me : photography dabbler

Hi y'all! Happy Monday! And yes, by "Happy Monday" I mean "couldn't you wait just one more day?"

Last week I went to the doctor for a follow up on my meds. He increased my dosage which made me sick. I've been nauseous and making many trips to the bathroom this weekend. But, I still have times where I feel pretty good and I did manage to get the house mostly clean and I got to watch a lot of movies with the hubs. My favorite of the weekend, Water for Elephants. I loved it! Joey didn't watch it with me, I watched it yesterday while he was at church. But I'm hoping he wants to watch it soon, because I'm definitely ready to watch it again. :) 

A few weeks ago I did another photo shoot with these lovely girls. It was my first time with Miss Candace as my subject. Previously, she's always been there for help with the other girls' shoots. But she's graduating from Texas Tech in May and wanted some photos for her announcements. We were also going to get a few more shots of Miss MiKenzie for her HS graduation. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get to take many photos because it was extremely windy. There was also a little problem with the girls being extra giggly that day. But, we got a few shots, hopefully enough for Candace to use for her announcements. And maybe in the next week or two, we can do another photo shoot and finish them up!

Here's a look at a few of the shots we did get:

Ahh... yes, so sweet looking...

... but they wouldn't STOP GIGGLING!! 

It was still a lot of fun though, as it always is with these girls!

Hopefully we get to take more pictures soon. I've been scoping the town and have found a few places that might be pretty good. There's even an old car that a guy in town said I can take pictures by! I'm excited to try it out!

♥

me : my life in numbers

27 - How old I will be next month.

25 - How old I think I will be, until I stop and remember no, that's not right.

24 - The date of my birthday next month. Just in case you were wanting to get me something... ;) 

5 - The number of the month we're about to be in! Can you believe it?? This year is nearly half over!!

241 - The number of days until Christmas!!

6 - The number of projects that I'm working on right now. 

10 - A guesstimate on the number of projects I also need to do.

8 - 16  - The number of hours I spend on my computer in a single day. (Not counting the weekends.) 8 hours for work; anywhere from 1-8 additional hours working on other projects. 

1 - The number of pets we have. A golden retriever named Lorie. Joey named her because she's supposed to be his dog and he names all of his pets after Lonesome Dove characters. (We also had a cat named Gus and a cat named Clara.) But even though she's supposed to be his dog, she chose me as her owner. She listens to me way more than she does Joey.

3 - The number of rooms in our house that I want to paint grey. Different shades of course. 

11 - The number of pounds I've lost since January according to my doctor. YAY! I hate how my scales at home always weigh me less than the doctor. Blegh.

14 - The number of pounds I have left to lose before I hit my first goal weight and before my doctor stops hounding me about my weight. Okay, he doesn't really hound. He more encourages, he's a nice doctor. 

0 - The number of times Joey and I have taken a trip on our own without visiting family. Seriously. Can our house please sell soon so we can go on a nice trip somewhere???

What does your life in numbers look like?

me : Randomocities! { a post full of various un-related things }

Hi y'all! Happy Thursday! I overslept today. By a lot. Which for most people means they are late to work and will be in trouble, but thankfully I work from home. Which means, I'll be working late the next two days to make up for it, but I don't really get in trouble. That's great! But seriously, me and the little guy slept till past 10:30 today. Don't be jealous. ;) Although, you have every right to be. It was fantastic! And very much needed!


Also, I know I've posted this on twitter and facebook, but since some people don't follow me, or use those social media sites, I also wanted to show you here. I got my haircut on Saturday and it was quite the drastic change... I cut 8-10 inches off!! 

My last picture with long hair. It was down passed the middle of my back!!

When I got to the salon and sat in the chair, my stylist asked what I wanted to do. I told her we were chopping it all off and showed her a picture. She was really hesitant at first, but I assured her I'd had my hair that short (and shorter actually) before. That made her feel better about it, but the other people in the salon sure were surprised when she made those first cuts and all that hair fell to the ground. 

And my first picture with short hair! YIKES!

I loved it at first. But then, my bangs started driving me crazy! They were too long and hung directly in my eyes. So annoying! So... Monday night after I got out of the shower I decided to do a little snipping of my own and trimmed about 1/4 to 1/2 inch more off my bangs. 

And voila!

I always feel silly taking pictures of myself. I really need to employ the husband to be my photographer more often. Because me, just standing under some trees in the backyard, taking pictures of myself... it just seems silly. But these are the things I do for you! haha!

So that's the new 'do! I love it right now! I can pull it back into a nub of a pony tail for when I'm running, it takes all of 90 seconds to completely blow dry, it's easy to style, I'm loving it!

.................................

Also, you might notice in these pictures that I'm not pasty white anymore. You might think to yourself that I've probably been laying in a tanning bed again. Nope! I've actually gotten two spray tans! No more laying in a bed for this girl! I'm hoping to avoid that from now on and go with a healthier glow of the spray tan variety. It's really easy, looks better than I thought it would, and my non-leathery 50-year old self has already sent her thanks to me from the future. ;) 

If you are like me and like being tan, do yourself a favor and go for the spray. It's so much better for you!

.................................

In other news, I've got more clothes than I need/wear/want/should keep. A lot of them have been worn a few times, or even not at all. A lot of them I can't wear anymore because of the weight I've lost. I'm listing them on eBay. I've already sold two camis there, I've got one shirt listed right now and will hopefully have two more shirts listed by the end of the day.

Feel free to check that out here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/170831043750?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1413

A lot of the stuff I have to list will be plus size clothing. But not all of it. :) 

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And now for some bloggy house-keeping:

Do you see those buttons over there to the left? I've got room for more!

If anyone is interested in doing a button swap with me, let me know! Just leave a comment below or send me an email at livedelightfully (at) yahoo [dot] com.

Also, I'm looking for some guest bloggers! Whether you have your own blog or not, you can still be a guest blogger on my blog. Again, leave a comment or send me an email and let's talk. I've got topic ideas or you can come up with you're own!

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Whew! That was a lot of random things! Thanks for reading and no matter where you are, I hope you're having a wonderful day!

♥ 

wishlist : vespas! {beep beep}

I love vespas. I want one because it's such a fun word to say and if I owned a vespa I could go around saying vespa all the time. I could introduce myself to new people, "Hi. I'm Regina, I own a vespa." I could bring it up casually in conversations, "Oh just the other day as I was riding my vespa..." Or even use it as an educational tool, "Since getting and riding my vespa, I've learned a lot about..." See? See how handy a vespa would be? Vespa. Vespa. Vespa!

Now that I've used the word vespa 10 times in one paragraph, let's imagine we are in the "old country", about to ride around the hills and vineyards of Tuscany, on our shiny vespas! 

| image source : TheDizzyPixie |

| image source : elgarboart |

| image source : TraceyCapone |

| image source : twiggsphotography |

| image source : ElloGovna |

Go ahead and say the shop name out loud. 

I was trying to commit the shop name to memory and said it out loud. I had to smile when I realized what I'd said. 

Kudos, shop owner, kudos. 

:)

| image source : pamelajanegallery |

| image source : pamelajanegallery |

| image source : chezjolly |

| image source : TheSimplePicsShop |

| image source : rebeccaplotnick |

| image source : photographybykarina |

| image source : EyePoetryPhotography |

| image source : twiggsphotography |

| image source : twiggsphotography |

| image source : Raceytay |

| image source : FocusGroupFoto |

Can't you just get lost looking at all these lovely photos of vespas?! I know I can! They're rather impractical to own where we live, but maybe one day... on our 10 year anniversary trip to Europe, we can ride them around. 

I think I would love one in the mint color, what about you?

Happy Wednesday!

♥

me : I've Caught a Bug...

For years now I've listened to runners talk about how much they love running. How they always look forward to the next run. How peaceful and relaxing (even therapeutic) it is. They go on and on about their love of running and how passionate about it and I would sit there, listening, but completely bewildered. Running? Love? Passion? These things can be used together? What?!?!


At my alma mater we have 3 sports. Baseball, softball and basketball. Running in any of those sports is used for conditioning and/or punishment. There is no joy in running. "Get on the baseline!" is not something you want to hear mid-practice during basketball. "We're doing triangles today!" is not something you want to hear for softball. I used to make myself run extra in the evening because I wanted that extra endurance during the games. Plus, with my asthma, I felt like I needed an extra advantage over my teammates and wanted to leave no excuses for not getting a starting position. But I never... NEVER... liked running. 


But after listening to all those runners go on and on I decided I wanted to be a runner when I grew up. I hadn't really done much about that, though, besides going for regular walks and stuff from time to time. Until now. 


I downloaded the C25KFree app on my iPhone and I've been working on the first week tasks (for about 2 weeks now). I decided I didn't want to advance to the next week's tasks until I can fully complete this week's task all three days. I really love this app! I love how I can listen to music on my phone and it tells me when to walk and when to jog. When I have 1 minute left and can push myself. It's really great! I also love that I only have to do it 3 days a week, since, with our busy lifestyle, I can't do workouts every day sometimes. It's really fabulous and if you have a smartphone, you should download the app. It looks like this : 

Now, I knew I was in bad shape, but in looking at the tasks for the first week (it's a 30 minute workout of 5 minute warm-up brisk walk, alternating between 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking, and then a 5 minute cool-down) I thought I could handle this pretty well. I can't. So I'm wondering if I should write a new app called "Coma to 5K" because that's more what I need... ;) haha. But like I said, I'm not moving on to next week's tasks until I can complete 3 days of this one in a row. 


I've also been looking for some new running gear. Because as weird, shallow, nutty as it sounds, buying running (or workout) gear inspires and motivates me to run (or workout). I'm not HUGE into labels or anything, but I have to say, I really, really love Nike brand running gear. And I'm also hoping on to the neon trend train and loving all things neon. 

Running Gear Summer by reginakay featuring nike athletic shoes

Nike activewear, $22
Nike activewear, $38
Nike activewear, $55
Nike, $32
Nike activewear, $36
Nike activewear, $36
NIKE running shoes, $135
NIKE platform shoes, $90
Nike athletic shoes, $100

Don't these outfits make you wanna go running (or at least walking)??? They do for me!! I've been looking on eBay for some Nike running shorts for a great price (I don't want to spend $30 on a pair of shorts). But in the mean time... I bought some off-brand ones at JCP this weekend that aren't too shabby either. Especially for only $14!

$14 - I got these in grey/lime green & mint/black. 

I've ran the passed two days and probably 7 times in the passed 3 weeks. It's not a lot, but it's a pretty good start. And I think it's safe to say that I've definitely caught a bug... the running bug. I'm now looking forward to my next run. I plan my schedule and my meal choice around running. Right now I'm really liking it. And maybe... just maybe...my goals of lose 30 pounds and run a 5K in 2012 aren't too far-fetched after all!

And if you're interested in this... it's not too late to start. The great thing about starting this hobby, you don't need any special equipment to get started. All you need is to get outside (or on a treadmill) and start walking and building yourself up to running. You can do it!

♥

me : weekly loves

Hi y'all! HAPPY FRIDAY! Yay! 

This week, I love a lot of random things...

Pacific Rain - Rain Cloud Mobile $25

I love that my first re-designed mobile is finally listed in my shop! It's been a long time in the works but I finally got one listed. Hopefully I can get some more clouds sewn up this weekend and list a few other color choices next week. :) 

Also...

I've been working on a new, completely different design lately and I'm so excited to get it listed... hopefully I can get that done soon. I love seeing things go from my head, to sketches in my journal, to an actual production. What a wonderful journey!

I'm definitely not a professional photographer, but I love dabbling in photography and I love that these two girls are always willing (and sometime extremely giggly) subjects! :)

I love fortune cookies. I'm not crazy about the cookie part, but I love opening them up and reading the fortune. I also love that this "fortune" fits me perfectly right now as I do have a ton of new ideas bouncing around in my head. 

I love this new (to me) gum. Joey picked it out and I'm glad he did. It's yummy! Plus, I feel a connection to Shaun White as he is a fellow ginger. 

Which reminds me... the other day we were waiting to be seated at Olive Garden and this guy was coming in to work and he was a red-head. Joey then asked me if there was a red-head wave or something, like motorcyclists have their own wave, red-heads should have their own wave?? I told him that was ridiculous! 

I couldn't very well show him the red-head wave if he isn't a red-head, now could I?

;) 

I love trying new recipes. I also love Olive Garden's house salad dressing. I seriously agree to go to the Olive Garden more for their salad than for anything else. I looked online for a copycat salad dressing recipe, found one that had good reviews and gave it a whirl. It was a failure. But not a total failure I suppose because I did eat my salad still and Joey said he actually liked the dressing. But it didn't taste like Olive Garden's dressing at all. 

It's okay, I love trying new recipes, even if they don't turn out right. Plus, I found a different recipe that also has excellent reviews that I'm going to try. And while searching for copycat recipes I read in a couple of places that you can actually buy Olive Garden's dressing at the restaurant. I've never heard of this, but it's something I'm definitely going to look in to if this next recipe fails. 

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I've got a busy weekend planned. I am getting my haircut today at 5, then afterwards we're going to a friend's house for dinner. Tomorrow I plan to do laundry, clean the house, and try to get some sewing done as well. Sunday... more of the same, plus church. Monday we have monthly visits with the caseworkers and that night we have our Senior Banquet at church and I've got two casseroles to make. It's a busy life, but I sure do love it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

♥

inspiration : thursday thoughtfuls

Hi y'all! Happy Thursday! And especially happy Thursday because it's almost over. Whew! What a day! BB had a doctor's appointment today and had to get a shot. But luckily, that's the last one for a few more years. YAY for him! I hate it when he gets shots... it makes me tear up to have to hold him down while he's crying.

There's also been some interesting things today like finding out the company sent my expense reports reimbursement to an old checking account (it's still open, we just haven't closed it yet and never use it) so now I've got to go write a check and deposit it in the account we use. And the big topping to this day is our department supervisor didn't approve our timesheets in time so there will be no direct deposit going into our my account at midnight. They're over-nighting some sort of pay card to us, but needless to say, it's been a very interesting day money wise. 

But, everything will work out and we still have fun thoughtfuls to enjoy. So let's focus on that!

Here's some great quotes art from Etsy sellers. Rock on you Etsy sellers, rock on!

| image source : ParadaCreations |

I love this! There's so much to be said about just being kind. Like not teasing people and making them feel unwelcome even if you're just joking around. Who wants to be around people who make them feel unwelcome?? I don't! I know sometimes I even take my jesting too far. This is a good reminder to be kind with my words and actions. 

| image source : UUPP |

Yes, yes, yes!!! I don't care if you can't do much, do what you can with love. Even if it's just loading the dishwasher... or smiling... or holding a door open for someone. Or if you're like me and an Etsy shop owner, paying attention to packaging to make it special. just the little things.  

| image source : AldariArt |

BB had a hearing yesterday. Things weren't said that we wanted to be said, but it is what it is, and I feel more at peace with what may or may not happen, than I have in a while. Thanks for everyone who's praying and sending good thoughts our way. This foster-parenting business isn't for the weak-hearted. 

| image source : PlayOnWordsArt |

Whatever is going on in your life that's bringing you down or bumming you out... it will pass. Don't give up. 

| image source : manvsgeorge |

Again with the be kind stuff. Because it's that important that it's worth repeating. Plus, I think honesty isn't used as much as it could and should be. And there's something to be said about being silly. It's a good thing. ;)

I hope everyone has had a great Thursday, and will have a great Friday and weekend. Enjoy it. Because even the good things pass... 

I have a hair appointment Friday evening and I still have not made a final decision on what to do. I'm leaning the most toward going short again. Right now my hair is to the middle of my back and there's a good chance I'm chopping it all off tomorrow. I've had my hair super short before... 

I'm thinking that I'm going to go that short again. Something short, edgy. Not too soccer-mom, not too punk-rocker. Something cool. I hope my stylist understands... lol. 

Also, welcome to the new readers/followers! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day everyone!

♥

goodies : coffee cups

Hi y'all! 

First off, I have to say "THANK YOU" and give a BIG HUG to everyone who commented on last night's post about me being a foster mom and some of the things I'm dealing with. I almost didn't post it because it wasn't a light read and reading it makes me emotional. But I'm glad I did... y'all are the greatest! All of the sweet comments made me even more emotional, but also gave me a lot of encouragement. 

Also, thanks for everyone for stopping by my new "About Me" page. I can't believe I've been blogging for nearly 3 years and had never written one. Whoops! lol!

And now... on to today's Goodies!!

Here's a little something you may not know about me... I love (and collect) coffee cups. Not all of them, just certain ones for certain reasons. I especially love Starbucks coffee cups that are especially artsy, cool or just scream, "take me home!!!" I'm really considering boxing up some coffee cups from our dinnerware sets that we never use, just to make room for the important coffee cups that I like the most and use a lot. 

Here are some lovely coffee cups from Etsy that I am loving : 

| image source : Brookish - $16 |

I've loved everything in this shop from the moment I discovered it. For the past couple of years, I've dropped hints to the husband about certain items from this shop that I want. So far, I've got nothing. This year, I posted the exact listings on his facebook page. Maybe he'll get the "hint"... ;) 

| image source : StarLightClay - $20 |

Isn't this just lovely?? And I love the odd base of the cup. 

| image source : dorothydomingo - $40 |

I just adore pottery! The various colors, the different glazes, it's all so beautiful and lovely! The shapes and colors in this set have me swooning!

| image source : Instead of Zzs - $7 |

Mustaches are everywhere! But I'm not getting tired of them just yet, so I really like this coffee cup!

| image source : DianaParkhouse - $13.81 |

Those house are so cute and dainty, I just love this cup! It makes me want to go find some dinnerware at thrift shops and start drawing and painting on them. 

| image source : sundaysam - $32 |

I really love these! I've got a thing for owls and these owls are just perfect in every way! I'll take these for my birthday if anyone is looking for a present to get me. ;)

| image source : PromisePotter - $20 |

I delight in the simple things. Like this mug. It's simple, classy, and is just waiting for someone to purchase for Mother's Day. You realize that is coming up soon right? ;) 

| image source : BackBayPottery - $88 |

More gorgeous pottery! I love the aqua color, the pattern, and the swirl on the bottom. 

| image source : CraftUnikat - $87 |

This is great. I imagine drinking my morning coffee out of this and getting lost in the black and white dream landscape.  

| images source : BlueSkyPottery - $26 |

I simply couldn't pick a favorite, so I had to go with all three. I love the glaze on these cups. It's absolutely stunning! And I can't look at the "Marry Me" one without singing the song by Train. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about, or maybe you do but you love the song like I do, here's the video:

I especially love the intro. ♥

Do you have anything that you love and collect?

♥