::oh boy::

To start off this post, I must say that Christmas was wonderful.  It was very low-key but it was good.  To start on Christmas Eve, we went downtown for dinner.  Then Christmas morning, I sleeeeeeeeept iiiiiiiiiiiiiin.  We are not an "early bird" family but we also don't sleep in much.  I was pleasantly surprised that no one had woke me up by 9:45am.  So I was the last one up.  We had devotions together, ate breakfast, opened our gifts, and got ready to go see my little Granny.  By this time, it was after 1pm.  We spent time there, had dinner at 4:30 and then just chilled.  It was great.

Yesterday, was my first day off in I-can't-remember-when.  If I'm not cleaning in the morning, I still have my nanny job. Well, I didn't have to work at all yesterday.  So I decided to finish making a second pillow to match the one I already had.  Well, a very, very long story made so very, very short is that I got a new sewing machine yesterday.  I used my Christmas money and an early birthday present from my parents.  [Very early.....squeak....we're weird like that!]

I didn't know a sewing machine could be so a-mazing.  As I left the quaint, little shop, the proprietor said, "Happy Sewing!"  I didn't know that was possible!  So I am thanking the Lord for His direction yesterday and praying for new opportunities to open!

::the whole she-bang::

 ::buttons::

 ::more buttons::

Happy Tuesday!

::75 and sunny::

It is absolutely gorgeous here today.  I was able to roll out 3 new sets of cards, one of which is a brand-new topic.  {So excited about that!}  {Check 'em out here--set one--set two--set three.}

I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went to my little photo shoot place.

Here's the big picture:

The lovely small thorny bush that put thorns into...

 ...MY SKIRT!

I had to lean way over that rock so steady my elbows.  :)

How's the weather in your area today?  I hope it's as lovely as mine!

tonight...

....I get to do one of my most favorite things of the week.

Are you guessing cello lesson?  YOU ARE RIGHT!

To own one of these one day............[sigh].

I'm goin' to practice--later, ya'll...

::on Opa's 83rd birthday::

Signing off for the weekend...

favorites: the buildings!

My view of these normally dreary, dim places is bright and sunny because it was unusually warm there. So all of the cute jackets and sweaters that I had bought and brought were basically of no use! However, I'll take bright and sunny over dim and dreary any day, even with the cutest sweaters and jackets!

Catherine's palace

in Estonia

the Peterhof--summer palace of the czar's

my uber-favorite place--Stockholm!!

favorites: family

I am attempting to upload my "favorite" pictures from vacation for my benefit -- so that I don't forget the memories!  Here are some of my favorite,  unedited pictures of our family in no particular order of importance, favorability, or date of occurence.  :)

Mom and Dad in Helsinki, Finland.  See those stickers on their shirts?  They might as well be flashing lights that say, "Tourist.Tourist.Tourist."  haha  We had to wear those stickers when we were with a cruise sponsored tour.

Opa and Geoff -- last night of dinner.  {No, we did not wear chef's hats each  night.}

Geoff in front of Catherine's Palace

Mom and I at the Tower of London with a bridge in the background.

Our favorite place to relax...the Explorations Cafe.  It was at the top of the ship and had a fantastic view!

bliss in a package

So....one of the places we {my Mom and I} wanted to see in London was the Liberty of London store.  I had never heard of Liberty until I went into Target one fine day and saw the endcaps filled with beautiful, floral things.  From garden trowels to rain boots, notebooks to teapots, I was intrigued and smitten.  When I got home that day, I mentioned to Mom my new discovery.  The name rang a bell because the store was right around the corner from the hotel where they had just stayed at.  A-mazing!

Well, it just-so-happened that we stayed at the exact same hotel in June.  And...the Liberty store was right around the corner.  Monday night, we were so tired from flying through the night and jet lag but my parents and brother and I decided to do a little shopping/sight-seeing in the district where we were staying.

I am simply in love with the Liberty store.  I found the most amazing bright, floral dishes.  But I decided it was a little early in the trip to buy something that heavy.  [Post edit: I didn't mean I wanted to buy a whole set of dishes.  :/  NO.  I wanted to buy one bowl, that's it!!]  I settled on the most blissful smelling soap.

Do you want bliss in a package?

Try this soap.

{travel worn and weary}

{look at those flowers!!!}

what vacation?

I can barely function I am so excited about vacation!  Peeps, I have not gone on a vacation over a weekend for 3 1/2 years..........woooooooooo!!!  And we're leaving tomorrow night with my grandparents to go on a family vacation.  I've taken little 3 night vacays but nothing extended in a while.  Now, since I've been landlocked on good 'ole USA for the past 3 1/2 years, I have not minded one bit.  I have said {and it still rings true} that I'd rather travel the US of A by car than go on an overseas vacation.  Now I find myself going on an overseas vacation and the traveling bug has officially bitten me.  And I must say that going on this vacation with my family is no reflection on me.  Today, I was thinking how blessed and privileged I am to go anywhere on vacation.  This homegirl does not make enough money to go on a vacation, period--and I am not too prideful to say that.  I am only going based on the generosity and love of my Dad.  Thanks, Dad!  

I do have some posts scheduled to keep my readership {loosely} intact while I am away.  They will be reposts from my old blog that has been officially closed for over a year now.  I had a great time choosing the posts.

Several weeks ago, I was attempting to organize the monster mess of Disorganized Pictures and came across these. THEN, I realized that they're all vacation pics so what a perfect opportunity to post them now.

::my favorite picture of my parents...taken in the mid '90's....my Dad's a lot thinner and my Mom's hair is different but they're still as awesome::

::this is such a beautiful picture of exactly how I remember my Mom when I was a little girl::

{if this picture was taken at this exact time this year, there would be tar balls behind her--this was in Fairhope, AL--one of my favorite places on earth}

::this picture is hilarious only because of me and David--LOOK at my feet--I was in complete denial that my little brother was taller than me::

::memories::boat + water + my brothers + sunshine = wonderful!::

amateur photos

Remember when I recently did a post about my plans?  And I talked about going to a park to snap some amateur photos.  So here are a few unedited, amateur photos.

::We got family photos taken in that exact spot several years ago::

What do you think?  I like the prop!

I didn't try any other spots because it was very windy that day plus, I didn't bring any stands.

And this was taken with the handy self-timer.  I had my glasses on because my eyes were so tired from staring at a computer screen that day.  Plus it was sunny, so my eyes are semi-closed.  LOOK at how long my hair is!!  Woohoo!!

yummy weather!

up close and personal

stair-step trees

this is how blue the sky has been

::my amateur, unedited photos::

On Monday, during my afternoon off, I took the opportunity to switch out my winter clothes to my spring/summer clothes.   I was also filing away some things from my "paper drawer."  I have this funny shaped tin can {it used to hold Starbucks coffee--yum!} that I use to store my sentimental cards in.  It is quite full by now.  That box is a treasure trove of memories.  Literally.  And I normally am sad after I open it because it makes me miss so many people.  But because this is "My Bright Corner,"  I'll refrain from showing the cards that make me sad.  Here are some of my fun memories.

Here is the box -- stuffed to the gills.

Birthday cards from when I was student teaching.  This class will always be very special to me.  They are already in 8th grade.  {And I student taught them when they were in 4th grade....don't do the math.  I've graduated how long ago???}

One of my favorite cards...from Jen...Jen, do you remember this one? Makes me smile just thinking about what you wrote in this!!!

A letter from my Mom when she was sick.  Today, we talked about some memories of when she was sick.  Do you know how lucky I am {we are} that she is still here with us?  Thank you, Lord!!

This box also includes my graduation program {I graduated with who??}, graduation cards, birthday cards, Valentine's cards, Christmas cards, and just notes in general.  Awesome. 

I still have a conundrum to solve.  How do you store/preserve/keep/display your Christmas cards.  I would love to keep them from year-to-year but am at a total loss of how to do so creatively and/or without taking up much space.

xxhugsxx

vacation x2

Today...was great!  I worked this morning, then my brother and I took my parents to the airport.  But we made a few detours on the way. 

Detour one: lunch.  One word escapes my lips: delicioso!!!

Well, this picture involves a very hilarious family joke.  Basically, my Dad is always right when it comes to numbers.  For crying out loud, he is the CFO of a medical university!  Anways, we had to stop at three {!!}different places to exchange US dollars to shekels.  We did meet with success and all was well.

 

We dropped off Mom & Dad here at the airport on their way to an incredible vacation.  {Aren't they lovely?!  I heart my parents...I'm so lucky!}

gotta love photo editing!!

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