Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope you are all going to eat too much turkey and be with family and friends.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year.  This time last year I was a week out of having spinal surgery and Meridyth had been laid off.

This year on Thanksgiving my neck feels better everyday, Mer has a job she loves, and we got married!

We are off to my parents this year to relax and eat a lot food.

I wish you all a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

Lots of Love,

Jess

Image from the blog Meet the Dubiens

Changes, right around the corner...

Hello out there!

I have had a lot going on in my life lately.  There is a necessity to change some things, to branch out again in new directions, and to hunker into myself to finish out this semester strong.

Only a few more weeks of school and I am happy to say that I am coming out very strong in my Anatomy and Physiology class and I am forging ahead in statistics.

It is nice to see that I there is a month break just around the corner!

I have also started to slowly go back to the gym.  I am being very careful of my neck so I am trying not to push too much.

I got to take some new pictures of my nephew Caleb, and it has been great to get a lot of pictures and videos from my sister in Seattle of her kids and her new baby Jack.

One day at a time has been a mantra.  I am excited for Thanksgiving.  I have a lot to be thankful for.

On that note, I found this on Pinterest and I had to post it!

posted by Valerie Starchurski

Lots of Love,

Jess

Voting for Something Important to me...

Happy Election Day!

I proudly stood in line this morning with Meridyth and a few of our neighbors to vote.  I LOVE voting.  I have loved the idea of voting since before I could even cast a ballot myself.

I remember being a little girl, probably around six, and going into the voting booth with my mom.  Even at that time, not understanding what all of those people were doing standing there so patiently, I knew it was something important.

This year especially is very important to me.  Yes, the presidential election is important, but what I am talking about is question six in Maryland giving lesbians and gays the right to marry.

I still get annoyed every time I think of people having the right to vote on my marriage, I feel like they are voting on my life which I proudly say is very good. 

I have a wonderful partner, I am a tax paying citizen who contributes to the community, we have rescued animals, and I am hoping to work in the medical field to give back more to the community.  It truly incenses me that people are choosing whether my lifestyle is acceptable when I know in my heart it is and that I will never have an opportunity (nor do I want one) to vote on theirs.

Meridyth placates me by saying that we wouldn't do anything different in our lives even if question six was passed.

This is true.  We consider ourselves married.  She is my wife and I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with her.  However, it would be nice to be able to be "legally" married or at least have the right to do it.

So I would ask you to vote for passing question six.  Eventually, I believe that we will look back at this in sixty years and not believe that once people in the community had the right to vote on others marriages.

So, to end this ranting post, GO VOTE!

Lots of Love,

Jess

Paper Products for the Home now available on LoveUPaperly!

Hi Everyone!

My honey just bought me coffee from Dunkin Donuts and I am busy studying for my two quizzes today.

I first want to say that my sympathy and prayers goes out to all of those that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.  The photographs from New Jersey and New York are heart breaking.  Living in Maryland we were very nervous for the storm and I am thinking about all of those people that are picking up the pieces.

That being said, I would like to introduce a new section in my Etsy shop LoveUPaperly.

I have been making paper bowls forever and I have decided to list some of them (one for right now, I am in school, remember?!).

I am a big recycler and I love the fact that I can use scrap paper and make something so beautiful, delicate, and useful out of it.

Listed for $8.50 got to my site for more info.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, I'm off to school!

Lots of Love,

Jess

Miniature Owl/Monster on LoveUPaperly

Hello All!

I have listed a new item on LoveUPaperly.

I love this little guy, I think he is too cute.

 He makes me smile.

Lots of Love,

Jess

Ups and Downs and All Arounds...

Hello There!  Are you still reading even though I have not been a good and stable blogger?

In truth, like all of you, I have many ups and downs.  For me, most of my ups and downs happen to be health related.

Even after almost a year of recovering from my spinal fusion I still have good days and bad days.  Today happens to be a bad day.  Even though I laid out my gym clothes for tomorrow on my quest to become healthy again I know in my heart I will not be going because currently I have abandoned my school work and I am lying on my back in bed with a very, very cold ice pack urging through strong mental will power to bring down the swelling that today is not allowing me to turn my neck in either direction.

Besides my neck my whole body hurts which means that my Fibro Myalgia or whatever diagnosis they are giving me this week, is also rearing its ugly head tonight.

At times like this I hate my body for feeling so weak and hurting so much.  However, at times like this I also appreciate my love for the beauty in the world which keeps me going.

So instead of complaining I am going to show you some of the pins I have been pinning on Pinterest!

I Waste So Much Time

found on the blog:  I Waste So Much Time

This image is found on the tumblr page Tard the Grumpy Cat.  I just looked at it and the whole page is pictures of this adorable and grumpy little guy.  Too Funny!

Wooden Shower Head by Rare

Love Me Do Wedding Photography

How beautiful is this photograph?  The Brides, The scenery, I am swooning!

Lots of Love and Beauty in the World,

Jess

Unusual photographs by artist Lori Nix

Hi everyone!

Remember when I said I would try really hard to start blogging more regularly again?  Well..it didn't work!

I have been so busy with school, and now Meridyth has strep throat and a high fever.  However, even though my blogging has been lacking I had to show all of you these photographs that I came across.

I have StumbleUpon on my phone.  Do any of you use StumbleUpon?  I highly recommend it for its addictiveness and ability to constantly show you cool websites.

Anyway, I was not working at work (don't tell!) and came across this photographer Lori Nix.

I looked at one photograph, then another, then another, and soon found myself transported to a world of her creation and wanting to look at more.

She builds worlds out of paper, clay, and other materials and then photographs them so they look like they are a place that she came across in her travels that you or I could visit.

I am entranced.

This is what she says on her website:

"I am often asked questions about the inspiration for my work as well as my working process. As a ‘non-traditional’ photographer (I construct my subject matter rather than go find it) people find it hard to grasp what exactly it is that I do. And the fact that it is all done in front of the camera, with no digital manipulation, adds its own set of challenges. Building materials, lighting, issues of scale and space all become significant when you are recreating the world on a table top."

These are just a few select samples on her website which I suggest you check out. 

I find it fascinating how she builds these worlds and then photographs them.  In my head I am thinking, wouldn't it be easier to paint the images in your head?  I think that is what is so amazing!  The detail she uses is painstaking and I can only imagine the endless hours that must go into to building some of these images.

I am in LOVE!  Did I mention the lighting?  I think Lori Nix may be my new favorite artist.

Lots of Love,

Jessica