niece love

Katie, my sister's oldest
{entering this in Allie's challenge}

When I'm with this kid, something inside me is literally bubbling over and screaming "I JUST LOVE THIS TINY PERSON SO MUCH!" I never, ever thought I would be like this.

It is physically impossible not to snatch her up and squeeze her and kiss her profusely.

I nearly die regularly. When Katie reaches out and says "hand?"

When I'm zipping up her monkey sleeper and she wraps her warm little arms around my neck and sighs, "Happy."

When I say "I love you!" and she says "Too!"

Ruby, my brother's oldest.

I love them at this age. But I also can't wait until I can give them manicures and take them each red shoe shopping. And I'm ready with my baseball bat to mutilate any boys who even think about breaking their hearts.

Virginia, my brother's second daughter (on the left) and Victoria, my sister's second daughter (on the right).

I can't wait to find out what kind of crazy personalities these ones have.

Patrick, a friend's little boy.

And I can't wait until these two are older and I can pull this out and embarrass them with it. ; )

If I love my nieces with this ridiculous and alarming ferocity, what am I gonna do when I have my own babies? I'm pretty sure I'll just burst.

happy birthday to my beautiful friend

This is my friend Beka.

Today, she is sixteen. She was born to be sixteen.

We are soul sisters in a major way. We often do identical things simultaneously totally separately and without talking about it. For instance, most recently, we both abruptly had a craving for an elephant necklace and promptly acquired one.

Whenever we go shopping separately we find a million things that are just perfect for each other, and want to buy them all. Sometimes, we do.

Watching movies with her is on my list of favorite-est things to do in the world. We laugh hysterically, weep, sigh, swoon, and critique everyones' hairstyles and wardrobe choices.

This has happened countless times, especially during movies:
Me/Beka: (states rather odd/awkward/freakish/creepy opinion)
Me/Beka: Oh my WORD. I was about to say the exact same thing but didn't because I thought you would think I was a freak!

We both love Jesus. burritos. Mexico. men with big heads. Christian Kane. shoes. bling. Bambi's dad. Ecclesiastes. Channing Tatum. money. shopping. red. Bruce Willis. Elvis Presley. Humphrey Bogart. in general, men who are way too old for us... or dead. Despicable Me. chocolate. Audrey Hepburn. strawberries. Channing Tatum's jaw. donuts. 

and Bob.

She's glamorous, intense, hilarious, and vivacious. She brings amusement, hysteria, excitement, drama, and more than anything, joy, into my life by the bucket-load. I honestly have no idea what I would do without her.

Actually, I do know. I would shrivel up and die.

She is absolutely, stunningly, ridiculously, beautiful.

She's a girly blonde through-and-through, but she has a tough, country-girl side that you don't want to mess with.

She's a good sport when I constantly thrust my camera into her face. She poses perfectly without me having to push her around. : )

She's fearless on ice. She always smells good. Her hair is perfect. And she is so. stinkin'. cute.

She gives the best hugs. Ever. There are times when the only thing that will make me feel better is a good, long, bone-crushing, emotional-wreck-repairing Beka hug.

And sometimes, she looks like a gnome, which makes me laugh. A lot.

Yes, Beka, you're finally sixteen years old. This year, lets grow together, encourage each other, have tons of fun, and check going on a cruise together off of our bucket lists. I love you so. much. God has blessed me wildly by giving me your friendship. Happy, happy birthday.

you're right there beside me

I'm not a huge fan of Owl City (not really into techno, or his voice, or some of the strange lyrics)...
but I love a couple of their songs, including "Meteor Shower". The lyrics are so. perfect. And I felt like adding them to this sky shot I got a while back.

How do you feel about Owl City? 

High School Musical

If you all think I'm immature and pitiable after reading this post...

that's okay. I gotta be honest.

Basically, 

I love High School Musical.

My sister and I watched all three on the cruise, which is a perfect environment for languid movie-watching. Bethany, who isn't really into teenage romance movies, corniness, musicals, or basically anything that High School Musical contains, actually enjoyed it!

A couple years ago I was turning up my nose at the HSM paraphernalia being bought by the handful by giddy tweens. Now I've seen the light and am rummaging through the clearance racks for any remnants.

Sure, the movies contain cheese. But sometimes cheese is comforting. And despite the fact that Troy and Gabriella are in high school, their romance is darling and they are very non-creepy about the whole thing. : ) I love almost every single song, and Gabriella's wardrobe (though it degrades by the third one) starts out absolutely adorable.

Red and white baseball jersey. yes.

White suit. oh, yes.

Troy bugs me in the second one, but Chad. Chad is amazing. Remember how I like afros? Mmhmm.

♥

I love Vanessa Hudgens' voice.

The last scene--my word. There are lanterns! Like in Tangled! I was screaming.

The third one is definitely my favorite. Even though Gabriella is kinda lame in it.

Dear future husband--can we please do this dance. in the rain. outside. for our wedding? k, thanks. bye.

And one of my favorite movie scenes/songs/guys of all time...

behold the awesomeness.

So... have you seen it? If not, you should. It's clean, corny amusement. 

And if so...spill. What did you think?

valentine's day giveaway winners

Thank you all for entering! 

And a huge thank you to my wonderful sponsors that made the giveaway possible. : )

 It was just awesome reading about everyones' favorite love stories. 

I'm pretty sure the most popular one was Pride and Prejudice. 

There were several beautiful real-life love stories that gave me warm fuzzies. 

And now for the winners! (chosen via random.org)

Miss Pickwickian won the custom-made necklace from Polka Dot Boutique

Alexandra won the necklace by Gretchen and Eloise

Elphie won the sterling silver hand-stamped necklace from a.k.a. originals

Johanna won the necklace by Maravillosa Designs

Libby won the necklace by Scarlet Maiden Designs

Grace won the earrings by Scarlet Maiden Designs

Ara won the satin brooch pin by Brydferth

Ashley won the 8 1/2" by 11" poster by Tile Pendant Jewelry

Hannah Rebekah won the "love in every language" bag by the Bucktoothed Bunny

Emily Herrin won the headband by Jen Creque

(she gets special recognition for being the only one to mention It Happened One Night, one of my favorites.)

Hannah won the fused-plastic pouch by Claudia Bag Designs

Mel won the "Charmaine" print by Purrr

Charming Elephant won the "love carries all" print by Rococco Co.

AnneGirl won the clutch by The Silver Button

If you are lucky winner, 

please contact me with your shipping information so I can pass it on to the sellers!

three things.

1. This is my tiniest niece, Victoria Faith. I love her. : )

2.Today is the last day to enter my giveaway!

3. And thank you, thank you, thank you--after being gone all weekend, I got on the computer today to find 600 followers. So tidy and even and delicious. I love you guys so much.