Things to do This Summer

  Hi Everyone!

  So, I watched a video on Youtube this morning and somebody on there really inspired me to do something. He made a list of 25 things to do this summer, but not just a boring, ordinary list. He got a small journal and gave each thing a page, and when he accomplishes one of those things he documents it. 

  I decided to give it a shot. I'm terrible at completing to-do lists so we'll see how this goes. As a shy person, I tend to be very laid back and not do things that are out of my comfort zone. My list is pretty basic and easy things to accomplish. Most everyone will tell you to keep it simple especially when you have a difficult time completing things like these. I'm not going to tell you everything that's on my list because its personal and I want to keep that to myself. I want to document as many as I can by taking a picture of me doing it or something completed. This is going to be quite a challenge, but they're not impossible. I need to remember that I'm the only one that is preventing myself from doing things like this. I don't know how I'm gonna stay motivated, but if you have any helpful tips in this area PLEASE let me know in the comments.

  1- Get my permit and driver's license. You might as well know, I don't have either of these yet. I was going to keep that a personal thing, but I'll share it. Maybe it will give me more of a drive to get it done knowing you guys know that.

  2- Complete 2 sewing projects. I have not done a sewing project for a very long time and its about time I did. 

  3- Complete 2 crocheting projects. I'm more excited about this one. I like to crochet a lot. 

  4- Read 2-3 books. As I said in an earlier post, I do not like reading. So, to me this is really pushing it. This is definitely going to be one of the harder ones for me to do. 

  5- Get outside and get some sun as often as possible.

  6- Try something new (Hopefully something fun). Very broad, I know. But that leaves me to maybe try something spur the moment instead of having something specific planned out. Less pressure.

  7- Learn healthier cooking recipes. Why is it so hard to choose healthier foods?! Why do we crave junk like pizza, cookies, cake, candy, ice cream, soda, etc.?! No, I've gone off of soda for about a month now and it was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be. Praise God! 

  8- Get some white lights to decorate my room with. Like Christmas lights, but white wires instead of green. I've always wanted some so I'm gonna do it!

  9- Exercise regularly. 

 10- Walk everyday. Probably sounds like I'm pretty lazy. I really just don't like walking around the block when I know there's people out there, or walk on the treadmill when I have the feeling that someone is gonna sit there and watch me. 

 11- Make a new friend. Don't know who its gonna be, but this will be another challenge to get me out of my comfort zone. I don't know why its SO HARD! Is there anybody else out there that's shy like that?! Please don't make me feel like I'm alone. I know there are other people out there like that. But anyway, this should be a topic for another day. 

 12- Find some new interest(s). 

  Alright! That's all I have to share publicly, and now that I've said them, well, looks like I gotta do 'em. I will try and document as much as possible and let you guys know what I did or didn't get done this summer. 

  Question this week: What things on this list do you think I won't accomplish by the end of summer? Do you make lists, or do you just go with the flow?

  I hope you all are having a fabulous summer! I will be back next week with another blog post. Bye!

  ~Annah

I'm Home!

  Hi Everyone!

  I'm home! I've actually been home for a week, but I just got back into the swing of things. Rebecca was just starting to not feel well the day we left Branson, and she was sick for the rest of the week. Then Mom was sick. Then Rachel's back has been hurting her so I was the only one left that was able to do things. But thankfully now, Mom and Rebecca are well and life feels back to normal. I liked going to Branson, but I'm so glad to be home. Feels good.
  You know with packing for a trip, the bedroom always ends up being a disaster, and this time I didn't end up cleaning it before I left. I don't know if all you people do that. But anyway! I got it all cleaned up the other day and it feels great!
  Cleaning my room is one of my favorite things to do when I'm at home. For me, its also a good stress reducer. It really calms me down when I'm feeling stressed.
  Had a fun time in Branson. I don't feel like I did all that much, but we still had fun. Went to Silver Dollar City. Duh! Dad and Rebecca went to the Titanic Museum. (Only they went because that was her birthday date with Dad). I had no idea how much there is in Branson! That place is packed with entertaining things to do and see. I didn't get to go to the places I was hoping we would, but we'll probably end up going again this year or next year. Then I'll get to do them. I think I got hardly any pictures of Silver Dollar City.
  While I was there, in one of the shops there is a booth that sells some stringed instruments. And boy did that only feed my want for another instrument. I still would like to get a mandolin, mountain dulcimer, and a ukulele.
  Also, I never did a birthday post for Rebecca. It was very laid back, but it was fun. We actually didn't do much planning except for the color theme. We did orange and white for dreamsicle. That is her favorite flavor and scent. That was different because we usually just do our favorite colors. I really liked the change. Yeah, so instead of planning everything out we just lived in the moment and let things fall together. I wouldn't have changed it, it was great just the way it was.
  Thankfully, everything is pretty much back to normal and hopefully blogging will be back to normal too. Sorry this is a couple days late, but at least I got this posted before next week.
  Talk to you later! I'll be back next week! BYE!

  ~Annah

Rachel and me on Rebecca's birthday

   Happy birthday to one of the sweetest people I know. She is one of my biggest role models. She has helped me a lot in learning to not care what people think and to just be myself, loving and serving God, and showing love and care to the people around me. I love you, Rebecca! Happy birthday!

Rachel and me on our trip to see my oldest sister
 who lives about 4 hours away from us. 

Leaving Tomorrow

  Hello Everyone,

  We were able to celebrate Rebecca's birthday normally and we had a lot of fun. We thought it was gonna be real different this year with the way things were going, but we had a pretty fun day.
  I've been babysitting a lot more lately and I'm loving it! Its been a while since I've done it consistently. I've missed it so much. *sigh*.
  Tomorrow, we are going out of town to visit with my oldest sister and her husband. Also while we're there, we'll be seeing a cousin of mine and her kids that we don't get to see very often. I'm excited. I don't know what it is about family get-togethers that I love so much, but I just do. We will be coming back home in the middle of the week to do a few things and then we're off for Branson! Can't wait! Can't wait!
  But that's it for today. I kinda wanna blog everyday while I'm gone, but we'll see how that goes. If that is the case, I will talk to ya'll tomorrow.

  ~Annah

Got a Haircut

  Here are a couple pictures of my haircut from today.

Before

After

I know its kinda short, but I'm getting used to it. It was needed, and I plan on letting it grow out long again.

  ~Annah

Friday Post

  Hi Everyone!

  So, May is going to be a very busy month.
  Today, we are making a cake for someone's birthday tomorrow. Mother's day is this Sunday. My sister Rebecca's birthday is the 17th. My cousin's 3rd birthday is the day after. On Rebecca's birthday, we have to make a graduation cake. At the end of the month, we are going to visit my oldest sister and her family for a few days. After that, we will be going on a small vacation to Branson, MO. (SO EXCITED BTW)!
  I have not been on a vacation since I was 12 or 13. Even though I've lived in Missouri my whole life, I have never been to Branson.
  Since we are going to be so busy the weekend of Rebecca's birthday, we are planning to celebrate her birthday while we are in Branson. I feel so bad that we will be too busy to do very much for on her real birthday. Wanting to try some new things for her birthday instead of doing everything so traditionally. Not sure yet what we'll do, but I'll probably start planning today.
  Also, before Rebecca's birthday or at least before vacation, I want to get a haircut. I'm definitely due for one. I will get before and after pictures. I won't be getting anything dramatic done, just a haircut.
  I don't know about everyone else, but I am so excited for summer, and I'm enjoying the weather so much right now. I know that was really random, but I just wanted to share that. I feel like this year is going to be a blur for me. I hope not, but we are already five months into the year and it still feels like the year just started. I hope the rest of the year goes slower. It always seems that winter takes forever to get overwith, and spring and summer go by WAY too fast.
  Like I said last week, we celebrated a first birthday. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of the birthday girl, and I didn't get to stay long. Right after cake, I had to leave to babysit a couple kiddos. Which was fine. I LOVE babysitting so much. I did miss her opening her presents. First birthdays are so special. Of course, all birthdays are special.
  We know of a couple things we want to do while we're there, but if there are any of you out there that know of any good places to go while you're in Branson let me know.
  Thanks for reading. I hope you are having a good day and a great week.
   ~Annah

My cousin, Caroline Rose turned 1.

Busy Week (Whats new? Right?)

  Hey Everyone!

  Wasn't able to do a post last week. Again. This is getting bad. Anyway, they are a couple things I want to talk about.
   First off, I was going to do a post on my interests. I was gonna talk about sewing and show you the project I was hoping to get accomplished this week. But, I can already see that its not gonna happen. At least not this week.
   I will also be doing a post about somebody's first birthday party soon. It will be short though.
   I have a birthday party to go to this weekend. My cousin Samantha is turning 13. Last year, I made her a quilt. I was trying to think of something else creative for this year. I don't have time for a huge project so I was trying to think of something creative and simple. So, I went to Michael's to get inspired and I decided on buying a fun colored table standing photo frame. I will draw her picture and put it in the frame. Unfortunately, the only fun colored frames were ones that you hang on the wall. They can't nail holes in their wall so I had to find a way to make it work. I kept looking hoping to find another frame that did stand by itself. I was really disappointed that I couldn't get a colored one. Finally, (I wish I could think of these things myself without needing to have a visual), I found a variety of different stands I could put the wall-hanging frame on. Needless to say I was pretty excited to find them. I got some letter stickers so I could put her name on the top of the frame to add some more yumph to it. And just as I was getting in line I saw big standing initials for $5. I grabbed an S. Everything worked out so perfectly. Before I went into the store, I prayed and asked God to guide my shopping and show me what to buy. Because I was going in completely clueless on what to get.
  Today, I went grocery shopping with Mom and I remembered a friend that had been feeling down recently and I wanted to find a way to possibly cheer her up a little. God gave me the idea to find some inexpensive, small things that I know she loves. I just want to encourage you guys that if you know someone who is going through a tough time and really needs some love and encouragement, don't be shy. Step out and show them that you're thinking of them. It doesn't have to be anything big. I could just be a card, but let them know that they are loved and cared about.
  God loves you, and I love you too. If there is someone I'm able to help in the world, I pray God will use me.
  Hope you all are having a good week!

  ~Annah

Her colors this year are green, blue, and yellow. This was
the only S and it was green.  

Interests & Hobbies

  Hello Everyone!

  SO sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I feel bad about that.
  Well, anyway, for a while I'm gonna be doing posts about my interests and hobbies. I have a list of 20 of them and I'll do 1 or 2 at a time. I probably won't do them in the order they are listed. I will start next week because today is gonna be a pretty full day and I don't have time to sit here and write anything worth reading. For the most part, its gonna be non-stop till I go to bed tonight. So, here's the list, and come back next week on Tuesday to find out what the first one is.

1. Piano
2. Violin
3. Sewing
4. Crocheting
5. Knitting
6. Quilting
7. Cleaning
8. Organizing
9. Writing
10. Cake decorating
11. Drawing
12. Painting
13. Cooking
14. Blogging
15. Youtube
16. Photography
17. Babysitting
18. Food allergies
19. Dogs
20. Friends

  There are some other interests that I have but I'm not going to be talking about them any time soon. Hope you have a great day! I kinda hope I have a good day too, because today is going to be busy/hectic. Bye ya'll.

   ~Annah