Love It!
1. Apple Bacon Cheddar Sandwich! OMG!!! This it the best sandwich!!! The crisp tart of the granny smith apples mixes with the cheddar cheese for a delicious combo and then you add the bacon and it is over the top. Where might you find this fabulous sandwich? Why Eileen’s in Downtown Fredericksburg! I made a lunch date with the always fun Korie Lynn and we both have been looking forward to this sandwich since last week. It was delish!! I feel like the apple slices make it healthy, I plan to ignore the fact that the bacon and cheese might change that fact. It is totally healthy I mean I hit all the major food groups, grain for the bread, fruit for the apple slices, cheese for the dairy and bacon for the meat. I haven’t looked at the food pyramid since elementary school but on my pyramid the apple bacon cheddar sandwich is totally healthy!! I refuse to listen to anyone that might disgree 😉
2. iPad keyboard! If you are a regular reader you know that I LOVE my iPad, like sleep with it in bed love 🙂 My husband has already said he can foresee having to break my ipad habit when he gets home. Right now I’m writing this post from my iPad with my new iPad keyboard!!! In fact I wrote several blog posts from my new keyboard on Friday night while I waited to meet my friends for dinner downtown. I can actually type properly now! I scored a deal on my keyboard by reading the DWF forum and seeing someone post a link on the gear forum to a one day sale on an ipad keyboard and case for less then $30. I knew the official Apple version was around $90 so this was a steal. Now I’ve only been using if for less then a week so I have no idea about the durability but just having an external keyboard for my iPad is a godsend. This is so great to send longer emails and of course blog! I’m heading to San Diego in a couple weeks and I was going back and forth on taking my laptop since I would be gone for a week but now I’m thinking that my iPad and my keyboard are all I need! I’ve got an app to remote into my desktop at home so while it may be clunky I can still access my photos if need be. I can’t believe that my iPad has made my laptop obsolete practically. I’m perfectly fine working off a desktop in my office but everywhere else it is iPad time!!
3. Homecoming! No not the dance or the football game but a military homecoming. Yes I get to finally reunite with my husband very soon!!!!! There are not enough exclamation points to show how happy and excited I am. It has been almost 7 months since I’ve seen my husband, we get to talk on the phone about once a week but it is not enough. We’ve been together almost 6 years and this is the longest we have been apart. I’m not going to lie, there have been some nights of crying and some times of self pity. I hear from a lot of people that they couldn’t do it and I would have been one of those people but when it happens, you do it. You get through each day and each night and you do it and it sucks but you can do it. The sweet part is right now when it is so close to seeing each other again, I watch all these reunion videos and I cry happy and excited tears. I’m trying to figure out the perfect outfit so when he steps off the plane I look awesome! I know I am going to bawl like a baby when I see him so I’m not sure how to do my makeup so I don’t look like a raccoon. Part of me can’t believe that it is almost over, I mean for the last year almost I’ve been married but single. What does that mean you ask? It means that I get to act like I’m single but I don’t have the pressure to meet a guy. It also means that I don’t attend couples events because I just miss my husband more. So I am excited to make plans again as a couple, cook dinner together and resume normal life. My summer vacation is over and it is back to the real world 😉 I’m happy to rejoin that world though, I cannot wait to get swept up in his arms and cry tears of happiness. Check out some YouTube videos of military homecoming reunions and any woman that is screaming, crying and throwing herself on her man will be me 😉 Oh and check out the dog reunion videos, those totally make me cry, I can’t wait for the girls to see their Daddy again!
Hate It!
1. Missing WPPI! So this week I’ve been completely jealous of my photographer friends attending an awesome photography convention and tradeshow in Vegas. Yes they are all in Las Vegas and I’ve never been to Sin City! I think it is just a right of passage I’ve yet to experience, I mean c’mon everyone needs to see Vegas at least once. Add in a bunch of crazy wedding photographers and it sounds like a blast to me!! So many parties, awesome classes and a phenomenal tradeshow, yeah I’m totally jealous! Next year, I will be there next year!! David may even tag along with me!
Melissa Arlena is an award winning lifestyle newborn photographer in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia who has earned her Master Photographer Certification from NAPCP in maternity, newborn and family photography. Her natural and simple work has been featured in magazines and online blogs worldwide. She has been named Best Maternity and Newborn Photographer in Richmond and Charlottesville, VA in 2023.