at grandma's house

I've always loved my grandparent's house. I've practically grown up in this quaint little country home; I'm familiar with every sunny corner, and each of it's little nooks and crannies. I used to gently touch and softly ooh over ever delicate and pretty thing of my grandma's. I can remember being about six years old, and running my hands down the piano's shiny ivory keys, and listening to the slightly off key tinkling. I remember making cookies with my grandma, and then eating them on my grandpa's lap. This place holds so many memories for me -- I can practically smell them when I walk in the door.

Please take note of the Dr. Pepper on the counter. I have trained them well.

Each room is warm and inviting;everything from the well-trodden stairs, to the homey kitchen, to living room with the squashy couches. Simply walking through this place brings back memories of birthday parties, movie nights, and the whispers of past Christmases.

Oh, and apparently it's strange to put marshmallows in your Dr. Pepper? Who knew! :P

Now I'm too big to hide with my cousins under the bed; I've outgrown my grandparent's laps, and I no longer host tea parties in my grandpa's fishing boat. But that's okay. This place is still like home to me, even though I'm not a little girl anymore.

Besides, I'm watching this one learn to love this place as much as I do. And that's more than enough.

~ Abby

going for a stroll

Lately I've become and avid walker. At some point of the day, I don my tennis shoes, grab my camera, and head out. Luckily I live in the country, so there is many a field and hill to explore. Just in the past week I've found several "heaven spots." These are places where I can just sit back and read a book, listen to music, or simply think. Really, it's like my own personal Narnia.

Lately my favorite time of the day to go walking has been around 5 o'clock, just as the sun is beginning her golden retreat. Her rays gently touch the fields, and practically set them afire. {This of course creates the perfect picture-taking setting. ;)}

I just love how going for a stroll clears my mind, and refreshes me. It's amazing, what a little peace and quiet will do for you.

Yes, quite amazing indeed.

~ Abby



P.S. 25 of you?! Oh my goodness gracious! :)

Those days

Occasionally, we have the glorious chance to experience "one of those days."

You know what I'm talking about. The kind of day were everything is wonderous and enchanting. The kind of day when you feel like you could burst from the sheer amazement of being alive.

Today was one of those days for me.

Every Friday, I attend a homeschool co-op. {For those of you who don't know, co-ops are kind of like schools for homeschoolers.} Anyway, I hadn't slept at all the night before, due to the fact that I was frantically trying to throw a history project together. My first two classes, U.S. History and Criminal Justice, absolutely crawled along. I think those were some of the longest hours I have ever endured in all of my vastly experienced sixteen years of living. However, one of my good friends {who is a genius,} had an excellent solution to our exhaustion: convince one of the senior boys to take us to McDonald's for some serious rejuvenation. {a.k.a a carmel frappe run.}

So in between classes, we went and got us some carmel frappes.

Pure. Heaven.

All of the sudden, the world became bright and beautiful. My friend Jana, {the said genius,} and I grabbed our camera's and hiked out to the woods behind our co-op building. We took pictures, danced around, took pictures, and took more pictures. It was the most lovilest time I'd had all week; I am so very blessed to have her as a friend.

And just in case you're curious to see what happens when the two of us are caffinated and armed with cameras:

xoxo,

~ Abby

Fall photo shoot

Yesterday was wonderful. My friend and I had planned a photoshoot a couple weeks ago, so we grabbed our cameras and headed for the woods. :)

Goofing off

Awesome purple converse :)

A skull we found

My favorite picture I got that day :)

It was SO gorgeous outside... Look at that sky!

Me :P

~ Abby

Pee Ess: Today I was able to see Hawk Nelson sing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"... My life is now complete. :D

                                                                               

Autumn days :)

Today, at our homeschool co-op, we went exploring in the woods behind the building. It. Was. Awesome.

It was absolutely perfect outside. The air was crisp, the streams were clear, and the colors were GORGEOUS. It looked a bit like this:

A good friend of mine and I explored an old ruin that was right smack dab in the middle of the woods, I tried to find a similar picture, but I couldn't find one that would do it justice. Picture this building in the middle of a fairy tale woods, falling apart at the seams, and looking about 100 times prettier.

We were surprised to find one of these hiding inside:

Ok, so maybe it didn't look quite this bloodthirsty... (It was actually pretty cute). But hey, I'm just trying to add a little excitement to this post. :D

We screamed and then proceeded to slip and slide on the wet ground frantically trying to get away from something that moved in the corner of the building, which ended up being a mouse. Oh yes, we are a fearless pair. :D

One of my friends pointed to his muddy shirt and said "This is a sign of a day well spent". He was absolutely correct.

~ Abby

P.S. We are planning on doing a photoshoot at the ruin in another week or two, so you can expect some pictures.