Lightbulb!

Last night, I totally had a lightbulb moment. I know on here I talk about Crandon, a lot, and I was sitting there thinking how much I wish you guys could see what I see when I'm up there. Then I totally remembered, I shot a few videos of Crandon last summer.

So here I am, sharing the few videos I have with you all! The first video is when I was on Little Rice Lake with my family. We were out fishing and then we seen this gorgeous Bald Eagle soaring right above our heads. So I decided to shoot a video of it! I love eagles so so so much! They are one of my favorite animals of all time. I get so exhilarated when I see one when I'm up north. I've seen them so many times now, it shouldn't be a shock, but it always is. Can't help it I suppose ;)



This next video is of me shooting a Red Winged Black Bird and a little bit of the lake. There's a slightly funny (but not really) story behind this one...I seen this Red Winged Black Bird. I thought this bird was something special, especially because I never seen one before (that I know of anyway). So I was so stoked, I had to video it. Until my Uncle tells me later that they are all over the city and are nothing special. I was bummed at this, but I still think they are awesome birds! I wish I would have filmed this one better. I kinda swooshed past the lake pretty quickly in this one. I promise that I'll take a better one this summer!! Oh, and totally ignore me cawing at the bird, I'm a dork...



And then there is this last video...It's of a thunderstorm that's moving across the lake. I especially love this video because you can hear what Crandon sounds like...it's so beautiful!! All you hear is birds chirping and crickets and the lake swooshing back and forth. I love it. When I miss Crandon a lot, I play this video. The original is much longer, but I wanted you guys to get a taste!

This summer, I think I'm going to do a camping series. We have no internet up there, but I'd love to show you guys some things we do up there! Ahh, June can't come quick enough!!!!

xo.

ps. I finally have a Youtube channel... autumnbalmbotanicals ...which means, time for Vlogs!!! I think the first will be that regional dialect video that's been going around for awhile now!

All Hallow's Eve...

Today was a fun, but wet, day! A big group of us took our fellow kids trick-or-treating. My brother and I took his son Miles. I dressed up as a Zombie, and Miles was a Ninja! 

Every year, he and I like to dress up and go trick-or-treating together. This year I wanted to go all out! 

I was very fortunate to have all my make-up supplies on hand. I used a very pale concealer with a white powder, brown, black and purple eye shadow, and to finish up, red lipstick. 

My brother's twist on a Halloween costume!

Leaves are almost all gone :(

Mmmm....brains!

Silly Pylie!

So pretty!

These are my favorite trees! 

Miles and his cousin Shaelynn! 

Have a great all Hallow's Eve everyone!! 

xo.

Weekend Adventures and 10 Facts Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Now, if any of you have caught on, I'm starting to (slowly) dedicate a certain post for each day of the week. I was formulating some ideas at work yesterday. And Here is a sneak peak of what I came up with...As we all know, Monday is my 52 weeks post. And now Tuesday I have decided to do a 10 facts about me....and whatever else that is fun and exciting to share. :) 

So this weekend was a busy one, if I must say so myself. Saturday I had woken up at the butt crack of dawn to drive to Edgerton, WI to watch my nephew play football for his school. I was so excited, and very very tired. I had some fun stuff planned for us for the day, and I was so excited to share the news with him. Right when I got to the game, he waved at me. It was sooo cute. His mom told me that he was really excited that I was coming. I love that kid as if he was my own :)

He is player 1. I loved how cute all the kiddos looked in their uniform. All the kids that were playing were in 3rd and 4th grade. 

I love love love this shot of him. He reminds me of a pro football player. So confident that he was going to win...sadly, they lost. But it's all in fun, right?

So after the football game, I told him that we were going to find a few cemetery's to take photos at and go to the apple and pumpkin farm to pick some goodies. On the way to pick him up, I noted three cemetery's we could stop at. The first one flew right by me (I couldn't exactly remember where it was). The second, they were cutting the grass...so we decided to leave because it was so small to begin with, and it felt awkward to take photos when they were trying to work. So we found the third cemetery. It was thee perfect size! It even had train tracks right behind it.

We had spotted these all over the ground that fell from the trees. I have no idea what this is. Miles thought it was a turd...oh boys. I decided to break it open to see what was inside...

A nut of some sort! I really wish I knew what this was. Do you??

It was very interesting to see the shape of it. I love finding neat things to break open. 

I was so proud of Miles that day. I was talking to his mom at the football game telling her how glad I am that he is as sweet as he is. Most kids these days are very selfish and mean. Not my nephew. I think that was his first time at a cemetery. I was explaining to him how old some of these people were when they passed. He was sad, as was I. He started to brush off the dirt on their stones and pick flowers to place on them. I almost started bawling my eyes out. It literally broke my heart, but in a good way. And the funny thing was, I was doing the exact same thing, too. He was asking lots of questions about my dad that day as well. He was 6 when my dad died, and knew him, but not that well. He was asking me if my dad was buried at that cemetery and I told him no. But I also told him that he was with us, and he will always be. So he was asking silly questions about what my dad was doing. I told him everything he ever wanted to do. We had some Jolly Ranchers and he put two aside in the back seat for my dad to eat. Again, my heart broke. 

We seen a Bluejay right when we pulled in, I've never seen one before! I was SO SO SO excited. I didn't whip my camera out fast enough, because it flew away :( We seen a hawk that day, too. I love wildlife.

Miles had wanted to try out my camera. I'm so impressed by his photos. Who knew an 8 year old boy would rock some pretty sweet pics. The one above was one of his. And check out these others...

I love the angle on this one.

Then we went to the Elegant Farmer to pick some apples and pumpkins. He loves apples. Hehe.

They even allowed us to climb the trees!

Then, we drove back home and I visited with him and his sister (isn't she beautiful) for a little while. My niece Brooklynn is so advanced for only being 8 months old. She is the happiest baby I've ever met.

And she looks so so much like Miles at that age. They are very much related <3 Now onto 10 Facts Tuesday!

\\ 10 Facts About Yours Truly //

I am one of those people who really hate it when people talk on the phone while driving. I find it just as dangerous as drunk driving.

Speaking of phone, I'm not a huge fan of talking on the phone. My mouth/throat gets dry, and I don't hold much interest in the conversation after awhile. When I was in a long distance relationship, sometimes we'd talk on the phone for a good couple hours, and I'd be the only one talking. I haaaated that (I wasn't a fan of holding a conversation with myself). 

I was born a blonde. When I hit about 8 or 9, my hair started to turn to a light golden brown. Sometimes I joke around with my family and friends that the blonde in me never left :p

I was a witch for Halloween the majority of my childhood. I was also Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, a Princess, and an Angel.

I've never been able to do a cartwheel ever in my life. I've always been too scared. And I failed the tumbling class back in grade school. Oops.

I've been using computers since I was 5 years old (18 years!)....my parent's always told me to go to school for computers because "I'll make a lot of money" and that "I'm really good at using computers." I've never been interested, and I can really care less about the amount of money I can make. I find technical stuff about computers to be really boring.

I originally went to college to become a Registered Nurse. I went all throughout high school clueless of what I wanted to do with my life. Someone mentioned nursing (it's a HUGE job in my town), so I took some health classes in high school and fell in love...but I didn't love it enough to follow through with it (mainly because I had to drop out to take care of my dad, and after he passed, the last thing I wanted to be surrounded by was sick people). I'm two classes away from getting into the Nursing program.

Speaking of college, I'm one of those people who think that you do not need an education to be somebody. I see so many people who are successful and happy just by finding a job that makes them happy. Some start their own business, some are into management. No matter what their job is, being happy is the only important thing, not a piece of paper...but to each their own, right? 

I really really really want to stretch out my ear lobes. I've been going back and forth with myself for a long time whether or not to bite the bullet and do it. I'm scared of the scary things you hear about...blowouts, they'll never close, infections...But I've been researching it a lot and am almost ready to take the step. I just wish I had someone to ask questions about it, seeing as though I know nobody who has them :(

I'm an avid and loyal customer of Apple, Inc. I own almost everything they make. I know a lot of people don't like Apple because it's a 'Style' thing. But I buy things from them because they work, flawlessly. I've never had a problem with them and will continue to be a lifetime customer of them. I've owned an iMac since 2007 and am still waiting to get my first virus. I couldn't say that when I owned a Windows computer!  :)

Stay tuned tomorrow for the release of the Weekly Wednesday post <3

The Elegant Farmer : Apple Picking

So far this fall, I have three things crossed of my Fun Fall List. 

1. Apple Picking  2. Hay Ride  3. Eating Caramel Apples

Yesterday, my best friend Ashlee and I went to Mukwonago, Wi to go apple picking. This was my first time ever doing such a thing, so I was beyond excited. 

They were sooo nice at this farm. They had a wonderful store with all their homemade goodies and an apple and pumpkin farm. I know I'll be going back soon to pick some pumpkins to carve when it's closer to Halloween!! 

Ashlee and I waiting for the hay ride to start!

A huge bin full of Grannysmith apples! Mmmm!

Look at how tiny this one is!

Gorgeous <3

These were the first apples we picked. We were allowed to pick off any apples we wanted, and we could eat them right on the spot! This one was so beautiful and was my favorite. I loved the flavor. Now I only wish I knew the name of this one :(

I was so excited to see all the cute tiny apples. Those were my favorite to eat.

Omnomnomnom.

How cute!

I love the coloring of these apples!

A few pics I took of my bestie with my Polaroid.

Self portrait! 

Beautiful!

Ashlee and I!

Silly.

This was my favorite picture I took of Ash.

Pumpkins!!!!

I wanted to pick a pumpkin out sooo bad!!

Hay ride!

This weekend was so much fun! I can't wait to visit The Elegant Farmer again! If you are in the Southeastern Wisconsin area, I recommend you check them out. You won't be disappointed! Have any of you gone apple picking before? Isn't it fun??

Tomorrow I will start my 52 weeks of Polaroid! I can't wait! Have a great rest of the weekend guys!! 

xoxo

We, Are Warped

Whelp! I feel so behind. I feel bad that I haven't progressed very far recently when it comes to my shop. Life has been crazy the last few weeks (thank you summer). Now, you ask what have *I* been up to. Oh, you know...Camping, the 4th of July, spending time with my friends and family....music festivals, swimming, ya know ;)

I came back from Crandon this past Sunday. Oh man, I was a buffet for the skeeters. They were HORRIBLE. My arms weren't touched (go figure), but my feet got mangled. My bad for wearing flip flops and not spraying them... This trip was by far the most gorgeous. I drove up this time, instead of going in one car with a bunch of people. My cousin, Luke, road with me. We had a good time laughing and blasting music. It was great. I give my uncle many many kudo's for driving up so many times with so many people. That drive wiped me out. Which it really shouldn't because I'm used to driving back & forth to La Crosse (3 hrs 1 way from me, where my paw is buried) in one day. But still.... I was the only person out of 10 people this weekend to not catch a fish. I don't have good luck it seems. I got a bite though......BUT! I got some amazing eagle photos. That was intense all on it's own. I was standing right below her while she was circling around. I had gotten a video of it, which I think I'll upload sometime soon. Our internet is getting changed, so I'm crossing my fingers that it's faster than what we have now...

This is the Bald Eagle completely zoomed out on my camera. And me, standing on a boat directly below her. It was like I had wings and was flying right beside her. Words cannot express how exhilarating that was. I wish I could feel that free all the time. 

The photo above...for some reason, I don't like. It's a good shot of the eagle, but I think my exposure was down too low at the initial time of taking the photo. I tried messing with it on my computer, but I think it looks worse. Oh well :p

This picture though, I really like. I messed with this one also, the original looked like I had taken it in January. I just love the bird minding his own business in the leafless tree. He was a cutie!

This is what I'd like to call a "Money Shot". It's gorgeous, fascinating, beautiful, breathtaking, inspiring and it makes me really really proud. Not to actually take this photo, but to be so close to something so beautiful and something that holds such strong relation to my home. It's pretty awesome to say the absolute least. What's the next best thing to an experience like this? Seeing baby Bald Eagles together in a tree. THAT my friends, is a loss for words. I couldn't believe my eyes. For some reason, no matter how many times I see an eagle, or any large bird really, I get so mesmerized. I just love birds. But anyway, it was great to see two beautiful babies (they didn't look like babies though, they were HUGE) together in a tree waiting for their parents.

They were giving me cute little faces too. It was adorable. I love how they look exactly the same here. Smiiiiileeee. Hehe. But that's not the only thing that was crazy this weekend. We rescued this cute girl, Lola.

She's a Chihuahua, almost 2 years old, such a sweet little girl. She loves to cuddle and she looooves treates. She jumps like a jumping bean when she gets one or see's her leash to go outside. Hehe, I just love her to pieces. She got along pretty well with our other doggie, Lady Jane, she's a Cocker Spaniel who's 4. The cats aren't too fond of this one, but they'll get used to her in no time! Well, I think I rambled on enough I suppose. This post didn't have much meaning behind it other than me taking some sweet pics and getting a new doggie. I'm hoping to have some new stuff made this weekend or my preping out of the way. Either way, new stuff will be up! Good evening all <3