4th of July was awesome. Except there were no fireworks. I guess that's what I get for living overseas. Apparently the AF base didn't want to do them because they thought the weather would be bad- it wasn't. Aaron and I went to the "State Fair" and it was a lot of fun. Aaron got a turkey leg and loved it, I had yakisoba (one of my favorites!), and Twink just enjoyed being out with us. Plus they had a life-size angry birds game that was so much fun.

Because he loves me, Aaron grilled burgers for dinner. He thought Twink deserved one since it was a special occasion so this tiny one was made especially for him. That crazy look in Twink's eye came from his excitement when he realized he was getting the whole thing. He also snatched it before I had a chance to take a real picture and hid under the coffee table to eat it, afraid it would be taken away. 

We had such a wonderful day! And the best part? It was the first day of Aaron's leave. Two whole weeks of no work! We're going to have a blast. I'm already having a hard time finding the minutes to blog with Aaron not working but don't worry, I'll make it work! How was your 4th of July?

Life has been great. Well, for the most part. I've been incredibly sick the past few weeks and it's taken the wind out of my sails more than I knew it could. Usually I'm a great sick person, just pushing through it and pretending I'm not sick, but it's not working this time. Luckily July promises to be a wonderful month, if for no other reason than my husband has leave from work and we have some fun plans to explore Japan while he's relaxing. I'm so excited about that part! 

Friday we went to The Amazing Spiderman. This is kind of a big deal because we never get to see movies when they actually come out, let alone before they're released in the States. I barely made it through the almost three hour 3D movie but it was worth feeling sick. It was a great movie and according to my comic book nerd husband they followed the original story fairly well. I guess that's kind of a big deal.

It's been far too long since Twink's made an appearance here. He and I were waiting for Aaron the other day and he climbed into my lap to drive the car for me. You know he's adorable.

If you want to say hi to me on my friend Erika's blog go here.

I used to have purple hair. Then one day I had to change it for a job (stupid job- except not because that's where I met the husband). Then I was going to dye it back but Aaron and I got engaged and I figured I'd keep it classic for the wedding. But I reached my limit and it was definitely time for a change. So I dyed it all dark brown and left a random blue streak, just because I wanted to. I love having unusual, original colors in my hair- and Aaron is crazy for the blue so I can't complain. Oh, and my handsome Twink baby got a haircut for summer. Tell me he's not adorable.

What awesome hair colors do you like to have fun with?

I see more beauty with camera in hand. 

So when Twink and I went on a walk the camera tagged along.

Who knew there was such beauty in our little neighborhood.

Also, I did a little guest post over at Vintage Wanna Bee about Instagram Art.

You should definitely check it out.

It's been far too long since I've done an annoying post where all I show are pictures of Twink, don't you think? And since I shared with you my excitement over ordering this adorable Yoda hat for my baby I couldn't resist sharing the "after" pics once it arrived. Just try and resist this cuteness.

I know. You want to steal him. I hear it all the time.

I renamed my blog.

I know, it's not normal. It causes confusion and people probably think I'm a little crazy. But I did it because I wanted to. It seems sudden to my readers but I promise you, it's not. I came up with Hello. Also, I love you. in 5 minutes back in November. I wanted a new name for my blog that was original and fun, so it was born. I was also participating in my very first giveaway through a friend's blog and I wanted to have my new name before the giveaway went up because I didn't want to confuse people when I changed it soon after. So I threw it together and away we went. 

But I never loved the name. It was long and I'm picky about punctuation... no one ever got it right. And that's okay because I don't expect others to be picky like I am. As time went on I liked my title less and less. Then I redid the look of my blog in May. I loved it. For about a week. And then I went right back to being unhappy with it (I know, so picky). So I realized I needed to take a long look at the blog and figure out what it was I didn't like. After all, it's my personal blog and at the end of the day I need to be the one that really loves it. After a lot of thought and planning, I unveiled this new look, complete with new blog name.

Now, about the name.

As It Seems

My original thought was "life isn't always as it seem." Of course that was really long and I didn't want a long title so I shortened it to As It Seems. And the minute I thought of it I loved it. Then I played around with it in my head for a bit and I still loved it. Then a week later (talk about fate!) I watched the season finale of one of my favorite shows and a song played at the end that I instantly fell in love with. And it's called As It Seems. Is that meant to be, or what? It's like the universe was telling me that I'd picked the perfect blog title. 

Or something. 

If you're curious about the song go ahead and listen.

Mostly I wanted a title that reflects my life. I have an amazing, beautiful, wonderful life. I try to show you my real life, the good and bad. I try to portray it in its true light. To show you my life as it really is. Life around here is as it seems (or as close to the reality as I can make it).

I had a friend tell me I couldn't possibly understand their problems because my husband and I don't fight. Ha. That's funny because we do fight (granted, not often or badly) but we don't do it in front of them. We all have trials, problems, and hard times. Just because I talk about the good times more often than the bad doesn't mean the bad isn't there. If I sat down at my computer every day and wrote about how much I miss my family, or greasy american food, or shopping malls that don't break the bank, I'd be a very ungrateful person. I'm sad sometimes. I'm happy more. But I try to always be real. If I have a bad day I write about it. If I have a good day I write about it. If I have a boring day... well I usually skip over those because no one but me really cares if I did nothing but read for six hours. But I like to keep it real. I wanted a change and I made it happen. Seize the moment, and all that jazz. I'm thrilled with the change and I plan on keeping it this way from now on.


And because I love you all, here are some pics from my week. 

PS I've updated my sponsor info. Don't worry, it's still free swaps. I'm changing it a bit though and now each swap needs to be refreshed each month. If I don't hear from you about renewal your button will come down on the 1st. Also, I'm limiting the number of buttons displayed each month. If I hit the limit you'll be asked to wait to the next month. I'm minimizing in my life and I'm happy about it. I hope this helps my sponsors get more traffic as well. Fewer buttons mean more views. If you'd like to sponsor As It Seems for June send me an email quick. Spots are already filling up!

An extra PS- did you guys see how amazing Kirsten is? She basically decorated my house for me. From 10,000 miles away. The girl has got some skills. Go visit her and she'll do it for you, too!

my handsome baby

Twink made some friends

a man on a mission

Twink's face here is priceless

just our cute little family

For Mother's Day (since I'm not actually a mom) we didn't have anything special planned. But we woke to a beautiful, sunny day and of course that means lucky Twink baby gets a trip to the dog park. It turned out to be a wonderful family day. I know our family is small, but we treasure our family days together. We get so few of them with Aaron's crazy work schedule. Spring has finally sprung here in Japan and we enjoyed every minute of it today.

And now for a few Sunday Favorites.

Another lovely blogger shared this on link and I have to pass it along. 
Seriously? 
Real life Instagram? 
I'd buy it the day it was released.


Tiffany has a crafty mind and a handy husband and managed to get this amazing table out of it. 
Aren't you jealous?


This heart blanket tutorial is too cute. 
I need to reach out to the crafty side of my brain and see if I can do it myself.


Alli wrote an awesome post about Birthmother's Day. 
Alli is one of my real life friends. She's pretty great. 
And she knows a lot about being a birth mom. 
You should definitely go visit her!


Dana shared her easy packing list for a trip to Miami. 
Anyone else want her to put together their next vacation wardrobe? 
I know I do.


And of course, I haven't forgotten the best Sunday Fav of all.
My mom.
She is beautiful, smart, and has an amazing heart.
She gets credit for everything good in me.
I love you mama.

PS Don't forget to link up this Wednesday for our exciting home invasions!

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.

I got a new camera for my birthday. It's a Canon EOS Rebel T3. It's perfect for someone who's just starting to get into photography more. Someone like me! So naturally I whip it out every moment that I see something worth capturing. And there are a lot of those with such a cute little puppy. I've been reading different tips and tricks to making my pictures better and utilizing all of my DSLR features. I'm not going pro anytime soon but it's so fun to try it all. These are my favorites of him so far. He's just too cute for words.

Thank you all for your sweet words and thoughts for Twink today. He did really well in his surgery but because it was a complicated procedure he now has two incisions healing and he's in a lot of pain. He yelps whenever someone moves him and it hurts my heart every time. I've spent a good part of the day frustrated and holding back tears over my baby's pain. Like a crazy puppy mama I actually started crying when I picked him up at the vet. Overall he's doing well though and he has 2 weeks of R&R before he's allowed back outside to play like a puppy again. He's such an active puppy that I don't know how he'll fare but I'm hoping for the best. His little cone of shame is so sadly precious that I had to share it with you all. And I'm completely exhausted so I'm going to snuggle with my hubby and my puppy and try to get some sleep tonight.

When I'm stressed out about something and I keep it hidden inside it usually finds other ways go come out, like in my dreams. And last night I had continuous dreams about my puppy dying today. I know this is all about to sound very dramatic but please keep in mind that he is my baby. I will never compare him to someones child because I know they're different and one day when I have kids I'll know the difference. But he is the only baby I have and I love him. 

Today Twink is going in for surgery. Usually neutering is a simple procedure and I wouldn't worry about it but Twink has a special circumstance. He only has one descended testicle so they have to do an exploratory surgery as well to find the second one. He also has a special condition (I forget what it's called) that can cause cancer if the testicles aren't removed in his first 2 years of life. So to be safe we're getting it all done as early as possible.

However, that means my poor baby has to have surgery while he's only 8 months old. He's only 6 pounds and they're going to knock him out cold for hours and search his tiny little body for something that could potentially harm him. I realize as I'm typing this that there's a 99.9% chance that I worry too much and I just need to figure out how to relax but my dreams kept me up all night so I'm not exactly thinking in those terms. I know this is a strange post but I wanted to write out my feelings because it always helps me sort them out. And it has. Wish us luck today!

A fair warning has been issued. I'm a little awkward in this video. And my voice sounds weird- at least to me. I watched this after making it and all I could think was "Do I really sound like that to other people?" I'm not sure. It took me seven takes though, because I kept saying REALLY dumb things or laughing at my own awkwardness. I swear, this was the best take! Also, the picture my video is inexplicably frozen on makes me shiver. I decided to try out Vlogging today and this was the result. I also found that I liked it. Would anyone be interested in doing a Vlog link up? I think it would be really fun!

PS I finally got my sponsors on the side bar to automatically rotate positions every time my page is refreshed thanks to this post. I no longer feel bad about who I put at the top because they change every time!

Well, today was lovely. Aaron was home and we didn't leave the house all day. Most of the time that would make me very restless but since I had my hubby around it was wonderful. We played games, we ate junk food (and a little healthy food), we watched movies, we played with Twink, and we snuggled on the couch. It was a simple day and I loved it. When we first got married Aaron was living in Japan and I was living back in Utah so we never got to just hang out. Now easy, simple days are a treasure to me. You can't have those if you don't live with your husband. Of course, now Aaron is asleep because he has to wake up early and go back to work and I'm wide awake but those are details that hardly matter. I only managed one picture though. I'm going to have to work on that.

Now, what I'm about to tell you had been a (very small) source of contention for Aaron and me: I don't understand his fascination with YouTube. I know what it is. I love that my family and I can share videos through it. But I do not understand how Aaron can play on it for hours watching video after video (and thinking they're all "so funny" or "so cool" when they are not). So I don't really watch videos online. But I got around to watching the music video for Ours by Taylor Swift today. I wasn't sure how I felt about the song, the first time I heard it I didn't really hear anything new or different in it. It still kind of feels that way. But the story in the music video made my heart happy. I know this exact feeling and I know I'm not the only one! So if you have a minute, watch it. I promise, it will make your heart happy too!

And last but definitely not least, I've been featured on another of my favorite blogs. I know I have a lot of favorites but I read a lot of blogs and I'm pretty sure there's no rule on how many you can love. Salena @ A Little Piece of Me did a Q&A with her sponsors this month so if you want to get to know me a little better go read it here. And definitely say hello to Salena while you're there! She is a fantastic woman and I've loved getting to know her. Plus she makes pretty headbands (I would know, I won one in a giveaway!) and she hosts fun giveaways (I'm sponsoring one for her at the end of the month and it's a can't miss) so there's always something exciting going on at her blog. I promise I didn't know I was being featured on three different blogs this week but I feel honored and lucky to have these ladies as friends!