My sweet Jeremiah

After vacationing in the Tennessee mountains, 

 We brought this guy home.

 He helped celebrate my birthday.

 And there was laughter.

 And much dancing.

Life without Jeremiah? I don't even want to think of it.

In other news,

Jonathan had a birthday and he's now in the double digits, which is sad and amazing and exciting all at once. He had a birthday party. My house was full of ten-year-old boys. Ten-year-old boys full of sugar. Ten-year-old boys feeding off of one another's energy.

 (Oh, and that's my brother. The one with the plate in his mouth.)

We've had some warm days and I was able to grab a good book and a blanket and retreat to the woods.

I saw Tim Hawkins live in Memphis! Funniest. Man. Of the world.

(Oh, and this was the lovely view from my seat. I had fun in spite of that.)

I deleted my Facebook.
It turns out, the average person spends about an hour a day (or more). This adds up to be 7 hours a week, which in turn adds to 30 hours a month!  
30.
And in a year? That's 360 hours!
I think this is only going to be temporary for me, but you never know.
But really, can you imagine what one could do in 360 hours, instead of wasting it learning things you didn't want to/shouldn't know about a person on Facebook? Those are my thoughts. I'm not saying you all have to go out and delete your Facebook. No, I just know that it's been a distraction and a waste of time for me, so I deleted it. And that's that.
And nooo, this doesn't mean I've fallen off the face of the planet. We live in the 21st century. There are ways one can be reached outside of Facebook. Feel free to email, call, text me, or even write a good, old fashioned, real and lovely letter.

After many YouTube videos and a good push, I finally did it. I grabbed some scissors and just cut.

 Bangs!

Dear Best Friend,

18!
When did this happen? I guess it's strange to think of you as an "adult." Not really because you don't act like one, but because you've always been so mature. Mature, but not incapable of being silly and fun. (See picture.) :) Basically, you're just perfect the way you are. But now it's official. Eighteen years old.

Dear Katie, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and the wonderful, comforting sweetness of God's Presence throughout your eighteenth year. May you draw ever nearer to our sweet Savior, Jesus Christ!

Happy birthday, Katie Larissa! 

Needless to say, but still I must say it, for it cannot be said too often: I love you, sweet friend. So very much.

no one likes goodbyes. or homework. these are just facts of life.

Goodbye, happy Summer of 2010.

Hello, Junior year.

Also, I'm getting the birthday blues. My birthday ends and school begins. All in one day. Talk about depressing.

Birthday, birthday, birthday, hey!

Ah, a birthday. The sweet smell of cake which often accompanies ice cream, brightly-colored wrapped presents, good food, the sight of great (sometimes silly) friends, bright streamers, balloons hanging from walls and mailboxes, and lots of fun. It never gets old, right?

Actually, it can.

Within seven days, I had fun times five. That means cake and icing times five.

1. Saturday was Jon-Jon's 9th birthday! Our little baby's not so little anymore. He and his crazy friends played at the bowling alley to celebrate.

2. Monday was Colleen's surprise 16th birthday party!

3. Tuesday was Leigh's surprise 16th birthday party, which is apparently the way to do it.

4. Thursday was Catherine's birthday! Lots of Spartans got together to celebrate...and I ate more cake.

{Cat loves her pink cake}

5. Friday: Danielle's slumber party. More Spartan girls + fun + games + knitting + virtually no sleep. It was great! Except for the no sleep part...I'm still catching up.

No more cake, please.

21

I can't begin to tell you how much I love this girl or how wonderful she really is. She's been a wondrous example of the love of Christ to me, shown me, taught me so much, and I've had the privilege of sharing so many amazing memories with her. She's one of the best sisters I could ever ask for. I've seen her made anew and grow so much in her walk with God and her love for Christ. And, as of today, December the 8th, she is officially twenty-one years of age (which is sort of a significant year, yikes). Katie, I love you and I pray that you would continue to persevere and that you would grow to love Christ more and more every day.

P.S. Don't forget us when you run off to Italy. And don't have too much fun without me. But you must have some fun, of course. Oh, and don't marry any Italian man. I hear they're quite immature.

P.P.S. Two posts in one day. This is a record. Don't I get some kind of award or something?