a pinterest board only it's actually my life

"Let us live like flowers

wild and beautiful

and drenched in sun."

- Ellen Everett 

"And Suddenly, you know...

it's time to start 

something new and trust 

the magic of beginnings."

"There are far, far 

better things ahead

than any we have

left behind."

-CS Lewis

"One day you will look back and see

that all along you were blooming."

"How cool is it that 

the same God who created 

sunsets and oceans and galaxies 

thought the world needed one of you."

"Everything has changed and yet, I am more me than I've ever been."

independence day | no words

weddings + changes

H E L L O   A G A I N

I am back from vacation and, well folks, we did it. We got my brother all hitched up to Brynna and they're the cutest ever! Our trip to South Dakota for their wedding had it's ups and downs, with Chancy getting sick three days before the wedding, and all the emotions of weddings and goodbyes, but I will always look back on it fondly. The beautiful sunsets. All the hugs and "I love you"s. The drives with my SD girls. 

The day before the wedding is when it all started to become real - my brother was getting married! That morning we met at the church, and the chaos began. The flowers were getting done, we were setting up the reception, we ran out of stars for the tables and people were scrambling to make more, wrapping the tables in paper, and you know, all the wedding things! And later that day, Natasha came!! I am so happy that she made that four hour drive (ALONE!) to come see me!! Even if she did spend most her time just watching me run around, and watching rehearsal and all that jazz. And the next thing we knew it was wedding day!

(Still don't have any pictures with Chancy or Brynna because the photographer took those)

Can you believe that it wasn't even that long ago that I didn't even know these girls and now they're like sisters (and one IS my sister!)!? It still blows me away how amazing God is. He brought these girls into my life right when I needed them, and it turns out that they needed me too. And it was so hard to leave them. We cried and hugged and cried and hugged and cried and hugged some more. 

But boy does it feel good to be home now! You should have heard us squealing when we got the first glimpse of mountains on the way home, like AHHHH!!! 

And now that we're home - summer has hit the PNW (finally) and it hit HARD (100* F!?) annndddd our house sold. *nods* yes, you read that right. After 6.5 years in this house, we are moving! It's crazy because back when I first started this blog we moved into this house. Back then I didn't even know Natasha. Felicity wasn't even married. So much has happened in the years in this house. So much has changed. But I'm excited to move on to the farmhouse in "the flats"! This is a new adventure, and I can't wait to get started! 

Another change in life, is Liberty has a boyfriend (LIKE WHAT?). And before you ask - I am still single as single can be, lol. It's not at all what I had wanted for my life, but I am learning to trust that God knows what He's doing. (trying my best)

WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE?

SHOULD I DOCUMENT THE MOVE ECT AND SHARE IT HERE??

first post of 2022!! || hello there

  

Oh hey. I still have a blog, Whaatt??

But yeah, hey,. I'm alive. I'm still living. Life is still moving on. I've been struggle to find the motivation to share anything on the internet. So I've been quiet. On here. and even on Instagram. But I'm slowly remembering why I even started to sharing to start with - I enjoy it. Even if nobody reads it, or cares about what's up in my boring life, I enjoy creating content to look back on later. I miss doing photo dumps. I miss putting together 'top ten' posts, even if nobody else cared to look at them. I loved sharing about the books I'm reading and the shows I'm watching, and the music I'm listening to. I loved sharing about all the crazy things that happen in my boring life. 

My life may be boring, but it's mine, and I wanna be able to look back on this blog years from now and take a walk down memory lane. I guess my life got too boring and sad for a while there, and I wasn't sure I wanted any of that shared on the internet, even if it was just for me to look back on later. If you've read my last post (a letter to 2021) then you already know all about that. But there is something I didn't mention in that post that deserves to be talked about... 

One day my dear friend, Brynna, sent me a text that set into motion a series of events that ended with the most wonderful of wonderfuls - Brynna and my darling brother are DATING. Sometimes the wonder of it still hits me and I just sit there in awe. My new friend is now my brothers girlfriend - she's part of the family. She's here to stay, forever. Isn't God amazing? I still can't believe that He chose me, of all people, to help bring this adorable couple together. It was kinda scary, not gonna lie, lol. Not at first. At first it was all squeals and giggles - because how would YOU react if your best friend just told you she had a crush on your adorable brother? xP But then he asked me to talk to her for him, and that was freaky. We were all kinda freaking out, but that's all over now, and now we're left with Chancy and Brynna being all adorable, and making us all blush. Lol. We love them anyway *winks*

She is coming to visit us (aka HIM) next month and we're all so excited! Even though I am a little worried we might be a little overwhelming for her - this being the first time she'll see us in our comfort zone, lol. She might change her mind about wanting to enter this crazy, wild family. Lol, just kidding. I know she loves us. xP

So yeah, if I can actually get myself to continue to do posts, I'll probably keep you updated on this adorable couple. *winks*

Recently, my family and I took a relaxing trip over to the desert to visit Auntie A and her family (top picture is from that trip. as well as below pic). That weekend was such fun. I loved seeing my aunt and uncle's new property, where they're building a new house, and I loved walking around town and getting coffee. Even staying in the trailer was fun, even if the second night was kinda cold, lol. 

I was finally able to visit the mall again! That day was SO refreshing! Walking around the mall (I bought a season of Psych on DVD, and a book - which I'll probably show you later in a book haul) and then ending the day at one of my favorite sit-downs. The food was amazing, and just BEING THERE almost made me cry. It's been too long since I was able to do something like that. 

One day I decided to go for a drive, and then ended up at a park, where I read in the car, and that was wonderful. I should do things like that more often. I enjoy being alone, but I get severe cases of FOMO, so it's hard for me to find a good time to leave the house like that. But whenever I do, I always really enjoy it. 

I re-downloaded Spotify and have started using that for my music these days. If you're interesting and listening to my playlists my name on there is Daminika_Sonshine. Let me know if you can find me. If not, I might be able to send you the link on Instagram. You'll find me there @walkinginthesonshine 

Now, before I go, I have a few questions for my readers, and would really appreciate it if you'd answer them in the comments (some are just for fun, lol)

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What is something you'd like me to do a blog post about?

3. Have any plans for the upcoming summer? (who is excited that we made it to SPRING!?)

4. Did you enjoy my photo dumps and top ten posts in the past?

5. How long have you been follow my blog?

Feel free to ask me some questions back, and maybe I'll do a Q&A life update! 

Until then, thanks for taking the time to read this!

h a p p y

 "Sometimes you meet a person and you 

just click -- you're comfortable with 

them, like you've known them your 

whole life, and you don't have to 

pretend to be anyone 

or anything."

South Dakota. Oct. 2021.

goodbye march of 2020

Goodbye, and good riddance. 

I sure am glad to see this month go. Who's with me?
This world is a crazy place these days, and I can't wait till this all ends. This Corona-virus thing, that is.
No work, no church, no life.
I hope this is over soon.

a n y w a y
I'm just going to do a small photo dump this month, since not much happened besides what's in the pictures. *winks*

On the last day of February we went to a wedding - back before gatherings were banned. So the below picture is technically not from march, but whatever *winks * it was a lovely wedding, and afterwards we got frozen yogurt so that was fun xP

drove the 40 minutes it now takes to get to Olive Garden from church. but Olive Garden is always worth it *winks*

random church bathroom selfie xP

made a little extra money, pruning for my grandpa, so this is what I treated myself with ^^^ aren't they beautiful??

morning sun on the way to work one day (when I was able to go to work)

Kate, hugging the teddy bear I bought her before she was born <3 this was taken when they still lived with us. Now Felicity and Josiah have an apartment of their own and I have my room back!

She's getting so biiiigggg!!!!!!!!! <33333333333333

I made brownies one Sunday, sense church was cancelled and all

playing old games at the aunts' after church (yes, these pictures are out of order, sorry)

enjoying the sunshine before the spring rains

looooooookkkk my dad put shelves in my room and they're soooooo beautiful <333333 I just want to look at them all day long *laughs*

random tea party with the sisters. #livinthequarantinelife

piiizzzzaaaaaaaaaaaaa



read in march:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott


watched in march:
Psych
Emergency!
Hogan's Heroes
High School Musical (1,2, and 3)
The Finest Hours
12 Strong
Red Dawn (1984)
Ice Princess
Tuck Everlasting
Father Knows Best
(with the lockdown, we've been watching a lot of things. don't judge *winks*)


heard in march:
Everyday Heroes by Dave Carroll
Love of the Common People and Problems by The Everly Brothers
Rewrite the Stars by Zac Efron and Zendaya
It Ain't Me Babe by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon
I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am by Merle Haggard

And that's all for now folks! Hope you're doing well. This will end soon and we'll be able to get back to our normal lives <3