Thoughts..

Something I'll never really understand: Why wives want to stay home when they don't have any kids. It's BORING as all get out. I'm trying desperately to get a job, and to just DO something with my life. Right now I'm volunteering, as no jobs have appeared yet.. Don't get me wrong, I love being at home when my husband is home, and I love taking care of our apartment and cooking up scrumptious meals. But when he's at work? What the heck are girls thinking when they WANT to stay at home? Seriously, I don't get it.. There are only so many times a house can be cleaned.

Random things that have changed since marriage:
1. Before, I would never have dreamed of using the same utensil as somebody. Now, I use my husband's cereal spoon to stir my coffee in the morning. I am gross.
2. There are people living over my head. The first month it creeped me out, because when their door opens, it sounds like our door opening. And when their kid runs around upstairs? It sounds like aliens have landed and are trying to get in.

I've been thinking a lot lately about sin, and how we as Christians should react to it. I think the biggest problem, it seems a lot of people have, is after the sin has been committed. What we need to realize is that it's over and in the past...we should be loving and kind in our responses to them. After all, what they really need is Christ's forgiveness and love..and the reality that their sin has already been washed away. What they don't need is people telling them what an awful thing they have done, and that they should be ashamed of themselves. If they have repented, we should no longer bring it up. And if they haven't repented, we need to remember to give them time to do so. People don't automatically change when we want them to.. there should be no iron rod of "repent now or be dead to me" coming down on them. We should give them time to heal and repent... Too often it seems like people lock down even more on rules and expectations when someone has sinned. What we fail to realize is that providing more rigid rules and expectations won't help them. If anything it will push them away from Jesus.
Christ never yelled at people or nagged them endlessly to repent.

2012 is here, folks.

Christmas was lovely and everything is should be. Being married during the holidays is great...plus you get more presents, and I don't think anyone minds that.

Here's a little taste of our Christmas season:


Here's to 2012!

Rihanna red.

So, my hair is red now. Did I mention that? I'm loving it. I feel so much more daring with it on my head.

Christmas is in just two weeks! We already have four presents under our beautiful Walmart tree...and my husband reminds me of that daily. I didn't see it coming, but somehow I think he's more excited than me about it.




Lately (as in ever since I got married), I've been cooking a LOT. Pinterest in one of my favorite places to find recipes. Pictures help a lot in that area..looks good? Make it. Presto! Also, I've only repeated a recipe about 5 times now. Which, considering it's been almost 4 months is pretty darn good. I'm amazing. The end. Actually, it's not the end. You too can become like me. All it takes is to like eating... this makes the prep work all worth it. Trust me.

Also lately: I've been exercising. Kind of a must when you're eating like we do.

Now I have a question: What's your favorite recipe? annnd, please send me the link. Thanks.

A little advice.

When you're mad, just shut the hell up. It doesn't help anybody to spit out angry words, which you probably don't mean anyways... and, most likely, a good sleep will show you just that.

Look at yourself first, before pointing fingers. We love to find fault with others. It's in our natures, and right behind our most favorite thing: Thinking we deserve to be treated like we're the best ever. Because we are, right?

Did I mention comfort? We don't do a lot of things we should, because of it.

Happenings.

So, I've been working on building my own photography site over at i-m.co. Here's what I have so far: htthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifp://i-m.co/EllenIngersoll/ELLENRphotography#home It's definitely a rough draft..and I'm going to replace some of the photos, and add much more. Butttt, I think I'm starting to like what I'm seeing.

Wood stain is a pain to get off your skin. My hands are super clean now, and I might have rubbed off an entire layer of old skin in the process. Yum.

I'm kind of looking forward to Halloween this year. Jason and I are going to rent scary movies and eat lots of candy.
Also, I have decided that when it comes to costumes, my kids will hate me. Because, trust me, if we had any...they'd all be little Dwight Shrutes, Ron Swansons, or Napoleon Dynamites.

Blacking out.

A friend of mine got married last weekend, and I was one of her bridesmaids. It was a beautiful wedding, and also unexpectedly exciting. As it so happens, finding yourself sitting down slowly sipping juice during the end of the ceremony is quite exciting. And having at least 4 people rush up to you during the ceremony to see if you're okay is even more exciting. I don't actually remember what all happened, to tell the truth. One moment, there I was...standing there wishing the sermon would end (after 20 minutes of it going strong and showing no signs of stopping), the next moment I found myself somewhat lightheaded, sweating, and grasping at the stage in front of me. The rest of it is a somewhat blurred memory in which I was told to take off my heels, set down into a chair, and told to drink juice (which, apparently, the maid of honor had run down the aisle to get for me). The sermon? It ended very quickly after that. I had people thank me.

Being married.

Marriage is so normal. There's joy, stress, laughter, sickness, and all the rest that comes with life. But the biggest perk is that I get to go through all of the above with my bestest friend. He's not only there with me through everything...he also makes dinner for me when I don't feel well, cleans up the kitchen after dinner, and brings home roses randomly. I love him, and I'm so glad I have him to go through all of life's various trials and experiences with.

About a doughnut.

Because Polka Dot is amazing, I got to eat a doughnut today.
It came 10 hours straight from Oregon and, although half eaten by someone who shall remain nameless, was amazing.

I won!

Ellen won the city print of your choice by bird ave

I think I'll end up with the one pictured, Jason and I loved Portland the two times we went to hang out there.

Thanks, polka dot!

Summer

Yesterday I found a bird's nest in one of our peach trees.. it had the tiniest blue egg hidden inside of it.

Bucket Lists..

My dear friend Suzy is doing a giveaway on her blog: Life is too short not to wear red shoes.

There are two types of people in this world..and I'm one of the list making kind. I generally have sticky notes stuck all over my desk, on my laptop, and around my room. They help me to feel slightly less scatter brained, especially lately. Being engaged does something to your remembering skills. I'm completely serious..and it's not just me it happens to. Take notice next time you're with somebody engaged..especially freshly engaged. They're nuts! ;)

Anyways, I'm taking Suzy's suggestion and writing down my own bucket list for you all to see. (getting an extra entry in her giveaway for doing so? nothing to do with it. ;)

1. Live in Italy. Since I'm marrying a military man, this might actually come to fruition.
2. Go skydiving. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post..it has long been a desire of mine.
3. Have photos of me and my boy taken by Sarah Dawson I've loved her photography for years, and never thought I'd actually be one of her subjects. [Check!]
4. Learn how to make wine.
5. Live in an apartment. I'll be checking this one off in August!
6. Be my own boss, and start my own photography business.
7. Paint my kitchen apple green.

That's all for now. Be sure and check out this lady's blog and giveaway! She's very sweet, and has fun photos to accompany her thoughts. Love you, Suzy!

Photos.

51 days till we get married!!
We're going to get our engagement photos taken this evening... Sarah Dawson is my favorite photographer, and amazingly we won a free session with her! :) This makes me very happy.

Something that also makes me happy is this: I have my first official photo shoot tomorrow! I'm going to head over to Rossmoor Bar Park, and hopefully capture some great shots of a little family I know. They have the cutest kid ever, so they can't turn out too badly! ;)


Isn't it a pretty park? It's right by the river..which makes it even more awesome.

Love.

A dear friend of mine just got engaged! I am so happy for her and her fiance. :) It's so fun being in the same stage of life as someone you know..especially a friend! I've been lucky to have 3 different friends be in relationships the same time as me. :) I've loved watching them as couples, change and form into who they were meant to be all along.. I love them all dearly, and it makes me incredibly happy to see them so content. God, please protect them...give them the ability to love, trust, and rely on each other. But most of all, let them love and trust you first, Lord.. Without you, we are all nothing. Give them a joyful life, spent praising you and enjoying each other!

Getting closer..

Only 98 days till I get to marry the most wonderful guy I know! :)

Wedding Registry.

Today Jason and I get to register at another store... I'm excited about going through the entire Crate&Barrel store, and actually possibly receiving most of what I "beep" onto the little scanner. That store is so inspiring, and makes my brain swell with decorating possibilities. Seriously, I walk in the front door and my head goes wild. My boy will have to keep me from snatching everything in the store up. ;)






See, just going on their website gets me going! Our home is gonna be awesome looking. :)

I'm getting married!

August 20th, 2011.

My blog was feeling lonely and very gray. So I covered it in orange, and I think it's feeling much better now. Orange has a way of doing that to people... which is probably why I have my room painted that scrumptious color. It makes me happy.

I haven't had much time for crafting lately, as I've been working on a huge painting project! Pictures later.

Latest happenings:


Lizzy!

This photo shoot was hilarious...


Roses from my boy. :) and also, an amazing camera strap!

I'm headed to North Carolina this Thursday, flying with my boyfriend and parents. We're going to meet and spend 5 days with his family! I'm looking forward to it a lot. :)

Twenty One.

I can now buy alcohol! It's also my boyfriend's and my 8 month anniversary today. :) Tonight I'm going to The Shack to get some beer and celebrate with friends...Wednesday I'm hanging out with my boy...Thursday I'm going out to get margaritas with my co-workers...and Sunday is our family party. Should be a fun week!

Drinks I'm looking forward to being able to order in the near future:

(1) Screwdriver (2) Rum and Coke (3) White Russian

Any mixed drink suggestions?

Working on designing business cards... here's my first attempt:



Any suggestions? Not sure about the photo, I might switch it out for something else. I'll have more options to choose from in a few days! Stay tuned, cause I'm gonna need your help.

I also desperately need to update my portfolio on flickr.