31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 17

Okay, so...the 31 Day Photo Challenge is taking far longer than 31 days and, truthfully, I'm just feeling a little bit burnt out on it.  Day 16 is supposed to be a picture of someone who inspires me.  Really?  Someone who inspires me?

Here's the sad truth:  I got nothin.  I can't think of anyone who inspires me at a blog-worthy level.  If you're reading this and thinking, "Wait...I'm awesome!  I'm inspiring!", please don't be offended that you didn't immediately spring to mind on this one.  It's not that you're bad people or that you're not rockin-awesome.  I'm just not much for being inspired, I guess.

So, anywho, I'm gonna go ahead and skip Day 16.  Day 17 calls for a photo of something that has had a huge impact on my life recently.

This is my backyard.  You may be thinking, "Reva, do you mean to tell us your ugly dead grass has had a huge impact on your life recently?"  "Turk?"  "The Villa Maria?"

Um, no.

Although, in a roundabout way, the grass kind of symbolizes what I'm talking about.

Here's the thing:  I suffer from depression all year-round, but it is significantly worse during the long, cold, winter months of Michigan (I totally live in the wrong place...).  What I have is known as SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder.  The cold and the lack of sunlight contribute to my overall winter funk.  I've not been "professionally" diagnosed, but in this age of information at your fingertips (gotta love Google and the world wide interweb), I really don't feel like I need to pay my doctor to tell me what I already know.

After just about a week of warmer weather, my husband commented on how noticeably my mood had changed.  So, if anyone questions the validity of SAD, they can suck it, Trebek, because I am living proof that it exists.  But, at least for the next few months, I will bask in the sun and be not quite so moody and funky.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 15

A picture of something I'd like to do before I die.

I would like to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

My two favorite artists are Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell and, while I do love some Warhol, there's nothing like that nostalgic, warm-hearted feeling that comes when looking at a Rockwell.  Known as a "storyteller with a brush," Rockwell had a tender, often humorous way of capturing real life.



The following are some favorites - I swear I'll try not to keep you here all day!

Puppy Love - one of my absolute favorites!

The Gossip - hilarious!

Girl At Mirror - so true to life...

Four Freedoms - some of Rockwell's most famous work

The Black Eye - she just looks so proud of herself!












"I'll never have enough time to paint all the pictures I'd like to."  --Norman Rockwell

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 14

A picture of someone I couldn't imagine my life without.

Check out this handsome devil!

Back off, ladies - he's mine!

This man puts up with a lot from me - my moodiness, my stubbornness, my overactive tear ducts, my inability to cook (I'm getting better!)...among other things.  I have never felt the need to keep anything from him, we have fun together, and we're fully committed to having a successful marriage with God as our foundation!  What more could you want??

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 13

A picture of my favorite band or artist.

The truth is, I really struggle to pick favorites.  Of anything, really.  As a general rule, I claim green as my favorite color, but...in some applications, I prefer purple.  Or red.  Or blue.

I really like colors! I even like yellow sometimes.

Favorite food?  Not a chance.

With so many rockin' awesome things in the world - natural or fabricated - who can pick favorites? There's just so much to love - and I hate to pigeonhole myself!

Maybe I just fear commitment...

But I REALLY love music, and I love music of all varieties.  Rock, punk rock, indie, alternative, country, rap, hip-hop, soul, funk, blues, oldies...the list goes on!  So to try to choose a favorite band or artist is a real challenge for me!

But, it's your lucky day, dear blogosphere!  I've compiled a sampling of some of my faves.

The Beatles                                   Garth Brooks
Maroon 5                                     System of a Down
Jason Mraz                                   Michael Buble
Diane Birch                                  Queen
Adele                                           Hawk Nelson

Three Days Grace                        Breaking Benjamin

Bruno Mars                                 Joe Cocker

Duffy                                           Marc Broussard
Amos Lee                                   Trisha Yearwood
Relient K

Okay, okay - I'll stop there.  You get the idea.  I really like music.  A lot.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 12

Let's pretend that I didn't just take a ridiculous blogging hiatus and that I've been right on top of everything in my life, mmkay?

Day 12 - A photo of something I love.

Hmm...

Well...

I love a whole crap-ton of things, and I'm finding it difficult to decide what to write about.  I mean, literally, as I'm typing this, I'm still trying to decide: What is it that I love enough to blog about??  The ham & onion cheeseball I'm currently noshing on?  The sound of raindrops on the rooftop?  French fries?  Red Skittles?  Shel Silverstein books?

Okay, okay, I've got it!  He loves to lick everything, he destroys tennis balls on the regular, he's a 25 lb. weapon of mass destruction, and he just jumped up onto my lap and gave me a big ol' slobbery kiss. 

Turk.  Turkey Doo.  Turkmenistan.  Turk Monster.  Turkish Delight. Turkish Gold.  Pupper Doo.  My puppy-love.

*SIGH* 

Is he or is he not one of the cutest stinkin' creatures you've EVER seen???  Seriously.  It's no wonder he gets away with murder.  He's too cute.  The hubs and I can never have children because we're too ridiculously good-looking that surely our chidren will be knockouts as well, and we'll never be able to bring ourselves to discipline them.  "What's that, Tommy? You're painting a battle scene on the dining room wall with assorted condiments?  Well, that's alright, darling, because you're attractive.  And attractive people don't get in trouble on this planet.  Eat your peas.  Oh, you don't like peas? Well, by all means, leave them on your plate as a glaring reminder of all the money we waste on vegetables to keep you healthy when all you want to eat is Lucky Charms with chocolate milk.  Go ahead.  Cause you're cute.  Can I get you some Lucky Charms?  Or perhaps a candy bar would better serve you?"

I'm just kidding.  We'll beat our kids if that's what it takes to get them to eat their peas! 

Just kidding.  Again.  I don't even like peas.  I won't even buy peas.

So that's my dog.  I love him.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 11

A picture of something I hate. 

Well, those of you who know me are aware that I would probably be considered more irritable than your average person.  But, for this post, we'll be focusing on my hatred for spelling and grammar errors.  This hatred actually breaks down in to categories.  For example, if someone just isn't really great at spelling and/or grammar and they send me a text message or an email with a typo in it, I may laugh.  I may even make a joke out of it (cause sometimes they're just really funny, am I right?).  But it won't fill me with the same kind of rage that comes when I see intentional errors, like those dang "I can haz cheezburger" cats.  I HATE those cats!  And their little bunny friends, too!  The pseudo-word "kwikstop" makes me throw up in my mouth.  You're not being cute, and you're not setting yourselves apart from the competition (at least not in a positive way) by replacing "quick" with "kwik."  Now you just look like a moron.

Okay, so we've got innocent typos coming from people with stubby thumbs (those cell phone buttons just keep getting smaller) or people whose strong suit just simply is not spelling and grammar.  Then we've got the idiots who think it's cute to spell things incorrectly.  And then we've got the people who are trying to be taken seriously, but are too cheap or too ignorant to hire a proofreader.  These are the people who put out ads, books, articles, signs, etc. with unnecessary apostrophes, superfluous quotation marks, and not a single comma to be found.  And sometimes those misspelled words can be quite...embarrassing.

So, there you have it.  One of my many pet peeves. 

And a cute little comic, to boot:

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 10

A photo of me and the person I do the craziest things with. 

Right.  So, I don't really do "crazy" anymore.  I'm too practical for that kind of nonsense.  Or maybe I've just gotten boring... :s

Regardless, I chose a photo of me and the bestie - because we USED TO do crazy things together.  Some of my absolute best memories and worst hangovers were with her...but I don't want to say too much.  I'd hate to embarrass her.  Plus, she's got a significant amount of dirt on me ; )

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us - it was a really super-fantastic day and we were both lookin' foxy!  Love you, Beena!