Looking back, Looking forward

Man oh man, I have been trying to blog for days now, but this moving stuff is tough business. I must completely agree with Matt Walsh's blog post today, in which he advises "If you are thinking about moving, remember to carefully gather together all of the items in your house — and burn them. Burn them all. Just throw them into a pile and burn them. Travel to your new location with only lint in your pocket and a dream in your heart." Amen to that. It is almost gross how many possessions one accumulates without even fully realizing the extent of it until one must unpack or pack them into boxes.

Anyway. This is really the first chance I've had to sit down and reflect on 2013 and/or dream about the new year to come. A lot went down in 2013 - some good things, some tough things. I am not one of those persons who shies away from making New Years resolutions because they think its lame or pointless or cliche or what have you. On the contrary - the first of the year is my favorite time because it just feels so fresh, like a blank notebook or a brand new appliance. Ha. Maybe it's all in our heads, sure, but what's wrong with choosing a day of the year to fully acknowledge the power we have to start fresh? The key, though, of course, is to remember that power stays with us every single day and every single minute. 

I can't say that I'm terribly sad to leave 2013 behind. It was a tough year in some aspects, consisting of loss and unknowns and leaps of faith and lots of waiting.  Going into 2014, we seem to have fresh starts on several fronts - our new home, most notably, and hopefully a job for Matthew here pretty soon. The foreseeable future is all so exciting, and that's just nice. After a year of blah, 2014 is looking mighty fine. But still, I'd like to take a time out and just review some of the highlights and lowlights of 2013, for posterity's sake. I really enjoy looking back on these "year in review" posts on my own blog, and hopefully some of you may enjoy peeking back in time a bit, too, whether for the first time or for the second.

Let's take a little trip down memory lane...

* * * * *

JANUARY

+ Took our annual trip to Fredericksburg and stayed at the gorgeous Buckhorn Cabin. 
+ Also blogged about some great Austin restaurants like Gourdoughs and Eastside Cafe.   


FEBRUARY

+ Wrote the "3 Years of Marital Blish" post - still one of my most popular posts 
+ Wrote Advice For Bloggers Vol. 1 (the crazies: they could happen to you) and Vol. 2 (blogging your life)
+ Posted on great Austin restaurants like Foodheads and Hula Hut

MARCH

+ Wrote "The People I Come From" post just a few weeks before unexpectedly losing my beautiful Grandma to a hemorrhage in her brain
+ Launched the j. noel photography website
+ Reviewed Austin restaurants Walton's and Winflo

APRIL

+ Things my Grandma told me
+ Posted on Houndstooth Coffee, La Condesa, and Epicerie here in Austin
+ More advice for bloggers: Sponsorships, Gettting paid for blogging, and the "I blog for me!"
+ Announced Blog Every Day In May
+ Sold our old house, packed up and moved out (and in with my mom), and finally announced it all here.

MAY

A heck of a lot of blogging took place in May, thanks to the Blog Every Day In May challenge I hosted. A few highlights:
+ Blogging tip: Taking photos in public places
+ One of my most embarrassing moments
+ Reviewed Pieous in Austin
+ Trip to Florida in photos

JUNE

+ Photography tips for beginners, part 1: how to get started
+ Cenote and the 4th & Guadalupe Farmer's Market
+ Summer fun with family
+ Social media pet peeves

JULY

+The Prairie Part I and Part II
+ Photography tips for beginners, Part II: Starting a business
+ Boards went up on our house!
+ Revealed a secret we'd been keeping

AUGUST

+ Texas Style Council recaps 1 (my first major stint with public speaking!) & 2
+ Some words on budgeting
+ Reviewed WD Deli in San Antonio and Dominican Joe in Austin
+ Went back to the Prairie with my MIL and SIL
+ Announced Blogtember

SEPTEMBER

+ A few j. noel photos
+ A story about a time I almost died in a plane crash
+Reviewed Austin's Lick Ice Creams

OCTOBER

+ Our home build in progress
+ Matthew's 10 Things You Need To Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
+ Mexico Trip Part I, Part II, and Part III

NOVEMBER

+ Fall in Austin
+ Reasons why you should probably never build a house
+ Are you living up to your potential?

DECEMBER

+ Turned 27 and didn't have much time to think about it
+ Took a trip to WYOMING!
+ Matthew graduated law school
+ Finally got some family photos! :)
+ Christmas
+ Aaaand we closed on our house the day after Christmas, but I haven't posted on that quite yet. Coming soon in 2014. :)

Thanks for traveling back in time with me today... have a wonderful second day of the New Year! :0

follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

Christmas 2013

Hey hey, how was your Christmas this year? The past week has been a complete whirlwind. I started my meager Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve (about a day after getting all caught up on photography work), then of course celebrated with family on Christmas day, and the day after Christmas we finally, FINALLY closed on our house, and have been moving in ever since! (follow along on Instagram for updates in real time!) More on that later, because right now I just want to take a time out to look back on Christmas this year. 

To be honest, I almost feel like we skipped the whole Christmas season because I didn't have much time to enjoy it and because so much of what makes me feel in the spirit of things centers around my own home... which, obviously, we weren't in yet during the entire season. However, it was certainly an unforgettable holiday spend with people we love, and that's something to be grateful for.

Some in my family were hurting this year - it was my mom's first Christmas without her mom, my sweet Grandma, and my Grandpa's first Christmas without his sweetheart in over 60 years. The holidays have a way of bringing out the most blissful happiness but also the deepest despair at times, don't they? They tend to remind you both of what you have and what you miss. A strange jumble of emotions.

I can't tell you how excited I am, though, about the coming year ahead. I cannot wait to have my home and office all set up and ready to show you, and I can't wait for the work that will be done there, both professionally and personally.

Enjoy your day and week ahead, my friends!

morning at my mom's...

and evening at Matt's parents'....

follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

From my family to yours...

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas from me and mine... 

May your holiday be beautiful, peaceful, and bright. See you again after Christmas!

(these photos were taken just this morning... apparently fall doesn't arrive fully in Texas until Christmas! :)

follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

The materialism struggle (#firstworldprobs)

Ugh. This time of year, you guys. Specifically this year this time of year. Do you struggle with materialism? I do. Always have, probably always will.

This is not a post about what some might deem the deeper and more important things in life - about poverty or addiction or abuse or true suffering. It's just about one girl's struggle with materialism, and who's to say that's not an important thing in life, I guess. A struggle is a struggle.

The truth is, I like stuff. We have this plaque in our bedroom that says "the best things in life are not things," and I jokingly tell Matthew that I disagree... terrible to even joke about, I know.  But I do value aesthetics and the way nice things make me feel, and I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that, in itself. I like to support those who make beautiful products that make life nicer for others, and I like to enjoy said products. But there's such an undefinably small line between just wanting beautiful, useful things in your life and always pining, pining, pining after the next thing.  How do you find the line? How do you keep to the conservative side of it? How do you not live your whole life working just to enjoy things? Is there really anything wrong with that, if you place a high value on people and health, as well?

I feel like this struggle is always at its absolute peak for me around Christmastime, when the push is on to buy, buy, buy, and stores are pulling out all the stops and wafting the best aromas just under your nose. It's this feeling of not having enough, which I know is an absolute lie. It's the push to buy gifts for others because it's the traditional thing to do, when you really can't afford it and should just say so.

This year I find myself systematically unsubscribing from store emails and purposefully avoiding Instagram and gift guides, just to eliminate that feeling of yearning for things. I haven't had time to shop for Christmas gifts even yet, and Christmas is in less than a week. Oh, and we should be closing on our house Saturday or Monday, so the next week will be a liiiiittle busy. At this point, I'm thinking about just bucking the whole system and skipping it this year. Not buying into the consumerism, since it absolutely isn't adding peace to my life. And isn't that what Christmas is supposed to be about? Peace? Unless you have all your shopping done by Decemeber 1st, which, let's face it, will never happen for me, there doesn't seem to be much peace around the holidays, and I crave that as much as I crave the ridiculous little blue ceramic fruit cartons at Anthrolpogie. Damnit.

This has very much just been a stream of consciousness type of post, so thanks for hanging in there. Believe me, I fully realize that I have a beautiful life and so much to be thankful for. I realize that even admitting this type of struggle will cause some people to bristle because, duh, it's pathetic. But unfortunately it's reality for so many of us in this day and age... and I'm thankful to at least recognize it for what it is, which is the first step to keeping it under control.

Hope you find peace and a reprieve from the consumerism over the next few days leading up to Christmas.... Happy Thursday... :)

follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

The queen of quizzes

Those who know me well know I have a strange love of personality tests and other similar quizzes, and I have collected a few good ones to share with you here today. You may remember the more popular Jung Typology test I shared a while back, and I'll leave that one here again too, but I've recently found an even quicker one (only four questions!) that is amazingly accurate. See below for all the quizzy goodness. :) Happy Wednesday!

iPersonic - free 4 question personality test with amazingly accurate results. FYI, I'm a Spontaneous Idealist! (which matches quite well with my assessment as an ENFP in the next test.)

Jung Typology - free 72 question personality test which, again, produces amazingly accurate and insightful results. Besides just listing all your good qualities, it also explores your type's weaknesses, which is a great opportunity for self-awareness and growth. (I'm an ENFP!)

How well do you see color? (a test to find out if you have any color blindness... I scored a 3!)

What is your true color aura? (I got red!)

Know of any other great quizzes for me? Share 'em in the comments!

follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

The most pictures of Matthew smiling you'll ever see, AKA law school graduation

Folks, it was a happy, happy day on Saturday... a milestone, really. Matthew graduated law school, half a year early, and with honors... and we couldn't be more proud. Law school is one of those things you apparently don't appreciate the magnitude and the difficulty of unless you've experienced it yourself. I, obviously, have NOT experienced it myself, but I had a very tiny taste of what my husband went through when I would read his papers, during which time I'd have actual flashes of jumping off a very tall building just to make it stop.

I remember sitting down at the kitchen table of our old home, over three years ago, having the law school discussion for the first time. I was taken aback because I didn't know it was Matthew's ambition to go to law school and because he had a great career going already, but education is always a good thing, and I DID know I had married a man with big ambition. So he began to study for the LSAT, applied to numerous law schools, and at that time our future was very much up in the air... as, in reality, it's been ever since and continues to be. We lived apart for two years since he studied in a different city and came home only on weekends, if at all, and Matthew himself has lived in five different places - at our old home, at an apartment for a year, with a friend, with his parents, and now with my mom. He's really the one who's done most of the sacrificing. And all this we did because we know the power of further education and it's ability to transform who you are as a person and how your life plays out, and because a few years is only the blink of an eye in the grand scheme.

During the time Matthew was hard at study and mostly away, I had to occupy myself somehow and also help pay our bills, so a little business was born that has now absolutely saved us financially and given me so much happiness and purpose. So all in all, law school has been a great thing and the beginning of many other great things, I'm sure of it.

Thank you for all your hard work, husband of mine... cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.

follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

Some recent work + the last Friday Features ever

I'm so pleased to say that j. noel photography has been booming this season, as you know from my less frequent posting and more frequent admissions of chronic "busy-ness." I've had 17 shoots in just a little over a month, and more coming throughout December! Despite a bit of chaos in my Home life (or should I say Lack of a Home life? Still haven't closed on the dad-gum house!), I honestly feel more professionally and creatively fulfilled than ever. However, as I wrap up December and head into the new year, I plan to do things very differently in both my business and this blog. More on that later. :) 

For now, here's a few samples from some recent photo sessions, as well as what I'm thinking will probably be the last Friday Features to ever grace this blog. Like I said, big changes coming!

HAPPY FRIDAY...

and PS - if you'd like to follow my work on the j. noel photography Facebook page, I'd love to see you there! It's the best place to keep up with me lately! :)

 * * * * *

Check out these beautiful ladies - like I said, the last ever Friday Features... :)

Hello SOML friends!  I’m Ashton and I play blog over at Landing On Love, where I share a little bit of everything from new recipes, fun style, do it your-self projects, and current happenings.  I was raised as a Texas girl and couldn't think of a better place than Austin to settle down with my man friend/husband Tanner after we said “I Do”. I love great fashion and beauty finds that make life stylish and sparkly, but when my heels come off cowboy boots are next in line.  I’ve grown up hunting and fishing and still love a weekend at the ranch when the city gets a little too loud! Cooking is something I attempt daily, mainly because I have a sweet tooth problem,  but I must never get all the butter off my hands due to the amount of oopsies I have. I’m loving the community of friends LOL (Landing on Love; not to be confused with laughing out loudJ) has become, and would enjoy adding a few more to the group, so come over and say hello! 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram

* * * * *

Hi there! My name is Kym and I blog over at Travel Babbles. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, and I currently live in Denver, Colorado with my husband TJ and our tubby English Bulldog, Brutus. You can learn more about all of us here. I started blogging back in 2010 when we moved to Germany for the first time, and since then I've documented our travels between Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Texas, and a second stop in Germany. Travel Babbles is my creative outlet, my diary, my recipe book, my photo album, and my travel journal. It's a collection of my favorite things, pieces of my heart, our hockey life, our loss, what inspires me, and the many things that make me smile. I hope that you'll stop by Travel Babbles to say hi, and that you'll enjoy my little space on the interwebs as much as I do. 

Let's connect on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, too - I look forward to chatting soon! xo

* * * * *

Hi there! I'm Nicole, the lady behind Treasure Tromp, a blog about discovering life's little treasures one adventure at a time. I've been living and working in Cape Town, South Africa for the last 6 months but am about to make my move back to the great state of California with my fiancé. When I'm not working on my PhD program, teaching, or working on my research, I like to hike and camp, obsess over hedgehogs, and make a mess in the kitchen. On my blog you can read about my recent travels, learn some organization tips (and blogging tips!), and share in my love of wine. And don't forget to stop by on Thursdays for my Treat Yo Self link-up. In the meantime, you can read more about me, as well as check out some of my most popular posts. Can't wait to meet you!  

blog | twitter | pinterest