life in your world....

when she looks at me like this

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i give her a treat. fill her water dish with fresh water. let her outside to go potty. 

ask her what she wants even though she can't hear a word i say,

and still she looks at me. like this.

so i sit on the couch and she sits near me. 

life in her world is good again.

life in this little boy's world is pretty darn good, too

{maybe all you really need to be happy is a shovel and some sand}

and

these girls who laughed and jumped and jumped some more

well, life in their world is really great

 even though they probably ache from all the jumping they did

this mocking bird

oh lordy, she lives on the beach

so life in her world is spectacular

and 

last but not least, pretty shells. 

life in their world is amazing because they're going home with me.

to wisconsin. to the cold.

to be put in a really cool vase on my kitchen island.

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okay, maybe amazing is a bit over the top. for all i know they're pissed.

totally upset that i took them from the only beach they've ever known.

separated from their siblings and other family members.

okay maybe not...snort

but i think i do have the beginnings of my first children's book.

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i carry randomness with me like a security blanket...

i watched the oscars last night and honestly i was a bit bored.

okay, meryl's speech was amazing. well she's amazing.

but angelina's leg, sticking awkwardly out of the slit in her dress. weird.

the other night, as i was getting ready for bed, i moved my jeans off the bed to put them away and a spider was on them. of course he jumped quickly off my jeans and onto the multicolored comforter, where he was impossible to see. so i hit the living daylights out of the comforter with my bare hands and felt confident that i had killed him. just to be safe, we took the comforter off the bed and shook it to death. 

next time god, give me a lizard or something else large enough to see, that i'll know for sure isn't still hanging around waiting to crawl all over my face while i'm sleeping.

tell me you have tried and fallen in love with the 

"no-bleed no matter how thin your paper is" 

fine point sharpies

since i've been here, i have fallen UP the stairs twice. once with my arms filed with laundry and the second time just walking up the porch stairs into the house. 

this is cd. he's one of those people you want to invite for dinner because you know, just from meeting him, that he is easily more interesting then the last ten or fifteen people you've met.

after i took his photos, he shook my hand and said "one love"

i have to admit that i LOVE stuff like that. totally love it.

non-drowsy claritin makes me drowsy...but not until about four in the afternoon, 

which is a good time to nap anyhow.

this is NOT the heart shaped piece of sand dollar with wings that i spoke about in my last post. 

no unfortunately, that piece is broken, spit out in little pieces and gone.

please consider removing your word verification from your comments area. please.

AND....if you have comment moderation on your comments, you do NOT need the word verification, too.

honestly, and i don't want to sound bitchy here, but it's a bit maddening when you have both. so please, take the time to see how your comments are set up and change what's not necessary. try to go without the word verification for awhile and add it back in if a creeper shows up. the new double word thingy is just so time consuming and i know some bloggers are really struggling trying to decipher the words.

thanks for listening to my little rant here

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{design/settings/comments/check registered users/comment moderation-never/save}

{the above will eliminate your word verification setting}

what can i say, they love my husband....

we don't feed them. instead we fake them out. 

holding your arm up in the air, with a shell in your fingertips, draws them in.

a piece of driftwood works, too.

~

on this same afternoon, i found a beautiful piece of a sand dollar, 

in the shape of a heart that looked like it had wings and could fly. 

it was really beautiful and unique.

i held it up to the sky so john could take a photo of it and within seconds, with no seagulls even in sight, it was gone. one of the gulls, swooped in from nowhere, scared me to death and stole my heart.

i screamed. we laughed.

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straight A's....

Audrina and Ashley

friends

jumpers

laughers

and

all around, really cool high school seniors.

~

thank you audrina and ashley for being so much fun

and

the best of luck to you both for whatever you do next year.

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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.

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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
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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.

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