Day 18: Weddings

I love a good wedding.  Sort of.  I love seeing my friends happy.  I love the flowers, the vows, the cake and the big party.  But, being a single girl of a certain age at weddings is not always the most fun thing in the world.  Sometimes, it's really hard to make myself go.  Sometimes, I don't go.  And trust me, I realize how selfish that is.

I was never the girl who was planning my own wedding in my head.  But, with my love for event planning, I have helped plan many others.  Hopefully, you only have one wedding (well, unless you are Mariah Carey and just get married every year on your anniversary, which you probably aren't).  So, the idea of helping to make someone else's day like the vision in their head appeals to me greatly.  And with the creation of Pinterest, those visions seem to have exploded into a full-on Fantasyland of satin and pearls.  How I wish we'd had some of this around a few years ago when it seemed like everywhere I turned it was time for another wedding.

We've thrown some really great ones though.  I don't have any pictures on my computer of Crys's, because back then we used a thing called film in our cameras.  But I do have some other great moments in wedding history...

These are just some of the memories that make me smile with sheer delight!  And, like I mentioned yesterday, there's a big one in my family coming up in March.

It is June, so show us your weddings!  Make sure to link up if you are playing along!

Having A Day

Today, I took a sick day from life.  I know I am on summer break, but I feel like, even though it's summer, I've been going and going and working really hard on this 100 Miles Challenge and I need some time to just rest, body and mind.  Today, I've just been "having a day."  Maybe that's a bit of a colloquialism, but that's the term I use for what it's like when it's all a little much and I need a break.

It's not like there's anything bad going on.  In fact, life on the whole has been pretty awesome of late.  I have no real reason to complain.  Not one.  I fully realize that my life is ridiculously blessed and easy compared to so many in the world.  But today, I'm just a little sad and feeling all of the feelings.  At once.  And I have a head cold, which always adds an extra measure of whiny.  Maybe it's that's it's been dark and rainy most of the day.  Maybe it's that I'm being extra hard on myself today because even though I've walked 80 miles so far this month, I'm not seeing the progress on the scale that I'd hoped for.  (Yes, I broke down and weighed yesterday, even though I swore that I wouldn't.  And I shouldn't have.).  Maybe it's just because I'm a girl and we do stuff like this from time to time.

Sometimes, you just have to lean into the wallow.  And so, I slept in.  I put on some music and read for a couple hours.  Took a nap.  Watched some episodes of my favorite shows.  (Last two episodes of Private Practice, and last two episodes of Friday Night Lights, in case you were curious.)  And I will probably get a shower and go to bed early and start all over again tomorrow.

Because, and this is the beauty of it, tomorrow is a brand new day.

Day 17: What I'm Looking Forward To

What is life if you don't have things to look forward to?  I think this is the kind of thing that deserves a list.  (You know they are my favorite kind of post, right?)

• The rest of summer break -- Even once June ends, I still have about six weeks before it's back to work!  I'm sure it will fly by, but I still am excited about all it could hold!
• A new school year -- I know, I know.  But it's going to happen whether I look forward to it or not, so I'm trying to go into it with a really positive attitude.  Also, another year teaching choir?  I am SO there!!
• Another birthday -- I'm a birthday person.  I don't even mind that whole increasing number issue.  (Though it's not what it once was!)  I'd always rather have a birthday than not!
• Miss M's 2nd Christmas and birthday -- Last year, she really wasn't old enough to understand what was going on.  But this year, I don't believe she will miss a thing.  Except Santa...she really has no love for the jolly old man.  
• My cousin's wedding in March 2014 -- No one throws a party quite like my family throws a party.  This is going to be a really great time celebrating a very good match!

I think that's as far ahead as I can look for now.  I'm sure other things will come up along the way.  Let's face it, I'm pretty easy to excite!  

Make sure to link up!  We still have a lot more Challenge to go!

Day 16: Something I'm OCD About

I'm OCD about so very little in my life.  Very, very, very little.  However, there are a few little ones.  I like frames to be straight.  All the time.  Can't sleep if they aren't, no matter the amount of clothes on the floor.  I also alphabetize DVDs and CDs.  It's the only way that I can deal with the quantity I own.  (CDs are by the last name of the artist, and DVDs are by the title of the work for the most part.)  The only other one I can think of is that when I put food in the cabinet, I like it to be label out.  I'm sure there are other weird little things, but I guess we don't always think of our own habits as odd.

I'll be anxious to see how everyone else answers this one!  Make sure to link up!

Day 15: My Dream House (UPDATED)

I think I've always loved the idea of building or creating my dream house.  I have notes in journals from junior high with very specific things I wanted in a future house.  Of course, I'm not sure that I would want any of those things now.  And I tend to suffer from having champagne taste and a beer budget.  Don't get me wrong, I love my little house.  It's perfect for just me, and I've been able to decorate (and redecorate) it just the way I've wanted it.  (In fact, there are a few changes coming soon!)

Thanks to Pinterest, I have a thousand ideas about what I would want my dream house to look like.  I think I was probably born into the wrong place, because I do really like the big southern houses with wrap-around porches.  However, I tend to favor a more contemporary open floor plan on the inside, since old houses are often chopped up into a lot of small rooms. I don't really want a huge house or anything, but I would want there to be plenty of room to have family and friends over.  I would want a big kitchen, because Casey is going to have to have somewhere to host her cooking show from.  (Goodness knows, I don't have any business in there!)  And I want lots of storage space.  And a big bathtub.  That's it.  Those are my big requirements.  Don't tell me I'm not easy to please!  ;)

I can't believe we are already halfway through the Challenge!  Hope you are having a great time, and that you keep linking up through the rest of the month!

Day 14: A Picture I Love

Like most of these, I couldn't limit it to one picture, so I chose three.  Here are their stories.

I have many pictures that may be more artful and well-shot, but this is a picture that I truly love.  In case you don't know, this is my brother, SIL, and niece smiling on Mother's Day.  Aside from the sheer sweetness of that little girl, this photo makes me so happy because they have had a very big year in their little family (new job, new house, moving to new house, etc.).  My brother couldn't have married any better, and the Divine Miss M is the best thing that ever happened to our family.  It just makes me insanely happy!

This is my Great Aunt Adelaide, Grandpa Gus and a cousin, Dorothy, at the La Salle Hotel in Chicago in 1946.  I remember seeing this picture as a little girl and thinking it was just so glamorous--the hats, Grandpa's uniform!  I have a copy of it in my home and in my classroom (I keep a mix of current and old photos there to keep it interesting).

This picture was taken in either China or Japan during World War II.  Grandpa was stationed in Okinawa, but had many pictures that were also taken in China in his stash of WWII-era pictures.  I wish that I had found it while Grandpa Gus was still alive, so I could know a little more about it.  My grandpa loved photography like I do, but I don't know if this was one he took or one that his friend, who was a military photographer took.  The composition was just so perfect.  I did scan it to create a digital image, but other than get rid of a couple of spots (that I think were from developing the original shot), I didn't have to do anything to it.  I think black and white makes it even more striking.

I could go on and on when it comes to photography, but I will spare you.  Happy Friday, everybody!  Hope you have a great weekend!

Day 13: My Life Goals

Is it wrong that I don't really know what my life goals are at this point?  I mean, I still barely know what I'm doing moment to moment most of the time.  I have a job that I enjoy a vast majority of the time, good friends, a large and relatively happy group of family and friends.  Isn't that all a girl could really ever want?

For the first time in a long time, I'm content with where I am in my life, which 20-something me would not understand.  Life is so much stranger than we could ever imagine (in mostly good ways), so making lists about what I'd like to happen seems a little futile.  In a perfect world, I'd like to get married one day to a wonderful man who I love and who loves me.  I'd like to remodel my house or start over with a whole new house.  I want to one day, own a little shop full of kitchy goodies and random furniture like my hero, Laurie, and plan events on the side. I want to be a good aunt to my little nieces (and potential future nephews).  I want to continue to be happy wherever I am and whatever I'm doing.

My goal line changes daily sometimes.  (Surely, I'm not alone in this.)  But it's a lot of fun to dream.