anyone

can you make a "new month's" resolution? if so, april is going to be my bitch month to make "be yourself" feel all pretty and alive again. it's got a bit of the bloggy blahs.

or maybe it will be may.

anyone else watching parenthood? the blacklist? the voice? resurrection?

anyone else feel like they're spending too much time on facebook? or pinterest?

anyone else want to burn all of their winter clothes?

i stopped in DSW the other day and summer sandals practically threw themselves at me when i opened the door and guess what? i hated everything i saw. everything.

target on the other hand. what is it about that place that makes me feel all lightheaded and fuzzy when i'm in there? in a good kind of way.

i've been searching for a new iphone case and did you know that society 6 can literally pull in through your computer screen and hold you hostage for like 4 hours? seriously, they can.

oh, and this is my favorite song…this week.

you said i could

thank you to everyone who said that sharing more of my photos from our winter in florida was okay. what a warm and fuzzy feeling.

on our last day in seaside, we took a long and thoughtful walk through the woods and town soaking in everything around us, knowing it would be a year before we'd do it all again. the photo above, while i don't condone carving your initials or anything else into someone else's property, made me smile. i found it on a small public portico at the end of a pier over a lake and what i want to believe is that while all of "his"friends were busy carving their initials into the wood, a child who wanted nothing more than to fit in and who was raised to know better, decided that carving a cross probably wouldn't get him into trouble.

in case you're wondering, yes…vsco editing is still what i'm doing with most of my photos because holy cow, i love the feeling they provoke in me. i'm a vintage girl through and through, who loves the lines of mid century modern anything mixed in and somehow, that's what vsco feels like to me.

there was a photo shoot going on when we were walking through town and i couldn't get over the gorgeousness of these three children. i took a few photos from the front, but obviously without permission i wouldn't share those here and to be honest with you, this photo that i quickly shot from behind, was the best one of the bunch. look at the handholding between the two littlest ones. wow…is that adorable or what??

on our very last night, we ran down to the beach for one last sunset. the temperature dropped dramatically and way too quickly, so there i sat in my hubby's lap trying to stay warm. i still had my flip flops on, so my toes were freezing and even with my hood up over my head, it was cold...but the sunset was blindingly brilliant.

to be safe, i didn't look through the view finder on my camera, as i'm always worried about burning my cornea or some other horrific "eye to the sun magnified by a camera lens related" issue when the sun is that bright and just clicked away.

i guess if i compared all of my sunset photos to each other, they'd look similar to each other, but this one i'll remember the most. the cold wind whipping against me, my hubby's warm arms around me and a sky that said, "this is for you, so you don't ever forget me."

i wasn't completely finished

i still have so many photos {that were taken over the past two months} that i've yet to share and honestly, i'm not quite sure what to do with them. tucking them away for a bit is what my gut is telling me to do and since i really try to listen to her…well, hello external hard drive while i make room for yet another "new file" filled with florida photos.

believe me, i know it gets exhausting and boring looking at someone else's vacation photos. been there, done that.

anyhow, the photo above is just one of the many rock balancing piles we made on a sunny afternoon after watching this guy do the same thing. granted, we weren't in a river with amazing videography showcasing our building process and there wasn't any music playing in the background, but we still had a blast. 

don't judge. it's the little things that truly make us happy. like today for instance. we had fried egg sandwiches at the daisy cafe for lunch. 

color us happy.

do you see it? do you see the heart?

and then there's this photo. the one that pretty much takes my breath away. the one that quietly says everything about me, everything about us and that "we were here."

don't fence me in

"don't fence me in. don't make me conform"

in other words, LET ME BE ME…be yourself.

remember, this is my year to EMERGE and after spending two months in florida, i'm back. back, as in physically being back in wisconsin and back, as in emotionally being back and ready to take on the world. well, maybe not the world, but i will be wearing my imaginary cape that will let people know, "i'm happy to be me."

now granted, i'm sure there will be days when my cape will flap haphazardly in the wind and will perhaps be tied a bit too tight around my neck and i'll have to do some occasional adjustments, just like a sail on a boat, but i'm pretty sure it's going to keep me moving perfectly...in the right direction.

love and warmth and sand and the sound of the wind through the willows on the lake and pina coladas and old friends and smiles and long walks and strangers and shells and feathers and fog and new friends and key lime pie and sea birds and bike rides and sunsets are just a few of the gifts that i've been  soaking up and in these past two months.

so to say i'm refreshed and relaxed and rejuvenated would be an understatement. instead, parts of me have been so blessedly reorganized that sometimes my reflection in the mirror catches me off guard and  i stop and stare. then i softly smile and say "oh, hey there you."

march

well, it' march and i want to know…

did it arrive to see you with a soft and gentle touch like a lamb

nuzzling your neck and making you feel all warm and fuzzy 

or it did it rip you apart like a lion?