why girls need friends

My friend Daryn and I (yes two grown women) had a sleepover the other night because both of our hubbies happened to be out of town. Instead of watching The Hunger Games movie, we decided to do our own music video to "Call Me Maybe". We were able to splice everything in about an hour which was so fun.  Yeaah so no judging here in this safe space, right? I know I can't dance, lol :)

Times like these remind me of how husbands are great and irreplacable, but we need our girlfriends :)

gag from cuteness

It's Monday! Run away!

Sooo remember my last post about being sad with Brandon's absence at work? Well the good man earned some brownie points the weekend before last. How, you ask? Well, he took me to dinner and surprised me with going to build-a-bear to make me a bear to have while he is gone. Go ahead - gag from the cuteness.

We put in Brandon's voice in there too, and chose a SF 49ers outfit. The last time I made one of these was with my sister Linda when Build-A-Bear first came out a looong time ago! To top the night off he got me a favorite of mine - a caramel apple and we watched Avengers. Best. Weekend. Ever.

THIS weekend was also very lovely with myself and the lovely Daryn throwing a baby shower for the sweetest girl you will meet - Annie. Our motto in planning was to keep it simple and that made it such an enjoyable/relaxing experience for everyone. We had great food, great ambiance, great people and great conversation, all happening in an outdoor area at my apartment.

For food we put prepared fresh fruit, cupcakes, lemon bars, and fun flavored popcorn.

For decor we did fresh flowers, that's it. The End. It was so pretty!

It was so enjoyable to celebrate her baby girl and with gorgeous women to support her!

Daryn and I with the mom-to-be! 

Me and Aubrey!

mmmmm...presents....

aaaand Daryn made her wear a bow. We love you, Annie!

Rebel, baby

Soooo ya. Now have our first SLR camera, more specifically the Canon Rebel T3i....how did I last this long without it?

I've watched the tutorial DVDs over and over, yet still can't quite figure out what I am doing. BUT practice makes perfect, right? I shoot, but I don't consciously make decisions thinking "oh this aperture would work", I just see what looks good. Eventually I'm sure I'll know what makes the difference between shots.

Lo and behold, my first photo shoot of my good friend Annie who is having a BABY soon :D So she let me do some rookie maternity photos.  Also, in watching my other friend's baby, I tried to chase her around taking photos too - much harder than a still-standing adult!

Here is the beautiful Annie:

Here is the adorable little one:

 And for good measure if you need something to make you smile, I captured this:

Truth Tuesday

Oops I was doing so well at blogging consistently last month... :)

Today is truth Tuesday, and it's late and I am avoiding going to bed, as it's what I tend to do when Brandon is traveling Monday-Thursday every week. Can you believe it's been a year since we've moved here? Crazy! That also means one full year of traveling for my hubby, and one full year of sharing him 4 days out of the week.

(Some of you spouses out there might think, "My spouse traveled all the time for years and I had kids, suck it up!" which I applaud you for and I think you are amazing. I know this one year of 50% travel could be worse, especially with families who have spouses in the military, etc. Just humor me knowing that you are 100x more amazing than me).

I feel like we've managed the whole traveling situation pretty well considering it is aaaall the freaking time. However, every Monday morning when he wakes up early and kisses me goodbye it gets harder and harder. Here are my thoughts on this whole travel thing:

• Brandon being gone is now the norm and his time when he comes home is the not-normal... it's just been turned inside out. Weird!
• Nights are the worst - I stay up really late so I'm incredibly tired and I don't waste any time lying in bed being sad and thinking.
• Nights are also the worst because I get really scared - especially by the side door attached to our bedroom; I'm convinced one of these days someone is going to try and get in that door! Any booby trap ideas I could set up in my bedroom in case of an intruder? Anyone?
• We do get the benefits of racking up miles and hotel points - but I would trade the all away instantly if that meant to have him come home every day!
• Every Thursday night Brandon comes home and will have a present for me. Never fail it will include gummy bears and/or M&Ms. It's always a candy item and now I always expect it when he comes home, so if he ever misses a week it would totally throw me off.
• I have amazing friends here that take care of me and give me opportunities to have some human contact. I work from home so I'm alone ALL. DAY. LONG. So having friends to support me has been such a blessing
• Brandon's being away hasn't weakened our relationship, if anything it makes us stronger (most of the time, lol) and we take advantage of the time we do have together.

If anyone has some great tips on not freaking myself out at night with the thoughts of an intruder, those would greatly be appreciated! xoxo.
I sure love him!