This morning I woke up three hours earlier than normal. Just for a sunrise. My mom asked if we had beautiful sunrises here and I said “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out!” We certainly do. All these photos are from the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park.

*Disclaimer: I am in no way shifting from weddings to nature photography. It’s just fun to experience different adventures once in a while. :-)

And of course there was wildlife on Wildlife Loop Road…this doe stared right at me for the longest time. I really wish I had seen a buck so that I could tell Lance and his dad that I ‘shot’ a buck (they are both out hunting for the ‘trophy buck’ today)!

There were also many, many buffalo. I felt like I was driving through the Roundup. Here’s one little guy:

Don’t expect many more sunrise shoots from this girl. It was fun and exhilarating and beautiful…for about 30 minutes. Before that I was half-tempted to stay in bed. After the sun was up I wanted to either go back to bed or go get a big caramel roll latte!!

In case you didn’t already know, I work part-time at a coffee shop.

Since I started working there I have become somewhat addicted to not only drinking lattes, but also making them look good:

I was SO excited about this heart I poured that I called everyone I was working with to come look at it – even my boss! She ran to get her camera and I was still smiling from ear to ear when I brought the drink out to the gentleman who ordered it. When I set it down in front of him on the table he shrugged and muttered a quick ‘thanks.’  He didn’t even care how good it looked!!! He totally bursted my ‘beautiful latte art’ bubble. But then later I made two other hearts and I felt better. :-)

I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve perfected the heart and moved on to the ‘rosetta latte.’

I LOVE getting mail. And more than anything I love getting PRETTY things in the mail!! I was so impressed by White Owl’s jewelry on her Etsy shop that I just had to have a pair of her earrings. And a necklace. I don’t know where I will ever wear either, but they were just too adorable to pass up!!

A large padded envelope greeted me in my mailbox when I got home from work tonight. I had already forgotten I had ordered something. What a nice surprise! :-) I simply adore cute packaging and hand-written thank-you notes:

Cute packaging makes what’s inside that much more exciting and beautiful:

My favorite kinds of jewelry are pieces that are unique and original, things that no one else has. My favorite rings are the vintage ones passed down from my mom and grandma. But now I have a new favorite necklace and pair of earrings!!

I had two weddings to attend this past weekend, but I didn’t have a purse to match my outfits!!! I found this clutch online for $155 and I thought to myself ‘I could make that.’ So I did!

Here’s what I saw online:

And here’s my finished product:

My total cost of materials was $10.03!!!

I am still a 4-H member at heart!! :-)

I FINALLY am totally and completely unpacked!! I know where everything is in my apartment, I just need to re-arrange a little bit more so that everything is where I want it to be instead of just where it got put when I was unpacking. :-)

My entryway hall:

View of the kitchen and my office from the entryway hall:

I have a dishwasher!!!! And Prairie Berry wine. :-)

I heart Jim.

My dining nook-turned-into-office:

View of the living room/kitchen from my office:

Yes, I kept the green couches.

The living room. Again. From the other corner.

On the left is the hallway to my bedroom and bathroom, on the right is my entry hallway.

My loves:

The bathroom.

The bedroom. The throw quilt on my bed was my apartment warming gift from mom – she’s the best.

Big closet. :-)

Coming up next: Bri + Chad’s engagement sesson!!!!!