Autumn

I love autumn. The bright colors of the leaves. Carving pumpkins. The smell of Jack-O-Lanterns. The cool weather. The sound of the heater kicking on in the house. Here are some pictures of my favorite season. (P.S. I am going out of town and won't have the internet for the next few days....So, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone!)

Taiger wore his Jack-O-Lantern costume to the Pumpkin Patch. When I was puting our pumpkins into the back of the car, he said, "Wait! I have to get in, too! I am a pumpkin, too!" and climed in the back. SO CUTE!

We decorated the front of our house with some Halloween/Fall decorations. Taiger drew the faces on the two pumpkins to make the pumpkin kids. He did so well, I was really impressed! (Notice the Iron Man costume. No, he is NOT being Iron Man for Halloween...he just LOVES wearing costumes.)

Each year, I LOVE taking Taiger on a "leaf walk". It is something my Mom did with me as a child, too. We take a plastic back and walk around the neighborhood collecting beautiful leaves. Usually, we make some sort of craft with them, but didn't this year.

Okay, so my internet is REALLY slow and wouldn't load the rest of the pictures, so this Blog post is "TO BE CONTINUED..."! LOL!

Three Amazing Multimedia Musts!

I have experienced amazing multimedia as of late. Here are my three most beloved:

1.) As touching, real-life, imagination-set movies go, this one takes the cake! "Phoebe In Wonderland" is as real as it is full of imagination. This movie follows a young girl as she suffers every day with something undiagnosed in the first of the movie, so I won't say here and spoil it. The main character, Phoebe, spends much of her time drifting into her imagination, something that sooths the side-effects of her condition. This picture is from one of my favorite moments on the movie. Phoebe is in the throws of her illness, and you can really feel her suffering, when suddenly, her little sister comes to her side and goes through the motions of her suffering with her. This part made me want to cry. In that moment of pure lonliness and suffering, Phoebe wasn't alone.

2.) I am reading an inspiring and amazing book called, "Three Cups Of Tea". It follows a young mountaineer and climber as he attempts to build a school in Pakistan. I haven't finished the book yet, so I don't know the outcome for sure. This book is absolutely wonderful!! It inspires me on my quest to build my safe home and feeding program in China. ANYTHING is possible!

3.) Last night, Jeremy and I finished watching "Nosferatu", a silent horror film. I have seen several silent-films, and the acting is more entertaining than believeable. This one is no different, save for a couple of actors, one being the main character. It seems more like he really IS Nosferatu, rather than someone acting a part. Nosferatu is a vampire, and he is the scariest I have ever seen (and I have watched my fair-share of Vampire movies, and I am not talking about Edward Cullen). Nosferatu is a must-see for Halloween haunting!

Shannon

I love to write. I carry a little notebook with me and while I am at the grocery store, or driving down the street (okay, just kidding about that last one), if I think of something I want to remember, I write it down. Sometimes, it is a complete thought, sometimes, just something I feel. Sometimes, I write something that doesn't "go anywhere" but is the entirety of what I am thinking.

A few months ago, I was thinking of my Best Friend, Shannon (cockadoodledooly.wordpress.com) and I wrote this about her in my notebook:

When we first moved from the big city in Colorado to as small town in Idaho, I thought my life was over. I was so sad and depressed. The styles were behind the times, the music was behind the times, even the people seemed socially "behind"...

Then, I met my best friend, Shannon. She was a REAL COWGIRL! I remember the way she looked. Not her physical appearance (although I DO remember that, too), but the WAY she LOOKED, with her eyes. When she looked out at the horizon, it was like she could see things I couldn't. When I looked at Shannon, I saw the world differently, and through different eyes.

At that point in my writing, I was getting hit with shopping carts because I was stopped in the middle of the aisle, and Taiger was screaming to go get bananas and I had to stop writing (for safety reasons).

But there is so much more to say.

I would look at Shannon while she looked ahead, and I wondered what greatness she saw. She saw greatness in people and in the world around her. I saw the greatness in her. I admired her so much! I wanted to be just like Shannon! And I still do. She really is my hero. I love her so much.

Shannon taught me about confidence, about being happy. She taught me how to be silly and how to love myself. She taught me how to speak up and to not look down in shame. She taught me how to set goals and to work hard for my dreams. She taught me to work hard in everything! She taught me to accept everyone. She taught me patience. She taught me trust. She taught me faith in God. She taught me how to compliment others, and how to find the goodness in myself. She taught me to love unconditionally.

How did she teach me all of these things? By DOING them!

Yes, she really is THAT amazing.

I hope someday I can LOOK like Shannon, look OUT at the world and see what Shannon did when we were younger. That I can look out at the horizon and see things that others can't, things like beauty and goodness, like fun and adventure and excitement, things like hope and possibility. She never saw the bad in the world, in other people, or in me. She filtered it and saw only the good. Her eyes were the most beautiful brown, and when I looked at her face as she looked out beyond here and now, her eyes sparkled.

Lyman

We have this new body wash that has little "beads" of Shea butter in it. SO COOL! Well, I just put Taiger in the tub and scrubbed him up. Then, I came in my room to do some work and let Taiger play in the tub (the bathroom is next to my room, so don't worry...and he is so loud in the tub...if it were quiet, I would go running in there!). A moment later, Taiger hollared out to me, "Mom, Lyman is my best friend."
"Who?"
"Lyman."
"Lyman? Who is Lyman?"
"No, LYMAN" (s0mehow I had mispronounced his name. I tried several more times at a proper pronunciation befor letting it go.)
"Okay..." I answered without thinking much of it.

A moment later he asked, "Can you get me a cup to catch Lyman?"
"In a minuet..." I said.
A moment later, "Mom? Can you get me a water bottle to catch Lyman in?" Well, now I was curious! I got his cup to catch Lyman. Handing him the cup, I said, "Here's a cup. Now, who is Lyman?" He giggled in a funny way. "Come on, who's Lyman?" He layed down on his stomach in the wayer, his face close to the surface and said, "This is Lyman! He's my best friend!" Where he pointed was one of the little Shea Butter "beads", floating around in the water!