nurture over nature

Abby and I went for a walk this evening to capture the light in some nearby trees. After I had managed to get a pretty good photo for the day I turned my camera on Abby. And she gave me this face. It's a big kid smile in my opinion, and in this case, nurture definitely trumps nature. The trees can wait for another day.

hopeful

since i've decided to join forces with keri and attempt knitting again, i'm craving the fall season. so this little guy gives me hope. maybe he has been hanging around since last year, or maybe he just arrived, but either way i'm happy about it. seeing a little color other than green makes me feel like i can survive the last burst of summer.

Keeping with the panther theme

-my baby wore her new cat ears around until she fell asleep.
And at her request of, "Mommy, take a picture of me and my buddy" there are two pics today.

Dangerous

The obvious choice for today is this photo. Nothing like having a black panther in the tall grass stalking you. So maybe he's not a full grown panther, but he could have fooled me. On a totally different but equally important note. If there are any of my friends out there reading this who have read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, please send me a note. Because I just finished reading the final book this morning (I had to wait until I was done grading papers) and I have a little venting to do. If you haven't read this series, then why are you still reading this blog? Go to your local library and check out Twilight. Kate- go to Half Price Books and buy it. If you don't know where your local library is, send me your name so I can chastise you and then I'll lend you my copy. Yes, the series was written for teenage girls. Yes, it's about vampires. No, it's not cheesy. Yes, it is every bit as good as Harry Potter in a totally different way. Trust me- the first movie will be released in December, so you're going to hear about this for a long time to come. Might as well get a jump on the books!

Digging for Dinosaurs

Today Abby and I had a playdate with the Souders and the Vanderveers. It was such a great time. I'm amazed by both the kids and the moms. The kids: here are these little people whom I distinctly remember as babies. Where did the time go? The moms: Kristin and Heather are just the most incredibly calm, patient, effective moms I have ever seen. Although Heather is 30 weeks pregnant herself, I watched her sprint, and I mean sprint when Shep started swimming without his arm floaties. Kristin- she just handles 3 boys without even breaking a sweat and it amazes me. I love having women like these around me. They're the type of mom I want to be: beautiful, fun, smart, and obviously loved by their kids.

As the moms had fun, so did the kids. Macy and Abby dug for dinosaurs while Logan, Ian, and Shep made a mess out of sand and water. Five kids between the ages of 2 and 5 and not one temper tantrum, tear, or scream. I'd say that's a successful playdate, wouldn't you?

long day

unlike yesterday, today was no fun. all I've done today is grade papers. the good news: the semester is over, the bad news: this is the only thing I really saw today.

Extenuating Circumstances

So, no post yesterday (but I did take a picture) due to the fact it was our 6 year anniversary- I can not believe it has already been six years! We managed to get away and stayed at the Warwick hotel in Dallas. If you've never stayed there, you should give it a shot. It was beautiful. A historic hotel, giant bath tubs, lots of old wood and glass, shutters on the bathroom windows- overall it's a great place to be. The Library (combination of books and a bar) serves over 100 different types of martinis so I tried out the Wedding Cake Martini- seemed only fitting right?

Anyway, I'm a fan of old hotels. Any place that has an old school mail system still in place has character in my opinion.

great minds think alike

so I went back to my happy place today (see yesterday's pic) to escape grading papers. turned out, I wasn't the only one with that idea. now I don't know that he too was hiding from papers, he might have been avoiding dishes or laundry. all I know for sure is that I wasn't the only one who went there looking for a quiet place to eat a snack.

New Happy Place

I think I'd be perfectly content to just sit under here and read a book or take a nap.

distortion is beautiful

I love old glass and windows. Sometimes the world outside looks better when it's a little bit fuzzy.

After the Storm

What began with thunder and lightning ended with beautiful colors.

For the grandparents

- don't worry, Abby is still being photographed on a regular basis. The new boo-boo on the chin is courtesy of the dining room table.

12 hours later...

and all the flowers have bloomed.

hello, friend

Here's the photo I wanted to post today:

and yet, I'm adding a few others. Why? Because I have never had a more willing model than this dragonfly. He landed a mere inches from me and posed for a good 30 minutes. When he got tired, he'd fly straight up, stretch his wings a bit, and land back in the same spot for a few more frames. I swear I saw him flip some hair over his shoulder at one point. Tyra Banks would call him "fierce". So, in honor of my new friend:

Only in Denton...

will they shut down the streets around the square so that a 6 hour bike race can happen. They just kept cycling a short path around downtown. All I could think was this must be what nascar is like... a bunch of people fly by and then nothing for 10 seconds and then here they come again. repeat ad nauseum.

undecided

I couldn't pick between these two today, so just choose the one you like and pretend it's the only one I posted!

Memory

so i'm driving along today and all of a sudden a college memory pops in my head. i don't want to forget it again, so i'm putting it into print.

let me set the scene: once upon a time, april 2000 to be exact, my best friend and roommate keri and i had decided to move from our home at denton north apartments. denton north was lovely; 1000+ square feet for about $550 a month. however it did have issues: breaking and entering was a common problem as were bugs, creepy neighbors, creepy maintenance people, and strange smells. i digress. we had decided to move it on up in the world and to do so, we needed a truck. enter my amazingly wonderful albeit too trusting older brother. keri and i drove to his place of employment, went inside and chatted for a few minutes, exchanged keys and left with a promise to return the truck on sunday.

the beloved memory: keri and i arrive at the little blue truck. i unlock the doors. we both get in. seatbelts buckled. i look down. i look at keri. keri looks at me. keri looks down. keri looks back at me. "um, do you happen to know how to drive a stick shift?" i ask innocently. "nope" she says. i look back down. "well, okay. lets get going then" i say. and with quite a few stalls and several really loud screams from both the truck and us, we eventually make it back to denton.

my brother- clueless until sunday when i returned his truck. i mention that i got pulled over for running a red light. "why'd you run it?" he asks. "too scared i'd stall if i stopped" i reply. "oh" he says as understanding crosses his face and he looks around me to make sure the truck is still in one piece.

thanks again to both dean and keri for putting up with me.

Happiness

Today's photo:

Have you ever seen a more inviting chair? Ah, how I love the purple building (officially known as Recycled Books) in Denton.

Anyone else?

think that Katy Perry (singer of the repeatedly played "I kissed a girl" song) looks nearly identical to Lizzy Caplan (actress in cancelled TV show "The Class" and "Cloverfield" movie)??? It's not just me, is it?

Katy Perry:

Lizzy Caplan:

also, does anyone else think that Jason Mraz's song "I'm Yours" is the most addictive song in the world? It plays in my head on repeat for approximately 5 hours every time I hear it.

Sweet, sweet evening

Okay, so I took my mom to see Jersey Boys last night and my official review is: STINKIN' AMAZING! Those of you that know me well know that I should have been born about 30 years earlier... I've been told easily a hundred times in my life that I'm an "old soul" and I do agree in terms of music. My favorite band of all time is The Drifters and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are a very close second. How is this possible? After all, I'm a child of the 80s... MTV and big hair bands. I've done some soul searching and I've found the source: Michael J. Fox. Nope, not kidding. If you take Back to the Future and Stand By Me, two movies I watched in excess as a kid, then you can find the source of my addiction. I love the idea of a "simpler" time. I love the idea of pure music for music and not for money. I love the voices that aren't digitally enhanced. I love the 50s. And for those of you that don't, I've added 5 of my favorite songs to the site and if you can listen to them without smiling, I don't know what to say.

If you share the same love of music that I do, then try to see Jersey Boys before it leaves town. It does tell the true story of the group which involves quite a bit of language, so don't take little kids. But kids wouldn't really appreciate it anyway, would they?

And for the picture of the day:I went out and hiked through a crazy overgrown area to get to Lake Ray Roberts today. And even though I took some beautiful pictures of the lake and dragonflys, this one is my favorite. I was climbing when I noticed this blue thread just wrapped around a branch. It made me think about two things: 1. we tend to leave a mark on everything and everyone we encounter 2. sometimes I wish I could leave a trail of thread or crumbs to remind me how to get back to the places and times that make me happy.

Strawberry

No time to leave home today, so I found inspiration in the fridge.

Challenge

I'm currently in a funk. This has been brought on by the evils of: myspace (which I just explored for the first time this weekend), an upcoming 10 year high school reunion, some bad swimsuit photos from our Galveston vacation, and the realization that I'm not sure what my next professional move will be. Throw all of those together and you have a funk.

So after wallowing for 48 hours, I've made a plan. A defunking plan, if you will. It involves working out (quite a bunch), a 3 stage hair evolution (to be revealed later), and a personal photography challenge.

Part of the challenge is that I'm forcing myself to take new photos each day for 30 days. And they can't only be of Abby. They don't have to be brilliant, they just have to be new.

Here we go. Day 1: Denton's courthouse on the square. I've given some thought over the years to why exactly I love this building so much. Nothing personally monumental happened there. I finally figured it out: it reminds me of Back to the Future. The movie which created my fascination with clocks and furthered my love of Michael J. Fox aka Alex P. Keaton. So even with the crazy birds roosting and flying around, I love this place.

Time Warp

So here's the issue. One minute I have a two year old running around screaming a song she's made up that goes like this, "I'm a big mystery... I'm a BIG mystereyeyeyey!" She tends to look like this at that moment in time:

That's all well and good, even with the singing. The problem is that just seconds later I blink or turn around and she looks much older. When I look at her I can clearly see the young woman that she'll be, and I know I'm her mom and all but I'm pretty sure she's going to be a heartbreaker:

Vacation

We spent the last few days relaxing at a beach in Galveston and it was a great escape for us. Abby contemplated the vastness of the ocean before she started chasing the seagulls.

Fourth of July

Christmas will always be my favorite holiday but I can't deny that July 4th is a nice second. They take place in different seasons. One is a religious celebration and the other a state one. But in my opionion both are about the same thing: freedom. One freedom in particular. Freedom to choose Christ, freedom to deny Him. Christ gives us free will but I'm thinking it's a lot easier to exercise that will here in America. So this weekend I spent a lot of time being thankful for both Christ and the USA.

Here are a few pics from our 4th of July:

Abby tried playing a little football:

We had a little picnic with all-American Capri Sun drinks:

Uncle Josh entertained Abby by letting her use him as a jungle gym:

A few dum-dum suckers kept us awake way past normal bedtime:

And of course, fireworks: