Busy, Busy!

It's definitely been a busy June. I've completely neglected "my writing" and have spent a lot more of my spare time editing photos than anything else! Hence the replacement of informational posts with photo posts ;] I really love photography, I just don't have the camera for it. I do what I can with my point-and-shoot and free editing software, but I'm never happy with the result. I plan on upgrading to a digital SLR within the year, hopefully with the next tax return, and around Christmas I plan to beg for some good editing software (Lightroom, perhaps... I hear good things). If for no other reason, I need better equipment because I WILL have incredible photos of my babies. And lots of 'em. Not that there are any babies on the immediate horizon, but Lord-willing there will be eventually so I'm gonna need it at some point! I'm not sure why I'm going on about photography and cameras...

But speaking of photos, I took over 350 over the weekend at Mike and Sarah's GORGEOUS wedding! You'll be seeing a (small) smattering of those soon, when I've finished editing and organizing. I have the rehearsal dinner, wedding set-up, day-of preparations with the bride, the bride and groom's first meeting (they did all their photos beforehand), and of course the ceremony and reception. This wedding is gonna blow you away, people. I count Sarah among my very good friends now, but I only wish I had known her sooner... I TOTALLY would've paid her to design my wedding. She left no detail to chance, and it was breathtaking. And she didn't spend an outrageous amount of money either, though it looks like she did! She's SO crafty and creative... it's unreal. It was so special to be a part of it all too, since I was once just "the wife of the best man" but have become much closer with Sarah now. I got to help with all the set-up and be with her on her wedding day and live vicariously through her :] It was great! I did TONS of running on the wedding day just helping out with whatever needed to be done, finding people, pinning boutonnieres, averting minor disasters, etc. It was so much fun :] And over the course of the weekend we made so many new friends through the family and bridal party and close friends who were involved - we all had a BLAST together (which will be evidenced by the after-party photos... I have those too)! All in all, it was an amazing experience and a beautiful wedding, and now Mike and Sarah are out in the middle of the ocean enjoying some peace and quiet on their honeymoon cruise to Bermuda. Ahhhhhhh...

Oh, and wait til you see the bride herself... STUNNING.

Moving right along... work. Ohhhh science. It's a love-hate thing ;] Right now things aren't working and I'm doing a lot of troubleshooting, which is a little irritating. I only have 10 weeks here and I'd really like to accomplish something! It'll work out, I know, these things always happen. Nothing ever goes to plan in laboratory research ;] It's just frustrating when I have such a limited amount of time. But on the bright side, another summer student just joined our little "team" so I've had a lot of help and some extra hands to speed up the process (even if the "process" is failing!) - she just graduated high school and this is her first research job, so I'm doing a lot of teaching which is actually kinda fun in and of itself.

Ben and I were supposed to be heading to Myrtle Beach with his mom and stepdad this summer, using their timeshare for a week's vacation. Unfortunately it seems as though people with timeshares in Myrtle Beach just aren't trading in their weeks this year, because we've been waiting for 6 months and still haven't gotten a place. So, as it turns out, Ben's sister Amberly and her hubby are taking their 4 little ones to Ocean City for a week and were looking for family to join them for half the week (the in-laws already called dibs on the other half, and there's only so much space), so we've decided to abandon the timeshare and vacation in OC for a few days with the kids. We haven't been to the beach with the kids since it was just Lacy, so Ben is really excited to be able to play in the sand with the boys :] While I, myself, am excited to chill in the shade with sweet Caraline! AFTER I've baked sufficiently, that is. BOY do I need some color! Ben's mom will be coming with us too, and who doesn't love spending time with my MIL? Should be a fantastic time. Only thing missing will be Em, Josh and baby Carsen :'( Maybe next summer ;] Ohhhh next summer... like I'll be vacationing. HA! Studying for boards, taking boards, then right into clinical rotations. Cheers. So this is my last summer to enjoy myself a little, and I can't think of a better way to spend our vacation than with family. Plus we'll have the rest of that week to chill at home and enjoy each other's company for a few days, which will be wonderful!

The only other thing I wanted to say, which may be quite obvious by now but I suppose I'll come out and say it anyway, is that I think the Pill series is gonna be on hold for a bit. I was finding myself spending way too much time researching and writing and tweaking while my husband sat on the couch watching TV in the evenings, and was beginning to feel rather convicted about my priorities. Writing is fun, especially on subjects that I really care about, but spending time with my hubby after a long hard day has to come first. One day when we're much busier than we are now, I'll look back and miss the days that we had so much free time to spend together. So for now, I plan to make the most of them :] Of course I'll still be blogging, and hopefully still including some topic posts, probably just not as frequently.

Welp, I suppose that's it for now. Have a lovely evening, and thanks for stopping by!