Instagram vs. Reality

I recently came across Amanda's post on Instagram vs. Reality and I also thought it would be fun to do on my own account. I don't think that there's a single picture on my Instagram where I haven't tried to find decent lighting and no dog fur in the background.

1|| As you can probably tell, there's dog fur in the background of the body scrub/lotion/soak. There is forever dog fur on everything we have, and we really should brush Gunner more, but whatever. In reality, there was more fur there, haha!

2|| It always takes me a while to figure out the best pose to show off the nail polish bottle AND my nails. But not too close, or you'll see how terrible my cuticles are and the little air bubbles from painting my nails in an air conditioned room.

3|| Gunner is most definitely improving in the tricks department! He can usually hold the toy or treat on the top of his head or snout, but this picture took quite a few tries before he was still enough. These toys are fun though, because he really does pause when they're on his snout. It hooks on to him and ends up flinging his head around to get it off, haha!

4|| I really, truly, honestly could not just dump my lip gloss bag out and snap a picture. Oh goodness no. You bet I tried to place them so the labels were all facing up, and that there weren't any spare eyeliner pencil shavings, or lip gloss that had exploded.

I almost always use the photo editing app PicTapGo! to make my pictures brighter. It has so many filters, and it really does brighten up a lot. It helps me because our lighting is so dim in our place, and sometimes I find myself finally having time to take pictures when the sun is going down.

What are the secrets behind your Instagram pictures?

xo. Nicole

28 Days of Thankful || Week 3

Week three was hard. Our stress levels are through the roof right now with both of our vehicles working on and off, so I guess I could basically just say that this week I am extra thankful for family. They've let us use a vehicle while mine is in the shop, and are genuinely helping us through it all. 

While being extra super duper thankful for family, there were a few more things I could think of and take pictures of for the Instagram project. I'm trying to do all 7 days, but life gets in the way sometimes:

1 || Gunner is always watching us, and it makes me feel like he'll protect us through anything.

2 || Naps. Especially with this boy. His thing lately is to jump on our bed, get into a spooning position and snore, snore, snore!

3 || Cozy inside. My dad is out there right now in -12C weather towing people out of ditches and such, all so he can pay rent so that we can live here and save up for our own place.

What were you thankful for during week three? If you're participating, leave your Instagram username in the comments below and I'll be sure to follow along :) 

My Instagram: @nicloemax

The host of #28DaysofThankful and owner of Crafted Love: @allisonaffordit

xo. Nicole

28 Days of Thankful || Week 2

Ah, yes. It's a Tuesday and it's no longer week two of the Instagram project, but unfortunately, I got busy! Currently we both don't have our vehicles to get to and from work, and we both work half an hour to an hour away from home. It's a very stressful situation, so I am looking for a new job and still trying to focus on what I'm thankful for. Week two, I was not very active in taking pictures but I got four in! That's good, right?!

Not sure what #28DaysofThankful is all about? Click here! (hosted by Allison from Crafted Love)

Want a recap of my first week? Click here!

Day 1// Enjoying a night off for once. Not pictured: husband, Gunner, and popcorn.
Day 2// Thankful for pay it forward type ideas, like Craft it Forward!

Day 3// Love nights off together where we can drink wine and play board games.

Day 4// Thankful for kind people.

Are you participating? I would love to follow along! Use the hashtag #28DaysofThankful so everyone can see what you're thankful for! Comment with your Instagram username so I can follow you! Mine is @nicloemax and the host of the Instagram project is @allisonaffordit!

xo. Nicole

28 Days of Thankful || Week 1

It's already been a week of the Instagram project, #28DaysofThankful! To recap, the goal is to take a picture for 28 days of something you're thankful for and post it to Instagram. Allison from Crafted Love is hosting and came up with the idea. She will be sharing her favorites from the hashtag every week on her blog! I'm going to share my week's worth of pictures every Friday with you here! :)

Day 1 || I'm thankful for our friends and family who support us in everything we do.

Day 2 || Thankful for coffee. It wakes me up and motivates me to get on with my day. Sounds stupid...but it's true..

Day 3 || Thankful for Rob and Gunner. Late night cuddles and wrestling after work.
Day 4 || Not sure where I'd be today if it wasn't for this woman. Thankful for my mom!

Day 5 || As much as I complain about it, I'm thankful to have a job.

Day 6 || Thankful for my dad. He's beaten cancer twice and is always there for me and my sisters.

Day 7 || My sisters. They're there to listen to me vent and I know they'll always be around.

Are you participating? Leave your Instagram username or your blog link in the comments and I'll check them out! :) If you'd like to follow along, you can follow me on Instagram here @nicloemax and the brilliant mind who thought of this, @allisonaffordit.

xo. Nicole

28 Days of Thankful

Okay okay, I know that the Canadian Thanksgiving was last month, but Allison is hosting an Instagram project and it can be done any month of the year! Throughout the month of November, post an Instagram picture every day with something that you're thankful for, and use the hashtag #28daysofthankful. She'll share her favorites every week on her blog, so check it out!

Image by Crafted Love

I've started the project and will share my pictures with you every Friday! To start off the month's pictures, here's Day #1!

1// I'm thankful for all the friends and family who support us through everything. This was our guest book at our wedding and I could read the notes over and over again!

xo. Nicole

Instagram'd

The past couple days have been filled with work, Pinterest, Mario Kart drunk driving, and more work. Not a whole lot went on, but it's sure to pick up soon as I'm breaking down and getting a Crock Pot tomorrow. I can NOT wait to try out all those amazing recipes that have been floating around on Pinterest. Stay tuned! xo

1/ Finding a ribbon = Koshka gets bow'd 2/ The iOS6 update is crap. My battery dies so fast now

3/ Wearin' the awesome headband Nicole sent me 4/ Rockin' the flower she sent me as well

5/ I guess my laptop was warm 6/ Seductive poses are seductive

7/ Family night when she decided to lay on my face 8/ Relaxing when she decided to lay on my shoulder

That was basically just a bunch of Instagrams of my cat. You're welcome.

xo. Nicole