vacation summer 2010

Last year around the same time I met Steve, his family was going through a huge life change. His dad got laid off from his job of 20+ years but thankfully was able to find another job very similar to the one he was laid off from quickly. However, it was 5 hours away in Allentown, PA. His parents put the house up for sale and Dad moved to PA to live in essentially a bachelor pad so that Mom could stay here and sell the house.

Along with all those changes there was a death in the family, an engagement, marriage and various moves. Just a lot going on in the Robinson family... Consequently, as a result of new jobs, moves and all other factors weighing in, the Robinson family vacation was a little different than years past.

There is a small cabin set in the Adirondack mountains that Steve's family has travelled to every year since he was about 2. They missed the year his baby sister was born but other than that have been every year. And sadly this year we were missing some of the family, but we still managed to make it into a very memorable time.



Usually it's mom and dad robinson along, obviously, but since they couldn't make it we invited my mom and dad. And my daddy brought me flowies :) sunflowies :D



This is the view from the cabin looking down the short trail to the waterfront.



At the waterfront there is a little dock and some sand... so it's kind of a beach!





my Dad :)









Funny story. Steve forgot the charger to his electric razor... which we discovered on the first day up there as he was about half done shaving his head... lol. So he turned into a mountain man the rest of the week ;)



Another funny story. There were ducks everywhere and they came to visit often... in hopes of food obviously :P One day in particular though we didn't have any ducks around, so we went out in the rowboat looking for some. We found these guys and fed them some stale chips and bread.

Then on the way back we ran into a gaggle of little ducklings and as we fed them they followed us back all the way to our dock. They were literally eating out of my hand and long story short, I ended up catching one. I'm almost afraid to post the pictures of my duck catch and the consequential mama duck attacking me, but if I get enough comments saying you want to see how it went down, then I guess I'll have to oblige.



We rented a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens for the wedding I did at the end of July, but when picking the dates to have it accidentally got it a week early. Which was actually kind of nice because we both got a chance to play with it. I really loved using this lens and in all reality did not get as much use out of it at the wedding as I would like... but it was still a lot of fun and definitely on my wish list. This moss picture is one of the ones I took with it... along with the sunflower picture.



A fallen tree we saw on our rowboat ride to lure in some duckies...



and my face after capturing one of said ducks!

It was a fantastic vacation and I can't wait for next summer to do it all over but this time I hope everyone can be there together!

the honeymoon

This post along with a couple others I realized I've left in draft form the last couple months, so I'm revising and getting them up! Hence the weeks/months strike-off ;)

It should really be called the honeymoon vacation, because really, the honeymoon isn't over! Being married the last 3 weeks months has been amazing, and while we've already run into challenges, I am more convinced today than the day we took our vows that we were brought together by God.



This is the first view of our ship from the terminal, as we walked down the hallway to board we noticed they were touching up the paint. I thought it was just so cool that even though we were cruising in the Caribbean that our ship was decorated Hawaiian... I love Hawaii. I've been there twice when my brother was stationed in Pearl, it was so amazing. Steve and I most definitely want to go there and share that experience together! This ship was decorated Hawaiian because before it became the Norwegian Sky, it was actually the Pride of Aloha.



This was our stateroom. Totally tiny, but we didn't need a whole lot of room. There was plenty to do on the ship and lots of food to eat :)





This is the breakwater in the channel out of Miami... there were some kids out fishing on it.



The boat that made this wake in the channel was a 40-50 foot thrill ride that's goal was to get its passengers soaked ;) I think they were using the cruise ship's wake to do so.



Yes, the water really was that blue.



We chose to get a balcony room and it just so happened that every evening when the ship sailed, we were on the side with a sunset. That was just so cool! On our way out of the Miami port I took the most pictures... possibly because I felt like I was in an episode of CSI Miami?



Whenever I go on vacation, I like to get/do something that will mark the time and make a memory... This time I decided to get my hair braided. While my braids were complimented and totally "in" down there, when I got home I felt a little out of place ;) I was definitely praised by the locals though for being a blondie white girl with my whole head in braids... they called me Bahama Mama {ha!}





All braided up in Nassau, the whole ordeal only took about an hour. Plus the time it took to go find more money after my head was only half done ;) We then toured about on the island of Nassau and took pictures of ourselves with random pirates around. Steve in his classic Captain Morgan pose...



What's a trip to the bahamas (or anywhere tropical) without pictures of the beautiful hibiscus flower?



The first of these two was taken as we got off the ship (which is in the background there) and the second when we got back on



Gotta document the braids while they were still fresh! They got so frizzy after only a few days...



When we would come back to our room after dinner there would be little towel animal friends waiting for us. The ship gave lessons on how to make the lol, the only one we remember how to make really was the monkey ;)





It was a beautiful vacation! We had a lot of fun and when we got home we really got to having some fun! Somehow, I almost feel like real life is more fun than playing all the time :) Makes you appreciate the down time more maybe? I am loving married life, my husband and all the changes that this past year has brought :)

Welcoming summer

Three weeks ago the peonies were on their way out... and no sooner were they gone than the bright orange of day lilies began to bloom and color the month of July.



This claro pitcher has seemed to take up semi-permanent residence on my kitchen table. I quite like the simplicity of what Meghan did with her lilies this year, but it would not have worked for me in this pitcher, it takes a lot of flowers to fill it!



One of my favorite parts about all seasons that are *not* winter are the ever-changing colors and textures we are presented with in plant form. So, welcome summer, I hope you stay awhile :)

greener grass everywhere

No matter what, in this life you will always find something else you want... something you don't have, something you can't get. Doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, there's bound to be something you want but don't have!

Now, I have this ring you see. And I try to take pictures of it... but my lenses, not made for this kind of photography! I try and try, I make what I have work. But then you get the real deal in your hands and *POW* it works like butter. Just like you always thought it should work.



I felt that way the first time I held my 5D. For months I struggled in photoshop working images for hours on end to get them to look just so...

the first images I looked through from the 5D I melted into a puddle realizing how beautiful they came SOOC {straight out of the camera}



These two particular pictures were taken with a Nikon D700 {Andrea's D700 to be exact} with the Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro. Butter I tell you. Snap snap is all it took and this girl was sold.

If grass weren't greener on the other side there would be no reason for change. No reason to get better at things. No reason to excel...

But there is, so I see this not as a classic case of envy but rather a learning experience. One which will help me to see what tools I need to do even better work ;)

sometimes you just take awhile to post stuff...

Just over a year ago I left the most fulfilling and probably the most difficult job I've had so far. My two years of full-time nannying came to an end. When I would think about how it would be to leave I came to two conclusions about how I would deal with it. 1 being that I would totally shut down my emotions and not really feel much at all and 2 that I would become a complete basket-case and melt into a sobbing mess.

Truth be told, I did both. Which is why still a year later I am just now posting this.

When I left their house on my last night all was fine. I said good bye, knowing that I would be back often and the love was still there. But as I drove away I completely melted down. I'm talking gut wrenching sobs to the point where I actually had to pull over because it wasn't safe to drive anymore...

It took me two weeks to get up the courage to go back and say hi... whereupon I was received with a very cold shoulder from little Andy...



I went to his preschool to drop off some pictures I had taken for the teachers and upon seeing me totally ignored me. I figured he needed the space and he would come to be when he was ready... he later told his mom that I hadn't come to see him at all and that I didn't even want to hug him. WOW. Needless to say, that left me in another puddle... I left the school and sobbed my eyes out... the little boy I had grown to love so much and had spent the majority of two years with was totally rejecting me. Can you blame him though? He was just doing to me what he thought I was doing to him...

I returned the next day having made sure his mom told him I was coming to see just him and when he saw me that time gave me an unending hug. The kind where i wasn't sure he would ever let go unless I pried him off. And not that I wanted to, but after about 5 minutes of just sitting there with his legs wrapped around me, we finally set out to play.

Time heals stuff like this and that's why I'm ok to write it all down now... I'm not trying to be a baby, I'm just being honest. Before I left last year, we took pictures of each other to remember that time... the girls are old enough that posterity means a lot to them and I have since felt terrible for not sharing the pictures sooner with them. But now I am :)

















and in other news, something I haven't shared yet I don't believe is that starting monday I get to spend the rest of my summer with these 3 kiddos. Maureen emailed me a few months ago asking for suggestions for summer child care... and as I thought about anyone else watching them another summer I couldn't help but cry. I knew that it had to be me. There will never be another summer like this... and it won't be like last... and most certainly next year will be another one to remember. I'm so excited to start a new adventure and a new chapter in this book of life that I feel is just getting better and better :)

more than a flower

Reading my blog this month you may have guessed that I'm a little obsessed with peonies {grin} They were in my bouquet for my wedding and since then I have been picking them as they bloom and placing them all over my apartment...

And sad as it is that they're all dying off now, I am reminded how beautiful the different stages of life are. We see them blossom so bright and colorful in the spring and as the days wear on, I start taking for granted their presence... as with anything too much of a good thing can get boring :)

I am glad to look forward to the reminder of happiness these flowers bring me next spring...



And hopeful that with their return I will have grown in my life... with God, with Steve, with my friends and in my heart.