Monday, October 28, 2013

Summer is Ending

Well, it already ended.  But in my recaps, we're just now hitting the end of August...after a full three months of hosting, travel, and husbands returning, I topped it all off with a quick trip to France for one of the world's largest balloon festivals.  I had no idea what to expect, but next year I'll be more prepared.





Since then, it's mostly been back to the grind.  I've dealt with another semester of school (and am so fed up with it, that I'm officially done with school forever).  We both started working again, and I even managed to find a full time job at another school, and will be starting next week.  We've been walking dogs, and preparing for family to visit for Christmas, organized our travel plans for next year, and building up camera supplies.  I even took an amazing trip to Croatia with some girlfriends which I'll share next time, along with some of the more amazing sessions I've had the privileged of handling this fall :)  Almost there!  Soon I'll be able to start up with some Bookish Sundays, Friday's Letters, and dive into why getting pregnant has become such a sore subject (again).

Oh, and don't forget to remind me to write about kidney stones.  That's a good one.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Husband Came Home

Next in my belated summer recap is the return of the love of my life.  If you hadn't seen, DH deployed in 2012 for six months, then turned around and did the exact same thing this year.  It wasn't one of my happiest periods, but that reunion is always something to look forward to.  I had a friend from the area capture it, and then whisked him off to Budapest, Brussels, and Brugge for some time to ourselves before he had to go back to work.

c/o Heidi Lynn Photography 
c/o Heidi Lynn Photography
c/o Heidi Lynn Photography
Budapest, Hungary 
Brugge, Belgium 
Brussels, Belgium
Budapest, Hungary, and a gorgeous watermark right over my face :/
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest, Hungary
Brussels, Belgium

Sunday, October 6, 2013

After the Hiatus

This blog, once a steady stream of words and photos, seems to have become less the trickle that I intended, and more a stagnant pool of nothingness.  Oops.

I have no one else to blame; I started to have a life outside of the Internet world, and while I did my best to maintain virtual social aspects with my reality of work, school, and dog walks, I just couldn't do it.  I kept telling myself that summer would see a change, but it never did...instead, I delved deeper into a chaotic life, and soon this site was forgotten altogether, although not because I didn't feel a desire to keep it going.  Instead, I just wasn't sure where to start back up, or how to play catch up on what life has brought me since whenever I last posted.  I can't even remember what it was about.  Now, after a few words from husband, mother, and a couple others, I've decided to do my best to recreate this online personality because truthfully, I miss it.  I miss my blogger friends, I miss sharing my stories without the stutter that sometimes appears in real life, I miss using big words that I don't really know how to pronounce even though I understand what they mean.  So.  Here I am; please hang with me as I retrace my steps over the past few months to explain how husband came home from deployment, I hosted two Belarusian women for three weeks, I lost a job, I got a pretty new lens and camera, I traveled the world, and who knows what else.

If you happened to see the past couple posts, you know that I still do some photography sessions.  I managed to book a wedding over the summer, which was just as overwhelming as I thought it would be, and the same day that occurred I welcomed two 11 year old girls from Belarus into our home.  I had offered to host them because that last month before husbands come back from deployment are the absolute worst.  They drag, they limp, they craaaaawl by; so I found a way to keep myself occupied.  I'll share a photo or two from the wedding (which I hope was not my last, even though I hated the pressure of it) as well as the girls.

Ah, Katya and Nika.  They were very sweet, intelligent young ladies that left crumbs in the bedroom and shoes in the entryway.  I suddenly went from living alone with two dogs to having kids...something I am not familiar with at all.  They enjoyed Skpying with their families as much as possible, Pringles, walking the dogs, and having photo shoots in the thunder storms.  The entire time they were here, we managed to have the most beautiful summer Germany has seen in decades!  It was a huge stroke of luck.  I'm really not sure what else I could say about them, other than they changed a little something inside of me.  I felt like I, an extremely selfish and self-centered person, actually gave back.  They cried when they left and asked me to come visit, which I don't plan to do, but I know for sure that I will host again next summer.  If you have any particular questions, feel free to email me: I'd love to share about the program and help as many kids in need have a better chance at a healthy life as well.

Here are the pics; tomorrow, I'll share how DH came home to me just in time to see the girls off, our whirlwind trip to Budapest, Brussels, and Brugge, and why I won't be going back to school.