Photographs, Moving Pictures And Various Other Happy Happenings

Well that last post certainly went an interesting direction. Not the post I expected when I started typing. I think this blog needs to be a happier place... So picture time! These pictures are happy because most of the weekend I actually was happy, there was just also some stress, frustration, annoyance, and confusion going on too. Like I said - mixed bag. But if all goes as hoped I see the end of my main source of annoyance and confusion coming soon. Another source will then replace it, I'm sure, since this is life after all. But I'm ok with that, I'm just bored and tired of this one.


Soo..... Here are some pictures, a video, and a list of some of my favorite inspirational blogs that help me feel better when the annoyance and confusion is just too great! Haha Enjoy!

With my running hero: She's a Boston Marathon qualifier, and my best friend's mom.

At the finish line with friends. We all made great times. Kyrstie and I both PR'd!

Right after finishing the race. And the only picture from the day I look decent in. :P

A video from the race:

You can see me heading toward the finish line at 3:21.

And finally the list of blogs:

Owl City Blog (I'm not so secretly in love Adam Young)

Richellephant Loves (Every post is beautifully written and inspiring)

A Cup Of Jo (Always interesting topics being discussed and her weekend link lists are fantastic)

Also an extra picture! Taken last Wednesday with my adorable pretend nephew who bears a strong resemblance to the gerber baby. Because who doesn't love the gerber baby?

AND......

The song playing on my mp3 player when I crossed the finish line on Sunday.


Three more happy things:
1.Finished the last of my Christmas shopping today
2.Decorated tree #2 tonight
3. A quote found via Richelle: "People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway." - Mother Teresa

Ok I should go to sleep now so I don't wake up at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon like I did today.

Thank you God for Christmas break.

A Cliche

Well here I am again typing. I don't really know what is that I want to type in this white box but I have that feeling that there's something I need to get out of my brain. The best things always come to me when there's nothing specific already in my head that I want to write or type out but when I sit there with a blank piece of paper or a blank screen in front of me knowing there's something that needs to be said and just letting it all pour out with out over thinking it. It's something I rarely achieve and find incredibly difficult in fact I'm over thinking right now and I'm over thinking admitting that I'm over thinking. Definitely a vicious cycle... 


It's been a really interesting weekend. It's always a mixed bag. You have to have your bad with your good. Your smarties with your twix.


I ran a 5k this weekend and came in 3rd in my division. I was shocked. I went to Cracker Barrel instead of staying for the awards ceremony. When I came back to see my friend's mother finish the marathon, I checked the 5k results list. I was extremely surprised and ecstatic! I started running a little over a year ago on a whim, decided I really liked it and that was that, I kept running. It was not something I ever considered myself very good at. Then yesterday happened. My time was 28:51 running around a 9:17 mile. My goal was to come in at 30 minutes or under. 


Sometimes everything I write feels like a cliche. I have pressed the backspace button many times over the past few minutes trying to figure out how to say this without sounding cliche, so just bear with me for the next paragraph while I sound like the typical protagonist from any coming of age book you pull off the shelf at Barnes & Noble. 


Lately everything I thought I knew has been shaken. All the things I'd given myself permission not to be good at I tried and discovered I was good. The way I thought I could make myself feel, I couldn't force myself to feel anymore. I did the things I never thought I would or could do. I should feel empowered. I don't. Because not all of that is good. I couldn't do some of the things I thought I could. I tried so hard to mask my feelings and make them not exist so long, I thought I was doing great, it was all ok, those feelings didn't exist anymore. I lied to myself without realizing I was lying. Then I started to realize the truth and then I lied to myself some more and until I finally I couldn't do it anymore. I realized what everyone around me seemed to have known much longer than I had. And then with some encouragement acted upon those feelings and hurt someone close to me who had encouraged me to do the very thing that hurt her. Because she had been lying to herself too. This probably doesn't make much sense to whoever is reading this, it doesn't make much sense to me either. It's a complicated situation that still isn't over. I'm dealing with the aftermath now. It seems to have gone on forever though it has only been a year and a half since it all started. I've had breaks from dealing with it and a long time when I wasn't even consciously aware this whole problem existed. But when I look back now I see all the signs and understand why I acted the way I did.


Now dealing with the aftermath, I feel like I've tried every possible thing. I've failed to do what I should have done though I'm not even sure what that is. I've got one thing left and I feel it's the thing to do. Nothing I've tried has made me feel right. So at this point what have I got to lose? All I have left is confrontation. I have to make this conversation happen because the person I have to talk to won't. At this point I don't know if the person is too scared or just doesn't care to deal with it or maybe a combination of both. But I have to do this. 
Confrontation: A word hate. I don't know when or how but I will. I love running when it's hard, if the run has been too easy and I've already reached my goal then I add another 1/4 or 1/2 mile. It needs to be at least a little difficult to be fun. It seems twisted. But really where is the fun and satisfaction in doing something easy? Pushing your limits and accomplishing something hard, that is empowering. So I will view this situation in the same way, the same way I view training for the upcoming 10k. 


Now to make this even more cliche, I feel I must disclose this whole situation, confrontation, drama, etc.: All over a boy. 
How's that for a coming of age book? 
Yep, I know it's been written thousands of times before.
Definitely a cliche.

Lack of direction

I'm not sure at all what this blog is or what I want it to be. I do know that I want it to be something. So I guess I'm just going to see where this goes... So far all my attempts at blogging have been short lived and just not quite.....right. I love the blogging community and I read quite a few blogs in various genres. I get inspired quite often to start blogging again but it always becomes too much work and lacks direction.

So the simple fact that you whoever you may be is sitting there wherever there may be reading this post makes it quite obvious that I've been inspired to write again. Clearly my problem is not lack of inspiration but lack of direction and the pressure to put a label on this blog and to update it often. But as I sat here typing out this post I realized something... This is my blog. That means I can do whatever I want with it. As of now I have no readers to please, no sponsors to report stats to...

So what logical reason is there that I shouldn't just write whatever I want whenever I want?

No reason at all.

So that's just what I intend to do.

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. ~ Dr. Seuss

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. ~ Dr. Seuss

I haven't been able to get this quote out of my head since I stumbled upon it the other night. That and another quote by Dr. Seuss but that's a whole other post that may or may not ever get written... The quote just makes a lot of sense to me like Dr. Seuss always has. 

I remember watching my dad leave for work and my siblings leave for school and then sitting down with Green Eggs and Ham, then a few years later being home from school with a cold sitting on the floor in my pajamas and a stack of Dr. Seuss books beside me. I remember the years when my dad was away almost all the time on business in Fort Worth and he would read books to me every night over the phone. We loved biographies and the one we read about Dr. Seuss was my favorite. I remember the summer I played the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical the Musical and it's still the best show I've  ever been in. 

Over the past few days Dr. Seuss has been popping back into my head again through a conversation that means more to me beyond just the fun of discussing Dr. Seuss simply because of the person I was conversing with, as well as the start of this year's winter rehearsals for Totally Red at Tower Theatre and the cast's conversations always seem to turn back Seussical and everyone agrees yet again that it's the best show they've ever been a part of. 

This particular quote is so relevant to me with this year coming to a close (something I have I hard time believing. And yet another fitting Seuss quote) So many things have happened this year a lot of firsts and unusual experiences. Things are so different then they were a year ago. Things are even quite different then they were a week or a few days ago. And as I've been reflecting, as I often do, upon recent events I've realized that while many things that have happened haven't necessarily been good I'm glad they all happened. I'm glad that I made so many stupid mistakes and I'm even glad that people have hurt me not because I enjoy being uncomfortable or sad or angry but because I've learned so much from every experience good and bad. I was talking to a friend today and we were discussing a dramatic little situation I'm dealing with that actually started around a year and a half ago and she was saying she wished that it had never happened to me and that I'd never become involved with this person who has hurt both me and another friend and continues to try and do so. But I don't wish it had never happened because over the past year and a half I've learned so much from this situation that I otherwise never would have. And that even though this situation continues to be difficult I know that everything will turn out alright and I truly believe in God who has a plan for everything and that some good already has come of this and that more will. Everything happens for a reason. 

I often find more joy in difficult situations than in the easy ones. I tend find myself sad after the happy things because I'm sad that they are over but happy after the sad things because they are over and I've overcome and learned from them. So I want to challenge myself to enjoy the happy things more and to be glad that they happened and to look forward to more happy and sad experiences to come because that's what makes us alive. 

The everyday challenges we experience and how we handle them are what shape us into the people we are, I wouldn't give up a single one of those experiences because then I wouldn't be the same person at all because every experience no matter how small changes you just a little bit forever.

Hearts in my eyes

      How adorable are these?? On my spring shopping list!





    Birdie

I think we watched Glee...

The Details
Cardigan: Old Navy (sister's)
Shirt: Target (Secondhand)
Jeans: Aeropostale
Moccasins: Target
Bracelet: Charlotte Russe
Watch: JCP
Necklace: Made by me


I wore this exactly one month ago. It was just a school day... I hung out with my two best friends and I think we watched Glee.. Lately I really love wearing blue! Actually I've always liked wearing blue but lately I've liked it even more... I watched 500 Days of Summer Friday night and it's only added to my love! I'm soo inspired by all of Summer's outfits! I must watch it again before I have to return it tomorrow night...


Ta ta!


Birdie

Hop back on that horse and try try again!

Hola folks!
It's me again! It's been a tad too long since I've posted here....
This blogging thing is not as easy as it looks and I don't even have any readers yet! ;)
Well it's time for me to hop back on that horse and try try again! I think I'm mixing two phrases there but oh well... I have some outfits photographed from the past few weeks that I never posted so I think we'll be playing catch up for a bit... I've also got a few projects going and I'm helping with a friend's wedding that's less than two weeks from today and there's still quite a bit to be done. ( By helping I don't just mean showing up at the church the day before and hanging some tulle I mean I'm making decorations, I'm hanging decorations, I'm arranging the flowers, I'm baking the cake, and I'm photographing the wedding. Yeah... Not at all stressful....)
Well for now I shall leave you with some outfit photos from many Sundays ago.

The Details
Dress: F21
Cardi: Gap
Boots: Target
Necklace: Charlotte Russe
Bangles: Borrowed from sis


Uh I just realized that I wore this on January 30. I thought it was more recent than that. Weird... Well I guess time's fun when you're having flies! Or something like that... Also how weird is it that 'realized' is spelled with a 'z'! I always try to spell it with an 's' and then it gets that annoying little red line underneath and forces me to change it to a 'z'! Anyway I don't really remember too much about Sunday January 30... I wore that dress because I really like it and I wore those boots because I really like them but don't wear them nearly enough and the cardigan was put on because it was a tad chilly. I went to church and I ate lunch, hung out with my family, and I think I had waffles for dinner. I also might have gone over to my best friend's house at some point... I'm not really sure though... I could check my journal entry for that day but that would require standing up so I'll think we'll just leave it at that.


Bye bye!


Birdie

What I wouldn't give....

           For an afternoon with nothing to do but paint.

               Or bake up a batch of these lovelies...
               


Instead I have an afternoon of Algebra, Biology, and Canadian Geography to look forward to. Joy... At least I've got Billy Joel to sing me through it.


 Be back later with an outfit post!


 Ta Ta for now!


Birdie 
                                 All images via We Heart It
                                 Image 1
                                                 Image 2
                                 
                          

Country Chic

                          What nice lush brown grass.

The Details 

Plaid Shirt:Ross

Cami:Old Navy

Jeans:American Eagle

Sparkly Keds:Urban Outfitters

Cherry Socks:Target

Headband:Target?? (borrowed from sis)

Earrings:F21(gift from friend) 

Necklace:made from an old aeropostale key chain

So this is what I wore on Saturday to hang out at a coffee shop and the library with friends, eat pizza with the fam, and just chill... Well... Not really since drinking large amounts of coffee makes me the exact opposite of chill... But ya know...

I felt very country wearing a plaid shirt and rolled up jeans. But the sparkly shoes and accessories made it a bit more chic.

I seriously LOVE those shoes! They instantly make every outfit cuter! Plus extra bonus: They are crazy comfortable!! I also seem to have this uncontrollable urge to photograph them every time they're on my feet! Anyway I should probably stop talking about my shoes now.... I don't have a shoe fetish, I promise!!

Anywho... 

I need to try to get some sleep tonight since I only got 4 hours last night! That ladies and germs is what happens when you give me coffee and an antihistamine that makes me super jittery. Which is why I try to avoid taking that antihistamine. But what was I to do? That silly ant just walked right up to me and bit me! (I'm allergic to ants) 

I'll be back tomorrow with a post on what I wore today!

Ta Ta for now!

Birdie

Sparkle and Shine

The Details

Shirt: Banana Rebuplic (borrowed from sister)

Cardigan: Gap or Oldnavy (borrowed from sister)

Jeans: American Eagle

Sparkly Keds: Urban Outfitters

Headband: Target?? (borrowed from sister)

Button Earrings: Made by moi

This is what I wore on Sunday. I knew I wanted to wear my sister's sparkly shirt, which then led to sparkly earrings, sparkly keds, and my favorite jeans just because they're my favorite.... Then I stole  my sister's shiny headband on the way out the door to church cause my hair needed more volume and I didn't have time to back comb it.... Actually the whole outfit was pretty much stolen from my sister and tossed on right before running out the door to church... What can I say? I over slept.

Oh and I didn't actually steal my sister's clothes. I asked her first. Except for the headband... But oh well she borrows my clothes way more than I borrow hers anyway so she didn't care...

So anyway... just a sparkly outfit for a lazy Sunday.

Ta ta for now!


Birdie
P.S. 
I had to include the second and the last photo so you could see my full outfit even though the second one is all blurry and lighting is weird and in the last one the lighting is also weird and I look like I really need to use the lou. What can I say? I got distracted with a craft project when I should have been taking these photos and by the time I got out to take them the lighting was off. Then my photographer got frustrated with the lighting and I had to take what I could get. Oh well... I promise there will be better photos next time!

Still can't steal my love from cupcakes

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So before showing you all my pretty pictures of cakeballs I have to tell you a back story. If you only care about pretty eye candy then just skip this next paragraph full of my professions of love for cupcakes and wearing random objects as earrings.


For those of you still with me here's the deal: See I have this little obsession with cupcakes... Like I have socks with cupcakes on them and I'm planning on making myself polymer clay cupcake earrings as soon as I get a moment. Random fact: I will wear ANYTHING in my ears. Feathers, paperclips, buttons,once I tried to wear polly pocket clothes hangers as earrings but my older sister wouldn't let me... Anyway on with the back story. Whenever a see an item online or in a store with a cupcake on it I squeal. Embarrassing I know... 
Now I had never heard of a cakeball before until few months ago my friend told me about these cake balls she had at a baby shower and that I just had to make them. She would not stop raving about them and how as soon as I tried on I'd forget about all other desserts forever. Pff yea right.... Then about a month ago I read an article saying that cake balls were the "new" cupcake for 2011. I was shocked! How could anything replace my precious cupcakes? Since then I have had people tell me over and over how much I need to try making cakeballs.
I finally gave in.

This is a cake ball. It's delicious. 
More delicious than a cupcake? .........yes
Cuter than a cupcake?  Not quite...
I'm sorry but have you ever heard of cake ball socks? Cake ball earrings? How about a cake ball tee shirt?
I thought so!
Now for your eye candy pleasure. Here are some pictures of my little cake balls taken in the light box I made today out of a cardboard box, tissue paper, poster board, and a desk lamp. Classy eh?

If you'd like to make a batch of these lovelies yourself click on the little linkie for instructions!

The recipe is for red velvet cake balls. But one of the things I do love about these babies is that the combinations are endless. Mine were chocolate cake cake with chocolate frosting, dipped in white chocolate, with little sprinkles on top. Yum! I'm going to make them again for a Miss America Party on Saturday!


Ta ta for now!


Birdie