Throwback Thursday: Snooooooow

January 2015 // *personal photo*

No matter how hot it gets, I'm still glad it's not snowing!

Much love,
The Geeks

Wordless Wednesday: Bright Eyes

*photo by Mr Geek*

Much love,
The Geeks

Oh, Internet... {72}

So, yeah, it's Sunday evening and I'm just now posting this week's Oh Internet.  But I can't help it- this is the first time this week I've had a chance to sit down and read some blogs!

Here are the awesome things I read, that you should read, too:

You are not a locust.  PREACH, Heather from Mama Knows, Honey Child.

Everything I read about The Benedict Option makes me feel weary, but then I read Daniel Bearman's take- Benedict Option B.  Hmm.  He may be on to something.

I figured out a long time ago that you can't talk about sex without offending people.  So I completely understand Kendra at Catholic All Year when she says we probably can't talk about NFP without offending somebody, so why don't we all try to put ourselves in each other's shoes, and realize that when somebody shares their own very personal journey, it is not intended as a critique of yours?

In much less heavy territory:

Mary at Better than Eden has taken the phrase epic birthday party to a whole new level with a Lord of the Rings-themed party for her son.  That cake is so awesome!

Emma at A Pinch of Pixie Dust visited Walt Disney's hometown, and I have now found a reason to visit Missouri.

I absolutely adore the top that Jamie is wearing in these outfit photos over on Petite Panoply!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm super jealous of Kendra's latest birth story.  (Although it was her 8th childbirth so I guess she deserves something so easy?)

What awesomeness happened on your internet this week?  (Er, last week?)

Much love,
The Geeks

Wordless Wednesday: Tiny Beauty

*photo by Mr Geek*

Much love,
The Geeks

Fashion Adventures: M-I-N-N-I-E M-O-U-S-E

...I feel like Minnie deserves her own theme song, too.  Is it just me?

One of my birthday presents this year was a gift card to Kohl's, and I knew exactly what I wanted to buy with it- a dress from Lauren Conrad's Minnie Mouse collection.  Because it's been out long enough for everything to go on sale, I actually scored two- including this adorable sundress perfect for a simple Independence Day celebration.

As we made our way inside at the end of an afternoon playing on a swing set with our tireless toddler, Mr. Geek insisted on an impromptu photo shoot.

"You know you want outfit photos of this dress for the blog," he said.  I think he really just wanted an excuse to keep playing with the new camera lens.  Either way, it is an adorable dress- so take a look!

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

Shoes: Apt 9 via Kohl's

Earrings: gift

Watch: Kate Spade

Yup, it's officially my new favorite summer dress.

What's your favorite outfit for hot summer days?

Much love,

The Geeks

Oh, Internet...{71}

My sister bought her wedding dress yesterday!!  (You know, the sister who was crazy enough to ask me to take her engagement photos.)  I wasn't able to go shopping with her, but I did pin some suggestions to her Pinterest board as sort of virtual support (and texted back and forth with my mom who took pictures during the actual shopping trip, of course).

And during my virtual dress shopping adventures, I perused Alfred Angelo's latest offerings for the Disney Princess wedding gown line.

via Alfred Angelo

The wedding gown from the new live-action Cinderella, ladies and gentlemen.  And you can also get it with the embroidery all in white- but why would you want to??  It probably costs as much as my car, but by golly if we do an elaborate vow renewal (we won't be doing an elaborate vow renewal, most likely) I am TOTALLY WEARING THIS DRESS.

You know what else I found on the internet this week?  Lots of awesome stuff!

The ModCloth blog interviewed a beautiful girl named Abby who is wise beyond her years.  Go read it and be inspired.

The amazingly talented Bean In Love extended the lives of some sweet little dresses for her twins by turning them into skirts.  So precious!

The always fashionable Petite Panoply proved that redheads can wear red (and look awesome while doing so).

Speaking of fashionable- how is it that Kaelah Bee manages to accomplish everything that she does and still look so cute?!

A guest poster on Make It and Love It shared a simple tutorial for adorable monogrammed zipper pouches that I'm itching to try.

Miss Black Cat on Weddingbee shared a tutorial for gorgeous embroidered handkerchiefs made with the same lace she used for her veil!

A Pinch of Pixie Dust took us on a tour of the new hub around the castle at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World- the moat is gone, replaced with grass!

Do you read House Unseen?  You definitely should because Dwija is hilarious.  Like this list of three "tips" for doing laundry.  I feel ya, girl.

What awesome things happened on your internet this week?

Much love,
The Geeks

That Time I Took My Sister's Engagement Photos

My sister and her fiance are planning a long-distance wedding.

Mr. Geek and I planned an Alabama wedding from the far-off land of Northern Virginia.  H (my sister) and J (her love) are planning a wedding long-distance from each other- she lives with our parents in Alex City, Alabama (where the wedding will be held) and he lives in Northern Virginia.  This means there's a lot of travel for both of them during the planning process, and they have to maximize their time together to accomplish the things that must be done physically together (like marriage prep and whatnot).  The photographer they have hired is a friendor- one of my sister's art school friends who lives much closer to her than to him- but he has no time this summer to get down to Alabama.  She came to visit him at the beginning of the month, the perfect time to take engagement photos to use for Save the Dates.

She's a master at Photoshop and knew exactly how the end product would look.

She's a master at Pinterest and knew exactly what sorts of poses she wanted.

I...have a camera.  And I like to take pictures.

For the record, this was HER IDEA.  A crazy idea, but I didn't force myself on the bride- she pulled the Sister Card and obviously I wasn't going to say no!

And you know what?  They didn't turn out so bad!  She's already edited the photos for their website, and created Save the Dates that she's about to have printed, so she said I could go ahead and share some of my favorite shots here on the blog.  I started a free trial of PicMonkey Royale and messed around with some of them just to learn how to use it.  (Hey Sis- feel free to use any of these if you like them!)

These two are band geeks- they met in their high school marching band!  We used his trumpet and her drumsticks, battered though they are, as well as a random sheet of music at the end there with the ring.  We went to the Teddy Roosevelt memorial and then to Old Town Alexandria for a little more smoochin'.

So what do you think?  How did Sissy do as stand-in photographer?

Much love,
The Geeks

Throwback Thursday: Tiny Feet

*personal photo*

Teeny, tiny, one-week-old feet.

They're bigger now.  And sometimes they're kind of stinky.

But they're still pretty tiny.

Much love,
The Geeks

Answer Me This: Father's Day Edition

Time for more Answer Me This on this hot, sunny Father's Day.

1. What's the best thing about your dad?

back before my dad grew his woodsman beard

I'd say the best thing about my dad is that he will always stand by his convictions.  Mom has always called him her rock; he won't ever give up on what he believes.

That, and he's a pretty great Papaw.

2. What's the best thing about your kid's dad?

That's right, Chief.  He does rock

The best thing about Mr. Geek is that he is willing to do anything for his little family.  Walk around the house singing to a crying baby at 2 in the morning?  He'll do that.  Sleep on what was essentially a sheet of plywood wrapped in fabric (the "sofa" in the hospital recovery room)?  No problem.

More important than his willingness to get his hands dirty, though, is his devotion to this marriage as a true partnership.  He doesn't view looking after his daughter as "babysitting"; he doesn't see vacuuming the living room as going above and beyond.

3. What's the best advice your dad ever gave you?

It wasn't fashion advice, I can tell you that much.

It's not so much advice that he gave me, but rather a sort of philosophy to live by.

He told me that you choose who you love, and I always thought that was terribly unromantic.

But now I get what he was saying.  You might not always choose who you're initially attracted to, but you choose who you love, because love is a choice, an action- not a feeling.  I'm so glad I finally figured out what he was talking about, because it's the foundation we've built our marriage on.  My parents have had a strong, solid marriage for 29 years now; I feel like that's a pretty good relationship to imitate.

4. What's something you have in common with your dad?

That whole being firm in his convictions thing?  That tends to translate into stubbornness and inability to concede when he's maybe kinda sorta wrong.  I don't know anybody who inherited that trait from him.  Nope.  No idea.

5. What's the manliest thing you know how to do?

I don't really like this question, because it implies that any talent can be "manly" or "girlie".  The only truly "manly" activities in the world are things like peeing standing up, and the only truly "girlie" activities are things like giving birth.

But there are plenty of talents and abilities traditionally assigned to men, and I can do some of them, too.

The most "traditionally male" things I've ever done are as follows:

-graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering

-drive (and prefer) a manual transmission

-replace the headlight in my car

-fired a weapon at a shooting range for fun 

-work outside the home and bring in the larger paycheck

-and yeah, I've peed standing up once or twice

6. Who is your favorite fictional dad?

image by Warner Bros, via Harry Potter wikia

Arthur Weasley is not a perfect father- he tends to want to play "good cop" by threatening the kids with, "Wait until your mother hears about this!" as opposed to enforcing family rules himself- but he loves his wife and children and does whatever it takes to protect them.

Sometimes Mr. Geek and I are a little like Arthur and Molly.  I even dream of having 7 kids one day...

Head on over to Catholic All Year and link up your answers!

Much love,

The Geeks

Wordless Wednesday: Wheeeee!

her favorite part of the playground // *personal photo*

Much love,
The Geeks