Whoah! It's been a while....

Hmmm... where have I been lately? It's summer and although I did not leave anywhere spectacular I decided to take a mini-vacation these past couple of days. The possibility of Hurricane Alex last week made for an intense and hectic week but by the time the weekend rolled around I was over the rain and fear of lightning. The Fourth of July was a few days away and I wanted to simply relax. I did not get much photography work done during the week and decided to take a break during the weekend. I just enjoyed myself and relaxed with my fiance, my family and my lovable chipoodles whom I feel like I have lately neglected. Life is too precious to spend so much of the clock working. Yes, work is fun. Yes, work is needed. But life is worth so much more than any salary imaginable. I love my life and I want to make sure I take a step back, stop to look around at my surroudings, smile at the people I love and thank God for the beauty of living - and I want to do this often.

Alas, today is Tuesday and I am relaxed, rested and ready to work. I kid you not, these four days of vacay really helped to make my dark circles less dark... I think ;) But I feel better and somewhat a little healthier and I love it. I am re-energized and ready to work and play harder. I noticed I neglected to blog any new posts even though I had tons to say last week. Just when I thought about turning the computer on and writing a few words your way, I stopped myself. So what... Today is my day and I want to do something for me. So I did... I slept, watched tv, shopped, cuddled, played and cleaned. And I did it all for me.

Thus my beloved and faithful friend, what have you done for yourself lately? I challenge you to take a moment, maybe even a minute and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and smile as you remember what life is like when you stop worrying about irrelevant details and take pride in enjoying your day. I don't want to stress on whether my entire closet is color coordinated or planning a wedding... I want to know that if I don't get around to doing something today it will be okay. Why? Because God blesses us everyday with the ability to close our eyes and get away... Try it! If you have to study, study but take a moment from your time and open another book and read. Read for yourself. Write for yourself. Clean for yourself. Live for yourself because no matter how much you put into the things around you, you won't reap much in return if you don't do it because you really want to. And because I believe in practicing what I speak, I am encouraging others around me to do just that... LIVE!

And if you have a one more minute before you leap into the world with a big smile on your face, take a look at the following pictures of my beautiful mom working away ;) I needed a floral bouquet a few weeks ago but I had such a heavy workload on my shoulders that my loving mother came to the rescue. I get my creativity, my spunkiness and - dare I say, talent from her. She is truly an incredible woman and is always there to help. Thanks mom!

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Yes, she'll be taking floral orders ;)

Have an good night and an amazing week! Dream big and make the best of it!!!!