Every now and then I find it necessary to browse the aisles of Kmart. You never know what ‘martha’ finds you might find on clearance. Well, today I had a day off and was feeling very unproductive here so I thought I would take a little trip up the hill to Kmart. I always find something great on sale, a beautiful yellow vase, great pillows, pretty lamps…there is always something. Today was no exception. As I was browsing the aisles I found these great frames in the middle. The picture doesn’t do their size justice; the mantle ledge comes up to my chin, so they are quite large. Now, of course I am not loving the posters inside (a nice mat with large photos will look much better to me), but I wasn’t gonna turn them down at that price. They are huge and great quality (reg. $40, today $10!). I bought 3 (the 3 that appeared to still be in great condition). Then found this precious oval mirror (reg. $60, today $10!), so I picked it up too (this all will look great in my dream photo space someday).
I know, good day right?! Well, that’s not it to my story. First I want to say thank you to the kind man who gave me his cart *and* transfered my huge frames to his when he realized mine was falling apart (the front wheel was coming off!). I really appreciate it.
Now for the best part. As I was standing in line to check out, this couple walked behind me and they just caught my eye. The man was holding something, were those feathers? “Is he carrying a dead bird?” I whip around to find that he is in fact carrying a live rooster in his arms…with a leash on. Even more perfect, they were heading towards the portrait studio.

I love small towns.

*disclaimer on the picture: we live in a rental, no. i did not pick the wallpaper. see #1 on my 101 list :)

17. check!
A few months ago the 101 in 1001 list was a big hit in the blogging world…well, I am a bit slow at catching on, so I am just now posting my list. I made it about a month ago and was having a hard time finishing it, so I figured I would post what I have and I will add more when it comes to my mind.

The 101 in 1001 is pretty simple, it is a list of 101 (77 for me) things that you want to accomplish in the next 1001 days. Now, of course there are many other things I would like to do in a course of 1001 days, this is just a basic list of particular things I thought of that I would like to accomplish. And of course it will probably take much longer than 1001 days, but it is just a list, to this point I’ve only crossed off one :) For me, it isn’t really about how many I can cross off and how fast. I think it is so important to make goals for yourself and when you write them down it usually helps you to remember them better. So I know I will come up with many more, but for now this is my list of 76 items I came up with while I was bored.

*Oh, for those who aren’t interested in reading them all, as you can see at the top I’ve crossed off: 17. buy a shootsac!, and for the photographers that know what that is, I love it!
(I totally understand those of you saying, why do you think we care what your list is, to be honest, my life is not that interesting, but I know I loved reading other people’s list and I needed something to blog about, so there you have it :)

Now, for my 101 in 1001:

1. have a house that feels like home (including my paint and decorating choices)
2. finish my website – completed 06.11.08
3. read the entire bible in one year (www.oneyearbible.com)
4. travel to Santorini, Greece (or somewhere else out of the country ;)
5. enter competitive photo prints
6. make a huge canvas print for a gift – completed 04.30.08
7. have a real office
8. workout everyday (at least 30 mins) for a month
9. take a photo safari road trip
10. photograph for a magazine – completed 5.10.08 (international magazine!)
11. be my weight freshman year of college
12. read at least one business book a month for 4 months
13. design my wedding album
14. print my wedding album
15. take a workshop with a photographer i admire
16. get an ipod – completed 04.01.08
17. buy a shootsac – completed 02.15.08
18. start a fine art photo collection of my travels
19. keep normal office hours for one month – 9-5 (not work until midnight)
20. ride a hot air balloon
21. replace all lightbulbs with energy efficient ones
22. organize and print my personal photos
23. blog every weekday for a month
24. get a cat
25. get a dog
26. start *planning* for a baby
27. design wedding albums for my sisters
28. buy gold (not jewelry)
29. pay off student loans (ok, this is more 30 years…but bring them down)
30. learn more french
31. go to alaska
32. be in a bridal show in columbus, ohio
33. get to know area wedding vendors
34. have a studio space (for really cold weather days)
35. have a beautiful garden
36. buy a couch that i love
37. have a monthly dinner with friends
38. see a broadway show in NY with Justin
39. photograph the town where I live- completed 03.08.08
40. feel financially stable
41. visit my college roommate at least once a year
42. get a canon 5d – completed 05.05.08
43. help raise money for a good cause
44. travel to san francisco
45. watch all of steel magnolias
46. help plan the 1st (annual) Hall family beach week
47. have another Melanie Mauer photo shoot (with Justin)
48. travel to Europe
49. cut my hair short (again) – completed 03.04.08
50. clear out my google reader account - completed 03.09.08
51. have my own personal computer
52. go mac. (computers)
53. have a girls shopping day with a friend
54. serve as a counselor at a church camp
55. finally change my last name on everything :(
56. go on & photograph a missions trip
57. use (and understand) off camera lighting
58. organize my house inspiration book
59. travel anywhere west of Missouri (that’s as far west as I’ve been)
60. buy mac makeup brushes
61. go to WPPI in Las Vegas
62. pay off my credit card completed 06.18.08
63. go camping
64. go to kings island
65. go horseback riding
66. learn to hem my husbands pants
67. archive the Hall family photos
68. buy a few canon lenses – one more to go (for now)!
69. learn to play the guitar
70. help raise money for a good cause
71. become involved in Portrait House (photography organization that help Habitat for Humanity)
72. make a custom cover for my shootsac
73. move to an area that feels like home…perhaps, home…
74. go to the new ikea in west chester!!! – completed 05.21.08
75. go to maine
76. finish this list of my 101 in 1001 :)
101. make a new list in October of 2010

Anyone that wants to help me accomplish any of them, please let me know! I’ll try to let you know when exciting ones get crossed off!
Oh, and I encourage you all to do this, and please share it if you want!

Just thought I would share one of my favorite shows. Every Monday I head over to the Hunters’ (my Maysville family) to watch Jon & Kate plus 8.
We love it, so if you haven’t seen it and you don’t have plans at 9pm tonight, flip the channel over to TLC.

In there rare chance you are checking my blog right now, stop and go look at the moon! So cool!

happy valentine’s day!

Clean your computer screen.

Here are the pictures I’d mentioned. I took these in the fall on my trip to New York City with Melanie.

This is one of my all-time favs, I am in love with it:
There is a too sweet post on Melanie’s blog today. Thank you Melanie, you made *me* blush :)

One of my very favorite things to do is walking through our woods back home. We have the most beautiful 100 acres of woods, and I *love* walking around up there. While I was home for Christmas, my sister and I went for a walk because I was itching to take some pictures. So off we went, the pictures were downloaded and never looked at again…I have a tendency to do this with my personal pictures. Anyway, I just found them and thought I would share a few that caught my eye.

*I found a couple from my New York trip too, but I’ll post them later…one is climbing the charts to be one of my very favorites.

To start things off, I want to apologize for the lack of posting; I caught a yucky bug over the weekend and was a bit out of it. Anyway, I am back and feeling better now, so I thought I would share a super quick project I did to tidy up our fridge.

Justin and I had a few pictures from our wedding on the fridge and noticed they began to curl up a little. Well, not wanting them to get ruined, I came up with a solution. I know, easy right, get those magnetic plastic photo holders, or the super cute frames. My problem with these were, I didn’t like how the photo fit into the plastic (too much around the edges), and I really didn’t want to spend much money on the project (those photo frames can get pricey).

So I just got a package of the plastic magnetic photo holders (3 4×6′s for $2 at hobby lobby), then I picked up a few pre-cut mats (around $1 each), then just stuck them together. *colored mats could look really great too.

I know what you are saying, “did you really just write an entire blog post about this silly project”, answer – yes, I even took pictures.

picture magnet:
pre-cut mat:
almost there: *I would suggest putting the picture in before adhering the mat, it is easier to get in and you can hide parts of the picture if you want.
result:
I promise to have more interesting posts soon.
*Note: I do actually really like what they look like and just wanted to share.