Monday, June 6, 2011

it's summertime.


Remember how it's been raining? My weekend was glorious. Sun so bright that wearing sunglasses was actually a necessity instead of a pathetic wish for better things, spotless blue sky, and actual, honest-to-goodness hot weather!


On Friday I finally got outside with my new lens and recorded the first day of summer. Because I don't care what the calendar says--days like that are the real beginning.







Our cat, Chucky. His plan of attack: 1) creep up on her through the grass, and 2) crawl all over her and purr wipe wet nose on her at random.


Not helpful, darling.




Sun spots, I love you so much.


My new lens makes it much easier to get pictures of animals, because they always get uncomfortable/embarrassed or run away/run toward me if I get as close as I need to. But with epic zooming capabilities now, I can get close-ups without disrupting them. : )


Dixie sees the dog. (we immaturely call her "Meow-Meow" or more commonly "MOW" because of a small child who once dubbed her that. it's one of those things that we're used to and don't think it is weird until someone gives us a pitying look and says "your cat is named Meow-Meow?" awkward moment.)


Glad that the dog is gone. This cat makes me laugh out loud quite frequently. Her peevish expressions and the way she stresses out and skitters all over our hardwood floors is absolutely hilarious. And when she chases her tail. You'd think a cat that old would have a little more dignity. But no.


Henry, my hero. : )


He acts like a teenager, but he's getting gray hair. *frantic longing for time to stop and to cuddle with Henry all day*


The cats do what I want to do: roll around and bask in the sun.



Speaking of animals: we caught a skunk. Fun times. I always want to miraculously de-stink them and keep them forever and snuggle with them, but the realists around here tell me it's not an option. My dad has disposing-of-skunk skills.


Friday night the whole family (all the married ones, minus a brother-in-law and niece who were sick) came over for a family dinner and to celebrate my graduation.






Virginia. With the crazy blue eyes.


My awesome mother knows that I'm immature and get really excited about balloons. She got me one and made my day.


Victoria, my sister's baby. And Ben. OH MY WORD, eventually he'll have his own kids!


*spazzes out*


My brother Joseph brought Krispy Kreme donuts. YES. They took advantage of National Donut Day and got free donuts, plus a dozen extra. : )

(these pictures courtesy of my iPhone, which takes not-so-great pictures
but captures the good parts of life, just the same)
Hadley came over, too, and since our house was chock-full of people, we decided to sleep outside. On the trampoline. We figured it wouldn't be inordinately cold, since the day had been so warm. It turned out, it was warm all night and I actually was hot more often than cold. WIN.

Incidentally, though, the whole sleeping-outside-under-the-stars thing didn't really work out, since no actual sleeping occurred. DOUBLE WIN. We both checked off of our bucket lists: stay up all night. 


And this was the coolest way to stay up all night. Instead of watching movies or drinking caffeine to stay awake, it was a completely natural event. We didn't plan on not sleeping. We just ended up talking. And talking. We saw at least five shooting stars. We listened to the silence of the country in the middle of the night, and the scary noises of the country in the middle of the night.


We watched the black and starred sky fade into the  washed-out gray of pre-dawn. We heard the bird informing everyone (but mostly us, because we were the only ones nearby who weren't asleep) that morning was on the move. We watched the sun rise and heat up the still-warm world. 
  


We dashed inside to collect cookies and cranberry juice. We drank it straight out the bottle and laughed painfully hard at things that probably weren't funny at all. Then we burrowed into sunny blankets and power-napped for twenty minutes. 


We woke up ready to take on the world (aka laze around and watch movies and eat ice cream). Which we proceeded to do with gusto. That included High School Musical and Charlie St. Cloud. 

Mixed feelings about that one, so I'm not sure a review is forthcoming. We watched it on clearplay, so that took care of any offensive stuff. It was visually stunning, it was gut-wrenchingly tragic, it was probably a little corny. Whatever else can be said, though, Zac Efron definitely proved that he can act beyond the cheesy-yet-delightful movies like HSM. Maybe I should do a review... : ) Did any of you see it? What did you think?


Anyways. My weekend was absolutely awesome, and was made even more perfect by the fact that a young mom at church today wore these crazy-fabulous shoes.

37 comments:

  1. Wonderful shots! :) Great job!

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  2. Beautiful pictures!! :)

    Katie

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  3. Love those shoes! Henry is so cute - all of your animals are! We call our cat meow-meow too.:)

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  4. I know what you mean about summer finally arriving! BEAUTIFUL pictures!
    Totally jealous of that new lens too.
    Good for you doing an all-nighter!
    Oh. Love those shoes.
    So cute.

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  5. All your summery pictures are gorgeous...and those pictures of your cat made me laugh. Such a hilarious face for an animal to make! ;P

    Your whole family looks so awesome. And I still need to find someone who will pull and all-nighter with me so that I can check it off my bucket list. When I do, I want to move all the furniture inside, just to creep people out when they wake up.

    THOSE.SHOES.OH.MY.WORD. I want.

    Charlie St. Cloud...hmm, I have mixed feelings as well. Zac Efron did a good job--and yes, it proved that he could actually surpass his stereotypically cheesey HSM years. =) But on the other hand, it was rather corny and predictable. I say do a review, eh?

    :D, Jenn

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  6. That baby's eyes are fabulous! OMigosh I have never seen anyone with that blue of eyes! Sooo adorable!
    I have made it to 5am with a friend before but other than that I have never stayed up aaaaall night before ;) I am not a night person anyways. I like to go to bed at the right time and then get up the next morning at 6:30, ready to face the day :) lol my friends think I'm crazy when I tell them that ;)

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  7. Your photographs were beautiful... Isn't it lovely trying to "capture" the sun?

    Anyway, I just went through your blog and read every sing one of your posts. They made me so ridiculously happy, that I just wanted to let you know. *smiles*

    Have a beautiful day!

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  8. That grey cat {or should I say 'urban blue'} looks just like my cat! But mine is a bit darker :)

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  9. oh gosh ! your pictures are incredible and beautiful ! i want your camera !! also, virginia does have the most amazing blue eyes!! holy wow!

    IM SO STOKED FOR SUMMER!!

    www.portrayingtaylorashley.blogspot.com

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  10. All of those photos are really amazing.

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  11. I love your pictures! Man, seeing all these photography blogs makes me want to take up photography... The weather has finally gotten truly summery here, too.

    Haha, your gray cat looks and sounds so much like mine! And we also have the same sort of issue with her name...somehow it morphed from Smoky to Moky to Gub-Gub. Don't ask me where Gub-Gub came from, but it suits her perfectly and that's about all we ever call her now. I always have to remember to tell people that her name is Moky, however ;)

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  12. That faucet shot is incredible! Yay for warm weather.

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  13. LOL. Thank you for not posting the really horrid ones of me. Stayingupallnightandwatchingthesunrise FTW!
    :)

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  14. Lovely photos. Fabulous shoes!

    ♥ sĂ©cia
    www.petiteinsanities.blogspot.com

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  15. This post filled me with happiness!!
    And I am in adoration of that faucet picture. Wowy.

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  16. Amazing shots... I can tell that your photography is changing with that new lens 'o yours.
    And the baby pictures? I was swooning over them. :0)

    much love!

    Acacia

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  17. That baby has the most amazing insane eyes I have ever seen! Oh my goodness, wow. I am still amazed by them! And those shoes, TO DIE FOR! I've never seen Charlie St. Cloud, you should do a review.

    Congratulations on your graduation!

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  18. LOL

    Whenever I hear "Charlie St. Cloud" I think of Anna Popplewell, just cuz she went to the premiere. HeHeHe!!! And yes, I think you should do a review, cuz it sounds pretty good.... not that I'm a fan of Zac Efron, cuz I'm totally NOT! But you should, just the same.

    Love ya,
    Manda

    p.s. spending the night on a trampoline sounds AHMAZING!!!!!! :D

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  19. Note in the family dinner shot, the bent left hand curtain rod in the living room. Crazy cat did chin ups on it again...

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  20. oh yes, Charlie St. Cloud. when I first saw it with the cuz, i was like "whoa, not singing and swoonworthy high school young love." BUT! i think it shows his fans he's more than HSM, and can act a little bit. you know what i'm saying? & yes, do a review, pleaseandthankyou!! :)

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  21. These photos are fantastic! Those shoes are so adorable. I actually tried them on at DSW a few days ago, but I was too wobbly in them, haha. I love black and white polka dots with a bold red.

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  22. Gorgeous photos! Oh my gosh... Virginia's eyes are so beautifully blue! I can't say I'm not jealous. :P

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  23. Gorgeous photos and adorable baby!

    Love your blog!

    - S from Following the Walkers

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  24. I'm just now getting around to commenting. Some wierd awful computer thing hindered me from doing so on your blog.
    May I just say that this is one of my favorite spots in the blogosphere? Every time I stop by, I laugh and sigh and all those other good signs of emotion.
    Thanks a million for loving the exact same movies I love, and adoring shoes like the ones in this post.
    I would absolutely love it if you could come over and visit my corner for awhile!
    So, anyway, than you for just being here! You never fail to make my day.
    All my best,
    Elyse

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  25. *drools* I LOVE the photos you took with your new lens. The photos are {of course} gorgeous and they are totally the epitome of Summertime. Aren't ya loving this weather? ^__^

    P.S. Thanks for the complement on my sunglasses; I'm happy to know that you like them!

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  26. I do that too - "oh it's nice! I declare it summer!" And then I ignore the actual calendar day.

    I also love photos of tall grass.

    And the other day's post where you said you kept your 3D glasses and I said those were fun to use...well let me just rescind that. Apparently I haven't been to a movie since 1957. The OLD 3D glasses that are paper are awesome to wear when looking at Christmas lights and fireworks. The new ones...uh...notsomuch.

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  27. Your photography is beautiful. What camera do you use?

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  28. these photos are so gorgeous
    and that little girls eyes are INCREDIBLE!!!

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  29. LOL Loved this post! The cats, the absolutely crazy-gorgeous babies and the beautiful shots of God's creation! <3

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  30. Those are some gorgeous photos. You are an amazing photographer!

    ~Emma~

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  31. luuuurve this blog!
    I see why you have so many followers
    you post some really cool stuff hehe
    I'll definitely be coming back :D
    <3
    loveeeee the shoes -and your photography skills!

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  32. What you did with your friend sounds like so much fun! I've been working a lot, so I haven't had a chance to see too many people :(

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  33. By the way, the photos are GORGEOUS. What kind of camera/lens do you use?

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  34. I LOVE your photography! They are beautiful photos. I am a graphite pencil portrait artist, and I was wondering if I could have permission to draw some of your photos. You can email me here: creative.art.new.england@gmail.com to answer.
    Thanks!

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  35. Fun times. Congrats on your graduation, btw! I read your post about it but never got around to commenting (yeah, I feel awful about that). Anyway, best wishes for this next leg of life's journey!

    Oh and *gasp* Adorable shoes! You did find out where she bought them, right??? :)

    Hugs,
    Nana

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