The Thrill of the Hunt

Palms sweating, she grips the wheel tighter and inches the gas petal subtly down. After all, 5 over isn't speeding yet. She just saw yet another sign and the anticipation is growing. Will this be the one I have been looking for or just another dud full of baby strollers and chipped old furniture? She cranks the air conditioning as if that will help the heat of pure adrenaline burning inside of her. Who knew that neon poster board bearing two hand-written words could be such an adventure? The speedometer is nearing 10 over as she searches frantically for another sign. Did she pass it? She considers turning back as the panic sets in. But wait, up in the distance is a yard cluttered with all sorts of items! Could this be it!?

This is how I imagine my mother feels as she hunts for the ever allusive garage sales on Saturday mornings. Stay tuned for a sequel: Getting out of the car and making the buy.

Love you, Mom!

Much Love!!

Food for thought.

Female truckers and nose-digging business men. The highway has about as many sights to see as any tourist attraction if you pay close enough attention. I can't promise the sights will be pleasant, but they certainly will be interesting.
What sets you apart from every other car on the highway? Are you weaving in and out to find the fastest route? Going at exactly the speed limit in the fast lane and infuriating everyone behind you? Or are you blasting your music so loud that everyone around you can feel your bass bumping? Do you have a tricked out paint job or squeaky brakes? Do you let someone in in front of you even if it slows you down minutely? You only spend a short amount of time with the cars around you, but what will they remember about you?
Ohhh am I the only one who sees a life comparison here?? Probably not. Hehe Well if you don't, here is your thought for the day:
What sets us apart from everyone else around us? Are we pleasant to be around? Do we cut people off? Is our "paint job" super awesome? It is not a good thing to always care about what others think of us, but maybe we should think about what we would think of ourselves if we were in the place of another.

Much Love!!

For the Beauty of the Earth

Today Dad and I went to the Forest Lakes to scope them out for a possible family day trip next weekend. It was a blast! Here are a few highlights:

I shot a gun for the first time!

The beautiful lakes were breathtaking!

We had lots of laughs. :)

Dad improved his climbing skills.... hehe

We got to appreciate the beautiful scenery that God made for us.

We had a blast and we are soo sore! But it was worth it! We probably hiked about 16 miles today and did a lot of hiking where there were no trails! But it was so worth it! Thanks, Dad! I had a lot of fun with you!

Much Love!!

The little things

Think back to when you were really little. Like a smaller size than I am. To reach the high cabinet or stand at the pulpit at church to "bury your testmoaney," you needed a little bit of a boost to get you to where you needed to be. (I actually just jumped up on the counter because I was a curly haired monkey...) The boost didn't need to be very big. Just something small.
The small things in life will get you far. This is a response to Aly Babwa's last blog. Thank you for being my "small thing" and boosting me up. I am so glad that I can be your boost too. :)

Also, as a side note. My days being wasted by watching hours of Veronica Mars have come to an end. For I have finished all 3 seasons. ;( The ending was very... abrupt and leaves you hanging, but I will now be able to move on to more productive things. Veronica Mars lives on in my heart. Haha And someday I will have a pink taser. I'll just have to get right on saving up for one as soon as I am done saving for college... which I cannot even imagine the end of.

All is well. :)

Much Love!!

For Mom :)

Mom, I had a really great time shopping with you today. Maybe it was because I wore jeans and a normal shirt and we didn't shop for clothes. A win win situation. :) Thank you for all you do and all that you don't do. (Like being a meanie pants extremist.) You help me through so much and I think you are one of the only people who reads my blog. (Not that that really bothers me at all. Haha I don't want everyone to know that I am crazy. :P) But thank you for always supporting me and trying to get me to go to school. Sorry for when I am so stubborn that you may have violent thoughts towards me. I love you and I am dreading the day that I will go off to college because I will miss you so much! So thank you for teaching me so much and even when you are being under-appreciated (as most mothers are.) you still do so much. I hope I can be like you when I am a mother. And I want you to know that I appreciate you. :)

Much Love!!

Is it Possible to be Happy About Mowing the Lawn?

I am still trying my best to not take things for granted. In case you were wondering, yes, I did mow the lawn again today. :P Haha. While I was mowing I had something jump out at me. And this time, it wasn't just grass. I had the thought that maybe I should be grateful for even these chores that I find so annoying. While I am standing there vowing that I will somehow find a way to destroy the lawn mower, maybe someone else is sitting and vowing that they would gladly mow the lawn 100 times over if they could only have legs that worked. So my paradigm may have been gradually shifted.... But don't let that get out! People might think that I will start wearing normal clothes to WalMart with my mom or something and THAT is one thing that is definitely not gonna change! (Sorry, mom. You only have a few more months to be embarrassed by me on a weekly basis.) So yes, I am grateful that I was able to mow the lawn today. I am grateful that I have a home to have junk mail sent to. And mostly, I am grateful for the extra raisins in my life. :)

Thank you always to my loving friends and family. You mean the world to me.

Much Love!!

Never take EXTRA RAISINS for granted

Raisin Bran with EXTRA RAISINS. Possibly the best thing ever made. Raisin Bran is one of those gross things that people love. I mean, think about it. Brown, shriveled up things mixed with crispy brown, flaky things called 'bran' (which is a gross word) all put in milk. Gross. But we love it still. Even little kids who don't want to eat their carrot sticks love raisin bran. If you ask me, raisins and bran should never be eaten alone! Together, however, they are delicious. But everybody knows that there are never enough raisins to mesh with the bran. But there are in the EXTRA RAISINS box. Wonderful, isn't it? I am so not going to take that for granted and I am going to pour another bowl. :)

Much Love!!