Puppy Love

My parents rescued a sweet little great dane puppy on Sunday. My dad named her Olive and she's a sweet little girl. So here are a couple pictures of her and then I'll show off my boys a little too. ;]

Olive!

Sleepy girl!

Gregory & Olive playing

Crazy man, Paco!

Brothers sleeping together, too sweet!

Okinawa, I'm here.

I arrived on this beautiful island on Wednesday. I've been dealing with a lot of emotional stress, so I've not really been my usual self. I'm trying to get things squared away here so I can go on my merry way and enjoy that thing called life.

I keep reminding myself that I have an amazing boyfriend, family, and friends waiting on me back in the states. It's keeping me going and I would like to thank those of you who have reached out and been there for me this week. I love all of you very much and you're all so close to my heart. And I'm going to miss my Okinawa friends dearly, don't think I've forgotten you!

I will tell you guys that this week's Ten Things Tuesday is going to be pretty awesome. I've found so many amazing things that I can't wait to share with you, so get ready!

August is quickly approaching and I couldn't be more excited. I'm starting school again, finally! And I'm turning 24! I can't wait to celebrate and have the cutest little party in the world. Oh, and my sweet little Paco is turning the big O-N-E on July 17th! Maybe he'll stop chewing on everything? I surely hope so! The sweet boyfriend bought us tickets to see Bon Iver at the end of July, so we're super excited for that & all of our other upcoming adventures.

Still Alive In My Heart

Me, one year ago. Wearing my grandma's pretty red nail polish.

A year ago today I was awoken by my grandpa yelling at my dad, I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall...only to find my grandmother dead in their bed. Lifeless, with an ambulance on the way. There was no point, she was gone. Her frail body was just that, a body, and nothing more. No sweet words from her lips and no more look of suffering on her face. At the time, nothing seemed peaceful about the situation. Now, I look back and find nothing but peace for her. She had a long journey and three types of cancer - her time was done, she needed rest. I'd never had a family member pass away that I was close to. I'd never seen a dead body. My heart had never been so heavy. I will never forget that morning. It still weighs on my mind and I find myself replaying the entire day in my head often. There is still something oddly spiritual about the whole situation, even for a self-proclaimed Agnostic. It was beautiful but confusing in far more ways than I could have ever imagined.

I wrote this entry the day after.

I love you Grandma, you are incredibly missed. 

"People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write they continue to exist. We can rediscover them. Their humor, their tone of voice, their moods. Through the written word they can anger you or make you happy. They can comfort you. They can perplex you. They can alter you. All this, even though they are dead. Like flies in amber, like corpses frozen in ice, that which according to the laws of nature should pass away is, by the miracle of ink on paper, preserved. It is a kind of magic."

-The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield

Newest Family Members

Okay, so they may not be able to hang out with the entire family...but sure are fun to watch. We definitely don't need any other cats or dogs running around here and I wanted something a little more low maintenance, but still just as cute. You all may remember one of Ten Things Tuesday lists, the one I had a cute little mouse on? Well, I finally got around to getting two little munchkins of my own & they are way too sweet. They are both females, one is an orange color and the other is brown. I've named the brown one Thistle but the orange baby still needs a name so feel free to leave suggestions! They're still a bit scared & shy but they will sniff my hand and do not really run from me anymore. Hopefully by the end of the week I can get them to let me hold them. I'm hoping to get some better pictures of them as soon as I'm able to hold them, until then - photo quality is gonna be crappy because they're so stinkin' quick!

Don't worry, no mice were harmed in this photo. Penelo & Yenko had to check out the ladies.

Here is Thistle and you can kinda see little orange baby running on the wheel...

Happy Birthday, Dad!!! 

Thanks for being such an awesome dad, I love you very much!