Spring Memories

Hello All! :)

It's a little funny-feeling that Spring is a memory now. And we're into summer... which has been surprisingly cool and balmy here in mid-Georgia. No blazing heat yet for us! :) (I'm not complaining about that though, no sirree.)

Without further ado, pictures I took at Callaway last time we were there.

As always, if you steal them without asking I will be mad at you. Please ask before you plunder. Just because I was too tired to put a name or blog url on them doesn't mean they're yours for the taking. :D

Everyone else (which means the pure-in-heart), Enjoy!

(Oh, by the way, I was also too pressed for time to edit any of these. Behold the raw beauty of images captured with my Olympus Pen E-PL1.)

An Easter Lily. Pure and white.

The estimable Sibley Horticultural Center, all decked out with dozens of Easter lilies!

A beautiful orchid. I think I have about twenty photos of this plant from twenty different visits... I seem to photograph it each time I see it. :D

The whole crew on the bridge at the Azalea Bowl. :) Minus me. I took the picture. :D

We were late for the Azaleas, which were unseasonably early this year due to our warm Spring. But a few lingered, and I had fun searching for them amongst the bushes like pretty little treasures. :D

I loved these pansies, they were so gorgeous in the early morning light. (We'd been there since sunrise, so I was able to take pictures in the delightfully diagonal morning rays.)

We were delighted to find the Mountain Laurel nearly in full bloom, something we usually miss during our Callaway visits. These are so pretty!

I also feel a special tenderness towards this flower because my middle name, Lauren, actually means "place of the laurel trees." ;)

Bokeh! (Bits of light) Ahhhh. Lovely.

A Native Azalea.

I kept dashing off the path we walked to snap photos of random bits of things like those fresh, new Maple leaves. My brothers looked slightly askance at me dodging hither and yon like some crazed butterfly, but at least they didn't interfere. :D

And... yours truly! I make no excuses for my appearance save that I had to get up at about 5:00 in the morning to be ready for the sunrise service. Blub. Have I mentioned that I'm somewhat of a night owl? My sweet Daddy snapped this shot for me outside of the Ida Cason Memorial Chapel. (Thus the reason you can actually see my hands.)

I will probably be missing in action for the rest of the week and the rest of next week, because next week I'm headed off to North Carolina for my third and final homeschool convention of the year! Wow. :) As always, there's lots of prep work to do.
This one should be fun though, it includes a homeschool alumni and college-age board game night AND a dance. Yup. I'm looking forward to that. :) A lot.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Which was your favorite?

On Life, Writing, and Happy Things

Hi!

So... it's slightly embarrassing that my last post was on Easter Sunday and this one is a few days before Mothers' Day. Not that I don't have a good excuse (besides Pinterest) ... I've been otherwise occupied (let's see if I can get through this post without using that word that starts with B and rhymes with 'dizzy') making jewelry, going to a homeschool convention, and selling jewelry. :)

Like this ring.

Incidentally, do you know how hard it is to self-photograph your hand with a ring in anything like an attractive position using your other hand, without using a tripod?

I turned 21. I'm a real grownup now. :D

I finished a 72,265-word novel. Ashburn. For a hint about what it's like, see this pinboard.

I've also begun book 2 of the series, titled Bryce. (Yes, it has a pinboard too.)

I am very much enjoying my writing these days. On the advice of a really good friend, who heard it from our mutual really good friend, I began carrying a notebook around in my purse for on-the-go inspiration lightning bolts. I've also been carting my laptop along on trips in its chic matching aqua sleeve and writing in hotel rooms and waiting rooms. :D Writing looks like it's going to be a much better future stay-at-home-mom career than selling handcrafted jewelry. :)

*Begin Rant*
Blogger has completely ticked me off with the new dashboard design. It took me a precious ten minutes to figure it all out all over again. I could have been doing important things during that ten minutes, people. Plus I think the look is really ugly. I didn't like the old look either, but this one is awful. :P It's so white and boring and blah. Blogger has become Blah-ger.
*End Rant*

I felt so sorry for my blog the other day that I petted it and played with it and gave it a makeover. Do you like it? If so, I'd love to know. :D If you don't like it, be nice and don't mention it. :D

I have a post appearing on Meditations of His Love, about "The Line". So do check that out if you'd like. :) If you leave me a comment letting me know you read it, I'll reply with a comment. :)

When I next return, I hope to share some more pictures of the shiny jewelry I've been designing, and some shots I took the last time we were at the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Callaway Gardens.

 So... leave a comment if you still follow me! :D I'm curious about how many lurkers I have. :D Say hi, I won't bite. ;)