busts, soups and lions

No one is more is more surprised than me that I’ve actually stuck to this self imposed challenge. I didn’t have much faith when I actually made the decision to try this, but I’m learning, if I don’t keep promises I make to myself, I will never truly trust myself. So, here I am on week three and I’ve shot every single day. As you can see, some are just “filler” pictures, a way of keeping the promise, but phoning it in. It’s been raining a ton here, and I’m not trying to make an excuse, but I’m not taking this camera out in the pouring rain. I’m left to shoot inside, it’s amazing how boring everything you own becomes when you need to shoot an interesting picture. All the deets are below the pictures with links to recipes and what-nots.

It’s monsoon season in Northern California. Ok, maybe not monsoon, but when you walk dogs for a living, it feels like it. I’ve been craving soups and stews and all the comfort food that comes with this chilly season. Harper and I love tortellini soup, and this recipe is our favorite. It’s very easy and very affordable to make. The only thing I changed is that I added us. mild Italian sausage to the recipe. Before I start the soup, I just cut the casings and brown the meat. I set it aside and put it back in and let it simmer a bit before the tortellini and spinach go in. I prefer it that way, either way, it’s delicious.

I blame my age, but I like to physically write things on planners instead of using my phone. I feel like I only remember things when I WRITE them down by hand. I just buy a planner at T.J.Maxx every year just before Christmas. This year, I also bought an astrology planner, because I’m in love with all things astrology. One of my favorite astrologers is Chani Nicolas, I have learned so much from reading her content and listening to her podcasts. If you’re into astrology, she is definitely someone I’d recommend you check out.

I bought this “vase” bust at our local T.J.Maxx at the end of fall. Here’s the thing… It’s plastic. Not only is it plastic but it was ORANGE plastic when I bought it. I am not kidding. I paint the bust white and then went back in with gray paint and gave it the look of stone. I’ve done this a couple times to different busts. If you want, I can do a post showing the steps involved with a before and after, if you’re interested. Considering that I haven’t shared my blog yet, I may just be saying this to myself. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Did I mention it was on clearance for $8.00… cause it was?

I don’t get manicures. I literally pick up dog poop most of the day, so I wash my hands too much to pay $50.00 to get a manicure, only for it to chip off in a couple of days from excessive handwashing. Every now and again I get a wild hair up my butt and I paint my nails. I’m current OBSESSED with navy blue nail polish. This was a filler picture because it was POURING this day, though I stand by my love for navy nail polish.

I brought my camera along on my walks this day. If it’s not raining, it’s foggy, and I love it. I took this on a trail in one of the neighborhoods I walk a bunch of dogs in. I like the view of the town from here.

Made soup again! This time slow cooker Thai Chicken soup. Gimme all the soups.

I may live in Northern California, but I’m gonna always root for my home teams in sports. The Detroit Lions have broken their hearts of fans for as long as I can remember. I still remember sitting next to my grandmother watching games and listening to her yell at them. Crushing defeat after crushing defeat. To see them do as well as they are, makes me so damn happy for the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. Next week, January 28th, they play against the San Francisco 49ers, which means I shall be wearing all of my Detroit apparel non stop around here.

With love,

Rebecca

tea, poo, and stew

Holy crap, I made it another week! I’m sure it doesn’t seem like much, but trust me, it is. I’m forcing myself to shoot with my professional camera instead of my phone, which isn’t as convenient, obviously. I like it though, it’s helping me to be more creative when I can. I wrote the deets of the pictures below… I included some links as well..

Video chatting with my boyfriend, Olivier. No, I don’t usually have myself in the big part of the screen, but the other way around you couldn’t really make out the camera.

Look at this freaking angel. Did I want to make my bed? Hell yes, I wanted to make my bed… I just couldn’t bring myself to ask her to move. I call this the dumpling pose. Not a paw in sight, they are all tucked under her.

I visited with my friend, Marian. Marian is 89, I really like spending time with her. I plan to share more of my conversation with her here on the blog.

It’s hard to tell, but my dog cracks me up. She INSISTS on pooping in bushes, which is super fun to pick up. I realized I hadn’t taken a picture that day, so I grabbed my camera on our nightly potty break. Look how plump my baby is.

I stopped working out when we moved, it was all too much to keep up with. I told myself that since I walk about 5 miles a day, it was ok to stop for a bit. WRONG!!! It’s been a struggle to get back into working out, but little by little I’m doing it. I really like Built by Becky, I’ve been following her for a couple years. She will kick your ass, but you will see results.

We made stew the other night. It’s a trusted recipe by The Pioneer woman, I’ve been making for years. If you want an amazing stew that isn’t a ton of work, this is it. I try not to cook anything that requires 47 ingredients or 6 pots and pans.

I wake up every morning and open the curtains to this view. I feel like this is a good representation of this rainy season.,

Here’s to keeping promises to myself.

Rebecca

roses, rain, and teenage angst

I gave myself a challenge. I’d like to take a picture a day using my big camera (not my iPhone). I’ve kinda fallen out of love with photography and I’d like to see if I can reignite the passion I once had for it. I’m going to share my weekly images in the hopes that I’ll stick with it. I have a tendency to start and stop things.. (enter coughing sound). I have high hopes, I’m all in and then I have an off day, or I’m PMS’d or, or, or… enter any number of excuses. So here are the images I took this week. A couple of them were just snapshots of nothing in an attempt to stick with it. It’s harder than it seems. If you’re reading this and you want to try to challenge yourself to do it with me, I would love it. Even if all you have is your phone, try it. Let me know how it’s going. (Description of each image below)

New Year’s Day. We took a hike up Mulhulland Ridge. It really is pretty in Northern California.

Roses from Olivier.

The last remaining bits of Christmas. I’ll leave this here until it dies.

Our tree. I get a little sad every year when we have to take her down.

I moved my white chair into the corner where the tree used to be. It doesn’t really fit, space wise, but I like it here. I’ve been spending a lot of nights reading and writing here.

It rains a lot here in January. I absolutely love rainy days, it’s an excuse to stay inside. I usually feel guilty staying inside on a sunny day.

Harper has throughly entered the teenage years and wants less than zero to do with me, I’m very much looking forward to when this phase passes, please tell me it’s quick.

Here’s to finding joy (again) in the things I once loved.

Rebecca

wish me luck

I have started and stopped and started and stopped this blog more times than I care to admit. I get the inspiration and then I lose it. I feel creative and then I don’t. I wonder if anyone would even care and I always end on “no, they won’t”, and I delete everything. I second guess myself over and over and over again. It’s a cycle I’ve been in for years now.

I just signed up for a writing class and I’m using it as a reason to start this blog again. I have less than zero idea where this will take me, but I would really like to commit to this space and stick to it. Not because it’s a New Years resolution, not because I just discovered an amazing new recipe, not because I’m going on a trip, not for any other reason than I want to.

Hopefully, along the way I’ll learn a bunch of new things. Hopefully, I’ll make some new friends. Hopefully, someone will find it helpful. Whatever it ends up being, I will be happy just for doing it, even if it’s just me typing into the void, that’s ok.. it will be my journal and when I'm old and gray I can look back at this and feel happy just for trying.

Wish me luck,

Rebecca