ramblings of spring and cute little brothers

 Our crab apple tree's blossoms finally popped open today, making our back yard look lovely. :) I went out this morning, braving the cold and wind, to capture some shots, and then rushed back in to drink tea. Because I am a wimp when it comes to cold, darlings! :)

 This was the view from a viewpoint above Mosier OR, peeps. Which also happens to be my birth town. ;)

 My drive instructor kindly offered to take a photo of me really quick, and it actually turned out pretty. :) I don't like most photos of me. (Can anybody relate?!)

  James is now walking, and exploring the world outside. Man, I wish kids could stay little forever.

 The field outside a church where we attended a wedding two weekends ago. It was so stunning!

 

  <3 one word. cuteness.

^ we have the weirdest indoor plant that blooms red heart shaped blooms. I think it's a really fun plant, and adds a bit of color. :) Even the leaves are heart shaped. 

So, I want to know something. Is anyone else shocked that tomorrow is the last day of April. The month of spring, of rain and of lemon cakes. The month with the cute pretty name, (One I'll probably use as a name for one of my characters someday.) the month that announces very loudly, "SPRING IS HERE, PEEPS!!"

    Yah, my mind is blown. It was a lovely month, not super busy, but busy enough to keep me from being bored! :) I completed drivers ed, which means that that part of my life is officially over. And I am very thankful. Lets all take a moment to be thankful it's over, and remember what we went through (@hannahelise :). Okay, thanks. I am so glad not to be stressing about tests and drives, and passing and failing. Let me tell you, that's one thing I am really grateful about with homeschooling. You don't have to absolutely freak out about tests. ;) But anyhow, I didn't get an amazing score on my final drive (87%), but I passed, and I am quite happy. And now I can work on getting the rest of the hours I need, and get my license sometime this fall. That will be the day I do happy dances around everywhere I go, and alternate between laughing and screaming. And I will bake a cake to celebrate.

     I  even got a little sunburn last Thursday. :) Time to start tanning a little, and stop looking like a pale ghost!!  I am a huge fan of sunshine. It's happy, and bright and yellow. And I love it. And do you know what is liquid sunshine? Lemon, people, lemon. :) (Guess who just might make lemon pudding later this afternoon.)

     So I'm curious, what is ya'lls favorite thing about spring? A flavor, (like lemon!) or activity, or memory or something... Because I like being nosey and finding new things out about people. :)

Have a lovely spring day, lovelie, and eat some chocolate, 'kay?

xx,

103 in 2013 -- another few things crossed off the list

I haven't done a 103 in 2013 post in a while, and have finally decided to sit down and cross everything I've done off the list. :)

3. Find the big dipper entirely on my own. I found it several months ago, actually, on the way home at night from Yakima. :) I was extremely proud of myself.

^ The big dipper and a falling star. win-win. :)

27. Sew a pretty dress for myself. I made a dress for a wedding we attended this last weekend, and it turned out so cute. Photos (hopefully) coming soon.

31. read Sense and Sensibility. I love this book, I love the movie, and I just love Jane Austen. Anybody agree with me? :) Her characters are so much fun and so interesting and they fascinate me. And Elinor is so amazing, and I can totally relate with her and Maryanne. And now I'll stop fangirling.

76. Learn to do some hairstyles on myself. I haven't perfected many yet, but I have learned some, and gotten over my fear of doing hairstyles to myself. I'm not afraid to try at least now.

94. Go through my closet and get rid of everything I won't ever wear.  My mom actually did this for me a couple months ago. We got rid of 15+ things. o-O 

103. See a shooting star. Such a simple thing, yet it made me so happy. Stars always make me happy. =) 

     So what are you looking forward to this weekend, now that the week is already half over. :) I am not looking forward to my drive test this weekend, but it will be lovely to have my drivers ed class completely done.

How's your spring been?

xx,

spring arrived with a lemon cake // and i rebel against capital letters

     this weekend, i smelled summer in the air for the first time. the skies were a deep blue, and the air was a very lovely 65+.   i'd never noticed before that summer has a smell in the air that distinguishes it from spring (and autumn), but it does. i don't know how to explain it, except that it's a warm smell, and not light and breezy like spring, but deeper. i don't know... have you ever noticed how summer smells? 

      

     april second. it's crazy how fast this year has gone by already. although i said that last year too. time just seems to fly, which is okay with me, because it means that stuff is happening and i'm not bored. 

     i also made a lemon cake (and a poppy seed one) this weekend, and it just screamed spring! lemon is what spring is all about anyway, isn't it?  for some reason i have always considered lemon like springs flavor, or something, so it made me happy.

     i only have three more classroom classes for drivers ed, (although i have five drives to complete as well) and i still can't believe that i'm learning to drive. it's been fun and terrifying too, being in control of a vehicle on the road, doing it all by myself. i only scare my mom once a week or so, so it's all good. :) let’s just say that if there had been a car right next to me on the freeway yesterday, I would have crashed into him, but there wasn't, so i didn't. :) and i didn't run into that post head on, just with the side of our van, so that's a little better, right? 

     i've decided to grow my hair out again , after debating with myself for a while about cutting it, and as a result have been trying to learn some new hairstyles. i've only mastered one so far, but am excited to start learning more. i found a sight that has 60+ hairstyles for my length of hair (or a little longer) and i love almost all of them. :) 

    mom's been making these adorable flowers. cute, yes? :)

xx,