what I’ve been reading: “Why Can’t I Be You” by Allie Larkin

 
Why Can’t I Be You by Allie Larkin has an average rating of 4.04 on Goodreads.

The story starts off when the main character, Jenny Shaw, gets mistaken for another woman by the name of Jessie Morgan in a hotel lobby. She pretty much takes the opportunity to become this Jessie Morgan who she looks ridiculously similar to out of either curiosity, being too nice to break this woman’s heart who has shown extreme level of joy in seeing “Jessie”, or because she was tired of her life and wanted a break from being herself. That’s what I gathered from this book at least…

I felt a sort of connection with Jenny due to the relation she has with her Mother and gained a better understanding of myself that I hadn’t before.  She was however a little frustrating to relate to at times but it was difficult to hate her.

I gave this book three stars (more like a 3.5 but not worthy of a full 4) because although I enjoyed it, it didn’t capture me. I found it a task to finish this book and had been reading it on and off for three weeks. It was an easy read which flowed nicely but the ending was expected; a little “meh” if you will.

+Follow me on Goodreads

it’s Friday!!

This week flew by fast with my Daughter having a four-day weekend this past week and I can’t believe it’s Friday already.  I don’t have much planned out this weekend so it’s going to be a smooth sailin’ weekend with  Trina –Ariel has Honor Guard duty this weekend. Movies, books, soccer games, and crafting.

So until next week, I bid you adieu and farewell with these that I found over the course of this week. I hope they bring you smiles and inspirations the way they did for me. :)

+ everyone should keep these written down and hung somewhere in the home.

+ a story to help remind you that age really is just a number. Also to never judge a book by its cover!

+ a quick equation on various relationships. A must read for a quick laugh.

+ some snarky excuses to use on that one person.

+ where children from different parts of the world sleep. Something great to show your primary school aged kids!

+ I sort of can't wait for Summer to be over already JUST so I can make this and display it!

+ Some great ideas to personally challenge yourself.

+ A pretty nifty arts and crafts idea you could enjoy with your kids! I think I might do this this weekend.

+ 100 ways to repurpose everything!

and last but not least,

See you all Monday!

Two Generations.

Trina has recently shown interest in baseball after hitting balls around with her cousin and his parents. She has never swung a bat once in her life prior to this but did surprisingly well! She enjoyed it so much that she even asked if she could play baseball after soccer season was over to which Ariel and I agreed to. We already had a few old baseball bats so all we needed were baseball gloves. I was looking around for recommended gloves when I remembered seeing one of my old baseball gloves in my Dad’s garage so~

 

I asked if I could have them. :)The glove that Ariel is using here is a vintage Mizuno GOC-7 that my Dad used as a young man. I remember my Dad playing catch with me using this glove when I was Trina’s age. My Dad’s work eventually took over his free time so he no longer had  the time or energy to play physically demanding sports and because of this, the gloves are still in great condition. It’s currently in between the mattress of my bed being broken in.

    

It definitely warmed my heart to see the gloves being used to play catch between Father and Daughter the way my Dad and I once had, and I was happy to see that Trina is much better at catching the ball than I ever was.

My Songs.

For today’s BEDM challenge, I had to pick a few songs that brought memories. So~ I made a playlist of songs that told stories of bits and pieces of the most memorable moments in my life.

Melted Crayon Art

I know, I know… I’m extremely late jumping onto this bandwagon but here I am~ Better late than never, right?

I saw this on Pinterest probably almost two years ago and have been meaning to get around to it and I finally did. I did quite a bit of research on this (if you can consider googling a research) and learned that using a heat gun would have the best results. I acquired one from my Dad (he’s a retired contractor+constructor so he has tons of “man toys” I get to borrow!) and decided on a test run before allowing m

y Daughter to start on hers. I wanted to get the feel for this whole thing to assist my Daughter the best way I could and decided to share with you all on the things that I learned!

1. If you’re using a heat gun like me you really need to consider the power of heat on this thing. It’s really unlike using the blow dryer where you need to keep the nozzle closer to the crayons to avoid splatters. I recommend that you keep the nozzle of the heat gun 12inch+ away from the crayons.
   
2. BE PATIENT! It’ll take a few minutes for the crayons to melt but IT WILL MELT! I thought I was doing it wrong because there was no melting going at all the first minute so I brought the heat gun closer to the canvas. HUGE mistake because the crayon melted in liquid form causing it to slip out of its wrapper.
   
3. Bringing the heat gun closer will melt the crayons liquid-like. Keeping it at a distance will melt the crayons in droplet form.
   
4. Start from the bottom-up (or from the pointy end of the crayon to the end). I think this was also a cause of the crayon slipping out because for some dumb reason I did it top-bottom.
   
5. Like using a blow dryer (which I have yet to try), you have to mind the flow of air from your heat gun to avoid splatters. The red splatters were caused by my heat gun being angled towards the ground and too close to the canvas. [see second photo]
   
6. If you allow the crayons to dry (and it’ll dry in a few minutes) and go at it again with your heat gun, you will get a lumpy/layered/wave-like texture. Some people like this but I personally prefer without it. [See third photo]
   
7. A few important tips I picked up from my google-research was to use the Crayola brand and to keep the crayon in its paper wrap when gluing onto the canvas.
   

 

In conclusion this was such an affordable craft and so much fun! I got the a package of three 12”x16” canvases for $9.99 at Fred Meyers and the crayons were on sale for $1.04 (I used a 20% off coupon) for a 24 count. It didn’t create much of a mess but once again, I was using a heat gun so there wasn’t too much splattering. I probably should have stopped when I had the effect shown in the second photo but I really couldn’t help myself!

+I used 35 crayons out of 48 for this 12”x16” canvas.

+Click here for I thought was the best tutorial out there for this art project.

Taking the rest of the week off to~

...find the direction of where I want this blog to be headed. There's just so much that I want to do but it's all too chaotic.

It's not like anyone really cares, but I thought I'd make an announcement because it makes me feel like somebody does care. ^________^

toodles!

Obnoxious (Pregnant) Women

I think this is mainly for how I felt last month at the OBGYN located in Joint Base Lewis-McChord. 

So as I sat there, waiting for my name to be called, a woman probably in the late months of 7 or 8 months was sipping from an extra large fast food cup. Now I don't want to assume that it was soda but it was brown-ish colored liquid. Plus it helped me be more understanding about the next situation so I'd like to believe so, unfortunately...

So anyways, as this lady is walking by, she lets out one of the most disgusting burp ever and me having super-hero sense of smell, I smelled it. Every last bit of her grossness. She didn't bother to say excuse me which bothered me a lot because you know, I'd like to think that manners are still important but whatever, she's pregnant so she gets a pass. Right?

WRONG! When was it ever okay for a person to throw out all of their manners out the door due to pregnancy?! I mean it's just a simple manner of saying "excuse me" or to burp under a cupped hand but gosh... Maybe I'm just irked by the fact that my hormones are all out of whack. I've become one hairy person ya know. 

pretty things

1. sunglasses from rag & bone
2. pretty lacey flats from modcloth
3. gorgeous purse from opening ceremony
4. a sweet rope lamp from anthropologie
5. denim jansport bag from urban outfitters
6. leather bucket bag tote from etsy
7. an adorable pitchfork ring from pour porter
8. comfy felted wool slippers from etsy

perks of being pregnant

Aside from the joys and expectancy of bringing a beautiful little person into your family, there are other perks too! Of course, there are the not-so-greats to pregnancy but it's better to focus on the brighter things, right?

So here’s are MY favorite things about being pregnant!

+ having random food requests delivered no matter the time of day or night… or creak of dawn…

+ not having to worry about weight gains but focusing on a healthy weight gain throughout your pregnancy. This is a toughy for me because my appetite has diminished due to morning sickness during my first trimester. I’ve only JUST reached second so I’m doing my best to gain a healthy amount of weight before my next check-up!

+ I miss going to the gym sooooo much with my Husband. It was kind of our daily thing but with my lack of energy, I’ve become a waste of space at the gym. With that said, I miss weight lifting but love being banned from heavy lifting.

+ new dresses! I don’t have to explain this any further, right ladies?

+ my new super-hero-power-like ability to smell everything. Grocery shopping has become immensely fun (bakery aisle anyone?) and that much more dangerous due to this super-hero power.

+ being able to take a nap without an excuse because you know, I have a reason!

+ being able to be picky about what I eat without being seemingly rude.

+ the forced habit to be (and keep) healthy! The change of diet is a huge one. I’ve been eating an increased amount of fruits since I became pregnant. I’ve also been limiting my artificial sugar intake (sodas for example).

+ the extra attention from Ariel. I’ve always been showered with his love and affection but we’re both a bit of an independent type. We don’t really like to douse each other with attention every minute of every day but I’ve come to realize that I’m actually a sucker for the extra (extra, extra) care and affection.

+ seeing the joy, curiosity, and wonder of my Daughter; the soon to be older sister. I love her weekly questions of “Which fruit is the baby the size of now?” and “What’s new about the baby this week?”. She is so prepared for this new baby that she has also started working on a lullaby!!

So here it is folks! Do you have any  that you’d like to share? If you’re pregnant that is… or have been pregnant of course!

what I’m struggling with

I really had to dig deep for this challenge and had to slice and dice things up a little to come up with this. This is something that I’m not really struggling with, but rather trying to avoid.

I don’t want to be like my Mother.

So many women says this and it is rare that it is due to hate. But that’s kind of what it is… Well, I don’t really hate my Mother, but I don’t like her a lot which lies on the verge of hate. I call her by her name by the way, which is very unusual for an Asian woman to do but love and respect my Step-Mother as my own.

I want to be like my Step Mother.

Now what I mean by not wanting to be like my Mother, or Helen and more like my Step Mother is in many areas of life. I want to live and keep things simple like my Step Mother or as I like to call her, my Mom. I want to raise and guide my child(ren) with love and understanding like she does. I don’t want to drown my child(ren) in an environment of anger and stress where every day is a challenge to make “Mommy happy”. I don’t want to judge people for every little thing they do and blame the world for the wrongs in my life. I want to guide my child(ren) after I have understood their troubles and fears; not by adding more troubles and fears because they couldn’t get it right to my preference. I want to teach them firmly but with love and not with an object within reach. I will call my children with words that’ll help them grow; not bitch, slut, child-of-a-dog, worthless shit, etc etc… I want my guests who enter my home to know that it is a home overflowing with joy, peace, and love. I don’t want my guests walking into a home filled with God-knows-what mess and blame it on her barely tween children because her lazy ass couldn’t suffice to do her job right. Yeah that’s right Helen, the whole town knows you’re a mess. Ugh, eff this crap, I hate that woman.

Maybe I should have wrote about “Struggling to not hate my Mother.” I almost didn’t want to do this challenge but I’m glad that I did… or maybe I shouldn’t have.

++Be sure to check out the rest of my May 2013: Blog a Day Challenge here.

sharing is caring

Some people like to over-analyze everything but this was sort of-kind of interesting-ish.

here is a video showing why you never interrupt a comedian!

keep this in mind for your next night out with your ladies/gents/pals/pals/buddies/friends/etc.!

enjoy these tips awesome tips on what you can do with your mason jars!

marvel at this photo of a dew-jeweled ladybug and daydream with these photos from the past.

this dad is pretty awesome.

home made girl scout cookies? Um, yes please!

her flower crown, this flower crown, and make your own flower crown diy!

totally loved her & her outfit!

and last but not least, I would love to have to will visit this place someday!

how i won the student election.

I immigrated to the sweet ol’ US of A when I had just turned nine. I didn’t speak or understand a word of English and was constantly frustrated by my inability to express my thoughts in school. Mind you, I was an incredibly smart kid who had memorized the entire multiplication table, knew how to read the time, and knew how to read and write the Korean language before I entered primary school so not being able to communicate was incredibly frustrating. But with hard work and dedication, I found myself fluent in English in about four years time. This story however takes place two years after my arrival to America, in fifth grade.

Because I had grown up away from my Parents and siblings for nearly the first decade of my life, I wasn’t so close to them: my Parents. They were sort of trying to get to know me and well, I was trying to win their love and approval any way that I could. In the final year of Primary school, the fifth graders were eligible to run for Associated Student Body (ASB) and I boldly made the decision to run for Student Body President.  My posters were understandably a mess in my chopped up English and well, I didn’t prepare much for the speech. Matter of fact, it was sort of difficult to understand the step-by-step process of the whole thing and I didn’t get a chance to prepare my speech at all. So I did what any unprepared, determined kid would; I freestyled it.

I sat in the waaaaay back row with the rest of the candidates both nervous and extremely excited. I probably had the dumbest grin on my face because after careful thought and consideration, I knew exactly what I wanted to say. Like I mentioned previously, I was a pretty smart student in Korea. The teachers favored me and I wanted to mention that. I wanted to let the school know that I was a good student in Korea and that if they could put a little faith in me, I would be the best Student Body President in the history of Larchmont Elementary School.

In preparation of my turn to come, I went over my speech and I prayed. I prayed my special little prayer and I believe till this day that without that prayer, I wouldn’t have won the election. I let God know that I needed this and that I wasn’t running to win the election for myself, I was doing it to make my Parents proud of me. I was doing it for them. I don’t think I even knew what a Student Body President was.

So my name gets called and I walk towards the mic with my sweaty little fingers crossed behind my back. I grab the mic from the stand and introduce myself,

“Hello, my name is Yirang.”

Here’s where it gets interesting.

[Pause]

“My name is Yirang, and I was Champion of Korea! Vote for me! You’ll like it.”

[throws fist in air, victoriously]

[silent auditorium]

[I bow, put mic back, and return to my seat]

[scattered applause in auditorium]

Excuse my language but I’m not shitting you. The other kids had promises of free pizza and soda every Friday and that was my freaking speech.

But hey, I won.

Sometimes when I find myself straying from the path of faith, I think of the moment when the prayer of little me was graciously answered. Sometimes when I feel like He isn’t there, I remind myself with this little memory that He is always listening.

There ya have it folks. Be sure to link me to your story!

 

++Be sure to check out the rest of my May 2013: Blog a Day Challenge here.

Image source: society6

Favorite Photo of Myself

I know it’s kind of cheesy putting up a photo of you and your Husband up as your "favorite photo” but as I was looking through my file of endless photos, none came close to this. This candid shot was taken a short time before my Husband and I started dating so long ago.

My Husband and I met at a local library in the year 1999. I was in my last year in Jr. High and he was a Junior in Senior High. We became two people who knew each other by name with an occasional greeting every now and then. We soon ended up attending the same Sr. High school and we became close friends. Him being the intelligent, charming, and kind man that he was (and is) it was a no brainer why I was attracted to him. But there was something else about him that I was so drawn to that I couldn’t put my finger on until a few years into dating. It was merely an attraction between soul mates.

Back from throwing up yet? Welcome back!

They say pictures speak a thousand words and although nothing special was happening the moment this photo was taken, this photo speaks of the connection between two souls that were created just for each other.

That’s how I like to think so anyhow. ;) Here’s a baggy in case you need to hurl some more.

++Be sure to check out the rest of my May 2013: Blog a Day Challenge here.

 

Difficulties..?

I’m a little late on this post today because I really couldn’t think of anything difficult for the life of me. I have the backaches, food aversions, mood swings (this one is more difficult for my Husband, I think), the fat ankles, and lack of energy but the pros of pregnancy outweighs everything. I am so much more comfortable in my body—metaphorically speaking of course—and powerful because of what a woman’s body is capable of.

But because I didn’t want to be a snooty woman with claims to no troubles in life, I really thought hard to find something when I realized that it’s my attitude that keeps my life simple and happy.

I’ll be honest, I have the tendency to freak out over the smallest things but my overall outlook on life is positive. When something bad happens to me, which of course has happened, I like to tackle it head on and fix it before it gets out of hand. However, if it’s something beyond my power—something no amount of effort or time could fix—I simply let it go and tell myself “I deserve to be happy and will be so”. I don’t linger or hold onto the cause of my unhappiness and simply let it go.

I have surrounded myself in all things positive, loving, and peaceful that I’m intoxicated by it. I live with optimism in my heart and even with my tendency to question everything, I always look for the good of it all. Whenever I get affected by someone else’s negativity or even by a friend who just needed to relieve all of their problems to me, I find time to reset myself by finding peace and quiet to meditate on everything that I’ve been blessed with. I understand that nothing in the world is perfect but know that there is beauty in everything.

I also take time to evaluate myself to see if there are any room for improvements and trust me, there’s always something. This helps me keep myself humble and grateful for all the joy in my life and encourages the changes I’ve made to keep it this way.

I didn’t realize that this entry would sound so spiritual-ish but here it is everyone!

PS—I would like to thank my Husband, Daughter, Mom, Dad, and In-laws for dealing with me during my pregnancy. I know I’m a little difficult to handle at times but none of this could be this easy for me without you all. Thank you so, so, so much.

++Be sure to check out the rest of my May 2013: Blog a Day Challenge here.

image source: weheartit.com

An Hour a Day Challenge – 8 PM

 

Donuts. I’ve been craving donuts so much the past few days.

Okay, calling all pregnant women and women who have experienced pregnancy! I have a quick question! Have you ladies had different cravings that changes every one, two, or three weeks? Because that’s how it’s been with me during this pregnancy! So. Weird.

Anyways, it’s donuts this week (it was Mexican food about two weeks ago) and my awesome Husband Ariel brought these on the way home from work. This man worked 13 hours today fixing planes and he remembers to bring home donuts. My heart flutters for him!!!

There are actually two boxes but this box had the variety. The other one was the regular glazed donuts and the ones I actually had in mind so I’m not neglecting the other box… the sprinkled donuts was just really pretty and screaming for attention.

Thanks again Ariel, you’re freaking-super-duper-fragilistic-expealidocious (no idea how to spell that, I’ve never seen Mary Poppins!) awesome! I love you, love you, love you soooooooo much!

 

 

An Hour(?) a Day Challenge –4 PM

 

I predicted this the moment I started this challenge. I knew I would stop somewhere along the way because I just couldn’t see myself coming back every hour to post something. I could have easily posted a bunch of photos and timed it throughout the day but I wanted to be more honest than that. The challenge for today was afterall, a photo throughout your day, right? And I chose to do it hour-by-hour –what a dumb decision that was.

So anyways, if you haven’t noticed by now I skipped two hours. I was having lunch and finishing up laundry so~ yeah. My hunger and chores was more important than this challenge that has kicked my butt. I will still post photos throughout the day but only if I’m not doing something of importance at that moment. My guess is three more photos… tops.

Don’t you just hate it when balloons get stuck up on your 12 feet ceiling? No? Me neither. But this here balloon has been up there for almost three six weeks now!

An Hour a Day Challenge –1 PM

 

Cut up an old t-shirt that I salvaged from my sister-in-law’s donation pile. She calls the process of me chopping up t-shirts “Tiffany-fying”. haha-

I normally like the front to be a low-cut but I really liked the crazy hair on this so I kept much of the hair as I could. I’ll probably cut it lower later but I’m liking this so far!

And using this time to show off the baby bump. ;)

An Hour a Day Challenge –12 PM

Folding laundry and catching up on a few shows on Hulu Plus.

 

An Hour a Day Challenge –11AM

This is going to suck, I can already tell.

Umm so, here’s my morning snack? Yeah, delicious.. right?

An Hour a Day Challenge –10 AM

Quite uneventful isn’t it? I promise the next photo will be more… outdoor away-from-my-laptop-ish. Promise.

An Hour a Day – 9 AM

I usually don’t take many photos of myself or lug around my camera every hour of every day so this is going to be super challenging for me. I suppose I can take photos with my iPhone but trust me, my day isn’t going to be exciting or adventurous. Just bare with me through this challenge is all I ask!!

Just got this in yesterday! and having way too much fun with it today…

 

10 things that makes me really happy

In no particular order…

• Listening to my Daughter tell me about her day. I may be her Mother and think that I may know her inside and out but I’m learning more and more that there are things that I don’t know anymore! The life that she has away from me at school, her 9yo concerns, and questions that she gathered from her day just fascinates me.
  
  
• When my Husband and I first started dating, he would look at the way I’d stare into his eyes and say “sparkles”. This was because he described the way I looked at him as something special, something that he hasn’t experienced before from anyone else. My reply to that is “twinkles” because I see the same in his eyes. I love seeing the twinkles in his eyes, and the way he notices the love, or “sparkles” in mine.
  
  
• I love spending time with my Step Mom. I’m closer to her than I have ever been to my own mother and I don’t mind that at all. She loves and guides me as if I was her own child. The things I’ve learned from her the past few years that I’ve known her are far greater than the things I’ve tried to on my own my entire life, and so much more than what my own mother has failed to teach. The maternal love that I receive from her has healed me, calmed me, and has given me faith in myself.
  
  
• Being surrounded by my Husband’s incredibly, huge family comforts me. I have never known what it means to be a part of the family until I had the chance to spend nearly a week in Virginia with his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and numerous cousins. Thinking of my short time there gives me that feeling of being homesick because that’s how welcomed I felt there.
  
  
• It doesn’t matter when I’m away from home for a few minutes or a few hours but the greeting I receive from my furry friend Rosie and Tiger, our family dogs, is pure love. Their loyalty and dedication never ceases to amaze me because I am not the best human friend, admittedly.
  

• The quiet and warmth of the sun surrounded by nature. Sometimes I’ll add some soothing New Age piano to the mix while I read a nice book but the calm and peacefulness of nature always puts a smile on my face.
  
  
• I enjoy discovering both the positive and negative of myself. I’m not a perfect human being but I know I’m a wonderful person in my own way. It’s nice to know that there will always be room for improvements in my personality!
  
• When I’m hungry, which is quite often these days with being pregnant and all, I get soooooo giddy when I smell food. I also love walking by the bakery because like, who doesn’t, right?
  
  
• This might be evidence of my weirdness, but I get so happy when I finally get a joke. I usually don’t get a joke but when I figure it out, I get really really really really really happy.
  
  
• And last but not least… I love the sound of children’s laughter. You can’t help but smile along with a little baby or a child because only heartless human beings aren’t capable of catching the contagious joy of children.

 
++Be sure to check out the rest of my May 2013: Blog a Day Challenge here.

 

image source: 1.mine | 2.wehearit

I’m sorry.

I’m so, so, so, sorry my Love. For all the mood swings, late night food cravings, massage requests, countless amount of naps, and waking you up in the middle of the night because I just can’t seem to keep quiet during my many bathroom visits.

You know what though? I am eternally grateful and tremendously lucky. You have shown nothing but patience, understanding, and most importantly love. I love you more than I loved you yesterday, everyday. 

This post is part of a blog every day in May challenge by Jenni from Story of My Life.

image source: weheartit.com

My Mother’s day.

This Mother’s day was probably the best I’ve ever had, ever. I don’t mean to belittle all the other wonderful Mother's days I had but today just seemed to top it all. Why? I can’t quite put my finger on it but I think it has to do with the peacefulness of it all.

I woke up this morning to my Daughter and Nephew handing me a homemade breakfast menu. I placed my order and waited while my Nephew kept me company and my Daughter downstairs prepping my order. It was so cute!

I was probably rolling around in my bed for another two hours (yes, I didn’t bother getting up to brush my teeth until nearly three hours after I had woken up) until we went to the library to pick up a book we had on hold for my Daughter. I also picked up three more books! That’s seven books I have to read total until next month! Yikes.


Then soon after coming home we all (Daughter, Nephew, Sister-in-law, and Brother-in-law) went out to play some baseball and kick a soccer ball around. I didn’t play though, I would have exhausted myself with this pregnant belly. I read a book instead and took some photos of the kids playing with the in-laws.

I wish more days were like this.

Ha! Who am I kidding? My days are easy breezy thanks to this pregnancy. I’m not allowed to lift a finger. I’m getting so spoiled that it’s going to suck when reality hits after I give birth and realize I wasn’t a princess after all!

What do I miss?

I want to say my childhood/youth/when-i-was-worried-about-my-next-ice-cream-flavor-times but I feel like it’ll be too common of an answer. So after much deliberation, I’ve decided that I miss my birthplace: Seoul, South Korea.
I was raised in Korea from both my maternal and paternal grandparents up until the age of 9 and I have a few vivid memories I hold dear. Sometimes it all feels like a dream because of how different my life was there compared to how it changed once I immigrated here to sweet U. S. of A. As a daily chore, I was required to wake up at the peak of dawn probably between 5 AM – 7 AM to fetch a jug of fresh, spring water. In order to do this I had to hike up this wooded trail that was located right behind the home I lived in, all the way up for about two miles or so until I reached a looooong line of the townspeople waiting for their share of spring water. I would place my jug (it was sometimes two jugs!) in line and go play until an adult called to let me know that it was soon to be my turn. I would then place a jug under this little trickle of a stream provided by a plastic tube that was installed inside the side of this mountain sized wall and wait. I would wait, wait, and wait some more until my jug(s) filled up to the top.



Then I would go home. I would go home with my now heavy one or two jug of water filled to the brim. Imagine a tiny, 6 year old Korean girl struggling to bring these jugs home. It must have been at least a 5 gallon jug –or maybe it was a lot smaller but I’m just remembering it to be much bigger? Anyways, my mission was to carry the jugs home and it didn’t matter how much water I lost along the way because by the time I got home, it was nearly empty. It was almost always empty by the time I reached home but I was still praised for it.

I realized just last year that it wasn’t a chore requiring my help. My grandparents were actually helping me, disciplining me, to be a part of a family where everyone had a job. They were simply including me… or at least that’s what I think. I mean come on, what’s the point of sending off a kid to fetch water when there was barely any by the time she arrived home?

See what I did there folks? I do miss my childhood after all.

**Please note that times were different then, especially in the area that I lived in. It was a small town where everyone knew everyone and I was protected within the community.

This is part of a blog every day in May challenge by Jenni from Story of My Life.

Sell yourself in 10 words or less.

I've enjoyed reading my favorite list of bloggers' post-ups of this challenge by Jenni from Story of My Life and have wanted so badly to partake in it. However because I was so many days behind I kept teeter-tottering at the decision to jump in! Then I lost balance and fell face first onto the wagon. So here it is folks, and what a topic to start with.

I,
make wishes.
sing in the shower.
and forgive.

Our fluffy pals.

This entire week in the sweet Pacific Northwest was incredibly beautiful! With weathers averaging at 75 degrees and up, it screamed the names of all PNW residents to come out to play. Whenever it gets sunny I'm lured into digging out my camera equipment to take random shots in my backyard. Because it's a huge mess, which is obvious by the weeds in the grass, I don't have much to take photos of so I brought the dogs out and took advantage of their joy.

This little white fluff of joy is Rosie. She was given to me as a wedding gift and my very first pet furry friend. She barks at everything and prefers ladies over gents. She'll chew up all of your child(ren)'s stuffed animals and act as if she did nothing wrong. But she is my little huntress and bravely protects me from moths and pesky crane flies. 

This dog here doesn't realize that he's an animal and hasn't known this the entire 17 years of his life. That's right folks, Tiger here is 17 human years! HUMAN YEARS! That's 119 years in dog years, yo. Besides that hump he's got going you wouldn't be able to tell that he was so old --also the fact that you need to shout his name to get his attention-- because he still has energy of a pup.

Wishful Wednesday

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