Sunny days, birthdays, craft days, tasty days. March for the win!

1. Lance’s Birthday – we celebrated by going out to eat at our favorite pizza place in town – Piesano’s Pacchia – and ordering our favorite pizza – Chicken Alfredo!

2. Hello, sunshine!! We’ve had plenty of 70+ degree days here in Rapid City this past month, which means engagement sessions and weddings are just around the corner!! Yippee!!

3. Silk Mocha Iced Latte – With these warmer days, I’ve been sipping on iced coffee in the mornings and this is SO tasty – especially with a splash of caramel mixed in. You know how I love me some chocolate and caramel. :-)

4. My custom nail polish display shelf!!! Somehow, my nail polish collection has continued to grow over the past few months, and I was in desperate need of a way to contain them *and* see them all at a glance so I wouldn’t *accidentally* get duplicate colors. So I researched on Pinterest and searched through Google images. It seemed my only options were to a) build one from scratch, or b) get a spice rack. Now, I’m a pretty crafty girl, but creating a shelf from scratch is just not within my patience levels. So as I’m searching online for spice racks, other kitchen organizing gadgets caught my eye and I found this expandable bamboo utensil tray at Bed Bath & Beyond (similar one here) – I even brought my tallest nail polish to the store to make sure they would fit. I found the perfect utensil tray, took it home, super-glued the expandable drawers in the ‘expanded’ position, and Mr. Helpful Husband took care of the installation in our closet!

Oh February… you give us more daylight and a wonderful excuse to stuff our faces with endless amounts of chocolate. Let’s be friends forever, k?

Number 1 of my monthly favorites for a reason… the one and only card I received for Valentine’s Day – from my 5-year-old nephew. But don’t think my husband didn’t spoil me just because this was the only card I got – he surprised me the day before with Mostly Chocolates caramels and a lovely bouquet from Jolly Lane – which is still looking great two weeks later!!

2. Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream Cake –  This Pinterest-inspired cake quickly became a disaster when we decided that flouring the 9″ pans was unnecessary  My friend Halley and I were picking up large crumbs off the counter to re-assemble the layers of cake before using the ganache as a glue and pouring the frosting on, since spreading frosting onto this cake simply would not do. This was definitely not a pretty cake. However, it tastes WONDERFUL and so we have been too busy chowing down to stop and take a photo… until now… when it is half-eaten… and even less pretty. :-)

3. Colorful file folders – Twice a month, the creative side of me would dread filing my receipts. My folders were all different colors, the tabs didn’t match, and some folders weren’t even being used! I decided that by prettifying my file drawer, my right and left brain would both enjoy this chore.

4. Crafting bracelets – February is the perfect month to snuggle in with a blanket on the couch and mindlessly string beads while watching Live with Kelly & Michael.

5. Shamrock Shake  – mmmmm hmmmmm!

We just got back from our week-long honeymoon in Hawaii, and while looking back through my camera roll for this month’s edition of ‘laura loves’ I kept thinking to myself “that seems like it happened SO long ago!!” Christmas was not even a month ago? It seems like last year! Ha. Ha. :-)

1. My 31 Bits bracelet – I have been admiring this company for some time now, and I just purchased my first piece from them this month! And my favorite thing about them? They now started a wedding shop!! Makes me want to get all new jewelry and dress up in my wedding gown again!! :-)

2. Homemade Christmas cookies from my mom – she and her friends get together and have a ‘baking day’ before Christmas every year. They make all different kinds of cookies and candies, and then take home a little of everything. Lance’s favorite: peanut butter balls. My favorite: Grandma Braun’s date pinwheel cookies. And spritz cookies. And peanut butter balls. I like Christmas treats, so what?

3. Camera gloves!!! One of my wonderful 2012 couples sent me these gloves – perfect for taking photos out in the cold!!

4. Fixing puzzle – This is only the second puzzle I’ve ever fixed *mostly* by myself. Lance will walk by and pop a few pieces in place once in a while, but this one was tough! It was a painted scene from ‘Gone With the Wind’ and there was no ‘full view’ of the image on the box. Edges were cropped off, and there was a ‘Gone With the Wind’ logo covering the top left. Since I couldn’t figure out that final corner by color, I had to organize all the pieces by shape and go down the rows until each piece fit. We finished the puzzle just in time to leave for…

5. Our honeymoon!!! One week in Kauai, Hawaii, 70-80 degree weather every day, beautiful drives, awesome hikes, great food, breathtaking views. This is the last photo I took before I wiped the sand from my toes and put on my cold weather clothes for our flights back to South Dakota and below freezing temperatures.

Christmas came early, flowers were delivered and seasonal coffee creamer is in the house!!! Here are a few of my favorite things this month.

1. New custom flash drives!!! Thanks so much to Kristen at Flashbay for helping with my order. I can’t wait to start handing over wedding images to my 2013 couples with these!!!

2. Animal print flats – Up until a week or so ago, I’ve lived my life as a Plain Jane, wearing only solid colors. Mainly in the blacks/browns/teals/purples categories. My husband thinks my sudden intrest in ‘wild prints’ is because, now that we’re married, he is wearing off on me. To this I just smile and nod, because oftentimes he wears plaid shirts and camo print pants. Together. In public.

3. My new Canon G12 – I used to take my ‘big camera’ around with me everywhere. I never could decide which lens to bring, so I brought multiple. It was getting to be that whenever I would go see my nephews, I had enough gear packed to photograph a wedding. I opted for this camera because I can use manual camera settings and it works with the flashes for my ‘big camera.’ And yes, using it makes me feel twice as fly as a G6. :-)

4. Married life is a ‘blast.’ And sometimes a little unfair. Like when I’m stuck with the smaller foam dart gun.

5. Birthday flowers from Jolly Lane!!! My mister brought these home for me on my birthday and they lasted a very long time, so naturally they were one of my most favorite things this month.

6. My morning cup of coffee – and Peppermint Mocha creamer. Some people like a little cream with their coffee. I like a little coffee with my flavored creamer.

It’s funny that November is one of my favorite months. It is when snow starts to fly, coats are mandatory, and Christmas songs are played before Thanksgiving – all of which are things I don’t care for. But the things I LOVE about November far outweigh the cold weather – like having a garage to park our cars in. :-) This leads me to this month’s installment of ‘laura loves…’ :-)

1. Thanksgiving with my family – in particular, reading to my nephews. This is the only time they willingly sit on my lap and snuggle with me. Next time I visit, I’m going to bring the biggest, longest story book EVER so they never stop cuddling with me. :-)

2. My birthday cake – my sister-in-law makes delicious home-made cakes. One year she made a spiced caramel rum cake (my mouth still waters at the thought of it!!) but this year she experimented with a recipe she has wanted try for a long time. Molten lava chocolate cakes. Yeah. She sets the bar high.

3. Nail polish – about a month ago, I went searching for the perfect shade of peachy-pink nail polish. And then I couldn’t.stop.buying.nail.polish. “I wonder how this sweater brown color would look on me?” and “Oooh, mint green would be fun!” FYI, the perfect shade is a mix of the first two colors, but it takes three or four coats to get it just right. Which means getting that perfect shade without smudges makes for a really time-consuming project.

4. Taking photos at the Cathedral in Rapid City – the Cathedral will be celebrating their re-dedication this spring and they needed some updated photos for a booklet that will be put together. Yours truly got to climb up five levels of scaffolding to document every stained glass window, station of the cross, painting and plaque. Not my typical job with a camera in hand, but it was definitely fun to stretch my comfort level (who wants to go to Six Flags or ride a zip-line with me??) and do something out of the ordinary.