What a year...

A lot has happened in the last year. Where do I begin? Biggest things first. In March we listed our home for sale, and it sold very quickly! As a result we are now living in an apartment, while we build our dream home! :) The inspiration of getting back to blogging is my intent to blog the construction process!!! :) On non home news, we now have our very own (might I add gorgeous) new studio in my hometown of Elkhorn!! I am so happy and so proud of this accomplishment! Sooooo I am back to blogging, you know a year later. :)

Worth = Priceless

Tomorrow you’ll realize what she’s worth, but she’ll be with the one who realized it yesterday... Yep. Last week - I decided I was done and had a realization, I don't need someone. Got sucked back in. But I think I have realize I deserve so much better. So - I am going to get it and no longer deal. :) Happy Monday!

Why hello caffeine!

Caffeine is fo sho my friend today! Ironically, I am up and at it... Happy Monday!

This weekend was non-stop, busy and lots of fun! At times, I was reminded that I am 28, and not 21 (again...) but it's sure fun to pretend I am sometimes! Here are some photos from Jill's batchelorette party!!!

The bride and I! Earlier in the eve!

My hairstylist (and Jill's cousin!) and I!

Out on the dancefloor at Loose Moose - taking it back - to Chaka Khan! :)

What you don't backcomb and tease your hair (or have someone do it for you!) ha :) Oh and yes, I am fully aware how "attractive" I do not look here!

Most of the group and the party bus :)

Last picture at closing time... yup... out till 3:30 am, and rocked a photo session at 9:30 the next morning - put together too! :)

Have a great week :)

Hostess with the Mostess

You could say I like to entertain. I love creativity, and I love people. Naturally I enjoy hosting parties and get togethers.

I love everything about it, from custom invitations, or coordinating accents with meaning. Of course Pinterest has absolutely fueled my creative spark on party planning and being "the hostess with the mostess" (shoot who am I kidding, for a while I was "pinning" while working) (I multi-task) I am on the phone, all.day.long.

Anyways, my cousin Jill's shower was today. Jill had asked me to be one of her MOH's (Maid of Honor) (however, since Jon put a ring on it, I am really a Matron of Honor). Carry on... she also asked me to photograph the wedding. Clearly that's not going to work, and I was not going to dump all of that on Jon. So I respectfully declined the MOH duties, but still held the shower for her. Ironically, I was super duper stressed. I do not get stressed over party planning, hosting nada. We had some last min RSVP's which required some changes, so that threw me... and I was feeling ill prepared :)

Fast forward to today - everything turned our beautiful. My vision became reality, Jill loved it, ( I mean it was purple, and she loves all things purple ) so I had a pretty good shot anyways... :) The food (uh yeah my chicken salad was good!) and punch was the perfect pink love potion! :) Now, you'd think that me being a photographer (and ALWAYS documenting photos) would have taken a photo. Nope. I have nothing of everything set up. Super bummed about that. I did grab a cell phone picture of the cake, and we did take a group photo after the shower (thanks to the hubs!). Speaking of -- I know I have a great husband, but I really was reminded of that today. He knew how stressed I was, and he took the ball and went with it. :) He even found the decorative marbles we used at our wedding (centerpieces) and put those out on the tables to decorate them, ahh. Say it with me now "Awwww".

All in all, great day. Jon and I power cleaned up after the fact, the rental items are in my car and ready to go back Monday, dishes in the dishwasher, have another load to go.. and just relaxing until I head out for Jill's Batchelorette party... I see Red Bull and Vodka's in my future tonight. :)

Cheers!

DON'T BE SOMEONES DOWNTIME

“Don’t be someone’s downtime, spare time, part time or sometime. If they can’t be there for you all of the time, then they’re not even worth your time.”

Live.Life.Happy

I will be the first to admit, I care. Sadly I care way... way too much. Im not saying I always care what everyone thinks OF me, or ABOUT me. I care about others.

In true Jessi fashion, I shared a funny photo via Facebook last night. People laughed, liked and commented on it.

Anyone who has been through a breakup, has to atleast chuckle, because well -- its true. :) I wont go into deetz here, but... J Sally maybe struck a cord with one person on this.. it hit home a little too much. It also reminded me of E (an old boyfriend) who is to date one of my best friends. Since I like to show photos, here is an old vintage throwback of the two of us...

That was the two of us back in 2001, way back. Right before Jon (the hubster) and I meet. :)

Anyways, I always just figured that guys just bounced back and right on after a break up, and have I learned. Men are way more emotional than I ever thought. :) So, cheers to my friend (and her fiance) to getting happy (both of you!) and cheers to Edgar finding the girl of his dreams (I know - I am pretty tough to come down from but its been 11 years buddy) Haha -- so kidding! He's has many-a-ladies since back in the day! :)

Now, on the flipside... I want to share a website I cruise often.

www.livelifehappy.com

Freaking love this site.

So, I am going to end this post with a few of my favorite quotes. I hope you find some you enjoy! <3

Settling is easy. It’s living with your decision to settle that’s the hard part.

Love someone not because they give you what you need. Instead, love them because they give you feelings you never thought you needed.

Friendship is a promise made in the heart. Silent. Unwritten. Unbreakable by distance. Unchangeable by time.

Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard for it.

Hard work and discipline are what you need to succeed. This applies to everything. There really is no secret—or shortcut—that will get you around this. So get to it, now.

Balance your job with your dream until your dream becomes your job! -Tony Gaskins

It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.

<3 JS

It's like high school... and AOL Forwards! Survey time baby!

I was going thru my old email this morning, and had this gem in there - an email survey. HELLO AOL 1999! :) I could NOT resist not doing this, since the hubs is still sleeping and Im in a shopping mood, its saving him (err me!) moolah!

Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun! Copy this entire email (or blog!) and paste into a new email that you can send, change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you.

Some of you may get this several times (that means you have lots of friends).

1. What is your occupation? I sell advertising on church publications. I also own a photography business, specializing in weddings, families, seniors... 2. What color are your socks right now? Barefoot! (Not a huge sock fan) 3. What are you listening to right now? Missing You - Rolling Stones 4. What was the last thing that you ate? Salmon (last night) at Kona Grill 5. Can you drive a stick shift? Negative (if you are talking about successfully). I get the idea, I have in slow speeds, but yeah I could not buy a manual. 6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? PINK 7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mommy 8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Well duh. 9. How old are you today? 28 10. Favorite drink? I'm a fan of water! 11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football 12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Lord yes. :) 13. Pets? Two amazing Shih-Tzu's (Lola and Lucy) 14. Favorite food? Fish Tacos! (Or anything Mexican!) 15. Last movie you watched? I cant even recall.. sad. 16. Favorite Day of the year? Most any day, that I am not knee deep in work! I do not discriminate! 17. What do you do to vent? I hate venting, because it gets others down, but when I need to I normally talk to Jon or my friends or get out side... 18. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Barbie house and all the accessories were pretty BA! 19. What is your favorite season? FALL! 20. Hugs or kisses? BOTH! 21. Cherry or Blueberry? Blueberry 22. Do you want your friends to email you back? Well duh! 23. Who is most likely to respond? I don't know 24. Who is least likely to respond? whoever is not reading my blog 26. When was the last time you cried? This past week (Im not a cry(er) by the way!) 27. What is on the floor of your closet? tons of shoes (I really need to purge from there today..) 28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Considering I am not sending this, but I know some frequent the blog (Caitlin)! 29. Who is the friend you have had the shortest that you are sending this to? see answer 28 30. Favorite smells? Fresh flowers (Stargazer Lily), a good candle (Scentsy). 31. Who inspires you? I am inspired by outgoing, intellegent and well spoken individuals. Those who have had a challenge and conquored the challenge and share their story. 32. What are you afraid of? Not living life to the fullest, and having regrets. 33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese, and plain. 34. Favorite car? Currently -- A6 Coupe (Come to momma), MB SL Coupe, Range Rover HSE 35. Favorite cat breed? I HATE Cats. HATE. 36. Number of keys on your key ring? Funny. I hate keys, I always just took the Mercedes Key or the Touareg key, but since we started at the studio I have the studio keys on there, for a total of 6 keys (MB, VW & 4 studio room keys) 37. How many years at your current job? 4 years and one month (today!) 38. Favorite day of the week? Saturdays! 39. How many states have you lived in? 1 40. Do you think you're funny? Yes, I think I am hilarious. Not sure if I always am - but gosh darn, I have fun thinking and acting as though I am! :)