beautiful fascinations....

the beauty and innocence of children 

fascinates me

so do hovering seagulls

old dogs wrapped up from the late afternoon chill

and

bushes full of birds

this is my favorite photo so far this week and unfortunately i felt the need to protect it.

that makes me really sad.

this is my hubby with judy, our favorite seaside snowbird.

uniquely dressed people 

fascinate me

as do windy days

teenagers 

{when they're not mine}

short and tall washboard players 

twins with gorgeous hats

and

this man.

{actually everything about this man fascinates me and i kind of want to invite him over for dinner}

~

now it's your turn

what are you finding fascinating...and i mean really fascinating...on this beautiful tuesday.

*

take life as it comes and run wild with it.....

i've been a fan of nella and her family for quite some time now. kelle's book about their journey is coming out in april and below is the amazing trailer for it.
i hope you take the time to watch this video. i believe you'll be inspired when you do.
i also think you'll fall in love with this family.
if {hopefully "when"} you go to kelle's blog after you've watched the video, she has a tab that says
 "start here" and i highly recommend doing that.

now go out and do something amazing with that precious life of yours
*

i'm so sorry....

well. i was planning on apologizing for all the beachy winter intermission photos. but then i saw this face staring back at me and decided you're stuck with them.

 i was using the bathroom at target the other day and while washing my hands, a woman about 60 walked out of a stall, passed by the sinks and left the room. she didn't wash her hands. okay. that's just gross.

have you ever eaten a twix bar and thought to yourself "this is the most delicious thing i have eaten in weeks" and the next day bought another one. and then another one. okay. maybe that's just me with a market practically right out my back door and a very lonely candy aisle.

i am hating the new word verification on blogger. like really hating it.

why the extra security all of a sudden. 

and why are they doing it now when my eyes aren't as good as they used to be.

tangerine and salmon are the new spring colors. i look horrible in tangerine and salmon.

but i'd love to have a pair of jeans in one of those shades.

how do people take great photos of hot food. when my food is hot i want to eat it. if i stopped and took photos of it, it'd be cold by the time i was done shooting it. 

or wait, maybe they just fix the food without eating it. well that's just silly if they do. 

i love emily blunt. just saying. i love emily blunt.

it's not summer, but i'm hooked again on mike's cranberry hard lemonade. hooked i tell you.

{kind of like the smoked gouda grits down here}

did you know you can eat key lime pie for breakfast or dinner. 

i mean all alone. without any other food with it. all by itself.

really. you can.

i really had no idea to what degree dogs are instant attention getters, until i've been down here. now granted, kids have always loved sophie, but adults are dropping like flies around her. like in a "i love her kind of way." i can hardly walk her without being stopped by someone. with or without a dog. they want to know what her breed is, shake their heads when i say a "cotton de tulear" and then they can't believe she's fifteen, completely deaf and slightly blind. oh my little miracle dog.

after a few huge rain storms, i'm more in love with the ocean then i already was. every day here is a new day. a different day.  the topography literally changes beneath my feet.

some of you are still a "no reply" on blogger. if you are, i can't respond to your comments and i'm sorry about that, as i love to write back. so please change your settings. 

make sure you are not a "no reply" blogger.

i'm anxious to see who the finalists are this year on american idol.

holy crap those kids can sing.

if you're bored with your camera skills, purposely shoot with your focus right or left or up or down, instead of in the middle. it's a great way to practice the rule of thirds. and if you're really bored, under or over expose your photos using the setting on your camera. you just might surprise yourself.

~

happy friday everyone. friday's are a good day of the week.

*

the girls "rock" seaside.....

when i looked back through my photos for this post, i realized i really didn't have that many. i think i've finally learned, that if i'm too busy shooting everything, everyone, every little detail, that i end up not living in the moment. and when it comes to girl time, living in the moment is terribly important.

we thought writing meaningful messages all over our bodies with india ink would be fun, but decided making signs was a better idea considering it was so chilly outside.

okay honestly. we were never going to write on our bodies. 

even if it had been 100 degrees. paper signs are good.

~

{and after surviving breast cancer, this girl is stronger then strong}

the girls were lucky enough to be here on one, of the two yearly saturdays, where seaside hosts its community sale. vendors from all over kept us thoroughly entertained, while quickly taking our money.

kim talked to this sweetheart {who reminded me of maggie gyllenhaal} at the farmer's market and learned lots about her, while i fixated on her amazing and fabulous hat.

testing a blood orange at the farmer's market. she said it was fantastic.

{i love you kim for being able to totally crack me up}

after the community sale and the farmer's market, we kicked up the sand and headed down to the beach just to be in awe for a few moments. then the {damn} chilly air sent us back indoors.

on our way back to the cottage, we met diego and we all fell in love.

on sherry's last day here {along with her hubby} we walked to the "great southern" for a warm and yummy breakfast with smoked gouda grits. 

i could live on those grits, people. i'm telling you. 

i.could.live.on.them.

and 

what's a breakfast without an appetizer of beignets. a lousy breakfast me thinks.

here we are getting ready to say our good-byes to sherry {kim still had one more day left with me} while we shivered and gave all of our cameras to sherry's hubby, al, for our group shots. 

okay, maybe it was only me, the weenie in the middle with her winter coat on, 

who was doing the shivering.

sherry, i love you and thank you for coming all the way down here to see me, while trusting me enough to make the trip worth your time. i know kim is a much better hostess then i am, so i'll thank her again right now, right here, for always making sure you had what you needed. and al, thank you for letting kim and i steal your wife for a few days. that was so sweet of you.

now if we could just get you to laugh at our videos.

and

in case anyone out there has forgotten my motto

"be yourself"

"be you"

just remember

people like you that way and being anything other then yourself, takes way too much work.

~

{this is a mushroom with one of kim's painted rocks sitting proudly in the middle of it. if you are new to kim and haven't a clue to her being the rock fairy, be sure to check her out}

*

the two and and a half weeks prior to the girls arriving had been in the 70's. as soon as they showed up, it cooled down, mostly noticeable due to our nights that dropped into the thirties. brrrr. as soon as they left, boom, seventies again. oh the panhandle in january and february. i love you no matter what. thankfully a cottage filled with the laughter and talking of girls goes on, no matter what the temperature. now granted, sitting for hours in the sand laughing would have been my first choice, but i can't complain. i am blessed and terribly lucky to be able to have friends visit me here. 

thank you kim and sherry for loving me. for being here. for being you.

*

the angry ocean....

yesterday morning it rained. 

the kind of rain that soothed my soul but roughed up the ocean. 

like a barroom brawl. 

with scary deep voices in the background. and sucker punches.

~

left behind, was beyond beautiful. spectacular actually.

and 

all any of us could do was just look.

*

the "girl time" was too short and as always, it takes me days to form the words that will try to describe our time together. but they will come, those words. and of course the photos will, too.

*

in a red room....

when i first met him, i was only 16. 

we were kids. we were so young. 

we didn't know a thing.

yet he wrapped himself around my heart. my dreams. my thoughts. my every wish.

~

we fell in love

and

our love blossomed. and grew.

today

he is the light in everything i do. 

in everything i see. in everything i touch. in everything i imagine.

~

his light helps me to grow in directions that i never knew existed. 

to believe in things i think are impossible. 

to understand what doesn't make sense. 

to accept myself. 

he's the only person who ever really sees me for who i truly am

{faults and all} 

and 

never asks me to be anything but that.

we have woven ourselves around each other. 

tightly. 

leaving room to breathe. to listen. to hear. to learn.

while

making room to grow.

not all of our days are filled with color. and that's okay. 

we like the plain. the simple.

the bland. the monotone.

it works for us.

but 

all of our days are filled with movement. 

from laughter. from kids. from decisions that rock us a bit. 

from new ideas. from new dreams. from new places.

but mostly

from a thirty year old {what we've created is beautiful, even when we stumble} love affair 

that needs to be celebrated today.

~

to my love

happy valentines day

you are my world. my everything.

thank you

*

"honestly, i really don't ever want anyone else to realize just how amazing you are"

~

"if you wake up in a red room without a door or any windows, don't panic, you're just in my heart"

(quotes found online)

jelly fish be gone....

"it's not so bad being a phallic looking jelly fish. wait, yes it is."

{sorry guys. i promise this is my last one}

~

i hope you have an amazing weekend

*

and 

lucky for us, the jelly fish are finally nowhere to be found