Project 52: Glamour

So I had this great idea for this theme, but never got around to doing it and in this final ditch effort to finish my goal for 2013 before we start 2014 I had to take a new attempt at the theme. So thinking of what glamour means, you generally think of makeup. So I got a ton of makeup for Christmas, and so what better thing to take a picture of for this theme, specifically since I haven't done too many still life pictures for this challenge.

Self Portrait

So I follow a couple photographer bloggers. And I am also friends with other photographers, and all of them think its very challenging but good to learn your photography skills by taking self portraits.

I totally agree now after trying that it is very challenging as we are our own worst critic. You have to work on posing, and lighting and angles and everything while also trying to take your own cues. So here are my resulting first self portaits.

Next year I am going to do a 365 photo challenge to produce one fully edited beautiful picture a day!! Will make me pay more attention to every picture I take. And taking a new one each day!! And I plan on having once a week be a self portrait and hopefully we will see throughout a year my improvement!!

Living room is spruced up!!

So a couple months ago I got really decisive about the fact my living rooms was so plain. It neededs On my way! Color mostly on this one gigantic white wall that was making me feel like I was in a penitentiary.

At first I had some very ambitious ideas for how to do this. But after having people who offered to help fall through, and than going to look at paint prices on the economy was frightening. I was feeling discouraged because I wanted to do something but wasn't willing to make a 60 euro mistake on my wall. I ended up just leaving the wall white for about a month, not sure whether to go through with it or deal with white for another year and half

Luckily a couple of my friends have kept me thinking about it and I still wanted to paint it. So I decided I was going to do just one wide stripe across the wall to add some color without having to do the whole wall on my own!!

This is proof that a girl can do home improvements entirely on their own!!

I started out with putting up the tape, do not underestimate the amount of work that takes!! Between making it straight across and even distance from the other section of tape. It took me many attempts backing up checking and fixing to get it right. Up the painters tape was pulling up the crappy white paint on our walls so that was frustrating but I figure I have to repaint when we move out anyways!

Next was to get the paint. Having eliminated buying buckets of paint as that is costly, I was told I could get white paint at the self-help store for free, and than came across the paint dye for only 5 euro at the hardware store. 5 euro mess up sounds much more affordable!! 

I started out with a tiny bit of dye and mixed it in until I got the shade I was wanting!! Although I wish I could have painted the wall the marble color it looked like when I was mixing!!

Once I got the color mixed all there was to do was to start painting!! I did one layer with little to no problems!! 

And even managed to take a coffee break while it dried a little!!

I was told to keep the paint brush and roller from drying while I took a break to stick it in a bucket of water which was all fine and dandy until I didn't get it dried out enough and started to paint.. Let's just say it's a good thing Kyra was asleep cuz I certainly transformed into a bit of a sailor. 

Now that the paint is mostly dry I managed to save it for the most part with the paint off the lid, however I think I may try to scrape a little more off or or get white paint at the store just a tiny can to touch it up and the places where the tape ripped off the old paint :( 

Pretty color. It's light but almost silver just what I needed to warm up the room a little, and contemporary too!! 

Here is the spill are all dry, still kinda noticeable but it will survive!! 

With the furniture back in place, and dry! 

Now with all my stuff on the wall!! Don't you just ADORE my two new signs? These were a treat to myself for getting back into school and making the deans list!! I kinda really wanna make our living room into a treasure trove of our travels!! Specially when we get back to the States it represents who we are now as a family!! I believe now that we have traveled we will always desire to travel!!

I obviously am not an interior designer, my wall is off center!! But eventually I'll make it perfect!

Project 52: Relaxation

I had all these amazing ideas for this but let's face it, I am not going to make it to the beach by the end of the year that would be too far for me to take baby girl alone!!

So this is the best way I know to relax!! Feet up after a good workout and Grey's Anatomy!! You may think that the lighting seems awful, but if I had harder lighting it wouldn't be as relaxing, and this is how it truly looks most nights at my house or at least until classes start again!!

For complete list of all pictures from my Project 52 follow this link to Resolutions which has links to all of my project 52 blogs.

Workout til your happy!!

So lately I started a new workout routine, and I am getting some awesome results that my friends and family are noticing!! Since so many people have asked how I am doing it and what my trick is. I have previously done an article on my diet Diet Vs. Eating Right.

But now I am dong Blogilates with Cassey Ho. I downloaded her app on to my IPad and for only 99 cents a month I get a new calendar with 2-6 videos to do a day, and somedays even have fun things to do like paint your nails, or water drinking challenges!

Her best quote: "Working out should be fun, it shouldn't feel like a chore or you will always hate it!!"

Plus Cassey is just super amazing. I love the variety of having new combinations of videos each day!! I also love that she has lots of cardio that I can do from home!!  She does have a beginners calendar also for people just starting out!! And her videos will make anyone want to keep going as she has this super outgoing fun personality and encourages you the whole way through. 

I am super impressed with how my body is changing. I HAVE ABS!!  And also my love handles are just melting off its the workouts I have been looking for for a long time. In just one week I have already lost 1.4 lbs and 1.75 inches from my body! Other workouts I have purchased were just to repetitive often with 4-5 different videos that you replay throughout 30-90 days. And to me doing the same thing over and over was bad cuz when a day on the calendar had a video I had done 10 times and hated I would dread that day, and or just make that day my rest day! And the other website I had been attempting to use was great and some day I will end up going back to it, but it was far to advanced for me right now.

I am in no way sponsored by Cassey Ho at Blogilates.com I just really want to give her a shout out for the awesome videos that she puts out almost weekly and how much it is helping my fitness goals!! And I have already got 2-3 people from my Facebook world trying her stuff and loving it!! Feels great to help out people with something at is working!! 

Here are my results so far!! I hope to keep this up during class this fall, and next fitness blog might just be an awesome picture of abs!! Here's for hoping!!

A letter to my love

Dear Dustin,

I sit here looking back at our time together, and so many memories come to mind. It is kinda hard to believe that it has been 4 years since we walked nervously into the court room in Hawaii surrounded by friends and held hands in front of them to say our vows and become Mr and Mrs Johannes. Maybe it wasn't this amazing picture perfect Hawaiian wedding, but it was perfect to us! And as much as I love that moment in time it's other small moments that have made our time together so amazing. Some that I often think about are from years before we even started dating, when we were just good friends and hanging out in school. Weirdly enough something that I remember was when one of your guy friends asked me "why don't you and Dustin date?" Lol and my response was " I don't know because....it's Dustin". It was weird for me to imagine it than but clearly people saw how much we were meant to be together. Than your Junior Prom I waited forever hoping you would ask me to be your date, I brought up prom but you didn't seem like you were gonna go. And I was green when you showed up with not one but two girls on your arm.

Most of these people are still in our lives :D

Visiting me in College!

You could never guess by this picture we were just friends!

So cute!

Fast forward to your senior year, you came up in January and visited me in college and yet somehow even tho you were willing to drive 4-5 hours to come see me we were still pretty much on friends terms. Although I later found out that you started liking me than! After that trip we went our separate ways and I only saw you for a couple mins at graduation! It wasn't until after you had gone through basic training and were headed home for Christmas Exodus from AIT that we got in contact again. And we planned for you to come spend the weekend with me in Colorado!! It took just that weekend and we realized the time was finally right and we were ready as adults to start dating, and we have been happy ever since.

Right after we got engaged!!

First actually married pictures!

Well you put me right into the Army life!

Our relationship has had to endure a lot including the first 9 months of it being pretty much separated. We have also done quite a few training trips, and 1 year deployment. We are currently doing 6 months separation and will miss yet another anniversary. But these things do nothing but make us stronger. We may miss holidays and birthdays because of the Army but none if that effects how in love with you I am! And there is nothing that excites me more than sitting and thinking about the fantastic things we have planned for our future.

On your way to the Bus for Deployment!

Welcome home Ceremony!

Ball after Deployment

St Patricks Day durin R&R

Thank you for being such an amazing man, father, and husband! You help me to grow and learn from my past. We go together perfectly and even if we fight we can't help but smile at each other whenever we are near each other. Our fights never last more than a couple hours. You are the cheese to my macaroni, and you are my M&M!!

Maternity Pictures on the Beach

Kyra Lee Our Sweet girl!!

Such a sweet family picture

Trip To Koln

Family Pictures from Kyra's First Birthday!

Happy 4th Anniversary!!! 

Sabrina

River Cruise after a long training!

Our Anniversary last year!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Apple Pumpkin Crisp!!

I was out walking my dog this evening and boy oh boy has it gotten chilly out there already. Granted I was only wearing jeans, flip flops, and a hoodie, so that could have calculated for some of it. When I packed away my summer clothes my flip flops probably should have went with them and probably will join them sometime tonight before bed.

With all that being said the heaters are turned on low, and the best way to warm a house is to bake!! And well we have tons of apples and I prepared for the season sell out of pumpkin pie filling weeks ago. So when I came across a recipe that used both I was SOLD!! Plus it kinda crosses two things on my list off at once pumpkin pie and apple crisp. But since it is more of a crisp I am going to just cross of apple crisp for this one!

Here is a quick List of what you need:

Ingredients

• 2 cups APPLES, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup FLOUR
• 3/4 cup BROWN SUGAR
• 1/4 cup BUTTER, softened
• 3/4 teaspoon PUMPKIN PIE SPICE, divided
• 1 cup PUMPKIN PUREE
• 1/3 cup WHITE SUGAR
• 1/4 cup MILK
• 2 Tablespoons FLOUR
• 1 EGG

And the Directions are so easy you could do it in your sleep!! Okay maybe not!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place apples in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Microwave 2 1/2 – 4 minutes, until apples are crisp tender.

In a small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar, butter and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Stir together until crumbly, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, milk, 2 Tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and egg. Pour over apples in pie plate. Sprinkle crisp topping mixture over pumpkin layer.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and set. Let cool 30 minutes, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

As I write this blog I am in the 30 mins cool stage which is TORTURE because it smells so amazing! The cooking 30 mins was nothing because I was working out so I could consume the calories this thing probably has in it!

Would look prettier in a pie pan as it was supposed to but I don't own one!

Wouldn't this be super yummy with ice cream on it?

Here are the yummy results...As I eat it I am wishing I had some Vanilla Ice Cream or Frozen Whipped Cream!!  Can't wait to feed Kyra some tomorrow I can bet she is gonna love it! I even resisted eating more than one even tho my taste buds were screaming at me!

Impromptu trip to the U.S.A

I really like documenting my life. That is really what this crazy blogging thing narrows down to. I write to be able to look back someday and enjoy the memories once again. I love my viewers and it makes me feel appreciated when I get lots of views on posts.

I know writing these blogs will never make me money I do them for me. Or to share my ideas with others. Or to help out people with things I know about. I am not a photographer, I am not an artist, I don't claim to be anything. I am simply Kyra's mom, Dustin's wife and doing the best I can!! I wanna remember everything about these times because right now these are the best times of my life.

So although our trip home this year was unplanned and had sad origins. Maybe it was for the good. Although I miss my Grandmother incredibly. She would have wanted all the family to have a chance to be around each other!

Jake and Kyra playing with Great-Grandpa's toys :D

She loves G-Grandpa's yard as much as I do!!

Cuddling with Great Grandpa!

Wrestling with Grandpa!!

 

After the funeral we spent a lot time with family. However I was just really trying to enjoy the company of family while others took pictures. So I don't have a lot of pictures of my own until we got out of the hotel, and to Grandma and Papa J's!

Aunt/Cousin Ana!! Kyra just LOVED playing with her makeup and nail polish!!

Uncle/Cousin Miguel!! They had so much fun together.

She loves Miguel!! Always wanted to be held by him :D

Eating Pretzels with Papa J!

Papa J has a really nice yard too :D

My lil girl is ready for football season!!

Driving Daddies Tractor.

Drawing on the sidewalk

 

 

 

Begging Ana to take her to Chicago with her!!

 

Another great part about being in Nebraska getting to hang out with Aunt Tami and Preston we had a fun picnic at the park!

Preston teaching Kyra how to sniff flowers in the Garden!

Love my doodle bug!

We had the perfect timing for this trip however and got to attend 3 county fairs and I think it is what has spurred her love for animal noises lately.

Kyra checking out the piggies!

We let silly cheerleaders paint a butterfly on her face...it was free so guess it didnt hurt anything

BAHAHAHA this is what happens when dad says we are being squinty!!

Watching the kids ride sheep

Such a happy girl!

This was a such a great trip home!!

Kyra with all but one of her Grandpas

haha she was pretty entertained with the fact he looked like a cat

LOVE THIS PICTURE

She was checking out what he was doing!

What does the cow say?

Butterflies!

Than we were headed to Colorado to spend sometime with Amber and Jake. The kids were a little rough to each other however too close in age. I honestly think when we went places people thought they were twins they look so similar!

Jake loves Jell-o

Slinkies!

With toddlers of our own its not often we have a chance to get pictures with each others.

Kyra wasnt happy about sharing a bath with Jake.

As always we made our way down to see our other great grandparents!

Great Grandpa reading to Kyra!!

She loved Preston's cowboy boots

Picnic by the river!! She loved the water!

Grandma's neighbors had horses!

And great Grandma was really good at reading too :D

After that great trip it was on to the last leg of our trip and getting to spend sometime with Grandma while she had some time off from work. She took us to Casa Bonita, and a historic farm, and to ride a train!! The trip flew by but it was great to be able to go home this year or we may not have made it back!

Kyra by the casa bonita fountain

Driving a car!

Riding the horse

Foam Dinos

Enjoying a sunny day!

At the farm with Grandma

Just through that window was a 3-4 day old calf so cute she loved it!

Riding the Choo choo, fun but soooo hot out!

Rosey cheeks and worn out!!