a bit dumbstruck

i'm guessing this is how i must have looked the first time i stood and watched the ocean...a bit dumbstruck. i don't remember that first time, but i wish i did. i'll have to ask my mom, but i think it must have been our family's road trip to florida when i was thirteen, maybe fourteen and we stopped at daytona beach. i wonder if she remembers the look on my face. i have to believe it was one of awe. even today, after being lucky enough to see many, many coasts, i'm still in a state of awe when the ocean comes up to me and says hello.

yes, that's his hat…and coat. snort.

thanks to all my jumpers. 

i adore you for being so much fun.

a love post

i love

this photo of myself.

i'm in my happy place with a handful of seashells, 

feeling blessed and being grateful.

i love 

jumpers.

i love 

that you can see my hubby walking in the background.

i love 

happy faces.

i love 

when someone finds me online and i can make them smile.

{hi seaside marilyn}

i love 

finding men who will jump when the woman in the their life says, 

"oh come on, let's just try it."

i love 

when you live in a place where men just start playing music in the park. just because.

~

i have a secret.....

remember last week when i said i was going to be a bit quiet in the blogging world? well, it's because i was in florida, dancing in the sand and breathing in the ocean air, instead of sitting at my computer.

the love of my life and i headed south to celebrate his birthday...and not just any birthday...in a very special way. 

the big 50

i don't know what my fascination is with seagulls, but it's there and it's obvious. normally we fake them out, by throwing little scraps of whatever the ocean spit out the night before, into the air for them, but they're smart little birds and get tired of that game quickly. we have finally learned that almonds will make a seagull your best friend. for life.

there was a guy on the beach with his girlfriend and a very large and very expensive camera. i don't remember for sure what it was, but it was a canon and heavy enough to throw me off balance. anyhow, i took their photo for them and laughed a little inside when he told me it was set on auto and ready to go. {i so wanted to teach him how to shoot on aperture mode} 

then he wanted to take our photo for us. i said sure and told him i had the settings exactly where they should be and he shot away. unfortunately, most of the photos he took were absolutely nothing, as he thought he should use "flash fill" even when i told him not to. oh well. we got one great shot out of it and that's better then no picture at all.

these are our new friends. we met them on the beach and after a couple of conversations and a bike ride, they came over and had drinks with us on our last night in seaside. these are the kind of people you want living next door to you. seriously, you do. they're that nice. so fran and chris, here's your jumping photo...and chris, please tell me your back is better. i'm so sorry if the jumping is what caused your pain :(

this was taken on our last day in seaside. it's better that you see the back of my head instead of the tears that were streaming down the front of my face...well, not really. i wasn't crying, but that's how my heart felt. 

to my hubby, thank you for a week of memories that we will cherish forever. actually more than forever. wait, is there a word for that yet? anyhow, i love you so much and have now celebrated thirty two of your fifty birthdays with you. what a gift i have been given...and in case i haven't told you often enough, fifty looks amazing on you.

getting off the ground.....

maybe by now you've all gone running from my blog, covering your eyes and screaming,

"nooooo, not more beach photos."

that's why i started with this flower. just to reel you in....snort.

those of you who follow me or know me, truly know my love of finding and talking to strangers. 

and if i can get them to jump for me, ohhhhh, then that's a perfect day.

this family was beyond what i could ask for. 

they were sweet and smiley and didn't roll their eyes when i said,

"just one more."

but getting them all off the ground at the same time, just wasn't going to happen.

so in the photo above and the one below i had them take turns.

first the kids jumped. then just the parents. 

i mean, why not.

and then alone, one by one, the girls did their super jumps for me.

thank you-thank you-thank you-amazing family from louisiana.

you made my day.

i have a fascination with seaweed.

unless i'm standing in the ocean and it continues to wrap itself around me.

then i'm kind of grossed out.

we were sitting at the seaside sushi restaurant, whose eating area is literally in the parking lot, when this jeep drove by. i had been taking photos of the flowers on our table, so my camera was ready. 

i looked over at him, smiled and i got this in return.

under those foster grants, i know he's winking at me.

i mean really, you can't do the "finger gun thingy" without making a little clicking noise in your mouth

and winking. right?

~

and now honestly, you just did the "finger gun thingy" to see if i'm right, didn't you?