update ...

So i am sorry for the lack of posts ... everything has been incredible busy around here that something had to give & that has been my blog. The weather has sucked, leaving me feeling uninspired not to mention am starting to getting incredible tired at the end of my work day (for those of you who don't know i bartend at one of the busiest chilis in the world).  So i figured it was time to give you all an update on what's been going on because (& i can't lie on this one) ... it's all kinds of exciting!

Firstly i am now 33 weeks pregnant ... in theory i have just 47 days to go until the lil dude is born! We finally have furniture in his room & some things are even put away but no photos yet because it's not even close to being ready not to mention the rest of the house that needs attacking!

After much consideration about the direction of my etsy shop & talking to others i have decided to "streamline" it so to speak & went ahead & opened a new etsy store ... ooh pretty shiny. 

Over time i will be moving many of my current items into the new store where all my "whimsical", soft, dreamy image will be available for sale. It's about trying to have more cohesion in my stores & love.laugh.believe will continue to sell my more classic, contemporary work in both black & white & colour. 

Lastly i did my first shoot in the studio & set up a facebook page dedicated towards love.laugh.believe/boudoir. I am so incredible excited about this, i have a few more shoots scheduled & will be sharing photos of the studio soon. It's wonderful to have opportunities for after the arrival of the lil dude that will hopefully allow me to continue my photography full time. 

I want to say a big thank you for all the support, feedback & help i've been given these past few weeks as i try & get things set up for the arrival of our new son. It's scary & challenging & exciting all in one. I will try & keep you updated on a more regular basis but just know that if i'm not blogging it's not cause i don't love you guys any more it's just that i want everything sorted & ready for when the big day arrives & trust me i will be back in full force sharing with you all the pretty i see in the world! 

etsy treasuries ...

So in recent weeks i have been talking with a whole host of wonderful ladies about how i can improve my business, both on etsy & my portraits. I feel like i need to make steps now with the lil dude due in you know a little over 8 weeks (way too soon but not soon enough i guess) & one of the suggestions made to me was to join a treasury team. Well honestly my reaction was no ... i have made a whole 1 treasury since joining etsy (yes i know this shocks you) but it just seemed like something i didn't have time for. Not that i don't love looking at everyone else's but putting stuff together like the wonderful treasury fairies out there do is something i have never felt myself good at, let alone applying to join a team. Well it seems to gods were siding with the treasury idea & really i don't feel i'm in a position to argue with the gods so when i woke up this morning to invite to join a treasury team i thought ok lets see how this works, can't hurt right? 

So i am now a member of the Treasury Friends Team & in "celebration" made my first treasury for the team ... & discovered so much pretty along the way! To view the actual treasury click on the link ... HERE ... & check out all the wonderful items available through the team members. 

31 weeks & 4 days ...

it's the simple thing's in life that make me happy ...

hiding from the outside world ... 

am all about flowers & pretty & spring right now ...

the perfect print ... 

i want to watch this movie ... 

getting ready to enjoy 5 days at home with no work! 

something to be proud of ...

So this post is a little different, it's a little bit more about me, my life & about being proud of my world so to speak. Recently someone asked me what i'm proud of & it was a no brainer ... my husband. I am proud of the job he does, i am proud to say he serves his country, i'm proud of him every time he puts on his uniform. Seeing him & all the guys at our wedding in their blues was special, knowing he made a choice to give up how ever many years of his life & be at the beck & call (literally) of uncle sam makes me proud.

But i forgot to talk about another group of people i'm proud of ... the military wife's & families who sacrifice so much & often get forgotten in return. They're the people behind the scenes, the men, women & children who would have been described as "keeping the home fires burning" back in World War 2.

This is my life, a choice i made & i would never take it back, for all the time apart the time together makes everything worth it. I'm not asking for sympathy & none of these men & women would either just a little understanding of the life we lead & why we do the things we do.

Me & my husband are stationed overseas, i would love to say our life is "exotic" but it's far from it. Where we live there are approximately 140,000 US personal & their families, our base is like small town American. Yes i do get to experience living overseas & see things i wouldn't normally, i do have health care provided to me. I can't book a vacation until 2 weeks before we go because my husband may not be able to take leave, any plans that get made can  & often do get cancelled at the last minute because something came up, there is no such thing as a 9-5 job in my world. & this is just the simple stuff. Sometimes i swear we have to fill in forms just to fill in a form & i know my husband's social better than my own phone number. Oh & many of you have heard the joys i have for the post office but basically take one average sized post office & 20,000 people & imagine that on your average day you spend 15 minutes in line ... now image the hours & i do mean literally hours i spend in that place shipping presents & picking them. Oh & for the record we're still waiting on Christmas presents to arrive! Anyways this is just the day to day stuff that we deal with, the small things that frustrate us. 

So back to those women & families ... they give up literally everything for those they love. They move across country & overseas at the drop of a hat, & can have more homes in a year than you will have in a life time. Finding work can be hard due to the moving, deployments, children & knowing that somewhere in the midst of it all you want to spend time with the one you love so imagine how hard it is to have an actual career. Everyday they make sacrifices for the one they love, & many of them turn to their passions as a means of making a living. I've mentioned the Homefront Team on Etsy before & many of the members use the skills they have to work from home & are able to pack up their business along with their household goods to open shop 2 continents over. For me though ... the hardest thing is the goodbyes. Saying goodbye seems like  a daily thing as the people you surround yourself with leave for destinations new, deployments, tdy's, & of course heading to their new base. These are the women (in my case) i tell everything to, who understand the small things & stand by you through it all. They've been there, they get it & they continue to stand by the ones they love. 

I am so incredible proud to be a member of this group & i hope you can walk away from this with a little more understanding of who i am & the life i lead.