summer '22 || photo dump

 

dirty windshield + smoky skies = summer at it's best

Okay, I can't be the only one who finds it very strange that we are living in the "the 20s". Like, where has the time gone!? I mean, this IS coming from a person who still finds it odd that it's no longer 2008, soooo *laughs* 

A N Y W H O 

How have you all been?? I truly do miss you guys. I miss blogging regularly, but mostly I miss YOU GUYS. I miss commenting back and forth and reading all the posts and sharing our stories with each other. But, ah, time. It goes by so fast. And quite frankly, I just don't have the time to engage with my blogger friends like I did in the beginning. But the few comments I get whenever I actually do a post still make me smile. Because I DO miss you guys. So please, tell me all about your lives in the comments! What have you been up to? How was your summer? You a young punk and going back to school now? Or are you old like me? Has anything huge happened in your life since we last talked?? I really wanna know. 

But enough of you. What's new with me? 

Oh my. So much. 

Here I sit, wearing my grandpa's old flannel, sipping tea, and wishing desperately it was fall. I know. I know. "Summer is the best season". Haha well, surprise! I'm still me and fall is still my favorite season! But we won't get into that now. We can save that for my October Update (which I am very much looking forward to writing!). For now, let's dump some photos from this summer on you. (who's been here since my first photo dump!?) 

First. The South Dakota Wedding: 

Life:

With all the changes going on in my life, I won't deny being overwhelmed and sad. So I decided I needed a moment with Grandma. After running errands in town, I grabbed a coffee and some lunch, and went to have a picnic at the cemetery. It's strange how healing it is to stare at a headstone and know your loved one is in Heaven. (Today, the day that this post was posted, marks the day Grandma went Home. 15 years ago. 09.07.07)

A random day at the beach!

In the middle of the craziness of moving to the farm, we took the time to hike "our mountain". We were trying for a sunset hike, but in came the fog. Still beautiful up there!

And now. The fair:

 I hope your summer was amazing and the rest of the year treats you well! Until next time.

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."

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??

South Dakota || 2021

All I can say is. What a time.



I've had a rough summer. I lost someone very dear to me. I've been dealing with grief. And then it hit how lonely I was. Not just "I want a boyfriend" kind of lonely. But also "am I even loveable?" kind of lonely.
And then for no reason at all it seemed like, I decided to reconsider my decision to not go to my cousins wedding in South Dakota. I didn't even want to go there. I wanted to be at the wedding but South Dakota was so far, and I knew nobody, and so why even bother? But God opened all the doors, so He must want me to go for some reason, right? So I forced myself to go. Even though I was almost panicky at the thought.
And wow, am I glad I did.
I met some amazing people who make me feel loveable. Who make me giggle when I had thought I had forgotten how. Who welcome not only me, but my family (this means a lot to me).
Before coming here I wrote in my diary that I was afraid to go. Afraid because something in me said that after this trip nothing would be the same. And boy howdy. How could things be the same when I now have such a wonderful South Dakota fam?
And I got to see someone I hadn't seen in three years. And we bonded in ways we hadn't done in five or six years.
So many tears this weekend. So much laughter. So much LOVE.
And I haven't even touched on how much the wedding made me cry happy tears. It was truly beautiful. Cody and Shayne were so cute (another reason I cried, lol).
So yeah.




What a time.

@daminika_carol99  8.31.21

{left to right} Trina, Mikayla, Maybel, Molly, Kylie, Brynna, {me}, LaKaysha, and Emily

September 5, 2021

   I know I've been pretty quiet on here. It's been a while since I actually sat down, simply with the intentions of updating you on life. Or even just to talk about one thing that has happened in my life. About two months ago, something happened that changed my life forever. My dad asked my why I hadn't done a post about it yet, and I told him I wasn't ready. It still hurt too much. I didn't want to have to put it into words. 

  July 14th, 2021. My dear cousin, Abigail Rose, made it Home. (Liberty is better at doing posts than me, so go here if you want to read more about Abi)

  For 14 years she suffered in her earthly body, but still shining God's light with her giggles and smiles. And I still can't believe she's gone. Really and truly gone. It wasn't a shock to me when my dad woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me. Mostly I felt numb from the news. Tears didn't even come at first. I just kept seeing her smile, and hearing her giggle from that time I stuck a toy on her head and told her not to let it fall off. And I just kept thinking, "How stupid sad is this?"

  And so, I've been grieving. I worked. I went to church. I hung out with family. I even smiled. And I laughed. But life felt empty. I was crying myself to sleep more often than not. I'd go for drives and just cry to myself. My heart was breaking from the pain, and I wasn't sure how I'd get through. I was functioning, life was going on, but I wasn't living. 

  I told God I needed Him. I needed His help to get through this.

  My cousin, Cody, was getting married in South Dakota. Back when he had announced that, me and LaKaysha told him we were really sorry but we wouldn't be making it. And then Abi happened. And I felt like God wanted me to at least try to go. 

  I hate decisions. So I asked God to just open all the doors if I was meant to go, and to slam them in my face if I wasn't. Because I was way too upset to simply decide "I'm going". All the doors opened. Every single one. So. I forced myself to go. 

  Don't get me wrong - I wanted to share Cody and Shayne's day with them. But nothing in me wanted to go to South Dakota. I didn't know anyone there. I was afraid I'd end up sitting at the house where we were staying everyday but the day of the wedding. But hey, God must know what he's doing, right? 

  And, boy, does He.

  That trip to South Dakota turned out to me such a blessing!

  As I was crying my eyes out Sunday night, I kept thinking, "Why is leaving so hard? I met these people Thursday night!" How is it possible to love people so much after such a little time? Someone please explain, because I'm slightly confused. (lol)

  So many times while there I kept thinking, "So this is why God wanted me here." 

  First of all, I got to see a friend who I hadn't seen in a really long time. And we had great moments of re-connecting. That really was so nice.

  The wedding was an emotional one, but so beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of it - including the tearful goodbye. 

  And then, the people there were so welcoming! They welcomed me. They welcomed my family. After the wedding we went to a gathering and everyone there acted like they cared that I came. I thought for sure I wouldn't ever make new friends who really cared. And then I met those girls (pictured above). I thank God everyday for "forcing" me to go on that trip. It reminded me how it felt to have fun. To giggle. To have friends to do those things with. It reminded me how it felt to be loved. 

  Yes, I was afraid that after going on this trip life would never be the same again. And that scared me. But, the change was such a wonderful one! 

I will never forget my first (hopefully not, only) trip to South Dakota. 

  So. I guess the point of this post is to tell you this: Trust God. He really does have a plan. 

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.

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!