Monday, November 16, 2020

heyyy I'm alive, but more so on Instagram

 

me at the beach, october 2020

Hello there, people of the blogger world. 


Have you noticed that I kind dropped off the face of the earth again? 

Well, things change, and I guess blogging isn't really something I like to do anymore. I have so many post ideas, but I really don't see myself writing them. But you know what I do see myself doing? Instagram. I am pretty active on there, and I could be even more active in the future. I've recently started making reels, and it's so fun it may become a problem. So I guess this is just a quick post saying that I really don't know when or if I'll ever be active on here again.

But follow me on Instagram and you'll still get to see posts from me! 

just look up:

@walkinginthesonshine 

the account is private, but if I know you from here, you will accepted for sure!


Hope you all have a lovely day, and I wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thursday, October 1, 2020

finally october

well here we are again...


I don't know how this tradition started - me updating you guys on how life's been, every single October.  But I kinda like it. How bout you? You probably like it even more this year because I haven't really been posting. #sorryimnotsorry

I know people are always saying this, but I really can't believe it's been a year since we last seen my favorite month. And here's another thing people are always saying, but is true: this year has been nuts. But here in the middle of all this chaos; it's finally October. Can we all just take a step back and let October soak in, with all it's beauty? Breathe in all the yummy candles, soak in the music in the rain, dive into your favorite book, and let's just let everything be normal in that moment. 

This has been the longest shortest year of my life, for sure. Because, am I the only one who feels it should be April still? But also, it feels like twenty-twenty has been lasting twelve-hundred years. All at the same time.


So, let's see, what has happened since last October?

Welllllll I met my beautiful niece and I mean BEAUTIFUL!!! Kate is such a joy to have around. <3 the other day, I was laying on the couch, feeling pretty miserable with this cold I've been fighting, and Kate was playing on the floor. When she seen me there, she squealed. Then she came crawling over to the couch as fast as she could, squealing and chatting in her own little language all the way. When she got closer she stood up and begged to be picked up. So I took her and sat her on me. She squealed some more, laid her head on mine, and just gave me loves. oh my heart. <3 Her sloppy wet kisses are enough to kill ya, I swear. I love her so much, it's crazy. Even just going one day without seeing her is soooo hard. 

Work has been going pretty good. Even added a client! And maybe another, though at the time that I'm writing this, we haven't been able to even schedule our first cleaning day with them because both LaKaysha and I have been fighting a pretty awful cold. Which sucks, btw.

This year has been full of changes, and I won't deny crying for hours on end because of it all. Some things are pretty personal, and I'm not sure I want to share them on here. But one thing you already know about: my Grandpa sold his house. There was  a day, not too long before moving day, that I went there and cried. It was pretty awful, but I'm glad I got it all out before moving day. I'd rather not have all my aunts and uncle staring at me while I cry, thank you. xP 

Haven't taken any vacations this year, so far. But friends have visited me and that was awesome! First, in February Janeya came from NH, and we had some pretty good times. Including late night chats over Burgerville milkshakes <3 And then, just last month, Natasha visited me and it was a BLAST! The little sneak didn't tell me she was coming, so that was a great surprise! I was actually at the beach with my family (one of the three beach days I had this summer xP) when she sent the Snap. It was a video of a place that I know very well, and I was just like, "Wait. What!?" I was actually mind-blown *laughs* We had some good times while she was here. Walks. Drives. Coffee dates. And a late night movie. <3

I mayyyy be going to the beach sometime this month. My aunt and uncle are going with their family, and my aunt invited me (along with my siblings, I'm sure ;P) to go hangout with them. I really want to, since I haven't done any overnight trips this year, besides camping at my Grandpa's property before he and Sue moved there xP We'll see if I can manage to make it there or not. *fingers crossed* (remember the last time we visited them at the beach?)

This summer has been a terrible fire season for the PNW, as I'm sure most of you already know. . . let's just say breathing in smoke for two weeks straight is not good. I felt all the love for the firefighters during those days. And I still do. Cause though the smoke is gone, and the fire isn't as big a threat, there are still firefighters out there fighting that fire. Aren't they amazing??


Oh! Another thing!

Guess who's turning twenty-one soon! 

Meeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! 

How am I going to be 21??? That just sounds soooo oooollddddd. *hides* Like, I don't even know what to say about it. I'm going to turn 21 this month. And I guess there's nothing I can do about it. I try not to think too hard about it, cause if I do, I end up really sad. 

Cause, yes, I'm still single. If any of you were wondering. And I still hate it. 

And that's that, I guess. 

A N Y W A Y

I'm very excited for the end of the year. My birthday. Kate's birthday. Thanksgiving. CHRISTMAS. and of course. 2021. *wipes sweat* we've almost done it. we've almost survived twenty-twenty! *claps*

Keep on Keepin' on, Folks! <333333



Friday, August 28, 2020

memory lane || slippery stairs


Let's go back in time, shall we?


April 2012. 

Family had flown out and surprised us from New Hampshire. And so more family drove down from the other side of the state, and life was busy. Family gatherings every night. Sleepovers. Potlucks. As well as "cousin pictures", like the one above. I am the one with her foot on Liberty's shoulder. Why, you ask? Well. Today I am going to tell you that story. 

The story of how I broke my left foot:

With all the boys staying at my house for the night, us girls decided to go stay at my aunt and uncle's for the night. It was me, LaKaysha, Kirsten, and of course Emily since it was her house *winks* we stayed in the boy's room because there were more beds in there. I remember that Colten had a clock on the wall that ticked. And I couldn't sleep. So I started to make up stories in my head.
This may sound weird, but I was always mean to myself in the stories in my head *laughs* I remember that I made up a story about all us cousins playing in the woods behind our house, and somehow I broke my foot. But I just could not figure out which boy cousin would be more likely to carry me back to the house - Tyrel or Colten. (you ponder the weirdest things in the middle of the night *laughs*) I asked Kirsten and Emily in the morning who they thought would be more likely to step up if I was ever to break my foot.
I still think it's weird that I was pondering this that night xP 

It snowed that morning. We decided to run barefoot in the snow, which of course made us squeal and yell. haha xP It's so weird that it snowed in April though! *shrugs* 
We went back to my house where the rest of the family was gathered. Oh the wonderful busi-ness of this time in life (I miss it). 

By that afternoon the sun was shining and it was really beautiful outside. So it was decided that we would roast hotdogs over a fire for supper. 
Like we always did, we begged our Uncle to drive us to the local Trading Post so we could buy some Arizona's because we had a problem *laughs* He agreed, and we were going to get things for the hotdog roast. I was so excited to go I went running up the stairs to my big wonderful room to grab my shoes. The boys were playing video games up in the lounge. I do believe Colten was sitting in my blue chair... random detail that I remember for no reason xP
I grabbed my shoes, and took off back down the stairs. 

That's when it happened. I slipped on my way down the stairs and my foot got caught in the railings. I landed with a bump at bottom. 
My aunt seen it and I heard her gasp. She yelled from the living room, "Are you ok!?" I guess I told her I was even though my foot was really hurting. That's when I realized I had grabbed only one of my shoes and the other one was actually LaKaysha's. So back up the stairs I went, limping and trying not to cry. Colten glanced away from the video game he was playing long enough to ask me if I was okay. Once again I said I was. 
Then I went in my closet to get my shoe and the pain really started to come. I sat down on the floor, holding my foot and rocking back and forth, telling myself I wouldn't cry and that the pain would pass. It always does.
Kirsten seen me coming back down the stairs after that little episode in my closet. I was still limping and I then realized I had cut my foot in the fall. It was bleeding bad (my step-grandma later said I had cut an artery - good thing I hadn't known about that or I would've been panicking). I asked Kirsten to get me paper towel and a band-aide. I cleaned it up and we went to the store. 

They were playing "Friend of Sinners" by Laura Story in the Trading Post. Another random detail I remember.

I couldn't walk on my own so Kirsten was helping me. Someone else may have been too, but I can't remember who it was - either Emily or LaKaysha. After a limping around in there for a while I realized that the band-aide was doing nothing. My Uncle went to the Deli and asked for some napkins, cleaned up the blood, and then carried me back to the car and told me to just wait in there. I was still fighting back tears at this point. 
My Uncle came back with a bag of Hugs for me <3 also Kirsten bought me an Arizona and some pixie sticks. also some bought me a pie I felt a little better after that. *hugs them*

After getting back from the store my Uncle carried me back in the house and up into my room where he set me on my bed. There were people all around me as they wrapped my foot up tight trying to stop the bleeding. I think the adults knew it was bleeding more than it should've been, but I don't remember them saying anything. I guess they didn't want to scare me. 

We never did roast hotdogs because it started down-pouring outside.

Cousins gathered around in my room and we chatted for a while. I remember the little kids running in every once in a while and trying to jump on the bed, but Tyrel would yell at them that I had a hurt foot. 
Eventually we decided to go downstairs and play Judge and Jury and I'd be the judge since I couldn't do anything. 
Remember how I was pondering who would carry me around if I ever broke my foot? Well, it was Tyrel. That poor boy put up with so much. 

All the adults went out together later that evening and it was just us kids there (everyone who was in the header picture). Kirsten, LaKaysha and Emily all had two good feet. They were up and down the stairs so often Tyrel finally told them to pick and place and stay there because he was tired of carrying me up and down and all around. 

The next morning I woke up to an empty room (curse of being someone who sleeps later than everyone else xP). I could hear everyone downstairs getting breakfast. There was a total of nine extra people staying at our house that week so the noise downstairs was plenty loud *winks*. And there I sat in bed, unable to walk on my own. I sat there for a while pondering if I should just yell "help" and hope someone heard me over their noise or just wait and see if they remembered I was helpless up there and decided to check and see if I was awake. 
It was my Uncle who decided to check on me. He chuckled when he found me sitting up in bed, wondering what to do.

Later that day Marissa and Marita came over and my mom asked them to bring the crutches from years before when my uncle had hurt his foot. They did and that was the end of me limping around or begging someone to carry me. Felt good to get around on my own. Though I did cry about needing them later.

Soon everyone went home to either New Hampshire or the other side of the state and life calmed down. But my foot didn't get any better. I still couldn't walk on it. 
My mom would tell me to walk on it because she figured it was a sprain. Can't really blame her. I never complained about being in pain, so everyone just assumed it wasn't that bad. 
It wasn't till nine or ten days later that I went to my mom and told her I thought it was more than a sprain. She took me in for x-rays that day. And sure enough. It was broken. 

They gave me a boot to wear until I could go get a cast on it. 

I could go on and on about the adventures I had while wearing the boot or cast, but "that's another song". *winks* 
a couple weeks into having the cast - another time when family came to visit

only a couple days after getting the cast off - back in the boot

If you'd like, I could do a part two all about those adventures. But until next time, 
Thanks for coming on this rather lengthy walk down memory lane with me!
This post is slightly different than the other posts I have planned for this series. Just a heads up *winks*

Did you make it through the entire story? Ever break a bone? Looking forward to more in this series?

Thursday, August 20, 2020

top ten || country gospel songs by Randy Travis


As if I don't talk about Randy Travis enough, here's a list of my top ten Gospel songs by him:

|| When Mama Prayed
-
When mama prayed, good things happen
When mama prayed, lives were changed
Not much more than five foot tall
But mountains big and small crumbled all away 
When mama prayed

|| Through the Fire
-
So many times I've questioned certain circumstances
Or things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
And my frustrations get so out of hand
It's then I am reminded I've never been forsaken
I've never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories, the Spirit rises up in me 
It's through the fire my weakness is made strong

|| Three Wooden Crosses
-
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you, 
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

|| Above All
-
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me 
Above all.

|| The Gift
-
He was the Son God sent to one and all.
Put on this earth to hang there on that cross.
Born to die so we could live. 
He had the birthday, we got the gift.

|| If You Only Knew
-
If you only knew what lies awaiting
If you could only see what I can see
If you could only hear the music playing
The angels singing sweet victory
Oh, if you only knew, if you only knew, 
How much he loves you

|| Shout to the Lord
-
My Comfort, my Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am 
Never cease to worship You

|| The Heart of Worship
-
I'll bring You more than a song
for a song in itself
is not what You have required.
You search much deeper within
through the way things appear. 
You're looking into my heart

|| Everywhere We Go
-
We are soldiers of the cross
We've been found to reach the lost
In city streets, down country roads 
We take You with us everyday, and everywhere we go

|| I'm Ready
-
I'm ready to go that distance
And God only knows when that might be
But oh, what joy waits up yonder 
Once this old world sets me free


What is your favorite gospel song by Randy Travis??

Monday, August 10, 2020

goodbye || video

 

Once upon a time a blue eyed boy spied a hazel eyed girl standing in church. She gave him a wink and they said "I do" at 18 and 17 years old.

They moved to the blue eyed boy's childhood home (since he was 11) on the hill, built a house, and began a family. They raised raspberries, chickens, cows, and babies on that farm they named "Raspberry Ridge"

Through ups and downs they stood side by side until the hazel eyed girl said goodbye at 51.

The blue eyed boy found another love and brought her home to that house on the hill.

10 children. 55 grandchildren. 3 great-grandchildren.

Memories seen in this house are uncountable. Beautiful moments. Sad moments. Mourning. Laughter and tears. If these walls could talk, oh the stories they'd share.

~Felicity Estola, August 2020


This past week my family has had to say goodbye to a wonderful place that has been dear to our hearts all our lives. This may mean nothing to you of you don't know me, but I wanted to do this video for my family. And maybe you'll enjoy it too, every though you may not see it the way we do. 

So. On the day my grandpa and step-grandma moved from that house on Finn Hill, I took some videos, and I put them together with some music. I decided to end the video at us driving away, instead of adding us moving them into their new place.

I know this new place is exciting for them, and I am glad they will be so close, but for the sake of this video I just wanted to focus on the goodbye. 

Soon we'll be able to see the joy in the hello.

Saturday, August 1, 2020

beautiful words, august '20



live in the sunshine, 
swim in the sea,
drink the wild air.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-

Thursday, July 23, 2020

top ten || elvis songs


doing this post by request. thanks Felicity, for thinking of this post! thinking of my top ten Elvis songs was a lot harder than it should be, I guess I love a LOT of his songs! *shrugs* But here we go...

|1| Burning Love

Ooh, ooh, ooh
I feel my temperature rising
Help me, I'm flaming
I must be a hundred and nine
Burning, burning, burning
And nothing can cool me
I just might turn to smoke
But I feel fine

|2| Suspicious Minds

Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?

We can't go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds

|3| Follow That Dream

Follow that dream, I gotta follow that dream
Keep a-movin, move along, keep a moving
I've got to follow that dream wherever that dream may lead
I've got to follow that dream to find the love I need

|4| Stuck on You

You can shake an apple off an apple tree
Shake-a, shake- sugar,
But you'll never shake me
Uh-uh-uh
No-sir-ee, uh, uh
I'm gonna stick like glue,
Stick because I'm
Stuck on you

|5| Tomorrow Never Comes

Oh you tell me that you love me
Yes you tell me that you care
That tomorrow we'll be married, oh
But tomorrow's never there

|6| Jailhouse Rock

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing.
You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.

|7| Return to Sender

I gave a letter to the postman
He put it his sack
Bright in early next morning
He brought my letter back

She wrote upon it
Return to sender, address unknown
No such number, no such zone

|8| Can't Help Falling in Love

Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you?

|9| Love Me Tender

Love me tender,
love me sweet,
never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
and I love you so.

|10| My Way
yes, I am aware that this is Frank Sinatra song. don't hate me, but I like Elvis's version better *hides*

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way



There you have it! My top ten Elvis Presley Songs! What are YOU'RE favorite songs by him?? Do you even listen to Elvis??

Monday, July 20, 2020

beach video || 07.19.2020


sometimes you just need to drive two hours to the ocean, dip your toes in, turn around and go home. so we did.

Friday, July 17, 2020

My Favorite Things || t a g

Heyyyy there, people. How have your lives been?
I actually have a tag for you today! Seems like I haven't done a tag in soooo long!
And though I have done a tag like this years ago, it is about time to do an updated post about my favorite things.
I was tagged by both Liberty and Kylie, so, thanks girlies! Now, let's do this thing!!


The Rules:

||Thank and link back to the persons blog who tagged you!
||Thank and link back to the persons blog who started the tag! 
||Write about eight of your favorite things in your post!
||Add at least 2 picture or gifs in your post that is related to your favorite things. (I found all mine on pinterest)
||Tag eight people at least! (If you don't know eight blogs to tag just tag as many as you can)
||Put the eight rules in your blog post!
||Include the picture above for the beginning of your post!
||Have fun!!!

|| B O O K S

I love books. I love reading, but mostly I love books. It makes me to happy to see good books on my shelf. They're so aesthetically pleasing, and that smell. *dies*

||  R E C O R D S + T A P E S
(aka music)

I love my record collection (especially my Merle Haggard album and my Ricky Nelson albums). I love adding to my collection, and I love browsing a record shop. I could be there for hours. The sound of old tapes and records makes me feel all warm inside. And I simply love music in general. I pretty much always have music going everywhere I go. I love to sing along. If my phone battery is low it's usually because I've been playing music on it all day. *nods*

|| O L D   S H O W S
They just don't. make shows like they used to! I do like quite a few "new" shows, considering there's basically zero good ones. But they just aren't as good as they used to be. Nothing beats The Dick Van Dyke Show, Laramie, Charles in Charge, The Andy Griffith Show, Diagnosis Murder, Joanie Loves Chachi, Emergency!, The Virginian, Road to Avonlea, or The Walton's. *sigh* Oh, the good ole days when tv shows had theme songs.

|| S C R U N C H I E S
oh boy. I have so many scrunchies and I want moooorreeeeee!! I don't have any with bunny ears like pictured here, and I simply need them, ok??? xP

|| S T I C K E R S + W A S H I   T A P E
I couldn't find a picture I liked on the internet, but I really, really, love stickers. Stickers for my journal. Stickers for my planner. Stickers for my Smashbook. Or even vinyl stickers. I just love stickers.

|| P R E T T Y   S H O E S
I have a thing for shoes, especially saddle shoes (pictured), oxfords, and mary-janes. *all the hearts*

|| C O F F E E
Mmmmmmmm I drink too much coffee, folks *hides*

|| M O U N T A I N S
I might not be much of a hiker, as in I don't dream of hiking, but I do enjoy it when I do it. BUT I love the mountains. Just being there is enough for me <3 I guess it comes with being raised in the PNW xP

|| I C E   C R E A M
nuff said

|| B R A I D S
One day my sister, cousin, and I were texting just a bunch random things that make us extremely happy. Strange little things like potato salad. And I said braids. Specifically double braids. They were like, "what???" But think about it. Braids mean you're doing something that you need your hair out of your way for. Braids mean it's hot and you need your hair off your neck. Braids mean the mountains. The beach. Driving a four-wheeler. Riding around with all the windows down. Braids mean summer and good times xP



So that was way more than eight things, but I didn't know where to stop! xP Hope you enjoyed that!

I'm supposed to tag eight people, now. But I'll just tag two, and if anyone else wants to do this, feel free to say I tagged you!

Emily 
Marissa

Have fun, folks!!!

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Independence Day || Twenty-Twenty {photo dump}


Heyyyyy!!!!!! 

I know, I didn't do a June Wrap-up. And, I know, I didn't do a July beautiful words (but I DID on Instagram: @walkinginthesonshine). Life has been... nuts. To say the least. So, I haven't really had anything to say to you guys.
BUT
I had a wonderful Fourth of July, and I wanted to share it with you! Like a blog post I used to do. Back in the day. Back when I first started blogging.
So. Let's pretend I'm sixteen again, and write this blog spot:


The morning of the fourth my sisters and I got up pretty early to get ready for a hike we were planning to go on with some cousins and the aunts. We met up at my cousin's in-laws house, then car-pooled to the mountains. Since it was only us girls going, we didn't have any vehicles that could make it all the way to the parking lot, so we had to start at a lower trail-head - which I had no idea was even a thing xP

This is a hike that I hadn't done since Felicity and Josiah were dating, and that time it took me, like, six hours (I have to rest a lot *hides*), so I was afraid it would take me a long time, but we made pretty good time, considering.

It was a cloudy morning, so we were in the clouds most the time and didn't get to see the view, but it was still a VERY PRETTY hike. <3 And I got to pick wildflowers, which was something on my summer bucket list. May be a strange thing to put on a summer bucket list but whatever *shrugs*
















At the top ^^^^ where we ate lunch







After that hike, I was deeeaaaadddd *laughs* we went back to where we had left our car and went home, to get ready for the evening gathering at my aunt and uncle's. On the way home we stopped at a coffee shop and I got a Triple Chocolate Milkshake with an espresso shot. SOOO GOOD. Idk why I didn't take a picture of that... or my car. Because we had decorated my car and filled the back seat with balloons and flags <33333

I ended up having to take some advil, I was THAT sore from hiking. I couldn't even stand! But, by the time we headed to my aunt and uncle's I was feeling a lot better.

It was a lovely gathering, with great food, and some pretty cool fireworks. <3






By the time we left the gathering it was 11-ish. We drove down to the town and drove around there for a bit, where pretty much EVERYONE was setting off fireworks. Rolls the windows down and listened to them, as well as watched. It was so cool.

And that was the end of an amazing Independence Day!

How was YOURS!? What did you do!? Also, how have you been? I life has been crazy for a lot of people!