Well, I guess we know the answer to the question I asked last week - will I make another post before Saturday? Nope. I'll try to do something this week, but no promises. Anyways, let's get on to the pictures!
Day 6: Waves! I wore my hair in twin braids all day, and when I took it out that night, my hair was really wavy and pretty. I wish I could do this every day, but alas, my hair has to be washed in the morning. Were I to do this at night, my hair would be oily and gross by the end of the next day.
I bought myself some sea-salt spray from Wal-Mart, because I heard that's a good way to get waves, and so far it works a bit, but nothing like braiding my hair does.
You'll notice that Day 7 is missing: for whatever reason, my phone wouldn't upload the picture. If you're curious, it was a Chickfila cup. I absolutely adore Chickfila.
Day 8: Headbands! I went shopping with my mother on Tuesday, and after picking my cowgirl boots up from the shoe repair shop (I had to get the heels replaced), we went by Claire's and I got two new headbands. I really like them. I don't know why I've recently gotten into headbands, but they're easy to wear and I can wear them with most anything.
I never liked headbands when I was little because they always seemed to pinch. I don't know why I like them now.
Day 9: Quilting! Mom and I are making an appliqued kitty cat quilt, and today we cut out the hearts and the panels. We cut out the cats a few weeks ago - we got ten different types of calico fabric from Hobby Lobby, and cut out two of each type, one facing left and one facing right.
We started this quilt as something to do while we waited for the stencils for my other quilt to come in. It doesn't look like they're going to be coming in any time soon, so this quilt is going to be the one taking over our time...if I'm able to get it all put together by the time school starts again, it'll be a miracle! I'm really excited, though!
Day 10: Baby Bunny! We had this baby trapped in our garage for a whole night. It ran in Wednesday morning while dad had the door open, and we couldn't get it out.
Dad set traps for it on Wednesday night, big steel cages that have weight-sensitive springs. He put carrots and lettuce and water in each cage. Wouldn't you know it? The bunny ate every bit of the food and drank most of the water, but he was too light to spring the traps!
We were finally able to corner him on Thursday afternoon, and it took all four of us! Eventually, the bunny was caught and returned to the garden, where he hopped away. (I think he's out of the nest now, though. Which is how he got trapped in the garage.)
Day 11: Hope Chest! A few months ago, I bought a picture at Home Goods that I wanted to use for my future home. I had a trunk in my room, but it was full of middle school junk that I just didn't want to deal with. Fast-forward to yesterday, when Mom and I went shopping at Home Goods again. I found some Italian Crystal glasses, $8 for 4 (I bought two boxes) and some washcloths to match my picture. Once we got home, I decided to tackle that trunk. It was full of the most ridiculous stuff - why did I keep any of this? I'm sure it was treasure when I was little, but now it's just junk. I bagged and trashed it, and after vacuuming out the trunk, I turned it into what my mother calls a "hope chest." It contains stuff I hope to use in my future home.
Day 12: 100 Reasons. My nine-months with my boyfriend is coming up soon, and it's going to be a BIG DEAL. This marks the longest relationship he's ever had with somebody. (Before me, his longest was eight months.)
I decided to do something special in addition to the claddaghs we're exchanging on the date. (Promise rings. He can't afford an engagement ring right now, so we're doing the next best thing.) I found a little printable online for a booklet, so I printed it out (I wish it wasn't pink!) and filled it in.
It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I couldn't figure out how to word a lot of things, but I got all 100 completed tonight. I can't wait to give him this booklet! I bet he cries.
How did your week go? Did you have anything particularly happy or exciting happen? Please let me know! I hope to see you sometime this week, but I don't know if I'll be able to blog before next Saturday. See you soon!
Day Two: A Cat and Her Bowl. At some point, we started feeding our cats the leftover milk in our cereal bowls. I guess we started this when they were still kittens, so they have had plenty of time to learn, like Pavlov's Dog.
Now, every time a spoon clinks against something, the kitties come running, and they stare. I think it's cute. A little irksome at times, but it makes me happy. The cats come up and stare at you until you give in, lower your bowl, and let them sniff whatever you've been eating.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, they look at you with unrivaled disgust, like How dare you presume I'll eat that?, flick their tails, and saunter away.
I love cats.
Day Three: Fireworks. Every third of July, we go to my parents' friend's house to watch the fireworks that the City of Chelsea puts on - The Big Kaboom. The Kaegals do a cookout (hot dogs and hamburgers), and everyone else brings a side dish and dessert to share. The little kids swim in the pool, and the adults socialize. My sister and I usually end up walking around the big green where vendors are set up and see what kind of free stuff we can get. (I like free popcorn.)
Then we settle down in camping chairs in the Kaegals' front lawn to watch the fireworks. Their house has the perfect view of the show. We've gone for four years, and I don't think we'll be stopping any time soon.
Fireworks make me happy.
Day Four: Libba Bray. I love this author, and not just because she's replied to me on Twitter before. She really captures what it's like to be a teenager.
I've read two of her series: the Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and That Sweet Far Thing) and the first book of the Diviners trilogy (The Diviners). She's a brilliant writer, and her female characters are strong and, well, different. They're not constantly pining over what man they should date. They're not worried about fitting into society. They're different. They're strong. They're amazing.
In short, if you'd like a beautiful Victorian series to try, pick up A Great and Terrible Beauty. If you're in the mood for something more flapper-ish, The Diviners will do that for you.
Day Five: Papa John's. Ah, pizza. I love pizza. And Papa John's is my favorite. It's always been my favorite, I guess because they use the right amount of sauce, they don't do funky things to their crust, and their garlic butter sauce is absolute divine.
I've never really liked other pizzas: Domino's does weird things to their crust. Little Caesar's tastes like cardboard. Pizza Hut is tough. Papa John's is the best delivery.
Now, the best restaurant pizza is a tie between the little café in the Wiesbaden, Germany commissary and Nick & Al's Pizzeria in Meridian, Mississippi. (If you're ever in either place, CHECK THEM OUT!!!)
So there you have it! My first week of the Happy Days challenge is complete! Are you going to do it? What made you happy this week? Sound off below! I'll see you next week for the Week Two wrap-up, and hopefully I'll have other blog posts before then!
Today was a phenomenal day.
Absolutely incredible.
Today, Matt and I went to Splash Adventure. It's a water park near Birmingham that's been having problems ever since my family moved to Alabama. It's gone through a couple of owner changes and the conditions have just degraded to the point where it's been overrun with...unsavory characters. (It's not in the best part of town, you see.) However, a new set of owners bought it out in March, and they've been working their hardest to make things better.
I've been to this water park about five years ago, when it was still called Alabama Adventure, and it was...meh. Over-priced and really boring, to be honest. But today...
TODAY.
I picked Matt up from his hotel at 10:00 sharp, and we went on an adventure to find this place. (See what I did there? ... Sorry.) My GPS led us to the wrong place (not where the signs did), so we had to do a lot of adventuring to find it. We did, though, and got to the park before it opened, and managed to get a first-row parking spot.
The day was just awesome from then on out. Once we got inside, I rented a locker (it was easy - everything's on a digital barcode on your entrance wristband!), we took off our outer clothing (leaving just our bathing suits), and went to try out the Aqua Maze.
Then we did a really crazy water slide - a halfpipe thing...terrifying really - and started out our day on a good note.
After that we did the wave pool, then the tube slides (there are four of them!), then we did the lazy river. And we repeated those three things (really the only three things, besides the kiddie area, the terrifying half-pipe slide, and the ultra-fear-inducing almost-straight-down plummeting slide) for the next seven hours.
It was heaven.
We put on sunscreen every hour (the park offered free sunscreen!!), and neither of us got burned, although we did get a little red from where the inner tubes rubbed off the sunscreen between applications. Lunch and the snacks were good, and there was practically nobody there the entire day. It was nice.
Matt and I celebrated our eight months on Sunday, but this was really our celebration day. We had a fantastic time. Although the park was a little pricey, it was a great special occasion date for the two of us.
Anyways, I'd better get to bed. I have to get up really early tomorrow. I hope everyone had a great day as well!
(Also, I figured I'd better make it clear that I won't be posting a Happy Day picture every single day, at least not on here. On Instagram, yes I will. Here, I'll just be posting a weekly wrap-up. Every Saturday, I'll post the week's pictures and go over them. If you want to keep up with me daily, click on the Instagram link I just posted and follow me!)
