Spring is here and I am outside!

Ever since good weather has arrived I would rather spend my time out of doors then inside on the computer. I've enjoyed kayaking with friends and family, recitals, bike rides, family dinners and picnics, mowing, climbing trees, and getting my apartment painted and pretty. It's been really busy and today has been a nice and slow day to reflect on what's been going on this past month.

My family and I were really blessed to have our cousins come visit us a couple weekends ago, Shannon and Elizabeth! I don't know if they were expecting to be dragged every which way when they came to visit. They of course got dad's house tour and then the rest of the time we spent visiting Harpers Ferry, kayaking, grilling, and just hanging out. It was wonderful to see them both before they leave to go to Prague coming up at the end of this summer.

We climbed dangerous trees out into the Shenandoah River

Contemplated life the universe and everything

Snuck down secret passageways

Identified trees

Waited a really long time to eat lunch with family

Learned about the Civil War

And enjoyed unexpected adventures

The weekend before their visit we had the annual National Pike Festival wagon train that comes over the bridge on our property. We had all of our family that could come over for a big brunch before the wagon train came. It lasts all of 5-10 minutes for the wagons to go over our bridge but it's interesting to see. It's always such a blessing that I get to spend so much time with my extended family. They are so much fun to be around and so full of wisdom and laughter!

The horses and their wagons going over the Wilson bridge

Jeremy practicing for when he has six of his own!

Mostly though I've been spending my time on the creek by my house with people I love. I hope to be on it a lot this summer and with lots more people too. There's just so much to do and see on the water.

Mom's got mad skill

Melody styling the cool straw hat

Me acting like a monkey

Tons of turles just chilling on fallen logs

And the reality of new life all around.

I hope and pray that God is showing you how wonderful His creation is in it's people and world each and every day!

Tag! I love that game.....

Okay so to say that I love playing tag is a true statement (and I honestly play it daily with my pre-schoolers), but being tagged on-line is a totally different thing. Never done it before so I don't know what it's like yet. Here goes, my cousin Emily tagged me to share these things about me:

10 years ago I was:

I was 14 years old and just finishing my freshman year of high school, I swore like a sailor and thought I was the coolest.

5 years ago I was:

Working on my associates degree in Education and working at a Fabric store (without the potty mouth and with a much stronger relationship with God).

1 year ago I was:

Finishing my degree in Art and getting ready to move home.

5 things on my to do list today:

Paint the kitchen

Call about a canoe

Find a car

Feed the butterflies (which I forgot to do, they're not butterflies yet I just hope they don't come out of their chrysilids before Monday)

Catch tadpoles (we're studying sea life next week in my pre-k class, how can we do that without looking at actual aquatic life)

5 snacks I enjoy:

slush (a frozen mixture of pineapple, orange juice, and bananas)

breyers vanilla ice cream (plain jane style)

cut up fruit and vegetables (watermelon, pears, bananas, cantelope, strawberries, pineapple)

cheese and crackers

no bake cookies

If I were a billionaire I would:

Pay off all my families debts, Buy the house next door and then open up my own pre-school to teach a small class of students through exploring the world around them in a safe environment. I'd buy more kayaks so I could invite more people to go kayaking with me and not have to borrow other peoples boats (not that they mind but I don't want to become burdensome). Help the people in my neighborhood to repair their homes. Make sure that I always had food with me to feed anyone that I met that was hungry. Buy the racetrack next to my house and turn it into a community center with fields to play in and dirt to grow with if you want, an awesome rock climbing facility and a recreation center for kids to come to when they're done with school so they have a safe place to hang out (but it wouldn't by any means be just for kids). Have a place for animals to be kept and grown; sheep, cows, goats, chickens, and pigs. Take my Grandparents out to visit their family out west. Travel to visit all of the people that I've been wanting to visit but couldn't because I had to work or couldn't afford it. Then go visit all of the other places in the world that I want to see (Israel, Egypt, Ireland, British Columbia, New Zealand, Sweden, Zambia, Alaska, Iceland and the list goes on).

5 bad habits:

-remembering to brush my hair :) (the finger stroke gets me by pretty well)

-procrastinating

-either not getting enough sleep or gettting too much of it (not a good balance there)

-not being considerate enough of the people that i care about the most (it's too easy to say that i know they'll love me anyway)

-getting back to people in a timely manner (phone call, e-mail, what have you)

5 places I have lived:

Jacksonville, FL

Hagerstown, MD (back there now)

Chambersburg, PA

Grantham, PA

Greencastle, PA

5 jobs I have had: (just five?)

Newspaper girl

Joann's Fabrics cashier/stocker/keyholder

Ponderosa Steakhouse waitress/cashier/cook/dishwasher

Roofer (volunteer work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and then paid work with my daddy)

Pre-K Teacher/Art Teacher (current position and loving it)