Dearest Love a Fresh 48 | Grand Forks, ND

This last week (1/22/15) my best friend Tresa gave birth to an amazing little peanut named Steevi Lynn who I love so very, very much! As a lot of you know, I do photography part time and I've been working on getting into more lifestyle sessions. I do a lot of posed work, but I like to be in the moment with people and capturing the moments that are so beautiful to families. I've added a few pictures below, but to see more you can always follow me on Facebook or over at Belle Hiver Photography 

These two pictures are a couple of my favorites. I love seeing new parents with their babes and just how much they fall in love with someone so new and fresh into the world. 

I hope that you all enjoy this post and the amazingness that is a new family and keep an eye out for Steevi's upcoming newborn session. 

Coffee Date | Link Up

So I decided to finally do a link up, which I used to adore but, now I've gotten lazy. Laziness as it turns out is the killer of blog writing.  So this link up seems fun because Jenna started this to build community and promote honest blogging. I'm a fan of being open and honest about life. Sometimes it stinks, sometimes it doesn't. Luckily for me lately it's been pretty fantastic and this last week was a big ball of amazing.  HIGHLIGHTS 90% of my week I applied for some VTO (Voluntary Time Off) because I really wasn't feeling work. My car had died Monday and that kind of just started off me not wanting to be at work. It's not that I don't enjoy work, because I do. I enjoy that I can kind of slack off and still do what I'm paid to do which is reading and approving applications for an affiliate program, I read blogs.  Then the most amazing thing happened... MY BEST FRIEND GAVE BIRTH! Tresa (Tre/T) had her little bundle Steevi Lynn on Thursday which made my week significantly better. Since starting photography I've been drawn to starting fresh 48 aka a baby whose just been born, in hospital -or home- and taking pictures of the family with the babes. I've named myself honorary aunt and will be taking pictures of this peanuts first year of life. 

This picture right here is why I do photography. These are moments that the family cherishes, if you want to see more click here and check out my work! 

Next highlight would be spending the majority of my time with Eric after finishing cleaning my house -there is a post solely dedicated to that- and going to the holiday party. Why is there a holiday party in January? Oh cause we have a ramp up for the holiday "peak" season and not everyone gets converted.. yay. 

Check out that handsome couple ;) 

LOWS

- I really don't enjoy work after being moved down to a position where I'm not devolping others.. what sucks more is seeing individuals who kept that position (they were permanent before peak) be lazy and not even care. One of my "people" told me that they haven't been coached since our last coaching at the end of December. UGH! 

-I took too much VTO and will be cutting it tight for my budget going into vacation. 

-My car died on Monday cause I left my dome light on *shakes head* I had been in a little fender bender before the weekend and just didn't think to turn it off. 

The lows aren't that bad, but they can drain on you, which is why I'm so happy to have so many highlights this week! 

I'm happy to have linked up with you lovely ladies! 

Langdon and Pembina Gorge

So the weekend after Eric and I started dating he took me to the Pembina Gorge because he knew I've been missing landscape change. It can get kind of depressing living here when I spent my life in such amazing landscapes like Arizona, Oregon and Washington. 
So we went out toward Langdon -cause I also needed to see the farm- and it was a wonderful drive of him listening to my iPod and lots of long talks. The fun part was when we pulled up to the Pembina Gorge and stepped out of the truck, Eric walked around the truck and saw my face and said "that face right there is worth all the gas it took to drive here" probably had something to do with me tearing up a little bit. 
"the human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man" 

But walking out of the truck to a view like this was just absolutely fantastic. Yes it was foggy, but goodness I was so happy that he took his day to show me something that I absolutely needed. 

So of course I had to take a selfie and Eric got to get in on a selfie for the occasion too. 

We went to another area to check out a different view and I made Eric promise to bring me to this spot every season. I need it and I am just so happy to have someone who cares so much to share such places with me. 

After our trip out to Pembina, Eric took me to his families place out in Langdon and conned me into climbing up a bin to get a better view. A little known fact; I'm scared of heights. I am actually terrified of them and you can ask my dad, the guy who spent almost 2 hours in line with me to ride Goliath, just to have me chicken out at the last second. #scardeypants but I climbed up that bin and took a picture of a gorgeous sunset over the farm. I fell in love with this land while I was there and I can't wait to go back and visit this summer. Granted during that time Eric will be out farming, but I look forward to tractor rides and watching the sunset with my handsome. 

I hope you enjoyed my post about Langdon and Pembina. If you get the chance to run out that way, I would suggest it.. but don't, it's mine. 

Weekend Recap

So I know it's Tuesday night, but this weekend was a lot of fun and to be totally honest this new 7AM to 4PM shift is taking some getting used to. I've been spending most of my week getting my space at work decorated and I will post sometime soon of all the cute things, but there is a preview below. 

My work was completely unique with my name.. cause I don't use it anywhere else *cough* my blog link *cough* 

But I was hanging out with my coaching lead this week and she was all "hey, keep up the good mood/motivation" and what is more motivational than being a hustler? Nothing. 

ANYWAYS

This last weekend was full of lots of fun things! My very best North Dakota friend Tresa is having a baby girl #steeviethewonderbaby who has her own hashtag because her mama hates hashtags or "hash browns" as T calls them. 

At Tresa's baby shower! I cannot wait to meet Steevie. I gave my lovely friend and her family some sweet baby clothes and a year of photography! This was just my way of being around the baby all zee time! 

Right after the baby shower Eric and I went and watched the Sioux vs. Duluth game and I was paying attention.. didn't mind it too much! Despite the Sioux loosing it was still a good game, but those boys need to start taking shots more! 

Had to have a kissing picture #duh and I know that Eric will love this. 

We had pretty decent seats thanks to our work.. aside from my vomit tasting chili cheese fries which made me very sad. 

Here is another daw moment. 

So we had a pretty lazy Saturday and then Sunday Eric decided to take me to Devil's Lake which is about an hour and 40 minutes out from Grand Forks. We went to a restaurant (which I forget what it's called) and saw Bubba the giant lobster. He is a big guy. 

So the big reason we went out to Devil's Lake is because I'd never been there and Eric is on a kick of showing me how pretty North Dakota is/can be. So far, its working. A few weeks ago we went to Langdon where his family is from and that was gorgeous and now I can say that I've seen the most frozen water I've ever seen! I mean there's a lot of it.. and it's creepy eerie. We drove up the lake most of the way and were going to go to a view but it was closed so we went to lunch and then drove back toward Grand Forks. 

On our way back I wanted to walk on the ice before since I'd never done it and as much fun as it is I don't really think I'll be doing a lot of walking on huge frozen lakes. For starters, Eric drove the big truck out there F-150 and that was scary -to both of us- and then I was like "I'm gonna go to those pressure cracks over there" Yeah I made it like 10ft out before I decided I was too much of a chicken to go further. 

Gorgeous view of the sunset. 

My frozen lake selfie #nodakbucketlist 

So after getting off the ice and sending an email titled "I walked on a frozen lake and didn't die" to my dad we stopped off at a field and watched the rest of the sunset. Overall I'd say last weekend was pretty dang amazing, as most of my weekends have been in the last month + of Eric showing me around. 

Where'd ya go?

So it's been awhile, again. I know this isn't very surprising, but I have made a goal to blog more and to take advantage of this being one of my creative outlets. This last year had been an interesting one where I just had to deal with a lot of stress. 
I guess I should start with what the heck has been going on the last few months. I got a seasonal promotion at work that went bust because of a lack of permanent positions. Between then and now I went home for the first time in almost 7 years, but I'll dedicate a post to that in a few weeks. When I came home my apartment was trashed. I mean there was trash, dirty dishes, clothing and just... ugh... so many things. I know you're all wondering why, well I'd asked Mike to move in repeatedly since August because he didn't have a bed or a place to live.. he also didn't really have the funds to do anything. I felt bad and I made a bad decision. I broke up with him and it was nice.. it felt like we were able to be friends. 
Around this time I started to hang out with my co-workers more, we had a weekly dinner at a local place called Rhombus Guys (delicious) where we would draw inappropriate things on the table and just hang out. It was after our first dinner that Eric and I decided to not go our separate ways and hang out for the rest of the night (11/28). After a fun night of talking and listening to music while driving all over the Grand Forks I went home where I thought about Eric, a lot. We have a lot in common and I just kind of sat around for the next week doing my hair, wearing makeup and enjoying the crush that I had discovered. I didn't realize that Eric was in the same boat -we had one thing that we didn't see eye-to-eye on- and the next weekend when we all went out to dinner our mutual friend Amy kept asking why we wouldn't just "date" among other ideas that she had for me. But when they all left for the night Eric and I went around and chatted about our wants in life, what we want to do, where to go etc... and it was around 530 in the morning that we decided that we were a "thing" now and, I quote, "this is happening, huh?" 
So on 12/6/14 Eric and I decided to date.. and for the last month + has been pretty freaking amazing. But now I'll leave you with a pretty sweet picture and the promise to post more in the very near future!

PS this is us at a UND (Sioux) game last night (1/9/15) where I actually watched, and enjoyed with my sweet hunky man.