Day 30 - A Picture that Describes You Perfectly

This is pretty much me! I don't have much to give, but I will give you my heart and my love!

Thanks for reading along with my 30 day challenge! I hope that you wer inspired or at least entertained by learning more about me and my life :)

Day 29 - A Picture that Can Always Make You Smile

This picture can make me smile even on the worst days!

When my best friend's little boy, Luke was like 6 months old, Kevin and I went to visit. Luke took a liking to Kevin immediately and he was loving time getting to play with this new guy in his life. Luke had a fascination with Kevin's nose (as you can see) and I thought it was the cutest thing ever :)

This picture brings a giggle to me every time I look at it. LOVE IT!

Day 28 - A Picture of Something That Always Makes Your Day

The Caswell sunset, which I'm looking at right now :)

It always makes my day... just wish I could see it more often these days!

Day 27 - A Picture of Yourself and a Family Member

This is me and my little (bigger) brother at the Boston Red Sox vs. Atlanta Braves game in 2009. It was a great game but definitely one of the hottest baseball games I've ever been to.

Day 26 - A Picture of Something that Means a lot to You

So I'm realizing that I don't take enough pictures to be able to post on my blog the expectations of this Challenge :(

I don't have a picture of the something that means a lot to me so I'll just describe it to you...

In the summer of 2002, I started working at Camp Caswell. Greatest Summer Ever! Anyway, I have a lunch bag with the theme from that summer ('That New Thing'). Now I know what your thinking... Really? A lunch bag? Let me explain... In that lunch bag there is about 1000 pictures from that summer. Pictures of people who are still my best friends today, 9 years later. I love to look through that lunch bag and remember that summer. The super early mornings and the extremely late evenings. Cleaning Oceana and finding surprises every Sunday that made us laugh and laugh and laugh. Running the putt putt course for hours and hours in the 100 degree gym. Listening the Amy Salley give us instructions over the radio. The Mountain Dew... Oh the Mountain Dew. The talks. The tears. The Worship. Vespers. Hatch. Oh my, I could type for hours.

Yep, that lunch bag is special to me! Extremely special :)

Day 25 - A Picture of Your Day

This is a picture of my day :)

I am at the beach with my family and my niece, Summer found/rescued a snail. She has placed it in a cup with glass, dirt, a rock and a sprinkle of water... everything a snail would need to make it in the cup world, haha.

It's such a relaxing day! I could get used to this!

Day 24 - A Picture of Something You Wish You Could Change

I wish I could make cupcakes healthy :)

I could seriously eat one a day... but since they're fattening I don't.

I wish I could change that!

Day 23 - A Picture of Your Favorite Book

Okay, don't laugh but my favorite book is...

...yes and I'm not kidding. Not even a little bit!

Day 22 - A Picture of something You Wish You were better at

Yep! I want to be a better runner... and I'm getting there. Slowly but surely :)

Practice makes perfect right?

Day 21 - A Picture of something You Wish You could Forget

This blog post would never go over well if I actually posted a picture of something I wish I could forget. I think it would be totally foolish of me to throw out something like that... to air my baggage for all the world to see. Not smart! Some things should just remain in my head... Not on a computer screen! But I will talk about something I wish I could forget... Something web appropriate.

You see, when I was younger, I wasn't exactly the perfect sister. I am 3 years older than my brother and I was that sister that really hated that my younger brother wanted to hang out with me. Kind of like the' too cool for school' mentality. Anyway, I was so mean to my brother. He was heavier when we were kids and I definitely used that to my advantage. When I would get upset, I would call him names and most of those names dealt with his weight. Ugh, I am terrible sister. I know I hurt his feelings and I feel bad about it now. As I look back, I was so hurtful to him when all he wanted was to be around me and be accepted.

Later, when I went off to college, my brother told me that he had always looked up to me and wanted to be just like me (minus the being a girl part). Can you believe that? Me, someone who said such awful things!

Anyway I wish I could forget all of that...but better yet, I wish I had never said those hurtful things! I know you can't change the past but I do know that the past has definitely affected my future. I'm not perfect but I can say that I have become a much better, more encouraging sister.

Day 20 - A Picture of somewhere You'd Love to Travel

I mean seriously, How gorgeous is that picture?!

That is New Zealand and it's on the top of my 'Must Travel To' list! If everything goes as planned, I'll be heading there next year :)

Day 19 - A Picture of a habit that you wish you didn't have

This is slightly embarrassing but, I really wish I didn't cry every time I got upset or was angry! I mean some people don't really think of crying as a habit but, when you do it as often as I do, it is! I am so freakin emotional and it drives me crazy!

Have you ever stood in front of a mirror and had a 'pretend' argument with yourself? Basically your reflection being the person you are wanting to confront or you're wanting yell at, as loud as your little voice box can yell. I have these often because 1. I am terrible a confrontation (as I mentioned in my last blog) and 2. I don't cry when I when I do this. Granted, I'm not dealing with the issue because I'm arguing with myself but I do feel better afterwards (how pathetic is that?)

Anyway, I really wish I was a little stronger sometimes! Like, I'm not trying to sound like a victim (even though I know that' what I sound like) but, I would love to be able to tell people my mind without having remorse or having a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I hurt their feelings. Ugh, what an awful cycle! I need help... or a counselor... or someone to teach me how to be strong or to throw punches or something!

Any takers?

Day 18 - A Picture of You're Least Favorite Trait

This gets me in trouble a lot cause I don't express my feelings well and I tend to hold things in until I explode with a cause of verbal diarrhea. Not a good thing!

Day 17 - A Picture of something that has made a huge Impact on Your Life recently

Well it's not a something... it's a someone!

This adorable young girl is my niece, Summer. She is the huge impact even though she's quite little :)

To give you a little back story, Summer was born when my brother was 16 years old. I was in my first year at ECU when I heard the news. She was a surprise that has turned my world upside down. I've watched her grow up into this little woman... this little person with big dreams and a big love for every one. Despite some circumstances that I will not go in to, this little girl is super tough and has made a huge impact on my life!

She's a sassy little 9 year old now, who for some reason, has her own cell phone and texts me occasional messages like 'I love Aunt Shannon.' Melts my heart! I mean, a cell phone at 9 isn't something I totally agree with but at least she uses it well, ha :)

I tear up when I see pictures of her cause I'm not there to help teach her things like how to throw a softball or how to braid hair. I know that sounds a little motherly but I want to teach her everything! I want her to love life and know that she is beautiful and so very much loved! She's my munchkin!

Day 16 - A Picture of someone who Inspires You

I need to think on this one for a day or two cause I want it be more than a photo.

To be continued...

Day 15 - A Picture of something You want to do before You Die

Again so many things... I even have my own Bucket List. It's called a Day Zero Project but it's the same concept!

Okay, something I want to do before I die... hmmmm... I guess it would be this...

<-----That picture to the left is a representation of me wanting to visit all 50 states!

Duh!

I don't think that's too hard of a goal! I mean I have a few years (hopefully) and I think visiting every state would be so awesome.

I'd like to go snowboarding in Colorado and fishing in Oregon. I'd love to lay on the beach in California and walk along the rocky coast of Maine. I love trying new foods too so I'd have to try some food that each state (or it's cities) is known for! Hmmmm... Boston Chowder and Texas BBQ (even though I'm kind of a BBQ snob). Philly Cheesesteak for Philly and ... well what's Nevada known for? I'll have to figure that out.

That's what I would do... or better yet, that's what I'm going to do :)

Want to come with me??

Day 14 - A Picture of Someone You could never Imagine Your Life without

WOW... These just keep getting harder and harder!

It's really hard for me to narrow down ONE person that I couldn't imagine my life without. There are so many that would fall into that category... like my Dad, Mom, Brother, Niece, Grandmother... you get the gist. I could never imagine my life without my family. I guess aside from them, and for the purposes of this blog, the person I am going to choose to write about is... ... Kristen Heffelfinger (soon to be Mrs. Kristen Wilson).

I simply adore her! She is one of the most encouraging people I know. Definitely someone to call on a gloomy day.

Kristen and I met in 2006 while I was interning at Caswell. She was friends with my roommate and I was friends with her boyfriend. We became friends instantly after meeting... It was like that love at first sight thing expect more like friends at first conversation (if that even makes sense ha). We talked about everything... specific situations we were going through, boyfriends we had lost and were getting over and just life. What's so great about our friendship is that Kristen, who is about 5 years younger than me, and I have learned over the past few years is that we tend to go through the stuff, just at different times. Our life experiences are so similar, it's a little scary.

I was somewhat of a mentor to Kristen in the beginning of getting to know one another, but lately she has been a mentor to me. She teaches me SO much and she never let's me look at the darker side of things. She always has a bright side for every situation :) She is so wise and she has helped through some tough things. Can we say LOTS of late night conversations!

I don't see Kristen as much as I would like but we have a very strong bond nonetheless... one that we continue to build over Skype and the occasional phone call. She is one of my very best friends and I can honestly say, 'I could never imagine my life without her!'

Day 13 - A Picture of someone You Miss

I miss my puppy, Cambi...

She's been at home in North Carolina with my awesome parents for over a year now and I think it's been long enough. It's time for my sweet little country puppy to come back to the city!

I know technically that's not a someone but she is the one I miss!

Day 12 - A Picture of something You Love

A picture of something I love... that's easy! I LOVE Caswell.

Caswell is my haven... my home away from home. It's one of those places I can't get out of my head and I long to be there every Summer as a staffer, especially when returning staff start posted pictures to Facebook between May and August.

There's just something about that place that I can never fully explain because you have to experience it to feel it. All I know is that when I drive through those gates, no matter what time of year, this feeling of peace and comfort come over me. I never want to leave once I'm there and I guarantee any one who has ever worked there will say the same!

Here's some pictures of my haven for you :)

Day 11 - A Picture of something You Hate

Hate is a very strong word and I do try my best not to use it... So for this blog I am posting a picture of something I dislike. It sounds more appeasing :)

Atlanta traffic!

That is a major dislike! It makes me late, it causes me anxiety and sometimes it prevents me from going the places I want... just because I refuse to sit in it! If Atlanta had no traffic, it's safe to say may world would be a better place!