What keeps me breathing

When I was younger, my grandmother told me that once you can read, there's nothing in the world you can't learn.  Let me tell you, the woman knew what she was talkin' about. The moment I picked up a book on my own, I knew I had discovered something special.  Reading became a way for me experience things I couldn't in actuality.  I wasn't able to ride horses, so I soaked up as much written information about them as I could. (The Phantom Stallion series was my very favorite, still is).  I lived in land-locked Colorado, so I devoured tales of the sea.  I've never truly been in love, so I wanted to know about it in all its many forms. I was instantly transported into every different type of world imaginable just by picking a book.  They were my escape when my real life became too much to handle.  When I couldn't sleep, I'd imagine I was in whatever book I was reading at the time, adding things here and there.  I've always brought books with me whereve

You know that magical hour, just before twilight, as the sun is about to set?  Everything is drenched in golden light, and you know that right then, at that moment nothing could steal this feeling of contentment, this rightness. It's as close to perfect as you can get. This was one of those moments.

The sky is on fire. It was more brilliant than a picture could ever show. Man, I love sunsets.

Cookies with my boy Now we have to wait for them to cool? Awhhh man.

We drove down to El Paso on December 1st, to visit my uncle Ryan before he deployed and help him pack up all the things we were taking with us to store while he's gone. And now, a few snippets from the trip And so begins our invasion of The Lone Star state Mountains residing somewhere in Texas or southern New Mexico, not quite sure, but I'm gonna pretend they're Texas mountains so I can put them in this post Real live Texas tree! From the Texas visitor center Another Texas tree! This one lives on base near the cafeteria Yucca plants  Aztec caves and posers And I will leave you with this adorable and slightly sad-countenanced bear from the El Paso Zoo

My absolute favorite thing about traveling, no matter how near or far it may be, is that there is always something new, something different about the place you're in compared to where you came from.  I love to experience things I never have before.  But my dad, he likes the familiar.  When we're somewhere different, like when we went to El Paso, he wants to be in the places where everything is most like home. This seems completely strange to me. I want to experience anything and everything I can of this new places culture and and all it has to offer. But maybe, for some, home is the best place they could ever think to be. They don't need to look for greener pastures because they are already exactly where they want to be. What a strong sense of contentment that must come with.  Perhaps, there's something to be said about that.

I turned eighteen today. I spent years dreaming about this magical day, this seemingly elusive day when I would finally be able to make decisions for myself, the day everything would fall into place and I would suddenly be in grown-up land, with the key to life and the world at my fingertips. Now that this day has finally come, I find my interpretation of grown-up land was an illusion. I don't feel any different.  The lighting bolt of adulthood either hasn't hit me yet, or is far milder than my expectation. I'm still confused as ever as to what I want to do with my life. BUT. I applied for a job. That's a step in the direction of model-adulthood, right? According to everyone and their mother, the road of my life is just beginning. Here's hopin'.

Bridge on the trail to the Aztec caves in the Franklin Mountains State Park, El Paso, TX.

We drove down to El Paso, TX on December 1st to visit my uncle before he deployed and help pack up all the things we were taking with us to store while he's gone. A time-line in sign form

Fresh cut stump in the park.

She died a while ago. I love this picture.  She was intently eyeing the rabbits and squirrels scampering about the nearest tree. No animal, large or small was safe from the easily-excitable and ever watchful eye of Penny.