(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

We've actually had some pretty nice weather here the past few days. It was HOT last week and throughout the weekend, but thankfully the temperatures have left the 90's and it's not *quite* as humid. We've had a little bit of rain too, which is always nice. I got to see THREE rainbows on Monday evening! One was a single rainbow and the other was a double! And the clouds that evening were phenomenal! I was sad I was driving so I couldn't get any pictures. I did get a picture of the double rainbow though!

The sky one morning last week.

The double rainbow!

The BIG fluffy clouds yesterday afternoon outside work. I was sad that I have all these power lines outside my building to obstruct my view!

I hope the skies have been just as gorgeous where you reside! It sure does make for some pretty pictures and a nice reminder from God that He creates everything perfectly. I think it's also a great reminded that He REALLY loves us. Think about it, if He is so great that He creates the skies AND He loves and cares about us, we must be really special! =)

Cindy

Storm Relief

During the month of June and so far in July we've had SO MUCH RAIN. It rained almost every day last week, and in June it rained at least a little bit practically every day it seemed! Kinda crazy, huh? It's currently pouring buckets outside. The field across from my window is flooded. In June we even had some pretty terrible storms. One actually produced a tornado (it was only an EF-0) that caused some damage in a nearby neighborhood. It also produced a water spout over the Patuxent River that I saw broadcast live on a TV station based in DC which is about an hour and a half away. This storm was bad, people. But despite all this rain, we have had some pretty sky scenes to make up for it!

I hope that the weather has been more fair to you than it has to us! I'm ready for a break from the rain. It's been really good for the crops though. The corn is so tall already this year! It's going to be great for corn mazes in the autumn!

Cindy

5 Fact Friday

Hi friends! Did you think I disappeared? I haven't (obviously), but I just haven't felt like blogging. Anyway, I'm here today to do the Random 5 Friday thing with Nancy!

1. My little baby turned 1 year old last Friday! We've only had Seabass since last August, but it's been so fun to watch him grow up and thankfully to calm down some!

The day we brought him home.

This was taken just a few weeks ago. He's practically doubled in size! The boy eats so much!
We have to shoo him away from Stank's food. Little booger.

2. I painted my toenails on Friday for the first time since like October. I hate having bare nails when they will show. However, I hadn't worn open toed shoes until Friday. So hot pink it was! And then I realized it matched my night gown!

3. On Sunday evening a little bit before bed I went to the bathroom. While I was almost done I see a huge wolf spider come scurrying under the bathroom door. I scream and scream and scream. Collin comes running and at this point I'm crying because I'm trapped inside the bathroom with this giant spider. It was the most traumatized I think I've ever been. Holy cow. I literally cried for about 15 minutes because I was so traumatized. Thank goodness I was able to leave the bathroom and Collin was able to get rid of it after I did.

4. The other day we were out on the frisbee golf course. We stumbled upon this beautiful purple flower/plant that was all over this one section and neither of us knew what it was. It makes me sad because I'm pretty good at identifying flowers. Do any of you know what this is?

5. It's been a little while since I've seen a sunrise or a really good sunset. The sun has already peaked when I leave for work now and either I've been at home when the sun has set lately or it's been too cloudy for a nice one. So I was thrilled when I saw this sunset on Tuesday evening!

I hope you guys have a lovely weekend! It's supposed to be warm and nice here. Don't really have much plans except for a minor league ball game on Sunday! It will be fun though. I know that much!

Cindy

Godlight

This past weekend I went on a women's mini retreat. The retreat was scheduled for six hours on Saturday, however, my book club decided that since we were the ones hosting the retreat we would do our own mini sleepover the night before at the retreat center. Both events were fantastic and I was so glad to spend so much time with my girlfriends! We laughed, cried, learned, grew closer to God and to each other, and barely slept. =) The weather was just gorgeous and the retreat center we were at is right on the water so it provided for some spectacular views of Friday evening's sunset! It was some seriously awesome Godlight! The ladies were making fun of me because I was so excited about taking pictures of the prettiness!

The theme for our retreat weekend was HOPE. It's so encouraging to know that because I am a child of God that I have hope in every circumstance. My hope rests in Christ, the solid rock on which I stand. Jeremiah 29:11 states that God knows the plans He has for my life, and those plans are GREAT. So I can place my hope in Him because I know that whatever may come, it will be great and used for God's glory!! It's my hope that I can share and spread the hope that comes from God with everyone that I meet!

Cindy

5 Fact Friday

Happy Friday! We've officially had our new apartment for one week today! Though we didn't have our first night in our new apartment until Saturday, we signed the lease and began moving stuff in on Friday. =) And then of course this week has been super busy because of it. But not just because of moving. Our play at church is tonight and tomorrow! So Monday night and last night we had rehearsals. And of course we had the normal praise team rehearsal on Tuesday night. All of our spare time so far has been spent unpacking. But it hasn't been too bad! We got a good bit done so far. I love it!

1. Since we lived in a one bed/one bath apartment before, we have things we need that we didn't before, so tomorrow during the day we'll be purchasing things for our new place! I love it!

2. When I get stressed my stomach acts weird. It's very unfortunate that I had two big events back to back like this (moving and the play) because my stomach has been a mess! I've been taking acid reducer medicine for about two weeks now to help calm my stomach.

3. The sky is my favorite thing to photograph, that's nothing new to my followers. This sunset last Friday was breathtaking.

4. I unfortunately did not get out my "big girl" camera at all this spring. Or at least not so far. And to be honest, I've failed pretty miserably at taking pictures in general. But I've been so busy that I just haven't had time. That's not to say though that I've failed to notice the beauty. Because that would be so wrong. I have enjoyed and appreciated the GORGEOUS spring we've had every day. It's been incredible! I did take a few pictures with my iPhone though.

5. With all this talk of Google Reader disappearing, I want to make you guys aware that I do indeed have Bloglovin. If you'd like you can follow me over there to keep up to date on all my posts!

Happy weekend, friends! I hope you have a wonderful and delightful time. I am really looking forward to the play, though I will be a bit relieved when it's over because hopefully my stomach will get back to normal, and I will have free time again!

Cindy

5 Fact Friday

Happy Friday, my friends! It has been a long week here. Not quite sure why, it just seemed to have dragged by. But IT'S THE WEEKEND!! I am so happy for this weekend. Nothing really planned except for a group dinner with my book club and all our husbands on Sunday, but I love weekends!

1. This past week I signed up for some free online courses through a government sponsored "university" to better myself for my job. However, I have spent hours trying to figure out first, why I couldn't log in, and then trying to figure out why the content for the course wouldn't load on my computer. Frustrating. But, at least I got to listen to this ridiculous hold music the university has.

2. Collin has been watching The Walking Dead pretty much since it started. He has always been a zombie fan and I on the other hand am terrified of zombies. I would try not to be around when Collin watched the show but sometimes it was just impossible. Then the story pulled me in. So when Season 3 came back a few weeks ago, I started watching it, too! And now I can't wait for 9 PM on Sunday nights!

3. It snowed on Monday AND Thursday this week. I think I mentioned that earlier. It didn't stick to the roads on Monday and then on Thursday it didn't stick at all, but still, it snowed. However, I didn't hate it. It was much too pretty to hate. I thought it would make me mad because it was supposed to be spring on Wednesday, but I enjoyed the snow!

4. The first day of spring turned out to be a pretty nice day! And I love that Rita's gives away free Italian ice that day. I went with Collin and some of his coworkers. I got myself a yummy cup of chocolate!

5. Taking this photo yesterday afternoon really made my heart happy. It turned out to be such a beautiful afternoon. And it made me want to go on a photo walk to capture spring prettiness.

I hope you guys have a happy weekend. I pray it's full of fun and relaxation!

Cindy

5 Fact Friday

Happy Friday! I thought this Friday would NEVER come. UGH. It has been the longest week. And I have felt so uninspired about blogging and photo taking. I blame it on the weather. It's been so schizophrenic here! One day it's sunny and in the 40's, the next it's windy, cold and SO MUCH RAIN. Supposedly we were under a winter storm warning on Wednesday. Seemed more like it should have been a tropical storm warning with the amount of rain and lack of snow we got. And the wind was awful! It really did seem like a tropical storm out there! We even had some downed trees around the county. But the rain stopped, and it issunny today and was yesterday, too. And the temperatures are rising; it's supposed to be in the 50's for the foreseeable future! Now the wind just needs to blow out. ha!

1. I don't mind a little bit of cloudiness/precipitation, I know it's good for the earth, but boy do I love seeing the sun and white fluffy clouds after it's been gross out.

2. I really enjoy card making but sometimes I just don't feel inspired to create.

3. On that same note, I am SO excited to be moving into a two-bedroom apartment next month so the other bedroom can be an office/craft room. My head is spinning with possibilities for decorating and arranging it. I can't wait to have an actual desk to make cards on and to have an easier way to store my stuff!

4. We got a free one month trial of Hulu+ and I've been watching through Sabrina the Teenage Witch for the past few weeks.

5. This weekend Collin is going on our church's men's retreat. I am really excited for him but I'm dreading being alone at night! This isn't the first time he's left me at home for a retreat, but it's not often at all!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

We haven't had a sunrise like that in several days. I've been missing my pretty sunrises on my drive to work. Today's was especially nice because the rest of the day it's overcast and supposed to start raining. I think my favorite part of today's sunrise was the clouds, though. They're just so pretty!

Cindy

A GREAT Birthday!

Oh you guys, I had a great birthday yesterday! It was so, so nice. Much better than last year, that's for sure! Last year's was kinda depressing, but this year made up for it! It was a BEAUTIFUL day temperature-wise. It was cloudy but didn't rain at all until late afternoon and then it was just a sprinkle. That stopped and it didn't even really start to rain again until overnight! But besides the temperature, I felt so much love! Everyone was wishing me a happy birthday, I got to spend time with family and I just enjoyed the day! My aunt took my mom and I out to lunch (my mom's birthday is today!), I got to do some shopping at Ollie's after work and I found some goodies, I got to get adjusted at the chiropractor which always makes me feel better, then I got to have dinner at Cracker Barrel with my parents, Collin's parents and my sister, and to top the evening off I got to snuggle on the couch with Collin and catch up on some shows on Hulu. It was so delightful!

My special birthday message from Collin first thing.

The beautiful birthday sunrise!

A coworker gave me one of his cinnamon roll things he had brought in that morning!

My delicious loaded baked potato soup at Long Horn Steakhouse for my birthday lunch!

The temperature about mid-afternoon!

Lately this has been one of my favorite places.

So once we left the chiropractor and went to dinner I completely forgot about wanting to document my day and didn't take any more pictures. =( Sadness but it's okay. It was a GREAT day!!

Cindy

Life, Lately!

It's been a fun and busy past few days! We got more snow on Friday afternoon/evening which (along with my cold) kept us home, I had a lovely girl's day with some ladies Saturday, Sunday we had church, lunch with some friends, and some errand running. Then yesterday it was back to work and then play practice last night at 8pm. Whew! And the busy-ness isn't going to end until this weekend (or maybe after!) I don't necessarily mind being busy, but keep me going too long and I get annoyed and just want to be home!

The pretty snow on my lunch break last Thursday once the sun came out and it had stopped snowing.


The pretty sky on my way back in to work after lunch on Thursday.

Do they look mischievous? It's because they were. Collin put Seabass in the snow to freak him out, instead he runs around trying to climb trees and hiding in bushes. Needless to say, I freaked out a little!

After his excursion in the snow, he decided to make it up to me by snuggling in my lap for a long while that evening.

A pretty sunrise on Friday morning before the weather got bad again.

I'd been wearing my puffy down coat all last week because it keeps me warm. However, sometimes the feathers escape!

The snow on my windshield as I left work on Friday afternoon. It had only been snowing for about an hour and there was already significant accumulation and the roads were slippery!

Even though it was snowing outside I made myself a hot fudge sundae!

While watching Back to the Future Seabass slept on me.

I love when Collin tries to figure out songs. He is so great at hearing something and being able to play it. I love his musicality.

The frost on my car windows Sunday morning as we left for church.

Somebody hit my car door with their car door it looks like... I have no idea who it was and there's a little bit of scratching at the top mark. =/ My poor car was already dirty enough from the snow/salt. Now it's damaged. =(

I don't like the cold weather, but I sure do like that I can wear cute hats!

So that's a little bit of what's been going on lately! Today is so nice and warm! It's almost 60° and tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid 60's! Which is perfect because I can wear a dress AND... Tomorrow is my birthday!! I'm really excited! There's not really anything too big planned, we're just going to Cracker Barrel for dinner tomorrow evening with family. But I love that place and can't wait to enjoy a delicious meal! This birthday isn't anything too terribly monumental, I'm turning 27, but I still love celebrating. I love celebrating life! Plus, it gives me an excuse to spend time with family and get a good meal. =)

Cindy