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.

my sweet momma : mother's day 2013

For Mother's Day, I got up extra early before church to fix my momma breakfast in bed. I ended up making strawberry & Nutella crepes topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar. My, my, my... it was delicious! This was my first time ever making crepes, but they turned out great! They're so easy and very delicious. I most definitely recommend them. :) It was such a sweet morning!

After church, my dad fixed a late lunch for all of us and the rest of my family. I love them all to pieces! Because my dad's birthday is tomorrow, we celebrated that, too! 

good times. 

crepes... yum.

<3

yum.

daddy-o makin' a wish! 

To my sweet momma:
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! You are such a beautiful lady - inside and out. I know many people would agree with me on that, too! You work so, so hard every single day - both at home and work! I don't think I've ever seen you sit still for more than 10 seconds straight. You always run away from laziness and are never idle because you always try to make the best use of your time. You inspire me in so many different ways. You are the best hostess ever, and I hope I can host nice little parties and get-togethers just like you some day. You've got a loving heart that has given me many memories that I'll always remember. Thank you for always loving me, instilling in my a heart and love for Christ,  and for always putting family first. You do so many things for me all of the time, and I really am thankful for you. I know I can be mean or a little grouchy, but thank you for always loving me despite my wrongdoings.
LOVE YOU, MAMACITA!
You're the best ever.

beauty.

I really like life a whole lot, both the good parts and the bad. It's the end of the school year and even though it's a sad thing, I wanna think about all of the good things that I've experienced this year... which, I definitely think it's been a rather good year collectively. I love SIU, Carbondale, my classes, the people I've met, everything. 

I really think I've learned to appreciate and find the beauty in every single thing, good or bad, big or small. I find myself looking at everything around me and smiling so, so big because of the part it plays in this big, huge, world. My mind is oftentimes blown by the things that God has created purely for beauty and as I like to think, to make us smile. 

Of course I had to snap a photo of the pretty walk around campus lake with my gal pal.

It also made me think about other things that are beautiful to me...

afternoon walks with my best gal pal

always God's plan, never a coincidence

rainy days that allow me to wear rain boots

warm days that allow me to wear sundresses

sundays with nick. 

people who are really good at what they do, but still down to earth and humble

days and nights spent with family 

my grandma's boyfriend who is battling (and conquering) cancer and still continues to be his silly, goofy self

music

handwritten things

letters

memories
the library

a love for books

the farmers market 

my pretty conversation partner, Sun-ah

bluegrass and folk music

conversations with my roommate, jordan
people who are real with me

time spent with my two best gal pals, emma & hillary 

trees, flowers, the sky, grass, clouds

people's stories

people's testimonies
root beer
parties

my mom and dad

my sweet grandma who teaches me to be a lady each and every day 

records

my brother and his big brain

hugs

breakfast foods

family get-togethers

love notes

listening and dancing to oldies from the past

alone time with God

seeing elderly couples going on walks together, holding hands, and eating ice cream cones.

seeing my best friends in love

adventures!!
Carbondale

different cultures

reconnecting with old friends

engagements

milkshakes, or anything of the ice cream variety

old photos

late night conversations on life 

dairy queen

meeting new people and hearing all about their life stories 

mutual smiles

phone calls

the ability to love

the existence of God

and the fact that He will never give up on me

and He won't on you, either.

Attempting to put gratitude into words, oh my.

My, my, my! What a wonderful week! I'm 20!

My heart is so happy!

I started off the week by turning in one of the biggest projects of the semester, thank goodness! I was so, so relieved. I went on my weekly walk around campus lake with my best gal pal (who also ended up getting engaged tonight. AH!) On Wednesday, I got a summer job. (I have been wanting a job for the longest time! So, thank good Lord.) On Thursday after night class, my sweet elementary ed pals surprised me with a little birthday get-together. I'm so thankful for them! It means more to me then they will ever know. Without a doubt, this is the most meaningful, nice, thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. I met with my sweet conversation partner, Sun-ah, and she shared with me her love story. If you want your cheeks to hurt from smiling a lot, ask someone to tell you their love story. Every week I feel thankful for this girl and everything she teaches me! I spent my Friday night with my best ladies for my birthday. On this very night, I also got rejected for ownership of a goldfish. My heart broke into a million pieces because of this occurrence, but, I soon forgot about it and all was well once again. Saturday, my birthday, my momma woke me up with blueberry birthday scones and a glass of orange juice. Like always, my grandma called me and sang happy birthday to me. I then spent the day celebrating Record Store Day with one of the best human beings. Just so you all know, I had the best time.

THEN,
I went to my best friend's engagement party. Except, she didn't know it was her engagement party. She thought it was a birthday party for her boyfriend. She was completely surprised. It was the best. I love love. I love her. YAY.

I then spent the evening with my family. We had dinner, and it was the best. I love their company and the food they make.

I had the best birthday week.

My heart just feels so happy and full of joy. Literally, it's overflowing with joy.  I'm just feeling so, so thankful for every single person and opportunity God has placed in my life so far, new and old! I am just feeling really blessed.  I am completely undeserving of all of this, yet because God is such a nice fella and loves me, he has placed all of this in my life!

I like Him a lot.

Every single person I've come into contact with, I feel so happy and glad to know them. I think it's really hard to express how happy and thankful I feel for every single person.  It's always really nice to know that we aren't on Earth alone, but that we have each other. I wish that I could just send out one big, giant hug and kiss on the cheek to every single person... and say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Found this on our weekly walk around Campus Lake. 

Loved spending my Friday with my gal pals. 

Emma wrapped my present in Christmas wrapping paper, which was perfect because I love Christmas. 

They're engaged!