Blizzard?

Forecast for Marquette tonight:

Tonight: Snow, heavy at times. Gusty winds will lead to blizzard conditions. Low near 5F. Winds WNW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulating 2 to 4 inches. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.

Congratulations Liisa

This is our friend Liisa, she is such a strong sweet person and is going to be such a great mom!
Congratulations!

a response to the blondness

Ok I've had just a couple comments about my blond hair.
So I wanted to assure you that the blondness has not gone to my head!
I like it, but it still gives me a little shock whenever I look in the mirror.
As far as the old saying that blonds have more fun....I have yet to see that happen.
I will let you know though when it happens! :)

yes, I went blonde!

3 years today

I've decided that anniversaries need to be celebrated like we celebrate birthdays.
I mean birthdays require no effort at all, but another year in a marriage is a completely different story.

That being said:
Three years ago today Jason and I were joined in marital bliss....or so we thought.
When they (whoever "they" are) said that the first year was going to be the hardest, "they" weren't kidding.
Our first year of marriage was definitely not bliss. It was work. Really hard work.
There were a lot of expectations (mostly mine) of what this marriage was supposed to look like.
There were fights, there were misunderstandings, there was a general boredom from the monotony of two becoming one, and the general monotony of our own separate lives.
There were also good times though. Times were we laughed, finally figured something out, shared in an experience that only the two of us would have.
But, that wasn't enough. We NEEDED a change. A BIG change. Not only for 'us' to work, but for each of us individually to have a place and purpose.
That is when we both decided that we needed to go back to school. We needed to, not run away from the life we had, but rather radically change it.
Make it better somehow.
So, we landed ourselves in Marquette.
It was not easy.
It was not always fun.
It was not always ideal.
But it was ours.
Our experience to have and to figure out, just the two of us.
We didn't make many friends right away, and even the ones we called friends, were not close.
It was just the two of us.
We have been living up here in Marquette, going to school, driving back and forth to Grand Rapids, making much better, closer friends, and genuinely enjoying the experiences that have come our way for a year and a half now.
This is what I know about marriage, our marriage now.
It's about the little things. The unexpected things.
Like Jason washing the dishes, or finishing the laundry, or making sure to put the seat down, or making coffee in the morning, or worrying about me getting home from work safe, or getting flowers, just because, or just giving me a hug when I need it the most.
It's about loving unconditionally, even when we are not at our best.

Jason is a wonderful husband.
He is stable.
He is kind.
He is patient.
He is so loving.
He is funny. (i hate to admit that one.)
He is a wonderful example of what a good husband looks like.
Thank you for three years baby. I don't know where I would be without you.
It hasn't been easy.
But it's good.
So good.
Just to have you next to me.
Whatever may come.

Last of all I am proud of the example we are to our friends. I have heard on more than one occasion about Jason and I, and our marriage, and how we are together.
This is a part of an email I got from my friend Jenn that has spent a considerable amount of time with me, with Jason and with the two of us together. It is the highest form of compliment I could have gotten.

You should be very very proud of who you are, what your marriage is to you both and to the rest of us (i'm pretty sure you two might be the only married couple any of us is willing to admit makes marriage look appealing)

Sorry for the REALLY long post.
I guess I had a lot to say.

pink, very pink

Sorry about the new color, I'll eventually change it, but I needed to have something that didn't give a weird color over my pictures.

Oh and today, I wore my long johns under my jeans for the walks to and from classes.
SOOOOOO COLD!

weekend getaway

On Tuesday it will be Jason and I's 3rd anniversary.
As a treat to ourselves we rented a cabin in the woods south of Munsing about an hour away.
This was a low expectation weekend, we didn't do much at all it was nice.
We read a lot, and read some more, took a walk, and most of all just enjoyed being together, with no cell phones and no internet.

This was our cute little cabin.

Jason making a fashion statement while making margaritas.

Behind our cabin in the woods was this chair, and for some reason it just fascinated me and made me smile.

Self portrait!

A sad mailbox just begging to have it's pictured taken.

I LOVE my new snow pants. (they are so cute and were SO on sale.)

No joke, this is what the view out of my window looked like for a portion of our drive home this morning.

Such a cute little stove.

Me slaving over the oven for breakfast on saturday morning. (it took me forever!)
(but it was so good)

decoupaging

I have had this trunk for a very long time. It followed me to the farmhouse, to Jason and I's first apartment, and now it has been residing in a closet in our apartment in Marquette. 

I haven't kept it in the closet because I don't like it, or it isn't functional, but seeing as it is painted and wallpapered the same way my first bedroom was, it's a little out dated, and time for a make over!

I have tons of extra pictures laying around, so I decided to put them to good use. 

I decoupaged them!!!

Jason brought our old coffee table to the charity by our house and I painted and pasted the pictures in and outside of the chest.

It is a perfect place to store old videos, games, cards, and remotes. 

This is the inside of the chest. 

It's that time again...

...time for the bi-yearly, first day of the semester post!

Like always after the long winter break I wasn't exactly looking forward to starting school all over again.

But this morning I got up early, made myself some coffee, curled my hair and had my butt sitting in a lecture hall seat before class started.

As I told my adviser this afternoon, I'm going to take ownership of this semester. I have already made plans to hear a guest speaker this Friday about the future of photography, and then to the opening of the new art gallery exhibit.

I am also going to join the Student Photographic Society.

And I'm going to try and find some sort of photographic internship where I can learn the secrets of the trade.

So I'm going to own this semester. I have way more to gain, and it helps that I don't have any 8 or 9 am classes! That should help a ton!

I don't know why I'm always so optimistic at the beginning of the semester, and as the semester wears on, the enthusiasm fades. Hopefully by getting a little more involved this time the enthusiasm will not fade. Not too much any way!

Happy Start of the Semester!

I miss you Jen Fong

This is my friend Jen. She is an amazing woman and I am so glad that I got to meet her while living in Marquette. She graduated with her masters degree in December and moved to Chicago a week later to live in the big city and work at a new art gallery.
Jen is the life of any party. She is honest. She is straight forward. She knows everyone. She is a good friend. She is beautiful.
She is missed.

New Year

With the new year, I decided to do something I have been wanting to do for a while. That is getting away from my current blog set up to a more user friendly one, for me at least.

Happy New Year!!!!

For so many years New Years Eve was almost always a huge let down. Everyone makes such a big deal about where to go, what to do, who to be with on that night...well Jason and I had had enough.
No more of this elusive gaiety and fun that is supposedly supposed to happen like it's magic or something.
We have made the realization that even if it's just the 2 of us, it is better than hyping up and psyching ourselves out for a huge let down of whatever magical and wonderful feeling that New Years Eve is supposed to bring.
So this year we decided to stay in, make some sloppy joes, and super yummy cheese dip and invite all of our friends that were in town to come over and have a fun time, even if they just wanted to stop over for a little while.
I can honestly say that this is probably one of the funnest nights I've had in a while and it had nothing to do with the fact that it was New Years Eve.
We played coin poker, hold'em poker, darts, euchre, a new dice game, and strummed our hearts out on guitar hero. I think there was even a little dancing!
We turned the TV on about 1 min and 30 sec before the ball dropped and that was it.
What made the night special and memorable was the fact that we were surrounded by an awesome group of old friends and new friends that love life and felt comfortable enough in our home to stay much longer than they had planned.
We are so blessed to have people around us that we truly love and love being around.

I hope that your New Years Eve was spent near people that make you happy and comfortable. If not next year you are invited to our house!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!