RLA

I recieved news yesterday that I had passed my final section of the LARE, and after a bit of paperwork, I will officially be a Registared Landscape Architect! It's quite an accomplishment, and I feel compelled to pat myself on the back. *pat, pat*

6 years of college
+
3 years experience
+
a few more years experience because I dragged my feet
+
21 registration exam hours
+
thousands and thousands of dollars
=
Amber Lea Fentz Berninger, RLA

(we'll find out if it was all worth it)

Crafty Thursday

My neices are on fall break, so they spent the afternoon with my dad, and the night with us.

We came home and we got crafty.

Old Sweaters and old shoes have now been transformed into new beanie hats, cast gloves, and sweater boots that now adorn thier bodies... they're too cute (well, minus Cheyenne's choice in bringing the 80's back... but whatever, she likes it).

She's stunning in sepia!

And red too....

All of my loves....

Well, a large number of them.

I love fall
I love my husband
I love crisp air
I love naturally vibrant color
I love my camera
I love my new camera lens
I love good music
I love nature
I love...

Zach surprised me this afternoon by taking off of work early so that we could spend it together. There were a number of things that contributed to his decision. The weather was amazing. The trees are beautiful. His work load for the day was light. Winter is on its way. I was home. And, I received my new camera lens in the mail, which as I already mentioned, I LOVE!

So, off we went to spend what will likely be one of the final beautiful days of the season, outdoors. We made our way to Morgan Monroe State Forest... and I can not put together words to describe how beautiful it is right now.... so, just take a loo for yourself.

There's a first for everything.

I had my very first photo shoot of complete strangers over the weekend.

Thought I would share a couple of the results.

Football.

Last night's weather sure made it feel like football season. The bleachers were stacked with people bundled in blankets, sipping on their hot chocolate :o)

My nephew, Matthew, plays as quarterback (#18) on a local community football team. The team remains undefeated and last night they had to play another undefeated team to decide who would be going on to play in next weekend's game against a neighboring community's team. If they win that game, I guess they go to a final championship game. It's all a little confusing to me... when I was in school, it was school vs. school. So learning the mechanisms behind all of this community sports will take some time.

All I know is, they won.. which means there will be another game next weekend.

I think he had fun... and getting to play on the high school's varsity field was a special treat!

Poppies

Today's painting.



Amateur, at best, but it's been awhile since I've used watercolor :o)

Whirlwind!

Yip, that seems to describe my last few weeks pretty well.

Just thought I would check in, because I have not fallen off of the Blogging wagon. We are still here and doing well! ... I make no excuses for my pause in updates... but, wow, what a whirlwind things have been lately. Nothing too over the top,just constant.

Besides the things that have been taking up my days and mind... we have been able to do some fun things too. We've been enjoying time with friends, family and each other. What more could we ask for!?

We'll let the last few weeks slip to the wayside in the blogging world, and start fresh with this past weekend.

What seems like just yesterday, I was given the fantastic news of a new life developing to enter the world: Laura and Brian Haussmann are pregnant! But, that wasn't just yesterday, because this weekend the baby shower had already arrived.

Zach and I made our way north, to Ruth's house on Saturday, so that we would be that much closer for the shower on Sunday. Zach and Joe got up early and made thier way to Six Flags for a day of rollercoasters, while Ruth and I got up early to make our way to Ikea before the shower. We didn't have a lot of time to spare, so we zipped through at full speed ahead. I was excited to be able to pick up a few things I have been looking for... but was disappointed when I was unable to find a couple of the big items I had hoped to find. That's okay though.

I changed my shirt and shoes in the car, and off we went to the shower.

Laura is a beautiful mom to-be and we are so excited for her and Brian! She had a lot of love show up to the shower... her house was packed with family and close friends... and now the nursery is packed too. We can not wait to meet baby Haussmann.

I started with the idea of a quilt for the baby's gift, of course... but, it seems more the size of a play pad... so that is what I am calling it. That's what the quilts are normally used as anyway :o)




She's all baby... and I'm guessing baby boy! :o)


Ruth enjoyed my camera on our drive through Chicago, so I did some editing for her :o)





Oh... and yes, the guys had a fun day at the amusement park. The lines were short,so they were able to ride the rides until they were more than content. :o)

Officially 29 and holding....

As most of my readers know, I celebrated my 29th birthday on Friday. If you did not know, and are now scurrying to mark it down in your calendar, you will realize that the date is indeed 9-11. Which, can be a bit of a downer, but over the last 8 years I have learned to avoid all sources of news broadcasting for the entire day. This saves the day and prevents me from being bombard with all of the sad remembrance stuff. I remember, but, I remember ever day. No real need to dwell on it on the anniversary date, when it has affected the country significantly in a daily magnitude.

So....
What did I do to celebrate my birthday?

Well, I was kind of spoiled this year and we filled our schedule with entertainment for 4 days straight (that's the joy of having your birthday fall near or on the weekend). I actually anxiously anticipated the mail coming each day... I received a lot of cards and surprises in the mail (Thank you, everyone!). I enjoyed dining with friends and my husband. I think I now hold a record of dining out for 3 meals in two days (Olive Garden, Stir Crazy and Red Lobster). Zach worked on getting me excited about golf by taking me to the driving range. We went to one of my favorite local places, Appleworks, where I was able scope things out in preparation for a possible photo shoot location next month and buy a bag of my favorite apples in the world. We rented movies (which is something we never do in warm weather) and lounged together. We gathered some of the generous donations that I received in my birthday cards and went to buy a new grill, since clearance has now set in (Ruth, you'll be disappointed, we bought another table topper). I played around with all of my new camera gadgets, which I cannot wait to get out and use in a real setting. I serenaded Zach with my beautiful *wink* vocal skills as we listened to old records and he worked on a project. We NAPPED... felt so nice. And of course you can fill in all of the cracks with the day to day stuff.

There are so many times throughout the year that I take time to think about how fortunate I am in this life. And, my birthday is one of those days. If you get bored with my streams of thankfulness, close off now, and I'll meet you again when I blog in a few days... if not, enjoy.



This year... wow! I have soooo very much to be thankful for! As I sit back, sigh, and let the tears well up.... all I can really say is "thank you!!!".

To name a couple things:

My dad... I am so very thankful for my dad! Not only am I so happy to have been given the best dad in the entire world, I am so very thankful that I still have him here on this earth with me! He's sick... still very sick... and as he battles his strength and continues trying to win, I think about all of the wonderful memories I have built with him. Together, we have had some of the best times in my life! I can think of some of the amazing memories, such as our helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and riding horseback in the Rocky Mountains, but, the truth is, it's some of the smallest things that make me smile the biggest. I love that he would carry me around on his big boot/foot throughout the kitchen almost nightly as I hung onto his leg and laughed and begged him to go faster. I love that he let us decorate the house in 'kid fashion' for Christmas, and he didn't care that it was far from perfect. I love that he called me every day when I lived in AZ and TX until he could tell in my voice that I was doing just fine (and I love that he moved me to each location even though he had heart ache each time!) I love that he fixed us homemade french fries and hamburgers every Saturday night, as children, and we would watch Hee Haw... then I would braid his hair, and fix it up in pony tails and barrettes. SO MANY memories. It is hard to look at a man who has always been the strong, powerful role model and watch him turn so weak and tired so quickly. But, I am grateful for him, and there is no way I would pick a different man in all of the world to have called "Daddy"!

My husband... I am so grateful that I have a husband who is financially wise and we have been able to adjust to me being unemployed with out much hassle. I am so grateful to have a husband who supports my goals, even though they change daily. I am so grateful to have a husband who is far from demanding that I find employment, no matter what it is, and is allowing me the time to think about and conclude what I really want to do with my career. I am so grateful for a husband that doesn't mind if he comes home to a few dishes in the sink and clothes that remain unfolded, because my attention has been snatched up by something else all day. I am thankful mostly because I know he loves me, no matter who/what I am or what I do. I am grateful for him, and there is no way I would pick a different man in all of the world to call my husband!

As you know, there are a bazillion things that I am thankful for, but, the two men in my life are probably the biggest, right now. My search in a career direction and my fathers health have been the biggest hurdles of the year... bit, they also receive my biggest smiles of gratitude!

Now... to find out what year 29 will bring.

Reuse and Recycle.

For the last 2 years I have been eyeing a chair in Kittles. It's stunning. It has amazing modern detailing, and I want it. And, it is now offered in an even more amazing fabric. But, every time I see it, and that desire to splurge on a furniture purchase works up inside of me, I talk myself out of it. It's hard, but, I look at the price tag that reads near $700 dollars, and it becomes much easier. A lot of people would have given in by now, but I have a rule in which only allows me to buy things that are on sale... and this chair would have to go on a major sale in order for me to find it worth it.

So.... I decided it was time to hit the antique stores and flea markets to find something comparable. At first, my search was favorable, but was still producing results with prices too high when I would think about the work that would have to go into making it a chair that I would actually place on display in my house... so, I looked further. I decided to stop at the local flea market, which usually hosts a mountain of junk that you must fumble through in order to find any treasures... but that day, I found it, a hidden treasure stuffed away in the back of the store; my six dollar chair!



I brought it home and was excited about what I had found. We got to work sanding the treasure the following weekend. WOW, I did not enjoy that, and would by lacking honesty if I didn't praise Zach for doing most of the work in this phase. Once he finished sanding, I went to work. I stained, and stained and stained again... only to be followed by multiple coats of polyurethane. At this point, I thought I was almost done, all I needed to do was reupholster it,right? Well that, too, proved to be a challenge. But, I did it. It took a lot of time and helped me build patience, but I did it!






Now... if only that $4,000.00 couch I am eyeing would drop in price by about 85% :o)