Embrace the Camera!

In August, Mr. H started classes again.  I'm not gonna lie- the school year can be rough for us. After getting out of the Marine Corps five years ago, he decided to use his GI Bill and go to college, which has been one of the best decisions he ever made.  However, it can make family time pretty hard when he goes straight from a full work day to night classes four days a week.  He should be graduating this May, and we will be celebrating his major accomplishment because it is a lot harder to get a degree when you work full time and have a wife and baby at home.

That being said, Del and I have a LOT of free time together.  We've always had the days, but now we have the evenings to to hang out just the two of us.  We're pretty much best buds and are settling into our routine, which often involves laying on the ground and taking pictures of ourselves being silly.

 I love, love, love this little girl, especially the fact that she thinks licking is how you kiss someone because our lab mix gives her more "kisses" than she would ever want.

My Mommy Group

So I will completely admit that before I became a mom, I gladly would have given parenting advice to anyone who asked or maybe even those who didn't. 

I worked in a daycare and had a degree in childhood education, so I was pretty sure I had it completely figured out.

However, the night I brought home Del from the hospital, my poor mom got a 3 am phone call which sounded something like,

 "Mom...no, don't panic.  We're all okay"

{anytime you call your mama at 3 am you have to say that first or she assumes the worst}

"But, we're SO TIRED and SHE WON'T STOP CRYING!  I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!"

And so began my journey into becoming a new mom.

I am so grateful for my "moms" group.
I have a great group of friends/mommies of younger kiddos, who meet together weekly to share about our week and the highs and lows of being a mama.

 Sometimes we meet a park, sometimes we meet at someone's house and eat dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, sometimes an indoor playground, and often times Chick-fil-A (because it is awesome and I will get in a fight with you if you don't agree).

 A lot of us go to church together too and it has just been so great to get to know each other and get to know each other's kids. I feel like Delaney already has friends her age and she just turned one.

 I enjoy learning and getting some advice from other moms, although I've accepted the fact that a fifteen minute conversation might be completely about the color of poop.

And, of course, the best part is that I get to relax a bit and talk to actual adults, rather than talking back to Elmo and Dora on the tv screen, which has happened on more than one occasion.

winner winner chicken dinner...

via

First of all, the winner of the fine silver wax seal necklace is....

 prov3130grl 

Congratulations!!  Email us at tagyoureitjewelry@live.com and we'll work out the details!

This weekend we had one of our first shows of the fall and had a great time.  Here are some pictures of the event, taken by ShutterGirls photography.

Keeping it pretty simple today after a long weekend.  
A 3-day show can wear a girl out!  
Hope you had a great weekend!  

  

Embrace the Camera Thursday!

via

For my brother's wedding, I had my hair "done" by my cousin, who is a stylist.  She "waved" my hair with a waver before pulling it into a cute side updo. 

Um...I didn't know "wavers" still existed.  I had one (I think I called it a crimper in junior high and high school), but they have become so much better since then and I have been wanting one ever since.  So... after Delaney and I took a trip to Target yesterday, I came home with a "large barrell waver". 

The box told me I would have "beach hair" after using it, although my beach hair involves a dirty slicked back ponytail with sunscreen and sand stuck in my bangs. 

I gave it a try as soon as I got home and was happy with the results.  It seriously took about 3 minutes.  I have a jewelry show tomorrow and I didn't want to burn my hair off, so I set it on low.  Maybe with a hotter setting it would be even "wavy-er." 

So, I'm embracing the camera with my new beach hair.   

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NECKLACE GIVEAWAY!

We have been so busy around here getting ready for fall, jewelry shows, and the upcoming holiday season (I know it's only September, but we try to plan ahead)! 

I'm so excited to announce that we are now selling fine silver hand stamped necklaces in our ETSY SHOP.  These necklaces are .999% silver and much thicker than our sterling silver discs.  Each pendant is hand formed, stamped, fired, oxidized, and polished to give it a unique vintage look.

To celebrate our new necklaces, we are giving away a fine silver initial wax seal necklace with pearl.

($42.50 value)

Here are the rules:

Mandatory Entry- be a follower of the blog and let me know with a comment:)

Extra Entries

-become a facebook follower (one extra entry)

-become a twitter follower of @tagyoureitshop (one extra entry)

-blog about the giveaway with a link (two extra entries)

-tweet about the giveaway with a link (one extra entry)

-share about the giveaway on facebook (one extra entry)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  Giveaway will end on Sunday, Sept. 25th at midnight (EST).

Thanks!

apple picking...

I've lived in Indiana all my life, yet I've never gone apple picking.  So when some friends from church offered up an invitation, we decided we had to go.  I have decided that it will become an every year tradition for the fall, along with the pumpkin patch that I look forward to all year.

The high was supposed to be 68 degrees, so we all showed up in long sleeves, jeans, socks, and boots.  I guess in my mind, 68 degrees was more like 50 degrees.  However, the sun was BEATING down, so we were all wiping the sweat out of our face and rolling up our sleeves while picking the apples.

Mr. H is back in school, so he goes from his full time job to school until 9 pm Monday through Thursday, so we're already counting down until the end of the semester.  I know it's hard for him to come home every night to his baby who is already asleep, so I was glad they were able to spend some quality time together at the orchard.

Oh, and I was hoping to get a family picture of the 3 of us at the orchard.  I tried on about 10 outfits, picturing in my head a gorgeous vintage looking photo of apples in the background while Mr. H and I look dashing in our fall wardrobe with our adorable baby smiling for the camera.  However, this is what we ended up with:

No, the apple wasn't washed yet. 

And she only has 2 teeth on bottom, so I'm not sure what she was planning.

We had a great time at the orchard and ended up with some great apple treats, including an apple slushie and apple suckers.  I had planned on blogging my recipe for my apple crisp, but then I screwed up the recipe and forgot to take pictures along the way.  Whoops.  It ended up tasting delicious anyway.

Embrace the Camera Thursday

Alright, this is another "I have a giant head" picture, which I'm learning to embrace, since I'm pretty sure it's the head and not the photograph. 

BUT, I like this picture 'cause it was such a fun afternoon.  I needed to go to a tool store (for jewelry of course) and figured it would be a boring trip.  But Mr. H decided that we should make a few pit stops on the way home, including Potbelly's sandwich shop, which we have been wanting to visit since they opened. 

 We enjoyed some hot subs and then walked around Monument Circle in Indianapolis where "Lady Liberty" was hanging out waiting to be put back on top of a monument.  Anyway, this is me and Lady Liberty hanging out, when I thought I was just going to a tool store.

Um, please embrace the camera today. 

You may have thousands of pictures of your kids, but do they have pictures of you?

P.S. When I hit 100 blog followers, I will be doing a GIVEAWAY for a brand new necklace that is debuting next week!!  Will you help me reach my goal? :)

What's an artist?

I've been thinking about the term "artist" lately.

Brodi and I went to a huge art show in Indy this past weekend and enjoyed looking at "art". 

We loved some, admired some, questioned some, and laughed at some (respectfully when we walked away of course).

When people ask what I do for a living, my first response is that I'm a mom.  But, I also say

"I make handstamped jewelry" OR "I have a small jewelry company."

 My response has never been

"I am a jewelry artist." 

The word artist seems to be reserved in my mind for a super creative artsy person who paints and gets away with wearing bandanas with vintage mini-skirts with a side ponytail and ray-bans. 

I, on the other hand, have to trade out my Vera Bradley bookbag purse when I go out for a bachelorette party so I don't look too "momish" and taking fashion risks involves throwing a braid in my hair.    

[Brodi and I call the pouty lip self-portraits "duck face", although she has it mastered way better than I do.]

However, after looking around for a few hours at the art fair, I started to reevaluate the term "artist". 

I cut silver, stamp it, use a torch on a daily basis to solder, polish, wrap wire, and design new pieces.  Oh, and starting tomorrow I will be using a kiln. 

Yeah, a kiln, like what our art teachers had when we were in 3rd grade.  

I think just owning a kiln might make me an artist, right? 

 GORGEOUS  pottery by Staci DeBolt that can be found HERE.  Now that girl is an artist :)

So, I'm feeling a little more like an artist now, but I don't know if I'll be printing up any "Jewelry Artist" business cards anytime soon.

Maybe it will depend on how often I use this new kiln. 

skinny jeans

Somebody in my house is rockin' the skinny jeans. 

No, it is not and will never be Mr. H (he's a "regular boot cut" kind of guy). 

And although I self-consciously sometimes like to attempt the skinny jeans with a long sweater and tall boots to hide any curves, I was far outdone this weekend by Del. 

She decided to show off and model her skinny jean legs for me and even dared to wear

a tucked in shirt and belt.  

Quite an accomplishment if you ask me 'cause I think skinny jeans can be a tough look to pull off. 

Sterling Cuff Bracelet Sale

I know it's Thursday and I should be embracing the camera, but I embraced it a lot over the weekend and shared my pictures yesterday, so I thought I'd do a sale today instead. 

Until the end of the week, this sterling silver cuff bracelet will be on sale for $45.00.  The regular price is $55.00, so this is a great time to get it! 

We can stamp up to 45 characters on this bracelet, so it is perfect for the mom or grandma with lots of loved ones!

Find the bracelet HERE .

My Little Brother's Wedding...

Alright, prepare yourself 'cause I gotta lotta pictures today. 

My little brother was married on Sunday, so I wanted to share the day with you.  I will admit- most of the pictures are not my own.  Obviously the ones with the "NC" are from the professional photographer,

http://www.natecrouch.com/. 

They were fabulous and I love that their photos were already available to share. 

Please notice that Harper (the flowergirl) is barefoot by this point.  This was after numerous attempts at pictures of her with the bride.  However, she wanted to DO HER OWN THING of course and that involved just chillin' by the water.  So, Isaac just moved over by her and they finally were able to snap a shot of her.  And yes, she eventualy made it down the aisle

with a Ritz cracker in her mouth and one shoe on.

I am not one to love wedding receptions.  Yes, I love the food (of course), but I'm not a dancing machine.  I have to say that their reception was SO. MUCH. FUN. First of all, they had a photo booth.  It was pretty hillarious seeing my grandma in a wig and glasses getting her pictures taken.  There was seriously a line for the booth all night and it made it a PAR-TAY. 

If you are getting married, I HIGHLY recommend a photo booth.  And they were able to get theirs with a groupon, making it even more enjoyable knowing they saved some money.

Oh, and the dancing...the DJ was the best DJ ever at a wedding.  He seriously got everyone on the dance floor

(let me rephrase- he got Baptists on the dance floor where there was no alcohol served). 

Pretty impressive.

Obviously Isaac and Harper had a good time dancing the night away.

Even Mr. H enjoyed the photo booth and sported a wig.

I couldn't get Delaney to keep on her rock star wig...whatever...

 every party has a pooper.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. R...looks like you'll have a fun life together.

Instagram Labor Day

I had a great Labor Day Weekend and my little brother was married Sunday night (pictures to come later!)

Here in Indiana we went from a 100 degree temperature high to a 70 degree temperature high, so I went from sweating in my bathing suit to freezing in my sweatshirt, which was strange.

Had a great dinner at my brother's new in-laws and enjoyed some steak, salmon, corn hole, and a bon fire.

I smell fall...and smoke, of course.

Farewell Summer...     Hope you had a fabulous Labor Day!

I Am Your Parent...

Found this free 10 x 20 printable on pinterest, which is available for download HERE in pink, gray or blue.  I haven't gotten around to printing my free printables yet, but that will be my goal in the next few months! 

Gaining a sister and $12

I'm gearing up for a wedding weekend, because on Sunday, my brother is marrying Brittni (center), so Brodi and I are gaining a sister!

We took our new sis out last weekend to a casino for her bachelorette party.  After indulging in the best buffet we have ever eaten for over an hour (yes, over an hour, but you're not understanding how many options of food there were), we went to WIN SOME MONEY. 

After about 20 minutes of staring at a 1 cent slot machine and looking like cave men, our evening went sort of like this:

Me [to the lady who worked there behind the counter]: Um, okay this is probably the dumbest thing you've ever been asked, but um, we can't figure out how to put our money in the slot machine.

Casino Lady: [blank stare]

Me: We tried and didn't know if there was a special token....

Casino Lady: No, you just put your money in.

Me: Oh, well we tried and it didn't seem to take our money.

Brodi: We grew up Baptist... [sidenote: that of course explains why we don't know how to work a slot machine. or dance]

Casino Lady: Let me show you.

Brittni: We thought we could just put the cash in and then if we won, tokens came out.

Brodi: Brittni, I think that's Chuck E. Cheese

So, casino lady came and showed me how to put my money in and guided me to what buttons to press.  She ended up winning me $40 on 1 cent!!

At the end of the evening, I came out $12 ahead, Brodi came out $8 ahead, and Brittni came out $4 ahead.  So, although I am a Christian and am not promoting gambling, when you stick to NOTHING but the penny and nickle slots, it can make for some ridiculously fun few hours.  I seriously put $1 in the machine and played off of it all evening.  I'm not gonna lie- I felt like a winner leaving with $12 extra dollars and it almost paid for my buffet.

-Kelsey

P.S. If you're not a blog "follower", I would LOVE to have you follow me.  I'm dying to gain 100 followers and plan to run a Tag...You're It sale when we do, so I'm adding this shameful plug.

I'm linking up!!