happy father's day.

Sometimes words fail me when it comes to people I love.
I often feel that my dad and I share much of the same heart.
Does that even make sense?
Our personalities were cut from the same cloth,
and he is such a blessing in my life.
Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you.

baseball game.

On Tuesday, my dad and I went to a spring training game for the Rays, which is something we did last spring break as well. The weather was perfectly lovely (with a lot of wind!) and we were more than happy to lay our picnic blanket down and make a seat in the grass.

During the seventh inning, we moved to another grassy spot and found ourselves sitting with four or five young boys who were determined to catch foul baseballs. Most of them had already caught at least one or two, but two of them had none at all. One of the boys was very keen on orchestrating a plan so that everyone had the chance to get a baseball. It was the cutest (and funniest) thing to watch! Unfortunately, the Rays lost, and the two boys were unable to catch a baseball, but maybe next time!

tampa theatre (richard thompson concert).

On Friday night, I had the honor of watching my dad play at the Tampa Theatre, which is a really magical place. He opened for Richard Thompson, a renowned musician. It was an incredible opportunity and one that we were all so proud to attend. I wasn't able to get any pictures of him on stage (he looked like a white blob), but I think that night will forever be engraved in my mind anyway. Every nook of the Tampa Theatre is filled with something beautifully ornate. It is the kind of place that one could go to everyday for a year and still stumble upon something different on each occasion. As my dad played his guitar and sung, my heart swelled with pride. It is such a joy to watch him perform, and it makes me feel so very lucky to be his daughter. Needless to say, it was a night I will never forget.

satchel's (or the best pizza on earth).

I have a confession to make: My family, we're pizza connoisseurs. As in, we've made it our mission to find the best pizza. And we think we're pretty good at it. You can search high and low for the most perfect slice, but you will continue to search until you eat at Satchel's. You'll realize that your quest is over and you'll be simultaneously happy and sad. Happy because you're eating the best pizza ever and sad because your quest is over, which means that you don't have an excuse to eat pizza whenever you want it. But do you really need an excuse? (The answer is no, you don't.)

a little town + a little birthday.

I like birthdays. Is it okay to say I really like birthdays that aren't my own? Because I do. I do so much. My dad's birthday was on Saturday. My parents came to town so our family could do something fun and celebrate a person who means a lot to all of us. We went to a nearby town to a couple antique shops and rummaged through pieces of the past. My sister found a stack of old photographs to take home with her and we stopped at Starbucks to get some warmth.

It was a lovely day dedicated to a lovely person. A person who passed his undying concern for others down to me, his sense of humor, his appreciation for a perfect song, and his brown eyes (perhaps my favorite feature about myself). He also made a really smart decision when he married my mother. For these reasons, and so many more, he is very worth celebrating.

happy father's day.

I am so thankful to have a dad that has given me the courage to run after my dreams with good nature and passion. He has taught me that love always comes before money, time spent outdoors can make anything better, laughter is the key to happiness, and that I am never alone.

Happy Father's Day to the man who made me who I am today and keeps me laughing at all hours. I love you!

lessons in lawn mowing.

You probably don't care much about this, unless of course you're the one mowing the lawn. Am I the only person who is in her twenties and didn't know how to mow a lawn until Saturday afternoon? That stuff is hard!

First of all, if you're left handed (I am), then just forget it. That machine was made to make left handed people feel angry. The motor starter (which is nearly impossible to start) is on the right side, which means you need to use your right arm to start it. It's embarrassing to even think about the lack of arm strength I've got going on on my right side.

(And, just so you know, the bag is set up for right handed people too, but it's cool.)

Also, if the debris flying from the mower hit you, watch out. That stuff hurts like a you-know-what.

And finally, you should wear a dust mask. Because the lawn mowing stuff flies literally everywhere and will fill your lungs with lawn crap.

But, on the positive side, I can now tell everyone that I'm capable of mowing a lawn. I spent the afternoon with my dad, which is also awesome. Plus, after the lawn was finished I felt pretty accomplished. So there's that, too.

If I were still a girl scout I'd totally get a patch for this.

the weekend.

{Jeffrey's beloved bus.}

This weekend my dad was my date to a fancy dinner, I got a huge chunk of my to-do list finished (!), Jeffrey took me out for dinner + frozen yogurt, and on Sunday his bus ran out of gas.

We were at Target getting a few things and then hopped in the bus to head over to Michael's. We had been driving for maybe one minute when the bus just stopped working in the middle of an intersection. Luckily, two really nice guys helped Jeffrey push his bus into a parking space. We walked over to the gas station, filled up a gas can, and were on our way. I was honestly impressed by how flawless the whole thing went off! Last time Jeffrey's bus ran out of gas, we were much more panicked and a little at a loss for what exactly we should do. We must be growing up! :)

Other than that, my weekend was just fine and dandy. Although I didn't take any pictures. Must. Improve. How was your weekend? xo, R.

the tampa bay rays.

My family (mainly my dad and me) has been a fan of the Rays for a really long time. My dad and I try to go to the games, but between all my school stuff and all his work stuff, it doesn't always work out. We made a special trip down to Charlotte County to see a Rays spring training game over my spring break. We got seats on the lawn, which was awesome! We brought a blanket and laid it out on the grass, took our shoes off, and enjoyed the beautiful Florida weather. Of course we had to get a couple hot dogs, a Coke, and a lemonade to finish it all off. And, there may have been peanuts.

We won in the 10th inning, which was awesomely exciting! My favorite (BJ Upton) didn't play, but a person we know from back home is currently on the spring training team and he was playing. It was a wonderful day! 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.

The Quirk Project (No. 1)

For the first list of quirks I thought it would be appropriate to publish my dad's. I think it's fairly obvious to anyone who knows me that I admire and adore my dad with a love that is so unbelievably strong. He has such a positive influence in my life and always gives me sound advice that I can really listen to. If I'm having a bad day, I know I can call him and tell him whatever it is that's wrong and he'll truly listen. And I think that's pretty special because some people don't really have the listening skills that he does. I think some of the weird habits that I've acquired have come from him, and although most people would assume that I'm a lot like my mom (I am!), I think it's also fair to say that I'm very similar to my dad.

Dad's Quirks
{Us after canoeing the Hillsborough River on Father's Day.}

1. English music. I was born and raised in the good old U. S. of A., but all of my favorite music is English. If I believed in reincarnation, I would be tempted to think some past life was calling me back home to the British Isles...my love of English music is that strong. Of course, I do love plenty of music from my homeland, from the songs of Gershwin and Johnny Mercer to The Band, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Wilco. But I consider England to be my musical “home,” and the songs of The Beatles and The Kinks on through to Blur and Radiohead are the ones that are in heaviest rotation on my iPod.

2. Buttons. I don’t like them. It’s irrational and, therefore, I can’t explain it. They bother me and I want them to leave me alone.

3. Eyebrows. I like eyebrows—strong, thick, shapely, interesting ones. Some great famous eyebrows? How about Jennifer Connelly, Mark Twain, Donald Sutherland, Brooke Shields, Paul McCartney, Frida Kahlo...you get the eye-dea.

4. Saxophones. The sound of a saxophone solo has always reminded me of black bananas for some reason (no, I’m not kidding). I don’t love black bananas. I prefer them, however, to the sound of a saxophone.

5. Boats. I love kayaks and canoes, but I don’t like powerboats. I suppose if you want to go deep-sea fishing, a powerboat is the way to go. But I’m all about enjoying the trip...I love canoeing down a lazy florida river or kayaing through the mangroves.

6. Beets and Lima Beans. I am famously omnivorous and unpicky at mealtime -- I’ll usually go along with anyone’s whim and enjoy it. Beets and Lima Beans, though, are on my “uh-uh” list.

7. Baseball. Although millions also love it, I know there’s a certain faction that thinks of baseball as slow and boring. It lacks the “warfare” metaphor (as in football) that so many seem to find so exciting. For some reason I love baseball’s measured pace, the easygoing picnic environment of sitting in the stands with a hot dog and a coke, the wind-up, the pitch, the sudden explosion of a hit, a great diving catch or a towering home run. Call me boring if you want; baseball was my favorite sport to play as a kid, and it’s my favorite sport to watch now as an adult.

8. Birds. I love birds of every size, shape and species. I admire plumage, be it dazzling or drab; I love birdsong, from the virtuosic warblings of the Mockingbird to the primeval croak of the Great Blue Heron. I recently spent a morning birdwatching with my daughter, Roxanne, on Honeymoon Island off the coast of Dunedin, Florida, and it was sheer joy.

read more about submitting your own list of quirks here.