March 31st *picture* post

Adios, March!   You're outttttaaaa here!   I always like when March is over.   It's a lonnnnnnng month.

Even me at 6 weeks old is pumped for the end of March.

Enjoy the last official picture post, friends!   

March 30th *picture* post

Day 30 – A picture of someone you miss

Recently, I have really been missing my friend Christian.  We've been trying to connect on the phone as of late, but I've been missing him for years!

I met Christian in Maine during the summer of '97.  I was 15 years old and I had gone to Chop Point Camp for 6 weeks of my summer.  It was pretty scary to go to another state for so long for the first time, but when I got to Chop Point Camp, it was very easy to be myself and to make friends.  It's an amazing place.

I was a Worker, not a camper.  Another girl and I did the camp's laundry and in between loads, we would hang out on the docks sunning ourselves and being silly with our friends.  Christian and I became friends very easily because we were both a little loud and a little wild.  He was far more daring and I was more reserved but we instantly connected and enjoyed being around each other.  He was my best friend that summer.  

We talked about everything. We talked about what we liked about boys and girls.  I told him that the most romantic thing someone could do for me was to make me mashed potatoes because I loved them. Haha!  I helped him get the girls he wanted to "date" (as much as you could at summer camp) and I stayed boy-free because I had my best friend.  Maybe I had small crush on him.  We were 15  :)

At the end of every camp session (3 weeks), there was an evening where you could send your friends carnations with little notes telling them how much they mean to you/friends forever/etc. I'll never forget the story of that last night of my 2nd session (the end of my time there that summer)... Everyone was getting their carnations and reading their notes.  I saw Christian coming down the camp hill with something in his hands. He came over to me and handed me a tupperware container full of mashed potatoes. siggggggh   :)

It was, by far, the most romantic gesture I'd ever had at age fifteen.  Christian is definitely the first boy I ever truly loved.   We stayed friends for many winters and summers but lost touch after a few years.

He's now a supreme Rock Star touring Europe with his band.  He sings, too, did I mention that?  He is so awesome.

Christian... I can't wait to reconnect with you when you return to the states.  Thanks for being my sweetest first love!  Sending mashed potato thoughts your way...  

Too Cool For School... or Facebook

March 29th *picture* post

Day 29 – A picture that can always make you smile

Let's be real.  I couldn't choose just one.  Or even five.  But I know how people like to look at random pictures.  It's like looking in someone's windows. 

Here are some windows that make me smile...

when we discovered cut/paste in Paint in college...

me teaching venn diagrams...

 At laaaaast... my love has come along...

 Chicago... 

 Yep...

 Teeny bebe...

 Random Tuesday in April...

 Agreed...

 The best 3rd grade reading group name ever...

 My first glamour shot...

 My cooking partner...

 steadying the camera on some wild brush...

 the best birthday...

 An overpacked car... I didn't see Kristin for 3 hours...

 more from the best birthday...

 sunburn... love it even though I'll pay for it later

 bedroom surprises...

 the most fun bag designed by all kinds of joy...

 someone else created by joy...

 when school projects are successful...

 the girl who sits by herself at the piano bar...

 Senior prom... I was cinderella... (also captains of  varsity Soccer and Baseballs teams right there!)

 More high school fun...

 took me 3 summers, but I mastered that rubber boat...




March 28th *picture* post

Day 28 – A picture of something you’re afraid of

Honestly, I can't put a picture up here today.  I tried and tried to find a picture of a spider but every time I saw one, my body went into complete convulsions and I couldn't look at the computer screen. It's not easy to blog that way.

Here are my biggest two fears that I can't show you pictures or videos of:

1. Spiders

2. Animals that talk like humans do (mouths moving)

Here is another fear that's slightly funnier.  It makes me giggle because I'll have a happy life either way, I know it...

heheehe

She's Amazing!

Please go see what Mandypeep made this weekend...  

Holy Hail!

Peep!  Is!  30!

Happy, happy birthday, Mandy!  You have such great ideas and I love to hear them!  

I had the fortune of talking to her on the phone today as it started massively hailing in Savannah. Awesome!   Happy Birthday, Peep!  Love you!

March 27th *picture* post

Day 27 – A picture of yourself and a family member


My brothers.  Old picture... they are now 35, 16 and 13.  Old men.

March 26th *picture* post

Day 26 – A picture of something that means a lot to you


My house.  I grew up here.  We moved here when I was 3 so it's the only house I remember.  My bedroom is the last window on the right there.  That's my first car in the driveway (Harriet).  That means this picture was taken somewhere between Junior Year and Sophomore year of college. (when Harriet met her demise)

This will soon be someone else's house and I hope they make as many memories as we did.

I learned to ride a bike in the driveway.  I watched teenage boy friends toilet paper my house in the middle of the night and thought it was funny so I didn't tell my mom.  I had campouts with Laura in the barn.  I also kissed Ryan in the barn. I played "bank" by depositing magnolia leaves from the backyard into the mailbox. (I'm sure the mailman loved me).  I sat in that living room window and watched all the traffic in the neighborhood.  I watched Joy drive up on her Inaugural just-turned-16 drive.  I watched boyfriends pull up.  

So many memories.  I will miss my house.  A lot.  But like someone recently told me, just because the house is gone doesn't mean the memories disappear, too.

March 25th *picture* post

Day 25 – A picture of your favorite day


any of the days we spent tubing on the river have been favorite days

March 24th *picture* post

Day 24 – A picture of something you wish you could change

things that make me smile

I went searching

 Today I was a little sad.  And a little grumpy.  And very tired.  March is a long month for teachers.  No break.  I wanted to curl up and take a nap.  So I took my Pheebs on a walk instead.  

It was a Very Gray day outside.  Rain has been threatening all day and thunderstorms are in the forecast tonight.  It was maybe 49 degrees outside and yuck.

So I went searching for Spring.  Because I want it to come.  Badly!

The poor daffodils were trying their hardest to bring spring:

But then I found some on our cherry tree...

 And then I found some more...

 Pheebs and I have a new hiking trail that we like a lot.  It's been pretty wintry back there.  Bare trees and sticks and remnants of big leaf piles.  It's been looking like this:

 But then I found some green... it gave me hope that spring is coming!

 This is the clearest picture, because trying to get that little black thing sitting still is a challenge.

 There she is :)

 And now she is...

Mmmm she looks so comfy... maybe it is time to nap before she wakes up to protect me from thunder.  (She thinks barking works)