Love you, mean it.

This is my daddy.  He’s a wonderful man, with a huge heart, and the soul of a kid.  There will never be anyone like him.  He truly is one of my favorite people in the whole world.

This morning, one of my sisters and I took him out for a big breakfast and then we all hopped in the car and went to a flea market.  As we walked around, my dad and I would occasionally link arms or he’d put his arm around my shoulders, squeeze me tight, and whisper how proud he is of me.

There is nothing else quite like being loved so deeply by a parent, knowing they’re there for you, always.  It doesn’t hurt that we can truly hang with each other, have some drinks, swap stories, make jokes, and laugh endlessly.  I count my lucky stars that I have not only a great father, but a great friend.

Happy Father’s Day, Abbott.  I am so lucky to have you.

xoxo…Sheena

Here’s What’s Happening…

Since I’ve managed to leave 2012 a complete blank, I’ll fill you in on a little secret…So much has happened.  Instead of documenting every little thing, I decided to just live it. The other day, I deleted my Facebook and Twitter and I haven’t looked back.  In many ways, I feel like I’ve entered a new chapter in my life.  And it’s downright amazing.

In January, I left my job of four years and started a new one.  Basically, it’s less stress and more pay.  Win?  I think so.  Although I was terrified to do it, I know deep down that I made the right decision.  Again, I haven’t looked back.  I stress this, because I was always one to over-analyze everything and stay with someone or something or somewhere, because I was always so scared I’d make a bad choice.  But that’s life, right?  My only regrets are not making decisions to make a change, simply because I was scared of the turnout. As I get older, I trust my gut and I trust that I’ll make the best choices for myself, no matter how scary it may be.

This year also started the merging of Jared and my families.  As I tried on wedding gowns, my mother, step-mother, and future mother-in-law got to know each other.  Jared’s mom joined my family for Easter this year.  My sisters adore his mom and sister.  It just works.  Just when I thought my family couldn’t get any bigger, it just keeps happening.

Which brings us to Autumn Sky.  My adorable neice joined us this past January and we just can’t get enough. With her perfectly square face, piercing blue eyes, and roll after roll after roll, I could stare at her for days.  I officially have 3 nephews and 2 nieces!

In May, I went on an annual wine tour with two of the best girls I know.  We make it a point to go every year for a girl’s weekend and we always have a blast.  This year, I may have overdone it a bit…ahem.

Jared and I moved ahead and set a date for the wedding.  We still have a million things to do, but we booked the ceremony/reception location and our caterer.  Our priorities tend to shift back and forth, since we started looking at houses earlier this year.  Now that we’re set to close on our first home in less than 2 weeks, I can’t even begin to see how we’ll manage to remodel our house and wedding plan at the same time, but I know we’ll have fun doing it.

So life certainly has happened and I couldn’t be more thrilled.  Here’s to more change ahead…wish me luck.

The Perfect Evening.

After a fun-filled 4 day Xmas break, I returned to work this morning at 7 am. Lately, I’ve been having problems falling asleep and staying asleep. So suffice to say, getting up at 5 this morning was not easy.

After a 4:30 meeting, a run to Wegman’s for a ton of sushi, and a rainy drive home that required me to wear my glasses, thus bringing on a headache from all of the head light glares, I finally made it home.

After scarfing down dinner, I lit a few candles, filled the tub with steaming hot water, laid back, and listened to the rain hitting the roof.

Pure bliss.

Here’s hoping I sleep tonight….

A Holiday Photoshoot.

Last weekend, a friend of the family asked me to do a Christmas photo shoot of her 3 children.  It was a blast!  Cameron, Matthew, and Makayla did such a great job and made me laugh the entire time.  4 month old Matthew even fell asleep on my chest afterwards!  Adorable!  Here are some random shots.  Enjoy!

Wrap me up.

Last weekend, I parked myself on the floor and wrapped Christmas gifts for two hours straight.  Although my legs were falling asleep, I had a blast.  I must get my love of gift wrapping from my dad, who is the self-proclaimed king of wrapping.  (He even has a special container that holds wrapping paper, as well as a tape dispenser that you wear around your palm).  Yes, he really does.

It’s so hard to believe that it’s Christmas Eve.  I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend…on with the festivities!!!

Meet me on the wine trail…

The other day, I received a brochure in the mail for the Keuka Lake Wine Trail events in upstate New York. Just earlier this year, two of my girlfriends and I drove out for a few days and did something like 11 vineyards and 1 brewery in one day. The trail was beautiful.  We had a blast and decided that we’d try to make the trip every year. We’re already planning our return for their Keuka in Bloom event this May. We can’t wait!

Sneak Peek

When Jared and I attempted to shoot our own engagement photos, we didn’t fail horribly, but we just weren’t into it.  There were too many shots I had in mind that we couldn’t seem to capture.  So when we asked our friend, David to shoot some photos of us a few weeks later, he happily obliged.  Here are a couple of shots he pieced together for us.  Enjoy. 

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Leilah Arwen.

Yesterday was my neice, Leilah’s 6th birthday!!!  Our little bee is growing so fast!  Aunt Bean loves you more than you’ll ever know.  I hope you enjoyed your ‘special day,’ and my 3 time rendition of Happy Birthday didn’t scare you too much

My weekend…in photos.

Lots of knitting.

Nothing like sitting by the fire place, enjoying the Christmas tree.

Red wine, Chinese take out & Netflix on date night.

Blood work battle scars. (It’s a lot worse today).

Re-runs of ‘The Walking Dead,’ because we miss it already!!!

Online Shopping

~My shopping throne~

So far, since I started Christmas shopping, I have not purchased a single thing in a store. I have blogged about my love of online shopping before (as seen here), and I seriously cannot get enough. 

There are a few certain people that I have been completely stumped on buying for.  I was surprised to find a few ideas from some of my favorite blogs.  Usually, gift guides are pretty typical and feature things like sports-related items for guys…well, my fiance is not into sports (in any shape or form).  But so far, so good.