wonderland

Snapped! The trees walking into work this morning - the snow we had this morning was complete 'fairytale snow' - large fluffy flakes, and sticky enough to get on every single branch. The drive in was gorgeous, but all the snow was gone from the trees by the time I left.

instagram and life lately

From left to right, by row:
1) Lush 'So White' bath bomb. I received this for Christmas, and really liked it. I was told by the SA to throw it in the tub/break it open, which I did, but I don't think it really added to the experience. I liked the scent, but not enough to make me want to repurchase. I continue my search for the perfect bath bomb!

2) Just a picture of me- I've been really into maiden braids the past few weeks. I have somewhat long hair, and this has been a really fun way to style it. I'll usually make 2 braids on each side and flip over. Pinterest hair pins are converting me!

3) Random sky shot on the way into work last week.

4) Lush Cosmetic Warrior fresh face mask. I picked this up the last time I was at Lush. I really liked it, but I don't think I used it thickly enough until I was nearing the end of the tub haha. I really loved this mask, and noticed a huge difference after I used it. I think I would prefer a more exfoliating mask. Next time!

5) Petra bein' cute. Aaaaaaw~

6) Mine and Jack's name cards from Christmas dinner. :) I feel very lucky to have had Jack's family welcome me this holiday season.

7) A picture I took looking out the window at work!

8) The best coffee. How did I live without thee? I went to get gas at a station which had a Green Mountain Coffee sign at the window, but the coffee side was all closed down. It was a sad spot on a nice Saturday morning.

9) Neat tap handle over at the Manchester British Beer Company! We really like their food- and their wide selection of beer. I thought it was fantastic that they actually put real blueberries in my already blueberry beery. 

Jack and I are watching The West Wing! When I saw it on Netflix I knew it was destiny- I will finally have a buddy to watch this show with me! So great.

I think  I am holding well with my resolutions so far. I wrote them on a nice sheet of paper, framed it, and put it on top of my dresser so I'll notice it at least once every day.

Photo dump thursday!

My presentation went as well as it could have! I wasn't speaking, but 3 of our VPs and the company president were! I was in charge of all the A/V, and consolidating the presentations. The biggest problem was one group RSVP'd for 5, brought 15 attendees. When one of my superiors mentioned it my face must've fallen aaaaaaall over the floor. My boss did say that everything went great and I deserved a drink hahaha. (I will be having some delicious japanese hibachi tomorrow to congratulate myself as I am waaaay too self-indulgent.)

Below are some recent pictures - I'm not as happy with these as I have been with some of my other shots lately, but I need to keep sharing. It motivates me to take more and better! Hopefully now that the meeting is over I'll be a little less single minded.

Out in the snow! Ignore the cars in the background, please! Hahahaha. Coat is a Columbia 3 layer jacket I found at TJ Maxx. Pants are sweats because they were lined. Hair is in milk maid braids which I've been super into lately. 

Giant thing next to the window is one of our cat trees- Scritchie likes to perch on the top level to look out the window. 

Snow. Blegh.

More snow more blegh.

Finally hung the prints we got from Harshness! I picked up the frames from Hobby Lobby for ~$7/each. 11x17 frames are so hard to find. :(

This one is over Jack's side of the couch. :)

Super-glued some paper to the lid of my 'Good 2013 Memories Jar' that I through together after reading Scathingly Brilliant's post going through her 2012 Jar. It has one memory in it so far! But there will be more. I think it has something to do with cats, which isn't that surprising. 

Me looking all creepy at Petra. I started this post off with a cute picture of me, figure I can end it with a bad one hahaha. :)

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far! Anyone have great plans for the weekend that I can borrow?

First day back working!

Just a random snapshot from behind our apartment. I can't wait until the ground is covered in snow.

Today was my first day at the job I got through a temp agency. It's temp to perm at a company I would love to work at, so I'm really excited, and really applying myself. The official job title is 'Licensing and Accessories Coordinator'. If I get it perm, I'll probably say more then!

I was sad to be away from Jack all day. When I got home, he and Scritchie both just wanted to be near me it was so sweet!

I think the next step I have to tackle is getting back into the swing of going to the work and the gym- I won't be able to go to my favorite class now, because it's during work hours. There is 6:30 Zumba tomorrow, or I may try to go just to do some weights. I can't let this change in my schedule mess me up too much.

Up to date sunday #3

Yesterday we went and took down a tree on a friends property, it was pretty neat! It was super loud, the ground shook, and the tree broke apart when it landed. I tried to get video but ran out of space on my phone a few seconds before it came down. Then Jack and I went to Wal-Mart and bought Christmas Candy. :)

current song: Genesis, by Grimes. 

current thoughts: Last night I realized I haven't been reading as much lately. By lately I mean at all. Growing up I got a new book every week, and I'm really sad I lost that sometimes. I found a few books I want to start on today. First I need to finish The Fault in our Stars by John Green, and then I think I'll move on to The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chobsky because I missed the boat on that one. My favorite genres are young adult and fantasy novels. And possibly new adult now that it's a thing.

current plan: Get out of bed! Charge my kindle, drink some green tea, get caught up on tv and start researching the companies I will be interviewing for.

current quote:

The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.

For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And along the way, lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.

 -Neil deGrasse Tyson in an AMA on reddit.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and a great saturday!

up to date sunday #2

current picture:

Trees behind our apartment. 

current song: Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble. Still don't like Red as much as Speak Now, but love this song.

current workout: I am obsessed with Les Mills Body Combat. At my friday class, some high school girls showed up and stayed in the back half doing the moves. My brain apparently decided there was a competition happening? I worked harder in that class than ever before, it was super satisfying. Still keeping up with my yoga/gen exercise so I'm pretty happy.

current feelings: This was the first week I was really hit by homesickness. I miss my mom a lot- she is my best friend, and we would always do things together. Jack is always motivating me to be and do as much as I can, but having my mom with me for the past few months is probably going to be something I cherish and remember forever. Even if I get all teary remembering us in my room with the dog and the last day I was home, or my parents dropping me off at the airport (this gets me a bit more than teary, tbh.) I found a quote from Jodi Picoult earlier which did not help my emotional roller coaster-

“Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.” 

current plan: I have 2 interviews for next week! I am also going to work on getting the apartment more ordered and structured, and try to work on my photography.  And journaling, I did a bit of journaling this week and really enjoyed it. Hopefully I keep it up, I found it very therapeutic.

❤stephanie

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Angle Pond, October 21, 2012

Visited a member of my New Hampshire family today! My boyfriends grandmother owns a house on Angle Pond (which is actually a lake!) about half an hour away from us. We went over for dinner, which was marvelously marinated steak, some broiled haddock, squash, potatoes and lots of apple related food items. I took some pictures off the back of the house, overlooking the lake which you can see under the cut. But first, here's my gorgeous mug!

Late Fall Foliage in NH!

I have been really bad about actually bothering to head out and take pictures, so when the boyfriend and I realized it was 70 degrees outside we jumped at the chance to take my camera out. We took his motorcycle around Lake Massabesic which is near our apartment. Sadly, we have missed the peak foliage this year so the trees are duller, many have lost their leaves and I simply don't have enough skill with my camera yet. One of these things will hopefully fix soon! More pictures are under the break~

From California to New Hampshire!

Good Afternoon~

Earlier this month I relocated to New Hampshire!

Random picture of TREES I took at the White Mountains