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!

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.




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 recipesfun styledo 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! 




* * * * *

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 TwitterInstagram 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 fiancéWhen 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!  


A holiday wreath making party


Despite not being able to participate in some of my favorite holiday activities this year (namely, picking out a real Christmas tree and decorating my home), I've managed to take part in a few festivities, including a holiday wreath making party. This, folks, is an excellent opportunity to get together with friends and drink and laugh and admire each other's creativity and craftiness, or lack thereof. I recommend it. 

Here's a few photos of the occasion... hope you're all having an excellent week! 




The Great Wyoming Trip 2013

I decided to tell the story of our Wyoming trip in a slideshow set to music above, but unfortunately it can only be properly viewed on a desktop or laptop computer (versus a tablet or smart phone), so I included a few of the photos below, as well. :)

Many of these girls have been in my life for a decade now... we all worked together through high school and college, and now life is taking us other directions... but they will be lifelong friends, regardless. This weekend was such a fun memory. I certainly got my fill of snow and  below zero temps!

Hope you're all having a fabulous week...
















I am alive... and 27

Last week was something else, you guys. Something. freaking. else. Let's do this in bullet point form:

- 457 photos edited, uploaded, and delivered on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday alone. 
- A gazillion emails flying back and forth to clients. 
- Our truck was broken into and over $1500 worth of stuff stolen, including Matthew's wedding ring. I know, idiot move to leave that much valuables in the car, but it was a total fluke thing (and a long story). I've never been burglarized before, and it's such a gross feeling. Someone came right up into my mom's driveway and totally hit the jackpot with our vehicle, all while we slept just feet away. So much of Wednesday consisted of police reports and generally feeling gross.
- My 27th birthday, which I spent traveling to Wyoming for one of my best friend's wedding. 
- First walk-through on our house, which I missed because I was traveling. 
- Wyoming. Effing FRIGID. I will never complain about being cold here in Texas again.  Our "cold" is literally 50 full degrees or more warmer than their cold. The day we got there, the low was NEGATIVE 17. You step outside, and you can literally feel your snot instantly crystallizing and turning to ice in your nose.
- Celebration with friends. Photos in the snow. Memories.

I flew into San Antonio last night, and made the drive home to Austin as soon as I picked my car up from a friend's house. I don't think I fully realized how overwhelmed I've been feeling, in so many senses, until I was about three-quarters of the way home, and I just started crying my eyeballs out. How am I 27 already? How is my sweet and silly friend Kelly already married? Why does life have to spread us so thin and so far apart? When did we all grow up? 

I got home late, at almost midnight, and my little shadow, Cooper, was awake and there to greet me and welcome me home. As I loved all over him and kissed him and squished him, I started sobbing again (at which point he started shaking violently - poor little guy hates it when I cry). And I felt sad and hopeful and grateful all at one. I don't know what 27 will hold. A new home for sure. A baby? Maybe. Big changes, I'd bet on it. For myself. For my business. For my family. For my friends. 

I want to be a better version of myself this year. I want to put a higher price tag on my time and talent, so I'm not so overwhelmed all the time (more on that later). I want to be more present for my friends and family. I want to be healthier than ever. I want to be more kind. I want to grow up a little. That doesn't mean not having fun (quite the contrary!). But I want to be more comfortable in my skin, and more confident in my abilities. Slower to speak, quicker to forgive, better at love.

Easier said than done, of course. But 27? Bring it on.


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الأربعاء، 18 ديسمبر 2013

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!

الاثنين، 16 ديسمبر 2013

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.




الجمعة، 13 ديسمبر 2013

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 recipesfun styledo 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! 




* * * * *

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 TwitterInstagram 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 fiancéWhen 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!  


الخميس، 12 ديسمبر 2013

A holiday wreath making party


Despite not being able to participate in some of my favorite holiday activities this year (namely, picking out a real Christmas tree and decorating my home), I've managed to take part in a few festivities, including a holiday wreath making party. This, folks, is an excellent opportunity to get together with friends and drink and laugh and admire each other's creativity and craftiness, or lack thereof. I recommend it. 

Here's a few photos of the occasion... hope you're all having an excellent week! 




الأربعاء، 11 ديسمبر 2013

The Great Wyoming Trip 2013

I decided to tell the story of our Wyoming trip in a slideshow set to music above, but unfortunately it can only be properly viewed on a desktop or laptop computer (versus a tablet or smart phone), so I included a few of the photos below, as well. :)

Many of these girls have been in my life for a decade now... we all worked together through high school and college, and now life is taking us other directions... but they will be lifelong friends, regardless. This weekend was such a fun memory. I certainly got my fill of snow and  below zero temps!

Hope you're all having a fabulous week...
















الاثنين، 9 ديسمبر 2013

I am alive... and 27

Last week was something else, you guys. Something. freaking. else. Let's do this in bullet point form:

- 457 photos edited, uploaded, and delivered on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday alone. 
- A gazillion emails flying back and forth to clients. 
- Our truck was broken into and over $1500 worth of stuff stolen, including Matthew's wedding ring. I know, idiot move to leave that much valuables in the car, but it was a total fluke thing (and a long story). I've never been burglarized before, and it's such a gross feeling. Someone came right up into my mom's driveway and totally hit the jackpot with our vehicle, all while we slept just feet away. So much of Wednesday consisted of police reports and generally feeling gross.
- My 27th birthday, which I spent traveling to Wyoming for one of my best friend's wedding. 
- First walk-through on our house, which I missed because I was traveling. 
- Wyoming. Effing FRIGID. I will never complain about being cold here in Texas again.  Our "cold" is literally 50 full degrees or more warmer than their cold. The day we got there, the low was NEGATIVE 17. You step outside, and you can literally feel your snot instantly crystallizing and turning to ice in your nose.
- Celebration with friends. Photos in the snow. Memories.

I flew into San Antonio last night, and made the drive home to Austin as soon as I picked my car up from a friend's house. I don't think I fully realized how overwhelmed I've been feeling, in so many senses, until I was about three-quarters of the way home, and I just started crying my eyeballs out. How am I 27 already? How is my sweet and silly friend Kelly already married? Why does life have to spread us so thin and so far apart? When did we all grow up? 

I got home late, at almost midnight, and my little shadow, Cooper, was awake and there to greet me and welcome me home. As I loved all over him and kissed him and squished him, I started sobbing again (at which point he started shaking violently - poor little guy hates it when I cry). And I felt sad and hopeful and grateful all at one. I don't know what 27 will hold. A new home for sure. A baby? Maybe. Big changes, I'd bet on it. For myself. For my business. For my family. For my friends. 

I want to be a better version of myself this year. I want to put a higher price tag on my time and talent, so I'm not so overwhelmed all the time (more on that later). I want to be more present for my friends and family. I want to be healthier than ever. I want to be more kind. I want to grow up a little. That doesn't mean not having fun (quite the contrary!). But I want to be more comfortable in my skin, and more confident in my abilities. Slower to speak, quicker to forgive, better at love.

Easier said than done, of course. But 27? Bring it on.