“Morning’s here….the morning’s here! Sunshine is here! The sky is clear!”

I don’t know why but pulling this post together got that silly song from Friends in my head. I love Joey.

So the theme this week was morning and I tell you what, it’s hard to remember to take pictures in the morning, when you’re busy getting ready for work and what not. But I managed to snag a few pics that pretty accurately depict the basics of my daily morning routine.

The first thing I do every morning is go to the gym. This is what the gym looks like in the 5:00 hour. Not too busy. Although, you’d be surprised at how many early morning gym rats there are. I like working out in the a.m. because I can get it over with AND I don’t have to fight for equipment. One day last week I went after work and good gravy was it crowded. Every single treadmill was taken! I hate that. So, I go early and avoid the rush!

By the way, that picture makes me feel like I’m falling over or dizzy. Not sure that’s a good thing. I was trying to change things up by shooting from a different angle but instead it makes me feel drunk.

When I get home from the gym, I make one of these for breakfast.

It’s a green monster spinach smoothie. Yes it looks gross. No you don’t have to drink it out of an Incredible Hulk glass (by I am silly like that). It’s like the perfect breakfast. You basically mix some kind of fruit (banana, berry, oranges, whatever you feel like), a protein (peanut butter or protein powder), oatmeal (for staying power), yogurt, milk (white, chocolate, soy, almond – whatever you fancy) and lots of spinach. Then mix it all up.

(Heh. Notice the Incredible Hulk shot glass in the background? I totally did NOT plan that but as you can see, the comic book man cave is spreading and taking over the house!)

You can’t taste the spinach. All you taste is the fruit and protein mixture. They are really good, super healthy and believe it or not, it actually keeps me satisfied until my morning snack! Great way to start the day!

Then it’s time to shower and get ready for work – with my trusty canine companion by my side!

He generally sleeps through the whole thing. That is when he’s not stealing treats from the counter.

Then it’s time to head out the door to work. If I’m lucky, Isabella will wake up before I leave and I can kiss her good-bye.

Today she was just waking up as I was heading downstairs so I popped in for a quick kiss and “I love you”.

Ah. This face gets me through the day. I always feel like there’s something missing if I don’t get to see her in the morning.

So have you seen the moon lately? It’s been huge and bright and beautiful! I tried to capture a pic of it early in the morning when it was still dark out but haven’t been able to get it just right. So today I snagged this one on the drive in (I was at a red light, don’t worry – no photographing and driving!).

My intent was to focus on the moon but I love how the rest of it turned out, with the colorful sky up top and warm earthiness at the bottom.

So that’s my typical morning! Like Samson, I’m big on routine. If anything gets too much out of sync, it throws me off. Like the other day when I spent time taking the pics of my smoothie and therefore forgot to take my wallet out of the gym bag. I got all the way to work before I realized I had left it at home with my stinky tennis shoes. CJ was my knight in shining armor and brought it to me. Thank goodness for fearless husbands!

Don’t forget to head over and check out more “morning” pics at Beth’s!

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You Capture: Festive

You Capture: Industrial

You Capture: Summer Sun

Ok the real theme this week was Summer SunSETS but since my picture captures the sunRISE, I made an adjustment. I don’t think anyone will mind.

Samson and I took a nice long walk Monday morning, on Labor Day, to kick off the week, and this new chapter in our lives, in the right way. Lots of changes going on right now and it’s nice to anchor the mind and the body. I felt strong after the surgery and it was good to get out and move. It was a chilly morning – 50 degrees. The crisp air was awesome and walking back home, into the sun, brightened up the day!

Head over to Beth’s to see what others did this week!

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You Capture: Ordinary Moments

You Capture: White

You Capture: Trees

This was by far my favorite You Capture assignment. Maybe because it was so easy! You don’t have to search too far to find an ordinary moment – they’re all around you! The hard part was picking from amongst them all.

The first one I captured was Samson.

He has 2 favorite spots in the house where you can find him laying most of the time – by the back door and the front window. Both give him great vantage points of the neighborhood and other dogs that might be walking by! 

While Samson was laying there, Isabella was in her rocking chair watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with all her friends.

That Pluto dog she’s holding was actually mine as a kid. It’s in remarkable shape, probably because I was more in to Donald Duck than Pluto. And now it’s Munchkins’! She also had 2 Mickey’s and a Minnie piled on her lap.

Before too long, it was time to play!

We dug this Princess car out of storage over the weekend. While the house was on the market, we had to minimize her toy pile in an effort to keep the house presentable, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore!

Later, Isabella and I went to the park. She wasn’t as in to some of the equipment as she normally is.

Or else she was tired of having her picture taken. More often than not, these are the kinds of shots I get. There are 5 of these for every 1 cute, smiling and happy one. I’m all about keeping it real here people!

She likes to help me push the stroller on the way home.

Only she doesn’t steer very well so we run aground a lot. Especially when I’m more focused on taking a picture than helping her.

Here we have Samson waiting patiently for me to release him. Because he can be so spazzy, we make him work for stuff. He has to sit before going outside, wait before eating, and shake before getting treats. He laid here for a good 2 minutes while I was taking pictures. Such a good boy!

{Note: that pan is what was left of the sour cream-less dinner from the other night. Apparently it was good even without the sour cream!}

And now, the following is a public service announcement for all you would be parents of toddlers out there. Please observe this illustration of the emotions of an almost 2-year old and how quickly we can go from this…

…to this.

The infamous Isabella meltdown.

And then pretty soon she was happy as a clam again because we were all at the playground together.

While there, we found some sidewalk chalk that had been left behind by some other kids. We all sat at a table there and drew dinner plates on it.

Mine is at the bottom – I had rice, chicken and grapes. Then Isabella colored over it with “spaghetti”. CJ’s is on the right – a giant lobster and steak. We also drew shapes. 

Well I think that’s enough for today. You can see more ordinary moments by checking out my day in the life of series, parts 1 and parts 2. Or you can go to Beth’s and see what she and others did!

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You Capture: White

You Capture: Trees

You Capture: Summertime