April 26, 2010 was Our First Wedding Anniversary... I'm so so so happy.
I wish I hadn't been sick so that I could fully appreciate it. I love my husband more than anything. He is my best friend, my heart and soul. He makes my life full. We stayed in Woodbine, NJ at a friend's shore house... and it was a perfect getaway retreat :o) They were calling for rain the whole time, but we didn't care. We were together, and thats what mattered. We were just able to enjoy each other. It was awesome so I can imagine what it would be if I wasn't sick! The first night we just got settled, watched High Fidelity. Love that movie.

The second day wound up being beautifully sunny... so we ventured to Higbee Beach! But before that, we tried out the golf cart! I love golf carts except the fact that they have to charge. Yes, the battery died while we out driving it lol. TWICE. And all the residents were making fun of us. But on to the beach! Higbee Beach is a naturalist beach, or was lol, but it is a wildlife management area. And they allow dogs :o) Sammy loves the beach, and he loved it that day! He kept running from the water though lol. While we were there, we found so many animals! All kinds of crabs... and other dogs lol. This big, wet chocolate lab came splashing up to Sammy LOL Sammy was actually good with him and then he took off splashing and flopping some more. It was so funny to watch :oD We also came across a horseshoe crab! We thought he wasn't alive at first because he was flipped over, not moving. But when we got close we noticed his little legs going... he couldn't flip over :o( so Pete turned him over, but he was just being pushed back up on the beach. So then Pete tossed him into the water, and we just watched him as he faded away into the ocean.



As we were about to leave, it started to cloud up and that was the norm for the rest of our trip! Every time we went out the rain would hold off until we were driving back to our place when it would start raining lol. But that night, we watched Pirate Radio which is hella funny! I recommend renting it.

Next day, we braved the menacing clouds and went to Cape May city! We visited the mall walk... some of our favorite stores. Bought lots of souvenirs that day :o) new charms for my charm necklace... "W" charm for Weddell, Guitar charm for Pete, Bone charm for Sammy, Sunflower charm for Me, "Follow Your Dreams" charm for how I feel about life. So now in my necklace its those new charms plus a paw charm for Maggie Mittens and a miniature wedding ring charm. I also got a new Charming Tales Anniversary figurine! Its super cute! Two champagne glasses that holds a girl and boy mouse and they are reaching over kissing, love it! Also stopped in Hallmark, picked out some cards I needed. Got up to the register and saw these cute charms, don't really know what they are for... I guess pocket charms? I fell in love with them. Glass ladybugs, Glass hearts, Angel pennies and silver peace signs. I got into a conversation with the lady because she was there when I came there the year before for our Wedding. I went with the peace sign. I have a thing for peace signs and told her so. We talked about that and then about Higbee Beach which she says is supposedly haunted by a dog who protects the treasure of a pirate buried on that beach. I was so intrigued! I really need to read that Cape May ghosts book! Anyways she gave me the peace sign for free :o) and also found a peace sign bumper sticker to give me for free. This is why I love Cape May, they are such nice people that live there. I also bought a "W" key chain that day. After that, I needed to set up my anniversary present for Pete. I adopted him a sea turtle because they are tied for his favorite animal with tiger. So an adoption certificate is the paper :o) I also did a canvas painting of Crush from Finding Nemo for him. I also did this thing with three cards... Past, Present and Future. Past was a letter I wrote to him telling him the things I loved most about him I discovered over the years. Present was a beachy card specifying the 1st Anniversary aspect... telling him if he counted every sea shell on the beach, I'd still love him more. Future was a card expressing how I will feel about our life together when we are old. Then it started to rain, no torrential downpour like CRAZY. It was so loud! We attempted to watch French Kiss, but we couldn't hear a thing lol so went to bed.




Next day, our Anniversary... one year ago I married my best friend! We ventured into town again. We did some more shopping. First store was a dog/cat lover store... bought a couple of car magnets and a Cape May shirt for Sammy. Next we went to a place called Across the Way... bought some personality pins and a bracelet I absolutely love. It has a braided leather strap with a metal plate engraved with the saying from Mother Teresa, "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." While we were in this awesome store... our wedding song came in!!! <3 how awesome is that! "Love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart, like "Why are we here?" and "Where do we go?" and "How come it's so hard?" It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving. I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together." <3 <3 <3 So we danced, right in the middle of the store :o) When things like that happen I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be at that moment.
Then we went to Cove Beach... where we got married. The clouds looked vicious, but we went anyway. I'm glad we did! It was beautiful. The waves were intense, perfect for surfing. We actually got into a conversation with a local surfer. He was a really nice guy. While Pete and him were having some surf talk... I was snapping away with pictures. Breathtaking views. Being there that day made me realize that the normal weather for this time of year is rainy and unpredictable. Which means to me that our Wedding Day was supposed to happen. Everything was... perfect. Everything fell spectacularly into place. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the whole day was a dream :o) And I knew we were exactly where we were supposed to be.




It was awesome too because that was the first time I had seen surfing in person. We spent some time just looking out from the Pavilion. Then we collected some sand for our sand ceremony and keepsake shell and found an awesome shell in the process! Then we headed to the Lobster House for our 1st Anniversary dinner :op we both got some awesome food! But Pete especially... flounder! And yes, he made me try it and I loved it! After dinner, we went back to the house... the rain started. We exchanged gifts. Pete got me a Charming Tales figurine where the two mice are sitting in a cup of tea which is us :op and also a late summer fairy figurine sitting on golden mums. And wrote out an awesome card/poem (paper). I felt so lovey. I feel so lovey. He is awesome. We ended the night with the Sand Ceremony, which a dear friend of mine made for us for our Wedding Day. One jar of plum colored sand representing my individuality, one jar of orange colored representing Pete's individuality, and one jar of sand from the beach of our Wedding Day. Once combined, it makes a new color. A new life of being together. And like the sand, once joined cannot be separated :o)


It was the most thoughtful gift I have ever received. She'll never know how much it meant to me. But it turned out awesome. So it wasn't a very exciting trip, not much happened... but thats just how we like it :op

I can't believe we've been married a year already... so much has happened lol but I'm so thankful that I go through everything with Pete. Its such an awesome feeling that I am going through my life with this man. I love him so much it hurts.

Interesting article I came across...

How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money: Possum Living

“Why is it that people assume one must be a hippie, or live in some dreary wilderness, or be a folksy, hard-working, back-to-nature soybean-and-yogurt freak in order to largely bypass the money economy? My father and I have a house on a half-acre lot 40 miles north of Philadelphia, PA (hardly a pioneer homestead), maintain a middle-class façade, and live well without a job or regular income — and without working hard, either.” — Dolly Freed, author of Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money

Being a worker bee is not all cushy chairs and dollars in the bank. Thoughts of winning the lottery and adjourning to a leisurely, dirt-under-my-fingernails kind of existence often cross my mind (mostly while propelling my body into a stuffed train car, washing the city off my face after a long day and paying off my endless student loan debt). Learning about scrappy teen Dolly Freed, icon of sustainable yet frugal living, makes that pipe dream seem possible.

Dolly wrote her testament to living the easy life in the late seventies, at the age of eighteen, and with a seventh grade education. Dolly and her father chose not to have jobs at a time when the economy was quite bleak (such as today) and were determined to live an independent, self-sufficient life on their small farm without having to break their backs in the process. Possum Living was intentioned as an instructional guide on how to "buy and maintain your own home, dress well, cope with the law, stay healthy, and keep up a middle-class façade — whether you live in the city, in the suburbs, or in a small town." Dolly goes on to explain: "To me, the luxury of being my own boss and doing what I want, when I want, more than pays up for the luxuries of having a nice car and nice furniture... I'm just living independent on my little half acre. If you like your work and you really enjoy what you're doing, good — then go out and work. I'm against people thinking that they have to work because they think they're going to starve to death."

Dolly and her father had the advantage of owning their home and small plot of land. This allowed them to get by on little to no money by raising chickens, fishing, slaughtering rabbits for meat, gardening, canning their own food and occasionally taking odd jobs to make money for the few things they could not provide for themselves. However, Dolly is quick to discount the idea that this is some exercise in restraint or strictly philosophical: she and her father simply didn't want to work for the man, or very hard, for that matter. She states, "If you’re thinking spiritual or sociological thoughts, don’t waste your time with me, but if you just want to easy-up your life somewhat, why, then, you’re talking my language! We’ll get that Protestant Work Ethic monkey off your back!"

The Freeds lived a bountiful, easy life on their improvised suburban farm for five years before Dolly left for college. If you weren't already impressed, prepare for your chin to drop a few more inches: Dolly went on to become an aerospace engineer after an education garnered on the farm and at the public library. Paige Williams caught up with Dolly thirty years after the documentary and cult popularity of the book. The profile is a fascinating read and shows that Dolly is still as curious and plucky as ever:

"By noon, Dolly Freed has composted peppers, studied a tadpole under an old Russian field microscope, sniffed and tasted a new supply of homegrown garlic, discussed Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, demonstrated how to turn an ordinary pressure cooker into a moonshine still, looked up 'rose-breasted grosbeak' in Peterson Field Guides, and harvested cherry tomatoes from her garden."
Dolly's vigor and lust for a thoroughly questioned life makes me wonder how to make my dirty fingered dreams a reality. Read Dolly's inspiring blog at Possum Living and watch the entirety of the Possum Living documentary for free online. (Part 2 and Part 3 are available on YouTube.) You can purchase Dolly's book on Amazon or from an independent bookseller.

Story by: TeenAngster

I haven't kept up with my posting of my art pieces the past few days. I had a scare the other day. My sciatica is full blown, and to be honest, it scares the crap out of me that I'm losing the feeling in my legs. It ranges from annoying pins and needles to intense pressure and numbness and weakness and trembling. Its incredibly hard to walk. Right now, I am relying on heating pads, Naproxen and Advil PMs to get through the days and nights. I can't sleep at all if I don't take something. I don't like that. I have also been doing stretch and exercise techniques. I'm so upset. I can't even sit on my living room couch. The softness is TERRIBLE for it. I start my smoothie diet this week. Hopefully I can lose some weight through that so that I can start exercising more regularly and intensely. I NEED to do this and NOW before its too late.

On to the art pieces, my second assignment was charcoal. I actually wound up doing several pieces... close up on a Calla Lily, a Batman piece and a portrait of young girl and boy. Charcoal is harder than I remember. I was satisfied with the results, but I know I will get better with practice. The past two days I have been working on jewelry which I consider art! I am making dangle pearl earrings for a wedding party and also a bracelet for a new Mommy :o) They both are so pretty! I will post pictures soon!




Despite my health issues, I am truly trying to stay positive. I'm so happy about the art assignment! And I'm getting so super excited for the summer! I have so much going on!!! Starting in June... I'm going to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri to see my brother graduate from his National Guard training. I can't wait! I miss him so much, and am so proud of him. Then we have the Dave concerts which we're going to do RIGHT this time!!! Then the Phillies game with fireworks!!! Then Jack Johnson in Palm Beach, Florida for my birthday!!! :o) This week we booked EVERYTHING, ha ha ha! We booked the flight and hotel for Florida. We got the Jack Johnson tickets! We still need to book the car for Florida. We booked the flight for the trip to Fort Leonard Wood, MO... still need to book the hotel, but I am waiting for Liz to look them up so we can all go the same one. And we also need to do the rental car for there as well.

I have alot to look forward to :o) God, please give me strength to get healthy! Please!

365 DAYS, 365 PIECES OF ART

Today I started my newest adventure... I will complete atleast one piece of art every single day for the next year (or more). Whether it be painting, drawing, paper art, clay, pottery, knitting, photography, anything I can think of that is art.

I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

My first piece is a painting on canvas. It started out to be a field of sunflowers, but I didn't like where it was going. So I changed it to a modern piece with the focal point being a sunflower. I'm actually happy with the finished product. It is my first canvas painting since high school.



I can't wait to start clay and pottery!!!

We got a surprise phone call last night... from my brother! What an awesome Easter present! It gave me a sharp realization of how much I really miss him :o(

I am so so so so so happy that I got to talk to him :o) he sounded different but the same. And he was joking which made me feel good 'cause despite everything, it seems he will stay himself. He was talking about the guys he is meeting, the friends he is making. He was talking about what phase of the training he is in and whats in store for him this week and weeks to come. He was talking about what he's doing in his physical training... and he's doing well. He has been getting awards for his achievements. They actually asked him to be a part of the Airborne Unit because of his success... which would pretty much guarantee his deployment. Plus he would miss all the summer events we had planned. I hope he doesn't do it... but when there are people confronting you about it all the time... I'm sure its hard to say no. I hope this stays as a means to an end for him... the riskiest gamble of a means to an end when it involves your life.

I just want my little brother back...

I am absolutely head over heels for this movie <3 <3 <3 :o)

"Misty morning in Springtime
I hear the music from across the way,
Across the bridges of my mind.
I lift the misty shades of yesterday
To catch the dreams I left behind..."