Friday

Typically, I'm not a big Gavin DeGraw fan. He's not bad, I just don't normally like the sound of his music. But when I heard this song on The Voice on Monday, I instantly fell in love! And Juhi killed it . . . I can't get over her unique sound.  As soon as I heard it - I knew I would be sharing it for #backthatazzup Friday!

Today I am feeling pretty proud of myself - I actually realized that this week was the last Friday all on my own.  Granted, it was only two days ago that I figured this out.  But, the point is I didn't need a reminder from Julie!  Anyways - long story short - I'm over at A Beautiful Day today, sharing for In Focus Friday.

GUESS WHAT?? IT'S THE WEEKEND!!

Don't forget to go enter the giveaway at Simple Moments Stick - there are only 2 days left!  Here are some of the things that I am looking forward to:

*Not having to work
*Photographing some engagement pictures
*Going to the pumpkin patch
*Checking out the SUV we are hopefully getting in the next week
*Taking some family pictures for a friend

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Giveaway Winner

I mentioned yesterday that Meghan from They Call Her Meghan was the lucky winner of the Fall Adspace Giveaway.  Now, I want to give her a chance to introduce herself!

Enjoy the small moments because you'll look back on your life and realize that they were the biggest.  This is my life quote.  And me? I'm Meghan and I'm the brains behind They Call Her Meghan.  My blog is a mix and match of my day-to-day life, funny stories from living at home still and me trying to figure out my place on this crazy ride we call life. 

Follow They Call Her Meghan via

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram .

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I wanted to throw out a quick reminder:  For the last couple of months I have been featuring various bloggers for Guest Post Tuesday.  If you are interested in participating during the months of October or November, please send me an email at
kaeley *dot* a *dot* mull *at* gmail *dot* com

Please include your name, blog URL, and an idea of what you would like to share about - it can be anything you'd like!  I will get back to you as soon as possible with a choice of dates.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Fall's Explosion in my Living Room

As you have heard, I love decorating my house, especially for fall and Christmas.  The rest of the year it is pretty much just "normal stuff" - like candles and pictures and vases.  But when the holidays come around, they kind of explode throughout our main living area.

Because our current house does not have a fireplace *which in my opinion is just wrong* I also do not have a mantel to decorate {wah, wah....}.  My bookcase has had to stand in for my main focal point in our living room.

My favorite features here include the burlap-wrapped candle and flower vase *which are both new additions to my collection of fall decor that I created just last week*, as well as the warm inviting colors.  You will also see that I have printed out a copy of my Fall Bucket List and framed it on the top shelf.

We also have a banister-type ledge that sits above the stairway leading from the ground floor to the main level of our house.  This has come in useful as well in making up for the lack of mantel.

The empty third jar is now full of candy corn - but I was too lazy to re-take the picture.  If you missed it last week, you can see more about my pumpkins here.

Keeping with the Fall theme - Congratulations to Meghan from They Call Her Meghan for winning the Fall Adspace Giveaway!  Meghan will be receiving ad space from some of the great blogs that you will find on my sidebar this month!

One of those blogs where you will find >>> is Simple Moments Stick.  I absolutely LOVE Susannah's post from earlier this week about 25 Fall Date Ideas!  She has some great suggestions, so make sure you go check it out!

You can also follow Simple Moments Stick via

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Facebook

5 for Five {+An Intro to my Newest Sponsor}

Last Week's Goals:

1. Go to the gym at least 4 days.  I kind of managed this one...technically I only went three days - but one day I did a full 45 minute workout, and then went to one of the classes for an hour.  So I kinda got two days in one.

2. Drink a minimum of 6 glasses of water per day.  Failed . . . I really need to find my big water bottle - I'm a lot better with that than refilling a small one all day {not that it is a good excuse...}

3. Get caught up on dishes & laundry . . . again.  Almost - not quite there yet, though.  This week!!

4. Finish my latest craft project - then blog about my fall decorations.  I got halfway through this one - here is the link to my latest project, but I still need to share all of my fall decor :)

5. Clean up and organize office.  Yeah right - I barely stepped foot in this room last week . . . It really isn't a huge priority for me right now, though.

Goals for this Week:

1. Go to the gym at least 4 days.  I want to keep this one on here for another week, to try to help create a better habit of consistency.

2. Drink a minimum of 6 glasses of water per day.  This NEEDS to happen.

3. Write post to share fall decorations.  I really love my fall-themed living room right now, and can't wait to share it all!.

4. Clean out under the kitchen sink.  This is something that has needed to happen for awhile and I have been avoiding it like the plague. But our kitchen sink has been leaking, resulting in some nastiness growing in the cabinet and it needs to be dealt with. I better invest in a jug of bleach and a face mask! (I've already got the rubber gloves ready to go)

5. Work on paperwork to officially license my photography business.  I have been holding off on doing this {probably a big no-no} to see if the business idea would even really be viable. But I have been booking quite a few sessions recently and have had a few people ask lately whether I am licensed *oops* So I think it is probably time to bite the bullet and deal with it.

************************************************************************************************************************************************** Meet Susannah

Hi there! I'm Susannah and I blog at Simple Moments Stick. I'm a newlywed, living with my handsome hubby in Portland, Oregon. (Do you live nearby? I'd LOVE to meet you IRL!) Nate and I have been married about two years but I definitely still give us newlywed status. Maybe we'll always be newlyweds... Simple Moments Stick is a place where I share all aspects of my life. One day I might share a few silly YouTube videos, another day I might talk about my faith, and a third day I might flaunt how awesome my husband is. (Although, he thinks that should be ALL I blog about) My heart behind my blog is to connect with other women around the country (and world!) to love on and encourage one another. Come on over and visit! Make sure you leave a comment so I know you stopped by and I'd LOVE to become your friend!!!

Follow Simple Moments Stick via

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Facebook

 

Susannah is also participating in the Fall Adspace Giveaway that is going on right now. You have until midnight on Wednesday ( 09/25 @ 12 am PST) to enter, so make sure to stop by!

Growing Families

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking some maternity photos of a good friend of mine, along with her sweet 2 year old.  Daddy wasn't able to make it, but at least the weather cooperated . . . it WAS supposed to rain!

Here is a quick preview - I will share more later this week:

Linking up for Weekend in Black & White.

Don't forget about the Fall Ad Space Giveaway going on now!!  Click here to enter!

Fall GIVEAWAY!!

What better way to start off the weekend than with a Giveaway?!  Some of my September sponsors and I have come together to present a little giveaway.  Here in Oregon the weather is a little dreary this week, so I thought this might brighten everyone's day just a bit!

A quick intro, from left to right, top to bottom:

Holly from Back Home Again

Myself

Kelly from Today Was A Fairytale

Kelsey from Keeping Up With Kelsey

Susannah from Simple Moments Stick

These lovely ladies and I are offering up lots of ad space for one lucky winner.  Whether you are just starting out, or have been blogging for years, this is an opportunity to get a TON of exposure over the next couple of months.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor yourself, head over to my Sponsor Page to take a look at some of your options.  I would love to see you on my sidebar for a month!!

A Couple Intros . . . and Wrapping up my Camping Photos

I am really excited to introduce a couple of winning-ladies who are now advertising on My Mind's Lens!

Tammi at If You Could See What I See won the Birthday Giveaway over at Geez, Louise this month.  I offered up a free month in one of my three Sponsor Spots and am excited for you to all get to know Tammi.  She blogs about her life in Ohio - which includes lots of DIY, home makeovers, some yummy eats!

Follow Tammi via

Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter

Chelsey at Patti Cake  is the lucky winner of an ABUNDANCE of ad space - courtesy of With Love, Rachel.  Ms. Patti also received a one-month Sponsor Spot at My Mind's Lens so you may see more from her soon!  She most often features fashion-related posts, but also throws in some details of her personal life.

Follow Chelsey via

Bloglovin' | GFC

 

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Look at these "big kids" . . . playing just like these little kids . . .

I fear these may be some of the last sunny pictures of summer....how sad is that?!

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Finally - I am making a quick appearance over at A Beautiful Exchange! Make sure you go show Miss Hayley some love!  

Learn to Dance

Last week I was excited to find out that I was the winner of the August giveaway for the Aloha Blog Hop. One of the prizes was a really cool E*Book from Sarah at A Cat-Like Curiosity. It is a collection she put together called "Monday Mantras" and I mentioned before that I wanted to share some of them with you...

THE ROSE.
I have always loved this song.  When I was younger, I would play it on my piano, and if I remember correctly we may have sung it at a choir competition once.

What an inspiration these words are, though.  Really. If you don't put yourself out there, don't try something new, don't put your FEAR behind you - you are never going to live a fulfilling, satisfying life.  The biggest rewards come from taking the biggest risks.  It can be so SCARY to be yourself and to try new things.  But I don't want to live my life being afraid.

Do you?

Follow your heart. Learn to dance. Be happy with your life.

Looking back over the last 25 years, well let's be realistic, 10 years, there are so many things that I can think I wish I would have done. But I was afraid. I didn't want to get hurt, or fail, or be disappointed. But why not? Maybe those situations could have gone the other way and been AMAZING. But I am never going to know. From here on out, I really want to challenge myself to take chances and put myself out there.

This girl is gonna dance...Who is going to join me?

Guest Post Tuesday: My Lovely Sponsor, Kelly

Even better than the opportunity to sponsor other blogs and guest post for them, is when other lovely ladies choose to sponsor ME! Even better than that, when those sponsors agree to write a guest post! I love following Kelly's blog, Today Was a Fairytale, and if you haven't met her, you need to.

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Hello fabulous My Mind's Lens readers! First off I'd like to thank the amazing Kaeley for opening up her blog to little old me. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Kelly. I call a little blog named Today Was A Fairytale my home. A little bit about me... I'm a 20-something newlywed, social media addicted, country music loving, picture taking, craft attempting, all things pink, girly girl. I love meeting new people but have a tendency to be a little shy. I'm most comfortable in a sweatshirt and jeans. I love photography and the story that a picture can tell. I think it's important to have pictures so that we can remember all the amazing little things. I love music. The right song can make me cry for absolutely no reason. Did I mention I have a tendency to be a little emotional? I live in Washington State, not on the pretty green side. It's more like a dessert, but it's home & so I deal with it.

During the time that I was trying to come up with what I wanted to write about I went to Idaho for a family reunion. While there I was reminded of all the amazing things about my family. So I decided to share some of those things with you - and since Kaeley's blog is called "My Mind's Lens" I decided to do it through pictures. Some of these are from a recent photography session we had.

- We don't take ourselves too seriously.

- After a couple times of my dad having to do the same thing.. he looses interest.

and yes.. that is the only pictures of me & my dad that is in focus so we're stuck with it

- We get our awesomeness from my Uncle Johhny.


- Asking my brother and sister to take a picture together will result in the following..

- We might be 7 years apart but my brother and I have a pretty awesome relationship. 75% of the time we spend together {or on the phone} we are laughing.

- When my brother and hubby get together there is bound to be some kind of adventure.

they were convinced they were going to break the fence

 - My brother can be super shy, but he is one of the funniest people I know

yes, he answered his cell phone in the middle of our session.. how rude!

We might be a little crazy but we're fun and know how to laugh. I wouldn't trade this crazy bunch for the world!

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If you would like to sponsor My Mind's Lens as well, just click here to head over to my sponsor page and ad store.  There are a couple of options to choose from and it just takes a minute to get started!

Also - if you are interested in participating in Guest Post Tuesday, I am now scheduling spots for the month of October.  You do not have to be a sponsor to participate.  Just send me an email to kaeley *dot* a *dot* mull *at* gmail *dot* com {or click the envelope icon in the sidebar} and let me know what you would like to share about and the link to your blog!

************************************************************************************************************************************  Weekend Recap: Since it was a long weekend for the Labor Day holiday, I am a day late....but I think that is justified.

1. Went to Costco - Costco and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love stocking up, but it gets so expensive so quick!

2. Have you ever had these Sun-Dried Tomato & Parmesan kettle chips?! I'm a little bit obsessed...I vegged out on these while watching TV, enjoying the quiet house while my honey was out was friends.

3. Got to go see these handsome guy!  Just in the last week, he started sitting up on his own {although he still falls backwards and side-to-side all the time} and crawling!!

4. Did a little bit of editing . . . I'm trying to stay on top of it this week!

5. Made some yummy zucchini bread out of a massive zucchini Tristan got from a guy at work last week (our niece later ate THREE pieces of it!).

6. Put Little Man to sleep . . . he was a trooper for most of our Labor Day bbq, but eventually enough was enough *Thank you Justine for this photo!!*

I also got to do pictures for a local family, as well as the first of 11 monthly sessions I am going to be doing for a sweet baby girl.

I am so excited for the short work-week, but that means I have a lot to fit in during the next few days. But, bring it on!

************************************************************************************************************************************  FINALLY: I have a SECOND giveaway that I am participating in this week. I am a proud sponsor of Geez, Louise, and pleased to help Kalyn celebrate the first birthday of her blog.



a Rafflecopter giveaway