tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77897733011554801072024-02-20T17:36:50.344-08:00La Vida LagoTales from a Texas TownUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-91696626534650137722013-08-26T13:08:00.001-07:002013-08-26T20:00:33.016-07:00These days are my favorite.<br />
Today I woke up at 8 a.m. - sans alarm. This kind of thing makes me proud. Laugh all you want.<br />
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From my window, the sky was cloaked in clouds shaded with deep ocean blue and gray. A storm was eluding the earth. A flirtatious interaction was clearly playing out between what lie above and what lie below. </div>
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I wanted to believe they would soon relent and give in to each other - like an audience member watching a play, I held out hope that something momentous would soon transpire.<br />
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It's been dry here for far too long.<br />
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Tired and a tad envious of their tete-a-tete, I closed my eyes, shifted my arms back under my pillow and embraced my head in the cushion.<br />
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Sleep like this - unencumbered, un-rushed by time, things, people or places - is luxurious. To lie in bed awake and aware of the fact that you have <i>nowhere</i> you are needed is strangely satisfying. In solitude, you are only needed by yourself. In that moment, you are off the ground. Gravity - and the world attached to it - has yet to touch you. </div>
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You. Can't. Touch. Me. You tell the world. You are, in feeling, free. You are in comforter-comfort land. </div>
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I love cloudy days. Rainy days even more. </div>
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Perhaps it's because I live in Texas and days when the sky decides to fill up with puffy wisps and dollops of white are as rare as nights in the city when you can see the stars. </div>
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But from the perspective of the thinker, writer, analyzer and theorist that I am 98.7 percent of the time, I'd say I love cloudy days because they mean change. </div>
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Clouds are moving, moody things. Unforeseeable. And when seen, they are still unpredictable.<br />
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Sometimes they scatter away from one another and create a picture-perfect day where the sky is one half cerulean blue and one half wedding-dress white. </div>
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Sometimes they come together, as though huddling like a group of school girls, to tell a secret. </div>
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A hush and silence like none other comes over the earth at that moment. A rumble - a murmur - is heard in the distance. Or from which cloud did you hear it? It's hard to tell. </div>
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The earth waits in anticipation of being let in on this secret - what is this excitement happening above?! What's with all the whispering?!<br />
It begs the sky in desperate patience. </div>
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These days are my favorite.</div>
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Maybe it's because clouds have a life of their own. And while they don't ask people to try and figure them out, people still try. Guessing at their chances, predicting their paths.<br />
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Often, people are wrong. </div>
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Maybe it's because while clouds all have a unique shape and form of their own, one cloud is not more beautiful than the other. And in that way, they're a lot like how God sees us. </div>
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Or maybe they're my favorite because they make me think. About how big the sky is, how wide and diverse and experience-rich the earth is. How fulfilling and simultaneously fleeting life is. </div>
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Then again, these days might just be my favorite because they make me feel like it's okay if I close my eyes for ten more minutes. The clouds will still be there for me.<br />
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Shifting spots in the sky as I sleep. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-78146516458861086322013-04-06T00:31:00.001-07:002013-04-06T00:34:13.067-07:00You know you're a college student when...<br />
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<li>It's 12:38 a.m and your bedside drink of choice is Diet Coke. Caffeinated. Duh.</li>
<li>You just misspelled "caffeinated" three times before authorizing autocorrect to do its thang.</li>
<li>You just said "thang."</li>
<li>Your iPhone looks like this...I use it too much, I tell you! (No, not really. <i>Freak accident.</i>)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tiK3C7SeOeQ/UV-1z0Qf_jI/AAAAAAAABAI/WaNb0I_bpfc/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tiK3C7SeOeQ/UV-1z0Qf_jI/AAAAAAAABAI/WaNb0I_bpfc/s320/0.jpeg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About that upgrade...?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li>You feel like coloring. Except you have no crayons at your disposal. Homework = 1; Procrastination = 0.</li>
<li>There are 2 (<i>not 1</i>, but 2) Justin Timberlake songs on your iPod. Don't judge! He's popular again. Either that, or the world is ending. Lol. </li>
<li>You notice yourself adding cute, short, text-message lingo to the endings of all your sentences. </li>
Whether they need it or not. Which they don't. You also know that in the career-world this lingo is discouraged and you should probably stop. ASAP. (Or not.)</ol>
<ol>
<li>Even though you're currently taking an <b>online</b> editing class, you still don't completely grasp HTML and are befuddled by how to get that 1 over there at the start of this sentence to go back to a 4. </li>
<li>You try and participate in school-related group activities, but find yourself bulking at the last minute before you've entered the no-return world of full-on commitment and commencement. </li>
<li>Yes, I did just clutter that sentence with a bunch of compound verbs and alliterations. Thanks for noticing!</li>
<li>You go grocery shopping at 10:16 p.m. Because you can. </li>
<li>One of your teachers has a severe axe to grind with students not coming to class (8 a.m. that it is), and starts accusing people of "playing at home." Whatever that means. Unless playing means sleeping. Then, <i>yeah</i>...accusation upheld. (Did I mention it's a media law class?)</li>
<li>Another one of your teachers answers a student's question with a shrug and an "I don't know." You shrug and sigh and roll your eyes and start wondering <b>what's wrong</b> with our education system?? Where a professor at a nationally-recognized geology school cannot answer a simple question on the Coriolis effect?! Then you see that the girl in front of you is perusing her Pinterest account. <i>Q & A session fail? Say whaattt?? </i></li>
<li>You're all caught up on your 3 favorite TV shows, but still have homework for 3 of your classes. Funny how that figures. </li>
<li>You miss your family. And your house. And the washer and dryer that complete the domestic trinity. </li>
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You would give anything to be here...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3sUBJ3UYgr4/UV_FkgR4VXI/AAAAAAAABAc/8klV-IHjZzE/s1600/dacd52338646612fc93cdd5ef6b02ca2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3sUBJ3UYgr4/UV_FkgR4VXI/AAAAAAAABAc/8klV-IHjZzE/s320/dacd52338646612fc93cdd5ef6b02ca2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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But then you see this... every. single. day. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2e1bREQrtpg/UV_G6yFgg0I/AAAAAAAABAo/wftgJm36nSk/s1600/IMG_1497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2e1bREQrtpg/UV_G6yFgg0I/AAAAAAAABAo/wftgJm36nSk/s320/IMG_1497.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And you remember why you're here in the first place...</div>
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Because this is your start. This is you tiptoeing to the edge of the diving board and looking into the deep end of the pool. You're anxious about making the jump. Your equal parts nervous and excited. </div>
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To quote Taylor Swift, this is the moment where you get to be "happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time." </div>
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"It's miserable and magical," she sympathizes in the proceeding lyric. And I couldn't agree more. Although, being the optimist that I am, I try to maintain focus on the latter. The magical-ness. </div>
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Lastly, you know you're a college student when you're listening to a Taylor Swift song titled "22" and you just turned 22. </div>
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I feel in some unofficially-official way like I've made it in this life. Like, totally.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-75292944625009971942012-05-11T00:15:00.003-07:002012-05-11T00:35:30.796-07:00What I've Been Up To...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8tkx2D2_8qs/T6y5pmq-u0I/AAAAAAAAA-8/O0xoLd_NUxo/s1600/IMG_0401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8tkx2D2_8qs/T6y5pmq-u0I/AAAAAAAAA-8/O0xoLd_NUxo/s400/IMG_0401.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I turned in my last final paper on Tuesday. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The same day that I managed to accidentally injure myself and get directionally disoriented on campus for the first time all semester. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was awesome. </span><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wednesday was a blur. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But I think it involved sleeping in, spending some much-needed time with my mom, and trying to stay as far away as possible from the slaying Texas sun. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It may or may not have also involved me watching a marathon of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULCbOupclzQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">this show</span></a> </span>while consuming sugary cereal and sipping on sweet tea. </span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yeah...being done with finals feels good.</span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Who wants to know?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thursday I went zip lining at my new <a href="http://www.laketravisziplineadventures.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">POW</span></a> (Place of Work). </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wait, does that acronym normally stand for something else?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Don't answer that. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Anyways</i>...zip lining. In the rain. With a burnt orange poncho and a burnt orange helmet. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(<i>Had to represent</i>...Hook 'em!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was the closest I've ever come to feeling like a superhero (poncho+zip lining = cape+flying). </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You shoulda seen it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then I returned home, rested and read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Pretend-Never-Happened-ebook/dp/B0065S8R38/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1336715670&sr=1-1-catcorr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">this book</span></a>. It made me laugh out loud. Like...a lot. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Read the book people! </i>And if you don't, at least promise me you'll take a look at her <a href="http://thebloggess.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">blog</span></a>. K? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Good. Glad we got that settled. *<i>Air handshake</i>*</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">*BTW, if you're in the market for...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">...a start-of-summer, feel-good country song, I recommend<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP2MKYGggd8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">this one</span>.</a></span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Eric Church - "Springsteen")</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Click it or ticket, baby.</i> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">...a scripture verse, I suggest<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://vi.sualize.us/view/c07a845254ec6904494055f5a1c3c805/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">2 Corinthians 5:7</span></a></span>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">...a simple, worth-baking-just-to-smell kind of recipe, this one's 100% <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/09/a-tasty-recipe-pecan-pie-muffins/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">smile-certified</span>.</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Pecan Pie Muffins)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They're <i>good</i>. Like pecan-pie-haters-will-soon-have-a-paradigm-shift kind of good. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Says my 4 year old nephew, that's who. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Granted</i>,<i> </i>in less lofty vocabulary. But still. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As far as what all tomorrow will bring, I'm not entirely sure. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As far as what all Summer will bring, well...I'm not entirely sure on that front either. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One thing I do know though is that when it comes to a close, when people ask me what I've been up to (which you know they totally will...<i>busybodies!</i>), I hope to be able to say that I've been spending a lot more time right here. With you. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thanks for reading. <i>You rock! </i> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">May you be inspired. Always.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">~April~</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">*BTW = By The Way. <i>Stick with me kid, and I'll make you a star.</i> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(Bonus points if you can name that movie! Haha.) </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-26394434301618979962011-10-28T15:29:00.000-07:002011-10-28T22:51:48.619-07:00It's Been a Long Time...<div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668687605499774226" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lH8AoUHemcc/Tqs5V9x5RRI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/_-_lT8Y_tcs/s320/100_2830.JPG" /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>Hi y'all!<br /></div><br /><br /><div>Let's not get into the mushy details as to why I haven't posted in awhile, ok?<br /></div><br /><br /><div>Do we have a deal?<br />Are you sure?<br />Really?<br /></div><br /><br /><div>Ok then.<br /></div><br /><br /><div>Now that that's been taken care of, let me just say...wow! It's been a long time. Seven months to be exact. But who's counting?<br /></div><br /><br /><div>I won't get into everything that's happened in that time. A deal is a deal, man.</div><br /><div><em>Gosh!</em> Who's idea was that anyways?<br /></div><br /><br /><div>I will tell you this, though: If there's one thing, one experience, that stands out above all else, it would be this:<br /></div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668681742361096018" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v-LZdTheSa0/Tqs0Ar4s71I/AAAAAAAAA0w/6eNjet55jbU/s320/100_2699.JPG" /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>Which all started with this:</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668690901753174098" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgGxJd1IpMs/Tqs8V1R8mFI/AAAAAAAAA3M/dMr1c_Nzy78/s320/100_2740.JPG" /><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668683236447618642" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UZwNPuEWjnk/Tqs1XpysBlI/AAAAAAAAA08/4i_YTo7OKTU/s320/100_2761.JPG" /></div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668691117097742290" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xx70VFLjLpU/Tqs8iXgF79I/AAAAAAAAA3Y/lRCUJK_fwG4/s320/100_2743.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668690437847195634" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWCh8Z0-0Uk/Tqs761GJH_I/AAAAAAAAA3A/xzN4d0-ib_U/s320/100_2736.JPG" /></div><br /><br /><div>Then transitioned into this: </div><br /><div><br /></div></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668689805021346018" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-D2w32z-yY/Tqs7V_os-OI/AAAAAAAAA20/coRcnF8ucDM/s320/100_2774.JPG" /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668687892605823746" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d_3ZwS5YftU/Tqs5mrVT6wI/AAAAAAAAA2c/17junJ_t9MM/s320/100_2872.JPG" /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>And included a little bit of this: </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668685540004386050" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aP3tOqgtMkE/Tqs3dvNa1QI/AAAAAAAAA14/EzbiftHJ3Rw/s320/100_2795.JPG" /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668680067682492850" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dn-cZQb--zo/TqsyfNONYbI/AAAAAAAAA0k/c_MtU5j737M/s320/100_2703.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668691364012197746" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o8E10pcFwQM/Tqs8wvVFh3I/AAAAAAAAA3k/Z_v3I4MCrAA/s320/100_2785.JPG" /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668685132221726130" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFGU7At0jfo/Tqs3GAGdPbI/AAAAAAAAA1s/FRM3UVjT99k/s320/100_2867.JPG" /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div align="left">And a lot of this:<br /><br /></div><br /><p align="center"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='391' height='297' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz1XShnEJHoVu-UR2MExVGWBb2eckGOzLi5qbrBrjWZj2eJifuRbSjCFvNrZu7riyk6kXlCpsC_CyXXDQrQUA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p align="left">I once said that you know you've had a good summer when you realize you've taken 200 pictures over the course of 3 months. </p><br /><p align="left">During our trip to the Grand Canyon, I took 253 pictures...over the course of 3 days.</p><br /><p align="left">As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."<br />So...let's see...253 X 1000 = 253,000. </p><br /><div>Yep...that's about as many times as I've expressed my desire/need/desperation to go back. </div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>Just ask my mom and dad...I'm sure they'll vouch for me.</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>I have a feeling that they've already bought me another plane ticket...out of a certain desire/need/desperation of their own. </div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668689354617452018" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b0lIOgfcI98/Tqs67xwC9fI/AAAAAAAAA2o/E2Xc-gzFCqM/s320/100_2765.JPG" /><br />Haha. :-)<br /></div><br /><div>Until next time, </div><br /><div>~April~<br /></div><br /><div><span style="color:#333399;"><span style="color:#3366ff;">"Dream it, plan it, do it." ~National Geographic Traveler~</span></span></div><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-18889674848065046812011-04-09T13:05:00.000-07:002011-04-10T21:40:24.875-07:00Country Comfort<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 329px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593704305378937138" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f2fwV0tzlEs/TaDUbdSvSTI/AAAAAAAAAzU/Bre6dy-2inE/s320/100_2354.JPG" /> Since as far back as I can remember, I've been receiving anonymous calls. It happens daily. Sometimes twice a day. Sometimes three. It's a constant conundrum in my life. Weird, right? But, you want to know something? <em>I kinda like it. </em>Ok...for those of you freaking out right now, fearful of what kind of stalker has skillfully, stealthily secured my cell phone number, have no fear. <em>I am here!</em> I've already tracked the number down. The caller and I have discussed the matter for quite some time now, and we continue to come to the same solution. The calls will continue to come<em>...only if I encourage them.</em> In the meantime, I plan to learn about the caller's background by conducting research in some of the following fine pieces of literature: <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593696229791968674" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r5uw-GoxQRo/TaDNFZYxLaI/AAAAAAAAAys/57UtdO3WhHA/s320/100_2537.JPG" /> Again, <em>only if I encourage it.</em> I will dream about what our future will be like together. I will even listen to songs about the caller and sing along with them, piquing the curiosity of other drivers, as they blare from my car radio. I will even, dare I say it, look at pictures of this anonymous caller...even taking a few of the pictures myself. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593698410749744210" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFYXSs3KgMw/TaDPEWFn1FI/AAAAAAAAAy0/J3ov1ntBtdk/s320/Tree%2BLane%2BPicture.jpg" /> Ok, ok, I relent...the pressure to reveal the truth is too intense. But...but I'm afraid... You can't handle the truth! (<em>Name that movie</em>!) *<em>Sorry...blogger moment.* </em>Wait. What was I getting at? Oh...right! The anonymous caller. It's the country. The country is my anonymous caller. The country...it calls me...and it is... <em>anonymous. </em>WHAT??!! I know...I'm good. You thought it was a person, right? <em>And here I was, thinking you knew me better than that.</em> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593701413195181250" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R1lb_te6dnE/TaDRzHEZbMI/AAAAAAAAAzE/deugRGmt9GI/s320/100_2116.JPG" /> Just kidding! I know that you know that I know that you would never not know about my love for the country. <em>The way it's whispering wind sounds in my ear. The way it's scenery is set in my head like a computer's screen saver...it's my brain's default setting. The way the trees, the grass, and the horses feel beneath my bare hands. The way where all it takes is one breath, and you yourself are taken away.</em> <em></em><em></em><em></em><em></em><em></em><em></em><em></em><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 314px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 251px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593705842489892258" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1M1_FkbHbz4/TaDV07ejHaI/AAAAAAAAAzc/gGsINX4BW5c/s320/5572228055_e68425c27a_m.jpg" /> I'm ready to be handed the marriage papers. Let me know when and where I need to sign. I'll be waiting. <em>And researching. And dreaming. And singing. And photographing. And blogging. And, most importantly, praying. All about the country.</em> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593701109647918930" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_VPQkVY7cg/TaDRhcRFx1I/AAAAAAAAAy8/VRXjvhGKwgY/s320/100_2173.JPG" /> <em>And the future we have together.</em> <br /><p>All my love, ~April~</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-20812204844866061892011-02-09T14:19:00.000-08:002011-03-13T23:45:23.819-07:00Life, Love, and Window Seats<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0td3bNuQTcc/TX21-FJ0XFI/AAAAAAAAAyc/DoBraSQushU/s1600/100_2422.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583819191149157458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 194px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0td3bNuQTcc/TX21-FJ0XFI/AAAAAAAAAyc/DoBraSQushU/s320/100_2422.JPG" border="0" /></a>This is my new plane. What do you think? Is it too big...too flashy...too "airline-y" perhaps? <div><br /><div>Yeah, I thought as much. I need something more personalized, more attuned to my sense of style - something more inexpensive and idealistic maybe. Like a <em>ticket</em> for a flight <em>on</em> a plane. Yeah! </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>And while we're on the topic, let's make that a window seat. Window seats are like the hot tubs of the airline world. When sitting in one, you can't help but smile and be happy. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571830880559178402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 241px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 315px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TVMeqkBIIqI/AAAAAAAAAyE/4Hqu8-gB1P8/s320/100_2376.JPG" border="0" /><br />In fact, there's a lot of things in life that are like that. </div><div><br /></div><div>Things like family and friends, good music, movies, and home and garden magazines...scenic country roads, wide open skies, and horses picturesquely standing in their pastures...long walks to nowhere with the wind blowing in your hair...the smell of rain and the sight of thunderclouds on the horizon, the scent of honeydew and black cherry scented candles...hot showers and sleeping in on Sundays. </div><div><br /></div><div>I could go on, but I'll stop there. <em>My heart can't take it!</em></div><div></div><div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571832612136949458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nZrjIDjNv18/TVMgPWpcFtI/AAAAAAAAAyM/3o9g9ccxhNk/s320/100_2366.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>Over the past couple of months, many things have happened. Out of these, the two things that stick out the most are: I've started classes and I've celebrated my 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> birthday. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Yay</span>!</div><br /><div>Oh, and I've seen snow. So, that's three.</div><br /><div>Oh, and I've seen the beginning beauty of Spring. So, that's four.<br /></div><br /><div>Oh, and by the end of this year, I will have been to more concerts than you can count on one hand. So, <em>yeah</em>...take <em>that</em> fun police! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Haha</span>.<br /></div><br /><div>While time moves at at unpredictably fast pace, I believe it's important to try to stay in the present. It's easy to get carried away thinking about the future, or talking about the past...to plan for the coming seasons, or long for those that have come and gone...to dream of all the places you want to go, and remember all those where you have been.<br /></div><br /><div>But right now I am here, at home...and there's nowhere else I'd rather be. So, until I write again, I'll be here...in my window seat, on my plane, looking out on and living life. </div><br /><div>Trying ardently not to think about the handsome cowboy in the isle seat. Maybe I'll let him share the view. We'll see. :-)<br /></div><br /><div>All my love, ~April~</div><br /><div><span style="color:#3333ff;">"Life takes us places...Love brings us home." ~Unknown~</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#3333ff;">"And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)" ~Dr. Seuss~</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-80203438622968713662011-01-28T21:59:00.000-08:002011-01-28T22:45:58.711-08:00Back in the Saddle<p>Today is the day. Tonight is the night. I am officially back! To blogging, that is. To thinking and reflecting, to photographing and posting, to citing and writing. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ok</span>...<em>I hear ya'!</em> I'll stop there. </p><p>It's been a long time, and in that time, much has happened: Summer, school, even a little bit of summer school (no, just kidding!), holidays as well as the occasional not-so-"holly" days (<em>cheesy</em>...sorry), times of smiles and laughter, times of success and error, relishing in comfortable pleasures, as well as experiencing new adventures. There have even been times that I will only be able to fully understand in time. </p><p>And while all those times are in the past, they make up a part of who I am in the present, and who I see myself as in the future. And while it may seem as though I've been far, far away, I've always been right here. Living and learning. Loving and...uh, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">umm</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hmmm</span>...<em>yearning? </em></p><p>Maybe. It could happen. <em>Sometimes I yearn.</em> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Haha</span>.</p><p>Anyhow, I'm back. In the saddle. To the blog. Or, as my cute, charming, and chanting nephew demonstrates in the video below...on the bike.</p><p>Look out y'all. <em>Ya' ain't seen <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">nothin</span>' yet!</em> </p><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='515' height='355' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz0t8QvovFzlj36AUesszC1UQjvMGjDCQyl4JS4pi_liyLW8hkAEz2FI0hmJ9XGYeM_cRXYVxl719yLeD9C5w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>Love, ~April~</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-86394817705225832292010-06-25T15:32:00.000-07:002010-06-27T21:48:27.264-07:00Signs of SummerYou know that your summer must be going pretty well when you look back at the photos you've taken in the past 2 weeks and realize there's approximately 200 you'd like copies of. Just one of the many signs of summer! While I can't possibly post <em>all </em>200 photos here, I do hope to share some of them with y'all, along with the stories that accompany them. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ahhh</span></span>...<em>stories</em>: best served outside on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">someone's</span></span> (preferably a loved one's) porch, hidden away form the oppressive heat, accompanied by the creaking sounds that only old, white, wooden chairs seem to make, the clinking sounds of ice against perspiring glasses of iced tea the only sound keeping your mind awake aside from the lulling voice of the storyteller. <em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Zzzzzzz</span></span>.</em><br /><br /><em>Whoa</em>, almost put myself to sleep there for a second! Alright, so while not all of us may have access to the porch of a loved one this summer, I have a feeling that, by the end of summer, we all will come away with one thing in common: <em>stories</em>. And if you're like me, you'll come away with some (okay, so it's more like<em> a ton</em>) of pictures. Here's to summer!<br /><br />To sunsets at the lake:<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486923368698414690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCV3u50PBmI/AAAAAAAAAcM/-ZN13dXefSc/s320/100_1688.JPG" border="0" /><br />And feet raised high in the sky: <p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486924793338477570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCV5B1A5PAI/AAAAAAAAAcU/LpS_tN8WzVI/s320/100_1842.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>To beautiful mountain vistas. (Guadalupe Mountains NP):</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486927866740009234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCV70uU66RI/AAAAAAAAAcc/4JUulBe6WoA/s320/100_1704.JPG" border="0" /></p><p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486928787027556546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCV8qSqkeMI/AAAAAAAAAck/OLOQCf_hkDs/s320/100_1708.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>And feeling like you're about to fry. (No, not really...I was<em> fine</em>...I think!):<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486930722309110050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCV-a8JpeSI/AAAAAAAAAc8/I0c23o1dQlc/s320/100_1706+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br />To sublime, cool caves (56 degrees year-round) out in the middle of no-man's land where you can escape the world above and the heat that recently married it. (Carlsbad Caverns NP): </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486929727680613506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCV9hC3vDII/AAAAAAAAAc0/Iyx7nCdz000/s320/100_1709+(2).JPG" border="0" /></p>To a tree-lined creek that leads to aquifer-fed springs in the middle of desert-like West Texas...a welcome sight and swimming spot, indeed! (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Balmorhea</span></span> Springs State Park):<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486937199831127138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWET-zPlGI/AAAAAAAAAdE/NEAPOO-z_8g/s320/100_1743.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486939349576276610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWGRHObWoI/AAAAAAAAAdM/D1NB1Fuyd5M/s320/100_1739.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486939740552448226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWGn3uaSOI/AAAAAAAAAdU/Bw_K-J1mLTA/s320/100_1738.JPG" border="0" /><br />From <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">hittin</span></span>' the big city, the "Big D," if you will. (Dallas, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Tx</span></span>.): <p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486943198857692146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWJxK6og_I/AAAAAAAAAdo/Q-kr7g8huWk/s320/100_1752(2)" border="0" /></p><p>(The Reunion Tower...it's main job is to rotate, be pretty, and, while we were there, be renovated. No elevator ride for us this time...but a good excuse to come back!):<br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486943659433974738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWKL-sk29I/AAAAAAAAAdw/jIerryiI0Zg/s320/100_1755(2)" border="0" /></p><p>To seeing all the animals at the Fort Worth Zoo. (The flowers/landscaping were reason enough to visit): </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486949007060487810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWPDQKFzoI/AAAAAAAAAd4/vJ8K2K3k0FY/s320/100_1759(2)" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486949230238392146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWPQPj2X1I/AAAAAAAAAeA/ovC0TUJPKlM/s320/100_1781(2)" border="0" /><br /><br /><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486950152053676722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWQF5lvWrI/AAAAAAAAAeI/Md1XN9OJQxQ/s320/100_1792(2)" border="0" /><br />From playing on the playground with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">niece</span></span> and nephews to taking a swim in the pool. (In order of appearance: Emily, Jason, and Levi with his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Papi</span></span>...aka my <em>brother</em>, Michael):<br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486953508623942114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWTJRydAeI/AAAAAAAAAeY/O8N4MCsFZTg/s320/100_1821(2)" border="0" /></p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486954704853935618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 233px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWUO6F6JgI/AAAAAAAAAeg/xXauTr_5mE4/s320/100_1824(2)" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486955031920976050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 229px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWUh8gxILI/AAAAAAAAAeo/L1l0sSkyQNA/s320/100_1830(2)" border="0" /><br /><p>To sleeping like rocks...or, as we say here in <em>Texas</em>, "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">hittin</span></span>' the hay." (Just kidding...I know we're not the only ones who use that expression...it's all about the pride, though...the pride!)</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486955232319208402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWUtnDbe9I/AAAAAAAAAew/xmi6fzFso9E/s320/100_1831(2)" border="0" /></p><p>And, if there is one thing for certain I have been getting a good dose of lately...it's pride. Pure, pleasant, plentiful, personal, perfect, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">personifical</span></span>....wait, <em>what? Huh? </em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Uhhh</span>...sometimes I just lose myself! I think you get my drift. (By the way, did you know that the word "drift" originated from the name of the cargo boats that used to pass through the small Texas town of Driftwood, via the Wood river. People never knew what to call these cargo boats, having been bigger than canoes yet smaller than steamboats, so the residents...often called "<em>Drift</em>w<em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">oodians</span></span></em>"...held a town meeting one night, and unanimously decided to call them "drifts.") <em>Isn't that fascinating? </em></p><p><em><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486955376174988578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWU1-9UfSI/AAAAAAAAAe4/I8AzOL5T8zE/s320/100_1804(2)" border="0" /></em></p><p>Yeah...<em>fascinating</em>, but false! Oh, what pride can do to a person. If there is a second thing for certain, it's that I will never forget these past few weeks of summer. Not because I have approximately 200 pictures to remember them by, although that helps, but because through it all, I was with family, my family, which fosters a love and sense of pride within me all it's own! </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486955480596262562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/TCWU8D9SrqI/AAAAAAAAAfA/ZxhmLUkPWao/s320/100_1802(2)" border="0" /></p><p>And, last but not least, if there's is a third thing I know for certain, it's that summer isn't over yet, and plenty of trips and times with my family await! For now though, I think I'll just admire summer, and all it's signs and symptoms, from my front porch. Being swept up by the silence, with the exception of the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">rhythmic</span> buzzing of the cicadas in the background. Awash in a mixture of peace, pride, and thankful prayer. Letting summer embrace me, and embracing summer back! </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-19046302072478510122010-05-13T21:36:00.000-07:002010-05-14T23:31:12.337-07:00To Mongolia in a Mere 10 Seconds!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470985400605964914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zYPD53enI/AAAAAAAAATU/RWVmXvhZ78Y/s320/100_1636.JPG" border="0" /> Before I begin, would you do me a favor?<em> </em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Yes? Oh...good. I knew we were close friends!</em><br /><br />I want you to close your eyes for 10 seconds (<em>just sit back, shut your peepers, and take a few deep breaths</em>). I'll wait!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470984907412641202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zXyWnalbI/AAAAAAAAATM/8NhD7Qz7dD0/s320/100_1637+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br />How was that? Nice, right? Don't you<em> love</em> working for me? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Haha</span>.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470987237263128802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 258px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zZ59_DuOI/AAAAAAAAAT0/fgZGnZNUQHs/s320/100_1662+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br />Now, tell me, where did your mind go in those 10 seconds? Those 10 seconds you had all to yourself? It's OK if you say "<em>um, uh, nowhere</em>," because, to be honest, it would probably take around 10 minutes or so for your mind to go anywhere but here, where you are right now and what you are doing at this moment. But, nonetheless...it's important to let your mind get loose every now and then. <em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Loosey</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">goosey</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">baba</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ghanoushy</span>! </em>Like a chiropractic adjustment for your spine, 10 seconds of a breather is a great way to relax, realign yourself with reality, and as a result, help you to help yourself to be the best, most helpful person you can hopefully be!<br /><br /><em>Huh? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Whaaat</span>? </em><br /><em></em><br />Don't worry, I lose myself sometimes too! Speaking of losing yourself, what I'm trying to say is that it can be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">beneficial</span> to, every once in awhile, close your eyes, count to 10, and then open them again. It's like taking a sip of water...it's takes up a small part of our day, but it serves a beneficial purpose! Try it for a day, or for life...I think you'll come to see what I mean!<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470986948572909778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zZpKh8kNI/AAAAAAAAATs/l77XkXaqjrw/s320/100_1651+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br />Enough rambling and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">psychobabble</span> though...now tell me, where <em>did</em> your mind go in those 10 seconds?<br /><br /><em>Uh huh...uh huh...oh, I see...wow!...cool!...</em>Is it my turn yet?<br /><br />Besides the fundamental and lackluster cycle that I have going on 24/7 inside my head of what I need to do each day (that's another blog post for another time...or maybe never...can you say "<em><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">OCD</span></em>?"), here's a glimpse at where my mind almost always goes:<br /><br />"<em>Hmmm</em>...<em>Spain...travel...la <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">vida</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">de</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">una</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">aventuradora</span>...I wonder how many people are asleep right now...how many are waking up...where are they going...who, if anyone, are they with...will I ever get to meet them?...the clouds...pretty, pretty, clouds...flying, staying home...comfort, family, blankets, fire, peace, love, joy...God...oh, how I love you God...with you I will go both near and far...my heart is yours, I am yours, lead me to where you want me to be, tell me who you want me to be, where you want me to go, what you want me to do...your voice being the whisper I hear in the wind...your arms being the peace I feel in the stillness of night...goats, horses, turquoise, rustic stone buildings, a windmill, a ranch...my ranch...with a guest cabin for visitors, and a creek to swim in, play in, and skip rocks in...hmmm...Mongolia!</em>" </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470987561730182674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 318px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zaM2uCDhI/AAAAAAAAAT8/E8qxbJH_AAA/s320/100_1658+(2).JPG" border="0" /></p><p><span class="blsp-spelling-error"><em>Ahhh</em></span>...has it been 10 seconds already? See what I mean! Honestly, that was the best 10 seconds I've had in a long time. My thoughts vary each time I close my eyes, but lately, they've ended with "Mongolia". Self-help and imaginary travel are a potent combination, one that has me clamoring for more every time I open my eyes. A mere 10 seconds has never felt so good!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470986457261577202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zZMkQMk_I/AAAAAAAAATk/fi4827QDJhc/s320/100_1648+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br />So, just as a Mom instructs her children to "remember to take their vitamins," I'm going to leave you with this instruction: "Remember to take your 10 seconds!"<br /><br />Goodbye for now...I'm off to do some more in- depth dreaming (i.e. sleeping)...if that's even a possiblity!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470985877286027170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 275px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S-zYqzrP_6I/AAAAAAAAATc/O4s7tT5WeWg/s320/100_1668+(2).JPG" border="0" /> ~April~<br /><br />*"<em>Where my Mind Went</em>," "<em>A Lifetime Passed Beneath My Eyelids," and "10 Seconds or Less" are all temporary titles for my temporarily planned book, release date to be announced according to my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">temper</span></em>.* Gracias, and Buenas Noches!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-74514170834619736582010-04-13T22:05:00.000-07:002010-04-14T11:23:37.258-07:00Between the Bluebonnets and Me<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8VhRqnbWrI/AAAAAAAAASI/jnLnnCLpeX8/s1600/100_1627+(3).JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459877079381924530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 193px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8VhRqnbWrI/AAAAAAAAASI/jnLnnCLpeX8/s320/100_1627+(3).JPG" border="0" /></a> "Ohhh...how pretty!"<br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div>"Oooo...did you <em>see</em> those? How gorgeous!"</div><br /><div>"Wow! Texas Hill Country, will you marry me?"</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459876039551710354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8VgVI8ldJI/AAAAAAAAAR4/1mXvot--0XI/s320/100_1629+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>O.K. Time to take it down a notch. Inhale...and, exhale. <em>Good</em>. <em>Good job!</em> Now, focus...and this time, try not to get too obsessed/enamored with the bluebonnets and all their other wildflower companions, <em>comprende</em>? </div><br /><div>"Alright, fine, I'll <em>try</em>," I say to myself as I stare back out the passenger seat window. This is just a glimpse into the battlefield of love that rages within my head when it is springtime in the Texas Hill Country...because, with Spring comes beautiful weather, bright, optimistic wildflowers, and daydreams of what your wedding day would actually look like if you were indeed to follow through on your marriage proposal to, in my opinion, the best part of Texas. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459875384250490594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8Vfu_wmXuI/AAAAAAAAARo/F2YmwDjxz9A/s320/100_1633+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>And daydream, I do. A nice, white, cotton dress, no shoes (all the better to feel the soft, green grass underfoot), possibly a pearl necklace, and a bouquet of my beloved wildflowers should do the trick. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459875687377961538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8VgAo_0gkI/AAAAAAAAARw/an7IythvjFk/s320/100_1630.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><em>Wait</em>, but come to think of it, in order for me to have a bouquet of wildflowers at the impending ceremony, I would actually need to<em> pick</em> them.<em> No</em>, that doesn't sound right! Oh no, I think I'm starting to get cold feet...maybe I <em>should</em> wear shoes with my dress. No, that wouldn't fix anything. What about the wildflowers? They would never forgive me for committing such a ruthless act! In fact, I'm still not positive that it's legal (both the picking of the wildflowers, and the getting married to the wildflowers). Maybe, I start to reason with myself, it wasn't love after all...maybe it was just, dare I say... <em>lust</em>. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459878705759828178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8ViwVWIuNI/AAAAAAAAASY/VcEyw99xfqE/s320/100_1130.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>And with that, my mind begins to settle back into reality as I choose to accept the fact that a marriage between me and the bluebonnets and all their other wildflower companions would never work. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459882037913350146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 265px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8VlySlccAI/AAAAAAAAASg/EUpeygovikQ/s320/100_1632+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>"I'm sorry bluebonnets, and all your wildflower friends...it's not you, it's me."</div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459877635103674274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S8VhyA10T6I/AAAAAAAAASQ/TZpEinXv8qk/s320/100_1634.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>Honestly, we're better off just remaining friends. They make me smile, and I in turn, capture photos of them that will hopefully cause others to do the same. And that's what friends are for, right? To make each other happy, to share in each other's joy. It's the circle of life accompanied by the circle of love, if you will. And what a friendship we will always have, what a friendship it will always be...the one between the wildflowers, the bluebonnets, and me! </div><br /><div></div><div><em>(P.S.) This post does not even begin to give you a glimpse of the beauty that can be seen out here in the Texas Hill Country. It's more like a peek!</em></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-76247695817819529762010-03-31T15:48:00.000-07:002010-03-31T20:43:41.423-07:00Now Arriving in Carefree Country, Colorado<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454955444331188306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PlEzTxkFI/AAAAAAAAAQY/srH-n0PNoa0/s320/100_1595.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454962170030534178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 238px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PrMSfdLiI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/Wt0iqoI_PK8/s320/100_1581.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>It was as though we had switched bodies or something...and I was observing myself while yet still being <em>my self</em>. Obviously when I "left on a jet plane," I really did just that...I left, took a respite from myself, and let the "country roads" of Colorado "take me home." (I've had John Denver on the brain recently...can you tell?) At least, the excuse of "taking a break from myself" is how I justified my actions/consoled myself when I realized I hardly took any pictures of our vacation to Colorado a couple of weeks ago. That, or there's always that issue of the oxygen levels experienced at high altitudes...you know, not enough blood flow to brain = fluctuating outlook on life (otherwise known as <em>F.O.O.L.</em>). But, who am I kidding? Let's get back to the <em>switching bodies </em>part. You see, while I was busy being afflicted with a currently undiagnosed syndrome, my mom was busy being "F.O.O.L <em>proof </em>" (i.e. She was busy taking photos, and serving as Photographer in Chief (otherwise known as "P.I.C.") while I was away from my post, <em>er...</em>tripod). Therefore, I must credit some of these photos to her. Thanks momma! But, most of all, I must credit them to that which stood before the camera lens, whose only syndrome was on occasion the change in weather...which only made it more beautiful! To Colorado, to the Country, and to those special moments in time that allow you to be Carefree! Amen.</div><div> </div><div>Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454964438938979938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PtQW1YjmI/AAAAAAAAARI/ezVN9RMQh8k/s320/IMG_2599+(2).JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454963505542296450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PsaBqRc4I/AAAAAAAAARA/JrWiSjckqS8/s320/IMG_2600.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454961354028585410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PqcypbkcI/AAAAAAAAAQw/yD1NR-F6tDo/s320/100_1554.JPG" border="0" /></div><div>Ice Falls and Ice Climbing...</div><div></div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454957018855728930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 218px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7Pmgc3rZyI/AAAAAAAAAQg/agGJWMkaJZ8/s320/100_1569+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454960542997298530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 253px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PptlUgPWI/AAAAAAAAAQo/QNSpubV8_os/s320/100_1567+(2).JPG" border="0" />And (last, but definitely not least) Snowshoing...</div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454965195393462690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 257px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7Pt8Y2L8aI/AAAAAAAAARQ/OCyXAycQdAE/s320/IMG_2578+(2).JPG" border="0" /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454965798406980226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 215px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S7PuffP0AoI/AAAAAAAAARY/EO2f-3nTVfY/s320/IMG_2582+(2).JPG" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-40068024829415222192010-03-08T20:15:00.000-08:002010-03-08T22:37:47.403-08:00E.T. and Snow ... One Friend and One FoeEveryone has something they're afraid of...right? Something that just makes you want to shriek from the shock of its sight or sound, squirm from the eerie feeling that it sends coursing through your veins, and shake and shudder to try and rid your eyes, ears, and mind of what you just saw and/or heard?<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446502157459330530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5Xc2vvDFeI/AAAAAAAAAO0/mabyTwR42FQ/s320/100_1467.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Yeah...that's what I thought! So, guess what that one thing is for me? I'll give you a hint: the answer can be found in the title of this post. If you said my friends, foes, or the snow, then I must tell you NO! If you said E.T., then you're right on the money. (Oh wait, bad analogy...money is green...E.T. is green...<em>shriek, squirm, shake, shudder...ok, I'm good...I think</em>.) Yeah, seeing that little guy/alien/amorphous creature thing just gives me the creeps! Which is why I wanted you to know that when I tell you my mom, dad, nephew, and I all went to go see E.T. and that we had a great time, I'm not telling you that we were probed onto a spaceship and transported to meet the real-life version of E.T. on an other-worldly planet, but that we actually went to go see my grandpa at his ranch. Lost and confused yet? Yeah...that's what I thought!</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446503310354928034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5Xd52mx0aI/AAAAAAAAAO8/KxpXfUxxImE/s320/100_1456.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>You see, E.T. stands for "Edmondson" and "Throckmorton," which are, respectively, the last names of my grandpa and my great uncle. So, no need to fear, the real E.T. is neither here nor there! Actually, it would be rare to find another human, let alone alien, out where my grandpa has his ranch. What you will find though is a place so special, words alone cannot describe the place it holds in my heart...I LOVE it out there! I could give you countless reasons why (the picturesque country, the horses, the cows, the donkey and the goat (BFF's), the smell created by said animals, the dirt roads that turn red after it rains, the majestic oak trees and the rolling plains that make sunsets just that much more beautiful...etc.), but it's simpler if I just tell you that, from where I stand, it's a little piece of heaven on earth. And I don't say that lightly!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446510765482267522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XkrzHpU4I/AAAAAAAAAPM/Oa4TWcq1LBY/s320/100_1465.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446511387520066722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XlQAZA5KI/AAAAAAAAAPU/16qiaEEDQwo/s320/100_1463.JPG" border="0" /></div></div><br /><div>Recently, we've been able to take my nephew Justin out there with us. I can see that he appreciates and loves my grandpa and his ranch just like I do, and that only makes our visits more special. He can horseback ride and bareback- donkey ride with the best of 'em! And now, he has a new friend in Rowdy, a puppy (soon to be hunting dog) my grandpa just acquired.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446506267824040546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XgmACXKmI/AAAAAAAAAPE/sU7o4lNHn0o/s320/100_1450.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446512043196601826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5Xl2K-e1eI/AAAAAAAAAPc/38_6OPcxUGU/s320/100_1461.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446513357140153570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 202px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XnCpzCVOI/AAAAAAAAAPk/nYTHbdv___g/s320/100_1448+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>One more thing about E.T. (the ranch version) that I think we can all agree on is the time we spend gathered around a campfire, swappin' stories about the past, present, and the future. Especially those times when we're baking cake in oranges. But, that's a story for another time. Haha!</div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446516696928183634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XqFDejZVI/AAAAAAAAAP8/0RDeAn8d4fY/s320/100_1462.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446516982447343842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XqVrHoCOI/AAAAAAAAAQE/p5j9oeaF_rE/s320/100_1486.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>Oh, and in case the town crier in your neck of the woods (Wow, I just keep on gettin' butter...I mean...<em>better</em> at this country dialect/lingo thing!) didn't alert you to what passed through here (the Texas Hill Country...emphasis on <em>Texas</em>) a couple of weeks ago, I feel it is my duty to inform you that WE GOT SNOW! I know! Snow! It was pretty, and pearly, and, well, at the risk of sounding too superfluous, it was perfect. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446513803571000706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5Xnco4cdYI/AAAAAAAAAPs/1dVYe21SoD8/s320/100_1491+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446514089500751154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S5XntSDaNTI/AAAAAAAAAP0/okPm6a5bc_A/s320/100_1495.JPG" border="0" /><em></em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em>Spanish</em>: Hasta luego. Ojala que vayan con Dios! </div><div> </div><div><em>Texan</em>: See y'all later! God bless ya'!</div><div><em></em> </div><div><em>English</em>: Until next time. May God be with you!</div><div><br />All my love, ~April~</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-57453055183503736992010-02-11T19:23:00.000-08:002010-02-13T09:55:37.429-08:00A Peach Tree and MeDeep breath...<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ahhhh</span>! Spring, is that you? Are you what has brought the crisp, cool air and the sunny skies that have coaxed the peach trees to blossom? Have you arrived? Or am I too early in my anticipation of your arrival? Whatever the answer, it sure is a lovely time of year here. Some people scoff at the occasional chilly days, but I look the other way and say "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Horray</span>! Hurrah! Come see, come saw!" (No, I don't really...I could sense that you were worried about my mental state of mind...thanks for your concern.)<br /><br />I enjoy this mix of overcast skies and clear Spring-like days. It's as though the seasons are in transition, neither here nor there, all the while displaying their emotions everywhere. It reminds me of all the facets of life and all the factors of living. It inspires me to think, to reflect and to look towards the future. And just like the blossoming peach trees and the soft, make-my-eyes-glaze-over sunsets that this weather brings, I myself am neither here nor there, but like the seasons, am in transition. So I breath (deep breath...ahhhh!), and am at peace. And then I realize something: the weather will always be weather, the peach trees will always blossom and bear peaches, life will always be full of transitions, and I will always be ME!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437200467913671570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S3TRBJ6VA5I/AAAAAAAAAOc/vLn9TOSMXCc/s320/100_1319.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437198859382570850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 251px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S3TPjhqoP2I/AAAAAAAAAOM/KqVKu8VC47c/s320/100_1405.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437200966640872482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S3TReL0KLCI/AAAAAAAAAOk/_Kzzi8Kvt2U/s320/100_1320.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437199146911280466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S3TP0Qy0LVI/AAAAAAAAAOU/RF8rE5ABCkY/s320/100_1410.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437201407662018514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S3TR32vyz9I/AAAAAAAAAOs/U0VZhf3ylEQ/s320/100_1322.JPG" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-29221990766717428062010-01-10T21:45:00.000-08:002010-01-10T23:06:22.864-08:001 Chilly Day = 1 Beautiful Sunset DisplayHey everyone, I hope that y'all are doing great, and that you had a wonderful Christmas and a joyful New Year's! I know we did. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ahhh</span>, our tree, our fires, our family. Parties, movies, and games of Monopoly (well, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ok</span>, not <em>Monopoly</em>, but games no less). Gifts, to-do lists, and well, <em>you get my drift.</em> While the holidays have come and gone, and our Christmas tree is officially on standby for our next campfire, that doesn't mean that we all have to stop celebrating, does it? <em>We don't? </em>you may be asking. Call me crazy, a celebration enabler if you must, but no, <em>we don't.</em><br /><br /><div><div><div>For everyday is a gift from God, and, as the Bible tells us, we should not worry, but have faith and rejoice in Him. We are always welcome to sing praises to His name. Not just on Christmas or for as long as our stockings are hung by the chimney with care, but every day of the week. I can't think of a better way to spend my time, or my year. So, in honor of 2010, of my faith in God and the foundation and the future I have in Him, here are some pictures I took of a recent sunset display on a rather chilly Texas hill country day. Have a wonderful day and remember, I gave you permission to celebrate! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Haha</span>. ~April~</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><br /><p></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425372675250850834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S0rLtApwDBI/AAAAAAAAAN0/yg7nwd2gqW0/s320/100_1292.JPG" border="0" /></p><p></p><p></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425373077151403250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S0rMEZ2TzPI/AAAAAAAAAN8/w6eNKvhj5rY/s320/100_1295.JPG" border="0" /></p><p></p><p> </p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425373413091801186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/S0rMX9UveGI/AAAAAAAAAOE/-wMt7XiwRjo/s320/100_1296.JPG" border="0" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-35624978447225067452009-12-25T15:36:00.000-08:002009-12-25T15:50:22.546-08:00Topper and the Popper<p align="center"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='464' height='339' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxYo_Zk744yhyxAx5wmmsQFkcRiJxxcf3DxcJmuQnBekaaP01zQnG8YLYIMG30h77WnFbHq5JUsJX-zBsdIdw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-12344694174160536942009-11-25T20:43:00.000-08:002009-11-26T12:20:05.550-08:00A Cowboy and A CampfireThis past weekend, we took a (too many superlatives to express such a great day) trip to visit my grandpa out at his ranch. I just love that word...."ranch." Use it in any sentence, and I'm all ears.<br /><br /><div><div><div>"Hey, do you want to go out to the <em>ranch</em>?".... I'm already in the car with my boots on.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Okay, so there's the gate to the <em>ranch</em>, if you don't mind opening...." I'm already back in the car from opening the gate. </div><div><br /></div><div>.... even the culinary meaning of the word produces a quick response.</div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>"What kind of dressing would you like with that?"...."<em>Ranch</em>, please," I say without a second thought. "We also have blue cheese, Italian vinaigrette...." <em>Eeeeww</em>, I think to myself as the waiter trails on. "No, <em>ranch</em> is fine..." I respond, taking pleasure in the fact that I was able to utter "the word" more than once.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to my original story though. Our visit to see my grandpa, and his <em>ranch</em>. Actually, my grandpa has begun exchanging the phrase "the ranch" for "the home place." This is due to recent developments (imagine saying that with a British accent). Haha. My mom and dad have been discussing plans to place a couple of small cabins out there, which, as you can probably imagine, has me already thinking of bed placement and room decor scenarios. We are all excited. It is such a great place, this "home place" of ours, and the best fringe benefit of it all is that when we're there, we get to spend time with <em>a cowboy and a campfire</em>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are a couple of photos and a video to tide you over until our next visit to <em>the ranch</em>. Or, if you're more into swappin' sayings like my grandpa, and are less akin/enchanted/obsessed with the word "ranch" like I am....here are a few photos and a video from our visit to <em>the home place. </em>Enjoy, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! ~April~</div><div><br /><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408280025470266098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/Sw4SB2P-6vI/AAAAAAAAANU/B8szyjQ7f9I/s320/100_1150.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408280371777034770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/Sw4SWAV82hI/AAAAAAAAANc/dED-bD2VseI/s320/100_1141.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408280781344919874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/Sw4St2Gi0UI/AAAAAAAAANk/PfmNfBCVyAQ/s320/100_1145.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408281184566620610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/Sw4TFUOFscI/AAAAAAAAANs/9x8F9byP8D0/s320/100_1144.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div></div><br /><p align="center"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzMPHJlHTUmAbGXAw2m0JEpPgLTpOc4JKyE9MqJK4fWkVc2eY1q9fLxN00qkQl2J9lYT-Ss9meNqmX3MrxbiQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-50814538622074265282009-11-16T13:22:00.000-08:002009-11-16T13:53:54.573-08:00The Tale of Two Blogs<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SwHI_lgETSI/AAAAAAAAANM/oQlBUGsWAm4/s1600/100_1079.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404822022545231138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SwHI_lgETSI/AAAAAAAAANM/oQlBUGsWAm4/s320/100_1079.JPG" border="0" /></a>Hey everyone, I just thought I'd let you know about my new favorite blog. I have many. The one I just discovered, and have come to really enjoy reading is called "The Pioneer Woman." Check it out: <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/">http://thepioneerwoman.com/</a>. Every time I read her blog, it reminds me of how much I want to live on a ranch when I am older. (P.S. Cowboys, feel free to leave comments...just kidding!) For now though, I'm loving life set amidst the beauty of the Texas Hill Country... it's a very special place! Speaking of special places, many are mentioned on another favorite blog of mine, the "Intelligent Travel Blog." You should check it out: <a href="http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/intelligenttravel/">http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/intelligenttravel/</a>. <div>Have a wonderful week! ~April~ </div><br /><div></div><div>To end this note, here is a quote: <span style="color:#999999;">"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St. Augustine~</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-91098487411590583492009-10-28T15:56:00.000-07:002009-10-29T22:26:02.874-07:00A Creek, a Rose, and some Buffaloes"There they are!" I squealed with excitement as our car approached a herd of buffaloes grazing not more than 20 yards from the road. I was 99.9% sure that I had seen some buffaloes the last time we drove this way. But there was still that .1% percent of uncertainty...until now.<br /><br /><div>"Oh, wow... you were right," my mom and dad said, with as far as I could detect, a hint of both awe <em>and</em> surprise in their voices. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's what I love about Texas: it never ceases to amaze...whether your a cowboy-hat-totin' native or a cowboy-hat-totin' wannabe. Take the buffaloes for instance. Or the "<em>lost</em> maple" trees we saw when we went on our annual Fall hike at Lost Maples State Park later that day. Or the abundance of natural creeks and springs that can be found throughout the rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country. Anyway, you get what I'm saying. There is always something or someplace amazing just waiting to be discovered!</div><div><br /></div><div>But, while there are many surprises, that still doesn't mean that all the stereotypes made about Texas are inaccurate. For instance, when your rose bush blooms for the first time since you planted it 2 years ago... it <em>is</em> a cause for celebration. In fact, keeping anything (humans included) alive throughout the summer (i.e. throughout the drought) is a cause for celebration. </div><div><br /></div><div>So today, as with every day, I raise my camera to you, my dear Texas, my home...where the deer and the buffalo roam! And to you, my readers, I post my photos and videos! Enjoy! ~April~</div><div><br /></div><p align="center"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyRQ4de13yZWHWYiuJ3rfFfbTULApLQVk3zQgb5aSu6rxrnA5x7e0_kwM--rla-oewwY5EY2EHLIfznsw7mYA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><div><br /></div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397812593389026258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/Sujh9HEVO9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/Uda4AQmRnMo/s320/100_1044.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397812990309002930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 280px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SujiUNtbbrI/AAAAAAAAANE/Sn9nkFeS0t0/s320/100_1043+(2).JPG" border="0" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-78777849313174830772009-10-18T17:49:00.000-07:002009-10-18T19:01:05.529-07:00First Fire of the Year!Ahhh, there's nothing better than a campfire! Especially when that campfire is fueled by our Christmas tree from last year. Oh yeah...you get the picture! It was an amazing sight...and it was an amazing night. In addition to the fire, this past weekend we also celebrated my Mom's birthday. Let's just say that one great family mixed with one great campfire equals one great night of fun! I hope that y'all enjoy the video I took of our "first fire of the year." I decided not to post the one I got from when our Christmas tree was added. Too much screaming and squealing, if you know what I mean! Have a great day! ~April~<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394111982644130690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/Stu8RNwuc4I/AAAAAAAAAM0/O5LuOsHNhIY/s320/100_0975.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxPHz02LqWXUHldG00nk0SaofYhhnjdnZuEGTKhw0QYrkDxDl_nYDAl5JWQHulWAxn5hyHamUwIskdk01t7' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-51294243750826766552009-09-27T19:16:00.000-07:002009-09-28T07:57:57.116-07:00Winkle, Winkle, You're a StarHe's big. He's brown. His name is Bullwinkle (or, "Winkle" for short). And, as with all horses, he has a personality all his own. As though his status as a Hanoverian horse wasn't enough to grasp people's attention (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Hanoverians</span> are one of the biggest breeds in the horse world), Bullwinkle likes to employ numerous tactics in hopes of attracting attention. Some of these include "cribbing," or <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">gnawing</span> on his wooden stall, and also being very photogenic, as I found him this past Saturday when I last visited him at my riding instructor's barn. Don't you just want to reach out and pet him?<br /><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386337776300939106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SsAdq2SvV2I/AAAAAAAAAKg/J0ll_8EGwL8/s320/100_0878.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386338153297887826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SsAeAyt0QlI/AAAAAAAAAKo/ccKvsOWPjLg/s320/100_0877.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div>So, what were you doing from 7-9 tonight? If you are like me, you were probably watching Ken Burns' new PBS documentary series "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." I was awestruck by the cinematography, immersed in every historical account, and in agreement with every argument made. For those of you who might have missed it, or would like to learn more about the series, or about the National Parks, here is the link: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/">http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/</a>. Just like the parks themselves, this documentary is something well worth seeing! Have a great week, ~April~</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-53406424745371533602009-09-23T17:37:00.000-07:002009-09-23T17:52:37.146-07:00Sunset After the StormFor the past couple of days, the hills out here in Lago have been blessed with some very-much-needed rain. It is such a relief to see cloudy skies and precipitation again! I dare say this means Fall is officially here. Here are a couple pictures I took of tonight's sunset. There was just enough open sky for the sun to peek through before descending behind the hills and leaving gorgeous hues of orange, pink and purple in its wake. Enjoy! ~April~<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384828218577328226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SrrAvBjNGGI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/VBNWBjDMWPA/s320/100_0868.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384830266534121522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SrrCmOyJ0DI/AAAAAAAAAKY/1727j1Ea5pY/s320/100_0871.JPG" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-34658109040791006062009-09-07T15:22:00.000-07:002009-09-07T15:38:57.343-07:00I Am a Dreamer!<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SqWLMfynQBI/AAAAAAAAAKI/sZOK2t6SM7c/s1600-h/wildhorse-thumb1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378858376772403218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 309px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 218px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SqWLMfynQBI/AAAAAAAAAKI/sZOK2t6SM7c/s320/wildhorse-thumb1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Hey everyone, I thought I would share one of my new favorite songs with y'all! Click here to watch the music video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pym1N2Tmps">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pym1N2Tmps</a>. The artist's name is Bethany Dillon, and her song is called "Dreamer." I hope that y'all enjoy it as much as I do, and that it brings joy to your day! ~April~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-54122085862393649192009-09-04T15:28:00.000-07:002009-09-04T16:31:30.194-07:00Mary and MeIt's official. The Fall school semester has begun, and with that so have all the homework, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">presentation</span>, and research paper assignments . You know, all those sheets of paper that, upon getting passed out in class, are met with a sound of silent despair (or, if you're not as quiet as me, <em>audible</em> despair). Yep, all that has begun! It's not that all class assignments are doomed or anything. To the contrary, sometimes they can be interesting, and just as I did today, you might end up making an interesting discovery about your subject that you might not have made if it weren't for that sheet of paper with the ominous due date marked in bold.<br /><br /><div><div><div><div></div><div></div><div>So today, I was doing some research on Mary of Bethany (not Mary, mother of Jesus) for my New Testament class. We all have to give a speech/presentation on the biblical character of our choosing (from the NT, of course), and I chose her. So when I stumbled upon this drawing of her (although, nobody knows for sure what she looked like, seeing as she lived around 2,000 years ago), I was reminded of a photo of myself taken not that long ago. I guess this assignment was just meant to be! Mary and Me, that is.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SqGYJZ70ZSI/AAAAAAAAAJw/Kku34All98Q/s1600-h/MARYBETHANY.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377746717405111586" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 334px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 241px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SqGYJZ70ZSI/AAAAAAAAAJw/Kku34All98Q/s400/MARYBETHANY.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SqGZPU0PCvI/AAAAAAAAAKA/sQJ2Mda_xyQ/s1600-h/100_0713.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377747918621969138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SqGZPU0PCvI/AAAAAAAAAKA/sQJ2Mda_xyQ/s320/100_0713.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-75544327580729768822009-08-20T18:34:00.000-07:002009-08-20T21:50:34.876-07:00La La Land!Just when you thought I was done traveling for the summer, I surprise you by jetting off to Los Angeles for a few days. Oh yeah, that's right...there's a new Samantha Brown in town! (Samantha Brown is a TV host for the Travel Channel...I like to watch her shows. You can check out all of her adventures here: <a href="http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Samantha_Brown">http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Samantha_Brown</a>) Unlike my other "adventure" this summer (to Washington), my Mom came with me on this trip. Now, I have officially been to all of the West coast states (with the exception of Alaska)! This was our first trip to La La Land (L.A.), and we were here to see my brother (we'll call him Trent), where he lives, and to check out the place he calls home.<br />Along the way, we saw and discovered some pretty cool parts of L.A.. From gawking at the palm trees lining Beverley Hills Blvd. to walking on the sandy shores of Santa Monica beach. From attending the symphony performance at the Hollywood Bowl to seeing Hollywood Blvd. (no stars, besides those on the sidewalk, were spotted). From strolling through booths of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables at a local Farmers Market to watching fish swim below a fountain at a hidden-gem of a park named after Will Rogers. From sipping coffee at the Coffee Bean cafe to cruising around in my brothers very sleek Porsche. You could say we have now been to and done L.A., but in reality (i.e. in a city with 21 million people), we've only skimmed the surface. Here are just a few of the photos that I took.<br /><br /><div><div><span style="color:#009900;">The Palm trees were as gorgeous as the houses they towered beside (or should it be the other way around?).</span></div><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372265754932705186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So4fPZnCd6I/AAAAAAAAAIo/xU6XCqw-Jjw/s320/100_0771.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372268411828479426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So4hqDUWpcI/AAAAAAAAAJA/fPdb3x5fPeg/s320/100_0765.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#006600;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#006600;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#006600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372226491226892802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So37h86FqgI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/ZRMfZZL67Eo/s320/100_0770.JPG" border="0" /></span></div><div><span style="color:#006600;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#009900;">Two fish in a pond at Will Rogers Park. </span></div><div><span style="color:#006600;"><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372265082523757234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So4eoQsQKrI/AAAAAAAAAIY/0vcwxJ53InY/s320/100_0785.JPG" border="0" /></div></span><br /><span style="color:#006600;"><span style="color:#009900;">Santa Monica Pier and Beach.<br /></span><br /></span><span style="color:#006600;"><p></span></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372265361549454898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So4e4gJKbjI/AAAAAAAAAIg/q04DscU0U1k/s320/100_0810+(2).JPG" border="0" /><br /><span style="color:#009900;">The Coffee Bean, and a tree that likes to lean.<br /></span><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372266293037367426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So4fuuNMAII/AAAAAAAAAIw/bZMPz_gqUBU/s320/100_0751.JPG" border="0" /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372267994044818306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/So4hRu8944I/AAAAAAAAAI4/DJIOixbAoGw/s320/100_0764.JPG" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789773301155480107.post-26641964134495678082009-08-13T12:55:00.000-07:002009-08-13T16:14:23.546-07:00There's No Place Like Home!That is what Dorothy said on The Wizard of Oz...one of the rare snippets of TV I was able to watch while interning at Lavender Hill Farm for 3 1/2 weeks this summer. And now that I am home (I arrived 2 weeks ago), I couldn't agree with the girl in the red heels more. Oh man, did I miss home! No wonder why people write books... all the drama (both good and bad, funny and sad) that comes with traveling, meeting new people, living in a new place with the new people, and working rigourously day after day for the new people needs a place (or a person...thanks again Mom!) to be expressed. But, instead of harping on all those unforgettable parts of my internship (or, as I like to call it, my intern<em>trip)</em> that I hope to soon forget, I've decided to share some of the best parts of it...parts that I know will remain with me forever. <div><div><div><div><div><br /><div><span style="color:#6666cc;">My first ride on a ferry, crossing Puget Sound, breathing pure-as-can-be air, and watching the sun set over the Olympic Mountains. </span></div></div><div><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369559162552523346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSBm_RjGlI/AAAAAAAAAG4/Nv4p5rLnlrY/s320/100_0381.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369568396277455410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSKAdlIGjI/AAAAAAAAAH4/Si-XfM_tMo0/s320/100_0373.JPG" border="0" /><br /><span style="color:#6666cc;">The tall Fir trees. This one couldn't even fit into my camera shot from 30 yards away!</span><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369560762066360722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSDEF7XWZI/AAAAAAAAAHA/S-si8ReRKzA/s320/100_0423.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;">Mt. Rainier (at sunset or any time of day).<br /><br /></span></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369562159810018338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSEVc7a_CI/AAAAAAAAAHI/7PnwqnbCRUY/s320/100_0570.JPG" border="0" /><br /><span style="color:#6666cc;">Shopping at Pike's Place Market with Rosalie, Maya, and Riley. We bought some nectarines and bing cherries (they were so fresh, and so good), and some fashion accesories, but we opted out of having our fortunes told by a cat...I am not kidding!</span><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369565615388783794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSHel9mdLI/AAAAAAAAAHg/AECCufveKvI/s320/100_0591.JPG" border="0" /><br /><span style="color:#6666cc;">The Space Needle and the view from the top. It was such an amazing, jaw dropping, 43-second elevator ride. Warning: 360 degree views of Seattle act as a very powerful magnetic force, and you will have a very hard time leaving the observation deck and taking the elevator back down.<br /><br /></span><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369565901769428930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSHvQ0ET8I/AAAAAAAAAHo/OGPFQ4eWg1k/s320/100_0605.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369566746252347618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSIgawfCOI/AAAAAAAAAHw/ZgJYJfPS8TI/s320/100_0624.JPG" border="0" /> </div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;">Going biking...in style, of course! </span><div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"><br /></span><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369568881806355426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSKcuUPK-I/AAAAAAAAAIA/hiP0uEUuu_I/s320/100_0646.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;">Swimming and Sailing (for my first time) in Puget Sound.</span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369563895355604482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSF6eVu_gI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/WvejqPRte3w/s320/100_0693+(2).JPG" border="0" /></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369564723623080210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSGqr4FsRI/AAAAAAAAAHY/DviTy22IfQU/s320/100_0720.JPG" border="0" /></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#6666cc;">Last, but certainly not least, the lavender. Who could forget!<br /></div></span><div><span style="color:#6666cc;"></span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369569374571651154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zKbuwIAkg0Q/SoSK5aAo4FI/AAAAAAAAAII/-hTexSzhFkQ/s320/100_0472.JPG" border="0" /></div><div></div><div>In the end, this is the reminder I came away with from my internship...just in time for my Freshman year of college: In life, there will probably be some moments that we wish we could change, just as there will be moments (whether good or bad, funny or sad) that will shape who we are and who we are becoming. The most important thing we can do is to be open to those moments...to those learning opportunities, and to have faith, because as the Lord tells us in the Bible, "He knows the plans He has for us, plans to help us, not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future." And what could be more enocuraging and inspirational than that. Except for maybe that airline ticket that promised my return to a place I like to call home. Just kidding! ~April~<br /><br />(P.S.) I just saw a preview for the TV (now that I'm back to watching TV) series "Jockeys." It looks sooo good...I hope to get to watch it (we don't have Animal Planet)! This will be the show's second season (1st episode will air on Aug. 21st at 9pm CT). Here is a link to a preview from Season 1 that I found on YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoasX0I0Lgg&feature=PlayList&p=00B984A0F25FA014&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1#watch-main-area">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoasX0I0Lgg&feature=PlayList&p=00B984A0F25FA014&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1#watch-main-area</a> </div><div><div></div><div>Let me know how it is, and also how your summer has been so far! Have a great day!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0