boots

my family and i recently lost our beloved dog, boots! we miss her dearly! she gave us a wonderful 14 years! she was our princess dog, as shown here in one of my favorite pictures... princess boo on her thrown of blankets!

will you pass the salt and pepper!?!

i've always been a strong believer that it's the little things in life that are important...

it all started a couple of years ago, my mom, mamaw, and myself were shopping in a little antique shop in this cute little town south of where we live. we saw this booth full of random old salt and pepper shakers. it was hilarious to see what all had been created into the shakers, funny little pieces, holiday themes, creepy looking animals, etc. my family and i joked, since mamaw collects bells and mom collects precious moments, that i should start collecting salt and pepper shakers. no purchases were made that day, since we mainly just joked about it. but after we left that little shop, the idea stuck in my head, so i mentioned that maybe it would be fun to collect salt and pepper shakers... and so i started doing just that.

i thought it'd be fun to share my collection with you, as i think, just in the short time i've been collecting, i've acquired some pretty unique pieces! and yes... these are all salt and pepper shakers! some of them have little trays or little animals holding the actual shakers, but in some way, shape, or form salt and pepper could be sprinkled from all of them :)










































































i've only just started my collection, but already, i have some great pieces! i can't wait to see what more years of collecting will bring!

no song to go with this one... but a good summer reading recommendation!

i'm pretty picky about the books i chose to read... i love books that i can fall into, escape into the world of the characters, a book that allows me to picture the book's events in a movie reel running through my head!

i just finished reading "the death and life of charlie st. cloud." a story i scoffed at when i saw the previews in the theaters, laughing that "oh geez another nicholas sparks book/movie". i know that may offend some, as mr. sparks is a very popular author amongst the female population for his romantic love stories and tearful endings. i was pleasantly surprised to find out that charlie st. cloud was not a sparks novel, rather a story highly recommended by barnes and noble, their claims that author (ben sherwood) captured the mystery of that place between life and death.

curled up with my new e-reader, i dived into the story of charlie st. cloud... each page i turned (or clicked as it were on my nook) reigned me in to this story that i was praying would end the way i wanted it to!

i love losing myself briefly in the words of an author, finding myself tuned out to the noises and things going on around me. this 213 page book by ben sherwood did just that, it stole me away into the world of charlie st. cloud and tess carroll! i won't spoil the ending... but i can tell you that it captured me, granted i had the images of zac efron and amanda crew in my head as i read through their characters story, but i had that movie-like reel running through my head as i breezed through the pages.


this weekend i'll get to experience the actual movie reel... the movie of charlie st. cloud and i'm excited about it. but now that i finished reading that book, i want to move onto the next book that captures me... the twilight saga always does that for me, as did all the harry potter books, but i've read them several times. i loved mr. sherwood's tale. now i want more. i want a new book. any suggestions as i search for the next adventure into the electronic pages of a book? i've been searching barnes and noble's website for just the right book, but i have yet to find it... don't worry though, i'm still looking :)

my worst habit. but my best quality.

i've always been super close to my mom's parents. i was and still am a mamaw and papaw's girl! in a recent visit to their house, my papaw slipped me a tiny cut out from the newspaper, saying "you know that i notice these little things, i cut this out for you. i think you'll find it fits you... thought you could keep it, i don't want my baby getting hurt anymore."

the clipping reads "my worst habit is: trusting people too fast. my best quality is: i understand what others do not; i see people from a different perspective." when i read it, the truthfulness of that little statement hit me, reminding me how true it is... yet, given all the hurt i've experienced through that trust, i don't think i'd want to change anything. as, without that hurt, i wouldn't be who i am. i wouldn't have the people in my life that i do.

this past summer, i again found myself tangled in a bit of drama, that despite my best efforts to avoid, still found me. again, i ended up disappointed and a little hurt... granted it wasn't the first time i ended up getting hurt by "friends," it hurt in someways nonetheless.

i can't say that i've had this horrible life. that i've been hurt by all these people. blahblahblah. but, i can say that i've been hurt by people i've trusted, too quickly, given my heart to people who didn't deserve it. i'd like to say i've learned from those "mistakes" and that i don't trust people as quickly; but honestly, i can't say that everything was a mistake. i am a strong believer in that you learn from your experiences, good or bad. you grow into a stronger person having been through what you've been through. i've tried to be guarded, tried to avoid letting people in too quickly, but that never works for me. maybe i'm too trusting... but i guess for me that's ok. because i like to think that people wouldn't hurt others, disappoint, or take advantage. i like to try to see some good in a person and maybe that ends with me getting hurt... but giving someone a chance to prove themselves otherwise is something i can't not do for whatever reason. i guess because that is me. that's who i am. and while sometimes it hurts, i don't think that'll i'll ever change in that way. in some weird way, i almost want to thank those that hurt me, because of them i've grown more than i ever would having not met. i thank them for helping me realize how blessed i really am when i have people in my life that truly love and care for me unconditionally.

"happiness" by the fray. probably one of my favorite songs of all time. it speaks to me. i've cried to it. i've found a bit of irony in it. i listen to is sometimes as a comfort. a song i've gone to in moments of that disappointment or hurt after having trusted or given someone too much credit.

i ask that you not read this with pity. because i am in no way unhappy. yes, i've been hurt, disappointed, taken advantage of... but who hasn't in some way/shape/form/etc. my life is filled with wonderful people, who love me for who i am. family, friends, people that i cherish and thank God for every day... because, after all that i have experienced, i have been blessed with the people who won't cause tears or heartache.

happy reading to me :)

so i know it's been a really long time since my last post... but i'm ready to get back into the blog grooooooove after the crazy busy that was the last few weeks!

yesterday marked the beginning of a whole new world of reading for me! i got the Nook, Barnes and Noble's version of the e-reader (similar to the Kindle)! now i can carry up to 1500 books with me wherever i go... i'm not sure i'll ever own 1500 books, but you never know!

i'm pretty excited about my new reading adventures, as i have no excuse not to get reading on my list i posted a while back. and now that it'll be so easy (and cheaper, e-books are a lot cheaper than regular books in stores in most cases) to get to reading whenever and wherever i go, please share any good books you've read recently, or not so recently :)

well... i'm off to my nook, escaping into world of some of my favorite fictional characters!

"be here now" with a lil photography

for a while now, i've enjoyed taking photographs of various places and things...
i've been blessed to have traveled to a few places that have yielded themselves to beautiful photographs! i wanted to share some of my favorites, as i know that i find a certain fascination exploring other people's work.

(in terms of my song connection for this post... i couldn't find something that i felt fit in with my taking pictures, so i am going with something that's just a feel good while you listen song. who do i turn to for this? ray lamontagne with "be here now")

from a botanical garden in dayton, ohio...












































taken in vegas!





































a few more from austraila































down in miami...





























a recent trip to baltimore




























i hope you have enjoyed taking a peek at a few of my favorite photographs. right now i am just using a simple digital camera, but i hope down the road i'll own a much nicer camera that will allow for true photography! thanks for indulging in a little piece of me, as i feel that in a photos, you can find a little bit of the person who took it :)

your love is my drug + rude boy = successful wedding weekend!

just recently i had the absolute honor of being in my cousin's wedding! he is one of two cousin's on my mom's side of the family, so being a part of his wedding was amazing, something i won't forget! he recently graduated from the naval academy and will be traveling a lot, going to grad school, and then serving our country... being a part of his wedding weekend was definitely a great way to send him off!

the wedding was in baltimore/annapolis, which meant a 10hr drive each way. the bridal party included 12 attendants, which means 12 girls, all different ages, from different places (New Jersey, Colorado, and Kentucky), some who know the bride, some who know the groom. all in all, it was kind of intimidating going in to such a weekend where you really only know a couple of people, yet you are expected to come together to be a big part of such an important event.

in certain situations, i find it difficult to fit in. being from a different state that most of the bridesmaids, being from the groom's side of the family, and being a few years older than some of the girls... i thought, hmmm this weekend could be interesting. i would have never thought it would have taken kesha and rihanna to bring us together... but ultimately, on the party bus while heading to the chapel, it was serenades of "your love is my drug" and teaching the lyrics of "rude boy" that did it! that's what it took for the bridesmaids to really bond! haha! it's amazing what letting loose, if even just a little, will gain you... new experiences, new friends, and great pictures!

most weddings bring two families together... this wedding did more than just that, it helped create friendships! ones that i hope last, despite the distance! friendships that could allow for many new fun experiences... trips to different cities, new things to try, new songs to serenade and dance to, and more pictures to capture! i am so thankful that i had the honor to be a part of my cousin's wedding, he was such a handsome groom and my new "cousin-in-law" was absolutely gorgeous! i was given a bonus in gaining new friends from this wedding weekend!