Bucket List for my 30's

Today I am 31, so scary! In the past couple of weeks I have been brainstorming a list of things I want to do in my 30's.

1. Tour an out of state winery
2. Go to a concert (I am thinking Andrea Bocelli, Neal Young or The Police)
3. Run a marathon
4. Move into the Penn Manor School District
5. Get a passport
6. Use it! Travel to Italy or Spain
7. Take my family to Disney World
8. Go zip-lining
9. Eat Lobster in Maine
10. Go whale watching
11. Rock climb real rocks 
12. Celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary on a cruise ship
13. Write a children's book
14. Learn to speak Spanish
15. Go on a missions trip
16. Read Through the Bible
17. Have another baby
18. Go to the Grand Canyon
19. Complete my family and Eric's family genealogy
20. Crochet a hat
21. Go to the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day Parade
22. New Year's Eve in Times Square
23. See a Broadway musical 
24. Complete a race with a 9 minute mile or better
25. Be shot in the air at the beach in that slingshot ball thing
26. Be a part of a flash mob
27. Hear Handel's messiah preformed in a famous Cathedral ie. The National  Cathedral
28. Swim somewhere in a waterfall
29. Hot air balloon ride
30. Have an awesome 40th birthday party!!!

If you are interested in completing any of these things with me PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know. Its always fun to have at least one other friend with you :)

In just a few months I will be 31, so scary! In the past couple of weeks I have been brainstorming a list of things I want to do in my 30's. The list is not complete because I either lack ambition or creativity so I still welcome suggestions anyone may have. 

1. Tour an out of state winery
2. Go to a concert (I am thinking Andrea Bocelli, Neal Young or The Police)
3. Run a marathon
4. Move into the Penn Manor School District
5. Get a passport
6. Use it! Travel to Italy or Spain
7. Take my family to Disney World
8. Go zip-lining
9. Eat Lobster in Maine
10. Go whale watching
11. Rock climb real rocks 
12. Celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary on a cruise ship
13. Write a children's book
14. Learn to speak Spanish
15. Go on a missions trip
16. Read Through the Bible
17. Have another baby
18. Go to the Grand Canyon
19. Complete my family and Eric's family genealogy
20. Crochet a hat
21. Go to the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day Parade
22. New Year's Eve in Times Square
23. See a Broadway musical 
24. Complete a race with a 9 minute mile or better
25. Be shot in the air at the beach in that slingshot ball thing

30 Things I want to do in my 30's

In just a few months I will be 31, so scary! In the past couple of weeks I have been brainstorming a list of things I want to do in my 30's. The list is not complete because I either lack ambition or creativity so I still welcome suggestions anyone may have. 

1. Tour an out of state winery
2. Go to a concert (I am thinking Andrea Bocelli, Neal Young or The Police)
3. Run a marathon
4. Move into the Penn Manor School District
5. Get a passport
6. Use it! Travel to Italy or Spain
7. Take my family to Disney World
8. Go zip-lining
9. Eat Lobster in Maine
10. Go whale watching
11. Rock climb real rocks 
12. Celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary on a cruise ship
13. Write a children's book
14. Learn to speak Spanish
15. Go on a missions trip
16. Read Through the Bible
17. Have another baby
18. Go to the Grand Canyon
19. Complete my family and Eric's family genealogy
20. Crochet a hat
21. Go to the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day Parade
22. New Year's Eve in Times Square

What we've been up to lately

After the birth of Ainsley we spent most of the month of August on vacation. After vacation I said I was going to start potty training Emilia so the day after labor day the fun began. Emilia caught on quickly. She is a very smart girl but loves doing things her way so I was not surprised she picked it up quickly while insisting she "do it myself." 

The Friday after we started potty training my sister and I decided to take the kids to a local orchard to pick some fruit. Towards the end of our time there Emilia announced to me that she had to pee. Being the awesome mother I am I calmly explained to her that there were no potties in the orchard but that she could pee in the field. She was thrilled. I took off her pants and showed her how to squat. Much to my amazement my little girl peed and then pooped right there in the field. I have never been so proud and horrified.

Now well into week two of potty training Emilia has caught on that every time she goes to the potty she gets a Hershey kiss and therefore she has decided she will pee every other minute or so. Love her!!!! 

On Monday, Madeleine started preschool again. Its hard to believe that my baby girl is 4. She has really grown up so much in the past year. I can not wait to see how she grows this year.

In my spare time I have been checking things off my never ending "to do list" Most recently I made Ainsley her taggie blanket and two other blankets. They are nothing special but she is so I tried my best.

Eric has also been busy. He doesn't stop. There always seems to be gardening, car stuff and then there is the cuddling. 

We are busy but we are blessed!!!

 

  

the picture that made me cry

Just hours after coming home from the hospital after the birth of Ainsley I uploaded all my pictures from her birth onto my laptop. As I went through them one by one I remembered bits and pieces of the last nine months but especially the last 3 weeks before her birth.  When I came across this picture I just started to sob. At first and for several weeks I thought my tears were about the emotion and frustration associated with not being allowed to have a vaginal birth. Then the other day, I went back to the photo and it occurred to me that it wasn't that at all. This picture was the first image I saw of my precious baby girl. Eric had captured my first site of her perfectly!

When Life Hands You Lemons....

When life hands you lemons ....

... Make LEMONADE!!!!!

Its been a rough week for the Rohrer family. We've had to look at our goals for our family and make some decisions to get us there. We've weighted options, crunched numbers and ultimately, it looks as if we're going to be spending more time in Marietta than we would have originally hoped. We have goals and a plan in mind and we wait for the economy to change.  

How do you say "Thank you?"

For over 3 months now I have been trying to write several Thank-you notes. I am not sure what is taking me so long, maybe there really aren't enough or strong enough words to say. Even writing this post I am not really sure how to explain it. In mid-December a high school acquaintance of mine (actually, it was the first guy I ever kissed) suddenly died. That along with some other events caused me to think back to my teenage years. Looking back with a new adult perspective and the perspective of a mother I was brought to tears time and time again when I realized how blessed and protected my teenage years were. Looking back I can see actual situations where I know that had a group of adults not cared enough to give of their time to form a relationship with me, and pray for me things could have gone terribly wrong. I can visually see the hedge of protection around me in certain situations and I am so incredibly grateful!!! With one note down I have at least 3 more to write. 

Watching the Voice with Madeleine

Madeleine: mom, I want a shirt like that.

Me: Madeleine you are not old enough

Madeleine: but I can get one that's small

Me: honey, you need big boobies for that shirt to hold it up

Madeleine: oh... mommy you can get a shirt like hers cause you have big boobies

towards the end of the performance

Madeleine: mommy I also want sparkly earrings like her and paint for my eyes

After the performance

Madeleine: mommy that boy has a cat! Why does that boy have a cat?

Chocolate Pizza!!!

This morning I got to go to the grocery store alone. It was amazing! I didn't feel rushed or stressed. I was able just to shop off my list at my own pace without picking children off the floor or asking them to stop touching items. While there I got a craving for Decadent Chocolate Dessert Pizza so I added the ingredients to my grocery list. During nap time I quickly whipped up the dessert.

all the ingredients laid out on my stone

Shape cookie dough into a ball and roll out onto stone

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees

 

  Take 1/3 c chocolate morsels

Melt in the microwave and stir in 8 oz cream cheese

 

 Spread over cooled cookie

 

 Slice strawberries and bananas

 

 Place on top of chocolate

 

 

 Enjoy!!!

Tuesday's with Nanny

On Tuesday's now, since Madeleine has started preschool Emilia and I have had lunch at Nanny's house. This afternoon while I was washing dishes I heard Emilia and Nanny playing together in the living room. I knew I had to get it on video. My girls are so blessed to have their almost 97 year old great-grandma around!
 

Scrub-a-dub-dub!

 I've been addicted to Pintrest for a while now and I've committed to not just pinning but actually following through with what I pin. For me the easiest things to do have been the cleaning tips. Tonight after dinner I washed the dishes, wiped down the counter tops, scrubbed the stove top and then became motivated to do more. So I logged into Pintrest and pulled up a page I had pinned earlier. 

Cleaning a Glass Stove Top

The Before Pictures

(I already washed them off with Formula 409)

 Fill a bowl with hot soapy water and soak cloth

 Sprinkle baking soda over stove top

Wring out wet towels and lay on top of baking soda for 15 minutes

 Wearing gloves scrub stove top, dry and windex

 Dirty water

Now I have to admit that after I finished scrubbing I was very skeptical. It really did not appear to me that the stove top was all that much cleaner. I did have to take a knife to some of the carbonized residue but over all the stove top is a LOT cleaner!!!

 

Changes

In 2011 I took 26 photo session. Of those photo sessions 16 of them were between the month of October and November. And all but 4 of those 16 were for Christmas cards/gifts.

For each photo session I take an average of 250 photos in about 45 mins to an hour. I then go through all the photos and crop or delete the image. I then go through the remaining images and and enhance an average of 40 images and some of them as many as 4x. As you can imagine the process is very time consuming. My best guess is that each session takes me about 8 hours to complete. Since being a mommy is my full time job I typically edit photos from 8:30pm until 11pm when my girls are in bed.

So all this is being said because in order to continue providing clients with a large variety of quality photos I am going to adjust some of my pricing and policies

1. With the exception of "birth" day and "newborn" photos all sessions will take place outdoors. (unless I decide to invest in a backdrop etc)

2. Payment (cash/check) is due at the session


3. There will be an additional $10 charge for non-newborn sessions scheduled during the months of October and November


4. NO sessions will be scheduled between November 20, 2012 and Jan 2, 2013, as well as from the day I give birth (due date 7/18/12) and through Aug 13, 2012


5. Prices are as follows:
Maternity- $50
Newborn( recommended before 2 weeks) - $50
Child/Children - $50 up to 2 kids, $10 for each additional child
Family - $65 per family unit, additional units $25 each
Senior - $50
Engagement - $50 (unless included with wedding package)
Wedding - $1300 (includes two shooters)
"birth" day - TBD




6. Save 20% on packages after two a year

7. No weddings Nov-Feb

8. I started offering my services so families who may not have been able to afford professional, quality photos could have them at a fair price. If at any time you can not afford my rate please do not hesitate to talk to me!


9. I often get asked about Mother's Day photos for the Sunday news. If you are interested please e-mail me. I am hoping to schedule some back to back mini-sessions at a low rate and then you would just be responsible for submitting them to the paper


           

Some of my favorite images from the year!

So I am beginning to look back at 2011 and evaluate what I have done as far as photography goes. I decided to put together some of my favorite images from the year.

(sadly I had 3 other images I want to add but blogger upload was not cooperating)


Thanks everyone for giving me the privilege of photographing those you love most!