While the sun sets

While the sun sets,
I escape from reality.
In those 3 minutes where the sun is gently sliding towards the horizon
This place we call home becomes magical, enchanting, inexplicable.
The oranges, the reds, the yellows and golds soak up every other color,
Making this planet glow like it's neighboring star.
This beauty overtakes me every waking evening.
Thank you Earth for being such an irresistible home.

Sometimes...

Sometimes in life, things seem disoriented. 

Things seem out of place. 

They seem exhausting.

Not worth while.

Feeling helpless.

 Feeling hopeless.

Those aren't unusual emotions.

But sometimes in life, things are just hidden. 

Hidden beneath the mess, the struggles, the disappointments, the pain. 

A much needed change in perspective transpires.

Seeing what has been accomplished,

Rather than seeing what has yet to be done.

Change.

A new angle.

A different frame of mind.

That's all it takes. 

'Be happy with where you are now, even if you do wish to see change.'

You have got to be joking.

Is it actually the 9th of August? 

Wow. 

Well, any-who... Again I have failed miserably at capturing all of these great memories I have been making in these final weeks of summer. I apologize again for about the one-millionth time.

July ended with a huge burst of new found energy to become healthy and strong. I have been working out everyday (hardcore/twice-a-day/lifting-weights-and-all kind of work outs) and am virtually obsessed with how it makes me feel; so so so so great. (great is just about the most boring word choice possible, and a bit of an understatement....)

A few of the cutest, best-est (I know that's not a word..) funniest gals and I went to the fair. It was Abby's second time going to a fair in her life. Ever. And well, it was pleasant. Some people are so extremely adorable, while others can be so extremely trashy, it's quite ridiculous. But either way, people watching is always fun at a big event like a fair. :)

 

This is my best friend.

 This is my friend.

 They are absolutely incredible friends indeed. 

They make me so happy. 

The Olympics finally started (and now are coming to an end..) which gave us something to do in our free time! For the ceremony, we feasted;

-guacamole & lime chips 

-lemonade iced tea

-delicious bread & butter

-a HUGE fruit salad with absolutely delicious and ripe fruit

 it was SO good. and we ate all of it....

 *USA*

this isn't fake. pure happiness. 

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up for the rest of summer and onto the school year. :)

Happy day! 

Aaaaand now it's July...

Well, yup. Time literally slipped right out of my fingers and ran away like a little hijacker. Indeed my apology could be forever long and I will not go through the time and effort to bore my fellow readers (if there really are any...) Despite my latest neglect towards this poor and lonely blog, I have had a few adventures that may or may not be eligible for reading, but read on my friends.  I don't think I can hit every detail of the past month, but I will give you some dirt on what the early summer brought...

First off, my friends and I (my best friends might I add...) created a giant bucket list of things needed to be accomplished this summer. Things like rollerblading, tubing down the river, making our own ice cream, camping, skiing on my lake... etc. And so far... we've hardly made a dent. I mean yeah we've checked off a few things here and there but I think the idea was more exhilarating than actually accomplishing all our 'tasks'. But hey, how easy is it to get five extremely busy girls all together to do 50+ things in 90 days? The mission seems nearly impossible. But the summer is far from ending. 

One of the items on the bucket list is to skinny dip in my lake. Check. Done. Completed. It was absolutely supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The frogs were singing their songs (actually more like screaming their songs, they were so loud.) the moon was shinning at it's fullest, the lake was calm and like glass. Basically, it was a perfect night. The four of us ran down in our towels, hopped on in (well I make that sound a lot easier than it was... I stood at the end of the dock waiting, being the chicken I am of dark, green, smelly water... but finally ventured into the water) felt freer than a bird and climbed back out. It. Was. Electrifying. Exhilarating. Refreshing. All totally worth it. Mind I say this was at 1 a.m. after making a run to the Kwik Trip in town at 12 a.m. to get Cheez-Its, Fruit Loops, Triscuits and cheese, Lunchables and some Butterfingers... (healthy... reaaaaal healthy... I know). All in all, even with the creepy drunk guy that was attempting to hit on us on our way in the gas stations, the night was absolute perfection. 

Today I went fishing for the first time in a long time. I went to my friend's cabin and we both got sicker than dogs and I went home early... blah blah blah. Anyways, I woke up feeling mighty fine but all of my other friends are either sick or gone on a trip. So I brought out the redneck in me and went fishing with a friend. I was gleeful and happy just to be on an adventure after I had been quarantined for 3 days in the basement with nothing but Friends, water, saltines and ibuprofen and of course my great mama who took care of me. We didn't catch a fish, but we did catch a clam. Despite the fact that it seems strange and fake, I am almost 100% that thing actually grabbed our hook. I mean what other way could a clam (a big one by all means) get caught on our hook?! It was pretty cool, probably because that was the only excitement we had experienced all day... Then we saw a huge and I mean huge fish swim right by our feet. So we decided just to pretend that we actually caught that fish but agreed to be nice and let him go.... ha ha. 

I call myself 'fisherwoman'

I have been pretty careless and stupid about taking photos... Which I am now realizing as I look through my ''June '12'' album and am finding nothing exciting and worth mentioning in this post... 

Oh right. For those who don't know, I am a nanny this summer. My job is exceptionally exciting and makes my summer even more of an adventure. :) 

My latest want/need: an iPhone. Oh my good golly do I want one of those bad boys. Or at the least; a smartphone. That way people won't judge me as much when I whip out a small phone to take a photo of my food.. My giant DSLR can sometimes be a hassle when going on adventures that need minimal luggage... Either way I am blessed to have both a phone and an amazing camera, it would just be fantastic to have them combined. ;)

I once again will apologize for how late this sucker is, but then again... I am only sixteen... :)

Happy day, friends. Enjoy every moment :)

Summer is FINALLY here

Well, sophomore year has ended. As excited I am, I am also a wee bit sad. I mean next year I will be a junior. I honestly don't want high school to end. It has flown by and I don't want to grow up. It's weird to think that I will have to start thinking about colleges this year (COLLEGES!). So so so so so so scary.
But until then, it is SUMMMAAA!
On the last day of school about 10 of us girls went to my friend's house for a girls night/end of the year party. So much fun!

 Meet Herky

 summer 12! 

 finally here!!

stargazing! 

cloudy but beautiful

This weekend flew by. Friday night began with an easy day at track, a yummy pasta bar at the golf course, and a cozy slumber 'party' with my gals. Before the 'cozy' part on friday, I must mention a small detail.
My friend Abby lives on top of this giant hill, that overlooks the beautiful country just outside town. It is nearly impossible to ding-dong ditch her house (that's the new thing to do nowadays...) due to the steep, curvy driveway. But, as the four of us were in the basement, the doorbell rang. We sprinted and screamed up the stairs, running outside trying to catch the culprits. We waited outside, searching the darkness for any clues, while the wind wiped our hair and strained our hearing. We figured we should be brave and run down the driveway (keep in mind we are barefoot, and in our pj's) and found our friend's car waiting. On the count of three, we charged at the car screaming and jumped on it in hopes of scaring the boys who got us, but no one was in the car. All of a sudden, four black figures came storming down the hill, shouting, and we screamed. Nice job boys.
Saturday was a pretty uneventful day, consisting of baking cupcakes, sitting in parked cars talking, swinging as if we were still quite young, and watching Paranormal Activity. Despite the fact that scary moveis are not my favorite.... Paranormal Activity was indeed thrilling and not all that scary. My friends and I cooked a simple italian dinner and enjoyed each other's company on a cool Saturday night.

And today I enjoyed a nice win for the Twins at Target Field. In the first few innings, the sun was shining, Twins were in the lead, and my ice cream cone with sprinkles was delicious. The last few innings, the temperature dropped a wee bit, but the Twins still won.
The sun didn't seem to mind being hidden almost the entire weekend, but all in all the days were quite beautiful despite the sun to show off Earth's colors.

Life is good. Smile about it.

:)

Let's cherish these moments

Have you ever had that one song on repeat, the song that brings out so many emotions. The song you first sing to, ignoring the words, singing from memorization. The song comes on a few more times, you hear that one part that makes you stop singing and really listen. You let the song finish in silence. The song comes on again, you stop everything, search the lyrics, read them, carefully. The next emotion hits you. You get nervous, realizing how much the song hits home, how much it resembles your life at that very moment. The song comes on again. A tear falls down your cheek, and you're confused. It's just a song, isn't it? How can a few notes and a few words actually pull that much emotion from you? You turn the song up. You're sitting still, unable to control the tears. You wish things were different in your life. You say if only I could change this my life would be better. You try to work up the courage to turn the song off. It seems impossible. Then the next emotion hits you. You appreciate the song. You appreciate the tears. You appreciate your life. The song continues to play on repeat. You notice the musicality, you notice the harmonies. You start to mumble the words again. Then all of a sudden you are yelling the words, not caring who can hear you. You start to laugh. You smile.

Let's try and cherish the precious moments in life. Not everything can be perfect. Not everything is going to be right. We just have to follow our hearts, and note that everything along the way has a purpose.

the song I was listening to: Fix You (cover by Boyce Avenue)