Nov 22, 2011

Tornado skies and broken seashells.

I just love the color and texture of this seashell.
At first it seems like a normal shell. But look closer...



The color.
There are bits of orange, blue, sea spray, plum,  rose, dusty green, mango, grey, white and on and on. So many colors hidden in this shell.
The color of grey kittens and of stormy seas. The color of sunsets and of tornado skies. 


My other favorite shell is this one. At first when I found it I was disappointed that it was broken. But now I love it for that reason. Because if it wasn't broken, I would never have seen the glassy lavender and the fragile spiral hidden inside.






And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
― Ronald Dahl


Nov 17, 2011

Dear Person {doggy scarf and pirate}

 Seen a few weeks ago on the way home from church:


Seen last week while driving around town:

I'm also wondering, why don't they just fly away?

Nov 11, 2011

Ones. Lots and lots of ones.

I can't believe it! I actually got to see the clock at 11:11 on 11/11/11! 
And I made a ton of epic wishes. :)


(Thanks, sis, for snagging this screen shot!)


Don't fret if you missed it, though. Ya'll have one more chance tonight!


Nov 7, 2011

Dear Person, Texas Edition

Seen on the car ride down to Texas:


In San Antonio, Texas. Near the river walk. This drawing was done in pencil, which is why it's not as clear as the pen drawings.


San Antonio, river walk. The person was a waitress who had apparently dropped the $20 into the water. She had to run across a bridge to get to the other side of the river and rescue it. Everyone watching applauded when she succeeded. :D


Surfside Beach, Texas. Obviously. :)


And yes, those are the sunglasses I wore in a bunch of the pictures. ;)

Have you seen anything interesting lately?

Nov 5, 2011

Surfside Beach, Texas

The second week of vacation, Surfside Beach! 
(See the first vacation post here)
Note: all photos were either taken by my sis, my mom, or me. :)

When I finally saw the ocean, it made me so incredibly happy. I ran and ran, splashing through the water. It was beautiful. 


This is the house that we rented! All the houses near the beach were on stilts. We had to climb 20 steps just to reach our front door! 


We spent hours on the beach almost every day.








:D

In the evenings we had fun watching tv. In Chefs vs. City one of the challenges was to make cactus salad. So when Mom went to the store and found cactus, she bought some!

Awesome Texas shaped cutting board that was in the house. :)



After I cut off the skin & prickles, this is what was left. Ummm ... slimy much?


We cut it up really tiny and put it in a salad. The cactus tasted like super sour cucumbers. That were extremely slimy. :P
I love trying new things. :)

One of the other new things I did was fly a kite! What? I've never flown a kite before?? Shocking, I know. But hey. Now I have. And I loved it.






One day we took a short road trip to Galveston. One of the cool things we saw was this house! Reminds me of the villa villekulla. :)


Then we headed down to the fishing wharf. It was super cool! It's such a different world than the one I'm used to.


Stretching his pouch on his ... neck?





And then we got a free ferry ride! We got to stand up on top. It was so much fun to be "out at sea". ;)


Not very often you are looking down on a flying seagull. 


Getting ready to land.


We got off the ferry and hung out on the other side for a while. We sat on a pier and got to see dolphins!





On the ferry ride back, this seagull hitched a ride on the flagpole! It was pretty funny.


This is the S.S. Selma, a ship made out of concrete. She was designed during WWI, when steel was in short supply.
On May 11, 1920, the Selma struck a jetty at Tampico, Florida and was damaged. She was temporarily repaired and headed to Galveston, Texas for more repairs. The crew in Galveston had no experience with concrete ships though, so the government finally decided to scrap her. She now sits near Pelican Island, where we passed her on the ferry ride! 


After a stop at starbucks, we headed back to our beach house.

Here's a little peek at the way all the houses looked. There were some HUGE houses. Houses that would have been 2 or 3 stories high before even putting them up on stilts!


Back on the beach. :)







This was our last day on the beach. I made this sea turtle. :)

Under the turtle I used a stick and wrote, "You so totally rock, dude!"
Brownie points if you recognize that quote. 

And Mom made a dragon/dinosaur thing. The picture doesn't do it justice.


Taking our goodbye pictures on the beach. :'(




The next day we got up at 5. My sis and I walked to the beach in the dark to see the ocean one last time. To hear the surf and smell the salt and say goodbye.

We were on the road before 6. 

On the way out we had one quick stop. (Coffee for the parents. :)
We saw this gigantic flock of birds. It was crazy, and pretty funny too. 


They covered the phone-line for blocks and blocks! 


It was a pretty good way to start the 27 hour trip home.


We were home in two days.

I was super sad that our vacation was over. And I still miss the ocean.
But it feels pretty good to be home, too.

Nov 4, 2011

Gratitude Challenge: The Final Week!

Well I made it! 21 days, 10 things to be thankful for each day. No, I didn't do the days all in a row. But I did do it for a total of 21 days! Check out my friend's blog, if you want more info. She's the one who started this whole challenge thing. :)


Saturday, Oct 29th
  • Granny Smith apples.
  • Time alone. 
  • The Two Towers
  • Dear friends.
  • Cold autumn air and warm cozy blankets.
  • That I can go to dance this week!!
  • Humor and sarcasm. It really does make me happy.
  • INTERNET! Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.
  • Home-made super easy delicious hot chocolate.
  • Watching vloggers on youtube. 
[This was right after our Texas vacation. Hence the absence from internet and dance class.]

Sunday, Oct 30th
  • Being able to go to church after missing two weeks.
  • That our church is so amazing that I actually miss it when we're gone.
  • Converse.
  • A soccer pick-up game with a bunch of friends
  • Hot apple cider. 
  • Reading.
  • Watching more youtube vids.
  • Being able to chill and be lazy. 
  • That we have our doggy back. She spent two weeks with some of our friends, and we missed her lots. 
  • Blogging again. 

Monday, Oct 31
  • Being able to get up early and not die.
  • Getting tons of school done.
  • Art. 
  • Heath candy bars.
  • Gettin' my nails did. OK, so I actually did them myself. But still.
  • Emails from friendies. 
  • GOING BACK TO DANCE! Sheesh. I've missed it. :D
  • Getting hugs and having people tell me they've missed me. <3
  • Being able to wear crazy crazy tights to dance, cuz costumes where allowed this week. I didn't have an actual costume, but my tights were awesome. Bold black and red stripes, baby! Oh, yeaaah. 
  • Watching a movie with the family in the dark. Even if the movie was a bit of a dud, it was still fun. :)

Thursday, Nov 1st
  • Being able to get up early.
  • Coffee. I have liked having a small cup now and then since I was like 5 ... my grandma started me out young. :) But I recently discovered what a pleasant way it is to wake up. You drink warm coziness, and then all of a sudden you're wide awake! None of that rude awakening stuff for me, dude.
  • Getting lots of school done. Feels good! Woot!
  • Getting tons of good ideas for a writing project. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
  • Finding super funky cloth for a sewing class project. One of the patterns I picked was a cow print. :) Why? Cuz it's awesome. Duh. 
  •  Getting together with a bunch of people, turning up the music and cleaning our church. It was more of a party than a chore.
  • Learning new dances with some of our friends. They're hosting a ball soon, and we went out to learn the new dances. They're "old fashioned" dances, where you switch partners and go under arches and stuff like that. And. It's. Awesome. 
  • Guys who actually enjoy dancing, and don't think it's sissy (cuz it's not). YES. 
  • That God has a sense of humor. 
  • Being able to make an epic wish at 11:11 p.m. on 1/11/11. But I need to think of an even more epic wish for 11:11 on 11/11/11. Just a few days to go!!
It was a great day. :)

Wednesday, Nov 2nd
  • Being able to get up early, yet again. (Being able, as in not dying of tiredness.)
  • Getting most of my school done, yet again. Oh, yeaaah.
  • Having a friend to chat with when I needed a break.
  • Going to my dance studio. Have I mentioned how I missed it??
  • Having another person tell me they're glad I'm back. *warm fuzzies*
  • Tap. I still stand around scratching my proverbial head most of the time, but hey. I still love it, and you can't stop me!
  • That Dad said I could look into getting texting. Not *quite* there yet, but I have permission to check out prices and stuffs!
  • Hot apple cider. Again. Hey, I like the stuff, OK?
  • The Biggest Loser. I don't know why, but I really enjoy watching that show! 
  • Bed. For once in my life, I wanted to go to bed. *TIRED!*


Thursday, Oct 3rd
  • Sleeping in, first time this week. YES.
  • Isaiah 30: 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
  • Not having sewing class today after all. I love sewing class, like a lot. But I was glad to have one less thing to do today.
  • Sunshine. And semi-warmth. In November! 
  • Seeing my cousin and aunt, even though it was only for a few minutes.
  • A mostly clean house.
  • Funny things on the internet. For example: Go to google.com and search "Do a barrel roll." Seriously. Do it. It's super funny. :)
  • Ballet. Are you getting tired of this being on my lists? Well tough. Cuz it's one of my favorite things.
  • Fizzy Sprite. 
  • My family.

Friday, Nov 4th

  • Beautiful weather.
  • My Mom and Dad.
  • Being able to ... *drumroll!* get my own phone with texting!!! Good day. :)
  • Sending my very first text ever. Shocking, right? I love doing new things. 
  • That my sister (a wedding photographer) booked another wedding! 
  • That my brother (who hires me to do all his online work) sold another item on etsy
  • Being able to play soccer well tonight! 
  • Watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with the family. :)
  • Homemade pizza.

So there we go! Counting all three weeks, that makes 210 things I'm thankful for. Not bad, eh?

So what are you thankful for? Do tell.