I Wanna Live Where The Green Grass Grows

Since today I am wishing I had a bike to take on a nice long ride, I am going to share a few pictures with you that I took on a ride to Oakwoods Nature Preserve before I Ohio. It's crazy how once you get in to a routine of working out how much you miss it! I definitely am right now.

My bike isn't anything special and I have had it for probably 10 or more years. The trip to Oakwoods takes me about 20 minutes and is about 4 miles. I park her in the shade, slip off my socks and shoes, and walk down to the boat ramp first.

Last time there were a bunch of minnow checking out my toes from a safe distance. 

Then I walk into the woods a way to my special patch of grass and sun!

Above is the path I take. Further up on the trail the park managers added gravel and stones which is obviously upsetting to someone who enjoys walking around barefoot. 

My beautiful patch of grass (above) is constantly dappled with light. I love laying around in the grass and listening to the birds around me and occasionally having false hope that a deer will spring forward on to the path at any moment. Last time I was there I counted 6 or 7 different bird calls, but only saw robins. How rude is that?

Lying around in the grass definitely leaves me covered in debris. I also normally leave the woods with giant red splotches over my abdomen, but for me, the 5 minutes spent there breathing in the woods and birdsong are worth the allergic reaction to the carpet-soft grass.

Further down the trail the path was completely covered by dogwood fluffs. It isn't done justice by this picture but the sight is somewhat magical and gives you the feeling of being transported somewhere else.

Thoughts on grass: I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars. - Walt Whitman

Looking Hot In the Springs

All day I have been singing Boats & Hoes from Step Brothers. I guess that's what happens when I watch too many Will Ferrell movies. I have spent all day in Hot Springs on the lake and in the pool. It is absolutely beautiful here!
Last night I spent a lot of time on some new earrings I'm working on, but those failed miserably and I was too tired to continue when I figured out how I wanted them, but soon I will have a few pairs of lovely earrings to share. For now you'll have to settle for pictures from my trip!
In anticipation of what looks like a great movie: And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had the familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

'All I Am Is All I'll Ever Be, And That's Just A Boy From Texarkana.'

Yesterday I made a journey which I have taken countless times since the age of 6. I drove from Findlay, Ohio down to Texarkana, AR. The drive, which Google says takes exactly 15 hrs, took me 13 hrs and 10 minutes. What can I say? I drive well.

This drive was horribly uncomfortable though. A few months back my car's heating/cooling system stop allowing me to turn it off, and more recently it stopped allowing me to choose what temperature it spits out. The whole way down my car blew hot air on my feet and up my windshield. It would have been fine with me to just roll down my windows for the trip, except that temperatures were upwards of 90 almost the entire second half of it. Needless to say I am now dehydrated and taking in as much water as I can.

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

Other than my almost fainting, the trip went really well. I didn't hit major traffic in any of the cities and only was stopped in Arkansas for road construction for 5-7 minutes. The best views of my trip were definitely the bridge over the Ohio River, Memphis and the bridge over the Mississippi.

You're the only 10 I see ;)

Obviously not my picture... Hernando de Soto Bridge Memphis

This coming Sunday I will be traveling to Miami, FL with my mother and throughout the week we will be going up to Hot Springs! I am so excited to get to spend some time here and am looking forward to all of the awesome projects my sister-in-law and I will accomplish (we already made our first trip to Hobby Lobby today).

Plus being down here means I will finally get to do a bit of shopping with my ladies. I already scored this awesome fringe purse:

From my favorite author: Not all those who wander are lost. – J. R. R. Tolkien

If You Do It Right, Once Is Enough

What do you deserve? Do you deserve freedom? Rights? Choices? Respect? Do you deserve love? What about to die? Punishment? Judgment? Do you deserve better? The best? Payment? Your job? To be happy?

To deserve: v Do something or have or show qualities worthy of (reward or punishment)

synonyms: merit – earn – rate – worth

Here is a secret: you do not deserve anything. That isn't fair, we work so hard for everything we achieve. Certainly I earned my 3.5 GPA this semester. Certainly I earn respect. Oh and of course I earn punishment and judgment. Absolutely not. So am I saying these are all gifts or bad things put on my life by random and I have no part in my destiny?

Nope. All I am saying is that because I deserve nothing, I am free. It is the greatest gift ever given to man. You do not owe any other person anything. Because owing is the brother of deserving. I do not deserve God's love, and I do not owe anything for it. It is given to me freely. I do not deserve to be a child of America. Maybe some people would argue that our government does demand a debt for living here, but do you deserve all of the greatness this country has to offer? I know I don't. I don't deserve my rights. They are given to me. I do not deserve to die for anything I have done, but you know what, I will one day.

So what is the point if we neither owe nor deserve anything? To be happy. Not because you deserve it, because if you live your life trying to deserve happiness you will never attain it. Be happy because you are. Take love for example: when two people promise each other to love one another forever they take out any clause about time. How could you ever work to deserve something when there is no time? How can you ever be happy if there is a stipulation of time? Now is the only time you get. There is no other time than now. Even as you read this your Now has progressed but is still in the same spot. Enjoy your work now. Enjoy your time now. Enjoy those who are put in your life now, but not to the extent that your happiness depends on them. You are alive. You have purpose. Your purpose is not the same as mine, but it is there for you to find. I do not deserve anything. I do not owe anything. I am free.

If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.

Think on this: The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgment.
―Jiddu Krishnamurti

Someday I'll Go to Notre Dame & Scream Sanctuary

So it's bedroom time again. I'm not all the way done but I have done enough for a while. I salvaged a nightstand and painted it, painted a lampshade, 2 dressers, an abstract painting, shells, a bottle, and my piggy bank. I am exhausted! Less talk and more pictures today, because if a picture says a thousand words then I'm about to share a novel. I have included 2 step-by-steps. Enjoy!

Note: All of the paintings hanging around the walls were painted by moi. Most of them are not recent, however.

Salvaged nightstand

Mista Pig

Dresser before

Finished dresser

Before

After!

My favorite part: the afternoon sun across my bed.

Shoes Make the Day

Today is my birthday! Some pretty big things have happened in the past year, and today is my personal new year. I get to reflect on all of the stupid things I have done, all of the wonderful accomplishments and so on and so forth. But I actually don't want to share any philosophical inner thoughts today; mostly because it's my birthday and I'm feeling lazy and thinking about the finer things in life. One of those finer things in life for me in shoes, a personal guilty pleasure, although I guess for it to truly be a guilty pleasure I would have to feel guilty about loving them.

I have a large amount of shoes. I won't be giving out any specific number because, well, maybe there is a little guilt in me. I collect everything from dainty, strappy high heels, to boring flip flops, to hiking boots, riding boots, business heels, cowboy boots, wedges, pumps, stilettos, mary janes, flats, Jesus sandals … I have a lot. Today though I would like to share 4 special shoes that go with 4 dresses I am considering wearing this weekend. Prepare yourself for a lot of photos.

The four dresses:

The four shoes:

“But he is an Italian," was Umberto's sensible reply. "He doesn't care if you break some law a little bit, as long as you wear beautiful shoes. Are you wearing beautiful shoes? Are you wearing the shoes I gave you?...principessa?"

I looked down at my flip-flops. "I guess I'm toast.” ― Anne Fortier, Juliet

One of Those Rides . . .

Anyone who has ever been to Northwest Ohio knows it is as flat as a pancake. Well today the land set out to show me otherwise. I took a bike ride today that really kicked my butt. Normally I bike about 4 miles out to the Oakwoods NaturePreserve, where I slip off my shoes and let my feet soak in the quarry for a bit before I bike the 4 miles back to my apartment. For some reason I decided to take another route today that took me on some of the old roads I used to frequent as a high schooler. My route:

Only 7.3 miles . . . but I kid you not, the entire trek was uphill. If I could draw how it felt, it would be like one of those M.C. Escher drawings that never ends.

M.C. Escher's Ascending and Descending (thanks to tentblogger.com for the crop)

Despite my quads burning wildly afterward, and my being certain I had gone at least 50 miles, I felt very accomplished and proud even when I calculated the distance on Google Maps.

Today's Ride Playlist:

My Girls by Animal Collective

Tangled by Maroon 5

Hello by Beyonce

Ghost of a Good Thing by Dashboard Confessional

Eskimo by Damien Rice

Play Crack The Sky by Brand New

Who Will Save Your Soul by Jewel

Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars

No Sunlight by Death Cab for Cutie

We Intertwined by The Hush Sound

Chicago by Sufjan Stevens

Thoughts on hills: After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
Nelson Mandela