Community Service Message

I love animals! Especially dogs! I was very sad to see this posted by a friend on Facebook. These poor babies are going to be put down! They have numbers like inmates.

Tell yo friends! Tell yo neighbors. Please save the babies!! It's heartbreaking that these pups lives are on the limb like this. If you live in or near Georgia, and are looking for a dog to adopt, here's an opportunity to do something amazing! The information to help the dogs are all on this lady's Facebook album.

Wishing each & every one of them are saved tomorrow!

**images from here.

One of Twelve.

Hello! I'm back from some hibernation. I caught a bug on my way home from Adventure Number One. Luckily, my mom had joined me for the ride and stepped in to drive home. What would I do with out my mom!?

Onto the good stuff.......

From my last post, I only had thirteen good days left to fit in my first adventure. I got a hankering to jump ship and cruise out of town. What better way to do that than to stay with relatives?

I texted my favorite cousin on Wednesday night and by Friday night we were on the road headed to Pensacola, Florida with my bicycle in tow. Saturday morning, I woke up to homemade pear preserves and biscuits, sat with the family for a bit, and then headed out.

Destination: Fort Pickens & the National Seashore.

I am not a history buff, and the history of it all is not my cup of tea, but exploring is. My original plan was to park at the free parking on Casino Beach, and ride my bike into the National Seashore down to Fort Pickens. One way, seven miles. Thank goodness, I came to my senses, er...there was a "bike lane closed" sign, and I wisely decided to drive my car in. I parked at campground lot and road my bike on a nature trail and down to the fort. This allowed me a lot more time to stop, explore, and take photos. If I would have followed the original plan, I would have spent my time riding, riding riding, and probably would have never made it to the actual fort. I like how it worked out. I rode my bike at the National Seashore, I had a chance to explore the fort and scenery, rode my bike down the board walk to the beach, and took a nice stroll into the sunset. It made a great first adventure, and really siked me up for the eleven plus more adventures I have to plan and conquer.

Some things to remember going forward

...the adventure does not have to be back-breaking. By back-breaking I mean, if I would have ridden fourteen miles, not being in shape for fourteen miles, I probably would have been defeated, as well as defeating my whole purpose. I am not out to set personal, nor world records for bicycling, hiking, etc. Starting this whole challenge, I wanted to get out and see some of the USA, get out in mother nature, explore, take some photographs and make some memories along way.

...taking the wrong turn can work out. Taking a wrong turn is never in the plan, but I took a left where I should have made a right and drove ten minutes in the wrong direction because I liked what I was seeing. I drove down along the coast, over looking the water, knowing I was going the wrong way. I continued because it was pretty. On my way back from going the wrong way, I jumped out and went down through a boardwalk among the trees, a la Swiss Family Robinson. I reached the bottom, snapped a photograph and continued on. A few minutes out of the way are sometimes the best minutes, especially for adventure's sake.

There you have it. Adventure Number One is crossed off and I am ready for the next.

Good night my friends.

Adventures.

Life is full of adventures, big and small. I walk through town on my lunch break and enjoy the scenery. I flew to Portland, Oregon for my 25th birthday last year. Adventures, of the traveling variety, excite my soul. I need to just get out and go.

I've gotten asked if I really went to Asia...This is the Montgomery Zoo.

Far less exotic!

Back when my parent's were my payroll, and bills were not in my name, I would go, go, go. I would drive anywhere for the sake of driving and going. I loved it. That was in high school, when at one point gas was under a dollar per gallon and being environmentally aware was not the name of my game. Somewhere priorities stepped in the way, and adventure taking took the back seat.

My challenge for the year TwentyEleven (adventure wise) is to visit at least one state or national park or forest per month. That is at the bare minimum twelve parks, twelve adventures. I do not have a set plan for the entire year, but this is something that has been bouncing around in my brain since the day after I posted this.

Number six of the post, go on more adventures, definitely covers this topic, but if you have ever read an inspirational book/blog targeting goals or crossing things off a list, setting specific, tangible goals is a must. Go on more adventures is quite broad and narrowing this subject down sparks my sense of adventure. It gives me something to go after. It is a very reachable goal. Setting out to do something once a month makes it seem simpler and less out of reach. It gives a loose time line. Nothing is set is stone. There is always an adventure to look forward to, and depending on the how your month looks, financially or in the day planner, it is easy to work out and work around.

pack up the essentials

I have thirteen good days left in this month. There are plenty of parks in the vicinity that I have not been to, and I would love to mark them off of my list. I do not imagine it to be very hard to make day trips out of most of my twelve adventures. Alabama and Georgia have some good quality parks to visit. There is one right here in town, Chewalca State Park, and the Tuskegee National Forest is only a few miles up the road. I would love to visit the parks out West, but sadly that will not be an every month adventure. I am going to work on making at least one of my twelve adventures on the other side of this beautiful country.

I am becoming more interested in the outdoors, natural wonders, and simple adventures. I would prefer a photograph at the Grand Canyon to a shopping bag full of clothes. I think I might be growing up a bit, but definitely changing my outlook on getting in on the good stuff in life.

Anyone else want to get in on the good stuff?

Want to step up to my challenge?

Twelve adventures in twelve months!

You do not have to conquer the outdoors.

Maybe twelve states in twelve months?

Let me know what you think!

Put your boots on!

Great Google

This is my favorite Google!

Tuesday Treasures.

It's Tuesday & the first day of my work week!

Only three more days to go!

Hope you guys have a great week!

more treasures.

Lunch Break Walks

Hop over to my flickr.

I'm growing a collection of shots from my

Lunch.Break.Walks.

Just a Thought

I am sitting here cruising around the internet waiting for my family to go eat dinner together. They are deer hunters, and that means if you shoot one, everything else, aka the whole world, must stop so they can handle the deer. I will save you the gory details!

I was checking out the Gillar Girl blog, and linked myself over to the Armelle blog. I have never checked out the Armelle blog as far as I can remember, but it had a cute photo under the link that caught my eye. The second photo down on her latest post grabbed my attention! Wowza! A very tasteful Christmas, with plenty presents for the littles without the excessive hoards of boxes, boxes, and boxes. EVERYWHERE.

Behold gifts that require imagination...

a shopping cart.

a doll.

a barn with animals.

an easel.

and

a Superman costume.

These are all good quality toys. Nothing that lights up and everything under that tree is not plastic or requires a kajillion different types of batteries. This is what I hope for for my children of the very distant future. I do not want my children to have all of the crazy toys children receive these days i.e. the plastic noisemakers. I normally tell people my children will have only wooden blocks.That's an exaggeration, but it makes me happy to see someone out there with my ideal children's Christmas. It's paired down, but very magical in a simple way. Perfect.

* Images via Armelle

Tuesday Treasures.

The bad news...

I updated my iPhone (like a half-year later)

& it wiped off everything.

and to make it worse,

I got everything from the boy's phone put back on my phone.

Very sad times!

The fart app...not as entertaining to me as it is to him.

The good news...

I now have the RetroCamera app instead of Shake It Photo.

More options & a different vintage-y feel to play with.

& I have all of my treasures saved to Flickr.

& some other phone photos

(sad about the ones I didn't send to Flickr)

Anywho.

Here is today's treasures...

Let me know what you think of the new app

for the treasures!

The very best for last....

The sweetest little kids metal scooter...

It has a push handle for mom/dad to steer their little one with.

♥

Why don't they make these anymore!?

The plastic versions are yucky!

Hope you enjoyed!

More treasures here.

shop.

I have posted some prints in my etsy shop.

I plan to add more as I take more photographs.

I am mainly focusing on the nature shots I'm getting on my

Lunch Break Walks.

Go check them out!

5x7 prints on matte paper.

$8

Lunch Break Walks

I'm a big fan of eating as quickly as possible on my work lunch breaks so I can spend the most possible time out walking around. It is something I really enjoy and look forward to daily, weather permitting.

For awhile now my walks were in a small town downtown area that did not afford much adventure. I could make 2 laps around the area during most lunch breaks. I expanded my walking area to the other side of the tracks, literally, and I could not be more pleased. I am a little disappointed I did not adventure there sooner.

The other side of the track includes a historical district loaded with sweet southern yards, sidewalks with mossy cracks, large homes with wrap-around front porches, trees along the street speckled with bird nests, and the works. It's quite dreamy and I have picked out quite a few dream homes. Along with making the geographical switch, I have also started to tote my camera along and capture tidbits of goodness (nature) along the way.

I am a big fan of the lunch break walk.

January Third.

my beautiful lady

Today I made baby steps to make my life better. I made it to work on time. I didn't drink soda. I took a long walk for lunch after eating leftovers, instead of grabbing fast food. On my walk, I took a different path. I enjoyed the scenery and did not get caught up in walking harder or faster. I drank water. I did not mindlessly wonder around stores to fill up my time. I went to Earthfare, grabbed some fruits, veggies, & meat for the week, and chicken broth for my sick puppy. I was not strict on the dogs, and gave them all a treat of chicken broth. I did not run straight in and hop on the computer. I'm happy with my small steps through out this day to make life better. Rock out 2011!

2010.

Just a quick rundown of my highlights for 2010

+went to Portland, OR

+got engaged

+found my Farmer Kitty

+started Tuesdays Treasures

& frequented the antique store

+quit sodas for SEVEN months

+went to Savannah, GA

+sold a piece of furniture

that I had given a new life

+cleaned out my craft supplies

+grew watermelons in my front yard

+grew sunflowers in the back yard

+grew my hair out to my natural color

+started a quilt

+went to ICE ATL

+played Indian for Halloween

+got a bike & adventured

+had a super simple Christmas

etc.

TwentyELEVEN.

Happy New Years!!

some quick goals...

1. Recycle

& to be more mindful of excess waste.

2. Ride my bike to work,

if only once a month...

I will do it this year.

3. Get back into walking,

the majority of the days

& make it a habit.

4. Rid my home excess clutter.

5. Take more photos.

6. Go on more adventures.

7. Be more patient.

8. Take more risks.

9. Sell more furniture,

that I have given new lives.

10. Build my blog.