Smitten with: Succulents

Just thought I'd start a weekly blog topic about things I am currently smitten with.

Which is a lot.

I blame Pinterest (seriously if you haven't joined you need too (if you need an invite let me know)).

My current love is succulents. I love them. Their color, size and shape. And some of them are soft...like I have to pet the plant soft. In fact I am so in love with them, that I got some from Home Depot (ours sells them for $2) and put them in different containers (which I also am smitten with). So here are some of the photos that spawned this new love.


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Life: Back from vacation (if you can call it that)

We're home.

I have never been so happy about being back from a vacation. Between the long delayed flights, the fairly constant noise outside of our hotel room, our less than stellar room and just a lackluster experience overall...I'm beyond ecstatic to be home. Now don't get me wrong, we did enjoy some of the vacation, but for the overall stress and cost, it just wasn't worth it to us.

But before I get into all of that, because I am going to do a review, I thought I would share with you some of the photos we took over our week long vacation in Antigua.

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Check back if you want to hear my thoughts about Sandals and the vacation overall. Should be fun.

Oh and if you want to see the est of the photos from our trip you can head here.

Life: And I'm off!

Well folks I am off to my vacation at Sandals in Antigua. Okay, maybe not quite yet, but we have to leave for the airport at 4am, so I'm saying my good-byes now.

But don't you worry, I'll be back with wonderful pictures and stories!

Life: June 16 (the day my world stood still)

It's been 5 years.

Where has the time gone?

It feels like yesterday I said "I love you" and "good-bye" one final time. The memory of the last time you spoke to me is still fresh in my head. I just kept saying "I love you", because deep down I knew that after that night I was never going to get to hear your voice again.

Now after 5 years I have forgotten the sound of your voice and even how you smell. That freaks me out beyond words and just thinking about it quickly brings me to tears.

But no matter how much I miss you, how much I cry, how much it hurts and how empty my heart feels...

...I am okay.

In fact I am living my life as best as I can.

A lot has happened in 5 years. Some of it would make you sad, like that I don't talk to my sister or father. But there are reasons for it, like my sanity and peace of mind. Even though that isn't what you wanted for us, it's what I needed. I always hope that you would understand, though if you were still here they would probably still be in my life.

Then there is all of the other crazy, exciting, scary stuff. I bought a house and tried to make it my own in a very short amount of time, but I wanted nothing more than to have you there to help decorate. I met a guy, Nate, who I would end up marrying, you and he would have gotten along amazingly well. I bought a dog, to keep me company and make me laugh. I also finally went to St. Thomas. I know you said you'd never go back because of too many bad memories, but I enjoyed getting to see a place you once called home. Then I moved, which was the last thing I expected, but I was in love and love sends you to places you may never have wanted to go. Then Nate proposed, at the Broadmoor Hotel, because he knew how many memories I had at that hotel (you would have been so proud). I continued living in a state I hated, which made me miss you more, but I made it through. I traveled to San Francisco a few times and it's where I ended up finding my wedding dress. That was a hard moment, being around other brides who had their mothers there. Then, after months and months of planning, Nate and I got married. I think you would have loved the venue. We even set out a memorial bouquet of your favorite flowers, Shasta Daisies.

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I forgot to mention, Nate is in the Air Force and is a Physicist. I would have never expected that in a million years, but love has a funny sense of humor (I'm betting you knew I'd marry someone who was really good at math). Of course it's taken some time getting use to being a military wife, though I doubt I will ever really get use to it, it's kind of like middle and high school all over again. I've learned that I'm not a fan of moving. Who knew?

I made friends and lost friends. I gained 50lbs. I lost who I was. Just when I was about to have a huge pity party, we found out we were moving. Again. Now I know why you hated packing. Plus I worry about everything, just like I always have. Luckily we moved to a great new state. I've made new friends. I'm working out (I know, I know...crazy). And I'm doing all I can to rediscover myself.

Along the way, I started this blog. I named it "The Thing About Daisies..." as a homage to you, because the thing about daisies is that they remind me of you. So every day when I write on this blog, I think about you.

I just wanted you to know, wherever you are, that I am okay and I am as happy as I feel that I can be. I live every day to the best of my ability, because as I learned life is too short. You made me strong, opinionated, witty, caring and vibrant and for that I thank you. As much as I need you here, I know that I can face life head on because of what you taught me, but most of all because of how much you loved me.

I love you will all of my heart mom. You are missed every day, but loved even more than that.




To learn more about Kidney Cancer you can read my blog post about it here. Or you can learn about it here. Want to donate? Go here.

Beauty: Purple streak

I forgot to mention in my update last week that I also got my hair colored. A few weeks ago I stumbled across this photo on Pinterest:




And I instantly fell in love with the color. Seeing as there was no way that I was going to cut my hair that short, I had no idea if I could pull off the color. Luckily I have found an amazing salon and ended up with rockingly awesome hair!

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Sorry for the lackluster photos, it's the best my phone can do. Anywho...I love the look. It took a little longer than expected, because my hair wasn't playing as nicely as it should have. But once all was said and done...I was sold. Who knew that red and purple went together so amazingly well!? Perhaps I'll have to do this again!
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