True friends

"We'll be friends forever, won't we, Pooh?" asked Piglet.
"Even longer," Pooh answered.
Winnie the Pooh

These girls have a precious friendship.

Awkward and Awesome

{Awkward and Awesome}

Awkward

Some wonderfully awkward trampoline pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Mid-recoil.



I like how it looks like someone Photoshopped my jeans in this picture.  Also, I like that it looks like I'm definitely going to land on my bum when I come back down.

I can neither confirm nor deny that this is intended to be a toetouch.

Beiber hair gone wild.

• I was told by the doctor that I need to learn to sleep on my back.  Stomach sleeping is bad for my neck and the neck issues could be the root of this almost lifelong headache.  So, going to bed requires all this gear now.  I feel ridiculous every.single.time.

I tell Jeremy that I might as well throw in some headgear for good measure.  Supposedly, six weeks later I will have completely repented and will be a reformed stomach sleeper!

• In other health-related news, I had a minor freak out yesterday.  See I discovered a lump on my jawline near my wisdom tooth on Monday night.  It was little, like a pea.  Tuesday it had grown a little.  By Wednesday morning it was marble sized and my gland in my throat was hurting.  I decided it was time to see the doctor.  Enter google searches for "what the heck is wrong with me?" and all kinds of fear of the worst case scenarios.  My doc says it's an infected salivary gland (that's layman's terms.  I am layman, after all!) and we're hoping that some antibiotics will clear it up.  In the meantime, I look slightly like a chipmunk on my left side.  If the antibiotics fail, I'll have to see an ENT for something a bit more invasive.  Read: gross.

Awesome

• I was asked to speak at Career Day at school for a friend who teaches fifth grade.  I was honored, but we determined that it was a bad week for me to do it.  She's putting me on the list for next year.  I officially have a "cool" job.  She gave me points for being a girl, too.  I take what I can get!
• I figured out how to subscribe to an online calendar on my iCal all by myself!  And had the priviledge of teaching my techie husband how it works.  (rare rare RARE occurance!)
• This just made me super happy!  Holy notifications, Batman.  I got as many as I could squeeze on the screen.

{My Awkard and Awesome Archives}

Mini-Me

A few photos of Lexi and me at the same age

My mini-me?  Check { } Yes or { } No
In case you're wondering, I'm on the left and Lexi is on the right.

Maybe it's a learned behavior...

I simply adore this girl!

Hard at Play

When you play, play hard;

when you work, don't play at all.

~Theodore Roosevelt

I may have mentioned the Rodeo before.  Cue 80's song:  I just can't get enough.  Apparently, I've crossed over to official Rodeo junkie.  I know this because I was contemplating the mini-season pass for next year.  Point is, we had to go one more time.  This time we went just for the Livestock Show and Carnival.  Feast your eyes on the pictoral documentation!

Lexi especially enjoyed Fun on the Farm, where we interacted with how farmers raise animals and crops.  We planted and gathered various items in our basket and sold them at the farmers' market.  Lexi is showing off her carrot.



That would be Farmer Daddy with the prize-winning watermelon and Sweet lil' Lexi feeding the chickens.

"Hey, cow!"

We learned about how they sheer sheep for wool.

What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor?

Where's my tractor?!?

Waiting for the pig races!

It's carnival time!!!

Way up high in the ferris wheel.  (I really don't understand why I love to ride nearly any roller coaster, but the height of a ferris wheel freaks me out a bit.  Makes no sense!  whatsoever.)

Biebs says, "No pictures, please."

View of the carnival from the ferris wheel.

Getting ready to race on the Euroslide.  (The girls won!)

Lexi lovin' the Lil' Dipper and Justus pretending to sleep on it.

I'd say we played hard.  We wore her out.

Crazy Cousins!

Just wanted to share the last few pictures from the Williams Family Reunion this month.

Rece, Roen, and Lexi getting their jump on.

Jeremy's brother, Stephen



Claire.  (Lexi was so proud to help pick out her outfit!)



Lexi and Rece.  iPhoning it.

 

Nana jumped with us!!!



Soren, Sawyer, and Justus
Lest you think the only thing we do around here is JUMP...



sometimes we shoot each other with AirSoft guns.

 (and by "we" I mean, not me and not Lexi.)

Granny and Claire

Lexi snuggling with Uncle Stephen and Cousin Claire

Roen



Lexi and Sawyer

We had a blast!

Spotlight Saturday: Renae

In case you missed it, what's {Spotlight Saturday} ?

Meet my beautiful friend, Renae.

This picture says "Renae" all over it.  The only thing missing is her absolutely gorgeous red hair!

Renae and I met in junior high.  She has a very kind spirit, a fantastic sense of humor, and the most infectious and adorable laugh.  She's real, but always positive.  We spent many Friday nights with our group of girlfriends having weekly sleepovers and being really really really silly girls.

Here is a pic of us with our friend, Melanie, at a high school dance.

Yes, we went to a dance called "The Golden Cow".  Don't judge.

If I could sum up what inspires me most about Renae, it would be her endless creativity.  She's a creative machine!  She's been working on a photography project since last summer.  Each month has been assigned a color and Renae takes a photo a day of something that color.  So, last July, she started with red.  Here are four of my favorites from the collection:

Photos courtesy of Renae Denbow

Hang tight.  I'm going to show you some more of her work.

Remember {this}?  Renae made me this super cute craft apron!

It's so cute.  My favorite color, too.  I love it!

So, I absolutely adore this picture.  You see, Renae married James.  I met James in third grade and he happened to be my third grade crush.  (I think it's safe to tell that this far after the fact.)  I think they are perfect for each other and they made three of the cutest babies in the world.   See?

This just makes my heart super happy.

Like the bubbling-up-kind-of-happy.

When I was trying to find that pic from high school to scan, I came across a letter Renae wrote me our freshman year of college.  She was writing me about all that was going on with her her first semester of college... and began telling me what God was doing in her life.  I thought this was the sweetest ever!

I haven't seen Renae in real life in a hundred years, almost.  I miss her, but thanks to the wonders of Facebook we can still be kinda involved with each other though miles and years have separated us.  She has a heart of gold.  Her faith is very central in her life and always has been.  Even when life hands her something bad, she's always looking for the good and the growth in it.  That is a golden quality.

I'll leave you with a look at more of her colors project.  Each row comes from my favorites of each month's color.  If you're interested in more of her art, you can check out her website {here}.

Photos courtesy of Renae Denbow

Row by row:

Grey March

Pink February

Blue January

White December

 

Photo courtesy of Renae Denbow

Row by row:

Brown November

Orange October

Green September

Yellow August

{Spotlight Saturdays Archive}