letting go {and #capturingmymoments}

I am not sure why, but I have had an influx of GFC followers

this week, but I love love LOVE it!  Hello to you, my new

follower:)  Welcome!  And thanks so much for staying.

Happy Friday to you!  Today is the last day of May, which means 

today is the last day for topics from Story of My Life.  Also, for those 

of you who are new around here, sharing my #capturingmymoments

hashtag project over on Instagram.  I'll get to that a little later though.

Like I said, today is the last day for blogging everyday in May

from Story of My Life.  While I did not participate in all of the prompts, 

I did enjoy having it there as an excuse to blog more.  I really had fun
with this and I have no idea what I am going to blog about in June (well at 

least until I get back from our trip to Palo Alto).  

Anywayyyyyy, yesterday's prompt was to respond to "Letting go."

I really liked the idea of this one since I have been doing a lot of

that recently: 

I have let go of the idea that my parents will always approve 

of the decisions I make in my life.  I have to live my life, for me.

No one else.  My parents have raised me to the person I am today.

While I would like to think they are proud, I cannot let worrying 

about what they think get in the way of living. 

I have let go of the person who I thought I was supposed to be so 

I can become the person I am meant to be.  Sound familiar?

It is the new-ish motto of this blog (and my life).  When I was younger I

had my life planned out completely different than it has so far turned out.
So instead of  being disappointed by that I am choosing to love the life I have
because if I am really honest with myself, I am, for the first time in
my life, actually happy and content.  

Now, it's time to share some of my favorites from the hashtag project

on Instagram.  New around these parts? Here is the what the project is

all about.  

Thanks to everyone who participated:)  I was excited to see some

new names on there!  Please spread the word.  Also, if your account

is private make sure you follow me (I'll follow back!) so you show

up in the #capturingmymoments feed.  

And yes, I do realize I did not share my 365 last week.  I was going

to today, but husband just got home and quite frankly, I am starting to sweat 

my tush off so I am signing off until tomorrow.  

Today's link-ups:

      

if not now then when

I am not a crafty person.  I browse Pinterest on a daily basis in search of inspiration/motivation pretending to be.  One of my goals for 2013 (assuming the world doesn't end before hand) is to seriously buckle down and really decorate our home.  I have recruited my sister-in-law and have a few ideas up my sleeve that I can't wait to start (and hopefully finish.  I have the ADD).  

I have loved seeing the different ways people have decorated their homes incorporating their favorite quotes.  I love quotes and have my favorites.  When I came across this one yesterday, I thought "PERFECT!"  No really crafty talent needed.  Just a black sharpie and frame and voila!  I already know just the place I want it to go.  I mean that is half the battle, right? 

{Source}

What, dear readers, are your favorite quotes?  Have you used any of them as decor in your home/apt?  If so, please share!  I would love to see:)  

Happy Hump (hehe I said hump) Day!  

xoxo,

Alyson

I choose happiness.

Like I mentioned Sunday, last week was a bit hectic and crazy (and not the good kind of hectic and crazy).  And this week was quickly starting to follow suit.  So, I decided - as of yesterday - to quit the second PT job at the airlines.  This decision was a difficult one but not because the pay is good, the management is great or I would not be seeing new friends often but because I had to let go of the cheap travel benefits.  For those of you know who me, I have never enjoyed flying.  Like not at all.  To the point where a few nights leading up to my flight I would be stricken with nightmares of the plane crashing and not being able to say good-bye the ones I love most.  My fear of flying has kept me from doing so many things in my life that I now regret like studying abroad in college or going to the University of Alabama for college (the idea of flying to get to/from school was something I was not willing to do).

However, that fear has started to fade away over the past few years.  This past June I flew over the big pond for the first time with two younger sisters to spend time in Ireland and Scotland.  Now the travel bug has set in.  To the point where there is not a place in this world I would not be happy to travel to.  Seriously.  Anywhere.  So when I heard of the openings at the airlines and I was offered the job on the spot I was ecstatic and immediately began to day dream of the different places I would now be able to see for an extremely cheap price.

To make a long story short, even though I told the woman who hired me numerous times I had a second job where I worked 3 days a week she either a. didn't listen b. didn't write it down or c. just didn't care (I'm thinking all of the above).  I mean she called me the day after I talked to her about when I could next come in to catch up on some training that she was sorry she hadn't gotten back to me yet but was wondering if I could come in on Monday.  Seriously the next day.  That is how bad she was.  Now I know she had a lot on her plate with the large influx of new hires but wouldn't it have been just as easy to write down, "I talked to yada yada on at yada yada time and we discussed yada yada"?

Anywayyyyyy, I was scheduled for the night shift from 6:30-? which is fine but that would mean two days out of the week working from 7:30am to 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning.  And after some thinking I decided the travel benefits were just not worth it.

I mean yesterday morning, before I had to decided to quit the airlines, I was changing the baby's (who I nanny for) explosive poop she had which resulted in me getting shit on my fingers, my pants and the carpet because I accidentally set the wipies down in the shit that had gotten all over the changing mat all while the baby was getting frustrated because I wasn't changing her fast enough so she ended up getting shit on her as well.

And you know what I did?  I laughed and thought I would rather do this any day over working somewhere for peanuts for cheap travel.  Because you know, hanging out with kids, cleaning their shit and all, in the moment makes me so much happier than planning a trip for the future.  The last 6 months have been about change.  A change that makes me happy.  And I plan to stick to that.

I choose happiness.

-Alyson-

Breathe.

This week has been one of those weeks of being crazy busy but not the good kind of busy.  The kind of week where I barely had time to breathe.  I recently started a PT job with American Eagle Airlines as a Ramp Agent - which I learned is just a fancy name for someone who cleans the planes.  I worked two shifts from 5am-2 or 3 then started my (and what will be my normal schedule) night shift of 630-1 (or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5.  All depending when everything gets done) last night.  Like with every job, starting and trying to remember everything that you have been taught is uber stressful.  I do not want to be that employee who everyone refers to as the "idiot new hire."  Not how I want to be known.  But alas  I am a new hire and will make some mistakes but once I make the mistake I know I will learn quickly how to remedy it.

Anywayyyy, that is why I have been absent from the blogging world all week.  And before you think I am complaining after only working 3 shifts all week I also nanny for two adorably hilarious girls Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  So see, crazy busy.  Now that I have a schedule figured out and know it will work out and have a better idea of what I am going to doing hopefully this week will be less stressful.

Now, to figure out where we are going first...:)

Since today was my first day off, husband and I went down the street and grabbed ourselves our Christmas tree.  I can smell it all the way up the stairs in the man room.  Mmmmmmm lovely!  Since I am not participating in this weeks Scavenger Hunt Sunday:( I will leave you with a few photos of our tree so far:)

Fall Foliage

As much as I love warm weather and have a hard time accepting the reality that it gets cold in Pittsburgh I am reminded every year how much I do love the change of seasons.  How couldn't I with sites like this on daily drives and regular walks?  Below are some of my favorite Fall Foliage photos I have taken this year.  

As we quickly approach fall back and the colorful leaves fall to the earth I am grateful I often had my camera in tow.  

The 'burbs of Pittsburgh surprise me every year and remind me of how much I really do love (this may be harder to repeat come January and February) living here.  Continuing to find surprises around the corner even after 15 years is truly humbling.  

RAWWWWWWR!

One of the reasons (besides his good looks) I married my husband is because he makes me laugh.  I don't think there is a day that goes by that he doesn't make me smile - even if it's not intentional.

For my last birthday (almost a year ago) my sisters got me these awesome lenses from Photojojo for my iPhone.  A tiny telephoto lens, fish-eye lens and macro lens/zoom lens (a two-in-one kinda deal) all that fit in my pocket and attach magnetically to the iPhone camera lens.  I opened them at work so you can only imagine how productive I was.  I was able to zoom in on my bling to make it look it huge and zoom in on a subject without having to move.

Little did I know that there was yet another treat inside the package.  When I opened the packaging a tiny dinosaur popped out.  At first I was all like "huh?  this must be some kind of a mistake." It wasn't until I read the invoice that I noticed that in addition to the 3 lenses listed there was a fourth "Rawwwwwr" listed.  It may have taken me longer than should have been necessary to realize the dinosaur was not in fact a mistake but a free gift from Photojojo.

When I got home that afternoon and showed the husband what I got we laughed about the little surprise dinosaur.  As with most random things, our new little dino friend sat on the steps going upstairs until one morning I was getting ready for work a week or so later and went to grab some TP and noticed our new friend just chillin'.  My husband is so sly.

It then became a game of "where in the house is dino"?  Husband would wait just long enough to put  dino somewhere else to surprise me.  And every time I would laugh.  

This was at my coworkers bday party in OH.  He brought the dino with him.

discovered while packing for Cali

After a while the dinos started to change.  And at first I got a little excited thinking that maybe just maybe husband bought me something from Photojojo.  But sadly accepted the reality that wasn't the case since the dinos changed from the blue guy to a Pterodactyl to a Stegosaurus and to T-Rex. 

Husband actually ordered the different dinosaurs from Amazon and kept them in his sock drawer where I wouldn't find them.  I haven't randomly found a dino in a while but know he will re-appear soon to bring another smile to my face. 

I love Photojojo and the different products they have for sale.  I bought this from them this summer for underwater pictures and really want this (anyone wanna buy it for me?) that just came out.  If you love iPhonetography as much as I do this site will not disappoint.  

Scotland 7, 8 and 9: Night Out and Glasgow

As our trip came to a close we all I started to get a little exhausted.  As much as I loved seeing different parts of Scotland and Ireland I was ready for a few days of R&R.  So that is what I did.  I hardly left the flat we were staying in.  It felt so nice to just be lazy, not get out of my PJs and catch up on social media and trashy television.

Our one plan we had for the rest of the trip was to go out for a night of drinks and karaoke in Glasgow as a last hoorah and somewhat of a bachelorette (hen party they call it over there), even though Barry's fiance was there.  We rented a booth for just the six of us for two hours to sing at the top of our lungs, out of tune (at least for the Brantleys) and delicious cocktails.  We sang everything from Garth Brooks, Allmond Brothers and Michael Jackson to Kelis and Sir Mix-A-Lot.  So much fun!

taking a look at the children's menu!  I haven't seen one of these since I was like... 5) 

That's a lot to promise!  

And a disco ball.  Perfect way to end a Saturday night out!  

I literally did not leave the flat the next day.  I would blame it on a hangover but I was just lazy.  I read, napped, read, repeat.  It was so nice and refreshing.  And as much as I enjoyed everyones company this girl needs some alone time (even in Scotland) and it was nice to get that while everyone went out for a few. 

friends as ants. 

As I know I have mentioned A LOT our trip a majority of the time was rainy and wet (as I know that is how it is Scotland) but the sun always came out when it really mattered.  Like our last day.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The sky was the bluest I had seen in a while and the green was just so... green!  It was actually a little warmer and I had to peel off some layers. 

We had already planned to walk around Glasgow as a group but were so fortunate to have such a gorgeous day.  Our first stop was the Glasgow Cathedral.  As you can see parts of it are under construction but what a beautiful building.  Seriously, the architecture never ceased to amaze me!  

In a small park on the way to the necropolis 

We then headed up to the Glasgow Necropolis behind the cathedral for gorgeous views of the city and the cathedral from above.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle hands

Lego hands. 

As goes with walking around we all started to get a little hungry so Simon took us on a little detour of the city to grab lunch at a nearby SM Supermarket.  

I think Santa was lost. 

We found a perfect shaded area to sit and inhale our lunches while we people watched and enjoyed the scenery.  

I thought this was incredibly sweet!

Our last stop of the day was the Kevingrove Art Gallery and Museum.  A beautiful building with quite the range of art on display.  While everyone walked around I grabbed my kindle and found a sunny spot to read (and nap) and get some more photos. 

We took another scenic route home through a park in the city.  Since it was such a beautiful day there were loads of people out and about.  Kids playing, couples reading snuggled together, hippies playing guitars, etc.  Great for people watching.  

Great end to a lovely 2 weeks in Ireland and Scotland!

Thank you so much to K, Barry and Simon for letting us take over your flat for a week and half!  What a great way to spend my frist trip across the big pond!  Can't wait to go back!