Bye Bye Summer

Warning: Lots of pictures.

caught bouquet at Anna's wedding. Yikes. Congratulations, girl!

High school friends at the wedding.

Bestie with no pants.

Landon half sleeping/half praying. Funny, nonetheless.

Mid throw at the beach.

BEACH!

[dog obsession]

Anna's Bachelorette Party!

Typical.

Tanner :)

Giggle.

All reunited.

Cabin.

Rodeo.

Swimming. And headbands.

Running.

Awesomeness.

Oh, Simba...

And FAMILY (mostly brizzy. haha)

Mom. muhahaha.

FLIRT.

All together at last!

Awkward...

Smooches.

Focused, Palmer.

beautiful baby, teya.

Sassy, Portia.

Hilarious, Brizzy. Just chillin in her car seat.

4th of July!

Note: Brizzy and Sierra photoshoot starting NOW.

Til we meet again, summer. You were good to me. ♥

That Place.

We all have "that place" that we thoroughly enjoy going to.

That one place where when life seems to kick us down, it automatically brings us right back up.

That one place where all of our thinking occurs. Where life's answers come to pass. Where questions are consistently being tossed around in our ever constant heads.

That place, for me, is my CABIN at Crescent Lake.

I have numerous memories from the cabin. Growing up, I spent every summer reveling in the clear, blue water, the smell of pine, and the warm sun (which somehow ALWAYS led to sunburns)

The cabin is my favorite place in the world.

Why?

Because of the following:

long, deep conversations between aunts,uncles, cousins, parents, etc.
and

hilarious debates, usually consisting of bodily functions and embarrassing memories.

acting out skits

and now,

intense card games & intense reading sessions.

sliding off the old water mattresses over&over&over again.
and now,

finding the courage to dive into the FREEZING snow melt off water.

learning how to ski behind Meme's old boat

and now,
learning how to wake board behind James's boat.

getting frustrated and screaming at my grandmother (and everyone else in site)

and
laughing so hard I couldn't make it up the big hill back to the cabin.

Taking little siestas on the dock
and
on the boat.

being a little kid at the cabin
and now,
watching the little kids bask in the wonderful atmosphere.

rowing "Irv" over to the little island to play
and now,

lying like a dead fish reading in the sun. (Hint: laziness is required there)

How amazing the dinners taste at night
and
how much of a sweet tooth occurs the second you walk in the doors.

The old cabin
and now,
the brand new cabin.

The beaming hot sun

and
the annoying wind that appears in the afternoon.

The forever famous dock that always seems to be packed
and
driving the sea doos past the dock repeatedly to annoy the parents.

Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes
and
building fires to make smores (and to make the mosquitoes go away)

Never getting any sleep
and
dealing with it.

The view of mountains and water from the dock during the day
and
at sunset.

That place. Sigh.

For You.

A little bit of inspiration.
We all need it sometimes.




♥

Powerful.

Happy Monday!
If this doesn't give you chills, I don't know what else could.
Please take a couple of minutes to watch this life changing message about forgiveness.
It will make your day.

This One Topic.

There's something exquisitely painful (yet also, liberating) about letting someone go. Of realizing that you don't need them in your life. And even though you have spent hours, days, even months, thinking about this person...those thoughts eventually begin to fade.

I have the tendency to fall for guys who don't reciprocate the same intense feelings as I do.

Let me rephrase that: I have seen a repeated pattern from myself of liking the proclaimed "jerks."
For the ones who won't commit. For the ones who don't necessarily treat me the way that I deserve. Why is that? Because of one reason:

Nice guys scare me.

I am intense.
I am sometimes a little too much to handle.
I feel things way too deeply.
I'm loud. I'm crazy.
And I don't want a guy I feel like I can walk all over. Often times, it's the "nice guys" whom I tend to control, mostly because they let me.

But I've turned over a new leaf.

I have realized that a part of the reason why I like the "jerks" (and sometimes that's putting it nicely) is because I'M doing something wrong.

I used to put all the blame on past guys I've dated--their mistakes, their lack of growth, their cocky behavior. But I had an "ah-ha" moment the other day. (Note: I just watched Inception. Best movie EVER. I seriously cannot stop thinking about serious topics and my life and my reality since watching it. Hence this blog post. ha)

Realization: I am not working on myself enough.

[How does this correlate? ]

I have found recently that I have been in a funk.

I feel stuck.

And it's because I don't feel any progression internally.

I've been going through the motions. I haven't been strengthening my testimony, I haven't been doing anything super productive (outwardly or inwardly), I have been selfish and only thinking of myself.

And we all know that without progression, regression happens.

And that is about to change NOW.

I won't be able to move on from past relationships, I won't be able to have future relationships, if I stop my physical, mental, emotional, spiritual growth.

I will continue falling into the trap of unhealthy relationships unless I change the actions I am currently taking.

Moving on, in my opinion, is one of the biggest indicators of strength. Past mistakes or behaviors don't define us; they refine us.

I am currently trying to get out of the quicksand of laziness.

I've been here before.

And I have gotten out of that mode of depression.
I know I can do it again.
With strength and consistent effort, I have already begun to see tiny baby steps of attaining my potential.

I am getting out of the quicksand that always seems to reappear in my life.

And once I get out of it, that is when wings appear and the jerks disappear.
THAT'S when I move on.