Rustling Thoughts

*coughcough* totally has this clickbait thing down. I almost dropped my only lens into my tea trying to get this shot so, *sips tea poshly* enjoy it. (yes, ‘poshly’ is totally a word, shush.) Stats: Entry Pageviews United States 532 Russia 201 Ukraine 38 Germany 24 Ireland 17 United Kingdom 9 Canada 7 France 4 Latvia 4 Netherlands 4 Happenings: 1. The final Beauty and the Beast trailer came out. We all desperately want to see it. Gabe doesn't though. *shakes head* IT’S SO PRETTY! 2. The super bowl happened. Don’t ask me whose side I was rooting for, bc I have no idea (and didn’t even pay attention for the most part). We had several families over from Church for fellowshipping, and so that we would have a reason to watch the super bowl because Christian is pretty much the only one who follows sports. Ah, but we had a beautiful sunset that night! 3. Clare...

Christian and I were on our way home from our college class (about a mile or two away from the campus) when we got rear-ended. Re-wind. It was the middle of the afternoon one glorious day in July. Christian and I had just gotten out of our college class, we had even managed to get a really nice parking spot right by the door and mostly in the shade so the steering wheel wouldn't as hot as a stove when we left (an event that happened far too frequently, as my poor fingers can attest to). We had been on the road home for a minute or two when I realized that the car behind us was a large pick-up truck. Definitely a diesel.  Hey, don't worry. He probably won't tailgate you, just go the speed limit and don't make him mad. Light No.1: he stopped behind us no issue. Green light. Ok, maybe he's not the tailgating type . We stopped at another light. There was one car in front of us. Light turned green. I started a little slower than normal. Now, as far as we ca...

A while back, I mentioned going on a Haiti trip in 2014 with Mom and Lydia. I also said that a two-year anniversary post was coming up. This is it, by the way. June 5, 2014. Mom, Lydia, and I met up with the rest of our group that morning (7am, I think? Not sure though), who had flown in from Kansas the night before. (We were with a group from  Haiti Lifeline Ministries ) We landed in Florida, made a gate change, and got on the plane to Haiti. (I must say, it is a whole lot easier to get out of the US than it is to get back in) You know Haiti; definitely not classified as a first world country, so there was none of this 'wandering off two by two' in the Haitian airport. A truck from the orphanage we were going to met us, and the baggage was loaded on. Everyone piled inside (it was open-air, and the seats were essentially metal bleacher benches, no seatbelts). The orphanage was a good 30-45 minute drive. I say drive, but the roads were mostly unpaved and chock-full of ...

Here you are, as promised. Enjoy! The Liebster Award: I've been nominated for this one before. ( Here ) Pfft, I'm doing it anyway. - Thank the blog who nominated you and link back to them. (Thanks  Laura !) - Nominate up to 11 other bloggers to receive the award. To be eligible, they need to have 200 followers or less. - Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you. - Tell your readers 11 random facts about yourself. - Give your nominees 11 questions to answer on their blog when they post their nomination. Questions first: 1. How did you pick your blog name? Well, for a while, it was The Shy Introvert , I think I chose it mainly because I was extra shy, and it had a nice ring to it. However, back in September, I  concluded that I should change my blog name , and asked for a few ideas, among them was Rustling Thoughts.  2. What makes you really happy? Being with my family, also spending some quality alone time with a go...

On this day, February 22, of last year, I published my first blogpost. Anybody know where the time went? Because I'm pretty sure I did this yesterday. The night before, while Mom and I were driving home (I think from church), I asked her the important question: "Can I start a blog?" She asked me why, and I gave her the reasons I had been coming up with since a few weeks before: improve my writing skills, share some of my photography, talk about life, etc. I was all excited about trying something new. I had done my research, so to speak, and I knew what I wanted to use this blog for. I jumped in, headfirst, and plowed through actually making the blog. I had fun trying out all the gadgets, and ended up spending several hours writing my first post. And so, The Shy Introvert. After many, many changes, now you see the finished product; perfect for now, in my eyes, but who knows if and when I'll do a compete overhaul on the design, or if I'll do another name ch...

So, uhhh... We ended up coming home from the tournament way earlier than intended. In fact, we were back home again the day we left, last Thursday. Story time: Thursday dawned bright and clear; a beautiful day for a car trip to Tyler, Texas. This time, Ava was tagging along with us, so she could watch, and see what a tournament was like, since it is possible that she will be competing next year. We were taking the family truck/suv type-thingy, so we all had plenty of room. Ava had mentioned to Mom that she didn't want to sit in the back all by herself; 1, because there is about 6-8 inches of legroom, 2, because you can't hear what going on up front as well, and 3, who knows (?). So, I chivalrously claimed the entire back row (all three seats people!) all for myself. 1, so I could stretch out my legs in a reclining position across them, 2, so I could sleep in a much more comfortable position than I could have in my usual seat, 3, because I didn't want half of m...