time flies when you're having fun, but not so much when you're sick.

Well, after watching my dogs for the past week at my family's home, I have a new appreciation for all you single parent dog owners. If that's even really a term. Having multiple people to take care of dogs is one thing, but doing it all on your own is another. And can I just say that dogs are really high maintenance? At least mine are, anyway. But I've really enjoyed being with them, and it's much better than them being in a kennel, so I was happy to watch them.

Jeffrey's bike race was on Saturday, and it was a raging success. The turn out was higher than last year's, which is the ultimate compliment when it come to things like that. Unfortunately, I got pretty sick, and didn't even get to stay for the prize ceremony. Stupid, I know. And, I also got bit by about a billion no-see-ums, and don't let anyone tell you that no-see-um bug bites don't hurt/itch/irritate, because they do. They do, a lot. And there is NO relief. None. Ugh.

And, the whole reason I'm writing this post is simply to say that on Wednesday I am leaving to visit my sister for two weeks with Jeffrey. I'll meet up with my parents there, and we'll be able to have our first family vacation in a few years. I'm seriously looking forward to that. With that said, I'm sure there won't be much posting going on, if any at all.

So, I just wanted to send all my love to you and yours. Hope you're all enjoying your summer and making the most out of it. Hopefully once I return, my posts will begin to become more frequent again.

Love to you all —
xo, R.

Not feeling too well this morning, and that seriously needs to go away because Jeffrey's bike race is today.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend! xo, R.

pepitas, red collars, The Bachelorette, and another tv show, too!

Do not put Pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) in your oatmeal. Sounds like a good idea, but it's really not.

Jeffrey's bike race is this weekend, and then we'll be heading to Wisconsin. This week I'm helping out at my old job, and it is so much fun to be there again. Some people didn't like their high school years, but I loved them.

I love my dogs so much it's almost sickening. I bought Petey a new collar today, but it's a little too big. Let me tell you something, though: red is his color. Red is SO his color.

And Andy has a new dog bone that is 'Wolf' sized. I think it's a little big, but the other ones were just so dinky. Whatever. He's wolf sized at heart, right?

Also, packing a suitcase is SUCH a pain. Remember when it was free to have luggage on planes? Since that is no longer the case, we pack our suitcase to be a carry-on, which means that you can't have bottles of liquid that are larger than 3 oz. That is really inconvenient. One time, I had a bottle of honey taken from me because of that rule. I bet it would have been really good. Guess I'll never know.

Hope you all are having a lovely Monday. Who else is excited for the Bachelorette tonight? Good. Me, too. xo, R.

I think it would be awesome if Kelle got her own tv show on the Oprah network. So, maybe you should vote for her, but only if you want to, of course.

xo, R.

happy father's day.

Happy Father's Day to the most incredible man I know. Thank you for always being there for me, supporting me, encouraging me, loving me, and showing what it means to walk with God. You are so amazing, and I will never take everything you've done for me for granted. You are a wonderful and inspiring human being. I love you. xo, R.

bowling, pizza, & a birthday.

Jeffrey's birthday was really fun. I missed all my friends from up here, and it was lovely to see all of them. We went to our favorite local pizza joint and then went bowling. My first game was awful. I am a terrible, terrible bowler, but I'm blaming my failure on the wonky lane we had. The second game we played was much better. We ended up switching lanes, which didn't solve my poor bowling skills entirely, but it helped. I ended with a score of 88, and did not use the bumpers that I have been known to use in the past, so I was proud of myself. Jeffrey is a much better bowler than I am. Most people are.

Sidenote: Something exciting that I don't think I've ever mentioned here is this: On our last trip to the Junk Lady, Jeffrey and I found a bowling ball that fit him perfectly, WITH HIS INITIALS ON IT. Get. Out. Of. Town. How's that for awesome? I'm banking on the fact that there's magic in that bowling ball, which helps him with his success.

Anyway, we had a blast-y blast. I think Jeffrey had a lot of fun, which is all that really matters. And the jukebox at the bowling alley kept playing really awesome songs. Awesome songs at the bowling alley! Can you believe that?! They must have known it was Jeffrey's birthday!

Fierce.

These were taken after about half the group had left. Clearly I need to work on taking pictures more frequently. Oh well. And Jeffrey loved his gift, but I'll save that for another post. Have a lovely weekend! xo, R.

popping in to share this with you:

I think this is the most adorable video. I found it over at Elsie's! Wouldn't it be an excellent video to show to young kids to get them excited about becoming more green? Definitely worth the 2 minutes and 47 seconds!

happy birthday, jeffrey!

Love you, always.

xo, R.

be back soon.

I'm going to stay with Jeffrey for the week. His birthday is tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited. With that said, I probably won't be posting much in the next couple of days. I'll be back here soon, though. Have a wonderful week! xo, R.

P.S. — Remember this list? Well, I already started Pride & Prejudice and I'm loving it!

the excited post.

I woke up this morning and I just felt excited. About everything. My trip to Wisconsin to see my sister is slowly inching closer and closer. I can't wait to experience all the places she gushes about on the phone and finally see her cute little apartment. Before that, Jeffrey is putting on his 3rd bike race — something that takes lots of time and preparation, and if I may brag, he does a stellar job. I'm serious. He puts his heart and soul into these things and It. Is. So. Obvious. We went to our favorite local donut shop this morning, and although the original owners sold the shop to another family, our favorite guy was still working there and greeted us with a happy "Good morning Donut Family!" I love nice people. And come fall, I'll finally be taking classes that mean the world to me. Classes that will catapult me into a journey that I've been waiting to embark on. I love knowing that I was molded perfectly to become a teacher. There is nothing more wonderful than knowing I'm going to school to become exactly what I want to be. Have a great weekend, lovelies.

What are you excited about?

xo, R.

list five: things i want to do this summer.

1. Learn how to use chopsticks.
2. Run 7 miles.
3. Knit a scarf (because I usually only do that in the winter!).
4. Buy a new pair of shorts that I love.
5. Learn how to french braid.
6. Bake a cheesecake.
7. Bike ride across the three big beach bridges in my area.
8. Take more photographs.
9. Appreciate the small things.
10. Go to Atlanta with my mom.
11. Make hummus.
12. Read a classic (I'm thinking Pride & Prejudice).
13. Make a skirt on my sewing machine.
14. Make my bed everyday (Ha. Yeah right.).
15. Grow my hair out.

*We'll see how the french braiding and chopstick using goes. I'm entirely uncoordinated so, you know, that could be a problem.

list four: 100 things i love.

1. Rainy evenings
2. Yawning dogs
3. Baby hair
4. Freshly cut strawberries
5. Forehead kisses
6. Photographs
7. Weddings
8. The beach
9. Photobooths
10. The moment right after you finish washing dishes
11. Candy
12. Clean sheets
13. Audrey Hepburn
14. Comic strips
15. New shoes
16. Clothing at the back of your closet that you forgot you had
17. Late night conversations
18. Starbucks
19. Grocery shopping
20. Going out for dinner with people you love
21. Chap stick
22. Comfy sweaters
23. Target
24. Sunset
25. Blankets
26. Ice cream cones with sprinkles
27. The weekend
28. Bulletin boards
29. Laughter
30. Passing notes in class
31. Perfume
32. A new box of Crayola crayons
33. Glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars
34. Unexpected letters
35. Cardigans
36. Flowers
37. Chocolate
38. Fossil watches
39. Sparklers
40. Camping
41. Scarves
42. Corn on the cob
43. Open windows
44. Monograms
45. School supplies
46. A fresh coat of paint
47. Glasses
48. Holding hands
49. Cream cheese
50. S'mores
51. Garage sales
52. Sunday mornings
53. PostSecret
54. Libraries
55. Shopping
56. Professors who care
57. My grandparents' wedding photos
58. No. 2 Ticonderoga pencils (yellow, please)
59. The smell of freshly cut grass
60. Anthropologie
61. BBQ
62. Sidewalk chalk
63. Dirt roads
64. Bicycles with baskets
65. Picnics
66. Sunglasses
67. Mixed CDs
68. Watermelon
69. Vacations
70. World maps
71. Cheesecake
72. Buttons
73. Baseball
74. Mason jars
75. Romantic Comedies
76. Sandals
77. Seashells
78. Station wagons
79. Potato chips
80. Lemonade
81. Hugs
82. Yearbooks
83. Chalkboards
84. Rain boots
85. Dogs
86. Swing sets
87. The Andy Griffith Show
88. Birds
89. Sleepovers
90. Bobby pins
91. Acorns
92. Dr. Seuss
93. Colorful tights
94. Scrabble
95. Root Beer
96. Whistling
97. Sun roofs
98. Magazines
99. Rings
100. Peppermints

Just saw Leap Year and I'm not even going to pretend I didn't love it. I just can't help it; I'm a sucker for romantic comedies. I hope your weekend is filled with summer-y fun! Oh, and you could check this out if you feel so inclined. xo

Dear Night Time Rain Storm,

I love you. I just really do. There is nothing more pleasant than falling asleep to your soggy symphony. You do it to me every time — make me feel relaxed and cozy and content — and the distant grumbles of thunder are a really nice touch. Thanks for keeping the big, scary, crashing thunder noises out of the picture tonight. I mean, sometimes they're okay, but they're a little freaky. And they really scare my dog, who's just way too old and sweet to be worrying about anything. And thanks for waiting to appear until tonight. There's nothing like a good, night time rain storm to make me feel happy. The ones in the middle of the day are okay, now and then, but they just make everything so sticky, you know? The night time ones do this really magical thing. This thing that makes the early morning feel kind of cool. It puts a pep in my step. So thanks. Really.

xo, R.

The Quirk Project (No. 6)

Elizabeth's Quirks

I would consider myself a quirky person and I love it! Quirks set you apart from others, give you something to laugh at yourself for, and really help others to get to understand you. I probably have a million little silly things about me, but here are just a few!

1. I love to look at old, broken, lonely houses. People may still live there or they may have left a long time ago, but I love to just look at them and try to figure out who lived/lives there, what kind of life they have had/have, and why their house is the way it is. Of course, I begin to think about if I was in that position what I would do to fix up the house, or how I’d go about doing it. This quirk shows my love for the old, the vintage, for history, and trying to understand people better.

2. I absolutely detest brown and black together. I just can’t stand it. I have only one winter coat and it is brown so sometimes I can’t avoid brown and black mixing and if I have to do it, I have to, but I just want to take off that coat as soon as possible. I don’t think it’s a total fashion faux pas, but most of the time, I believe it is, especially with my wardrobe!

3. Pants make me unhappy. One of my favorite fun facts is that in the 1800s pants was considered a ‘dirty word’. I just love dressing up in skirts and dresses-they are so easy and super comfortable. A fun fact is that when I was little I considered myself a tomboy (even though I I really wasn’t). I was always out playing soccer so I didn’t really dress up very much or care for that matter.

4. I love buying gifts. When I go shopping, sometimes I end up buying more for others than for myself. When I see something at a cute boutique or a steal at a bargain store, I just HAVE to get it when it’s screaming out a friend or family member’s name. With this, I usually love giving gifts more than receiving them.

5. I don’t like to waste milk in cereal bowls. I know it may seem really silly, but I always try to pour a little bit of milk over my cereal, because if there is any left, I just pour in more cereal to get rid of it. I just don’t like wasting food-even if it’s just a little milk.

6. I love rainy days. Some people may groan at the thought of them, but I love waking up and falling asleep to a little drizzle of rain, or even just spending the day on the couch on a rainy day reading or doing work. I think it’s calming and relaxing and instead of ruining a day, helps life just slow down a little bit and allows you to appreciate the beauty of nature. When I was little, we’d always love to swim in the pool in the rain, because we thought it was so cool…I still think it is!

7. I talk to myself when there is a yellow light. When I first started driving, I had the hardest time making a decision to go or not to go if the light was yellow. My mom suggested that I should say it out loud and stick with my decision. To this day, I say it out loud and still get really nervous at yellow lights-I just don’t want to run a red one! Funny story-one time I ended up making the wrong decision and ended up in the middle of the intersection. I decided to go but the red light beat me. I cried and proclaimed I would never drive again. Well, I got over that but not over decision making at yellow lights.

8. When I shop, especially for groceries, I have to go down every aisle. I like to take my time, ponder my choices, and find foods that I would have never thought of before to use in cooking. Of course, I don’t have time to meander through Publix all the time, so when I am in a hurry, I power stroll through the aisles. You never know exactly what you need and I think it’s boring to get the same things every time. I have been told that if there is any place to shop, I could find something to buy. It’s sad, but also very true-I probably could find some use for someone for anything-I just love the shopping possibilities at hand!

9. I have a slight obsession with napkins, or maybe it’s just an intense need. When I’m eating, I always have one in my lap, one besides my plate for wiping my mouth, and a couple more on the table. I think you can never have enough napkins. J I also take extreme notice of my use of utensils. My parents enrolled me in an etiquette class when I was in middle school and the good habits stuck with me. No complaints here!

10. There is nothing that compares to walking in heels — I love it. My mom and my sisters say that I always walk better in heels and I can agree (although I feel like I don't have a weird walk without them)! I'm a petite girl at 5 foot 4, so I feel so much taller and poised when I wear heels. So many people would rather die than walk around all day in heels, but I'd love to. I wish our campus was more heel friendly, or you'd be see me sporting them around. My dream heels are pictured above and they are made by Christian Louboutin.

Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth! xox

read more about submitting your own list of quirks here.

what's in your makeup?

Currently watching Dr. Oz, who just did an entire segment on the dangerous things that could be hiding out in your makeup. So, just in case you missed it, I outlined all the main points he talked about. Here's the entire overview of Dr. Oz's segment. Makeup is really interesting because companies are only required to list intended ingredients, which basically means they can omit toxic ingredients from the ingredient list, but can leave them in the actual product. There are no guidelines for makeup to be certified 'natural' or 'organic.'

These are the top three most dangerous products you may have in your makeup bag (starting with the deadliest product):

1. Mineral Powder: The particles in mineral powder are so incredibly small (and that's why they work so well!) that they can actually seep into your lungs and scar them. These same kind of particles are present on constructions sites and workers are required to wear face masks so they don't ingest these dangerous particles. Although there has been no correlation between the particles in our makeup and sickness, the same particles present on construction sites take 10 to 30 years to show damage within the body.

Better options: Liquid based foundation with shimmer, cream blush and bronzer, and pressed powder.

2. Anti-Wrinkle Cream: Anti-Wrinkle Cream is dangerous because it penetrates very quickly into the skin. It goes into the blood vessels and is absorbed by them, which can be really dangerous. The most dangerous ingredients in anti-wrinkle creams are irritants. These are often scents such as lavender and peppermint. And the products that say they reduce wrinkles could actually be encouraging them. Finally, makeup that claims to work like botox or say they remove wrinkles immediately are completely untrue.

Better options: Make sure your new wrinkle cream is fragrance free and color free. Also look for creams that contain vitamin A (often called retinol/retinois on ingredient labels), vitamin C, and alpha hydroxy acid.

3. Lip Gloss: Lip gloss contains petroleum jelly, which is not safe for eating. In the course of a decade, women who wear lip gloss will consume 7 pounds of petroleum jelly. The scariest part is that petroleum jelly could possibly cause cancer. In women who have had breast cancer, there are twice the amount of these chemicals in their breast tissue than in women who have not had breast cancer. In the European Union, petroleum jelly has been banned unless it is super pure. **To clarify, doctors and scientists are still testing the link between lip gloss and cancer, but they did say that lip gloss is definitely unhealthy.**

Better options: Look for lip gloss with zinc oxide, try gloss made from beeswax, and always put sunscreen on your lips before applying any kind of lip gloss.

Of course, I wrote most of these notes while watching the show, so there are little tidbits that I missed, but I was totally shocked by all of this. I actually was planning to buy mineral powder because I thought it would be better for me, but as it turns out, it's really not.

*And I'm pretty sure this is the book that was mentioned during his segment. It talks more extensively about the things that should and shouldn't be in your makeup.

I really hope this was helpful!

xo, R.

my dog is cute.

Laying here in my room watching the Bachelorette episode I missed last night.

Yeah. I love that show. And have been a loyal watcher of the Bachelor/ette since the first season. And I'm darn proud.

My dog's laying here with me. He is the sweetest.

Do I have other things I should be doing right now? Yeah. I do.

Oh, and on a more productive note, I successfully blow dried my hair for the first time last night.

I have absolutely zero coordination when it comes to things like that. I also cannot use a pair of scissors to save my life. I blame it on being left-handed.

Just thought I'd pop in to let you know what's up.

Soon I'll be able to reveal my super-awesome-wonderful-amazing (why am I so humble?!) present for Jeffrey's birthday. I know the anticipation's killing you.

Also, I love avocado. Don't you?

Hope you're having a lovely day. It's just so beautiful out today. Hopefully it is where you are, too.

xo, R.