Sunday at Pumpkin Vine

September 3, 2006

A day and a moment that I will hold close to my heart.

Lets wrap it up people...

Let's wrap up summer and remember the good times...

Today marks the middle of August- but all I can think about is my favorite season - FALL.

The cutest thing ever...

My favorite exihbit at the new GA aquarium was the river otters. Here's a sweet image:




This is the younger female otter napping and sucking on her paw as she naps. Apparently she keeps her paws warm this way while dozing. She was by far my favorite.

See more images of my visit below:

Beauty amidst Chaos

Complicated.
I find my life has become more complicated over the last few months. But I'm learning that complication and chaos becomes more possible the more I live outside my once safe cocoon.

Did I wish for this, did I in-fact pray for this? More complication?

Maybe chaos and complication are not what I hoped for but that my life would become more multi-faceted. That my world would stop revolving around just me. After all I've done the whole "Me" thing for a long time and I'm fun and all but- hey.

Lesson:
So amidst the chaos there is beauty and I have a better understanding of this now -

The World At My Feet

Me and my sweetie at the river in the smokies. Good,times, good times.

There and back...

Best Wishes to my good friend Kimberly. She's now a Mrs.
Here's a group shot of us in Maui. The pink dresses worked well, and Kimberly looked fabulous. I was blessed to be a witness- thanks Kim.

Jerk the Wheel

I've jerked the wheel.
I'm no longer on the same road I'd been traveling down for the past seven years.
The road is new and the sun's coming from a new direction. I'm not lost, just a new route.
And it's exciting. New landmarks, new roadtrip friends and a new destination.
Whoa. I'm gripping the wheel so hard and it's just started. Hang on.

So close, I cannot taste it.

I'm almost there...only 5-10 more lbs. until I reach my weight loss goal I set back at the end of September. It feels nice to be close, and I'm enjoying the freedom I feel from not being so self conscious about my self. Not that I loathed my self 30 lbs heavier but it made me spend so much extra energy trying to convince my self that I was OK with the way I looked.

I've realized that shedding some weight rejuvenated my spirit and is allowing me to focus on so many other things besides food. For I was and will always be surrounded by food and great meals, but food does not have to run my life.

Life is lighter, I'm lighter and I am moving forward with a renewed focus and a smaller jean size.

It's been fun

I'm writing this entry as therapy. I'm officially wrapping up the holidays by re-capping and moving forward. I've had tons of fun and good times doing anything but thinking about work.

Uhgh...work. I've been off from the office for 10 days and I've almost forgotten what responsibility is. But I digress, this post is about the fun I've had, not the work that lies ahead.

Holidays 2005
- Christmas parties, dinners and gatherings
- late nights with even later sleepy mornings with no rude alarm clock awakenings
- agenda-less days
- birthday parties
- reflections and celebrations on the past 30 years-full
- turkey, ham and cake
- New Years party
- redneck fireworks
- long walks
- seeing and hearing from new and old friends
- new clothes
- new toys

There's no way that a girl could ask for more. I've been blessed beyond what I deserve and I know that 2006 holds great times full of adventure.

How it all began...

<sup>Matthew 1 :18-25

18</sup>This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins."

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"^[d]—which means, "God with us."

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Christmas Card Design

My little hound will be on the front of my Christmas card...look how sweet!

Infatuation

1 : to cause to be foolish : deprive of sound judgment
2 : to inspire with a foolish or extravagant love or admiration
- in·fat·u·a·tion /-"fa-ch&-'wA-sh&n/ noun

In my head, sound judgment is being tossed to the wind. Clear intelligent thoughts are clouded - no, absent, intelligence is absent in these thoughts. I have found my mind weighed and intrigued by an individual. A pleasant intellectual that is unaware that my thoughts drift towards them at any given time. I play with ideas of interaction. I allow my self to day dream and give into whimsical wishing.


What's best about him? Knowledge & faith. He's smart, keen.
- How attractive.

Also, he's thoughtful. Just listen to him talk about his Grandfather.
- There's untapped depth and respect.

He's well-traveled and adventurous.
- Even better.

But I grow tired of waiting.

Get a new post...

A direct quote from a friend and fellow blogger was "Get a new blog up - I'm tired of seeing Happy Punk'in day"

Well here's what's on my mind.

The Holidays.
Not just one, but all of them. I'm pumped. I'm ready.
Bring on the friends, family and fun. Screw 9 to 5.
Bring it.
Fa la la la la, la la la - la.

See new holiday inspired frock below.

- It's Mr. HalloWienie to you

Happy Punk'n Day!

It's PINK

I'm writing this post as a reminder. Not just a personal reminder but I'm asking for accountability from my online community.
In several months I will be a bridesmaid in my good friend Kimberly wedding in Maui. I'm very pumped about being a part of her wedding, going to Hawaii and celebrating, but I'm afraid. I'm being really girly and shallow, but I have to wear a light PINK DRESS on the beach in just a short time. Now, I have auburn hair and currently my tan is fading, and I have made a pact with my self to loose a few lbs before heading to this event.
Now, I'm very thankful that my friend was thoughtful enough to let each maid select the top portion of the 2 piece dress that we will be wearing. I was so afraid that I would be asked to wear a strapless bodice of some kind and have to wrangle myself in so that there's not a wedding "incident" to speak of when the bridesmaid procession occurs. But alas I can select my support system and I happy to report there are many lovely choices. And on the weight note, I've lost about 10 lbs, give or take a few and I can actually start to envision a more comfortable me on the beaches of Maui.

So I thought that from now on I would ask for some subtle reminders and humorous support from the bloggers out there. If you can, just throw me a sweet shout out into the comments from now on. Just leave the words PINK DRESS, in the comments field and that will be my cheering section to stay focused and I will feel the love.

Thanks and think PINK - I know I will.

New Outfit = Happy Girl

My sister and I ran to the mall this morning, and we saw lots of great things. I never go to the mall on the weekends b/c it's so crazy crowed. But we made an exception because my sister felt the need for a quick trip to pick up a new fall "do".

We found her a sassy black skirt with flat pleats at the edge, a Kelly green sweater and strappy black heals. I , who was not going to get anything (like I ever walk out of the mall with out an new item) saw a snappy skirt and shirt that rocks. I'll show a picture for those who need visuals:



Lots of great styles this season + I think I've mentioned how much I Y fall, including clothes.

LeConte Photo Journal '05

Lets ride.

I've never owned a pair of cowboy boots. I love shoes and I really love a beautiful pair of leather boots. But I've never seen a pair of cowboy boots that said "Tiffany".
That was until I saw these:



All I have to say is that these are going to look good with my favorite jeans. And once on I may not ever take'em off.

Pack Mule

So my annual hike up Mt. LeConte is coming up very soon and I can't wait to get on the trail. I think of this hike as my official fall kick off. I've dusted off my hiking gear and and I've been walking the tread mill extra steep the last several months. I love the woods and I can't wait to snuggle down in that old cabin a top the beautiful smokey mountains. This year, I'm going to make it apoint to go see the sunrise or sunset atop mertle point. I've skipped it the last several years but lifes too short to miss that view.

If I'm very still and reflective, I think I can already smell the low lush pines that graze the very top of the mountain.