Be Spontaneous

Amazing Life Manifesto, Dreaming  //  1st July 2013

Over the past few weeks, with wedding season in full swing, we found ourselves in a bit of a cycle. We would wake up, blog, work, work, work, and work some more, until it was time for our fav tv show to come on (The Bachelorette, of course) and then we would move our work station to the couch and continue to work. Seriously, that was pretty much the story of our days! We were getting the work done, but we struggled to make time for balance.

Last week, we decided to switch it up! We took a little time off the blog and found time for us. Everyday we took a long walk just to enjoy the moment! It was pretty magical. Even though our days were still very productive and hardworking, by the end of the week I said to Ryan, “I feel like we are on vacation.”

However, it definitely took me till the end of the week to actually slow down and realize it is ok, in fact… it is actually a good thing to find balance. I am still working on that everyday! We have the hardest time taking breaks and taking time for ourselves knowing there is always something to be done for the business!

Last week, we had a little lesson in spontaneity. As we were about to walk out the door to head to the coffee shop for the day, Ryan proposed that we take some time to do something fun before we left. I pretty much freaked out. lol. Seriously, we had a plan to go to the coffee shop so my head was already running through everything that we had to get done while we were there. (I am finally realizing that this is a major difference between men and women! I hear there is a book called Men are Like Waffles – Women are Like Spaghetti by Pam Farrel where she talks about this very thing… I will be reading it soon! ;) ). Anyway… after I freaked out and then got upset because I felt like I was ruining all of the fun (am I crazy?!?! ;) )… we decided to take a walk.

We walked down to Inner Harbor and as we walked by the fountain, Ryan decided to test my spontaneity! ;) I said, “we should go run through the fountain” (as a joke, of course). And as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I had to do it. With Ryan laughing at me and thinking I would never do it, I said I have to, “I want to be spontaneous!” It was my way of redeeming myself and reminding myself that I am actually fun when I take the time to be! ;)

So, amongst the 20 little kids running around in only their bathing suits, I found myself in the middle of the fountain, fully clothed, with the biggest smile on my face! If this is what it always feels like to be spontaneous, we should all do it more often!

I am going to continue to work on that.

Yep thats me. In the center in the green shirt. (Sorry for the iphone pic! ;) )

Stop Wishing and Start Doing

Dream Big, Dreaming  //  24th June 2013

Note to self. ;) Stop Wishing and Start Doing.

Our blog may be a little sparse this week… (as this late in the day blog post indicates! ;) )… we are making this week a week of DO! We have a lot of BIG BIG things on our mind and we have decided that now is the time to act on them! ;) We will be spending a lot of time in coffee shops over the next week as we take action on a few things! If you have any favorite coffee shops in the Baltimore/Annapolis area that we definitely should hit up, please let us know! ;)

In the meantime… we hope you will give us some grace on the blog posts and join us in taking action on all of those things you have been dreaming about!!!

Live an AMAZING Life: Laugh at yourself

Amazing Life Manifesto, Dreaming  //  5th June 2013

Earlier this week we were outside walking together and our conversation went a little like this:

Ryan: “We go together like peanut butter and jelly”

Liz: “I love peanut butter and jelly! What kind of peanut butter would you be?”

Ryan: “Chunky of course”  suddenly feeling a little self conscious of my weight and what the implications of being chunky peanut butter might entail I quickly changed my mind “…er, wait, I don’t want to be chunky, I’d be smooth because I am so smooth ;)”

Liz: “How about smooth with just a few little nuts”

I think we will stop the story there. :) ….

This past week while we were editing photos from Kait and Adam’s wedding we came across a particularly funning photo of Liz at the end of the night.  I showed it to her and we couldn’t help but laugh.  Check out the photo below and leave your best caption in the comments section. :)
Whoever said laughter is the best medicine was definitely right. This was the second to last photo taken at Kait and Adam’s wedding.  I was setting the camera up to take a self portrait of Liz and I with Kait and Adam and did a quick test shot for exposure.  Little did Liz know her mid yawn/snear/my arm itches pose (we still have no idea what she was doing) would end up on the blog. :)

Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives and our to do lists that we forget to cut ourselves some slack.  Life is supposed to be fun, people!  Don’t take yourself so seriously all the time.  Allow yourself to laugh at yourself and the rest of the things weighing on your shoulders will suddenly feel so much lighter.  Today give yourself grace, laugh a little louder, and most importantly have fun with life!

… And because it wouldn’t be fair to just laugh at Liz, here is my best “It’s the end of the world” face from a session earlier this year.

Be Kind for Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle

Amazing Life Manifesto, Dreaming  //  8th May 2013

Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

That battle looks so different for every single person on every single day. Life has this way of throwing you curve balls when you least expect them. (Or is it that we just never want to expect them?) Over the past few days, Ryan’s family definitely received a curve ball and we made a trip home to PA to be with our family. Ryan’s dad had some complications from back surgery and was in the ICU for a few days. (Thank God, he is doing much better now and is resting in the comfort of home.) As we hung out with him in the hospital for a few days, we were reminded of how precious this life is. The hospital was full of people who had a story and was certainly fighting a hard battle.

It is during those hard battles that the simplest kind gestures can do so much. Those kind gestures look so different for every single person on every single day. Before we even left Baltimore, we were driving down the street. The car was quiet while our brains went a mile a minute, but neither of us had any idea what to say. We were in the middle of running errands before heading out. As we drove down the street, from a distance I saw this young man walking in our direction. Before I could even see his face, he had a certain something about him that just stood out to me. As he got closer, all we could see was his HUGE smile. He was walking by himself, no phone in hand, and with no one to talk to. Yet, for what seemed like no reason at all, he had the biggest smile on his face! That smile could not have been missed by anyone… and I think that is every reason he was wearing that BIG smile. It certainly was a smile that Ryan and I definitely needed that day.

Be kind… a smile can be everything that someone needs to help them through their hard battle.

How to live an amazing life together | a sneak peek at our new ebook

Dreaming, Our Dreams  //  6th May 2013

In addition to our AMAZING Life Together Webinar, we decided we also wanted to write an ebook to share a few ideas on how to live an amazing life together.  We’ve been wanting to write the ebook for a while now, but just never got around to it.  So, we decided to change that by giving ourselves a deadline that we had to hit.  As part of the webinar, anyone that purchased the recordings would get a copy of the ebook for free.  It’s amazing how efficient you can make yourself with simple deadlines like this!  With only a few days to spare, we finished up the ebook just in time.  We are planning to officially launch the ebook later this month (hopefully on Amazon.com for download) but for now, we wanted to share a quick sneak peek to start your week.  Enjoy!

From the AMAZING Life Together Ebook By Liz and Ryan

1. HAVE A COUCH SLEEPOVER

We started dating in high school. It was the fall of my senior year and football was in full swing. We “dated” over the summer and Liz finally said yes to being my girlfriend just after school had started. In the early stages of our relationship, one of our favorite things to do was to fall asleep together on Liz’s couch after a Friday night football game. Because we were still in high school, I was never allowed to spend the entire night, so around 1 or 2 am I would head home.

In those moments, snuggled tight on the couch, nothing else in the world mattered besides each other. I held Liz tight and as night grew quieter. She breathed gently and fell asleep against my chest. Those moments were so perfect and so innocent.

Earlier this year, we were trying to decide what to do for a Date Night. Winter was holding onto the last few days of the season and venturing outside did not sound like the most fun. I believe it was Liz who said “Let’s have a couch sleepover.” It was the perfect idea for a romantic evening. We cuddled close on the couch with just a candle flickering in the middle of the room. We stayed up late and watched old Saturday Night Live skits on Netflix. Liz pulled the blanket tightly and we let the still of the night surround us. I watched Liz gently fall asleep, and again in that moment, nothing else mattered.