The Secret (A Poem)

The Secret

I met God
in the morning
When my day
was at it's best,
And his Presence
came like the sunrise,
Like a glory
in my breast.

All day long the
Presence lingered,
All day long He
stayed with me,
and we sailed
in perfect calmness
O'er a very
troubled sea.

So I think I
know the secret,
Learned from
many a troubled way,
You must seek Him
in the morning
If you want Him
through the day!

Ralph S. Cushman

Pictures From My Long Walk

These are the pictures, as promised in my previous post, from my really long walk last Friday. Oh and one bonus pic at the end. Oh and because I love you, I care, and I'm a giver a quote at the very end.

This is a new building in downtown Redmond. Sun, Clouds, and Blue Sky... three things that make me damn happy.( I was going to write three things that make me very happy, but I read a writers tip by Mark Twain this week that said every time you are going to use the word very, replace it with damn. The damn will be edited out and eventually very will be no longer a part of your vocab) I'm not sure why I feel compelled to follow Twain's advice but there you have it! Those three things make me Damn Happy!


I don't know what the real name of these purple flowers are, but in our house we call them THE PURPLE DEVIL! Let me explain.

When we lived in Carson City, NV. in a cute, small house on NV Street these lil guys would pop up along side our house every Spring. When Emma, my oldest was only about 3 or 4 she picked a bunch of them one sunny Spring day and brought them in as beautiful, messy flower arrangement ... grass and dirt included. I was so happy from her kind gesture that I didn't even notice at first that around her big green eyes she was starting to look a lil swollen, puffy, and red eyed. I put the flowers in water, got distracted with the two other lils that I had at that time and about an hour later, Emma came out looking like Rocky Marciano(I'm related somehow to that guy... you get that for free cause I think it's cool that I'm related to one of the greatest boxers of all time) Anyway, I called my mom she rushed right over, and then we were off to the Doctors. It was at this time that we realized that Miss Emma dilema has seasonal allergies. A box of Zyrtec and some much needed spoiling she was looking like her pretty little Emma self again, but I will never forget what those pretty little purple flowers did to my baby.

Still, they are pretty.

Cherry Blossom Trees are one of my favorite trees. I have a bracelet tattoo of cherry blossoms on my left wrist. Before I got this tattoo, I looked up the meaning or symbolism of these flowers, but really I just wanted them because when I was a young girl we had a cherry blossom tree outside our home. They have always been a happy sign of life to me.
For those of you who do want to know their symbolism-

"The flower symbolism associated with the cherry blossom is education. In China, the cherry blossom is also a symbol of feminine beauty. It also represents the feminine principle and love. In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize the transience of life because of their short blooming times. Falling blossoms are metaphors for fallen warriors who died bravely in battle. This connotation links them with the samarai."

Don't you feel smarter now?

This is my hill. Or aka my treadmill. Once I get to the top of this bad boy I'm home. After that really long walk, I took this hill real slow. I have walked this hill countless times since moving here. To pick up kids from the bus stop, to get the mail, to chase after Bella.... I love this hill but it is fondly known as BBKH. Bootie Butt Kicker Hill. I should have a butt like J.Lo by now. There is a beautiful old asian man, my neighbor who I am determined to meet one day and no longer refer to him as beautiful old asian man. Anyway, he comes up this hill every morning to sing opera to the whole neighborhood. I love him too. He makes me happy.

Home again, Home again Jiggity Jig! That is my lil creek. The one that runs outside my lil cabin. The one that makes me feel like I have to go pee a lot :)

AND here... drum roll please is your bonus picture....

A four year old Emma. I thought you needed the visual of that cute lil face coming in looking like Rocky. It was quite scary for me as a young momma, that's why those flowers will be forever the PURPLE DEVIL!!

"Health is not simply the absence of sickness." Hannah Green
So true Hannah, so very true.

A Poignant Point

I read this question the other day and it stuck with me all throughout my day.
I decided to pair it with a picture, big surprise!!
It really reminded me once again to have a Grateful heart.


As I dropped my kids off for school, I not only prayed for their day like I normally do, I

thanked God for them.

As I got off the phone with My Giant who's out of town for work, I thanked God for him. For how hard he works and for how he loves his family, and me.


As I walked my dogs I thanked God for them.

When I got off the phone with sister Jen, I thanked God for her and my other sister, two brothers, mom and dad, and my moms and dads through marriage. For family. For sister friends.
For amazing friends that I get to live life with.

For my health, my home, my bible, food, drink, my car, my computer, my phone, my camera :)

No matter where you are and what your life looks like, there is always, always, always something, someone to be thankful for.

Life really is so much fuller when lived with a Grateful heart.

Holy Moses !!

Holy Moses that was a long post below!!

I like saying Holy Moses! I like Moses too. He's cute.

All I gotta say is, IF you read that blog below you are either a bestie, or a relative. Or both.

I have a little something shorter here for you...

short-winded readers,

aka non-marathon readers,

aka people who have jobs :)

These are Isaiah's old rain boots.
I had seen this idea on pinterest and I couldn't wait to try it.
I think they are so cute.
So now you know what to do with your old rain boots.

Speaking of rain boots, did you know...
They are supposed to be yellow?

A Really Long Walk

On Friday, it was so beautiful out that I decided to get on my walking shoes and go for a really long walk. I love to go on walks. You see so much more of an area when you walk places, rather than drive. Don't you agree? (Stay tuned for a picture blog of my walk)

I know that long walks take time, and I had a lot of errands to run on Friday, so I thought where could I go that would be a longer walk and an errand run?

I headed out to get some Jamba Juice gift cards for my faithful reader, and recent winner Natalie, and one for my newest readers Dan. Congratulations you two!

Jamba juice is about 2 miles from my house so I thought that would be perfect.

Long walk √

Run an Errand √


The sun was shining, the birds were singing, spring was in the air here. By the time I got to Jamba Juice, I was for sure ready to get my Jamba Juice on as well. I ordered a pomergranate pick me up. Mmm Mmm good! Well, and then because it was so beautiful outside I decided to keep on walking.

I ended up here;Discover Yoga.
I have to say that I wasn't intending on going in and partaking, because it was beautiful outside, but I have been meaning to check this place out for a while. I just wanted to go in get some info. and get out. But I did end up taking a class that was about to start. The lady at the front desk was so welcoming, and I thought what the hell, why not ? Have I mentioned I am spontaneous? I am so glad I did take the class. It is just what this tired momma needed.

Here is my segue to my title, A Really Long Walk....

I have been so intimidated to take up Yoga again here in Redmond. I'm not really sure why. Before we moved here and while My Giant was here in WA. renovating our cabin, he kept calling me(I was back home NV. with the Fab 4, yeah remember that? Not fun.) He would say, "Babe", (he likes to call me babe alot. It doesn't offend me. I know he's not thinking of the pig :) Anyways, he said "Babe, you are going to love it here. They have a so many yoga places. There's one around every corner".

He knows I love Yoga.
I know I love Yoga.

So why, oh why has it taken me 2 whole years to get to my first Yoga class?
Well, a lot of reasons.

Do you want to hear the reasons?

If you don't want to hear the reasons, now would be a good time to wander over to another site.

If you want to hear the reasons, but were looking for a pause button on this really long blog, about "A Really Long Walk" here it is: ∆

And if you do want to hear my reasons, get comfortable, this might a take a minute or two or three.

First- I have to say that when we first moved here, we were on survival mode. Really, I mean we had left NV behind with a foreclosed house, and not a penny in our pockets. Or as my mom would say, "not a pot to piss in." If it weren't for the kindness and generosity of our friends, and family I'm not sure how we could have made it.
Needless to say, we didn't have money for something as silly as stretching.

B.-The year before we moved here I had really, really let myself go. I was so stressed about our
house that I used it as an excuse to eat,drink, and Not exercise. Repeat cycle for 2 more years and you have me. Right now.

X.- I was depressed about not being able to exercise with my sisters or friends, or sister friends who exercise. I was also bummed about leaving one of my favorite fitness instructors in NV. And well, I Didn't get out much to do anything let alone yoga it up with a bunch of strangers.

4. I was intimidated. With a lot of yogi's out there, I knew that people take their yoga for reals here, so I was thinking I would be a small fish in a very big pond.

Lastly- I just wasn't feeling it. Ya know what I mean? Ya get me? Ya trackin what I'm laying down?



So there you have it folks. All the excuses in the world and yet... while I lay there on the floor at the end of class, I thought... Why? Why did I wait so long to do this what I love?

The Pastor that married MY Giant and I used to say in a very Texas accent, "Life is short, and Death is Real, ever seen me light a match?" And then he would proceed to light a match and blow it out to prove how short life is.

It stuck.

It's true Life is short.

Don't wait to do the little things that make your heart sing.

Which brings me to this question for YOU, is there something, some special thing that really brings you such joy? What is it? I want to know. Are you actively enjoying it on a regular basis?

Yoga was/is for sure a simple thing that brings me such joy. Yet, I wasn't partaking.

I am now signed up and ready to participate in this simply joy I love. I hope this blog encourages you to get out there and do what you love. I hope you don't wait as long as I did to do it. And I hope no matter who you are, if you have read this whole post, just know that I love you for it :)

I am thankful to be able to process all of that here with you.

A Really Long Walk alone, would have been worse.

Survey Says....

I was asking My Giant a random question today.

He had strong feelings about my question, that I never knew in all these 18 years that we have been together.

He said take a vote.

So I thought why not.

Here it is:

Do you like the look of chipped nail polish?

• Hate It
• Love It
• Could care less

Acepolls

More polls: Ski weltcup Paris Sportifs Free online polls

He Hates It.

I love It.

Go Figure.


What's your take?

Favorite Spaces (prize give away in here somewhere)

There are spaces in my house that I like to frequent through out the day because they just make me so happy.

The above picture is a space I like to visit because not only does it sit right next to the beloved Coffee Bean, but it is filled with trinkets and gifts that are near and dear to me.

I think at this time it would be fun to play a game of "Where's Waldo?" or in this case;

Where's Donald?- That duck makes me so happy. Not only does he represent the Oregon Ducks, but he was a gift to me from a beloved friend who lives where the Oregon Ducks come from, Eugene Oregon.

Where's My Apron?- The apron that I wear every time I cook because it's bright, beautiful but it reminds me of another beloved friend who gave it to me. She is bright and beautiful.

Where's The Custom made Cupboard/Wine Rack?- This piece is one of the only things we pillaged from the Breaker way, Foreclosure. It was an ugly brown cupboard when it started out, and now due to MY Giant's Genius building skills it is a beautiful, white, cupboard/wine rack/plate rack/chalkboard/ spirit holder/... you get the idea.

Finally, Where's the sock puppet that my amazing, artistic son Solomon created? If you can find this guy that I use as a chalkboard eraser, then there will be a prize in it for YOU! First one to find it and comment here, not on FB wins a gift card to...Jamba Juice, to keep the creative juices flowing.

There are spots like this all over my house. The spaces and places where I try to make the world, our world in here a little brighter. I have recently been enjoying decorating with lemons. Can you tell?

Lemons get a bad wrap because they are sour, but if given the chance lemons sure do come in handy when it's grey and cloudy outside and you want your house to look warm and cheery. Lemons can brighten up any room. Don't believe me, go get yourself some. And then of course they make wonderful things like Lemon Bars, Lemon Banana Scones, Warm Lemon and Honey water, Pink Lemonade, and of course pretty pictures.

And don't ya know it's all about the pictures for me. Oh and I almost forgot, they are fantastic for making your kitchen sink smell fresh and clean. Throw one in your garbage disposal if you have one and see what it does to that smelly drain. I don't have a garbage disposal. Everyone should feel so sorry for me right now :( Poor Noel she doesn't have a garbage disposal. I know it's terrible. One of my favorite things to do was throw lemons, limes, or oranges down the disposal to make my kitchen smell up nice again. But alas, that's not the only item in a kitchen that I miss. I'm getting off topic. Anyhew, I still use the lemons here, I just smash it up take out all my aggression with the Skeleton Scrubby, act like I'm a badass and then wha-lah, sink smells fresh again.

One more final note before I go,
Favorite spaces and places, that's a board I have on Pinterest. Have you heard of this place? Well if not click the link below and happy pinning. Your life will never be the same.
That website will give you more ideas than you possibly have time for in your whole entire LIFE! Just a warning. But, if you are looking for some new decorative, home decor ideas. Or DYI ideas, then pinterest is the place for you. You have to be invited. Strange but true. It's like a lil club. So if you check it out, and aren't already part of the club report back here and I'll send you an invite. I'm a giver. I know.



Pin It

Mother of 4

I cannot even begin to tell you the exhaustion that a mother of four feels everyday. Some days are better than others, but most days I find myself from sun up until sun down yawning.

“To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today”
- Anonymous

It comforts me to know that there are others out there who have survived this mothering gig. Not only survived, but thrived. Those of you who have gone before me, your smile is the light at the end of my very tired tunnel.

“The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.”
- O. A. Battista


I liken somewhat this exhaustion to back in college when you never have a free moment. Not really. I mean Spring Break is just the exhale of a very long plight of work, study, work, study. And really, those that make the best students, the ones with the shining GPA's are ones that DON'T exhale come Spring Break. That nagging voice that says, even though you don't have homework, you could always be studying. It's kinda like that, only not really.

“If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.”
- Abigail Van Buren


There is always something, or someone who is in need of you. And this is the part that really baffles me because, I am the mom who is pro independence. I'm NOT the mom who is wiping the butts of 5 year olds. NOPE! As soon as my kids could manage, even remotely the task at hand they were on their own. Might sound harsh, but that's how I roll!

“Parents need to fill a child’s bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can’t poke enough holes to drain it dry.”
- Alvin Price


Granted, I mean I don't make them go out and get a job once they hit double digits, but they certainly earn their keep around here. Especially that guy up there. It is mandatory that he pay me in hugs and kisses on a regular basis.

“Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.”
- C. Everett Koop

One of my favorite quotes from the movie Martian Child is when Joan Cuszak says to her brother in the movie and in real life, "The thing about kids is that they just keep coming at 'cha." No truer words. I am convinced that the person who said this famous quote was a parent, "If it's not one thing, it's another."


And for all the yawns, all the sleepless nights, all the hair-pulling moments, all the messes, there is nothing in the whole wide world that could make me want my life to be any different.

My children, My Fab 4, truly are my life's greatest work!

Life is Beautiful and ....

Life is beautiful and...
it can be messy.
sometimes full of laughter.
sometimes full of sorrow.
it can be silly.
filled with many questions.
filled with all kinds of people.
it can be serious.
comes with sunshine and rain.
comes with the good and the bad.
it is life.
it is what you choose to make of it.


I choose to see the beauty.

Tree Sweater Pictures

There is a local fiber artist, Suzanne Tidwell who has recently brightened up the downtown area of Redmond by putting sweaters on the trees. Don't you just absolutely love art?

This exhibit is amazing. To call this a labor of love, would be an understatement.

I begged my Fab 4 to cooperate for a photo shoot here and had to promise them the world so they would deliver. I guess my years of constant documenting with a camera is not something they appreciate. Hmm... I can't imagine why?

Well, they did cooperate, and I am happy to report that I now have some updated close up shots of them. It's been about 5 years, but ya know better late than never.

Solomon was the odd man out of that shot. Oops!

EMP

There is this place; Experience Music Project here in Seattle that I was introduced to over a year ago, when my Brother Greg and girlfriend Tanya came for a visit.

It is filled from top to bottom with all things music and entertainment. One of my favorite things about this place, other than the tree of guitars, is the exhibit on Jimmy Hendrix.

I am a Hendrix fan. I have always been a Hendrix fan. Well, ok maybe not when I was a baby, or a 8 year old girl with piggy tails, but somewhere around the time that I was a zit faced teen. So that's like, a really long time. Sidenote- now I am a zit faced thirties something! Just thought you might like to know.

Recently, when I brought my good friend Dre and her three girls there she pointed out this the beginning lyrics to the song "Straight Ahead" that Hendrix wrote. I thought it was so cool.

If you can't make out what it says, let me repeat that for ya.

"You got to tell the children the truth.
They don't need a whole lot of lies.
Because one of these times they'll be running things.
So when you give them Love you make it right.
Woman and Child, Man and Wife.
The best Love to have is the LOVE for life."



IF you haven't heard the song, here ya go.

HOpe you Enjoy, and get your Groove thing on.

Use What You Have

I don't know if you have noticed, but one of my favorite things to do in the whole world is to "use what I have" to make something new. In other words, I really like to recycle.

Currently, if you were to come over for a tall glass of water, or some yummy pink lemonade, you would drink out of recycled sauce jars. That's right we use glass jars for our drinking glasses. Nothing really outstanding about that, people have been doing that for years. Some might think that looks "ghetto" and to them I would say, in a very mature fashion..."You're ghetto!"

Another thing we recycled recently were some old cabinet doors. We took these cabinet doors that had a perfect square in the middle and painted that square with chalk paint. Then we decorated the outside border with craft paper and modge podge glue and, Wha-lah! Christmas gifts for the whole family :) Cause everyone needs their own chalk board.

I love to recycle old picture frames and use them to put my favorite quotes in them. The one pictured below was a frame that was outside of my favorite thrift store, sitting on top of the trash can. The people who bought it obviously took what they needed from it and left it there to die. I rescued the frame and put this quote in it; "Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now, and make a brand new ending."

What makes me really happy is that my children have taken this "use what you have principle" and have come up with some of their own favorite things to recycle. The picture below is a city scape of Seattle that Solomon made out of the cardboard that came with some gadget. He gave this masterpiece away to a friend, and well... I was a little jealous, cause I wanted it for my recycled collection.

I guess somehow he picked up generosity as well. Dag-nab-it! I mean whoo hoo!

I am determined learn how to build with all the scrap wood we have around this place, because the possibilities are endless. My Giant built a whole fence from the trees and branches around here. Solomon built his tree house from scrap wood. And I have so many pins, on pinterest... so many pins... so little time for future items I want to keep this trend going with.

To share with you how giddy I get when we are able to use everything that we have for something else is what I am trying to express here.
William Morris famously instructed that you should “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

That, and I hope to redeem myself in the Hippie department. In case after this post;
Hippie Wanna Be you were beginning to doubt that I really do have an ounce or two of hippie in me.
Well, now ya know I do :)

Revisiting The Word Determination

At the beginning of this year, I decided not to have a New Year's resolutions, but rather to pick a word that would encompass my over all goals for 2012. You can find the post about it here;
Determination

Determination, the word I chose to highlight my year is one that I have had to revisit recently as I am now on my third week of Lent and finding it hard to stick with my fast.

I still have another 3 weeks to go, and although I am confident that I will finish well, I have had to be "Determined" about what it is exactly that I want this fast to do.

I read yesterday in John 5, where Jesus is at this pool that sick people used to hang out by, hoping to get healed. They would wait for the water in the pool to stir, and when it did the first one to get in the pool would be healed from whatever ailment was bothering them. If you don't know the story check it out. It's a little hocus pocus if you ask me, don't quite understand why a pool would bring healing, but whatevs!

Back to my point, in this story there is a man who can never get up quick enough to be the winner in the hocus pocus pool, so he is left with his disability, and a good portion of self-pity, Eeyor-ish attitude. Anyone who has had chronic pain, or a lifelong disability I am sure can relate to how he was feeling.

Jesus comes in one day and says, "Do you want to become well?"

Hmm...

My initial response to reading this was, 'Well of course he wants to get well Jesus'. But then I started to think about a whole other side of this story. Like, would if Jesus knew, because he knows everything, that this man was just coming up with excuses? Maybe, he enjoyed the attention he got, the pity party was more fun than real life party, hanging out by the pool had become so comfortable it was scary to think of leaving??? These are all thoughts that maybe Jesus knew about this man and so that's why he asked him;

"Do you want to become well?"

It made me think of how many times I set out to do something to get healthier and in the end give up.

I am nothing, if not consistently, inconsistent. (Say those last 2 words 5 times fast)

So if I take that story and apply it to myself, I would say, Yes I want to get well. I want to be the person who forever changes my lifestyle habits, and never returns to my former ways of life. I want to be the "dog that does NOT return to it's vomit"

I want to be consistent.

I want to be determined.

I want to get well.

Who Do You Listen To?

Recently a huge media outbreak was heard across the world regarding the Kony 2012 campaign. If you haven't heard about this yet, it means that you are not on the computer much, you don't participate in social media's, and once again you are my hero. Or maybe,quite possibly, you're camping out under a rock somewhere, and in that case can I come and join you? I'm joking of course, but either way, if you haven't heard about Kony and you are interested, you can watch the video about it here a few posts below. I think that this post will make more sense if you do.

Moving on...

With my recent awareness about Joseph Kony, I was reminded again about a conversation that I have had many times with My Giant, My Fab 4, other youths(New Girl quote... Schmitt... YOUTHZ... that was for you Shontell) and, well now with you.

The topic here that I want to talk about is who do you listen to? And not just listen to, but who do you obey? That word obey might throw a few of you off, but let me explain.
When my kids were little a friend of ours used to say to her children, "Listen and Obey." I stole that phrase from said friend so quick and adopted it as my own, because... it's not just listening that we need from our children but obedience. We need our children to listen to what we say first, and then we hope they choose to obey. So in regards to us grown children in life, we listen to a lot of people out there, but who do we obey. Or if you really can't get past that word obey, then who do you prefer when it comes down to making a decision about your life?


When the world at large has so many opinions about every topic under the sun, who do you choose to listen to? You can take one topic like the Kony Campaign and spin it a million different ways, but in the end who do you choose to believe? Who's opinion means more to you? Do you listen to the boy in the video who's brother was killed by Joseph Kony, or do you listen to The woman from Uganda clearly defending the country that she loves? Or maybe, you choose to live under a rock... dunno.



This week I read a passage from the bible, found in 1 Kings 19 that reminded me once again who I should listen to, and who I should obey. After watching something like the Kony video, you can't help but listen to the cries of innocent children, but how should I respond was my thought? This passage reminded me not only of WHO I listen to, but again, HOW I should listen. When other voices are so loud, what I should listen for was found there in 1 Kings 19? I think we have to begin there on this topic, because some of us don't even realize we are listening to anything that directly affects the decisions that we make. Some of us have been so far removed from the author and finisher of our faith, that we have forgotten how to listen for when he speaks.

The story that is referenced here is the story of Elijah the prophet. The chapter before 19 talks about Elijah's astounding faith and trust in God, and then so quickly he forgets how to listen. He listened to faith in chapter 18 and in the beginning of 19 he is listening to FEAR. Oh how FEAR can motivate, but that's a topic for another day. Elijah, He is tired of life. He is weary from the evil he sees in the world. He is ready to curl up into a ball and die because the evil seems to be too BIG, and he feels so small. He is ready to live under that rock. And this is what happens;

"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave."

This is a famous scripture that speaks to us all about how we can hear God. When we don't know who else to listen to, we should wait for the whisper. God is usually not in the big windy storms of media, he's not in the earthquakes of news shattering YOU Tube videos, He doesn't generally speak through the Fire of Nancy Grace(sorry Mom), but in the quiet gentle whispers to our souls he speaks to us all.

What he says to you might be different than what he says to me, and that's okay.

What you feel led to participate in I might not touch with a 10 foot pole, and that's okay.

What he quickens in your heart to become a passion for life, might not make sense to me, but that's okay.

When faced with a decision about who it is you should listen to, wait for the gentle whisper.

He will always speak LOVE.
He will always motivate on the side of GRACE.
He will give HOPE.

And He will be In the gentle whisper.

He speaks to us all in a whisper to our individual souls and whether we choose to respond is what makes the world a better place. When we listen to the Lover of Our Souls, The world changes. He will always speak, we just have to quiet out the other voices to hear the whisper.

Listen for the whisper.

Photo Editing

I have recently been playing around with some free photo apps on my computer, and I gotta tell ya... I could spend countless hours doing so.
Here is just one of the finished products that took a good portion of my Saturday afternoon.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Pictures

What a Stay at home mom does with her day. My desk clearly had become the drop off zone and was in much need of some attention.

Did you know that you could put sweaters on Trees? Well you can, and they did here in Redmond. It was a photo op that couldn't be passed up.

Raddest pair of Rainboots that I have seen so far.

That girl right there, she just went through another growth spirt and is now taller than me and way too pretty. I am going out tomorrow and buying some sackcloth and mucking up her hair in the night, and what else can I do to stop this beauty from being seen?? Anyone? Anyone? Sigh... I know, I know... nothing. Play John Mayer's song Stop This Train song here please.

Look. Spring has sprung. Are you ready for some Spring? Do you have a Spring in your step? I do.