More pretty flowers from my parents' house...

Mine and Hunter's garden! Except... it's not a garden....

Hunter's peppers are finally growing!

Hunter calls me Noodle.

Goodness, gracious, sakes alive! I can't believe I'm 25!!! (tomorrow...)

Also, I need everyone to listen to "Beautiful Things" by Gungor. It's probably the most amazing worship song I've heard in a long time...

Switchfoot has been one of my favorite bands for over 10 years. Jon Foreman writes some of the most sincere lyrics over any artist I know. These are songs from older albums, but I love them.

Poparazzi (Learning to Breathe):

This is a tune for the poparazzi
The who's who and the so and so's
This is a tune for the graven images
Of Marilyn Monroe
We saw your face on the magazine
We heard the song on the MP3

You're stuck in my head
Stuck in my head
Stuck in my head
You can close your ears and your eyes but
Pop will never leave you alone

Leave me alone with your social mingle
You try so hard to stay on top
Leave me alone with your little jingle
With your picture perfect pop
We read the article in Seventeen
We saw your video on MTV

This is a tune for the late Nirvana
The teen spirit rock and roll
This is a tune for the velvet Elvis's
On the 90210

I thought my eyes were gonna get off clean
Till I read your lips on the TV screen
You were busy saying what you didn't mean
Now everyone's singing along
With your ridiculous song
You got it stuck
You got it stuck in my head

Innocence Again (Learning to Breathe):

Do you remember when
You were way back then
You held the world inside your hands
When you told me love
Was the strongest stuff
Your strength was innocence

But, oh man
The signs of the times are omens
You're starting the day in
No man's land again

Who are you gonna be?
When you're on your knees, who do you believe?
Fear is a lonely man
You've been given innocence
You've been given innocence again

You should know by now
That your darkest hour
Is when your broken heart goes down
It's a bitter end
When the sweet begins
Grace is sufficiency

But, oh dear, we'll never deserve it
No dear, we never could earn it
Now, here, the choice is yours

Grace is high and low
Grace is high and low
Grace is high and low
We'll never be the same

Home (Legend of Chin):

It's a long way from Miami to LA
It's a longer way from yesterday
To where I am today
It's a long way from my thoughts
To what I'll say
It's a long, long way from paradise
To where I am today

All that's in my head
Is in Your hands

It's a long way from
The moon up to the sun
It's a longer ahead of me
The road that I've begun

Stop to think of all the
Time I've lost
Start to think of all the
Bridges that I've burned
That must be crossed

Over, over, over
Take me over

I've been poison
I've been rain
I've been fooled again

I've seen ashes
Shine like chrome
Someday I'll see home

Home, home

I can see the stars
From way down here
But I can't fall asleep
Behind the wheel

It's a long way from the
Shadows in my cave
Up to Your reality to
Watch the sunlight taking over

Over, over, over
Take me over

I've been poison
I've been rain
I've been fooled again

I've seen ashes
Shine like chrome
Someday I'll see home

Home, home 

Learning to Breathe:

Hello, good morning, how ya do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new

So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
This is the way

That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how ya been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never thought I could fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
That I say I love You
This is the way
That I say I'm Yours
This is the way
This is the way

Mentally exhausting day. Ever have one of those?

Kasen graduated pre-k!

Yesterday, I picked HUGE dandelions. I pulled off on the side of a road and walked to the middle of a field to get them. Aren't the blowy pictures pretty?

Their petals (or whatever they're called) were so much bigger than the typical dandelions around your yard.

I did it! I pulled over on the interstate to pick the yellow flowers that make my heart flutter. It was enthralling and invigorating and I totally recommend it.

(I told my grandmother that I did this and she said "Ya know... it's illegal to do that in Alabama..... But I do it anyway.")

:)

southern sunset

Last night, Hunter and I went out to dinner and then planned on driving into Columbia to buy my mom a birthday present (May 24!) While we were eating, it was storming and the weather was so gross. Leaving the restaurant, we were surprised to see a rainbow glowing over Target! The further south we drove, the more the sky lit up. It was by far, one of the most beautiful skies I've seen in my lifetime. Scientists could explain away why the sky turns different shades of pinks and blues and purples and technically why a rainbow forms, but really, all that matters to me is I know these things happen because my Creator is Beauty and His work is stunning.

Luckily, we had to stop to get gas so I was able to whip out my dinky camera and attempt to capture this performance. HOWEVER, like I always say, you should have seen it with your own eyes because these pictures only provide a glimpse of what we saw.

Also..... there's a ton. They all may look the same to you, but I just couldn't justify not posting every single one of them.....

These next few were taken as we were driving. They're all really blurry, but I thought they were cool because the color of the sky is still represented in them.

Poor folk's frappuccino

But listen, really, if you just save some of your brewed coffee from the day before, they're really easy to make. And good.

My tomato plant! So many are growing! I can't wait 'til they're ripe :)

So proud of my family and friends for pitching in with my donation to Lambscroft for the homeless! Donated a car full of stuff last saturday.

I'm pretty sure I'm married to the only guy who would wake up one day and say "Hey! Can I buy some galoshes so we can go play in the creek?"

And I said "Ummmm OF COURSE! How did you know that playing in the creek is the most amazing thing to do??"

I went where the water was too high. Boots full of water.

I pick these flowers all the time.

This was tonight's sunset. I was eating dinner with the boys and Aiden said "Oooooo look outside! It's so pretty!"