For Morgan

It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the passing of our dear friend Morgan Mitchell. One of the good ones, Morgan sold everything he owned and moved to Germany where he met his girlfriend, Rosa. It was Rosa that delivered the news to us last night that Morgan had passed. There are no anecdotes to sugar-coat his passing, such as, "He lived a full life." or, "He's in a better place now." Morgan, you left us too soon. We will always remember your laugh and your brightness. Rest in peace, good friend.

All the love in the world

Wednesday night, alright

Happy Leap Year, everybody! Talk about the perfect day to do the unexpected and exciting. To commemorate, I have finally completed a "photo-an-hour" for myself and my leap year day today! Those will more than likely be posted on here tomorrow, but I'm excited for them! Hope everyone made the most of today :)

11 Things

Danielle at Sometimes Sweet has invited all of her readers to participate in an "11 Things" post that she was tagged in. Here we go :)

There are five rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. Post a picture of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tgged them.


11 Random Things

1. I was born in Astoria, Oregon. A town made famous by the movie "The Goonies." I was raised in the town across the river called Ilwaco. Another town famous for being the final destination point of the Lewis and Clark trail and named after a Chinook Indian chief. I love the trees, the foggy mornings, the water, the wildlife; it's all so amazing.

2. Im probably one of the few people you'll meet who loves black licorice. I mean, LOVES it. My theory is that it's a Pacific Northwesterner thing, because I have yet to meet someone in Southern California who even likes it, let alone can tolerate it.

3. I have harbored the nearly-life-long goal of moving to Maine ever since I was in the fourth grade. It started out as a class assignment to write about a state that we've never been to but would like to visit. I picked my state at random because I had already been to almost every US state, so I chose Maine. I asked my mom what my reason should be and she told me, "I don't know. They have lobster there. You could write about lobster." So that was my official reason for wanting to go to Maine. Since then, the idea of moving there has resonated in my mind over and over and over. And to this day, I've still never had lobster.

4. Jim Carrey will always leave me in stitches. He has since I first saw him in the Ace Ventura movies. I loved him so much, I would do impressions of him all day long, making my mom laugh. She thought I was the funniest kid because of it and even now, when we catch those movies on tv, she'll still make me say one or two of his lines. I'll always love those memories.

5. No matter the restaurant I'm in, I will always (at least subliminally) look for french toast on the menu.

6. I have many collections. I have a small collections of bell jars, magazines, feathers, and I have a little brown Moleskeine notebook which I keep pressed leaves in, but they are ONLY leaves that I've actually witnessed falling from a tree. I just think it's kind of a neat thought, "This leaf right here, I was there when it fell from the tree it came from."

7. I wish that I had stuck to dancing when I was younger. I still do ballet, but I'm nowhere near as flexible or and nimble as I would have been had I stuck with it. As undriven as I was when I was younger to persue it, I think it's something that I was made to do. Especially when most melodic music I hear inspires me to imagine a ballet.

8. My favorite book is Palace of Ice by Norweigan author, Tarjei Vesaas. I have read this book every winter for the past four years. The wording and imagery is just incredible.

9. I'm for sure a homebody. I don't go out to clubs, parties, shows or anything of the sort. I've just always been that way. I'd much rather make dinner and sit around watching tv and movies and talk to my family.

10. I could watch the same movies over and over and never get tired of them. I turn to them for rainy days or even just alone time. Each time I watch the same movie, it tells me something different or I notice something that I didn't before. It might get on everyone else's nerves, but that's why I watch them when I can get a little down-time :)

11. I love knowing random facts to bring up in everyday conversations. What type of rock that is, what constellation that is, what cat breed, what historical date, etc.

The 11 questions from Danielle:

1. If money, schooling or time was no obstacle, what career would you choose?
Geology professor. Hands down. It's my major and I get such a rush when I explain to someone the answer to a geology question.

2. What's the one thing you look forward to everyday?
I always look forward to feeling driven to do something. Like every day is a new start to something.

3. What is your number one, all-time, favorite blog?
Currently ADORING Katie's Pencil Box.

4. Biggest online pet peeve?
I can honestly say that I don't have one.

5. What is your all-time favorite book?
Palace of Ice, by Tarjei Vesaas!

6. What would your "last meal" be?
A steak and lobster dinner with coleslaw and fries with a cherry coke. Oh, baby.

7. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Attraction is first, but I believe in love at first meet.

8. What would your ideal Sunday morning consist of?
Plenty of sun through the windows, french toast in bed (like in the movies, with a little rose bud in a vase on the side ;)) made by my husband, snuggling in bed with my kiddos and followed up by church.

9. Why do you blog?
It's a great way to bring out your creative side and it boosts my confidence honestly, by making me feel productive :)

10. If you had to choose one color to wear forever, what would you pick?
Black, certainly. It can be so classy and so casual.

Oops, no number 11?

Questions for other ladies to answer:
1. If you plan on walking down the isle someday, what song do you want playing?
2. City or seclusion, and why?
3. If you could choose to have an exotic pet, what animal would it be?
4. Turning back the hands of time, what historical figure would you warn about their death?
5. Your style icon?
6. What do you enjoy doing most on a Friday night?
7. Do you live day by day or do you look ahead? If so, where do you see yourself?
8. What's in your purse/bag right now?
9. What is your favorite breakfast food?
10. If you could speak any language fluently in addition to your native language, what would you want to speak?
11. If you could live in any time period, when would you live?

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of my new tattoo. I know that I said I wanted to wait until I had my color done, but I've never been one to be patient. Especially now that I'm bursting at the seams to share my new gem. First, let me drop a little knowledge on you about it's back story. This tattoo means a lot to me. It was tought up by me, drawn by me and tattooed by not me (my friend Justin!) It is my own personal depiction in traditional style of Marie Antoinette. Anyone that knows me, knows that Marie Antoinette is barr none my favorite historical figure of all time (and I'm a sucker for historical figures). I thanked God when I caught wind of the trailer being put out by Sofia Coppola for her Marie Antoinette movie. I saw it in theaters, bought it when it came out on dvd and I have watched it more times that anyone you know, I'm sure. What captured my heart about France's last queen was my overwhelming sympathy for her and my philosphical love for the human condition.

She was just a girl when she was married to Louis XVI and just a girl still when she became queen and so I wanted to depict her as a girl when she was at her most impressionable and under the most pressure. Married on paper by the age of twelve, a wedding ceremony at fifteen and a queen by nineteen, Sofia Coppola hit it out of the park with the "she had no idea what she was doing" aspect and it made me think that she was just like any of us - wanting to act her own age; that maybe she was never meant to be a queen. Have you ever heard the catch-phrase, "A real slice of life"? Well, I wanted something like that captioned next to her and when I heard, "Un boit pour le roi" in the final scenes of the film, (translates to: a drink for the king) it was just what I was meant to hear. Marie Antoinette was Louis XVI's drink of life. Thanks to her, his life was a whirlwind that he never expected. She was his drink of life and if only he knew what would come of marrying her. But the most important message that this tattoo gives me is this: we are all human. I love, love, love my new piece and without further adieu...

Courtesy of Justin at Yer Cheat'n Heart Tattoo in Gardena, CA.

I love tattoos and the messages (and sometimes the non-messages) that people attatch to their pieces. If any of you out there would like to share some with me, I will read each and every one. Happy blogging everyone :)


Also, I'm 23 now, guys! Happy birthday to me.

Recap

Last night was my little birthday party at my house and I have the best, funniest, coolest, and kindest friends out there. When I started decorating, Sally's boyfriend, Sid, said, "Wait, is it normal for you to decorate for your own party?" and then, "You're baking your OWN cake??" Kind of a, "Stop doing things for yourself - this is your night." It was sweet because later, everyone else said the same things. I wasn't even expecting to get birthday gifts last night, but I did! The highlight being the tons of Japanese candy that me and my sister love. There were about 20 people in my house and it was sooo much fun.

Annie gave me a henna tattoo on my hand, I showed everyone the actual tattoo I got on friday (I'll show pictures once I get the coloring done!), gave Hayley and Liz hair bows, had great girl talk, and I got a ton of hugs and kisses.

So thank you, Dustin, Sally, Sid, Eric, Steven, Liz, Hayley, Natalie, Katy, Alex, Lauren, Mikey, Michael, Thrak, Jon, Ellis, Alex, Olly, Sage, Bryan, Garrett, Louis, Cole, Jacob, Greg, Annie, Adrian, and Donny

<3

Oh, Monday

I had no idea how packed with 1) people and 2) ducks the duck park would be yesterday. It's for sure the highest number of ducks I've seen there in a while, and I was so excited to see the Canadian geese there. It's really my favorite part about going to the park - seeing those pretty grey and black geese. I have fond memories of them and my grandma's house in Washington :)

Dustin and I took Haven with us and she had never seen ducks up close before, at least we don't think she has, and she went berZERK. If Dustin weren't holing on to her leash, she certainly would have gone into the water after those ducks. She almost did, too. We fed the ducks a whole loaf of bread from Dustin's food stock-pile and when it was all gone, we took Haven for a walk around the park to get her to chill-out. It was nice, until I realized that the new shoes I'd just bought from target were half a size too small and were crushing my toes so I begged Dustin to go to Target with me so that I could exchange them. He was convinced that they wouldn't take them since we had just walked through the park with soggy grass, dirt and duck poo and that the bottom of my shoes didn't look return-able. Well, with a spare pair of shoes in the car, I took my new Dorothy reds off and went to work on brushing off the bottoms with napkins from various fast food restaurants. Challege accepted, mission accomplished.

But all is well! I got my shoes in the right size and can now walk in them properly, only I'm going to try not to ware them out so quickly and try preserving them for a while by not making them my go-to pair. Taking care of my things is one of my new years resolutions that I'm holding on to quite well! I have yet to deposit that money into my savings as I planned, but my birthday is coming up on the 31st (hint) so maybe I'll get a little extra to tuck away ;)

Speaking of my birthday, though not entirely because this next bit just has to do with good timing, a good friend of mine is a whiz with computers and owns a lot of various dvds, cds and downloadable technologies - like the Rosetta Stone sets. I asked if he could burn me the French copy and he said that he has every language they offer ON ONE CD! He's burning me the whole thing and giving it to me on my birthday! I'm soooo excited to catch up on my French. I've really missed it.



On a less fortunate note, last night Dustin was stricken with food poisoning and I stayed up with him all night to make sure he was ok. I guess the first couple of hours after it hits you are the worst because Dustin was significantly better when I got home from work compared to last night before bed. Life has been dealing him some harsh blows lately and this was just the icing on the cake, what with a job interview today at 2 o'clock.

I had planned on utilizing my time today to organize my closet and fine-tune clean my room (ie. bathroom cabinets, vacuuming and laundry) but to no avail. I always forget that the twins need to be picked up after cheer practice, so that's what my night is like tonight. Sitting here with a shedding cat on my lap (not that I'm complaingin) while the twins are showering and I'm waiting for dinner to finish in the oven. Oh, I've the life of a princess.

Feeding ducks & petting kitties

I woke up unresonably early this morning considering how late I went to bed last night (ahem, 1:30am). I woke up before my 8:30 alarm to get ready for church which let me wake up slowly and comfortably in bed and with the tv remote within reach. Dustin had promised to come to church with me, but I can tell in the mornings when he's had a hard time sleeping because he'll end up sleeping on the floor by the heater and I'll wake up the only one in bed. I decided not to wake him up and take the dog for a walk. Haven has been burning us out with excess energy this week and Dustin and I are on the edge of our seats with her. And for some reason our cat, Tessy, has been the same way - only with excess meowing. Incessantly, morning, noon and night. It used to be just because we left the toilet seat down and she wants us to open it so she can drink out of it (gross, catdog) but we have no idea what her deal is lately. But she's also been extra loving and cuddly which is sweet. She fell asleep on the back of my shoulder yesterday morning while I was lying on my stomach. Aww.

These are photos of the cat that hangs around my employer's backyard :) This is not Tessy

Well, I went to church. I had lunch with my friend from church, Naomie, yesterday. We had such a good talk and covered so much in just an hour of conversation. I was looking forward to seeing her at church this morning since I'd be going alone, but lo and behold, I couldn't find her. I ended up sitting by myself between a couple of the elderlies that frequent the church. It was only as I was leaving did I see Naomie's car and realized I must have just not seen her. Of course, today was one of the rare occasions in which I left my phone at home, or I might have been able to find her. I had two text messages from her when I got home. Drat!

On the way home I got to thinking about what I might think of for Dustin and I do to today since we both have free time today when I drove by the park that we used to go to all the time when we first started dating and fed the ducks and geese there. It's a beautiful, sunny day today and I'm not passing it up. So we're going to the park again in a little bit and we have - wait for it - a whole loaf of bread for duck-feeding! I'm really looking forward to sitting by the little pond and seeing all the little ducks turn their heads and swim up to us when they realize they're in for a treat. I'll share with you more tomorrow :)

Get your posts done and enjoy this gorgeous day!