The problem with being a photographer is that you end up taking so many pictures you can’t figure out what to do with them. For Jasper’s pictures I get prints every couple of months for his albums. We are also pretty good about getting large prints framed. That doesn’t help though with the hundreds of prints I don’t want to blow up and frame but I’d like to display. Enter the Photojojo book… One of the projects was making a collage of prints and just putting them right on the wall. I used a product called Glue Dots and it was so easy. I can also change prints regularly. I love having them all hung up in the front room.

I did some browsing on Flickr this morning and added a bunch of favorites. Can you tell what I’m ready for??

As soon as I heard the weather for Thursday I knew it would be a perfect day for the zoo. If you go when it’s too hot the animals don’t do anything and it’s kind of boring. So I asked Josh if he could get the day off. His boss initially said it wasn’t going to work but Josh convinced him. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. The last time we went to Brookfield Zoo, Jasper was in my belly. Plus Ranee gave us guest passes so we only had to pay for parking. Win!

I was very anxious to see what Jasper thought of the animals. I was actually a little surprised that he wasn’t more blown away. He definitely enjoyed himself though. He repeated every animal name we asked and spent a lot of time riding on Josh’s shoulders.

I think besides the monkeys Jasper’s favorite part was the dolphins. He seriously stood at the tank laughing the whole time. It was adorable. My favorite part was definitely the new bear exhibit. A large grizzly bear went for a swim just as Jasper and I went down by the underwater viewing area. We were seriously just inches away from the bear with only a sheet of glass in between us. To be that close to the bear’s face and paws…well it was awesome. I’ll admit it…I got a little choked up.

I enjoyed taking a few pictures of the animals. The monkeys are my favorite to photograph. I think I could have walked around the monkey house for an hour just snapping away. The three of us had a great day and a lot of fun together. I hope we can make this a yearly trip so Jasper will have great memories there like I do.

Jasper loves to make a roaring sound when we ask him to be a monster. The other night Josh pulled his shirt up over his head and acted scared when Jasper roared.

Yesterday I said, “Be a monster! Get Bebo!”. Jasper started pulling on his shirt and said, “Please?”. So I pulled it up over his head. He proceeded to run around the house, roaring and trying to get Bebo. I laughed. A lot.

Last Sunday Josh got the swings up on our new swing set. Brandon, our awesome neighbor, built the beginning frame work in just a few hours. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. I cannot wait until the rest of it is built and Jasper has a slide.

I’m pretty sure this kid could swing all day. Every morning if he catches a glimpse of his swing set he will yell, “Outside? Schwing? Schwing?”.

The great thing about the swing set is that it’s so tall we can use it too. Josh and I have both enjoyed the other swing. I have a feeling we are going to spend a lot of time on it.

I felt extremely spoiled on Saturday. My husband planned/coordinated a birthday party for me. I think everyone had a great time. Our awesome neighbors hosted the party at their house. My sister-in-law, Emily, made decorations.

My mom made a delicious cake. I requested it be both chocolate and white. New favorite…seriously, yummy. She did such a good job decorating it too.

Cotton candy and popcorn. Need I say more?

My brother set up his amps and we had live music. He even wrote a silly birthday song just for me.

The party wouldn’t have been complete without the dunk tank. I couldn’t believe Josh lined that up. We had a lot of fun taking turns dunking people. Tori was first up!

Tori couldn’t wait to dunk Josh. I think Josh was a little surprised at how cold the water was.

Everyone sang happy birthday to me and I blew out the candles.

Josh knew that I always had wanted a root beer keg so he had our friend drive up to Chicago to pick one up. It rocked. Jasper loved playing in the ice too. It cracked me up to see Jasper playing by the keg. The little man had a great time at the party even though it was super hot.

We played Baggo, air hockey, and badminton. And we finished the day sitting outside, avoiding bugs and laughing a lot. It was a great party. Thanks Josh, for planning it!

What a weekend! I turned 30, Josh threw me a party and we had some great times with friends. (My birthday party deserves a post of its own so that will come in a couple days.) The morning of my birthday I received an email from myself. I had sent it using FutureMe.org and typed the email back in July of 2006. I didn’t remember doing it so I was surprised by the message. As I read it I couldn’t help but tear up. I got everything I was hoping for. I wish I could go back to PastMe and give her a hug. Tell her that she will have everything she ever wanted and to just be patient. Here is the email I received from myself:

Dear FutureMe,

Happy 30th Birthday! You’re finally a grown-up. I’m sending this email from the age of 25…well, almost 26. I am wondering what I’ll be like at 30. Hopefully my little Knight Light business has taken off and I’m doing that full time. Hopefully I’m a full time mom as well!

Josh and I have been married for just over a year right now. Things couldn’t be better. We still act like newlyweds. I have a feeling that we’re still acting like newlyweds even in the year 2010.

I hope you’re doing well, FutureMe. Remember to be happy where you’re at in your life. Right now I’m impatiently waiting for a house and kids. If you have those things, be thankful.

Love,
Yourself

I’m happy to be entering my thirties! Although things have been pretty rough around here lately, I’ve got all that I ever wanted… A great husband, a kid, a nice house… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m pretty lucky.

I often joke that I am the unluckiest person you will ever meet. I have never won a single contest, raffle, or anything of that nature. If something is going to go wrong, it will usually happen to me. I shouldn’t complain though because I am lucky in one aspect of my life…love. I sure am lucky to have my boys. Jasper and Josh both make me laugh every single day. I also have lucked out in the family and friend department. My parents are pretty much the greatest. They would do anything for us.

I recently got together with an old friend from college. It has been eight years since we’ve hung out and it was just like no time has passed. We stayed up late looking through my scrapbook from college laughing about our good times. It is kind of amazing to go that long without spending face-to-face time with someone and being able to pick back up.

Josh and I also joked that we won the neighbor lottery when we bought our house. Our next door neighbors have turned into fabulous friends that we really enjoy spending time with. Ranee and I got together last week with some coffee and commiserated our lack of money. Brandon is building Jasper an amazing swing set for free, we only have to pay for the materials.

Today I received the camera ring I had been lusting after. I don’t know who it was from as there was no note but I wore it all day smiling when I saw it. Last week the mail brought a Starbucks gift card from one of my blog readers. It said to drown my sorrows in coffee, signed a loyal reader. I was excited just with the fact that I had a “loyal” reader but now we can get coffee this week!

And a huge thing… Josh and I received a note from someone anonymously with some cash tucked inside. I cried when the money fell out. That someone felt they wanted to do that for us….well, I’m blown away. I was able to pay a couple more bills and have a little less stress this week.

So I may have the worst luck with everything else but at least I have love. And lots of it.

I’m slowly recovering from my tumble down the stairs on Saturday. My bruised up elbow looks worse than it feels. I am finally able to put some weight on my ankle. I’m still regularly doing ibuprofen though. Yowch, that one hurt. For some reason today I’m feeling down. My mom said that my last few months have caught up to me. I’m just feeling emotionally (and physically) exhausted. I guess I knew there would be good days and bad days. Today…not such a good day. I couldn’t help but think that falling down the stairs while pregnant would have been so scary. That’s all it took. Something dumb to remind me that I’m not pregnant with Grace anymore. I guess it will be some time before I’ve recovered from that “bruise” too.

Just the other day I was talking about needing a breather. Yep, didn’t so much get it this weekend. In fact…quite the opposite. On Saturday I was coming downstairs with Jasper. I thought we were on the last step but it turns out there was one more. In that split second of falling I knew I was going to fall on top of my child. So I turned weird, protected him and landed hard on my left foot. Luckily Josh was home because I was instantly in so much pain. Jasper wasn’t hurt but totally scared that I was crying and not getting up. In between crying I kept trying to tell him I was okay.

We don’t think my foot is broken but it’s swollen to twice the size today and bruising. I’m having trouble walking on it and still in a lot of pain. I can’t even believe it. I just feel so down. What part of “I can’t handle much more” didn’t the Universe understand!?