I had nothing on the agenda for this weekend, except for staying home and being domestic and it was the best weekend ever.  I’m such a homebody, so I am more than happy to just stay in all weekend.  I started several sewing projects (which I worked on while watching episodes of “Road to Avonlea” and drinking salty caramel hot chocolate.)

I’m working on two “charm quilts”made out of Sarah Jane’s “Children at Play” line.  I just ordered additional fabric today for a border and for the back piece for each of them.  They are small quilts and I think they would be cute hung in a child’s room or a nursery:

I started this runner for the top of our dresser:

And with the extra strips I cut, I was able to make two striped pillows.  Here’s one of them on our living room couch:

Sewing is good for my soul.

It’s January 18th and it’s been exactly a month since I’ve blogged.  I was looking at posts from January of last year and in one of them I said, “Winter seems like this huge, ugly giant that is just stretched out forever before me.” I feel that way this year too.

I could make a list of a thousand things I love about the great state of Ohio, but what I hate most of all is the winter.  It’s dark and gloomy and cold. I feel like I can never get warm enough, even after a long, hot shower and getting into my most flannelest pajamas.

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I’ve been keeping semi-busy with photographing little babies.  Here’s a favorite photo from each of my last three jobs (full posts coming soon, promise.):

Claire’s newborn shoot:

Lucy’s first birthday party:

Jack’s three month shoot:

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“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A few photos from my week….

I made this little Christmas tree garland with some scrap green and red fabric I had and a spool of red and white baker’s twine that I bought on etsy:

Funnel bought this goomba hat with his Gamestop Power-up Reward points.  I think it’s so cute.  Maybe I’ll be a goomba for Halloween next year:

Last night, Funnel & I went on a much needed date – Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo.  We bundled up, made a pit stop at Starbucks, and spent the evening looking at all the Christmas lights and animals.  I only took a few photos -and NONE of Funnel & I or the lights .  I’m a bad photographer.

This afternoon, I baked some Christmas cookies –  peanut butter blossoms (with Reeses cups instead of kisses) for Funnel to take to work tommorow:

And here is my list of Christmas movies I’ve watched so far:
Christmas Vacation
Elf
Love Actually
Miracle on 34th Street

One week until Christmas – I can’t wait!

I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.”

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

- – – Maya Angelou

A co-worker of mine shared this recipe for Ranch Seasoned Pretzels with me.  They’re easy to make and pretty addicting.

Ranch Seasoned Pretzels

1 cup vegetable oil
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound (12 cups) pretzel sticks

In a small bowl, combine the oil, dressing mix, garlic salt and cayenne. Divide pretzels between two ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Pour oil mixture over pretzels; stir to coat.

Bake at 200° for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 quarts.

On Saturday while Funnel was at work, I put all of our Christmas decorations up and assembled our artificial Christmas tree. Last night we decorated it together, while drinking mugs of hot chocolate and listening to the Indie Christmas station I found on Pandora (Pedro the Lion, Sufjan Stevens, Camera Obscura.. it’s the best!)

While we were decorating our tree, we realized we have two weird traditions:

1. Our Dwight Shrute stress ball is always put in the tree, even though it is not a Christmas ornament.
2. We always have something random (and video-game-themed, it seems) at the top of the tree since we don’t have a star or an angel.  In the past, we’ve had a Master Chief action figure and a Pac Man stuffed animal. This year, Funnel choose this little green guy, shaped like a chocolate chip.  I can’t remember what his name is or what game he is from. Update! Funnel just texted me – he is Slime from Dragon Quest!

Here are a few photos:

Putting our decorations up has put me in the mood to break out our Christmas movies!  It seems like we watch Home Alone, A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation every year. This year, I’d also like to watch Jim Hensen’s A Christmas Toy and Miracle on 34th Street (the newer version) – two movies I grew up watching.  What are your favorite Christmas movies?

Marty & Diane’s wedding was October 22nd, and boy – you couldn’t have asked for a nicer autumn Ohio day for a wedding!  The leaves were at their peak color, the day was unusually warm for late October and everything went without a hitch (at least from my perspective) for just the loveliest, sweetest wedding.

I started off the day with Diane and her younger sister getting their hair and makeup done in Gahanna at Charles Penzone.  I really enjoy going with brides to their hair appointments.  I love capturing those giddy “Oh my gosh I’m getting MARRIED today!” moments that usually occur once they get all “did up”.

After the salon, we headed over to the ceremony & reception location at The Welsh Hills Inn, in adorable Granville, Ohio.  The girls got ready in one of the suites, which had gorgeous natural lighting, that I think has spoiled me for all future weddings.

I can’t get over how stunning Diane is!

Diane hired a 2nd photographer, the lovely and sweet Stephanie Lilly, who photographed the mens’ “getting ready” shots, but I was able to get this protrait of Martin once he arrived at the Inn.

Before I knew it, the guests starting arriving….

… and it was time for the ceremony!

Their ceremony was so beautiful and emotional – I have to admit I got a little teary listening to the vows.

We were blessed with such a lovely setting for portraits!   After our photo session, the newlyweds headed over to their reception to dance & laugh the night away.

What a wonderful wedding!  Thanks Marty & Diane for allowing me to be your photographer!  Wishing you many years ahead of love & happiness.

I had to share with you my anniversary gift from Funnel:

A whale tissue box! Isn’t it cute?

Funnel & I have always bought each other the traditional anniversary gifts (year one is paper, year two is cotton, year three is leather, etc – you can see the full list here) and Funnel did such a great job with year five – wood!

For our anniversary this weekend, Funnel and I headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!   I thought I’d post a little re-cap of our weekend; hopefully it will be helpful if you ever take a trip to “The City of Bridges!”

Pittsburgh is about 3 hours from Columbus and we arrived late Friday evening and checked into our Bed & Breakfast – The Inn on Negley, which we loved!  We stayed in the “Granny Smith” room which was a large suite with a sitting room and fire place.

The next morning we were surprised to look out our bedroom window and see SNOW falling!

We watched the snow fall outside as we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of baked pears with cranberry sauce, banana nut muffins, bacon, pumpkin pancakes (Funnel) and autumn veggie hash with poached eggs (me).

After breakfast, we bundled up and headed out into the cold to the Duquesne Incline – a century old cable car that transports people up to Mount Washington, where there is a beautiful view of the city.

Here is a panorama of the Pittsburgh skyline I created using the Brenizer method (I apologize for the small size!):

We decided to get out of the snow and cold for a bit and go to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  It was really cool – they had dinosaurs, mummies, gemstones, bugs, and all kinds of other weird things.

In one room, they had bottled dead animals.  We couldn’t figure out what this is: a baby deer? kangaroo?  dragon?

We could have spent a lot more time at the museum (and the admission ticket also gets you in the Art Museum!) but we were getting hungry so we headed to the Strip District for probably our most anticipated part of the trip – Primanti Brothers!  Funnel & I are huge “Man vs. Food” fans and Primanti Brothers, the most famous restaurant in Pittsburgh, was featured on the show.  This little 24-hour dive is famous for their sandwiches with french fries and coleslaw served right on the sandwich.  We waited about half an hour in the rain (the snow finally turned to rain – yuck!) to even get into the restaurant, but it was well worth it.  Best sandwich ever!

We headed back to our Bed & Breakfast for wine & cheese hour, relaxed in the room for awhile and then drove over to Southside Works, an outdoor shopping mall (very similar to Columbus’s Easton).

We ended the night with dinner (and beer) at the Hofbräuhaus!  When I was in Munich many years ago (in 2000, I believe), I was too young to go the real Hofbräuhaus, so I’m glad Funnel & I got to go to the Pittsburgh version.

On Sunday, we enjoyed another delicious breakfast – this time we had baked apples, apple strudel muffins, bacon and an omelet with goat cheese, rosemary and tomato.

After breakfast, Funnel and I checked out, and headed to our last stop – the 300-acre Allegheny Cemetery.  Before you think we’re weirdos for going to a cemetery, I think cemeteries are really pretty & interesting, plus it’s the day before Halloween! As we were driving around it, we saw a bunch of deer wandering around:

So that was our trip to Pittsburgh!  There were a lot of places we wanted to see, but didn’t have time to check out, so maybe there will be another visit in our future!