Sunday, July 31, 2011

Epiphany

I had a bit of a revelation -- or perhaps we should call it an epiphany -- on Thursday. I realized I spend far too much time on the internet, wasting away my life. Okay, that's an exaggeration. I don't really think I'm wasting away my life because I don't have much else to do. BUT, that doesn't mean I need to spend so much time hovering over my laptop everyday.

I've decided that starting today, I will spend as much time away from my computer as possible. Seeing that I'll be at a house all week without internet, it's a good time for this to start. Instead, I will walk in the mornings with my mom, work out by myself every other day on the treadmill, cook some new meals, read my Bible every day, not put on makeup, drink less coffee, do some knitting and crocheting, read at least a few books before the summer's over, and go on a couple roadtrips -- such as to the Short Pump mall and Farmville to look for some furniture (more on that later). WOAH. Run on sentence much? Sorry 'bout thattt. 

Anyway, I probably won't be blogging much this week. I'm sure I'll be back to my full time computer usage after the week is over but I just want to do something different for a bit. :D Everyone needs change once in a while. I hope everyone has a splendid week and most importantly, I hope you watch Shark Week like I will be. :D


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Outfit III

These boots are made for walking!!!! Okay, not really. Did you see my post yesterday? I got Frye boots and I'm SO excited about them. Actually, I'm so excited that I don't want to take them off; I probably wouldn't if the heel wasn't so high. Haha. :)

And because I didn't want to take them off, I thought I'd get my mom to take a few shots of me in my dress and new boots. This outfit is the simplest thing ever. I don't have any accessories on and I'm not necessarily trying to show my fashion, but I did want to show off my Fryes. :D

Dress - Target
Shoes - Bittersweet (Frye)





Friday, July 29, 2011

The End

Okay, it's been a good photographing week for me. I absolutely adoooooore taking pictures of nature and especially animals, so the spiderweb plus this little guy you'll see in a second made for some good photography. Our family just bought a new grill so we had the new one waiting on the patio to be moved up to our decrepit deck and when mom went to move the grill, she saw Mr. Froggy underneath. I have never seen a frog in my yard. That is just not something that happens often. I guess he was enjoying the dampness from the cool shade below the grill cover. He was adorable!! Not that I would have ever touched him, but he was pretty cute. :) So little!!! The pictures make him look big but he was actually the size of a golfball.

Summer is coming to close, unfortunately. I know these last two weeks will sadly fly by, but I'm trying to lift my spirits and be a Positive Polly. :) Although I'm not looking forward to stressing each week about classes and trying to befriend people I don't know at all, I'm excited for a new start. Maybe it's not really a completely new start, but it's a new school year! My senior year, to be exact! :D

Also, I've been keeping up my promise to myself to workout every other day. The treadmill and bottled water have become my best friends. Not so much the Ginger Ale, though. It does settle the stomach but I wouldn't say it's great for workouts. :)

To end one of my last summer weeks off in a bang, I'm going to be dogsitting for one of my neighbors. And this is some legit dogsitting. I am actually staying at their house for five days. It's going to be quite different, but I'm excited. Their dogs are precious and their house is beautiful. Considering Shark Week is next week while I'll be there, I guess I'll just have to make myself at home in front of their big-screen t.v. :D I'm totally okay with this.

Anywho, I hope everyone has had a fantabulous Friday! I'm off to go eat dinner. :D











Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Spidey Powers

You know what's cool? A spiderweb. I am absolutely fascinated with how they weave that perfect design of a home. It's absolutely incredible. I mean, can you imagine how long it takes them to do that, especially considering they'll probably have to build it again after someone tears it down???

I've been getting up at 8:00 every morning to walk with my mom and yesterday, while she was letting our dog out, she noticed this perfect web, strung below our deck, with the sun glinting beautifully off of it. She told me to come down and bring my camera, as she often does when seeing something cool. :) I hooked on my telephoto lens and quietly walked down the steps, not knowing what I was going to see. I didn't want to scare any animal off. 

Well, those quiet steps weren't quite necessary. I looked out the door and saw what she called me down for: the web. It really was stunning. I feel weird saying that a spiderweb was beautiful but you should've seen it in person. Thankfully, I have pictures to prove its awesomeness. I hope they can do it justice.




Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Bloom! Magazine

I have a bit of exciting news!!! I was contacted by a sweet girl named KyAnn about applying to be on the staff for her magazine! She's 14 and decided to start a Christian magazine run by teen girls!! I think that's pretty sweet!! Sooooo, I applied. I'll find out sometime down the road if I'll be a new photographer for their online magazine but for now, I wanted to let you guys know so you can apply too, if you want! She asked me to get the word out since the deadline for applications is later on today.

Do you love writing, photography, or graphic design? Then this opportunity is for you! Bloom! Magazine is looking for new staff members! They need staff writers, photographers, and graphic designers for the 2011-2012 staff. There are also a few more positions available, including a webmaster position which will include website design and upkeep. If you or anyone you know is interested in applying for the staff or would like more information, please go to their website. And, if you haven't subscribed to Bloom! Magazine, definitely go check it out! :)

Shoes Are Like Decorations for Your Feet

I've ALWAYS been that girl who loves shoes. I'm a lame and just went and counted how many I own it ended up being twenty-nine pairs. Is that a lot? I feel like it is. Haha. Anywho, I wear just about all of them so no need to fear, y'all!! :) 

Lately everybody has been blogging about shoes and it just makes me want to spend my money on a few new pairs. I thought I was doing good saving my money. GOSH DARN IT. I shouldn't ever get on the internet.

I've wanted some Frye boots for about a year now and I definitely plan on getting some this winter, but now that it's summer I just want a new pair of TOMS. They just posted a picture of a new pair on their Facebook site and I went cahrayzay because they are this awesome greenish yellowish color!! Definitely my fave out of all on their website. I love bold colors. I'll post a picture below. :D 

Even though I never feel bad about purchasing TOMS because I'm helping someone else, I still really, really need to work on saving..... Yikes. I guess you'll find out soon enough if I get them but for now, check out all these cute shoes that stole my heart. I wouldn't mind having these in my closet, either.

P.S. This is incredibly random but my blog URL has changed. It's now http://meredithsledge.blogspot.com. I don't really know why I changed it but I wanted to let everyone know -- especially my followers. Some of you MIGHT have to unfollow me and then refollow me. I don't think you'll get updates on your Dashboard. :(





Monday, July 25, 2011

Guest Posting

I'm super duper uber excited to be guest posting for the first time ever on Kailyn's blog!! YAY. YAY. YAY. I say yay a lot. Sorry. I just get so excited about the little things.

Anywhoooo, as I was saying, I saw that Kailyn was going out of town and wanted some guest posters so I emailed her as fast as possible asking if I could do the honors!! :) She said I could and all I wanted to do after I heard that was go jump on a trampoline to release my energy. Instead, I spent numerous hours putting together the best post I could on how to create your own logo and make it into an action in Photoshop. Not too complicated, but I always wanted to know how to do this when I first started my blog and yet couldn't figure it out for the life of me.

Soooo, I'm hoping the post is of help because I'm really trying to get my blog's name out there. The more guest postings I do, the better!! I'll also be sponsoring some other blogs as well, but more on that later. :)

For now, you should go check out my post over at A New Rebel. :) Kailyn, thanks again for giving me this splendid opportunity!!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Those Dark Clouds

I cannot even express how much I love rain. No, I love thunderstorms. With lightning and really giant drops of rain hitting hard on my bedroom windows. It's the most peaceful thing in the entire world. 

And Waynesborians, do you see those black clouds? AHHH! I was just outside taking some pictures and decided to come in because it looked as though the sky was angry. I didn't want it to take it out on me. :D Anddd it's a good thing I came in because the sky was DEFINITELY angry. It just started pouring. And lightninging (can someone please tell me how to use lightning as a verb?). And thundering. And there's wind. Tsunami???? Hurricane? YIP.

Anywho, like I said, I was outside a minute ago taking pictures. I haven't really been taking any photos lately and it makes me very sad. I miss photographing people. :( But to satisfy my sadness, I decided to take my macro lens out and try to make anything boring interesting. It didn't work out as well as I had hoped but I'm still excited to finally share some real pictures for the first time in a while. :) Checkkkkkk themmmm outttttt. 











Friday, July 22, 2011

Outfit II

It's time for outfit número dos. I'm excited about this one because I'm wearing heels! AHH. Honestly, I wish I could purchase every cute pair of heels ever made. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I can't wait until I'm a little older and it's more appropriate for me to wear heels... every single day. :D My life will rock. Not only will I be taller, but I'll be able to look more fashionable. It's so much easier putting together outfits when you have heels to go with it. :D Well anyway, I hope you enjoy today's simple outfit. 

Shirt - Forever 21
Belt - Ross
Jeans - American Eagle
Shoes - T.J. Maxx (Jessica Simpson)




Thursday, July 21, 2011

I Feel Happy

Sometimes I blog as though no one reads it. That's both a good and a bad thing, but it usually makes me feel better, which is the most important thing. :) Instead of hiding away my feelings in a book under my bed, I type them on my blog and have the freedom to hit Publish after I'm done. No, I do not share everything on my blog, but it feels good to express some feelings, so I think that's what I'll do right now. :D

Getting a blog has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. As of now, I don't have enough followers to feel obligated to post all the time, but I have enough to enjoy doing it and make me want to share. Sure, I'd love more readers. I'd take getting tens of thousands of blog views every month any day. That's such an honor. For now though, I'm happy. Happy with most everything.

I struggled a lot this past year. I won't go into it but life was just plain hard. I've never been in a place where I felt down in the dumps every day, until this year. Usually I am the upbeat person that always tries to make people feel better. Usually I love being around people and talking for hours. Usually I hate going to bed at night. I just enjoyed life. But those are things that disappeared this past year and although I put on my "happy" face when I was around people, I was hurting on the inside. 

Thankfully though, I feel a ton better as of late. I don't know exactly why. It's probably because I prayed about it a lot and tried to be patient, but it's just nice to be moving back in the right direction. Having a summer away from a job and time to recollect has been so healing. I'm very much an introvert and being alone is awesome when you need it. And I surely did need it. This may not sound like the best approach to life, but in my time of solitude, it helps me to push away everything that is upsetting and tell myself that one day, I'm going to be doing something I love and I will be beyond happy. When I tell myself that, I feel comforted and life gets a little easier. 

I'm just incredibly thankful for the couple of friends that have really reached out to me and also my blog followers, whether you realize it or not. I love reading your comments and being encouraged on a daily basis by you. Thank you so very much. 

I don't have much of a reason for writing this post except to hopefully encourage anyone who is struggling like I was. Trust me, it does get better. It just takes time and a lot of prayer. Don't give up. And also, don't hate me for being so cheesy. :D Haha.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the day! And here are a couple pictures I took yesterday. :)



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Haircut

I have legitimately needed a haircut for six months now. Yiiiiikes. I usually don't neglect my hair but I have been lately. I think that's because I wanted it to be long so I was waiting until I could get it styled the way I wanted.

WELL, THE DAY HAS COME!

I went to get my hair cut yesterday and was pretty excited because I just love haircuts. I feel like a new person afterward. :) Check it outtt.


Here's the before.

And here's the after!! I realize my hair looks surprisingly better in the before picture, which is so sad, but I tried to straighten it for this after picture and was in a hurry so I think I made it worse..... Oh, wellllll. Maybe I'll post some better ones in the future. 

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Spiderwebs

You know what's cool? A spiderweb. I am absolutely fascinated with how they weave that perfect design of a home. It's absolutely incredible. I mean, can you imagine how long it takes them to do that, especially considering they'll probably have to build it again after someone tears it down???

I've been getting up at 8:00 every morning to walk with my mom and yesterday, while she was letting our dog out, she noticed this perfect web, strung below our deck, with the sun glinting beautifully off of it. She told me to come down and bring my camera, as she often does when seeing something cool. :) I hooked on my telephoto lens and quietly walked down the steps, not knowing what I was going to see. I didn't want to scare any animal off. 

Well, those quiet steps weren't quite necessary. I looked out the door and saw what she called me down for: the web. It really was stunning. I feel weird saying that a spiderweb was beautiful but you should've seen it in person. Thankfully, I have pictures to prove its awesomeness. I hope they can do it justice.




Thursday, July 14, 2011

Go Outside

PAHLEASEEE. I am begging everyone to go sit outside. Oh my, oh my, oh myyy. If perfect could be bundled up into one day, that day would be today. No, but really, have you walked outside? It feels like a warm fall day or a cooler spring morning. I want it to stay this way forever!! I've been watching so much Harry Potter lately that I feel like I should be able to walk outside and perform some sort of spell to keep it this way. Fortunately or unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

Today is also a happy day because I finally got up before noon!! I was up at 6 a.m. for work with my dad yesterday and because I was so tired, I went to bed early and slept really well. In return, I got enough sleep and woke up at 8:00 this morning. MAGIC. I was so proud of myself. My obnoxious schedule went something along these lines: go to bed at 3 a.m., wake up at 2 p.m., be confused as to why the days felt so short, and then proceed to go back to sleep at 3 a.m after tossing and turning for hours. It suckedddd. So I've been trying desperately to fix that, especially since I will be waking up early for school in a few short weeks. Well, a month. A short month. Don't get me started on that, though. I'll literally just start crying.

Oh, and of course I can't forget the premiere of Harry Potter tonight. Or I guess technically tomorrow. I'm sad I'm not going but I really want to watch all the movies from start to finish before I see the new one. I've forgotten a lot of important details and I need to understand EVERYTHING when I see the last one, of course!!!

Okay, enough about today. I was in the mood for blogging so that's why I did so, but I really wanted to share some of my Instagrams!! More and more people are getting iPhones (or the new iPod Touch), which means more and more people are downloading the magnificent app called Instagram. Check it out if you haven't already. No need to explain this since I've already done that numerous times. Here are some of my photos!!! Actually, more like a TON of photos. :)






Unknown Artists: Brooke Waggoner + Amanda Markley

I haven't done an Unknown Artists post in quite a while. I haven't been exploring new artists too much lately so I decided I'd mix it up a bit in this post and include Brooke Waggoner even though she's pretty well known.

The first time I ever listened to Brooke Waggoner was about two years ago when my Young Life leader made me a mix CD. That was definitely Nichole's thing. She loves music and is incredibly musical so she just really enjoyed doing that for people. A few of the songs she put on that mix CD were songs by Brooke and I'm so thankful she included them. Brooke's one of those artists that, in my opinion, you love the more you listen to. I only had a couple songs by her until a few days ago when I saw that one of her albums was on NoiseTrade for free! Everyone loves free music so I downloaded it and have been listening to it a ton! My favorite song is "Beaut." It's just gorgeous. And if you end up liking her, look up the song "So So." That's on the top of my list as well.

Also, about five months ago, I discovered Michelle Moore's wonderful blog and decided to read her blog from the beginning. That's how fascinated I was by her photos. GAHH. Gorgeous. But anyway, I ran across this post and this post about her sister! Her sister, Amanda Markley, has just recorded a couple songs and although I don't ADORE her songs, I love the lyrics. I think they're inspiring and one of her songs in particular just reminds me that if I work hard and pursue what I love, I can do whatever I want. :D Makes me happy. I love songs like that. Most songs these days are just about love but I didn't interpret hers that way. YAY! She wins the award for being different.