The lord has risen?

The past two weeks have been crazy at work.  I've worked literally all day everyday with the exception of Sunday, and if I wasn't at work I was at school, or driving to work.  The mass mayhem of dance pictures and Easter mini shoots is finally over....temporarily.  In three weeks we do it all over again with three times as many dancers. To say the least I've been tired.  Exhausted to the core.  I've been drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee and have had limited amounts of sleep.  And while at work my lab decided to chew on something new everyday.  I don't blame him I would be mad and destructive If my dotting mom ditched me for two weeks straight.  Enough bitching I'm extremely grateful for the hours and overtime because now I can finally pay off the wedding and start saving.  Today was my first real day off for a while.  I woke up at 7 and met my friend Laura and her family and joined them in Sunday mass.  This is the first time I've stepped foot into a church in four years.  I've never been one for religion.  I believe there is a higher power and some things just can't be explained by logic.  I was nervous and had no idea what to expect.  The second we walked into the door I was hugged and greeted by such kind warm people.  Everyone kept saying "the lord has risen. "  Apparently I was never filled in on the real meaning of Easter.  Every year I spend Easter with my brothers coloring and hiding eggs I don't usually spend it being thankful for Jesus.  I took a lot with me when I left mass this morning.  It really made me think.  We're so caught up in a society where believing in god is sometimes seen as uncool.  We're turned away from religion instead of leaning on it in times of need.  I have a hard time having faith in god.  I've seen amazing people go through awful horrible things that should never have happened to them.  People always say just put your trust in god blah blah blah.  I'm not going to put my trust in someone who allows bad things to happen to wonderful people while the ass holes get away scott free.  Sometimes I just don't understand.  I guess this is just one of those things I have to figure out on my own in due time.  On a lighter note I put a small chunk of change that I busted my ass for, into sprucing up my backyard!  In my opinion it looks immensely better and is now somewhere I want to be.  Getting stuff for our house and trying to make it a home really makes me miss slade.  As much fun as it is to do, it's way more fun when the person you love is helping you along the way.  We're getting close to homecoming though! Three more months and my husband comes home I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!  Here are a couple pictures of my new backyard digs and it was all relatively inexpensive!

Freelancing

As much as I love my job I desperately miss freelancing.  I never pictured myself working in a studio. I always felt like they were too limiting to what you can do and in a way it is.  Flash id unlike any studio I've ever been into.  Everyday I work I apply new poses, techniques etc. to my shoots but I miss the natural beauty of sun flares and vibrant colors that can only be found outside.  Some days when I browse pinterest I think to myself this is it in my "spare time" (I have non) I'm going to get back into photography and apply what I've learned to my style of shooting.  I miss having my beautiful friends at my photography disposal.  I can't tell you the amount of times I've called one of them up and put together a spur of the moment photo shoot 20 minutes later.  That freedom to do whatever I wanted with my camera and editing was amazing.  I didn't have to worry about whether the person I was shooting liked my style or the things I tried because they were my unjudging, do anything friends.  It took me three years of busting my ass to build such a successful and satisfied clientele.  I relied on my reputation to get bookings and it worked! Sorry for the vent I just really miss doing my own thing sometimes when it comes to photography.  I'm more than grateful for the shoots i still book even though I'm a state away.  Every time I go home I come back to Utah with more great shoots to edit and another loyal client.  I'm coming to terms with the fact that if I want to start doing my own photography in my spare time here I'm going top have to work from the ground up as frustrating as that is it's also exciting.  I'm ready to start trying new things with the friends I have here and with my shoots scheduled this year back home.  I have two weddings this summer with couples that are making photography a priority in their wedding which makes me even more excited to shoot them!  Until my next shoot here are some re-edited old favorites of mine that will forever be beautiful in my eyes.  I miss my perfect photogenic friends!

Limb Knitting

I learned how to knit with my arms today.  No needles just yarn and my handy dandy arms.  I gave up on my needle knitting scarf a day after I blogged about it.  I have a very short attention span and if you've ever met me you would know I'm pretty impatient.  By the time I would have finished that scarf it would have been summer.  So while cruising pinterest I saw arm knitting. I tried it and loved it.  This scarf literally took me half an hour from start to finish.  And to make matters even better I found the thick gray yarn at wal-mart for under 3 bucks!  If I get enough requests I'll start selling them, so let me know if you're interested in buyng one!

 

Dog Days.

 This past week I've been feeling a little down.  I think all the stress of school, work, the deployment, and figuring out bills has finally caught up to me.  I've just been exhausted to the core and haven't been as good at staying on top of all the things I've had to do.  Today I picked myself out of bed and started a new day.  It's okay to be sad or overwhelmed every once in a while, but you can't let it get the best of you or else it will consume you and nothing will get better.  I cleaned my entire house, got a chance to skype my handsome husband, and made plans with a friend.  Later this afternoon I took my boys to the dog park with my friend Laura whose husband is also deployed we hang out often, but not nearly enough.  We came home and I cooked a whole bunch of comfort food for dinner that we finished off with frosted fudge brownies.  Sometimes you have to indulge a little.  It was awesome to get out of my house for a reason that wasn't school or work related.  To talk to someone who knows how hard this can be and has some insight.  I'm coming to realize just how important communication really is.  I'm starting to notice it with Slade and I.  I'm extremely thankful that we get to talk a little most days through texting, but when I get to skype with him the conversations are so much more genuine and involved.  OH!!!!  Another noteworthy thing that happened today.  One of my really good friends here gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, baby boy today!  Good things are happening.

Knit one pearl one

I've been on the hunt for a cream colored infinity scarf and in my effort to be more budget friendly I just can't let myself buy one for 15+.  Soooo I bought this awesome cream colored yarn from ye old wally world and put my hibernating knitting skills to good use.  The truth is I have no idea what the hell I'm doing.  These snazzy knitting skills of mine were picked up when I had to spend a summer with my ex step grandmother.  I know the basics and google + youtube will help me along the way. I'm pretty excited about the progress I've already made and with a little more yarn this puppy will be done in no time.  My massive yellow helper makes it way more fun too. I'll keep you posted on how my attempt at being a knitting fashionista goes. 

A restoration of faith in humanity

 It seems as though every time I'm home alone mother nature decides to cast a blizzard on Utah.  Leaving me to shovel the driveway and sidewalks this is definitely a petty complaint and a "first world problem".  So as I sulked and pouted while shoveling the driveway I saw my neighbor snow blowing his sidewalk.  He's a pretty cool dude who is also active duty.  He continued to snow blow my driveway and sidewalk as well.  I proceeded to thank him a million times and he told me he would want someone to help his wife too if he was deployed.  A simple 5 minute act of kindness made my week.  We spend so much time thinking about all the bad in the world with the shootings, robberies, wars, drug trade, etc.  We often forget to stop and look around us to see the good.  I for one and extremely guilty of doing this.  I get so caught up in how disgusting people can be I don't take the time to realize how beautiful and selfless a lot of people are.  I think we all could use a little perspective every once in a while.  So, aside from being thankful for my neighbor I spent the day studying, hanging out with my two dudes while they "frolicked" in the snow, and cleaning.  It wasn't too bad

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All photos copyright Bailey Acton

Last night I had a revelation

I'm thankful.  From the moment I moved here my husband did everything he could to make sure I was comfortable.  He had friends over for dinner so I could get a chance to make new friends here.  He dragged me to parties even though I was ridiculously shy and nervous.  When you move to a different state where you know no one but the man you married and you're thrown into the whirlwind that is military spouse life you lose your footing.  For the first few weeks I was scared, nervous, and homesick.  I got over it.  I'm not a person that likes to sulk.  I have a bad day I wake up the next morning and I move on.  I got a job at a photography studio a few miles away from my home I got out more I met new people and a huge thanks to Slade I made new friends.  I married at nineteen.  I've always been a little mature for my age, but getting married and changing your life in a month adds a good five years to your life.  I felt old, but starting to make friends who had 6-10 years on me was at first a little overwhelming.  I began to realize just how drastically my life was changing and at such a fast rate.  I quickly moved on from the shock and embraced it.  I've made friends with some extremely amazing people.  A good majority of them have husbands that are also deployed at the time.  I feel welcome, safe, looked after, and like I said previously grateful.  Yesterday while I was driving to the gym one of my good friends called me and asked me to hangout.  On my way there I grabbed ice cream and a redbox.  We talked about everything ate our ice cream and watched our movie.  It's just a good feeling to know that there's someone there.  People who want to spend time with you and get to know you better.  It just rules.  I love it here and wouldn't change anything.

School. Gym. Homework. Sleep. Repeat.

...and on some days I throw work into that rotation.  

Highlights of today:

-Coming home to my two hairy children

-Going to the gym with my recent partner in crime

-Laughing throughout the grueling and sweaty hour we were at the gym

-Coming home to my wonderful hairy children

-Editing rad pictures of butterflies I forgot I took

Lowlight of the day:

-I haven't heard from Slade today.  We usually exchange a few messages towards the end of the day. I'm sure he's just busy and I'm being a wuss.

Here's those butterflies!

To Get this blog ball rolling

While My husband has been gone I've made it my goal to get our house to start looking like people actually live in it.  We have an 1800 square foot rental house that we share with a roommate.  A good 1000 of that 1800 square feet is not used.  So in an effort to make my home more comfortable I'm starting to pick up a few things here and there just to give it a little life.  I chose to start on our bedroom since it's where I spend most of my time (on the rare chance that I'm home).  While at Hobby Lobby yesterday I picked up this awesome vintage clock which was 50% off whoo!  I also picked up the amber tinted glass bottle and dried flowers.  This is my husband's side of the bed and after adding these few things it's now my favorite part of this house the colors, textures, and composition of this little bedside table make me swoon.    

I'm Bailey.

I'm small, married, busy, and in need of an outlet.  I'm a full time equine science student.  What's equine science you ask?  The study of horses.  What do I intend to do with my degree? I haven't the slightest clue, but I love it.  I have a wonderful husband who is serving in The USAF he's also currently deployed (insert bummed face here).  I have two dogs who are my equivalent to children.  I'm a photographer, a cook, a closet cupcaker, a DIYer, a bookworm, and a lover of all things art.  Sometimes while going through the trials and tribulations of everyday life I take a minute and think to myself I need to write this down.  I tend to think it's interesting, hilarious, or sad, maybe other people will to.  So here you go a look into my everyday life, hope you like it as much as I do