Tag:

the little things

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup April 20, 2016

like watching the sunset on the beach with your favorite person.

I know, I know. So many of my “The Little Things” posts are about sunset but sunrise and sunset are such a magical time of day. It doesn’t matter what kind of day you had, something about watching the sun set and hearing those waves crashing into shore makes everything else just fade away.

Jeff and I didn’t get to do anything too special for our anniversary. He was recently offered a full time job (woooo paid vacation!) in the tax department of a nearby city, and tax day happened to fall on our anniversary this year so needless to say he was whooped by the time we finally got to see each other. Our favorite pizza, macarons, and lots of cuddles were the highlights of our two year celebration. While it kind of stunk that we didn’t get more time together, its definitely for the greater good (like I said, paid vacation, yo!) plus earlier in the weekend we had a really great day. So good that it’s probably only fair that our time together Monday evening lasted about three hours before we were dead asleep.

So back to Saturday, we ended up at the “new” beach that we had discovered while geocaching a few weeks earlier. When we got there I could see from a little ways back that the tide was all wrong for picking glass. I was disappointed but it was a beautiful evening so just walking the beach with my favorite dude was more than enjoyable. On our way back we stopped at the furthest edge of the beach before heading back to the car and ended up finding a real “nectar sector!” (Do yourself a favor and watch the show Diggers. It’s available on Netflix. It’s sooo bad that it’s good. Jeff and I have picked up so many stupid little sayings that we crack up about all the time.)

We picked glass for so long in this little tiny area. Let me tell you, the picking was good! It was so much fun hunting for treasures with Jeff, and trying our hardest to avoid getting wet all while the sky put on a beautiful show of color for us. When I think back on it it just feels like we were there forever, in our own little world. I really can’t explain why this trip to the beach felt so much more awesome than normal but it definitely did. Sometimes words just can’t adequately do the job I guess.

lake erie beach glass, cleveland, beach glass,

I know life is hectic and sometimes it feels like there just isn’t enough time but I swear I have never in my life regretted watching the sunset. Make it a point to get out sometime this week and let the sky show you something beautiful!
xoxo

The little things is an on-going series celebrating the little things that make life special.

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup March 7, 2016

like catching these two in bed together!!!

I adopted Klaus as a tiny, tiny puppy just around three years ago. I had hoped that a puppy would be the best bet in terms of everyone getting along. I thought that the cats would be able to just give this tiny dog a few little “I’m the boss here” hisses and everything would be golden. Buuuut I was wrong…

After a full year there was barely any progress at all. Klaus was more than interested in being friends but neither of the cats wanted anything to do with him. He was admittedly a little aggressive, not in a bad way but he’s three times their size and an absolute ball energy. Klaus and the cats were rarely ever in the same room together. If Squid was in the hallway, I was in the bedroom and Klaus was on the other side of the house he wouldn’t come to me because he was so afraid of this little black cat who was so clearly head of the house.

Eventually things started to progress. I remember one specific incident where Jeff and I were laying in bed with Klaus and Professor hopped up to get cozy with us. We lost our minds. It was so exciting for them to be that close together. (Everyone in this house is obsessed with cuddling with Jeff… Whatever, he smells nice.) This started happening fairly regularly and when Squid got involved too it was selfie worthy. I have so many grainy photos of the five of us together that I excitedly took.

More progress came when I moved to the apartment I’m living in now. It was like something clicked and all three of the animals were nicer to each other. Eventually the five of us laying in bed together became something completely normal. Klaus and the cats were co-existing successfully! He had backed off trying to give them all the love and they had started to realize this big goon was here to stay no matter how mean they were to him.

Last week I walked into my bedroom to grab something from my vanity. I spotted Klaus in bed and heard Professor in his little tiny collar jingling after me. He hopped up in bed and to my surprise curled up right beside Klaus. This is a first!!!! A super duper exciting first, clearly!

So technically, they aren’t cuddling since they’re not touching but the fact that they’re sharing the bed without me or Jeff in there to play mediator is AMAZING, especially since Professor was the last one in bed. Klaus will often try to hang out with the cats only for them to immediately get up and leave. He tries to bring them his toys sometimes. It’s so sweet. My heart breaks for this big goofy dog who can’t understand why these two cats don’t like him.

I honestly can’t believe it’s taken nearly three years for this to happen. I’ve got hope that maybe some day I’ll walk in and spot them curled up together. It might take another three years but I think it’s gonna happen!
xoxo

Edited to add this photo I snapped yesterday, a few days after the original post was written. ALL THREE IN BED TOGETHER! Yessss!

10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup January 26, 2016

puppies in too big sweaters.

informative street art.

cats who are into science (and dusty old gifts from friends!)

finding faces in inanimate objects.

leaving treasures for others to find.

a friendly good morning pat on the back between two cats who’d never be caught snuggling.

organization.

matching my outgoing mail.

photos that feel like summer time, and of course, making pals with deer.

more inanimate object faces!

What’s making you smile today?

xoxo

“10 things” was a series on TDS back in 2012. I’ve since deleted the tag due to inactivity but seeing as stumbling upon those posts still makes me smile I thought I was way overdue for another one. Further installations will be nestled under “the little things” tags.

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup September 2, 2015

like watching the sun set with my puppy dog.

Earlier in the week I had the idea that Jeff and I could go watch the sunset at the beach. It’s been a while since I’ve just sat on the beach and watched the sky do it’s thing. Much to my dismay he’s in the midst of wedding season and is swamped with work. I pushed the idea out of my head and got back to doing my own work.

A few hours passed and I looked up from my computer to see the sky filled with gorgeous shades of pink and blue. I thought to myself “eh, it’s probably too late by now.” Fifteen minutes or so went by and I looked up again to see it was just getting prettier. I quickly packed up my camera bag, threw Klaus in the car, and headed to the beach. I should clarify that throwing Klaus in the car simply entails opening the car door. That dog loves car rides, especially because they usually mean going to grandma’s house.

We arrived just in time to see the colors in the sky peak. Klaus was very nervous. I’d never taken him to this beach before which is pretty busy on a summer evening. We walked to the edge of the water where I picked a nice rock to sit on. He nervously sniffed everything, nibbled on grass, and uneasily eyed everyone. Eventually he sat down beside me, I wrapped my arm around him, and we stared off into the distance together. I smooched him on the head a half dozen times because c’mon puppy heads are for smoochin’ before realizing how silly we must have looked to the people behind us. Just a girl on a date with her dog. But it was so so soooo nice!

I had planned on taking more photos but my concern laid more with making sure Klaus felt comfortable. These five shots are the only ones I took that night. I shot with a high ISO so I could shoot quick which resulted in grainy photos. They’re not beautifully composed but they’re already very special to me – mine and Klaus’ first sunset on the beach together – definitely not our last.
xoxo

The little things is an on-going series celebrating the little things that make life special.

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup May 18, 2015

So, how precious is that salamander? It’s a Northern slimy salamander, Plethodon glutinosus, and yes, he was very slimy. When I got to my parents my dad was removing the wood that didn’t get burned over the winter from the porch. He called me over to see what I assumed would be a big spider (because if you’ve never had a massive woodpile right outside your door – they’re spider city, man!) but it was this little guy! My goodness, that little face is so adorable. There are some animals that I just can’t wrap my head around the fact they’re actually real because they’re just so neat, and this is definitely one of them. I took so many photos of him but when it’s something like that it just never feels like I took enough.
xoxo

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup May 7, 2015

My absolute favorite thing about spring time? BABY ANIMALS.

I’ve been living in the city for around a year and half now, and honestly couldn’t imagine living anywhere else but there will always be a part of me that loves the country. Along those same lines, I love shooting abandoned buildings, and gritty city stuff but nature photography will probably always be my favorite. Last weekend I got the chance to get my knees dirty and shoot a few small critters, including a very tiny painted turtle, a newborn flying squirrel, and two feisty snakes.

Above is one of my dad’s flying squirrel babies.This is at about a week old, they were born on the 24th of April. It’s incredible to see one of these little things so…fresh. Not only are the membranes it uses to glide see-through but so is the majority of his body. It’s just so strange to imagine this tiny fur-less thing will grow into this. Nature is wild, y’all!

I already feel like I have my dream job. But I think if there was a dream job v2.0 for me, it would be to be an animal photographer. You know what I really want to do? I want to shoot for zooborns! Just baby animals in front of my camera all day, every day with lots of snuggles thrown in there too, of course!
xoxo

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup April 23, 2015

like finally getting organized!!!

I may collect a lot of things but I do have one thing going for me – I’m organized...for the most part. I like for things to be in their place, and do my best to keep things around the house neat. Honestly, I can’t even stand to have messy closets. Out of sight out of mind doesn’t work for me. I know there is a mess lurking behind that door and I have to deal with it. Something that has been pestering me for years and years was the fact that all my photos were just in boxes. It was ugly, I couldn’t look through them, and it took up a lot of space.

These last few weeks I’ve been tackling that issue one photo album at a time. I’ve got most of my 35mm prints organized and in albums. Thanks to an estate sale I have albums for all my land camera photos. I’ve had instax mini albums in my amazon wishlist for a really long time but only recently pulled the trigger and purchased. You guys, I don’t understand why I waited so long.

You might be like “okay, congratulations, your photos are in albums” but seriously this is a weight off my shoulders. Getting organized is the best feeling! I filled up four of the albums and still have a few slots left in the last album (which was a lucky guess! I had no idea how many photos I had or albums I needed) The best part is it makes me want to get out and shoot more knowing that my photos won’t end up just tossed in a box.

Now I just need to pick up a handful of Polaroid albums and I’ll be all set…
xoxo

Propagating for the very first time…

by Kaylah Stroup April 9, 2015

I think it’s pretty obvious I have a thing for plants, my instagram is full of them and I’m sneaking them into my 365 posts. When I was younger my mom would try in vain to get me to garden with her. She’d always quip “someday you’ll love flowers!” Lo and behold she was right. Before moving to Cleveland, I lived in a small town in a quaint little home I decorated with an abundance of flowers. When I moved to Lakewood I lived in an apartment building with no outside space to call my own so the gardening ceased. There my interested in house plants really bloomed. (heh, get it?) Even though the house I’m living in now has a deck where I can have flowers when the weather warms up my house plant obsession is still going strong.

I’ve always been interested in propagating succulents but had just never put any time into learning how. I recently noticed one of my plants was looking pretty leggy so I decided to finally spend a little bit of time learning how to turn that one plant into many. It’s been just over two weeks since I laid them out to do their thing and guess what! They’re growing. Totally not that big of a deal at all, especially if propagating is something you do regularly. But this is my very first time trying and this is so darn encouraging. All the posts I read were so positive, and reassured me it was easy but the comments all left me feeling like maybe it wasn’t. I read a ton of posts, gathered up what seemed like good advice, and it all seems to be working.

Shown in the photo above are the cuttings, which are from the top of the plant the leaves were harvested from. One post I read basically said that if it already looks like a plant then to plant it, and wait for it to grow roots. I’m incredibly impatient (and equally as curious) so I very carefully maneuvered one of the smallest out of the dirt to see if it was growing as planned. Surprise, surprise – it was! I mean, I may have caused some damage doing that but at least I know the others are probably doing the same!

I was pleased to read that no part of the plant goes to waste when you propagate. Even the stem will grow new babies. My stems were looking pretty rough so I wasn’t too hopeful but would you look at that! Growth!

These photos were taken six days ago, since then the babies have grown leaps and bounds. I’m so proud. I really love growing things and this just takes it to the next level! Fingers crossed they continue to grow and grow!
xoxo

Recommended reading if you’re looking to get started –
▴ Propagating Succulents on Needles + Leaves
▴ How to Propagate from Succulent Leaf Cuttings on Snapguide
▴ How to Propagate Succulents from Leaves on Succulents + Sunshine
▴ How-To: Propagating Succulents on Terrain

It’s the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup March 5, 2015

…or maybe the really, really big heavy things?

What a coincidence that the day I posted this post about how I was holding off on a full office tour (and apartment warming party) until I found lockers things would finally fall together and I’d end up with a gorgeous set of my own. I guess I could have waited until my office tour post to share photos but y’all, I am SUPER excited about these babies.

I had actually been trying to get them for a few days prior to that post. I had contacted the seller asking for dimensions to make sure they weren’t too big but it took nearly a week before I heard back so I had basically given up on them. When I finally heard back, and measured my staircase it was on. I had to have them. Things just weren’t working out though. The seller was slow to respond to emails so setting up a time to pick them up was difficult. After one failed attempt I was worried I had missed out. They were a deal, and they were exactly what I wanted for the room so back to craigslist I’d have to go. But then I got another email, and we set up plans for the next day.

Now, the adventure of getting them home! None of my friends own a truck or van but Jason has the “SwagWag”. It had already successfully hauled my mattress from apartment to apartment (with only tape securing it. Haha!) so why not lockers? I think we all might have underestimated how much lockers weigh and how awkward something so large is to move though. Luckily someone from the warehouse was kind enough to forklift them on to Jason’s car, all while giving this “you kids are idiots” smirk.

Ten long miles later and they were back at my apartment. Getting them off the car and up my stairs was a challenge to say the least. I ripped my coat while trying to help, and then nervously paced while the boys tried and tried to move these massive, awkward things up my stairs. Long story short, it was next to impossible so we had to wait a few hours until Brandon got off work and was able to lend a hand.

Finally upstairs and right where I wanted them to be, I think they might be even more perfect than I could have ever pictured. The color looks so awesome with my wall color. I immediately scrubbed them down and started filling them up with my things.

I still can’t believe what a challenge it was to get these babies upstairs. I don’t know why I didn’t think about how hard it would be but I sure am lucky to have such awesome friends to help out. Love you dudes!

So! You can obviously be expecting a full office tour sometime in the next few weeks. I am pretty darn excited about how this room came together. These lockers were just what the room was missing.
xoxo

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