I have a confession to make. I love notebooks.. no, I mean I really love notebooks.

This isn’t even relatively a new thing. Even as a child, seeing a notebook with a cute cover in the store would ignite my sense of want and need. The only problem is, once I purchase these notebooks I never write in them. What? Why wouldn’t you actually USE your notebook; that’s what it’s for, right? Yea, yea, I know. I’m a little OCD about categorizing things, so I do that with my notebooks. This one is for to-do lists. This one is for inspiration. Oh and this one is for writing down the Big Brother after dark updates that scroll across the screen. Yes, I did that for an entire summer.

But this year I’m trying to break that nasty habit. I’ve ordered some notebooks from Behance’s store, Creative’s Outfitter, and I’m using them! I mean, somewhat.

Anyways, I’m babbling because I’ve stumbled across more cute notebooks, well planners in this case, that I feel I need.

Take a look at these cuties and tell me which one you would get!

I created the first photo to fill a frame for my ivy link, or temporary little in Alpha Phi. We were tasked with creating a picture frame for our girl, but since I had never met mine before, we didn’t have any photos together! So instead, I found an inspiring sisterhood quote and fashioned the graphic above for her frame. Turquoise is one of her favorite colors, thus the background. The fonts I used were my all time favorites, Quicksand Book (light) and Champagne & Limousines, as well as CAC Champagne. Click the names for download links!

This one I just made for fun tonight from the lyrics in “Home” by Phillip Phillips (what kind of name is that, seriously?). I hate to support Mumford and Sons rip-offs, but the song is really sweet and catchy. It played non-stop on the radio over Christmas break while Austin and I drove across the states, so it brings back memories. The font I used here is called Villa Didot. It’s a really fun one to play around with!!

I hope you enjoy these!

This is possibly a very lame post, but I’m excited! I’m in charge of taking care of “positive points” for my sorority (basically making sure everyone stays involved in the house and on campus). We collect them each week at meeting and unlike every other girl on earth, I have no creative capacities and am unable to create a cute collection method…so I designed this! I figure I can glue it on something. Who knows?!

I used some new fonts I downloaded today and then created the frame by altering a brush, creating a stroke for one corner and then transforming it around the words.

What do you think?

Wow, when I started this project 2 weeks ago I did not think it would be difficult so early on. It’s not that I’m running out of ideas, it’s that I’m pretty bad about taking my camera around with me. My camera (Nikon D3100) is pretty small for a DSLR, but it’s still not portable, so I’m allowing myself camera photos now and then. As they say, something is better than nothing (or do they say that? It sounds good).

I enjoy taking (and editing) portraits more than anything else, but because I don’t have models just hanging out with me I can’t always take these photos. In this sense, the 365 project has already helped me branch out. I love browsing successful 365′s on flickr and seeing how much the person has improved.

These aren’t every photo from the first two weeks because frankly, I’m not proud of every photo. If you’d like to see the rest of week 1 &2 (and week 3 as I slowly upload) with individual stories and descriptions, click here.

- Regan

Here is a photo from my 365 project, if you’d like to see more just click here.

School finally ended last Thursday! This semester has been the toughest so far, and I couldn’t be happier to say Adios and Au Revoir to college for a month. I’m staying with Austin’s family for the break, so once finals were done we set off on our road trip.

These photos are from our second day of the trip. In the morning we stopped by the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois (a fun site and museum if you’re in the area), and in the afternoon went on a little hike. I can’t for the life of me remember where this trail was! All I can recover is that is surrounded a body of water called Horseshoe Lake, but don’t quote me on that.

The trail surrounded a large field and was an extremely easy walk (to my happiness!). It was a great way for Austin and I to settle our stomachs after lunch before he went out for his daily paddle.

We were surprised to see a man coming down the trail towards us about halfway through our walk. Dressed in rubber boots, leather gloves, and tinted glasses we were a little skeptical of him at first. But he turned out to be a nice gentlemen, if still a little eccentric. He told us jokes, ones he had rehearsed many times, and then went off on his way as we did the same.

After we finished our walk, Austin head onto the water for his workout. He was shivering like crazy once he came back to the car; he’s a trooper for going out there is such chilly weather! We finished getting everything put back in it’s spot, then headed to Indianapolis for the weekend (more coming on that soon!).

In other news, I have started a 365 project! It’s already proven to be difficult because so far I’ve only taken photos 3 out of 5 days. It can be so hard to remember to take my camera every where. If you’d like to follow my project throughout the year, you can find my flickr in the side bar, but I will also be posting weekly round ups here.

- Regan

I’ll be in Indiana this holiday season whose weather is a far cry from the 70′s we’ve been experiencing in Oklahoma lately. To combat the chill and possible snow I’ve wanted to invest in some duck boots (I find them to be rather adorable), and when I came upon these on Zappos my heart started pumping. What is more cute than this color and the many others they have?? If only I could find the $$.

But  hey Santa? Just so you know, I’m partial to the red.

How has it already been almost a year since Austin and I started dating? Sometimes it scares me how quickly time moves. Our one year isn’t until December 23rd, but last Thursday Austin gave me my present; the most amazing lunch at the top of the Devon Tower. For non-Oklahomans, the Devon Tower is a 52 story building (now the tallest in OKC) that was recently finished in October. The top two floors feature a restaurant and event center called Vast, where Austin took me for lunch.

The entire experience was wonderful. Up until we arrived outside of the Devon Tower and Austin asked me how we were supposed to get to the top, I just knew he was going to do something with the boathouse, so this was a great surprise. It was a truly enjoyable experience because it’s something I’ve never really done before; sure, I’ve eaten at a restaurant, but not one at the caliber of Vast. The food and service was exquisite (such a cheesy word, but an adequate description) and I couldn’t have been happier to spend that time with Austin.

And that’s what is really the most important. I was so excited to celebrate our time together and this huge milestone that I would have been elated at whatever surprise he threw my way. We’ve had our ups-and-downs just like every couple does, but overall this has been a great year. I’ve witnessed Austin grow so much as an individual and I see the same in myself as well.

Austin left me feeling so impressed with this date that I’m not sure how he’ll ever top it. We aren’t the kind of couple that go on planned dates very often, and it was so great to see Austin get excited beforehand. It was fun to hear about all the people he told his plan to and to see how happy he was. He such a great guy!

What I’m trying to say in way too many words, is that Austin is the perfect man. I’m so happy we’ve made it to this milestone and I can’t wait to reach many many more. So, cheers to the future!

- Regan

Let me begin by saying, I am not an outdoors person…

It may seem silly, but I even dread walking outside on days that are at the extremes of wind, heat, or chill. So this week, on the day before Thanksgiving, I took a big step and went camping for the first time. I’m talking real camping; no RV this time. I slept in a tent on the ground (with the help of a foam sleeping pad… Thanks Austin!).

The best part? It wasn’t too bad! I secretly liked it just a little.

It took us a little longer than we anticipated to get to the campsite, so we started hiking once we got there to beat the sun before it started to set. Let’s just say it’s been a while since I’ve been in shape. I was out of breath less than 5 minutes in… My brother and boyfriend (both named Austin) complained about me stopping to take photos, but I needed to if I was going to survive the rest of the hike!

Somewhere along the way, Austin cut his hands. He didn’t notice until he went to grab for something and saw blood on his fingers. Later as it dried, he constantly showed me how it made his fingers stick together. Sometimes I think I’m dating a child .

More hand photos… this seems to be a common trend lately! Along the trail, little Austin (my brother) went to pick up a butterfly. When he did, the poor guy split into two pieces. These are both sides of his wings.

After a long hike, I persuaded the boys to head back before it got too dark (and I was really hungry). We visited the nature center when we first arrived in the area. Interestingly enough, they told us that the large trails allowed hunting at the moment. We weren’t wearing bright colors, so I wanted to make sure we didn’t die on our way back.

My favorite part of camping was the food, by far! As the sun started to set, big Austin (my boyfriend) began to build our fire. Thank goodness he knew what he was doing, because I doubt my brother or I would have ever figured it out. He grilled some of the most delicious steaks I’ve ever eaten and then we ended the night with the best s’mores. We had some interesting encounters with a raccoon while making dinner and before bed, but I do admit I had a blast camping.

- Regan