happy happens.
{via}
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Reminiscing... Camping trips
For as long as I can remember my family has gone camping. When I was really little, probably about 3, we all camped in tents and I thought that was just the greatest. I can remember being put in the tent for my afternoon nap wearing a big t-shirt of Pop's (my grandpa) and I would curl up on the air mattress with my "curly" blanket my grandmother made me. The tent windows would be zipped open and I could feel the breeze coming in and hear the ladies discussing dinner plans.
When I was about 5, I remember dragging out my purple suitcase of Barbies on a big outdoor rug and playing for hours. I especially liked to use Barbie's heels to kill the ants that approached Barbie and Skipper's living room. And I remember wearing my teal Minnie Mouse raincoat and rubber boots while running around to "help" everyone cover up their stack of wood before they got too wet.
Then we got a camper; the pop-up kind with beds on either side that extended over the sides of the camper. Now that thing was cool. The table turned into a bed. There was a "sofa" that was really like a bench, with all our pots and pans below. I loved to draw and color and "make art"; I would lay in my bed with the entire window zipped open and it felt like I was sitting in a hayloft.
By the time I was in middle school my suitcase was filled with books, cd's and my DiscMan. I would pull out a lawn chair in the sun with three or four books and read the entire day. My unruly curls hated camping so my hair was always piled in a bundle on top of my head. The only time I moved was to take a bike ride to the bathroom or to go out on the boat, but even then my book went with me. Then at night, after the campfire was out, I would go into the camper- which was a typical camper now with several sofa's-turned-beds and a regular bathroom; except we didn't use it for anything but storage. I'm still not sure why but I digress. I would put NSYNC or Mariah Carey in my DiscMan, turn it way down low and drift off to sleep. I went through a lot of AA batteries in those days.
Through high school I camped less because I wanted to be with my friends. But I would always spend at least one day out on the boat and at least one night sitting around the campfire. I was prissy in those days though- I didn't want to get dirty and I didn't want to get wet so camping was less appealing to me.
It wasn't until sophomore year of college that I really started to miss camping trips. So I started planning my own with whatever friends I could convince to go. The first one was miserable because I had never planned a camping trip before and I had no idea all the things we would need. We must have driven into town ten times that weekend. And camping in a tent was nothing like I remembered. For one thing, tents just aren't made the way they used to be. Secondly, I had an eye for bugs and that tended to keep me awake for hours. And of course I still am not a fan of mud and it's really hard to keep things clean when it's muddy and rainy.
But I've been pretty smart since I've started my own camping trip; every time I've made a list of the things that we needed that I didn't pack. And I'm not talking luxuries here, I'm talking about necessities like can openers and starting wood. It only took one time of opening a can of baked beans to realize a knife is not the best tool. And it really only took one time of scouting the trail for dry sticks and twigs to get our fire started to know that I need to bundle some up before we leave.
Today I'm posting over on designology my tips for true outdoor living: the necessity's on a camping trip. Make sure to check it out before you plan your next nature adventure.
When I was about 5, I remember dragging out my purple suitcase of Barbies on a big outdoor rug and playing for hours. I especially liked to use Barbie's heels to kill the ants that approached Barbie and Skipper's living room. And I remember wearing my teal Minnie Mouse raincoat and rubber boots while running around to "help" everyone cover up their stack of wood before they got too wet.
Then we got a camper; the pop-up kind with beds on either side that extended over the sides of the camper. Now that thing was cool. The table turned into a bed. There was a "sofa" that was really like a bench, with all our pots and pans below. I loved to draw and color and "make art"; I would lay in my bed with the entire window zipped open and it felt like I was sitting in a hayloft.
By the time I was in middle school my suitcase was filled with books, cd's and my DiscMan. I would pull out a lawn chair in the sun with three or four books and read the entire day. My unruly curls hated camping so my hair was always piled in a bundle on top of my head. The only time I moved was to take a bike ride to the bathroom or to go out on the boat, but even then my book went with me. Then at night, after the campfire was out, I would go into the camper- which was a typical camper now with several sofa's-turned-beds and a regular bathroom; except we didn't use it for anything but storage. I'm still not sure why but I digress. I would put NSYNC or Mariah Carey in my DiscMan, turn it way down low and drift off to sleep. I went through a lot of AA batteries in those days.
Through high school I camped less because I wanted to be with my friends. But I would always spend at least one day out on the boat and at least one night sitting around the campfire. I was prissy in those days though- I didn't want to get dirty and I didn't want to get wet so camping was less appealing to me.
It wasn't until sophomore year of college that I really started to miss camping trips. So I started planning my own with whatever friends I could convince to go. The first one was miserable because I had never planned a camping trip before and I had no idea all the things we would need. We must have driven into town ten times that weekend. And camping in a tent was nothing like I remembered. For one thing, tents just aren't made the way they used to be. Secondly, I had an eye for bugs and that tended to keep me awake for hours. And of course I still am not a fan of mud and it's really hard to keep things clean when it's muddy and rainy.
But I've been pretty smart since I've started my own camping trip; every time I've made a list of the things that we needed that I didn't pack. And I'm not talking luxuries here, I'm talking about necessities like can openers and starting wood. It only took one time of opening a can of baked beans to realize a knife is not the best tool. And it really only took one time of scouting the trail for dry sticks and twigs to get our fire started to know that I need to bundle some up before we leave.
Today I'm posting over on designology my tips for true outdoor living: the necessity's on a camping trip. Make sure to check it out before you plan your next nature adventure.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
New series! + What I've been up to
I so so so love this ^
And by "this" I mean the image although an extended deadline is quite a bit of happiness too. Since that rarely happens though and I haven't experienced it for quite some time, I am mostly excited about the concept. In fact, I'm so excited I'm inspired to create my own. What is it exactly? Let me just tell you the story.
I came across this image while browsing Pinterest, a latest obsession. I was intrigued so I followed the link which took me to just-little things tumblr site. The site is full of images like this with different text of things that create a bit of happiness, if only for a moment. Often times when I have these moments I will tweet them but it seems like it would be more fun to do it here, on the blog. So expect short entries that I'm calling "happy happens". They won't look just like this but similar.
***
I've been full force in wedding business. Making favors, shopping for accessories, making lists, creating inspiration boards, meeting with vendors. The countdown is under a year now and I HAVE to keep things moving if I want things to turn out like the image in my head. For more deets on the wedding, check out the other blog here.
Kyle and I celebrated our preversary last week (special thanks to Meems who called my attention to the fact I should take advantage of this since many people do not have the opportunity). I wrote a blog post that day so you can read it here. We went to dinner together and then hung out with his family because our big day is shared by Grandpa Bell's birthday. The real celebration was Saturday night though. We went to the Jason Aldean concert and saw an awesome show. It was pretty chilly but there was only a few sprinkles of rain near the end of the show. Kyle has been super sensitive and emotional since then and it's adorable.
This weekend will be a fun one too: girl's night on Friday, wedding Saturday afternoon, cookout with our favorite Leroy's Saturday evening, and the typical church/family lunch Sunday. Then we start packing our things for a long weekend of camping down in Brookeville. I haven't been there in ages so I'm excited to get down there.
x's and o's!
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