nice day, folks! : a lot of pictures

my, my, my! 

The past couple of days have been filled with so many exciting adventures.

On Thursday, my dad & I went on a ride in a hot air balloon. We watched the sunrise and it was pretty much the best thing I've ever done in my life. We also adventured downtown Belleville & strolled through many antique and thrift stores. (Thrifting is always a good idea.)

On Friday, my lady best, Hillary, and I left to go to Nashville. We spent the night & adventured downtown Nashville, made some friends, and went to the flea market the next day. 

For the first time, it truly felt like summer. I mean it really felt like summer, the goodness of summer.  Windows rolled down, arm out the window, sun shining bright, sunglasses on, good music blasting, laughing and dancing.

Summertime is liberating, and all is gravy in my heart. :)

Actually, gravy wouldn't be good in my heart.

But you get it.

:)

adventures to embark on.

This summer I'm pretty consumed with classes and such, so I don't really get to go on many far away adventures; however, I am getting to go to Charlottesville, Virginia to visit my brother, which I am pretty excited about.

Charlottesville, Virginia 

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Such a beautiful place! I do wish SIU's campus was as gorgeous as UVA's. 

While I don't get to travel much, or, really at all this summer, I hope to do so at some point in my lifetime. (Sooner rather than later, I hope!) Here's a list of my 5 places I would love to go (...in no particular order. I would feel really lucky and excited to get to go to any of them, really!)

1. The Swiss Alps

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Oh, my. I want to stay in a hut in the mountains. 

2. Barcelona, Spain

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This looks romantic and fun.

3. The Grand Canyon

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I just want to stay at this place for awhile. So much beauty. 

4.  Salvation Mountain in Niland, California

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I've been wanting to explore California for awhile, and this just looks like a really neat place. 

5. South Korea

(of course!)

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My heart gets really excited when thinking about Korea and its people! 

I feel like I'll be completely in awe of God and His creations when I explore these places. You know, "nature is God's first missionary." 

Where are some places you would like to adventure to? : ) 

Don't waste your life : dance, dance, dance!

It's summer, it's summer! Which gives everyone a perfectly good excuse to dance. (Even though I believe it's perfectly acceptable to dance all the time, every single day. I encourage this, actually.)

I feel like I haven't stopped much since the spring semester ended! I moved back home, I started a new job, and started summer classes. Life is so busy!

I think it's really important within the busyness of life to take time to enjoy silly little things. As I enter adulthood (or am I already there?) I find it's more difficult for my fellow 20-somethings to just.. well, laugh and be silly and live.

I want to have dance parties. I want to have sing-alongs in the car to the top 40 of the early 2000's. I want to listen to 60's on 6. I want to wear overalls in public. I want to wear funky hats. I want to create silly little doodles on sidewalks with chalk. I want to spill my heart with no worries. I want to go on as many adventures as I possibly can. I want to write love notes! I want to smile and dance and laugh and giggle and enjoy life.

I want to be silly in the midst of this silly little thing called BUSYNESS. (I believe this could also be defined as "growing up.")

Soo, I'm very happy to say that in between all of this busyness, I've been able to spend time with people that I very much care about and love.

I've had dance parties and sing-alongs with my best gal pals. We've danced in my living room, the car, fields, driveways, and streets. We also like to go out to this field in the country and stargaze and have heart-to-hearts about life, love, and just everything. These past few weeks, I've consumed more ice cream than I have in a long, long time. Which is fine, right? I went to cowboy church with my best gal pals, too. It was the best ever! I met some real life cowboys and there was a fiddle and animals and everything! It was held in a livestock auction barn, which was really neat. I really like cowboy church. It's so real - like, relaxed and down to Earth. They whooped and hollered and were just generally excited for Jesus... which I love. I went on a picnic and then to a rootbeer saloon with my favorite fella! Root beer is my favorite drink of all time. We built a blanket fort and got fake tattoos of soft serve ice cream cones. I went hiking with my daddy-o and we drank coca-cola's together. I've been visiting my grandma and watching black and white movies with her. While at her house, I learned the Texas two step from her boyfriend! There isn't a day that I can go without smiling. Just knowing the existence of God, and the fact that He will never ever give up on me. And the fact that He gave us the ability to love.  I hope I can love really close to how He loves. I also hope there are dance parties in heaven. (I assume David is on the VIP list.)

It's a good life. Thank you, God. 

Also, I really want a ukulele.

Happy Birthday, Wuwu!

May 6th, 2013... the day God decided to add another year to my sweet grandma's life! 

And my, my, my she is lookin' so good!

 I hope and pray that I look just like her and have the same sweet, kind, and loving heart as her someday. 

Louetta Mae King, my sweet Wuwu,  you are the most beautiful lady, both inside and out. You are always full of joy and kindness. You are so much fun to be around - always! You are my inspiration and my best friend. 

I hope that everyone in the world gets to meet Wuwu at least once in their life. She is all smiles at all times! Because she is joyful, you, too, will be filled with joy! 

She is always willing to go on adventures with me, and I love that about her. I love her stories. She gives the best advice on life, love, and relationships. Each time I'm with her, she reminds me what it's like to be a true lady, and I strive for that daily! 

She is so pretty at all times. I also love the fact that she wears a rain scarf. She is oh so, so glamorous! I love going on BBQ Barn dates with her. I love her pumpkin pie. I love, love, love her fried chicken. She always has the best food and is the best company at her house! 

*note: If you go to her house, ask her if she has any chocolate pie. She will bring out her candy jar with all sorts of chocolate. It would be wise if you chose a KitKat and/or Reece Cup. You can thank me later. *

"Always follow your heart, it will tell you what to do."

Wuwu is so easy to love, but she is so, so good at loving others. She continues to show unconditional love to me and the rest of my entire family no matter what. Now that I'm older, I am far more interested in Wuwu's love life, too. I always ask her about Papa and how she knew he was "the one." They fell in love in April 1948 and she always says she just knew in her heart that he was the one. I hope I can be the lover, wife, mother, grandmother, lover of Christ, and lady that she is. She is such a wonderful example of all of these things. 

I am so, so, so blessed to be able to call her my very own grandma. 

Happy birthday, Wuwu! You are such a PYT and I love you so much! 

P.S. If you're reading this, go call, text, email, write your grandma right now. If you're able, go visit her and give her a hug around the neck and kiss on the cheek and let her know how thankful you are for her and how much you love her. Grandma's are the absolute best, and I think that they deserve the world.