permanent stomachache since Friday morning when we first heard about the shooting. I can’t fathom it. And I don’t want to go to the movies for a long, long time. I just don’t feel like it.

7. The Cupcake Project is one of my favorite places on the internet. And soon…these Jasmine Cupcakes with Raspberry and Honey will be mine. Oh, yes. I even found the much sought after raspberry vinegar the recipe calls for. Boom.

Feel like sharing your confessions? Link up below! No rules…just share your list. The link up will be open until July 30th.

 

 

love, elizabeth

Be Kind to Yourself: Pinning!

I stopped by one of my favorite blogs, Baxtron {Life} and was so cheered up by Courtney and Kimberly's weekly Pinterest link-up, I decided to join them for the afternoon. My theme today was being kind to yourself. Thought I'd share a few of my favorite pins with you.   

 

 

 

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

 

Source: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

Source: google.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

Want to link up, too? Go HERE.

love, elizabeth

Where did my spark go?

I feel like I’ve been slowing losing my blogging spark. I haven’t found the same drive or motivation to write everyday. I feel un-creative and sloppy. And it must show because I’ve lost four readers this past week. I try not to be a follower-counter because that’s lame but it’s hard not to wonder what’s making me slip.

I miss blogging. I want my spark back.

What about you? Do you ever lose blog-ivation? How do you get it back?

love, elizabeth

“Will you make fun of me if I admit I got us lost?”

I asked finally.

“No…but we are definitely going the wrong way.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right.”

Feeling safe enough to admit you’re wrong is like hitting the marriage jackpot. Until I learned to really trust Kyle, I was afraid of being wrong, of screwing up, of being less than perfect. But I can say now, with a sigh of relief, that it’s okay if I’m wrong. It’s okay if I get lost. Because my husband isn’t going to laugh. And he’s not going to be mad. He’s going to help me get turned back around. With Kyle, I can finally say I’m learning to love being wrong.

What about you? What do you feel safe enough to do in your relationships?

love, elizabeth

Periphery: the colorado massacre

“Elizabeth, I’m really sorry to wake you up but I think you need to see this,” Kyle’s hand was on my arm and I shot up in bed and stared at the clock. 6 AM.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart already in my throat. I texted my brother in a blind panic: “Ben, please tell me you didn’t go to the Dark Knight premiere.”

“I didn’t. But I know about the shooting.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, sis.”

I don’t like to be one of those people that jumps on a tragedy bandwagon.This horrible thing is not about me. It didn’t happen to me. It didn’t even happen near me. Physically. And it’s like my dad says, there is no safer place than the arms of God.

And yet I find myself somehow in the periphery of the mass shooting in Colorado today since it happened about five minutes from my parents’ home, the home I grew up in, at the movie theater I visited almost weekly in junior high and high school. I am so thankful that the people I know who live and work near that theater are safe. I am thankful for the law enforcement and emergency crew who responded to the scene. I am thankful that they have the shooter in custody.  I am thankful for God’s mercy.

But I am shaken. I spent so much time in that particular theater. I took my brother to a midnight showing of the first Batman movie there a number of years ago. I had my first real date there. I held hands with a boy for the first time in that movie theater. Even now, I can see the inside of that building in my head. I know the layout, the feeling of that carpet under my feet, even which games are in the corner arcade. I was there just two weeks ago.

The pain of this for people who were there, who had loved ones there…that has to be unbearable. For me, it’s just on the edges of my mind where I can’t really see it in focus. Watching the coverage on the television and seeing that Century 16 sign, I just can’t even process it. I can’t read any more about it. I don’t want to see pictures. I don’t want to hear the 9-1-1 calls or look at the mug shot of James Holmes who is my age and a PhD student and I don’t want to see it or know it.

I guess I’m just sad. It’s staggering how far away “hitting close to home” can actually be.

love, elizabeth

Scrapbook

So here it is. The LAST post of pictures from Colorado.



1. Cold Stone ice cream with Sarah. 2. Graffiti in Leadville. 3. Me and Mom after she picked me up from the airport.



4. The twins together, Auntie Jo teaching Mom to play Angry Birds. 5. Sophie in the flowers. 6. Number at Mcalister’s Deli.


7. Coffee with mom. 8. Delicious salad. 9. Original seats inside the Tabor Opera House.



10. Wall décor inside the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville. 11. Bumper sticker. 12. Antique china.


13. Old books. 14. Antique bottles in a Leadville shop window. 15. Me. That’s a picture of me.

love, elizabeth

Portrait of a Portrait

I’ve spent the last couple months working on my portrait skills. Fortunately, I have loads of attractive people in my life who were nice enough to let me take their picture. A lot. Here are some of my favorites.

 

What are you loving taking pictures of lately?

love, elizabeth