THIS is the LIFE ..

I know, now, why my mom was so tired and grumpy at the end of our family vacations.
It is an exhausting, stressful, hair-raising adventure that I can't wait to repeat .. lol

we drove 800 miles to San Diego 

this FedEx plane made me laugh - looks like it's scraping the top of the trees

we watched the sun set on the water ...

this is a million times prettier, in person

we visited Shamu and friends

I loved the whales - they were so huge but so graceful

we got to explore TWO different submarines  

AND a pirate ship that was in the Pirates of the Caribbean ..

made some new friends at the zoo ..

we played in the sand at the beach ..

mmmm fresh seaweed !

we watched some more sunsets on the water .. 

saw a cheetah run, full speed, 3 feet away ...

and got to go 'on safari'

I tried to 'keep it down' on the 'taking a photo of everything'
.. but that didn't work out so well.

5,096 is the number of pictures a crazy woman takes on a week-long vacation

clearly not all of the other 5,079 pictures .. but more of our vacation pictures will follow, later.

In honor of our epic vacation ... I made a printable or two or three ...

I made this one, because I am blessed to know that THIS is the life
THIS is where I want to be .. THIS is where I am happy

my print size version of "THIS is the LIFE"

flip flops and seagulls .. very much in theme with my vacation

my print size version of "learn/live/hope - beach style"

I love us .. more than anything; I LOVE US!

my print size version of "I love us." 

and ending it on a green theme ..

my print size version of "learn / live / hope - earth style"

califooorrnnniiiaaaa

for the last week, way more sentences have started out with -
"this time next week .. we'll be ___ far from the ocean."
than I should admit

I can't wait to smell the salt in the air and watch our girls play in the sand

"CAAALLLIIFFFOOOORRNNIIAAAAAAAA
here we commmmeeeeeee."

dumb dog bite .. day 5

I told my dad I'd post pictures of the dumb dog bite I received Monday, here.

backstory of the dog bite - made kinda sorta shortish : I was 70 feet away from my front door with Nugget - unleashed; despite my better halfs' better judgment, when a neighbor's dog ran around the corner (also unleashed) and Nugget ran towards him - tail wagging.  The other dog barked aggressively at Nugget's face, kinda biting at him.

Nugget tail tucked immediately between his legs and he ran towards me; to hide behind my legs.

That DUMB DOG kept running at me, despite my hollering like a mad woman "NOO! GET BACK!" .. like he didn't speak English or something .. wth ?   where's that dog whisperer guy when you really need him ?   My "I'm the alpha pack leader!" attitude and stance did NOT work .. :/

I guess because I stood in the way of him biting Nugget's face off - he settled for biting my forearm and shoulder, instead.  We went to the ER, I'm on anti-biotics and the dog has been 'quarantined.'

On a happy note .. 2 days until vacation .. :) <3

live a colorful life ...

the time has come and we've started to book our hotel rooms
we're for sure going on vacaaaaattttiiiooon !

it sounds weird to say type that
it'll be our very first vacation - in over a decade
we've gone on road trips here and there
a couple of 2 day outtings
camping in the mountains, etc.
... but nothing over 500 miles
we're pretty local folk

I like it that way ;)

anyway .. I'm excited and I made this printable in honor of today.
Today, being the first day of the rest of our lives.
Lives where we will be able to start a story 'when we were on vacation.'

click here for fullsize printable picture

it's here .. it's here !!

You'd be hard pressed to find a day where I splurge on something specifically for me.  correction    "...where I splurge on something new and/or expensive specifically for me."

we'd researched extensively and had our hearts set on getting me a Canon T1I before we go on vacation, this year. It was really exciting for me, because my nicest camera to date was a Kodak Easy Share.  $89 on it's most expensive day. 

I was on the phone with my dad,  who has always shared & encouraged my love of photography.  I informed him about my exciting purchase plan, when he said 'you might want to reconsider.' 

I thought maybe he'd heard bad things about the Canon or had some advice to offer; when he dropped a bomb on me.   

During my parents' visit next month - apparently he'd been planning on giving me his Nikon d40x AND three kick-ass lenses.  oh. my. gosh.   

words just cannot explain my level of gratitude and excitement!

after running around like a kid, screaming with joy ruining the surprise of actually 'giving' it to me .. he sent it all to me, the next day.

It arrived after a mix-up with the Post Office.  By mix-up .. I mean I heard FedEx when he said post office .. then freaked out for 2 hours when FedEx couldn't find the tracking number.   what ?  .. they sound similar.  fed ex .. post office. fed ex .. post office. 

He also sent all his books, guides, and instruction manuals.  It's going to take me at least a year to get through the basics of the camera.         

after realizing how much would be involved with this camera - I made the very adult decision to put off the purchase of my silhouette, until I've got this baby down.   

*pats self on back*









anyway .. onto the point of the post - these are my favorite pictures (of the 243) from day 1

the last, lone survivor of the fishies we adopted in 2008

'one of four'

cutest. dog. ever.

I can't take enough pictures of our foliage 

don't you love how his tongue is the same angle as his neckerchief

how everyone will be seeing my face for some time to come ... smile !

our four-legged baby .. so sleepy

I love the moon coming out while the sun's up

this is her 'take the picture & hurry up' smile

"deer tracks mom, you HAVE to get a picture with your new camera!"

I love random shots like this .. au natural

lol the teen doesn't like 'au natural' .. she 'ducks n runs' or smiles big :P

and this  last picture isn't really a nice picture lol

it's just to compare the size of the 'big' lens to a giant wendy's drink .. that's all.

I love my new camera .. <3

valentine's robot of love

I'm so relieved to see that my anxiety and picky eating habits aren't the only traits of mine the girls have picked up .. they're our crafty little monkeys and it makes me smile.

I was hoping to search through Pinterest for Valentine's box ideas with the third grader; but she made it clear early on that she had her own idea and there was no changing her mind.  Clearly, she also inherited my stubborn and independent ways.

she painted the body / arms / legs  'aluminum' 

her dad cut slits into the side and she attached the cardboard 'arms'
they had the ability to move up & down as well as back and forth -

"so he can go 'beep boop beep.'" = she explains

of course .. there was a moment she tried to run from my camera ...

but she knows .. resistance is futile!!
smile, my crafty little robot! :) 

I know it's late .. but nobody ever accused me of being punctual  ..  

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's:) 

power of positive printing

so the title leaves much to be desired .. but I think you get the point.

I love that I've printed so many of my 'words of encouragement' that I can swap them around the frames throughout the house.  These are a really nice personal touch to help bring up the mood or enhance a feeling, depending on the way the day/week is going.

if you can't tell by the prints today - this week has been a little trying on the patience.
.. but with a teenage girl; things often are.  It's hard to admit, but some days I need to remind myself of how lucky I am to only have the simple troubles of forgotten homework and a textaholic teen. :)

click here for my print size 'be grateful for this day'

click here for my print size 'break from your routine'

click here for my print size 'Enjoy the little things.'

more prints on the page :)

the wipey board of awesome ..

In our town, when the world is a frozen Hell winter comes - it gets super quiet.

so, this time of year, the stuff is pretty 'hit or miss' at the thrift stores.

luckily, this winter I've found lots of 'treasures.'

(that very word conjures a mental image of Hoarders *shudders* I promise to try not to use it again)

... moving on ...

when I picked up this serving tray, to look at it 

our 8 year old giggled as she said to us

"ooooohh he can bring you breakfast in bed, Mom!"

then ran off laughing at her announcement

LoL .. she's awesome.

I wanted to turn it into a 'dry erase drawing tray' for the aforementioned goofy girl.

But at $4 .. this is a spendy thrift for me.

I actually had to rethink it .. twice. 

lol  *shrug*

I got home and  it sat for a week got started

I removed the wood sides of the tray, then spray painted them