oh to be at the beach!

Now I know why people retire at the beach. Imagine if everyday you were just snoozin' away like the lady in the first photo. Really? What a life. The beach is also so full of color and there is no denying that bright colors make people happy. It's just a fact of life. And it's a fact I like.

I also included a picture of my mom texting on the beach because it made me laugh and because if you have a mom who texts, it might make you laugh too. If nothing else, I hope these pictures get you excited for the summer months ahead of us!

just in time.

Hi friends,

Mom and I made it just in time to eat dinner and watch the sunset on Siesta Key beach last night. The beach is one of the most calming and beautiful places to be. We're not sure how the weather is going to be the rest of the weekend but we are good at finding a fun adventure. Here are a few snapshots of the beautiful sunset last night.

nathan & kaylee.

Hey friends!

This is my younger brother Nathan and his lovely girlfriend Kaylee. I was feeling a little restless yesterday afternoon and they were gracious enough to let me snap a few ton of photos of them. I haven't photographed a lot of people before but it was so much fun! They did an awesome job and had some good ideas too. I'm going to go ahead and say that Kaylee could definitely be a model and Nathan might be just tall enough to fake it. He said later that he didn't think he was very photogenic but I disagreed. Thanks you guys! It was a lot of fun!

***

the greeting card project.

Let me start by saying how much I LOVE the United States postal service. Lucky for me, my friends and family do too.

I have found that it doesn't matter whether you are on the sending or receiving end of the mail situation...it's all smile worthy. The greeting cards started to pour in when I left for college and was no longer living at the same address as my mother. She would send me cards all the time and still does, sometimes multiple on the same day. My friends are really good at writing encouraging, thoughtful, sometimes ridiculous little notes as well. It's part of the reason we're friends. I'm sure of it.

Ok...so true life: there are people out there have no problem placing the card they have just received directly in the waste basket the very moment they have finished reading it. I am not these people. (By the way, it's totally ok if you're one of these people. I would probably still send you things in the mail.)

So what does a person who can't throw away cards do with them? I have tried several ways to store the them in the past but I feel like I am finally on to something with this. Introducing the greeting card project:

1. gather some of your favorite cards. 

2. find yourself a little binder with some crafting potential.



3. the neccessary supplies:

4. document a postcard from your mama.

5. use your permanent marker to mark the area for hole punching. punch away.

6. fill er' up.

7. decorate the front with a pretty (documented) postcard from your mama.

8. Enjoy your greeting cards. All in one place. One little place of organized love and memories.

2012, say what?

Friends, it's 2012!! I can hardly believe it's true.

2011 was an eventful year: I threw a successful surprise party, visited lots of new places, started this blog, graduated from college, got my first real job & moved to Alabama. Most of all, I learned so much about myself and other people. I would say I even learned a little about the "real world" (whatever that is, right?).

The end of the year tied up nicely with the holiday season spent in Florida hanging out with people I love a lot. There was lots of laughter, silliness, family and friends. It doesn't really get much better than that.

I hope your year was rounded out in a way that made you smile.

A few memories:

  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season - like all the other seasons - is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them, and that's the end of this particular story.” -Lemony Snicket, The Lump of Coal (via this fun blog)

Cheers to a New Year.
It's going to be great. I just know it.