Family photos.

{Photo credit:: Sara Ackermann}  

 I love taking pictures. I have a decent camera and can usually capture a mediocre shot and I just love have real, physical photographs of life. I'm not sure when it all started, but I do remember that each of us had our own photo album growing up. Two, actually. One that my mom kept up and another at my grandma's that she was in charge of. You know which ones I'm talking about, right? The large books with adhesive pages and a big plastic page protector you peeled back so you could line the photos up just so? I loved those things. My mom also has a handful of photo boxes that we loved to add to and look through when we were growing up. 

   As soon as digital photos became popular, I bought one of my own. And before Facebook let you post photos, I remember my college freshman friends and I would share Webshots albums with each other. But I always hated digital photos. How you can take so many great photos, but hardly anyone actually prints them anymore. And if they do, the physical photos are still sort of poor quality because photo printing has become so cheap, which is great for saving money, but terrible for quality. 

  Anyways, I love photos. Real, physical photos. When I came home from my semester in France, I immediately printed Every. Single. Photo I took while I was abroad. Then I bought myself 4 really, really large {and heavy!} albums to store those photos. 7 years later, and I am so glad I did! The computer I had those saved on has long died- if I hadn't printed them out I would have lost so many sweet shots from my travels. 

  Now that Caleb is around, I am trying to be more intentional than ever about taking and printing photos. I started a Project Life book for him {do you have a PL book? Let's chat!} and once a month I order a large set of prints from the past few weeks. Phone photos, DSLR photos, even professional shots. It doesn't cost me tons of money {so many online photo printers have regular deals!}, but I will love having those memories saved. 

   All that to say, I love photos. And I'm trying to be more intentional about them. That's why we had newborn ones taken right after Caleb was born. And why we had family shots taken this Fall. And why I keep my camera purposefully laying around the house so I can pick it up and capture everyday moments. My next goal is to learn to take better shots. By no means do I want to become a professional photography, but I want to be able to take beautiful photos of my family. There are so many online tutorials, but I think I need to find a friend to teach me {in person} how to make the most of my camera. 

  Do you love photos? What ways are you intentional with taking/printing/storing you photos? Any tips for me? 

Weekends should always be this long.

  This {4 day} weekend was fabulous. And I'm not just saying that because this is a blog and you're supposed to make your life sound like the Best. Thing. Ever. Really, this weekend was good. I blame it on the whole 4 day thing. I'm starting a petition that we make every single weekend be 3-4 days long. 2 day weekends are for the birds. Who's with me??

challenge.

source

I decided Cami and I need a little bit more practice together.

I'm pretty serious about getting to know her better...

if we're going to be bffs, we can't keep secrets, ya know?

So I decided to join my friend Allie for her 30 day.

1 specific picture a day for 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Easy peasy, right?

Hopefully! 

I'll doing a recap post on Thursdays from the previous week...just in case you get curious on how I'm doing :)

If you want to join in

{cough.emily.cough}

just go here to read the deets!

Happy snapping! :)

beans.

So yesterday, after a long hot day at work,

I was hungry.

And the hubster went over to a friend's house after work, so I was solo for supper.

I'd been wanting to try my hand at homemade blackbean burgers, and I knew we had some beans in our cabinet.

So I bust out my fav kitchen appliance...the food processor.

We're bff. But lately, I've only been using it for salsa.

Terrible, I know.

Instead of looking up a recipe {since there's a bagillion online}, I wanted to come up with my own.

Here's what I used:

yellow onion

green pepper

garlic

garlic salt

black pepper

egg

crushed red pepper flakes

cumin

paprika

chili powder

{I clearly don't mess around with my spices}

black beans

whole wheat bread crumbs

croutons

what up, long ingredient list! :)

I started by draining and rinsing the beans. At this point, I should make it clear that I pretty much hate beans. even jelly beans. BUT I like the flavor of black beans if they're blended really well. And I know they're good for me, so whatevs.

But while I was pouring them out, I noticed the date on the bottom of the can. Can you make it out? They expire on 7/30/11. That's in 9 days people. We have had these FOREVER {ahem.husband.ahem}

Then I pseudo chopped up the onion and green pepper. And remembered I had some red pepper. Lazy tip: I NEVER dice/mince/spend energy on veggies I'm going to throw in the processor. It does the work for me :)

Then I poured the drained/rinsed beans, peppers, onion, garlic, egg, and several dashes of each spice {how's that for measuring? :D} into the processor. I added about 1/2c up the bread crumbs and like 6 croutons. That's all that were in the bag. But I swear it added some extra flava. Swear.

And then I blended and blended and blended. Here's where my 'bean hating' issue came in. It was probably perfect consistency in this picture, but there were still a few beans left whole. Um, no. I'm not eating those, thankyouverymuch. So I messed with perfection and added another egg.

And blended some more...

And kinda had a too-mushy mix. So I folded in a bit more bread crumbs till it was just right. Basically, it just needs to be able to stick together and formed into a patty! :)

...like this.

I just cooked in in a pan on the stove {the hella heat totally stopped me from firing up the grill}

I browned it on each side and then put it on one of those low-cal sandwich thin things and topped with some sharp cheddar. Sue me, but I love cheese! And the picture makes it look like way more than it was...I only used a heaping tablespoon! I would have added an guac, but I'm fresh out :(

And the verdict? Yumyumyumyum! I only ate one, because I needed to save room for {another} popsicle. A must in this heeeeeat.

But you BETTER believe I refridgerated the rest and cannot wait to eat more! Yumo!

So here's the {estimated} breakdown of to recipe :)

1 can black beans

3/4 c bread crumbs

2 eggs

2 tsp each: garlic salt, paprika, cumin, chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper

1/4 c each: onion, green pepper, red pepper

1 large garlic clove

Optional: 6 croutons :)

Blend in food processor until desired consistency; grill til brown and cooked through. Enjoy! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

photobooth.

I may or may not have mentioned this before,

but I'm obsessed with my pups. 

Oh, I have mentioned it before?

My bad.

Indy's been having a ridiculous heat wave lately, 

like temps in the 100s.

and mannnnnn is it humid.

ICK.

And when you add steamy, sticky, hot weather with two pups...

you get continuous exhaustion.

Which in turn makes for one very cuddly puppy.

{btdubs...I can't believe she's 9 months old already!}

Here's our mini photobooth shoot from yesterday.

I wanted pictures, she wanted to cuddle.

Murphy was sleeping on the other couch wanting nothing to do with us :D

Happy Hump Day! :) 

weekend recap.

First of all, you should know that if I had one of those fancy schmancy cameras {or was just better at whipping out my iPhone...},

I would totally be posting pics of the following happenings. But I don't, and I'm not :)

This weekend was epic in so many ways:

-getting some legit work done the that unending office project

-FREE cover charge, appetizers, and 1/2 off drinks with the hubster, sister, and some friends

-LOTS of dancing

-sleeping in way way WAY too long all weekend

-catching up with a dear friend over starbucks

-eating far too much delicious food

-spending far too much time at the dog park

-catching up on HIMYM {did you know I'm obsessed?}

-surprising J with a completely clean apt!

-lunch at our fav, throwback italian place

-letting the husband spoil me with a little shopping at the outlets

-popsicles. {=amazing}

and, since you're dying {I'm sure}

here are the 4 pictures I did manage to take!

Hung this bad boy all by myself. And no, its not crooked. The phone was :)

Long Islands are my weakness.

Clearly I wasn't ready for this one.

WHAT a face! So glad he lets me snuggle in the mornings :)

happy monday! How was your weekend?

put a ring on it

oldie, but a goodie! Me, the bride-to-be, Mallory, and Marcie camping in '07 {and Blackey in the background!}

I got one of the best texts ever last night when I got off work.

My high school friend Morgan is engaged!

I could not be more excited for this lady...

her's is a story of God's faithfulness and redemption.

Seeing her fall in love with Landon and experience unconditional and unwavering love has been the neatest thing.

I can't wait for their big day!

Congrats, Mo! :D

Can't wait the see what the future holds for you two!!!

***this another one of those times when I'm 99.9999% sure that Morgan has no idea I even have a blog. So I'm sure she doesn't read! But I'm excited for her nonetheless. And I could be wrong. I was positive J was the only guy that reads. Then I found out my brother-in-law does, too. Hi Matt! :D***

dundundun.

clearly I'm into 2 posts/day these days.

And clearly I'm ok with that :)

I guess I just get so excited about things,

I have to share them with someone.

{and J has a habit of not answering his cell phone during the day. Something about having to do work while at work. weird}

Anywhooooz.

I finished my summer class!

FINALLY.

ohmyfreakinggosh.

This class drug onandonandonandon.

And the beast of a paper I've been slowly drawing out and procrastinating on was killing me.

But you better believe I just submitted that baby and said a sweet, sweet goodbye to grad school until late August, baby!

And I'm just a {wee} bit excited about it!

Now its just me, the summer sun, waitressing, and hot weather for the next 2 months :)

And I can think of two other furbabies who are pretty excited about this summer class thing coming to an end...

{what a baby. See his video debut on the post below!}

{rough life. And yes, she still has a head. Its just in its usual position, hanging off the couch.}

Calendar.

once upon a time, the hubster and I were terrible at keeping track of each other's schedules and remembering family things, birthday, work schedules, etc.

So I decided to make us a calendar. Cause while I could have easily gone to the dollar store and picked up a sweet horse wall calendar, it just wouldn't have looked right in our kitchen. 

So I make us one instead.

For $.50. FIFTY CENTS.

yup, awesome. I know.

First, I found a corkboard at Goodwill {my bff} for $.99. BUT lucky for me, all black tags are 50% off this week. Hellllllloo $.50!

So I started by peeling the white plastic trim off the board...I forgot to take a picture before. But you get the idea.

And then I peeled the magnetic strips off the back.

Next up, I chose my fabric to cover it. Because a plain corkboard is just, well, plain. A few months ago I found this AMAZING Waverly fabric sample on sale for $2!!! And I snatched it up knowing I'd have the perfect project for it eventually!

I had to iron out the creases...

So I lined my corkboard up with the fabric to cover the front. And then was interrupted by this cutie...

But wherever he goes, she follows...

I sprayed the front of the board with Craftbond {which I'm OBSESSED with right now.

Then I hot glued the edges to the back of the board, but forgot to take pics! :) Forgive?

Next, I knew I needed to spice it up, so I make some fabric rosettes out of some linen fabric I bought awhile ago for a baby shower gift I'm working on. I cut different sized strips to make three different flowers.

After I attached the flowers with no-sew glue, I printed off some calendars from the internet and pinned 'em on.

Finally, I hung it up! I used hot glue {a little secret I picked up as and RA in college} to hang it up cutely over my saaaweet Ikea rack in the kitchen. 

Voila!

{I know its kind of crooked. The hubs let me know as soon as he got home from work :D}

yay! I already feel more organized and on top of life!

And I feel pretty guilt free about this project, since I had everything but the corkboard on hand. Even still, this project is super cheap if you don't have everything already.

Happy thursday! :D