it's the little things + giveaway

first things first, I absolutely love this album. I was obsessed with it when I was like fifteen, and I had to put it on to write this post! I haven't listened to it in way too long, and this song totally goes with the post.

they say {especially according to this song} that the little things are what make life such a big deal.

29 little things that make me happy:

1. remembering the words to songs that I haven't listened to in a long time

2. guessing the correct settings for a picture and having it turn out

3. snail mail

4. being mentioned in a positive review for the hotel that I work for

5. freshly painted nails

6. when that one thing that I need to buy is on sale

7. starting a new book

8. baking cupcakes

9. when my NatureBox arrives!

10. matching my socks to the rest of my outfit {yes, I am that person.}

11. blue skies and white clouds

12. going out to see some of my friends perform {and no longer feeling awkward about sneaking into a bar, since I'm finally 21.}

13. when one of my preschool classes ends successfully

14. fresh flowers

15. getting everything finished at work and feeling accomplished

16. when someone comes up to me and wants a hug

17. decluttering

18. wearing a dress or a skirt and feeling pretty

19. getting into bed after a long day and remembering that you did the laundry in the morning, so they're fresh sheets

20. checking things off the to do list

21. finding the perfect thing at a thrift store when you weren't even looking for anything

22. seeing friends you haven't seen in months or years

23. breaking out the markers and coloring a picture {I love Vanessa's work}

24. pretty handwriting

25. just driving and seeing the beauty of the world

26. scrolling through instagram to see the other people's views

27. reading old journals to remember the seemingly important details of the past

28. learning something new

29. writing in my Happiness Project daily journal

so, my second blogiversary was on Friday, but I totally missed it because I thought that it was later in the month. I'm giving away a copy of the Happiness Project one sentence a day, five year journal. enter with the Rafflecopter below! (:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xoxo.

birthdays past

tomorrow is my 21st birthday! I was originally going to do this post for tomorrow, but then I realized that it's "flashback Friday," so I decided to post this for that instead. (:

we'll work our way backwards, since those pictures are more embarrassing...

I worked at the motel on my 20th birthday, and then Abi and I went to a Todd Carey concert! before I went to work, I had lunch with my parents and grandma at the Inn at Cedar Crossing. I made some delicious cupcakes, and I wrote about my birthday here.

on my 19th birthday, I had camp in the morning and we went to the Coast Guard station. the past two years, we've gone back there for the camp closest to my birthday. on this first year, I read Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You, which is my favorite book of his. I probably went out for lunch with my mom and my camp co-counselor, and then for dinner, my parents, sister, and grandparents went to the Cabin. before dinner though, we stopped by the motel two visit two of my lovely bosses (one of which sang me a birthday song) and to see the new ice machine that was purchased that day. we joked that that was my birthday present. (;

{the tiara - which I skipped for my 20th birthday - was something that I had to buy for senior year homecoming court. best $19 I ever spent, as it was used for a couple birthdays and Halloweens, in addition to the two days for homecoming.}

my eighteenth birthday was also a camp day. I have no idea what we did for camp that morning. my mom and I had lunch with my co-counselor at Glas, and then that evening, I had dinner with my sister and parents at the Inn at Cedar Crossing. It started pouring and I had to take my dessert to go. it was a mint chocolate cheesecake, in case you were wondering. this was the day that I purchased the Beetle, and I also went and paid for my first semester of college!

for my 17th birthday, we had family over for dinner and red velvet cake. I also invited pat, melanie, and Delaney, and we took these wonderful photos which make me smile every time I see them.

before the party, I had to teach my class at the Y, and earlier in the day I had lunch with my parents and my supervisor from the Y at Fatzo's (where we used to go all of the time back then), and my parents gave me the gold ring that I wear every day. my mom wanted my dad to be the first to give me a diamond, so my sister and I both received rings for our 17th birthdays.

my sweet sixteen was a bust, but at least I was wearing a Juicy Couture polo. my aunt painted a beautiful painting for me, which is finally hanging up in the entry to my apartment. it sat on my bedroom floor for nearly five years. {you can see the painting here}

a few days before my 15th birthday, I went to Hands On Art Studio with a few of my friends and we painted ceramic flip flops and the first letter of our first name. my parents and I went to British Columbia just after I turned 15, so we just did a family party the day before, and on my birthday, my dad had "Happy Birthday, Teresa!" scrolling on the sign at his office.

I have no recollection of some birthdays before this, but I know that I went mini golfing at Egg Harbor Fun Park {which has really expanded since then} with a friend on my 13th birthday, and I had a cake with horses on it for my 12th birthday.

I went to Hands On Art Studio for my 10th birthday, but that time we painted glasses instead. everyone else painted champagne flutes, and I just did a tumbler.

I'm sure that the blog will be birthday-themed for the next week or so! (:

xoxo.

Ten Things

Ten Things I Live For/Can't Live Without

1. my students: whether it's the kids I teach on Sundays with Children's Liturgy of the Word, my summer campers, or my tumbling class, they always bring a smile to my face

2. the musicians who have come into my life and made it better. they mean so much to me, and whenever I get to see them or spend any time with them, I am so happy. they've all taught me things, whether it's something important like standing up for myself, or something not as important like how to waltz. they amaze me, and they've made my life crazily wonderful. they aren't as bad of influences as people think.

Kim Manning & Miss Meaghan Owens - two of the best role models

melaniejane & pat mAconald {PurgAtory Hill} - my extra parents

3. social media & my iPhone - aka my connection to the outside world

4. the music that my wonderful friends create - because a silent world would be quite sad

5. taking pictures & capturing the moment - memories are easier to remember with a corresponding picture. that's my thinking at least ;)

6. Door County. the beautiful place I call home.

autumn in Door County

Ephraim; May 2013

apple blossoms; May 2013

7. learning. whether it's college classes, learning to use my new DSLR, or learning to play the guitar (yes, I'm back at it!), I am always trying to broaden my horizons.

8. Target. sad but true. I just love to walk around and look at all of the pretty things.

9. baking. I love creating in the kitchen, especially when it's cold outside!

10. my real family. they're pretty important too. they're the reason that I'm here and that I am who I am.

xoxo.

ps this is my one hundredth post!

Little Heart

little heart, go slow
I'm already here, you know
over the lake you see the wind blow
through the trees, and through the snow
winter comes around
the heart gets slow, the senses all shut down
resistance in the coil
the teacup waits, as the water starts to boil
live according to the seasons
in the home where I was born
things have gotta have a reason
the sun don't come before the dawn
the little man must go
choke the business down, the river thick and slow
a dirty meddling hand
will drive the value down and buy up all the land
see the head, the head is floating
the body sits there all alone
grandpa, see, the world is changing
the little boy has left the home

Little Heart written and performed by Delaney Davidson, with melaniejane on cello

Delaney's words on the song: "little heart, politics and generation gaps can separate families, random beliefs or beliefs in beliefs, drawing lines that shouldn't exist.. when does the beauty of conviction become a pompous alienating conceit, and when does love step in to erase the barriers that separate us... Age, Money, Status, Persuasion..."

(all information above from the liner notes of Self Decapitation)

liner notes from Self Decapitation

I absolutely love this song. Not only is this the second to last song that I listen to every night, but I've actually listened to this song over a thousand times. It's best live of course!

Delaney himself is a pretty incredible man. I am so glad that I have had the chance to not only meet him {in the summer of 2009}, but I have also had the chance to see him perform live five times. He was even a guest at my seventeenth birthday party, and at my grandparents' house on Independence Day for a fish boil!

I have had a few interesting conversations with him too. Maybe it's just because I love listening to his accent... {he's from New Zealand}

my seventeenth birthday - with pat mAcdonald, melaniejane, & Delaney Davidson // photo by my mom

{I must admit that I am forever envious of pat's shirt}

I love this action shot I got of him in June!

I also really love his songs "I Told a Secret," "Wicked Wiggler," "In the Aisles," "Time Has Gone," "Frontseat," "Girl in White," "Poison Song," "Stone Song," "I'm a Fool," "Around the World," "In the Pines," "Lackie's Men," "Back in Hell," "Homeward Bound," "Magpie Song," "Bad Luck Man," "I'm So Depressed," "Another Man's Eyes," "You're a Loser," "So Long," "River of Misery," "It's So Good," and "Windy City." {wow that quickly turned into a long and depressing list of song titles. my apologies.}

me & Delaney; 13 June 2012 // photo by Abi

Anyway, back to the song.

It is forever etched into my heart. I love it so much, and I am forever grateful for not only this man, but the wonderful people who brought him into my life. I love you all.

and here's the official music video for Little Heart. Directed by Damien Shatford.


I must admit that Delaney with a beard totally scares me.

visit Delaney here.

{insert original title here}

I feel like I am such a slacker at blogging because I never have anything to write about! I wish I was one of those people who just sits at the keyboard and lets everything just flow through their fingertips and writes something nice and perfect, accompanied with beautiful pictures.

In other news...

Yesterday, my parents and I had lunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. He is such an adorable, smiley little eleven month old! (:

Today was my last tumbling class at the Y for this session (which means I get two weeks off). I really enjoy spending time with those kids. They're at the best age {3-5} and they say the funniest things. We had one boy in class who would literally run lengths of the floor when he would arrive until class started, and he would run around all during class as well. One day, he said at the end of class, "I'm hot and sweaty!!" haha. His mom and I were both like, "Really?! I can't imagine why that would be."

My best friend had her baby today. I can't wait to meet her!(:

Tomorrow is back to the ortho to get my permanent retainer glued back in before I go to work. My mouth has just gotten used to there not being any glue behind my teeth, so it'll be another weird few days.

Tomorrow is also the eighteenth of December, which marks the second anniversary of Luna moving to Wisconsin!

Then on Wednesday, I am going to get my hair cut! It's only been seven months...


Since I can't have a picture-less post ~ melaniejane made pat sign a copy of his new novella "Space Kitty Blues" for me & she gave me the cute little cat pen (:

Tuesday's Tunes: Invisible Pistols

So I may have skipped a week or two, but I'm back! Linking up with Les over at Leslyn's Lovely Life for Tuesday's Tunes!

As often as I see these two, I have only seen them perform once. I think that needs to change, because that's just not fair.

Anyway, this is PurgAtory Hill (pat mAcondald & melaniejane), also known as two of my favorite people in the wold. My favorite song of theirs was "Drinkin' or Drivin'" (side story - I just opened iTunes to see if it was "Drinkin' or Drivin'" or "Drinking or Driving" and I double clicked on the album - still not used to the new iTunes - and it started playing. haha).

Back in July of 2009, I went to a show of my dad's guitar teacher/good friend that pat happened to be playing at (and maybe melaniejane too - I can't remember) and I got them to sign the CD that I had (which was a pre-release copy - literally something that pat had burned on the computer and gave to my dad). I was so excited!! Then they were like, "you need a real copy." haha.

The first time that I got to see them perform was on September 11, 2009. I had just turned 16, and I remember the guy my dad and I bought our entry tickets from (it was a small music festival) asked if I wanted to buy drink tickets too. I was thinking "really??" I recounted that story later to pat and melanie as a cop was walking by. hahaha. I took a ton of really crappy pictures that night.

Here's one.

That girl owns the tambourine. Like, seriously. While they both have had their own successful solo careers (she plays incredible cello - look up her cover of the Beatles' "Come Together" / he is a Grammy-nominated songwriter - "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades"), I love love love both of their albums together.

Without anymore ramblings, the song I chose for today: Invisible Pistols from Invisible Pistols by PurgAtory Hill.


I just love the way he says, "I don't know!" haha.