Easter Post

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. After two weeks of nothing but rain & clouds, on Sunday morning the sun shining super brightly woke me up. It was a great feeling. In my head I said "The sun (Son) has risen!" Haha...Fitting, eh?

We had a pretty fun day. The Easter Bunny left a pinata full of goodies for my nieces and nephews so after church we went to their house and watched them bash it open. Poor little Tucker was devastated - he didn't want to "kill the Easter Bunny" so he just screamed the whole time. His little mind just couldn't understand that this wasn't REALLY the Easter Bunny and you're supposed to smash pinatas. We even took some of the candy out so he could see that you had to break it to get inside. Nope, nothing. I think next year E.B. needs to bring them an ugly pinata, not one shaped like a happy Easter bunny head. Here are some pictures!

Tuck Tuck is VERY sad. I felt bad, but couldn't help but document this hilariously sad moment. I believe it will come back to haunt him when he grows up.

Then it fell off down and he wanted to go hide it in the camper. Poor thing.

Skylar finally got the last hit and the candy went flying!

The ginormous pile of shoes at my aunt & uncle's house. We have a huge family!

Some of my cousins + Dustin eating dinner at the table. I know which plate is Cassi's, by the big scoop of "pink salad." It is both our favorite! We wanted to just take the whole bowl and eat it all ourselves. Mmmm!!

I ate outside with a few of my aunts & cousins & Brian. These flies were getting a good meal out of a grape Crush. I'm a bit disappointed that there's already THIS many flies and it doesn't even seem like spring yet.

My photo for the day. Love this bracelet which I opened up at Christmas.

Funny - This is the aunts, uncles, moms, dads, and some cousins taking pictures of the little ones.

And this is the sons & daughters taking pictures of the aunts & uncles. Ha!

Brian and me!

Dustin being a goofball. Haha I love this one!

Dustin and Brian tried some silly poses like this. Brian couldn't keep a straight face to save his life.

During my first year of college we got professional family portraits done. One of them looked exactly like this, except Dustin is only about as tall as my shoulder blades. We recreated it to show the difference. I think it's hilarious.

Later Sunday night we went to see the movie Hop with all the kids. Rachel's family had the same idea, so we sat right in front of them. Movie wasn't the best, but it was still a good time.

So there you have it - The Easter Post. It was a good weekend, and now I'm going to be working my butt off to finish my board game, a presentation, my photos, and another final project. Whew! The end is in sight, though!!

Later tonight or tomorrow I'll get you all caught up with the POTD's. Sorry again for the lack of TCT posts. Some day they will return....But for now - BACK TO WORK!!

All Caught Up

I took a break from the board game design and organized the past two weeks' worth of photos. I feel much, much better now. I hate having "to do" lists in the back of my mind, which is something I'm VERY excited about getting away from once I'm done with school.

Which brings me to our next topic of discussion: I am graduating college in *checks calendar* 17 days! Wait, what? That can't be right. Lots to do before then! On Monday, Brian and I bought our caps & gowns! It doesn't get much more real than that. They're currently hanging in my bathroom, where they will probably stay until A) My shower steam finally gets the wrinkles out, or B) Graduation day...Whichever comes first. We will be having some sort of graduation party. We're not sure on the location yet, but I'll let everyone know once we get it nailed down.

Yesterday was quite a day. We spent the majority of it in Sioux Falls, running some errands and doing a little shopping, and we even got the chance to visit my grandma and the rest of my family at the hospital where grandma is currently staying. I finally picked up my dress for Ashley's wedding. Fits like a glove!! There's nothing better than having someone zip it up in the back and realizing that you need to waste ZERO money on alterations. It pretty much made my day! We also ate at Fuddruckers, one of my most favorite places ever. Sometimes, there's nothing better than a big 'ol cheeseburger. Mmmm! My grandma seems to be doing alright. Today they're putting a drainage tube in to reduce the fluid around her lungs. She gave me crap last night for wearing a Dodgers shirt. (Don't worry Grandma and family, the Cubs are still #1 to me!) Then we did a little grocery shopping and headed home. Didn't really do anything particularly FUN yesterday, but we still enjoyed the day.

Here are a few photos from last week which I'd like you to see:

Mmm Strawberries!

Dustin pole vaulting. He ended up winning this meet.

Dustin and Garrett

One of his friends told him he should have black socks and blue shoes. He'd be the most color-coordinated athlete in the world. Ha!

Some from I-W's PROM!

Dustin and his date, Dana.

Dustin and his girlfriend.

Some buddies.

Dustin and his nieces.

You know what? I should rename this blog "The Happenings of Dustin." Sheesh, I never noticed how it is dominated by photos of him. I guess it makes some sense, since most of my entertainment this year has come from his football and basketball games. And now track and prom and wow...What am I gonna do this summer when I don't live just an hour away?! Ha...

My BFF's last week. Even though it takes me FOREVER to swallow them.

The majority our our meals last week. Poor Brian, he just kept eating soup for supper with me. He probably got sick of it, but never complained. Bless his heart. =)

And then, finally, this past weekend I felt healthy enough to eat some real food. But still not healthy enough to cook it. So...Pizza Hut saved the day, once again.

Mmmm it was delicious!!

Now we're on to last night's photo and the one before that!

One of the very few decorations we have at the apartment. Found this photo online and then turned it into a bunch of 8x10's and then framed them and it's kinda cool. Will probably do some more sometime. It's hard to get into decorating a place when you know you're not going to be there longer than a year. 

Last night's photo. Rain on the car window.

ALL CAUGHT UP!! YES! Now, back to work.

Clean Cups

First off, I want to wish a huge GOOD LUCK to my buddy Melissa Jean, as she interviews for a job/internship today with THE coolest design agency in South Dakota.

Next, I want to share some photos from yesterday.

The top is what my sink looks like after a few days of being sick and not having the ambition to wash dishes. Almost every bowl and cup that we have here was dirty. For some reason, I didn't ever want to re-use a cup, so I got a new one every time I drank something. And I was drinking a LOT. And the bottom is what my sink looks like after feeling a little better and being fed up with having no clean cups.

It's April, if anyone was wondering. I wish someone would let Mother Nature know that. We are STILL getting snow! I can't afford to run my heater any longer. I really wish spring would show its beautiful side again.

So we decided to have some fun with it last night and take some photos. This one is Brian's favorite.

I like this one.

Who do you agree with, me or Brian?

And I will TRY super hard to get a TCT shot tomorrow. So be sure to check back!

A Bit Better

Hey guys...So much for keeping updated, huh?

I've been feeling a bit better every day since Friday. Yesterday I had to miss out on my friend Ashley's bachelorette party. It was a tough decision, but I just wasn't feeling up for it. We will get together soon to make up for it, though. That helps a bit, but I still wish I could have gone last night.

Brian has yet to come down with what I've had all week. It's pretty surprising, since he's been around me every day since I started feeling sick. How do I get THAT immune system??

I also am totally unsure on where I am for photos. I THINK I've been keeping up, but all my days have kind of run together this week and I wouldn't be surprised if I got off-track somewhere. And, to be honest, the photos I've been taking have been incredibly boring and lame and you will without a doubt be able to tell that this was my "sick" week. However, that might be because my photos have been of pills and soup and stuff like that....

Today, I'm finally able to concentrate a bit and I'm attempting to make progress on my board game. Last week was completely wasted time, since I couldn't focus on anything for more than 5 minutes before my head clouded over. So today I'm feeling good to be back at work. The game won't be nearly as fun or cool as I was originally planning, but I think right now just finishing it will be enough to make me proud.

Coming in on the final stretch of college...It's scary and thrilling all at once. I don't think I've mentioned this here yet - but this summer we will be living in Rapid City, so we're going to take another trip out there soon to do some apartment hunting. I am excited to be out in such a scenic area, but it will be weird living 5+ hours away from home.

Anyway...Back to work for me. Sorry there are no photos today...I'm so far behind on editing and such that I'm just going to refrain from new stuff until it's back to normal.

Flu A

Dear my awesome blog readers,
Thank you for sticking with me for over a week's break. I've been feeling pretty crappy the past few days, and before that I'd been super busy at home. I know some of you have gotten after me on facebook, so thank you for still being interested in this, even when I'm not. =)
-Denise

Here's how I spent a few hours of my day:

My very first IV!

Long story short, I fainted this morning in my bathroom, then went to the doctor, fainted there, took a blood test, found out I have Influenza A, and ended the trip with an IV in my arm for 1.5 hours. It was really not much fun at all. Brian was a trooper and stayed with me throughout the whole thing. We've pretty much already decided that he's caught what I have, so it's only a matter of time until he starts feeling the same. Sad. =(

So, anyway...I'm really not feeling well today, so I'll make this quick. Last week's TCT shot was oooooff.....

A Triscuit Cracker!

Nobody got it right. But that's ok.

I've got lots of photos which will (maybe) someday make it up here of Dustin's track meet AND prom. Prom seems like it's changed since I've been in high school. The dresses were all super flashy and sparkly and stuff. It was pretty fun to watch their grand march this year.

Looks like I'll be spending lots of time at home on my couch in the next week, so hopefully I can keep you guys updated here. Oh, and another poopy part of this week - I didn't take a photo yesterday. I've officially failed.

So I'm going to watch American Idol in hopes of making myself feel better. Stay healthy, everyone!

Too Close Tuesday!

Guess what's coming back today! Hint: It's Tuesday!

Yayyy time for another "Too Close Tuesday!"

Here's the photo: Make your guess in the comments and I'll reveal the answer in a few days. Again, you don't win anything, but it's still fun to play along.

What am I?

Yesterday my dad came all the way up to Madison to try to fix the Exploder. Unfortunately, it wasn't the easy fix he was hoping for, so I'm still without a vehicle for a while. I also almost didn't get a photo for yesterday. It just completely slipped my mind. Luckily, I took a picture on my phone at suppertime. It was of our tater-tot hot dish, and I sent it to Dustin because it's his favorite food. So I guess I'm still on track, even though yesterday's photo is pretty lame.

BUT...Sunday's photo is WAY too hard to choose. For my photography show (which I need in order to graduate with a photography minor) I had some beautiful girls dress up in a couple pretty dresses and we headed to the barn! Ha...It was a pretty interesting day. My models were excellent, despite my lack of any real direction, and they were good sports, even though it was pretty chilly and extremely windy that day. Here are just two of the photos from the day. If you'd like to see the rest of them, come to the show! I'm not sure on the details yet but I will put them here when I find out.

One of the very first photos we took. Perfect!

One of my bestest friends, Rachel. I can't get enough of her pretty blue eyes. =)

There are tons more. By the end of Sunday, I had already finished editing 11 photos. I was so excited when I saw them, that I couldn't get away from them. It was such a fun day.

Today, working on some projects and going for a run. Supposed to get up to 60 degrees today and it is super sunny and for once not windy! I'm pretty excited!

Don't forget to guess for this week's TCT!

Red Velvet

Did anyone get fooled yesterday? Share your stories!

My sister tried to get me, but I'm way too smart to fall for any jokes this year. I'm quick! One of these days I think I'll prank her real good. She won't even see it coming! Maybe it won't even be on April 1st. Who knows!

It was a gorgeous day today so I suggested to Brian that we go for a run. He told me we couldn't go today, because it's Saturday. So I baked some red velvet cupcakes instead. You win some, you lose some, I guess. I think replacing running with cupcakes is a fair trade, though. I'd been craving some baking for a while now. (I've been "Stumbling" quite a bit and it always, always, brings me to baking/cooking blogs and seeing all those delicious cupcakes makes me really want to make some.)

I now understand how there are so many photos of people's baked goods. When you set them in some natural light and start shooting, it's a pretty magical moment. I could have taken a million photos of my cupcakes tonight. And they weren't even very special. Just regular old cupcakes with regular old frosting. I can't imagine how awesome it would be to have some exceptional cupcakes!

I also can't decide which photo I like more, to be today's POTD...Please help me by telling me which one you like more!!

Cupcake #1 - Option for POTD

Cupcake #2 - Option for POTD

Please comment with #1 or #2! This is a really important decision so choose wisely! Ha. Just kidding...But seriously.

Here's another cool photo. I just love love love the deep red color these are.

Yesterday was also a glorious day. I found myself sitting on the floor in the big patch of sun coming through the doors. It was warm and awesome. Mmm sunshine!

182/365

HEY AND GUESS WHAT ELSE! Yesterday was the the 6 month mark! I'm halfway through the year of photos! It's pretty exciting. Not because I'm excited to be done in 6 months, but because I'm excited I have made it this far without losing interest or giving up. Yay!!

Tomorrow we're heading home for the day. I'm doing a sweet photoshoot with Rachel and some of her friends. I am super excited! Hopefully all goes well and I end the day with the vision in my head completed. I will update on that soon. Wish me luck!!

(Also, to my facebook friends who are reading this - Please, please, please go to my new album and "like" the 3 photos which you think are the BEST. I need to choose only ONE of them to submit to Beadlemania, and having some input is always helpful. And if we're not facebook friends - Go ahead and add me so you can do this! Denise Livingston is the name. Thanks a bunch!!)

Head Full of Doubt

Ok, I'll admit it - I have been on a country music kick all week. I think it comes from watching American Idol for the first time in my life. I've been craving amazing voices and smoother songs, for a change. So I've been listening to country video channels on TV when I'm working or cleaning. And this song, I have to share it, has stopped me in my tracks every time it comes on.

Maybe I love it so much because it's similar to "my type" of music. More interesting lyrics and a more full band than typical country. Maybe it's because I'm just a sucker for piano playing singers. I dunno. I haven't listened to anything else from this band, but I think I will start. Incredible! Anyway...Just thought I'd share.

Enjoy the sunshine, my friends. It's a beautiful day. =)