Never enough hours in a day

As Joey likes to quote, "America Runs off Dunkin!" He loves their coffee. I get green tea.
I have hated this bronze mirror for quite some time..I put on two coats of metallic silver. LOVE!
The 20ft maple tree that we scored at our favorite nursery for an amazing price
The dead maple that the builders gave us that we had to replace out of our pocket...ouch.
Joey uprooted the old dead tree easily as it was rotted to the core
New tree weighs over 300 pounds...Joey rolled it carefully out of his truck and into this hole
Packing in lots of dirt around the root ball. We were exhausted by this time.
Me watering the new bush I planted and the other flowers.
Isn't she a beaut! This was all done in a half day Saturday with 90+ degrees and humidity bearing down on our backs. We were cooking to say the least and exhasted by the heat but, in the end it was worth it. I love my new metallic colored mirror. I will post a picture of it soon and Joey and I love our new tree and bush that we planted. That is our weekend in a nutshell:).

This show looks amazing! -Parenthood-

Lake Campin'

We generally take our smaller, light weight camera when we camp so that we don't have to lug around the heavy duty one, but silly me lost the battery charger so we were stuck with the less portable camera. As a result, I took maybe 15 pictures in total during our weekend at the lake which I am very bummed about. Note to self: buy new battery charger asap! The lake is absolutely gorgeous and the campground area is literally a forest....so much different then the dry, dessert style campgrounds of California that I am used to. Joey got to fish a lot and I got to lay out in the sun with friends by the lake. I would love to camp there again with our families someday. I enjoyed a wonderful bible study by myself early on Sunday morning at a picnic bench next to the lake and it was the most serene experience I have had in a long time. I saw a beautiful well fed Cardinal (one of mine and Joey's favorite birds) in the tree right beside me and the wind whispered all around me. It was so quiet,peaceful, even a bit cool as if Fall was visiting early. It was such a great place to spend some time alone with the Lord and to hear his voice. That was the highlight for me!

My fisherman

I don't know anyone whose husband loves fishing as much as mine. I don't think Joey would get sick of it even if he fished 7 days a week for a year straight! He generally fishes at the lake every Saturday from around 5 AM until around 2 PM and I'm sure he would stay a lot longer if he wasn't married...lol. He also takes his boat out occasionally on a week night if he has time and will fish from around 6 PM until around 9:30 or 10 PM. Yah, my guy is hardcore but, he is VERY good at what he does. He catches fish like a pro and in fact, I think he would go pro if he wasn't tied to a job and bills. I decided to tag along with Joey last week so that I could capture pictures of the fishing process for the blog. I sat quietly and watched and took a ton of pictures. These were some of my favorites. Unfortunately, Joey didn't catch anything that night so I have to go again with him soon to try and capture the actual fish on the line. I can't even describe how serene and peaceful it is on the lakes out here. The trees are beautiful and green and you can hear all kinds of birds and insects chirping in the evening breeze. LOVE IT!! I really wished I enjoyed fishing because it would be so fun to share that in common with my man...just can't seem to get into it the way he does. I get bored after about an hour of fishing. Now if he had a library of decorating magazines on the boat I could hang around a little longer! haha.

Isn't He Cute

I got to take some more pictures of adorable little Vinnie and his parents this past week after work. He's gotten so much bigger since the previous posts hasn't he! It has been such a treat to watch this little guy grow and if you remember, he was the very first person I took pictures of using manual settings a few months back. On that note: I'm so grateful to everyone who has given me a chance to practice photography, who has encouraged me along the way and who has been so supportive as I have tackled this challenging field. I still have a long way to go to get to where I would like to be but, for now it has been a wonderful journey and I have lots of great pictures to look back on and see the progress I've made in such a short time. I have to give huge props to my absolutely amazing husband for being the most encouraging person throughout this process. I've gotten very discouraged a few times both with myself and my camera and with a few people who have cast a shadow over my joy. Through it all Joey has constantly lifted my spirits and has had far more faith in me than I have had in myself. Gosh, I love that guy! Anyways, what I really want to say is...Thank you to all my friends and family for being such wonderful cheerleaders! You guys are truly wonderful!

Need your help--Gimme a favorite quote!

I am in need of quotes for a project that I am working on and I would love a little assistance from all of you who stop by the Martinez blog shack:). Please share with me one or several of your favorite quotes in the comment section below and I will most definitely incorporate them into my project which I will share with all of you when it's finished...which will probably be a little while. The quotes could be a bible verse, someone famous, your own quote, or a friend's words. I would love to hear some of the meaningful or silly things you have said as well that have stuck with you.

Here are a couple of mine to get you inspired:

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
Ambrose Redmoon

We get to make a living; we give to make a life.
Winston Churchill

Now, I know that you don't all post on here much but, if you could help me out just this once I would really appreciate it:). There is no bad quote if it means something to you. Please share! :-)

THANK YOU!!

Godly Humor

A friend sent me these this morning in an e-mail. There were a few others but, I couldn't get them to upload for some reason. Silly, clean humor:). I have had so little to blog about this week which is so unusual! I lost the battery charger to my smaller more portable camera so that has really limited mine and Joey's ability to take more frequent pictures. Hopefully I find it soon! We are camping this weekend at a lake nearby and that is something we are both really looking forward to. The campsites are so beautiful and the lake is warm by this time which is nice. I have been teaching Dakota how to run with me in the evenings. She used to hate it when I ran and she would turn around and start biting the leash and trip me but, with a couple simple words I have corrected that problem and she appears to love our nightly tradition now. It's been fun having a buddy to jog with! I should try and take a picture of it sometime! lol.

Happy Friday

Joey and I just got back from On the Border, one of our favorite Mexican Restaurants here. While I sat there 3 bees landed on our table (we were eating on the outdoor patio). One of the bees walked across my plate while I tried not to breath or move so it wouldn't fly on me and the other marched across my drink. One kept making flybys. It was a nerve wracking dinner for me. Joey told me to imagine that the bees were flies and just ignore them. I'm sorry but that philosophy does not work for me. lol. Anyways, Joey's in a tournament tomorrow and he is so excited about it...that is an understatement!! :). Hope you all enjoy your weekends. Night.

Urieta Familia

I had a blast taking pictures of my friend's family this past Monday after work. I really do enjoy taking pictures for people. It's so fun to see how different families interact and laugh together. I love it and I really hope to do more of this in the future! To see more from this session...you know the drill, hop on over to my photo blog at http://caseymartinezphotography.blogspot.com I wish I had more exciting news to share but, things have been pretty low key this week for us which is refreshing change. This weekend Joey is in another fishing tournament so wish him luck!! I am still mulling over my entryway in my free time and I think I've pretty much got it pinned down...just have to find the furniture that I've picked out in my head:). That's all for now....Hope you are all having a blessed week!

Rooms that caught my eye this week

I know this office is simple but, I like the retro feel and rug!
This french sofa is deliciously beautiful!
Love the earth tones and headboard in this room
What a refreshing dining area with a great view of the outdoors! Lovely.

4th of July festivities

We spent the 4th of July with my husband's family and I was so happy that it presented me with a photography opportunity! These are some of Joey's cousins and his Aunt. They were a blast to photograph. Absolutely a joy in every way. They were having a great time being photographed and that made my job so easy. I honestly can't wait to take their pictures again:)! I will be posting many more pictures from this session on my photo blot at http://caseymartinezphotography.blogspot.com Joey and I had a wonderful weekend doing yard work, eating good food, hanging out with family and watching fireworks. I love 3 day weekends!

Crock Pot Chicken with black beans and corn

Again, it's going to take me a good while to master the art of culinary display as well as the purchase of a new macro lens to really get to the point that my food pictures look appetizing but, for now I'm just going for it anyways:). I found this recipe on the website that I mentioned in the previous post. I have like 10 dinners that I know how to cook really well and I tend to cook them over and over and over again until even I can barely stand looking at them. So, I decided that if I'm not even enjoying the food I'm making that it is high time to discover some new and marvelously easy dinners! This is a piece of cake to make and I kid you not...in over five years of marriage, this meal received more praise from my hubby than any other meal I have made!! Wowza:). Here's the recipe for all you mom's and wives that want something quick to prepare after a long day:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
1- 15 ounce can of black beans
1- 15 ounce can of corn drained
1-15 ounce jar of salsa any kind (I used Pace Medium chunky)
1-8 ounce package of cream cheese (I used 4 ounces of cream cheese and 4 ounces of sour cream)

1. Place your chicken in the crock pot
2 Add 1 can of black beans and 1 can of corn and the jar of salsa to pot
3 Keep crock pot on high for 4-5 hours for frozen chicken 2-3 for thawed
4. Add cream cheese and or sour cream during the last half hour of cooking and stir in a bit. Let sit a final 30 minutes and whalah...you have yourself one delicious meal with only 5 minutes of preparation!!! I served mine with cornbread but, it would have been amazing on top of a pile of white or brown rice:). Enjoy!! Oh, and if you make it, please let me know how you liked it by posting here. Thanks!