Inspiration

Sometimes I go through periods of feeling uninspired.  I feel like something is missing, that I am not connected to the "magic of life".  What I always manage to re-learn is that I'll never find the inspiration I am looking for on pinterest, someone's blog, or a magazine.  Instead, the inspiration must come from me and my daily life.  I've had this whole month of May off before I start work in June.  Mike works 12 hour days, so I have a lot of alone time just to sit and think.  And in my alone time of morning tea, sitting in my favorite chair, reading books, and going for hikes I can feel a lot of that inspiration naturally come back.  

 A trillium.  Growing up, these flour bloomed everywhere in the woods surrounding our house.  I always considered the trillium "my" flower because it would bloom just in time for my birthday.

Does anyone else have a hard time remembering what they've done the past few weeks?  Honestly, things start to turn into one big blur for me, so I have to write them down.  Here are some memories I want to remember from the past few weeks. 

I turned 22.  Mike got me a custom made camera strap for my birthday.  he told me he had been planning to get it for me for months.  He wanted to get me something that would further inspire my passion for photography.  I love that man.  One of my best friends, Rochelle came down and hung out with me for the day.

The next day, Mike and I went out and explored a state park that we've been wanting to go to for a while.  

 The trail.

A little stone fort that was off the trail.

We came across this lake.

It honestly felt like we were transported to up north.

A friend.

Jess and I have a "fitness walk" in the arb.  Here are some pictures of the yet to be bloomed peonies and some plants in the arb.  

Friday, all three of my best friends came down to Ann Arbor to go out for some sangria.  Afterwards we had a spontaneous photo shoot that had us laughing.  

 

 Then snookie came out when Alicia said "pose like you're on the jersey shore".

 Thanks girls for making my birthday truly special. 

Saturday, we drove up to Lowell to say goodbye to Josh and Leslie.  But first, we had dinner with Kenny and Nicole who made us some wonderful pizza.  Then we played some games and laughed really hard.  I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while.  Sunday the 13th is when Buddy joined our family.  We celebrated Mother's Day and introduced our families to Buddy.

 This is not a very good picture.  But it's my last picture of Leslie before they left.

The following week, I went for a walk in downtown Ann Arbor to the downtown library.  There is something so magical about Ann Arbor in the summer time.  I wish I had appreciated it's specialness more when I lived downtown last year.

Thursday, I said goodbye to my freshman and sophomore year roommate, Ashley Rose.  We got dinner at Bar Louie that night and caught up with other freshman year people later that night.

That week, I also spent a whole day with my sister Alicia.

The beautiful trail.

Friday, Mike and I had a mini date.  We went for a hike on this new trail that Alicia and I had discovered.  Then we went and watched "What to Expect When You're Expecting".  There is something so fun about going to the movies with your husband late on a Friday night.

Sunday, we took Buddy back to that state park to go swimming in one of the lakes there.  Buddy doesn't always do the best around other dogs so we found this little corner spot away from the main beach.  It was 90 degrees on Sunday so it felt so good to jump in.  Buddy is so funny looking when he's wet and I think he knows it too because he was acting all embarrassed.  We had to leave early due to other dogs raining on our parade.  It was okay though.  On the way home, Mike and I looked at each other and said, "I am really craving junk food right now".  So we went to taco bell, and I was reminded that while I love these shared moments with my husband, that fast food is really lacking flavor, nutrition, and style.

Yesterday I finished this little project.  I printed the quotes the night I took my walk to the library.  I finally got around to cutting them out and hanging them up.  They serve as some important daily reminders for me.

I feel like in life, I am always re-learning lessons I've already learned.  I suppose as long as I keep learning and growing, this is okay.