Rocky

This year I celebrated Thanksgiving with the Farrums and her family. Her adorable family made me think of my adorable family. Too too cute. (Also, I have been brushing up on my Spanish lately and felt proud I could follow everything her gpa said in his low- raspy-Godfatheresque-voice.) While eating I looked up and saw a painting of a skyline and immediately recognized it as my home town. After further investigation, we realized there was a plaque that confirmed it was a depiction of the Country Club Plaza Christmas Lighting in Kansas City. Every year on Thanksgiving night the Country Club Plaza will light the streets with Christmas lights and fireworks. Its always been a tradition to go to the plaza lighting following dinner that night, so it was even more special for me to see that picture on Thanksgiving night all the way in California. I snapped this real quick with my phone, not the best quality of pictures, but I wanted to share with you.  We ate till we were sleepy, w...

This year I decided to make several different Holiday Photo Card Templates and thought I would sell them to my friends and family in order to save them money (since they are usually rather expensive) and also make extra money for myself. So for $5 I will custom make your Christmas Card using one of the templates I have created here. If you are interested, please email me (hamiltonrachelle@gmail.com) and tell me which Design name you wish to use, what verbiage you want included and attach whatever photos you want on there. I will then send you the digital file and you can get them printed wherever you want. (My business   Outlook Creative, LLC   would be a great printing choice for you.) Design: 'Merica Design: Green Ribbon Design: Gold Chevron Design: Green Chevron   Design: Christmas in India Design: Red Hollyx4 Design: Noel   Desgin: Diagonal   Design: Handkerchief   Design: Gold Star Design: Blue Snowflak...

For the past couple weeks I have been working to the point of exhaustion. From the moment I wake up to the moment I am going to sleep I have been going full steam ahead. Cutting back my hours of sleep at night, skipping showering some days, and squeezing food in here or there to fit it all in. And still I have had to push deadlines back because I couldn't fit them into the allotted time. Perhaps not the most sustainable lifestyle, but I don't regret one minute of it, because I am doing what I love. I love creating and  I love connecting with people. I may not love doing revisions for clients who don't know what they want, and who want you to just keep creating things so they can decide what they want, but it goes along with the territory. And don't get me wrong, I cherish easy-going days and pine for them amidst busy weeks. But I feel so blessed when I think, this is what I get to do in my life. I get to design, create, meet, mentor, and pour into other's lives. ...

Today, I am thankful for colder weather and the holiday season. Warm cozy blankets, spiced drinks, pumpkin flavors, peppermint, cinnamon, and layers of clothing. Aww, there is nothing like it. Granted the temperature change isn't as extreme as my seasonal changes used to be, but the air is still crisp and I  want to wrap up none the less. In order to transition to a more festive mood, my roommate and I bought Fresh Balsam and Toasted Marshmallow scents for our house. When I walk through the door there is this fantastic evergreen aroma with a twinge vanilla-y sweet scent. We haven't gotten too carried away like decorating for Christmas or anything, but just enough to feel the change of seasons. n__n I've really been on an Earl Grey kick lately. Mmm too good. PS I am ultra stoked because I just ordered 26 prints of my photography and custom sized mat boards, so that I may display a body of work I have been working on for sometime now. The photos are from my travels ...

It goes without saying, that I am utterly thankful for everyone who has or is putting their lives on the line for the safety, freedom and well being of this country and everyone in it. I am so proud of my family and friends who have given years of their lives in service of this magnificent country. So a great big THANK YOU (yes, I am yelling that) to all you vets out there. This is a fantastic country and it wouldn't be the place that it is without you. I am thankful for vets on other days that aren't Veteran's Day, but it seems rather timely to mention it now. As I previously mentioned... I will double up on random days to make up for lost time in my thankfulness. Today is not only Veteran's Day, but it is also Pepero Day in Korea and other parts of Asia. I heard about such a day from several Korean and Chinese visiting scholars in Conversation Circle. Pepero day is like Valentine's Day but for single people. Its on 11/11 each year...get it? one one one one...s...

Today, I am thankful for soft foods. And ice. And pain killers. Korean style chicken noodle soup. Green tea mochi filled with red bean. xoxo, Puffy Face

I really am more thankful than I let on haha. I just haven't been able to express my thankfulness on here as frequently as I would like. Regardless, today I would like to mention my gratitude for Dentistry From the Heart, an organization that offers free dental care to anyone who comes early enough to their events. Jen and I decided to go to one of their events in Murrieta today to see what they could do for us. We woke up at 4am started out at 4:30am and arrived in Murrieta around 6am. Upon arrival there wasn't a very long line. It was also frigid and I am so so happy I have an emergency blanket in the trunk of my car. Though the line wasn't that long, one of the dentists that was going to donate their skills and time couldn't come, so it took much longer than expected. I was hoping they could help me with my broken tooth, but evidently it needs a crown, which is one thing they don't offer. Instead I had one of my bottom wisdom teeth removed (note that for whatever...

Thankful post 2... I will double up on random days so I can catch up but mix it up a bit. And I would like to state that my thankful posts are not in any particular order, so don't think I am playing favorites or anything. I am so very thankful for my grandparents. Not only do I have 4 sets of grandparents but all of them are so stellar and have been amazing examples to me in my life. I have 2 sets of step-grandparents, 2 sets of biological grandparents (one of which I didn't meet till later in life, but I still want to include them in my list of thankfulness, because without them I wouldn't exist) and my mother's adoptive parents. All of my grandparents enriched my life so much and I can't imagine not having them in my life. I don't have pictures of all my gparents so I wasn't planning on putting anyone's pictures up, but today is my Gma and Gpa Hamilton's 59th Anniversary so I want to do a little extra shout out to them today! I hope y...

I just want to give a shout out to this dude on his birthday! Best step-dad I could have asked for, thanks for being awesome! PS. I love Daylight Savings, well at this time of year at least.  PSS. I should do "thankful" posts for this month, though I am already a little behind. So a couple of the days I will have to double up. Plus we know how my blog post declarations go. haha More well intentioned than anything. Well let's consider this an experiment and see how far I go. So for today... I am thankful for the two people in this photo!!  xoxo, r