Hey you, wanna catch up?

I know I've been ignoring this little place. I've been putting 1000% in to getting my other blog up and running. I also started school again 5 weeks ago, which has a been taking up a bit of my time. I'm also a nanny for this little girl, which I really love. But I want to breathe some life back into this space. I want it to go back to what it was originally for, keeping friends and family in the loop on what's going on in this life. So here it is:

The Wedding~ Things are starting to fall into place. We're planning it for January of 2012, so we still have loads of time. Eliot and I are both feeling ahead of the curve for the moment. (I'm going to kick myself later for saying that). I'm really excited about it all, but part of me just wants to be married to him already. I know it will be worth it to have an awesome party though...a week long one.

Eliot~ He's gone at the moment to the wonderful land of South Africa. He's been gone for 2 weeks and will be gone another 3. I miss him, but I'm excited for him. While he's there they're going to launch a brand new boat. This will be the first project he's been completely involved in from start to finish, so it will be so awesome for him to be there for the launch. Then he's going to meet me in California to celebrate Thanksgiving with my grandparents.

Florida~ The weather is so nice right now. It's cold in the mornings and you need a sweatshirt. But it's comfortable during the day. I don't want it to get any cooler, it just needs to stay like this. The end of summer here was amazing. We were out on our friends boat Tinky the Reef Seeker, diving almost every weekend, and afterward we would go post up on a sandbar, go swimming and enjoy some beverages. Now the gulf has gotten shockingly cold in just the span of a couple of weeks. But the wind is picking up, so it might be time to get the kite gear out and try and get better at that. One of my best friends Holly is coming to visit in just a couple of weeks. So the weather better stay in place for a little while longer.

Sailing~ Recently I've started racing every Thursday night. I got in at the tail end of the season, but it's been fun to look forward to every week. Looking forward to being more competitive next season for sure.

Just a few photos


building castles on the beach




Diving

The Ring

I've gotten lots of requests to see 'the ring' that Eliot gave to me. It is so beautiful and I'm completely in love with it. But first, I have to say, when I would think about getting engaged it was never about 'the ring' for me. It was always about being in love, and knowing I was going to spend the rest of my life with my favorite person (cheesy I know). Don't get me wrong, it's a nice plus that I get to wear something beautiful on my hand from the only person I would ever want to receive it from. But I never had any grand ideas of what my ring was going to look like. I didn't design it before hand. I hadn't planned it out and left little notes on pictures for Eliot to see so he would know what to get. I didn't even know what I really wanted. Until he gave it to me. And the fact that he picked it out especially for me makes me love it even more. It is perfect in every way, and I love it. So here it is: "The Ring"

Guess What!

So following my previous post, when the most exciting news I could come up with was our new salt and pepper mills, I'm happy to be able to share that Eliot and I got engaged this weekend! He popped the big question on Saturday and of course, it never even crossed my mind to say "no." I am the happiest girl in the world right now. We haven't planned anything yet, and probably won't until I get back from China. But I'm excited to share the great news!

Here's Eliot's reaction after I said yes.


~Look how excited he is to be getting married!~


~After I tell him how much a wedding normally costs.~


~Reconsidering~


~"It's okay sweetheart, we don't have to spend that much."~

Portraits

So I have a few portrait sessions coming up. I'm trying to expand my portfolio and dip into this different aspect of photography. I get nervous though. So Eliot offered to let me practice on him. So we took a walk down to the beach one evening and this is what happened.

Valentine's Day

I know, February is almost over, but I had to share these. On Valentine's Day Eliot surprised me with tickets to go see Flogging Molly, a celtic punk band that I love. I had heard on the radio that they were playing but I didn't know that Frank Turner was one of their opening bands, another great artist that Eliot introduced me to. So here's the photos from an amazing show that the images just don't do justice to.


The opening band The Architects

Frank Turner








Flogging Molly


The guy in red had the greatest faces in every picture I got of him.

Happy Birthday Eliot!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I love you so much and am so happy to share this day with you. Here's to many many many more birthdays.

Love,
Ash