sean's new toy

has kept him busy trying to figure out how to get it to plane out...

and figuring out how he wants to attach it to the dock...

and how to keep Duke in when he's got it full throttle and going 47 mph (yes he clocked it)...

It scares me...I've already lost a hat...and all I can think is all the videos I've seen of the wind catching under boats going fast and flipping...

BUT - it will be a blast when all the peeps come up in a week.  The new tube has arrived and all that's left is to get it blown up. 

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TUBIN'???

nothing really

For all of you that know my husband - he's not the most athletically inclined.  Well, with a chance happening while we were in Kansas for the graduations he went YARD in wiffleball!!!  Yes, you read that right!  There's proof...

Look at that form...he's officially hung up his glove though - decided to quit while he was ahead.

He left his sunglasses in Texas so he borrowed some from my teenage nephew.  He should totally get some like these cuz he's lookin' F*I*N*E fine (that was a little reference to Aerosmith in case you missed it)...

We've installed the dual tap, received the tube, the mint is coming right along and the cleaners have been here.  (Im)Patiently awaiting the arrival of all my besties...

including this one that I got to see while in Kansas.  The others I haven't seen since we left Texas - CAN'T WAIT!!!  AND - they're all coming at the same time!!!  We're going to have a house-full - less than 2 weeks!

Now if the weather would just cooperate...

my brother's daughter

When I was in Kansas for the graduations I practiced a little photography skills on my youngest niece.  This post is just a montage of all my favorites from those shoots.

and my favorite of the self portraits we tried to take...

fear and the future

20 years - that's how long I've been out of high school.  I remember back to that day, standing on the football field, in my home town, with all my friends, excited about the new found freedom that would be college and what the future had in store for me.

I had my plan set - college, become CPA, establish career, marriage, buy a house, children.  Oh, how I just knew this would happen; in that order.  I should be a soccer mom of 2 still living in Newton, Kansas according to my "plan".

But plans are meant to change, and they do change, because we're not really in charge of the timeline or the ultimate plan and besides, who really knows what they want when they're 17 anyway???

To tell you the truth, here it is 20 years later and I still don't know what I want.  Do I really want kids or not?  Is this the career for me?  Fear of the unknown scares me.  What if I have a child with something wrong?  Would I be able to take care of it?  Would I be a good mother?  Would Sean be a good father?  Does this world have anything to offer that I would even want to put a child through?  Would we have to just pick one city and live there?  Would a different career provide me the flexibility my current one holds...and the salary?  What if I suck at something else?

As my niece begins the next chapter in her life and my nephews head off to high school I wish for them a freedom from this fear of the unknown.  I wish for them to go out into the world and live it like they aren't in charge of the timeline or the path but He is.

For my niece that is yet to begin her education, I wish for her that we don't ruin this world so that she can have the kind of life she can't even begin to dream of yet.

As for me, my life hasn't followed the path I planned for but I wouldn't change it for anything.  I wouldn't have ended up with my loving husband, Duke, amazing friends in multiple states, seen the world or found myself living in Maine half the year and Texas the other half.  I learn to dismiss the fear that holds me back a little more each day and trust that God is in charge of the timeline and the ultimate plan and that He wouldn't present me with any situation that I could not handle or that wouldn't make me grow.

splashes of color

with so many trees

we have a lot of green around camp

to subdue the amount of green

and to hide the fact that some plants have no leaves due to deer thinking my garden is their supper table

we've been adding splashes of color around

oh, and in anticipation of special visitors soon - an herb garden

with lots and lots of mint...  :)

rolling in the deep

I totally love that Adele song - don't you?  I sure can belt it out alone in the car...or with Sean in the car - it doesn't matter and he LOVES it...

You know you do it too...I've seen you in your car just a singing away.  Tonights belting out song was Bad Girls by Donna Summer though...was totally rockin' the 70's station!

Toot toot, yea, beep beep!!!

If you've ever been in the car with me before you know I can make up my own words like adding "Duke" for the word "you" or just making up the words altogether cuz I don't know the real ones...or I just like mine better...

I think Duke would change the Adele song to "rolling in the mulch" - what do you think?

What's your favorite song lyrics you sing that aren't quite right???

comin' alive

Camp is coming alive - literally and figuratively!

We have just about gotten Camp pulled together and ready for a summer of fun and sun.  Biggest thing left is to get the rug put back on the dock - we loving refer to the dock as the "frying pan" right now.

The flowers have been making their way through the mulch and all the wildlife has been zooming around as happy as can be.  We also finished the landscaping around the new steps.

But the most amazing thing I've seen in some time is the birth of a dragon fly.  I noticed him just as he was slipping his tail out of his cocoon but of course I didn't have my camera handy - I was busy planting new flowers.  By the time I got my camera he was out but what I was able to capture was the development of his wings - watch as they transformed allowing him to ultimately fly off.