June 13, 2013
This day. This dreary, grey, lovely day. #vscocam
June 10, 2013
June 6, 2013
Being married.
is just an eternal sleepover with your best friend.
Seriously. Tonight Stephen and I ate cinnamon rolls for dinner, and spent the rest of the evening playing texas hold ‘em.
welcome to adult life staying a kid forever.
June 5, 2013
Welcome to the world, Holden Eli Wengerd.
Say hello to my perfect little nephew.
May 31, 2013
April 25, 2013
I’m a creative person. and often times that really screws up the rest of my life. my mind doesn’t think the way everyone else’s does. as a creative, you’d expect my mind to be jumbled, and for me to mix up the dates and times of appointments, or to forget what i’m supposed to be doing at any given moment.
but that’s not me.
when i see something written down, i don’t forget it. even though i do keep a calendar on paper, it’s just for safety reasons. i rarely need to refer to it. i just know. i need schedules and structure and routine. and for a long time, i felt that made me less of a creative.
i was discussing this with a friend a while back and he made a point that’s changed the way i’ve looked at things since then. He told me that often, creatives need more of a structure than anyone else, because when you know what you’re going to wear the next day, and what time you’re leaving, and you have your lunch packed the night before work, you’re not spending time making all these decisions in the morning, freeing up your mind to be as creative as you know it to be.
this made me feel a little less weird.
So now for the video. I’m shooting my first wedding of the year this weekend, and I’m so excited. but so very nervous. I feel like, specifically in terms of photography, i get so overwhelmed & defeated by all i have yet to learn, that it makes the whole idea of being a photographer seem unattainable. I was talking to my brother about this last night. through all my creative endeavors, he’s been a constant source of just the right combination of encouragement & challenge. he referred me to this video of Ira Glass, and as soon as he began to speak, i realized he knows exactly what i’m feeling, and was able to put it into terms that others can understand.
Take a listen. Does this sound familiar to any of you?
April 21, 2013
lately, i’ve been doing a lot of things and taking a lot of pictures. but i’ve come to the conclusion that it’s often better to experience a moment the first time than it is the second.
So who knows if you’ll ever see what I’ve been working on. i did stuff and i don’t need to prove it. 8)
April 1, 2013
Our Saturday Routine.
One of the things I’ve really grown to love to about our life over these past few crazy months is our Saturday Routine. As we find ourselves getting busier, we don’t always have as much time together as we’d like. But all our Saturdays are spent this way:
It usually begins with an attempt to sleep in before we remember our bodies will have none of it, so then I get up and enjoy the morning while Stephen tries to cope with the fact that we can’t sleep in anymore.
We usually make a nice breakfast. coffee, pancakes (stephen’s first love), and bacon. always with the bacon. By this time, it’s usually 10 or 11 am, and we decide to get our butts up and go.
We spend the majority of our Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s iconic Strip District. The strip district is filled with unique shops, restaurants, and some really beautiful murals. Such fun, just 3 miles from home.
On Saturdays, the excitement pours out of the stores and into the streets. Street vendors line the sidewalks selling everything from fresh bread to fresh flowers.
A few weeks ago, they had the most beautiful pink baby carnations + fresh baby’s breath. I have recently developed a love of flowers that can’t be tamed. I buy them almost every week. But at only $2 a bundle, why not?! Another favorite is the Pittsburgh Popcorn Company. I’m not a huge popcorn fan, so I usually get kettle corn. But since their flavors change every week, I just HAD to try….
PEEPS! You guessed it. An Easter favorite.
I’m chowing down on some as we speak. Popcorn + White Chocolate + Marshmallow + Fun Easter colors! It doesn’t get much better. I wish I could give you a taste.
Next, we hit up our favorite coffee shop; Prestogeorge.
Iced Marshmallow latte. (I don’t know what’s up with me & marshmallow lately.) So good, but remind me not to get a large again, please.
We stopped a few new places this week, too. I love that there’s always something new to explore. After the strip, we usually run a few errands, then head home for a little relax time before we go to church on Saturday evenings for practice. I sing, and stephen plays the bass. It’s a good time.
Saturdays are our favorite. What’s your Saturday routine?
March 31, 2013
So three days in darkness slept
The Morning Sun of righteousness
But rose to shame the throes of death
And over turn his rule
March 30, 2013
March 28, 2013
I said I was going to take more pictures…
so i did. Being a wife is a lot of fun. I get to wash my own dirty floors and cook in my own kitchen (regardless of how small). SInce being married, I’ve discovered that I really love to cook. But working so much doesn’t allow me the time I’d like to make things the right way, so sometimes i cheat.
I’ve always wanted to make my own bread. I’ve tried a couple times and failed, but I know what went wrong, so I’m going to try again very soon. For thanksgiving, my mom told me about a frozen dough that she had bought to make a loaf of bread and after just one taste, i fell in love. Stephen and I have been buying it ever since.
and i finally got around to buying a bread pan, so it resembles a loaf of bread rather than an awkward football.
so today for dinner, i made a variation of this recipe. (but way less complicated.) and it was a hit. now, i realize i probably could have photographed the whole process since that is what i’m working on, after all. but give me a break, i’m trying here. 8)
afterwards, stephen and I got to take a little trip to our natural history museum. it’s 3 miles from our house. how cool is that?! (no photography allowed) 8) so i had a pretty great day.
but now it’s way too late for me, and i’ve been staring at a computer for about 80% of my day. (did you notice the blog redesign? i’m pretty excited!) but i’m sure you’ll be hearing more from me soon.
goodnight.
Change.
Life’s been a little jumbled lately. Stephen gets calls from work in the middle of the night, I started working more hours at my job, and I’m spending a whole lot more time at church. That said, I haven’t had much time to be creative. And I really don’t like that.
The excitement I once had about decorating our “new” apartment has dwindled since we decided not to renew our lease. (I swear our kitchen gets smaller every day. ) Only after going through boxes of Swiffer pads have we realized that those beautiful hardwood floors that made us fall in love with the place couldn’t be cleaned with a power washer. Our toilet seat broke yesterday. None of the tile in our kitchen is grouted. Let me repeat that. None of our kitchen tile is grouted. Some of our windows open, some don’t. Oh, and our half sized oven is really getting old. But it’s our first place and it only gets better from here, right?! Right, guys?!
I haven’t picked up my camera much lately. I think it’s because it makes me nervous. Looking at my camera just reminds me of all I have left to learn, and all the equipment I need but can’t afford, and the wedding I’m shooting in a few weeks that I wanna rock so hard, but every dream I have points to me forgetting to take any pictures at all.
If I’m being totally honest, these past couple months have been really tough for Stephen and I. That’s probably why you haven’t heard much from me. I like to focus on the good things, and recently I’ve been choosing not to.
I don’t like the person I’ve been lately. The overworked, exhausted, no fun, stingy person I’ve been lately.
And I think hope that anyone who really knows me would agree that that’s not who I am.
So some things need to change. How & What? I’m not sure. But I know that I’m making small steps.
For example, I want to start taking more pictures of our life. Of our home. Of the things we do together.
So when I’m feeling down, I can look back and remember our days and our times and how we felt in those moments.
Because we sure do have a lot of good times. And I sure do love to take pictures.
In the meantime, I’ve been looking for some new music. So if you have any suggestions for happy springtime music, send them my way. Because the sun’s about to come back, and the world will be bright again.
March 19, 2013
as seen by Penny & Finn.
February 24, 2013
God is good.
I could spend the next hour telling you about the amazing things God has done in my life just in the last week.
I have never felt more in the center of God’s will.
He’s taken care of every need we’ve had, and even our wants.
I wish you could be inside my head right now, and see what i see.
it’s good. God’s good. life’s good.
be encouraged.
February 18, 2013
trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me.
This morning, I’m in awe of God. humbled. amazed. and encouraged.
“He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”
- Romans 8.27
