Not Sure What to Title This

I don’t know where to start or what to say. I hoped I wouldn’t be writing a post such as this for a very long time.

My heart is broken.
I can’t stop crying.
My eyes are puffy and red and my head feels like it’s in some type of medieval crushing vice.

Last night we had to put Parker (our dog) to sleep.

I hope it gets easer but now all I can think about is the loss.

The loss of my best friend
The loss of my shadow
The loss of my furry co-worker 
The loss of my court jester
The loss of my constant companion
The loss of my teddy bear

Parker was more than a dog to us. He was a part of our lives for 10 years. He was part of our family and loved by all who knew him.

I know the pain will lighten and I will soon be able to remember all the enduring qualities Parker had with joy but for now I’m ridden with sorrow and devastated over the loss.

     

           

     

 

My Favorite Parker Posts……
-Take Your Dog to Work Day: HERE 
-Parker Loves to Open Gifts: HERE

Parker’s Health Posts…….
-Sad Day at the Vet: HERE
-He’s Back: HERE

Randomness if Fun

 

It’s me checking in with another random post, hodgepodge post if you will.

It was a sad day indeed. My all time favorite coffee cup has died. I bought her at Goodwill and I love her dearly. I’m determined to finder her replacement. For now I think I’m going to use her as a makeup brush holder. I just can’t bear to throw her away. We’ve had some good times together!

 

I don’t know why this picture cracks me up, but it does! We’ve been hanging out in the backyard a lot lately and always take Ninja out with us so he can get some exercise.

Kent was working on his raised beds and Ninja was all up in his business checking everything out. Kent was making all kind of ruckus and throwing things around but it didn’t faze Ninja one bit. He just wanted to be right there in the middle of it all.

 

I bought these goodies at Ross. I know right, who knew that Ross carries craft supplies. The Martha Stewart die cuts were $2.99 each and the scrap book paper pack was $4.00! The paper pack was all torn up so I asked if they would take anything off and they did! I LOVE all the fun bright colors and y’all know I’m a sucker for polka dots.

 

IKEA has orchids for $12.99. That’s a great price for a multi stem orchid.

I stopped in IKEA the other day to pick up a prop for a shoot and passed by a table full of these beauties. Surrounding the orchid table was a sea Asians which lead me to think “Hum my Asian LOVES orchids too. I should pick one up for him!”  Kent is obsessed with orchids and rightfully so, they’re beautiful. I told everyone to watch out, big white girl is coming in! Just kidding I didn’t say that but I did think it! ;o)

I picked the one that had the most buds and said peace out! You should have seen Kent when I surprised him with it. It made his day. We have several orchids but he said this one is his favorite.

Want to know something else? Kent names his orchids after famous people. We have a white orchid named Betty White. A pink one named Pink (original right). A funky one named Ga Ga. A red one named Lucille Ball. Not sure what he’s going to name this one. I don’t think he’ll care that I told you that. He visits the blog but doesn’t really read it. You know my rule…….If you don’t read the blog you’re fare game!  

 

 

I had my 1st pedicure since the whole pumpkin toe debacle. It’s been a long 7 months! It still looks a little funky but at least I’ll have a toenail for the summer! If you have no idea what I’m talking about you can catch up HERE but be warned it’s gross!

 

In Other News……..

If you follow me on facebook your already know most of this so you have my permission to skip this part. ;o):

-We’ve been looking of a new car; good times, good times. A car salesman asked us if we were” jerking his chain” the other day to which Kent and I stopped in our tracks looked at each other and busted out laughing. Yeah that one made it into my Line A Day journal for sure. It was classic!   

-I’m having a girls only game night/P.J. party at my house this weekend!

-This is my last weekend of shoots before we tie the knot! I’m shooting a maternity and an engagement session (not at the same time, different people ;o) )!

-Oh and I’ve added a few new lenses to my arsenal: 100mm 2.8 Macro and 17-40mm L series. This is my 1st L series lens (or as I call it red line lens). I feel so fancy! 

 

Links in this post:
-To catch up on my pumpkin toe incident click HERE
-To Find Domestic Princess on facebook click HERE
-Want to know what a Line A Day journal is click HERE

Last One Till We Say “I DO”

Last weekend Kent and I attended our last wedding as boyfriend and girlfriend and let me tell ya it was awesome! I had tons of pretty things to take pictures of! The wedding was stunning, the bride was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the ambiance was top notch!  It was a wedding straight out of a magazine! 

I couldn’t be more happy for the bride and groom!

 

Attending a wedding so close to ours was kind of surreal. I couldn't help but think that this is going to be us in a few short weeks. The bride was as solid as a rock. I didn’t see one tear run down her cheek. It was great for me to see this. I really, really don’t want to cry at our wedding.

You see Kent and I have been through an awful lot to get where we are today. It has not been an easy road. You may remember me telling you in the past that we’ve been engaged for 5 years and previously had a wedding planned. That’s right, this is not our 1st time to plan our wedded bliss.

Merging our two cultures has been a bit trying at times as we both come from VERY different families. There have been a lot of BIG talks, rude awakenings, and tears shed along the way…….

but we’ve made it through it all and are stronger
in our love than ever before.   

 

 

When I start to think about all that we’ve over come to get where we are today I start to tear up. When I think about walking down the aisle and seeing Kent waiting for me at the alter my heart fills with joy and I feel like throwing my hands in the air and shouting “WE DID IT, WE DID IT!” 

My family of course would not be surprised to see me do something silly like this (they know I’m wacky) but Kent’s family may be a little stunned and try to talk him out of marrying me so I won’t do that. I would hate to have to put our wedding off yet again!

 

Seeing my friend walk down the aisle without shedding a tear gave me hope that I too can do the same. I think if I start to cry I might not stop so I ‘d rather not even go there.

I even picked a nontraditional song for my to walk down the aisle. It’s happy and upbeat! I’m trying to do everything I can!

I had a talk with my dad aka big teddy bear that has a heart of gold and cries at sad movies (it must be where I get it from).

  It went a little something like this…….

 

My family

Kendra: Dad please don’t cry the day of the wedding. If I see you cry I’ll lose it and that would just be ugly.

Dad: ………. (crickets chirping)

Kendra: I can see it now both of us walking down the aisle sobbing like big ol’ babies.

Kendra: Dad?

I looked over at my dad to see him sobbing. Shoulders shaking, head dropped the whole bit. Just the words “Dad don’t cry the day of the wedding.” sent him into a tizzy. Gotta love his big squishy heart.

   

My brother and I

 

Odds are that we’ll both be crying on the big day but they will be tears of joy and love not sadness. I’m not going to lie I may be a little bitter about the journey we had to take to get here BUT our rocky ride has made us stronger and further shows us that together we can climb mountains BIG mountains…….

 

because I love him and he loves me.

Guess What Today Is?

It’s the 1st day of spring!

I had this great idea (or at least I thought it was a great idea) to post pictures of Ninja (our bunny) doing his crazy bunny jumps with the words “Spring Has Sprung!”

The problem is most of my pictures ended up looking like this………

Out of focus with Ninja half way out of the frame. We don’t call him Ninja for nothing. This little guy has some stealth Ninja moves!

So instead fun pictures of Ninja doing back flips we’ll have to settle for this………….

 

It’s the 1st day of spring!
Now don’t be shy get on out there
and enjoy the day!

Cheesy? YES, but it works!

Happy sping y’all!

I’m also blogging about spring over on my photography blog. Hop on over and say hi by clicking HERE

Hostesses Gift/Birthday Gift Idea & A Little Bridal Shower Love

My bridal shower was last weekend and boy was I spoiled! It was beautiful and quite possibly the nicest bridal shower I’ve ever been to!

I wanted to do something special for my hostesses with the mostesses so I put together a little coffee gift basket as they too are fellow coffee lovers!

On a side note reason #1,405 why I LOVE having a facebook account for this ol’ blog here. I needed some ideas for a hostess gift so I jump on facebook and asked my lovely fan’s (oh it feels weird to say fans, lets go with bloggie friends)! Anyhoo I had several people willing to share ideas. Jillian suggested a coffee gift basket and 2 out of the 3 hostesses are coffee lovers so it was a great idea! Sonya suggested a charm which was another fab idea because my mom (who happened to be hostess # 3) has a Pandora charm bracelet and I knew she would love to have a charm to remember the occasion. Thanks so much for all the great ideas! Y’all are awesome!

  Okay back to the project………

 

I hit up Target and bought for all the fixins for the gift basket! I should have bought extra pails…..I see many a project for those little guys!

Target carries my all time FAVORITE travel mug. It’s made by OXO. It’s their liquid seal travel mug and let me tell ya it’s the bomb! I can fill it will coffee and throw it in my purse and never worry about it spilling. No I’m not in any way affiliated with OXO I just really like the mug….can you tell? 

 

I filled the bottom of each pail with a torn up cereal bar box to give the goodies I filled it with a little height.

 

 

I used my hot glue gun to glue the biscotti around the outside of the pail. Then I filled it will a little shredded paper from the Dollar store and added the rest of the goodies to the pail.

 

 

Once everything was nestled inside I wrapped it up with a cellophane gift bag and tied it with a little raffia. I like the way it turned out!  

This would be a great birthday gift as well!  

 

**************************************************

On to the shower!

I was busy being the guest of honor and failed miserably at taking pictures. My mom manned the camera for me a bit so I have tons of pictures of me doing this……..

              

Flattering right! Don’t worry mom I’ll get ya back! ;o)Remember she doesn’t read my blog. If ya don’t read my blog you’re fare game, HA, HA, HA, HAAAA! ;o)

     I tried to break as many ribbons as possible. Lots of babies for us please! Kent wants 2 but I would be smitten with 3 or 4! That way if we have a screw up we can still have hope for the others…..I kid, I kid!

  

We had lots of yummy food!

The decorations were beautiful! My sis-in-law made the wreath above. She’s pretty awesome! No really, she’s pretty AND awesome! She paid me to say that. ;o)

 

 

We got some really great gifts!

Oh yeah, and someone officially became my mini me…..TWINS! I can’t believe we were almost wearing the same thing…too funny!

It was a GREAT shower. I wish I took more pictures but what can ya do! I’ll make up for it at the wedding I’m sure!  

3 weeks till we say I DO!

Links found in this post:
-To find Domestic Princess in Training on facebook click HERE
-Want to buy my all time favorite coffee mug? You can find it HERE
-To visit my sis-in-laws blog click HERE
-Want to know what a Pandora charm bracelet is click HERE

Sometimes I Try to be Like Martha Stewart

Yes it’s no secret sometimes I try to be like Martha! Just like Martha. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail miserably.

This time I failed…….

I failed miserably.

 

One of my co-op buddies sent out Martha’s Mineola Tangelo Buttermilk Scone recipe since we had tangelos in our co-op basket.

 

 

Martha’s scones looked like this……

You know beautiful in everyway!

 

My scones looked like this…….

You know nothing like Martha’s!

When I finished the recipe I looked at my bowl of goop and realized I was NOT going to be able to roll it into a ball like Martha said.

I started added flour, and more flour, until it resembled cake batter. I decided to pour it into muffin tins and cross my fingers. 

Well they're definitely not scones but they turned out pretty tasty. Kent said they were his favorite baked item I’ve made. Not sure if that should make me happy or sad.

I guess scones are back on the list of things I’ve never made.
Sorry I failed you Martha. I hope you still love me.

 

 

I’m linking up with:
-Serenity Now

Randomness

 

Right now my dining room looks like this and I like it! It’s the new style…..photographer chic. I’m about to paint the dark wall white. Then it will be my new official studio! Who needs to host dinner parties anyway.

 

 

Homemade Valentine's are the BEST! I made these for a few loved ones and totally forgot to mail them out. Oh well I guess I’m ahead of the game for next year! 

 

 

Did you know Target carries yoga pants in long and short sizes? This is so exciting for me! I don’t think I’ve ever owned a pair of yoga pants that touched my shoes. I tried to pass my too short yoga pants off as capris but let’s be honest I wasn’t fooling anyone.

 

 

Want to see my mom’s mother of the bride dress? Pretty huh? I think it’s fitting for Vegas. I know she’s going to look smashing in it!

 

 

She’s pathetic! It’s hard to tell but she wayyyyy in there. She always finds the best little nooks and crannies to hide out in.

 

Oh and I was kidding about my mom’s dress! It would be fitting for Vegas but she’s wearing something a little more demure. Did I trick ya? She’ll probably get mad that I posted that picture.  But you know what? She doesn’t read my blog so there!

Pantry/Fridge Staples- A Few of my Faves

Our shopping list is always a mix bag but each week we hit up 2 locations no matter what.

1.  Ranch 99 Market

This is a local Asian super market in Plano, Texas. Kent and I stop here once a week to stock up on meat, tofu, Asian greens, and soymilk. Kent is a superb cook and does most of the cooking during the week. That used to be my job. I’m starting to miss it a little but as my late, late grand pappy use to say “If it ain’t broke done fix it!” Just kidding he didn’t say that….or maybe he did. I never met him. Oh and ps…the owners of the grocery store don’t like you taking pictures of the goodies while your inside. I found that out the hard way.

Kent usually makes a big pot of soup Sunday evenings that I eat for lunch during the week. He makes his own stock out of bones or meat we buy at 99 Ranch and throws in a bunch of leafy greens, garlic, and ginger…..yum!

I’m a member of a veggie/fruit co-op (to read more about our co-op click HERE). Our group shops for produce every 2 weeks. We usually have more than enough produce to last us till the next cycle. We plan our dinners around what we get in our co-op basket.

2. Target

I don’t recommend going to Target for the bulk of your shopping. Their prices are kind of high BUT for quick trips we always hit of Target. Walmart is just a beating! I have to mentally prepare myself to go in that store.

Every week I make sure I have these items! They’re my must haves….along with a few others I didn’t get a picture of.

1. Lite Coffee mate creamer and coffee- Well you know me and my obsession with coffee.

2. Kashi Almond honey bars- I eat them for dessert or when I’m in a rush and need something to fill my belly. They are sooo good!

3. Almond milk: It’s creamy and good with cereal.

4. Peanut butter & Co: I usually get their cinnamon and raisin swirl peanut butter but they were out so I went it white chocolate this time around. It’s good but I like my norm better. This is kind of my special treat! Wish I could eat it all the time but I’m one of those people that gains weight just thinking about eating bad foods. When I’m craving a little something special I’ll eat some of this with an apple. 

5. Chobani Low Fat Greek Yogurt: It’s my favorite Greek yogurt! I love to eat with fruit that we get in our co-op basket. When I want a real treat I mix in a little cinnamon, chopped walnuts and drizzle a little honey over the top. YUM!

6. Weight Watchers Cream Cheese: I spread this over a wasa cracker. If I’m feeling fancy I’ll drizzle a little sriracha hot sauce over the cream cheese for a little kick.

 

Few other items I always have on hand:    

   

    

 

Your Turn: Besides the basics (eggs, fruit, veggies, meat, flour…you know what I’m saying) what are a few items that you always have on hand?

Links in this post:
What is Veggie/Fruit Co-op
Loving Co-op