Custom Brooch +Giveaway

Apr 30, 2012

So here's the story. I love vintage and anything I can customize. I love having unique things that no one else has! One-of-a-kind, no matter how big or small, makes me happy. My orange wedding ring, my 12 foot wedding veil, and my favorite Christmas present were all custom made. So of course, when I found the shop Jerseymaids I was delighted. Custom made photo jewelry? Yes please! I ordered this piece made with my favorite of our weddings pictures. 
I've gotten so many compliments on it while wearing it (and sharing it on Instagram & Twitter) that I contacted the shop owner, Lauren, about wanting to give one away. I asked her for a little blurb about her and her shop to share with my readers:


"Jerseymaids, run by Lauren Beacham just outside of Washington DC, is a one-woman studio focused on bringing photographs to life. Unique home decor, jewelry, accessories and gifts using her original Polaroids are just the beginning. Personalized heirlooms are also her specialty! Whether you're looking to celebrate an event, memorialize a loved one or preserve a memory, items like custom pocket watches, brooches, lockets, rings and more using YOUR images are timeless keepsakes and make perfect gifts for any occasion."


Lauren was amazing to work with. She sent me a .jpg of my brooch before it was made to be sure I liked the look and answered any questions I had during the ordering process. Best of all? It shipped quickly- and overseas that never happens! So to thank Lauren for her awesomeness and to share the keepsake love I'm going to give one of these little beauties away to a lucky reader! Lauren will customize your brooch with any picture you like and then send it your way! This giveaway is open until April 4, at midnight (Japan time). 


Ways to Enter (leave a comment for each)
+1 Visit Jerseymaids and leave a comment telling me your favorite item in Lauren's shop
+1 Follow Hello. Also, I love you. via GFC
+1 Follow me via Twitter
+1 Like Hello. Also, I love you. on Facebook
+1 Tweet about the giveaway and mention @suehc (can be done once a day)


Good luck my lovely friends!
PS If you are a no-reply blogger please fix that so I can contact you if you win!


*I was not compensated for this post about Jerseymaids. 
I was just incredibly impressed with Lauren's customer service and product and wanted to share the love.

WIW: Wedding {a link up}

Today Megan over at Absolute Mommy is having a What I Wore: Wedding Edition link up. Is there anything better than showing off your wedding pics? I think not. If you're not married don't fret, you can link up bridesmaid dresses too! I'm going to share it all. On my wedding day I felt like a princess (which is how it should be). My corset cost more than my dress and was totally worth it. And my 12 foot veil was handmade by my BFF Jessi's wonderful mom. My dress didn't have a train and I wanted something to trail behind me while I was walking down the isle but go away when I wanted to dance. It was perfect.

the first half the day I ran around in this sexy little number I refer to as my stripper outfit
Princess Sue
of course we must share one with the sexy man
And now for bridesmaid dresses. I love being a bridesmaid.
my sisters & friends were asked to wear any purple/black/white combo they wanted
me with my fabulous sisters- we all wore blue for my sister Shelly's wedding
again with my sisters, this time at my brother's wedding- isn't his wife beautiful?
maid of honor at my best friend Amber's wedding- I love this girl
Seriously. I love weddings. I used to be a wedding/event planner and I'm going to do it again one day. So please post your wedding pics and link up with Megan so I can go drool over them.


PS You can also find me here today.

Guest Post: Amanda @ Somewhere Over the Camo

I have a lovely treat for you all today. Amanda is a fellow MilSpouse, awesome blogger, and great friend- and she's here to visit my blog today! Amanda also lives in my husband's home town (on the other side of the border) and one day when we're there visiting the in-laws I'm going to steal her for a blate. We've decided to do a swap so if you want to read my thoughts on PERFECTION head over to her blog and be sure to say hello!

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Hey y'all, I'm Amanda.  I can normally be found over at Somewhere Over the Camo blogging about nothing in particular. ☺ I am excited that today I get to swap with Sue!  Her blog has quickly become one of my favorites because of how alike we are.. even though Kansas is REALLY far away from Japan. Anywho, the chosen topic got me thinking (obviously) and here is my answer to:


Is there such a thing as perfect?


Many would say yes.  Some would say no... for me it is a yes and a no answer..


Let me explain...


I can think of the perfect situation that makes me smile just thinking about it.  My husband would be home (rather than deployed), the sun would be shining through the OPEN windows.  It would be 74 degrees outside with zero humidity in the air.  Some country music would be playing, a football game on TV, the dog curled up snoozing.. and not a thing that we should be doing otherwise.  To me that is as close to perfect as it gets.


I can think of the perfect man FOR ME.. that's my husband.  Yes, he has his moments and he may not be perfect in the eyes of everyone but to me, he is perfect.  My kind of perfect.

I can think of the perfect car.. all black, SUV, no dents, no maintenance required and paid off.


I can think of the perfect body.  Everyone can.  I'd lose the love handles, and go back to how I was when I graduated high school.  Which is funny, because back then I wasn't happy with my body at all..


Which brings all of this full circle, yes everyone has a perfect list.  Some of which can be attainable (perfect day, man, etc).. others just aren't (no maintenance car... or perfect body).  But no matter what.. there will ALWAYS be something defined as "perfect" to each and every person.  It's a matter of personal opinion that goes hand in hand with an ideal situation, a dream or sometimes even reality.  And lets face it, if nobody dreamed about their perfection, where would that leave us all?


You tell me, how do you define perfect?
And don't forget to visit me at Somewhere Over the Camo.

Questioning Myself

Apr 28, 2012

Remember when you were a kid and life was simple? Your biggest problem was if your mom remembered to pack you a good lunch and your best friend remembered that today they were your friend and not that mean girl's? Sometimes I really miss those days. Why was I in such a hurry to grow up? Can you tell there's been too much on my mind lately? This girl needs an off switch for her brain. Otherwise this look of mine is going to get worse. Do you like how my skin is so white I literally reflect the light from the computer while I'm taking pictures? Yes, I'm really that pale. And yes, I'm always that pale. Except for that time I sunburned so bad I can still see the scars. Which is why I'm always this pale.


But I digress. Something happened that's completely thrown me off balance. For the first time in 5 years of blogging I don't feel like my blog is a safe place where I can say what I feel and it will be okay. Even as I'm writing this I'm shaking just a little bit remembering it all over again. I received a rather horrible email following this post that's caused me to question myself. 

Can I not be honest on my own blog? Can I not be open and be me? Should I have to put up a front of continual happiness and perfection just to please other people? I've never pretended to be perfect. I'm the first to shout out that I have a wonderful life but that doesn't mean that every part of it is wonderful. Should I have to pretend that it is? I've got a naturally positive attitude towards life (I can thank my lovely parents for that one). I see no reason for continual complaining. It doesn't make things better, it doesn't change your situation, and it annoys everyone around you. But once in a while you just need to get it all out. That's what my blog is for! If I need to vent I get to do it here. If I want advice, need a pick-me-up, or just want to share something happy I come to my blog. I've made so many wonderful friends through blogging and it's always been such a positive experience. It should be okay to share on your blog if you're having a hard time. 

I'm trying hard not to question myself and if I should share less personal things on my blog. I know I shouldn't let one horrible email throw me so much but it got under my skin fast and it's hard to get it back out. I know it's unnecessary but I apologize for two downer posts in one week. Apparently this is just not my week!

And completely off topic: 
Come back Monday because I'm going to be having an awesome giveaway!

From A Low Angle

Apr 27, 2012

Thank you to all my lovely blogger friends for your comments on yesterday's post. Is there anything better than feeling the love from the blog world? And my sister who I talked about in the post wrote to me too. I guess to get emails from the family I need to write more "woe is me" posts! Haha but really it was wonderful to hear from her. It was wonderful to hear from all of you. I adore my bloggy friends.

This week's photo challenge at Our Reflection was "From a Low Angle" and that's a new one for me. I usually don't get down low when I'm taking my pics but I'll admit it was fun. It was right about the time everyone in Japan is driving home from work and I was lying flat on my stomach in the middle of the sidewalk pointing my camera up the little hill towards my precious puppy. I love that Twink is out of focus but you can still see him in the background.



If you love taking pictures as much as I do you should head over to Laura's blog and link up your low angle pics. I'm a total amateur but it's always fun to participate and see what everyone else came up with too.

If I'm Being Honest

Apr 26, 2012

If I'm being honest I'd tell you that I'm really excited for May... but very nervous too. Aaron and I are doing a 30 day juice fast and I'm anxious. I love food. I know we all do, but I really, really love it. And I have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I know. But we're both feeling icky and bloated and just not good about our bodies and we want to do something to jumpstart us back onto the right path. It's going to be really hard and I'm going to want to cheat (probably) every day. I really think I can do this though. We're each giving ourselves something awesome at the end of the month as a "prize" for getting through it. I'm already looking forward to sharing that part with you.

If I'm being honest I'd tell you I miss my big family back in Utah. I'm the oldest of six kids and we're all very close. I miss staying up late at night talking about life and giving them advice. I miss their hugs and laughs. I even miss them annoying me, although they did that a lot less when we got older.


If I'm being honest I'd tell you that the worst part of being away from my family is my sister being pregnant with my very first niece. She's due June 9th and I'm so sad that I'm missing the baby's birth. Growing up Shelly and I always talked about how one day we'd live right next door to each other and raise our babies together. We always thought that's the way it would be and even though I love the life I have now and Shelly loves hers, we miss the dream just a little bit.

If I'm being honest I'd tell you that I feel sort of stuck in a rut. I'm trying to find myself, my purpose in life, and I have no idea where to start. The e-course I'm taking right now is giving me a lot to think about and hopefully at the end of it I'll have things more in focus. I want to inspire people. That's all I know. 

If I'm being honest I'd tell you that I'm sorry this is such a downer post. I don't usually write those but sometimes I need to get some things off my chest. And if you made it to the end of this post 
YOU ARE AWESOME. 

Just Some Pictures

Apr 24, 2012

Today has been a very uneventful day. Except my husband passed his PT (physical training) test, even though he was sick and almost coughed up a lung while doing it. Basically he's awesome. The guys he works with accused him of faking sick to get out of his test (because they're jerks) but he kicked it's butt anyway. And trust me, you can't fake the cough he has. He actually fell to his knees at one point this morning because he was coughing so hard. I'm pretty sure you don't fake that. Oh, and he has a fever. So to sum up, Aaron is awesome and I want to kick the guys he works with in the nuts. Moving on. 

I'm hosting a giveaway over at Across the Pond today and you should definitely check it out. This is the best giveaway I've ever done. And you all know I put a lot of effort into my giveaway items! And since I have a lot of new faces here this week I wanted to share a few fun pictures.

From a recent photo shoot I did. I love my crazy hair in this picture!
Not sure why I love this picture so much... It's just a random lighting check but I like that it's not posed.
This one is totally focused on the tree instead of me but I like it like that.
From my sunrise photo shoot a few days ago. The colors take my breath away.
Of course I had to do some Holga pics. It's not going to win any awards but I think the effects are so cool.
And just for fun... this is the first picture Aaron and I ever took together. And I was blonde.

Confidence & A New Toy

Apr 23, 2012

I'm taking an amazing e-course right now that I want to share all about but I'm forcing myself to wait until it's over so I can do one big post about it. Trust me, you'll want to read about it. It's phenomenal. I've laughed and cried multiple times while going through it and I've created the most beautiful journal that ever existed (not that I'm biased) while participating. However, I will share this with you. One of the assignments was to think of the lies we're told and the truths to combat them and make a list. So this is my list of truths about myself. 
I'm giving myself more confidence just by posting this because I'm sure the way I see myself is not the way everyone else sees me. But what everyone else thinks shouldn't be as important as what I think, right? At least that's what I tell myself and I'm super-smart so it's probably true.
Yes, I just quoted Sheldon Cooper.

Also, my Instax Mini 7s came this weekend and I'm loving it. I've had to stop myself from going crazy taking pictures (the film is expensive!) but I love love love the instant prints. I've started a cork board just for them and I've used a few in my previously mentioned journaling project. Truth be told, the only reason I haven't gone outside and taken pictures of everything within walking distance is it's been raining all weekend and I have a sick husband. So far my insta-photo project is little and slow but when the rain disappears it is on. And yes, so far more than half the pictures have been of Twink. I think he's sick of being photographed and I need to find new subjects. 

Photographing the Pacific

Apr 21, 2012

When I read that the photo challenge this week at Our Reflection was water I knew exactly what I wanted to do. It's currently 5:30am here in Japan and I just finished photographing the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. This also happens to be #92 on my 101 list. It was freezing outside (literally, my car told me it was -.6 Celsius when I got back, add the wind chill from the ocean and I'm crazy). It was absolutely perfect and one of my favorite hours I've spent in Japan. This was the moment when I could actually see the sun. There are no words to describe the way the light reflects off the haze and the water. It completely took my breath away.



I can also be found blogging here today.
And now I'm off to get some sleep.
If I can come down off my natural high.

My Husband is an Artist

Today has been lovely. I feel like I say that a lot. It's the truth though. Pretty much any day that my hubby doesn't have to work is lovely. I get to spend time with him and since we're still newlyweds I still like him. Haha I kid, I'll like him always! Aaron is honestly my favorite person in the world. He's the only person who can make me want to kick him and laugh all in one sentence. Today was very uneventful and wonderful at the same time. I had (yet another) migraine so the day was incredibly slow. We left the house for only a few hours and spent the rest of the time playing games, watching movies, and making art. 

Speaking of, have I ever mentioned that my husband is an incredibly talented artist? I don't think I have. I envy his drawing skills! I've always wanted to be able to draw. Aaron hasn't drawn much lately so last weekend I bought him new pencils and paper to encourage his creativity. I told him he could draw me as an anime character (he really likes drawing them for some reason) so the first thing he did was give me giant breasts. Once I made him shrink them a bit I really liked the picture! It's still a work in progress so don't tell him I shared, but here's a little sneak peak:

I'm sure you're all jealous and wish you could be anime characters. Aaron says this picture is only half finished and I'm excited to see the end product! I, on the other hand, make art like this:

I love to make mixed media art and fun collages. And take interesting (and quirky) pictures. Aaron says he could never do what I do but personally I'd rather have the drawing skill. Maybe our future children will be lucky enough to inherit his talents.


Also, since it's getting close to the end of April I'm looking to switch up my sponsor swaps- or continue those I already have! If you want to swap buttons for May please email me. 
helloalsoiloveyou{at}gmail{dot}com 
I'd love to be sponsor swap friends!

I Love Other Bloggers

Apr 19, 2012

Seriously though, I love other bloggers. In yesterday's post I mentioned three in particular. Then I published my post and immediately felt guilty. I listed in my head all of my wonderful blogger friends I didn't mention. I felt like I should go back and edit the post and make a big long list of every one of you that has touched my life, that has become my friend, and has been with me on this journey called blogging. But you know who you are, right? All of you. Anyone who reads this blog, anyone who I correspond with through comments or email, anyone who I've met through this virtual world that I've convinced myself is real, I am so lucky to have you all as a part of my blogging life! 

As a small side note, if you leave comments on my blog and you've never gotten a response it's because you're a no-reply blogger (and that makes me very sad because I write back to every comment I receive). If you want to change that go read this tutorial- it's quick and easy and then we can converse!

This was me today, by the way. I had a good hair day. And to think, I almost didn't bother to do my hair today! That would have been a waste. Also, I had mostly blue nails and wanted to show them off. I'm not even going to tell you how I singlehandedly took a picture of both my hands with my iPhone. I'm pretty sure I'd get laughed at.


I joined the Send Something Good project that Gentri Lee is hosting. You all know by now how much I love getting mail (I've only mentioned it about a hundred times) so when I saw this project I had to jump on the proverbial band wagon and be a part of the fun. There are over 160 bloggers participating! I would tell you who I'm sending something good to but it's supposed to be a surprise. And to help us get to know our secret bloggers we're all supposed to write a little about ourselves (see my about me page!) or list ten things we love. So here they are, in no particular order (obviously the husband and the puppy are my number one and two choices but I'm thinking they want to know more than just that about me).

1. Travel
2. Brightly colored nail polish
3. Accessories (they make an old outfit new)
4. Things that smell pretty
5. Books (I'll read almost anything)
6. Anything with lace
7. Photography
8. Journals and Notebooks
9. Color, but in a simple way (if that makes any sense)
10. Creating new things (food, art, ideas...)

I think that's a pretty good list. I'm going to go stalk visit my secret blogger now.

On Reaching Out to Other Bloggers

Apr 18, 2012

I sometimes wish to myself that all my blogger friends and I can move to the same city and live in rows. We'd all have pretty houses and do art projects together and bake lots of cookies and then kick our own butts to keep them skinny (thank you pinterest). But since I can't live in a place with all my friendly bloggers I'll settle for connecting through blogging. When I first started venturing outside my comfort zone I was daunted by the idea of reaching out to others. I thought to myself (about multiple people) that they had too many followers and there's no way they'd want to hear from little me. But that's just silly. It delights me beyond belief when I have a fellow blogger write me an email and I know I'm not the only one! These ladies have no idea I'm about to write about them on my blog... hahaha. Just kidding ladies! It's all good, you'll see.

The very first blogger I ever reached out to was Erika at Chambanachik. I stumbled onto her blog randomly. And I'm a sucker for "about me" sections. If you don't have one on your blog get one because it annoys me when I can't read them. Seriously, it's the first thing I read. I love to learn about people. I'm studying psychology with an emphasis in human behavior in college right now. But I digress. Erika has a "History" tab on her blog that instantly captivated me and after reading every single post in it (this post in particular broke my heart just a little) I felt the urge to reach out to her. I had been through something similar and yet so different from Erika and I wanted to talk to her, to connect with her, and to thank her for her honesty over such painful subjects. So I did. At first my thought was, she has so many other followers, my email couldn't possibly mean anything. Then she wrote me back saying it was the hope of touching someone who needs it (like me) that keeps her writing her honest words. In its own way, my email helped us both.

I found Kris at The New Normal through Erika's blog. She is one of the nicest people I have met through blogging. She probably doesn't know this but I actually read her blog for a while before I started commenting. (Sorry Kris- I was a stalker!) I found their story so sweet and sincere, I just couldn't help but read it. I'm not kidding when I say I cried reading this post about Kris and her husband surprising the kids at school when he came home a few days early from his YEAR long deployment. Seriously, is there anything better than a family reunited? And so I read Kris's blog without really saying much because she was one of those bloggers that you read and you think how wonderful they are but they couldn't possibly want you to bother them. As it turns out,  we've become good friends and she's one of my new pen pals. She's still my military wife inspiration for making it through a year with two children and a far away husband. I dread the day I have to do it myself, but when I do I know I will have her (and of course others) for support. And that makes me feel so good.


The last blog friend I want to share about is Megan at And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Megan's another of my blogging idols. I've been reading her for a while but we only recently started connecting beyond simple comments and responses. At first glance you just see another cute blogger (and she definitely is cute). But Megan is one of those that writes about reality. She wrote one post in particular that's stuck with me where she opened up about her struggles with depression. She writes the truth. She's honest with herself and she's honest with her readers. And that is one of the things I LOVE about Megan. And now that I've gotten to know her on a more personal level I love her even more.


Are you seeing a trend here? I try to be open and honest on my blog. As it turns out some of the best blogger friends I've made do the same thing. Coincidence? I wish that I could go on and on because TRUST ME these are definitely not the only bloggers I've connected with, there are so many (you know who you are) and I love every one of them. These are just a few of my examples of why you should reach out to the people who touch you. Every time I write about something that's hard to write about, something that's painful, or something that's just unpleasant I think maybe I shouldn't write it. But that's not real life. And every time I share something painful I get responses from others that I've helped or influenced, simply from being brave enough to share my story. None of us is happy all the time. None of us has a painless story. And that's why I blog. To share my story.


And since I can't leave you with a picture-less post, I'll share my baby. I left the room for maybe two minutes and this is what I came back to today. That's his "It wasn't me, Mom" face. It gets him out of a lot of things.

Guest Post: Jenn @ Passenger Seat Perspectives

Today I'm blog swapping with Jenn over at Passenger Seat Perspectives. Go visit her and say hello- and read about my adventures with bringing a pin to life. She also hosts a weekly Pinterest link up that always has really fun projects. Jenn's sharing a recipe with us today and oh my goodness, it looks delish! If Aaron is lucky he'll get this for lunch one day.

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Hey everyone at Hello. Also I love you! I'm Jenn from Passenger Seat Perspectives. Sue is so very sweet for having me guest post today! I've loved hearing about her adventures in Japan, haven't you? Make sure you come over to my blog and check out her guest post there! 

Sue had a couple questions for me, and then I have a yummy recipe to share with you!

1) Why do you blog? I started blogging because I found all these amazing ladies with their fun blogs full of ideas, fashion tips, crafts, home decor, and just their experiences and thoughts, and I wanted to be part of that, and get to know many of them!
2) Where do you live and what do you love/hate about it? I live in Virginia and I absolutely love it. This is the third state I've lived in, and although I liked the other two, Virginia is awesome because it has all the best to offer - mountains, beach, cities. I really think I'll be in Virginia for a while.
3) What is your favorite drink? Totally a tie between Cherry Coke, and those cheap gas station milkshakes that you put in the mixer and it blends it for you - only the Mint Chocolate Chip ones.

Here's a recipe from a link-up series I started a while back called "Like It, Pin It, Do It!" I started the link-up as a way to hold myself accountable for actually making/wearing/trying/doing some of the many recipes, crafts, outfits, hairstyles, etc. that I pin on Pinterest. I hope you'll come and share one of your projects sometime!




This pin made my mouth water when I saw it. I had to have one. Only I also took some inspiration from a sandwich I used to love from a cafe back when I was in school - the TAB sandwich (turkey, apple, brie).

Since I didn't have the Pinterest recipe on hand when I was getting ingredients, I just picked up what I remembered from the one at the cafe and concocted my own. All it took was:
- Olive oil
- Ciabatta bread (in the bakery section of the grocery store)
- Brie cheese
- Apples (I used Granny Smith)
- Turkey (I used lunch meat we had on-hand)
- Dijon mustard


Here's what I did:
1. Put some olive oil in a skillet and heat to medium.
2. Slice the ciabatta bread 3 or 4 inches wide, then halve horizontally (so you have a top half and a bottom half). Place the bottom half in the skillet with the cut side up, and then the top half in the skillet with the cut side down.
3. Slice some brie and layer it on the bottom half.
4. Thinly slice the apples and put on top of the brie.
5. Tear the turkey slice in half and fold the half on top of the apple (add more if desired). 
6. Toast this for a few seconds until each half is a little browned. Take out of skillet and put on plate.
7. Spread a some Dijon mustard (a little goes a long way!) on the top half of the sandwich, and put the sandwich halves together.
8. Enjoy!

This sandwich was just as delicious as I remembered and although it seemed super fancy, it was really easy! It took about 10-20 minutes. You have my permission to use this recipe to impress your friends.



I hope you enjoy! Thank you again, Sue, for having me guest post!

So Many Pictures...

Apr 17, 2012

Yesterday I went to the beach. And when I say beach I mean climbed to the top of the big stone barrier protecting us all from the tsunami's that like to visit Japan. It doesn't matter though, it's still beautiful. Also, please ignore my hair. It was cute and wavy before we got there and the ocean air just frizzed it right up.
I had to use the Holga lens- of course!
a Twinker snuggle is always my favorite
Twink got a new friend- he's a Trooppaw and I love him
I now have a little book to keep track of the addresses of all my new pen pals!
to decorate our home: where we met, married, honeymooned, and live (they're not in order)

Ode to my BFF

Today is the birthday of my lovely Jess. She's amazing. Seriously. Best friend a girl could ask for. She has a plane ticket to visit me here in Japan and she'll be here in 123 days! I know that probably seems forever away but she sent me a countdown for my birthday and it's slowly getting smaller! She has something fun for every day until she gets here and every day it makes me happy. I've made sure not to look ahead so it's always a surprise. Last week she told me to try something new with my hair. Ta-da!
I'm not kidding. I wore my hair like that because it said "try something new with your hair."
Today I made cupcakes to celebrate her birthday. Too bad she wasn't hear to eat them with me.
My dear, darling Jess.
I absolutely love you.
You are smart and funny and beautiful.
You are always there for me, even 7,000 miles away.
You are one of my heroes.
You are such a kind and caring person.
You are an inspiration to me, every day!
xo always my love!

Snail Mail Friends

Apr 15, 2012

I love getting mail. Absolutely love it! I get so excited when I go to check the post office and I see there's a package waiting for me. Aaron gets a little jealous of the mail I get so occasionally I have packages shipped to him too. Just to make things fair. But today I want to ask my lovely blogger friends, do you want to be more than blogger friends? I love snail mail friends. I have a pen pal (hi Janey!) and I adore her. Now I want more friends to send mail to. I don't really care what it is. A letter, a card, a picture of the street you grew up on, an art project you did, a page from a coloring book, a pebble you tripped over in the middle of the sidewalk that made you look incredibly uncoordinated to everyone around you (this happens to me all the time). I want it all and I'll send it all. So if you want to be snail mail friends email me your address and I'll put something in the mail for you this week! It will be the beginning of something beautiful called 
"I want more than bills in my mailbox."


Blog Design, Instagram, & Colored Pants.

Do you see this pretty little blog I'm writing on? I designed it all myself. I made the header, the blog buttons, the social media tabs, the about me pic, carefully coordinated all the colors, pretty much made it my own. I've also started to learn html code- yikes! That part is daunting. And it will take me a long time before I'm confident at it. For now I'm taking baby steps. It's a new love I've discovered. And I'm a little obsessed. I've been editing pics, creating "just for fun" blogs, basically giving myself new projects just to try it all out. So if you want some help designing a new button, a new header, an about me pic, or anything of the sort, send me an email and we'll see what we can come up with. Oh, did I mention that (as of now) I'm doing this for free? Simply because I love it and I want to build a portfolio? If you want to see the 2 other blogs I've designed from head to toe (besides mine of course) check out my design portfolio tab I've added to my top bar. 

I have insta-love. It's an (unhealthy) obsession. I'll admit it. If you're on Instagram you should definitely follow me- I post lots of funny pictures from Japan. If you don't have the app you can find me online here. My username is @suehc so go find me! Or leave your username in the comments below and I'll find you! These are some of my all time insta favs:
1. my "original" engagement ring (long, romantic, gooey, mushy story) 2. my birthday present from my sister 3. a present for my new favorite man 4. twinker baby, of course 5. spring nail polish (and my real wedding ring- LOVE) 6. ab shaper for men- this actually exists here in Japan 7. an awesome club 8. mustache lover 9. cheese rolls- now in my top 5 favorite foods I've eaten in Japan

I was very hesitant about colored jeans. I remember once telling my sisters they could never wear them. Of course, I have pics of me when I was 15 wearing bright red pants and rocking it so who am I to judge? Obviously I was very ahead of the fashion times and now everyone is copying me. I bought myself some neon blue jeans to ease myself in. Then I bought hot pink and bright red. It wasn't my fault though, the pink and red were both on sale for $3 each. So they were practically free. I usually don't do WIW pics (I'm way too self conscious...) but I had to this week because I have to spread the color love. What do you think?