My Dean's List Vox Box!

A while back, I started up a profile on influenster because I was intrigued by the products my cousins had been receiving from them to test and try out. Not too long ago, I received my second one! This one was far more exciting to get than the last one (sorry influenster, but it's true because there was so much more in here!). 

I definitely was not disappointed. I waited (very impatiently) for it to come and opened it immediately once it arrived! Inside, I found some candy, foundation, tampons, false lashes, pens, nail polish, and chapstick! If you didn't feel like you made the Dean's List after getting this box, then my sincerest apologies because I definitely did. 

The first thing I busted out were the tampons because, well, female need. They were from Playtex and were the active ones they made. Sadly to say, I was REALLY disappointed with these. Sorry guys, skip through this paragraph because it's going to get detailed here. There was not one thing I liked about these. Every, single one I tried was uncomfortable, leaked (even though they were supposed to be for exercise and heavy activity), came out of the inserter, and hurt coming out (even if it was drenched and used well). I hated that these were scented. In fact, the scent caused a yeast infection for me. I will not be recommending these to ANYONE and you can bet I've left my reviews for other ladies out there to see. 

Everything else was awesome, though! The falsies sent out to all us testers were probably my favorite  - they look super natural and are so light! I wish they had come as demi lashes, though. I prefer a much more natural lash to the point that full lashes are too dramatic for me. 

The pens glided really well and are permanently in my purse for when they're needed. I wasn't a huge fan of the candy - mostly because it wasn't chocolate, but that's beside the point. 

I'm already looking forward to my next VoxBox and you can bet I'll be working hard to make sure I get myself in the running! 

The Armstrongs Go West: Day 4 in Nebraska

Ahh, Nebraska. This is going to be an extremely short text post because there is not much to say about Nebraska. What they say is true - there's nothing in Nebraska but corn. It's a huge, flat state that is overly abundant in that crop. 

Day 4 was spent driving through the other half of Iowa and most of Nebraska. We ended our day in Lexington (no, we didn't stay in that Comfort in - that's just where the sign was) and what do you know, there was a massive corn field right behind our hotel. 

All the photos below are copyright of Danielle Armstrong and are not to be altered in any way or claimed as another's work. 

The Armstrong's Go West: Day 2/Day 3 to Iowa

Day 2 and 3 of our trip - on the blog!

Continuing on with the deets (details) of our adventure, Day 2 was primarily driving. We (meaning I) had put down Chicago as our "site to see" for the day, but after the shenanigans of Cleveland, we opted out. By shenanigans, I mean extreme culture shock. After being in upstate New York for three years, I forgot what real traffic was like and what city life entailed. We stopped for gas before getting to the hotel and within the 30 seconds of being out of the car, James was harassed by three different homeless people asking for money or booze. That's not even an exaggeration. Not even a little bit. 

We spent no more than 15 minutes getting into the city, filling up, and getting back on the freeway. That 15 minutes was more than enough for the both of us, and especially me. Since it was more my decision to stop there, I made the call to pass it up and see it another time. At the end of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was cart around a trailer and three animals in this massive, over-populated city. I have a great desire to see this country, all parts of it, and to experience it to the fullest, but not that way. There will be plenty of opportunity to see Chicago and other big cities, all of which will probably be much more relaxing and enjoyable. 

With that in mind, we made our way to the edge of Illinois and stayed the night there. Uneventful, but  sometimes, that's exactly what's perfect. And with having school assignments to do during all of this, an earlier day was perfect after the previous one. 

Day 3 started fairly early. For us, at least. Even at the smoothest routine, it probably took a good 20-30 minutes to get all of our stuff and the animals into the car from the room. So, once that was done, we made the hour and a half trip to Iowa to visit Grandpa and Grandma Armstrong! Upon deciding that we were driving across rather than flying, it went without saying that we would be stopping to see them. I had only met them once at the very beginning of our dating days, and sadly enough, that was the last time James had seen his grandparents. Over the years, too, James had always mentioned this story about a summer in Iowa at their home here and that story about spending time with them there and that I'd love their house (which I totally did). With all these factors, both of us were more than happy to spend the day there. 

It was just absolutely wonderful, to say the least. The two of them live in the tiniest little town where everyone really does know everyone. Time is spent volunteering at town events and helping your neighbors out. It's so unique and refreshing to step into that atmosphere compared to the fast-paced nature of the society I'm used to. I wish we could've spent more time there, but we were working on a tight timeline. Anyway, after getting the animals settled, the four of us headed down the road (literally!) to the Flea Market. Don't be fooled, this was actually a HUGE event and there were booths upon booths upon BOOTHS of antiques being sold. I could've spent all day there and, truthfully, I could've filled a whole additional trailer full of photo props and decor for the house. But alas, that darn timeline and curse not having a stable income any longer at that point. 

After our time walking around and "oohing" and "ahhing" at those beautiful, old treasures, we headed back up the road to their house for a bit and then out for dinner at the Pizza Ranch. That was followed by repacking the trailer as it was a total cluster of chaos that had been thrown together in the madness of trying to get out of our apartment on time, a walk to the cemetery to see all of James's lineage that was buried there, and then relaxing at their home, talking and catching up. We stayed the night there and were up and at it again the next morning, ready to continue on through what would be the most BORING part of our trip.

All the photos below are copyright of Danielle Armstrong and are not to be altered in any way or claimed as another's work. 

The Armstrong's Go West: Day 1 and Penn State

FINALLY the long awaited photos from our road trip. Some of them, at least. After working an absurd amount this week and handling exams, quizzes, and a big project on top of it, I've decided to take a "half personal day" and not worry about anything but taking care of me after I got home from work today. It was much needed. 

Admittedly, I was on the verge of a minor nervous breakdown. I was scheduled to work 9 days in a row, on top of having a lot of school work that was time sensitive, and then got roped into staying in Santa Barbara for a full day shift after I was only supposed to be there until 1. I ended up pulling late nights on Saturday and Sunday to get my work in on time and with decent grades, but it was a long weekend and it's going to continue to be a long week. I needed a period of time for just me, a period of time that was more than just an hour. 

So, I spent the afternoon taking a nap, cuddling with the huz, and editing personal photos instead of client photos with New Girl on in the background. 

Hence, I present to you some of the photos from our trip home. 

Of course, in true Armstrong fashion, it was POURING the day we left. Poor James ran back and forth, inside and outside, loading up the u-haul so we could be out by 10. Between the two of us, he's the puzzle master (even though I AM pretty good at that myself) and took on the project of making as much of our stuff fit as possible. He was absolutely drenched by the time we left, but luckily he only had to deal with it for an hour. We drove down a little past Syracuse and stayed the night there before diving into the insanity we had in store. 

The next day, we woke up and loaded everyone back into the car. If you recall, that's the day Mo kicked Talos out of his bed and banished him to a tiny corner in the back seat. Mo moved from there after a while, but not after his tiny self slept in the dog's huge bed for a little. The five of us and our u-haul made our way down south to Penn State. It didn't feel right to go west and leave the east coast behind without visiting the campus and actually seeing where I go to school. I'm so glad we did. I can't stress that enough. Sometimes I am bummed that I don't get to go to a campus like everyone else, that I don't get to go to lectures and buildings, and that I don't have the traditional experience. It's occasionally hard, but then the moment passes. Things like campus visits, help, though, and it gave me more pride to be going where I do. 

The visit was short, though, and we had to keep moving. Our 10 hours of driving ended in Cleveland and we were ALL done by the time we got there. Mo was, by far, the most upset and I think he was the one who was most relieved to see a hotel room. I'm pretty sure that was the one time in his life that he was happy to be somewhere other than home. 

All the photos below are copyright of Danielle Armstrong and are not to be altered in any way or claimed as another's work. 

What are the Armstrongs Up to These Days?

It occurred to us the other day that even though we're in California now, our lives are still very much separate from that majority of our family as we live a few hours away from everyone. Don't get me (or us) wrong, we love where we live/go to school/work. Lompoc is the perfect suburb for the two of us and what we're looking for right now. Somehow, we've been blessed to live in a home with more space than we truly need, but enough space to give us what we want in a home. We're not squished into 600 square feet of apartment, we have a yard for Talos, and we have space for our own individual needs. I have room to workout and do homework upstairs and away from the television and commotion that occurs in the living room, which is something that I greatly need for my own reasons. It's quiet, too, and we have a relaxing place to come home to everyday after the business of everyday. 

And don't even get me started on Santa Barbara. It's perfect and I've easily fallen in love with it. My commute in every day is about an hour, but it doesn't even feel like it because I get to stare at the ocean for a good portion of the drive. Everything is easy to get to, the people are unbelievably laid back and friendly, and it's so well kept up that it's incredibly aesthetically appealing. It has a great community to it, the schools are excellent, and traffic isn't even bad (which for someone with my anxiety, you have no idea how much of a bonus that is). I can see us living here for another year or two in great ease and comfort. 

Aside from location, what's going on in our life? A lot. James and I are in full swing of school. We're both going full time with four classes each and it takes up the majority of our week. James spends 5 days of the week at school, and then we spend some of our weekend studying for things we have coming up such as exams, papers, and projects. 

On top of that, I work 4 days of the week and spend somewhere around 20-25 hours there, depending on if I pick up a shift or not. Since the holidays are coming up, I'm anticipating that, that number will increase as I have an open schedule. I really love where I work, though! I work as a sales associate, but it's not sales in the traditional sense. I don't fold clothes or have a quota to meet. I just help people find things they're looking for, whether it be maternity clothes or toys, and it just clicks. I fit into the environment really well, my coworkers are awesome, and it's so mellow that I look forward to going every day. I truly have been blessed in this area of life. Plus, Free People is literally right down the street and I don't think I could stress to you enough how much this excites me. James... not so much.

Back to that number I mentioned, it also doesn't include time I spend editing photos from sessions or events. I've finally finished editing wedding photos, which has taken up a huge chunk of time in general, and I'm just about done with the session I shot two weeks ago, which is going to free up time for me immensely. James is used to me being either at work or on the computer, at this point. That's just how days are for us. If time's not spent in Santa Barbara or driving, it's spent doing homework, trying to get in some extra sleep, or working on side jobs. I've gotten to edit some AWESOME pictures, though, which I'll post below:

We haven't even come close to finishing unpacking because of all this. If you've been feeling like we've been avoiding spending time with you, we're not. We're just incredibly busy and adjusting to life as a completely civilian, college-student family who just moved across the country. The grind is real, folks. We're working on getting settled in, still. Our house is a wreck and half in boxes. We're not avoiding, I promise. The cats are pretty happy about this, though. Penelope has claimed 10 boxes, or so, as her castle and she sleeps on the highest stack everyday, as if she's sitting above her kingdom and looking down on all her peasants.

Because of this insanity, my lack of blogging has continued, which saddens me. I'm going to try to increase it, though, especially since we both are lacking in the "friends" department. It's weird not having our normal group of friends from New York here with us and it's been... a challenge to find people similar to our lifestyle considering our environments. James doesn't quite mesh in with the "just out of high school" crowd and I work in a kids and maternity store, meaning my coworkers all have kids and are in a slightly different phase of life with different priorities for their time. Because of that, I'd like to utilize this and talk, so to speak, through this. Air things, document things, etc. We both know that this will change at some point, it just can take some time. It took me over a year to really find friends in New York, so I know this won't be much different. That's just how life goes, though. Things are slowly, but surely, starting to come together and it doesn't feel so uncomfortable here, now. 

Though, I'm still depressed that it's 75 degrees in the fall and that we won't get to go to a "real" Christmas tree farm and have a white Christmas like we did last year. I'm still trying to cope with that. 

Hello, California

Missed me? 

I know, I haven't blogged in forever. I fell WAY behind on my project 52, also, but for good reason. If you all recall, we were headed to California at the end of July and we ended our time with the military. So, here we are at the end of...September! Two whole months. I think it's time for a bit of a life update. By the way, I have very few photos edited and ready to share from our road trip, so there will be a separate and more detailed post to follow once things calm down even more. 

So, yes. We made it to California in 7 days, and that was with leisure time! We stopped in tons of states, enjoyed time with James's grandparents in Iowa, blasted pokemon music through Nebraska because it was so boring and flat, had a nice night for the two of us in Vegas, and literally gained 10 pounds from gorging on food we haven't had in a year and a half. We also didn't kill each other after spending 7 days next to each other in the car with three animals, so that's a victory in itself. 

Life in California has been...challenging, to say the least. We arrived here only to find that no one would rent us a house because neither of us had a job at the time and the military dropped the ball (no surprise there) on giving him proof of funds for his GI Bill and from the VA in a timely manner. Having a dog and two cats was a challenge, as well, because very few apartments allow dogs here. Renters also rarely accept animals because most of the time, their properties get way damaged. It took us weeks to find a place to live. We eventually did (and we love where we live - it somehow worked out for the best), but it wasn't without its challenges. 

I was also in the middle of my summer semester, meaning that I was taking exams, quizzes, and writing papers at the end of each travel day. Not fun and I wouldn't recommend it. 

James had his own trials with school. As mentioned before, no proof of funds or anything from the military, making it hard for him to register for classes without all the proper paperwork as "payment wasn't confirmed." We spent the better part of a week driving back and forth between Santa Clarita and Santa Barbara just to sort that out. 

On top of all that, my car got totaled. In the middle of having no home, no job, no income, finals, and trying to work out James's school (which is a big portion of our monthly income). The story doesn't need to be told again because I'm still somewhat sore over the loss of my first car so suddenly and I miss it quite terribly. Which, I know, sounds dumb and "first world problems," but it was the only stable thing I had at that point besides my husband and pets. It was also a secure car that was comfortable to drive and there's still a very strong sentimental attachment to it. 

So, in the middle of all this chaos, we had to buy a new car so I could continue to go on interviews and job hunt. Getting things like groceries and just transportation in general is kind of important, too. 

Things have settled down some, though. I have a job! I'm working part time at a kids and maternity store called Peanuts (which I absolutely love) and it's a load off my shoulders, to say the least. I probably went on about 15 interviews before I was offered a job and searched for about a month. And, we do have a home that we're renting. James's paperwork finally came and his school got all sorted out. I also started my semester and it's all going along very smoothly, even with a job and a long commute. I also photographed my first wedding (and realized I have a bigger interest and knack for it than I thought) and finally am able to get back into a routine for working out. We still have things to take care of, like finding a newer and more reliable car for me, but I'll take the small hurdles over dealing with 5 major life dilemmas at once.  

Project 52 l Week 25 and 26

week 25 ; dreamy

week 26 ; old

No crazy or creative captions for either of these. It was more about how these came out post processing. Week 25 just had such a beautiful, dreamy feel to it. It helped that it was of a soccer net, the sport I literally dreamed about since I was like 5, so there's that. 

And Week 26 just came out with this really pretty, old, and classic feel to it.