Explosions in the Sky

Evan and I are driving to Louisville, Kentucky today to see Explosions in the Sky. I am beyond excited. If you've ever felt emotion while listening to music, these guys blow it out of the water. If you've never heard them before I suggest listening to this album in a darkened room with the speakers blasting.

This is also our first road trip with the pup, so wish us luck! (or sanity).

One Year.

It's been a year since I walked into this meadow with the boy and married him. Such a good year, such an amazing love.

A crazy life.

I have been busy. Busy enough that I haven't posted anything in over two weeks, busy enough that my house is in shambles and my dog has two layers of dirt on him and we haven't had a homecooked meal in..well, awhile. I'm exhausted all the time, and for as young as I am it's getting old!

Ev and I took Tucker out to a field yesterday morning and ran him, trying to wear out the 6-month-old puppy disaster before we attempted to relax at home on an afternoon off. Later on we went down to our favorite local grocery store to get lunch and I got a delicious fresh squeezed juice with apple, carrots, ginger, beets, and celery all mixed together in a frothy goodness and an avocado roll from the sushi bar. It felt so good to be active and healthy, I haven't realized until now how much I've missed that lifestyle, and how much it effects me when I don't exercise and eat right.

So I'm sitting here at work on a very early Sunday morning waiting for groups to come in to go zipping. My dog is curled up on his bed to my left on the office floor, the phone to my right which is amazingly not ringing with people wanting to make reservations or asking questions, and I'm trying to figure out how I can possibly manage to balance my crazy schedule. How can I possibly work the needed hours as I get more responsibilities in the business while keeping my personal life sane, the two of us happy and healthy, all while cleaning, cooking, exercising, keeping up with my photography business, and taking care of puppy child. And not be tired.

I know that I'm not the only one struggling with this, and when I've mentioned it previously a lot of you spoke up agreeing it was a hard thing to manage. The more I think about it, the more I realize a lot of it boils down to time management skills along with plain laziness. When I'm tired, there's no way I want to get up early to go take a run or head over to the track after a long days work. But that's just it, I know I'd feel so much better if I just did. And it's not like we don't eat healthy, we have our quick go-to dinners that are good for us and we love, but the whole point is that I'm not taking the time to make a meal. I'm not taking the time to put some love into it, making sure it's all whole foods, organic yumminess. I'm still eating a lot of wheat and sugar, something that I really shouldn't be doing. Along with Broken Saucer, I know how damn hard it is to cut that out of a diet. But again, I'd feel so much better if I did. Skinnier too, and that's always a good thing.

I've decided that I have to try a little bit harder. For myself, for my husband, for our dog, for our family and friends, for the people I interact with on a daily basis. I have to put a little bit more effort into taking care of myself and feeling better, so that I have the most of myself to give. It's a lot of hard work, it's one of the hardest decisions to make when I'm exhausted, but I think it's one of the most important things I could do each day.

So no more nonsense. To help me do it, I'll be coming back here and letting you know my favorite finds. Favorite healthy quick dinners, what I've found to be motivating, and basically, how I figure out to get it all done so I can live better.

via {Carl Zoch}

Blue Ridge Mountain Engagement Session

My first Blue Ridge Mountain engagement session! Check it out on my photography blog here and here. These two are incredibly hot and their photo session was set in an insanely beautiful location. Lucky, lucky, me.