A Raisin in the Sun. (??)

   I apologize for my lack of posts. I was in Dallas with Madison, which was super fun! I would let you in on it but I didn't get very many pictures cause I couldn't bring my camera.. I was too scared. Haha. Instead we're just gonna jump right into what's currently on my plate of life. Note the title of this ever so lovely post. It's the name of a book. If I was a teacher I would probably say something like, "Predict what you think this book will be about based on the title. Is it a metaphorical term? If so, what two unlike items are being compared? Be sure to list any connotative words." I would rather jump in 45 degree water than go through the thought process to answer those questions. Really. But that's the route I'm going on. Are you smellin' what I'm steppin' in? I can't imagine that you're not.

"A Raisin in the Sun." That is the title of my Summer Reading Book.

   When I was first presented this assignment on the last day of school I was rather tempted to tear the ripe pieces of papers in half. Many times. More like into sixteenths. I, however, could not do that because, well, I guess I could have done that but it wouldn't have been a smart idea at all. So I didn't do that. I tucked it away very neatly into my folder.

   It's mid-June. It dawns on me one day that I haven't even purchased this book. Shortly after this thought I went to my local Barnes & Noble to buy it. That night, I started to read with a very bitter attitude. Let me be the first to tell you that I actually enjoyed what I was reading! It's in the form of a play, which I really appreciate being in theatre and all. Since it's a play there is no boring narration or forms of figurative language. Of course they wouldn't assign us this book to read unless it had strong themes and bunches of figurative language, the difference is that these things are portrayed through dialogue. I can understand these things when they're like that! So, the point of the story is that I like my summer reading book, it's true! When I finish the book and start the atrocious assignment I will tell you. So, till then..

Just Trust Me..

Fresh Picked Blueberries!

    Boy, do I have a fun activity to share with you! This past Tuesday I went Blueberry Picking! So much fun! There is this precious little farm way out on 71st street that grows lots of different berries. There's raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The blueberries were simply perfect for picking. So ripe, and so delicious! Wanna go? You can find info for Thunderbird Farms right here.

Here's the rows and rows of berries

Pickin' away!

    Here's the blueberries. No lie, these were amazing!

  Lynnlee and her mom were wanting to make Laney, Lynnlee's sister, a blackberry cobbler for her birthday. YUM. What could be better than fresh picked blackberries in a delicious cobbler?! The blackberries weren't quite ready. There were some ripe ones at the bottom of the vine so we ended up digging for those. We got enough though! Here's just a few.

These were good ones, but most of them looked about like these below. They just weren't quite ripe yet. They should be perfect for picking the first week in July.

 

 

   In case you didn't click on that link, here's the pricing for the berries.

Blackberries: $2.50/lb
Raspberries:  $5.00/lb
Blueberries: $3.00/lb

Hours: 7am-12pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

   Really, it's not too pricey. You'd be surprised at how much a pound of berries is! I thought it was a super fun Summer Activity that won't make ya broke! Hope you decide to take a trip out there!

Just Trust Me..

TOO Much Fun in the Sun?

    Sunburns are bad news. Did you know that 5 sunburns at anytime in your life can increase the chances of getting Melanoma, which is the most serious type of skin cancer?! AHH. We definitely don't want that. I'm gonna try and help you avoid this scary fact with some helpful hints to keep your skin safe and un-burned!

    So first, you need to try to protect your skin from sunburns in the first place. Always wear sunscreen. Experts say to at least wear SPF 30, and anything above that doesn't really increase in protection factor, it just stays on longer. The biggest thing that increases the risk of a burn is people forgetting to reapply their sunscreen. After you swim, it'd be a good idea to reapply, even if it says it's water resistant. It's definitely better to be safe than sorry. Also try putting more sunscreen on every 2 hours to make sure you're protected from the harmful UV rays! Another newer thing to try is sun protective clothing. It's pre-treated to give a UPF (Ultra-Violet Protection Factor) of 50. Pretty cool! Take a look.

   Got a sunburn? I'm truly sorry. There are some remedies to soothe your skin so you're not extremely miserable. You can soak a washcloth in whole milk and sponge it over the burned area. Milk has fats and proteins that our soothing to our skin, so it wouldn't hurt to even take a milk bath! (Is it just me or is that a little repulsive..?) Anyways, the other basic treatment is Aloe Vera. You can directly apply the plant, which looks like this...

or you could get Aloe Vera Gel from your local Walgreens, CVS, or Wal-Mart. Hydrocortisone Cream also helps by reducing inflammation in the burn which will help soothe you also. 

   Well I hope you found this useful! Have a great day!

Just Trust Me..

Ice Ice Baby.

   It's FINALLY here! The new Summer Series is kicking off, and it's about time too. Lemme tell ya, when you can't drive it's pretty difficult to get to the places you need to go. It's simply annoying. But I got it finished! The name of the Summer Series is "Ice Ice Baby". *Name brought to you by Madison Thomas! I don't know about you but I find it very difficult to branch out with a new sno cone flavor! I will be going around and trying sno cone flavors so you actually know what's good and what's not. (P.S all sno cones will be from Josh's Sno Cone Shack) The flavor that I just can't get off of is Wedding Cake. I LOVE IT! It's so so great. Get it. BUT be sure to get the mixed Wedding Cake, not the pre-made syrup. It's only good if you mix the following flavors together.


Flavors: 
     -Strawberry
     -Coconut
     -Bubblegum
     -Vanilla

Check back for more flavors!!

Just Trust Me..

Surprise, I'm Home!!

   So! Today was a great day. It was a fantastic day. Here's how it started.

   I woke up this morning and Rachel kept saying, "Today is gonna be awesome. You don't even know." I had no idea why she was saying this and she wouldn't tell me anything. She wouldn't tell anybody anything! I ignored it, and we went to church. Before worship I caught Taylor and Rachel (brother and sister) talking in hushed tones by the door. Hmmmm. What could possibly be under their sleeve?? Nooooo idea. We ate at Louie's but Taylor had to leave quickly cause he had to take Connor's parent to the airport. Connor is Taylor's very, very, best friend. They're even room mates and have an apartment they share. He's like my other brother, and he's definitely a part of our family. Around March, Connor got deployed to go to Afghanistan for about a year. He's been in the states training, but he should be leaving the country pretty soon. Anyways, he's on leave these next few days and his parents were gonna fly down to Golf Port to visit him and they needed Taylor to drop em off so they didn't have to pay for airport parking. Taylor left, and we were gonna go to my grandma's to swim for the afternoon.

   It's been about 3 hours and we're just swimmin' away. Taylor was supposed to meet us at my grandma's but he still hadn't showed up. He eventually called my sister and said that he had fallen asleep at home and he'd be right over. He gets there, and we say our hello's. THEN, CONNOR COMES THROUGH THE DOOR ASKING IF ANYONE WANTED SOMETHING TO DRINK. My mom screamed. I screamed. We screamed a lot, very loudly. He told us that he totally surprised his family. They had already packed to leave to Gulf Port but he's HERE! The only people that knew were my brother, my sister, and Connor's dad. I'm so excited! He'll be here until Wednesday I think. Woo!

   OH YEAH! There is a HAYOOOGE sale going on at Bath and Body Works this week! They have stuff for 75% off!! It's awesome. You should go! I wanted to share all the fun! Have a fantastic day!

Just Trust Me..

It's Storytime!

   Hello there! I am back from church camp! I thoroughly missed this little blog. Here I'll fill you in on some of my lovely experiences. Hehe.

   So we stay in cabins. There's a high school boys and a high school girls cabins. That's for 9th-12th graders. There is a middle school boys and a middle school girls cabin for 6th-8th graders. And there is also a junior boys and a junior girls cabin for 4th and 5th graders. I was in the high school girl's cabin. Lemme just tell you that Church Camp is not the place for a sanitary person. The showers are simply repulsive. I had such a good time, don't get me wrong! That is much more important than the quality of toilets or showers. But! Due to the quality of showers I have a wonderful story to share with you. It's the first night of camp. We had just been dismissed to our cabins to settle down for the night. Every night we had cabin talk where a group of girls would get together a lesson with some scriptures and a few songs to share with us before we went to bed. So we were told that we had 20 minutes before cabin talk to take a shower, and then after cabin talk we would have more time to get in the shower if we needed to. The catch is that if you take a shower before cabin talk and you're not finished but the 20 minutes is up, you come out of the shower no matter what. Sorry if that was a confusing mess! Anyways, I hurried up to the cabin to take a shower really quick before cabin talk so I could just get it over with. I turned on the shower and barely any water came out. It was an ever so slight drizzle. I wanted to move but I already had my clothes off and all my stuff was put, so I stayed there planning to deal with the lack of water. Then I had a thought. "Hmmm. I wonder if the shower head is a twisty one that'll change the water pressure if you turn it." Only it was not a twisty one. I twisted, it fell to the ground. At this point water is spraying forcefully in all directions at me. AHHH! I picked up the shower head and tried and tried to put it back on but it wouldn't go. Then I hear, "3 minutes 'till cabin talk!!" Well shoot. I had just put conditioner in my hair and had yet to wash my face or shave or anything! I went on turbo mode to finish, the water still spraying at me! I finished, only not really cause I didn't feel clean at all. I tried to dry off as much as I could but still put on my PJ's while wet. It was an awful mess, but I made it out for cabin talk! Luckily that didn't happen again for the whole camp!

   Okay next story. As you know, Lynnlee went with me to camp! That was a blast. We have discovered that Lynnlee is very, very, very clumsy. I don't think I've met a clumsier person, really. I can't believe I hadn't realized this, you know after knowing her for 8 years and all. I could guarantee she fell at least 2-3 times every day at camp. It was very very humorous. Oh, and Lynnlee does not, under any circumstances whatsoever have any luck with bugs of any kind. She must have had a bug experience of some kind every day too. Man, those were really funny too. This particular story has to deal with bugs. There are daddy long leg spiders EVERYWHERE at that camp. Anywhere you look! They're not a pretty sight at all! They're not poisonous but they still freak me out.

   Yeah. But they were all over! So it was quiet time. This is basically a time set aside to spend alone time reading your bible or praying, whatever you wanted to do. Keyword here, alone. There was maybe a group of 5 of us or so sitting on a bench just talking about how Bible class had just gone for us. (Lynnlee and I included in that group.) I thought I saw something moving on Lynnlee but I wasn't too sure. I looked again and sure enough, a Daddy Long Leg was crawling about on her chest area near her chin. I very calmly said, "Lynnlee, there's a spider crawling on you near your face." She very uncalmly jumped up and screamed like a banshee. She jumped and squealed but it was still on her! She kept jumping and screaming until she eventually got it off. This is during quiet time! I'm sure that several people wanted to kill us! Later, she got yet ANOTHER Daddy Long Leg thrown at her and it made her jump up and spill her slushie. Man, she had some funny incidents. Well I could ramble on and on, but I may tell more stories later! Oh and sorry I don't have any pictures but I forgot batteries for my camera! :( But I'm glad to be back!

Just Trust Me..

Daily 7 for a Successful Household

   In case you don't know me, I'm a pretty tidy person. I don't know what motivates me to keep things in their place but they always are. I wasn't always a tidy person you know, but Lynnlee kind of rubbed off on me.. and I thank her for that. (: In this post I'm going to give you 7 things to do daily that will ensure you keep your house picked up day by day. This concept is much easier than using up a whole day of your valuable life to clean the house from top to bottom. (*Cough cough, MOM.) I saw this outline on the Today show one morning and I really liked it! I definitely encourage you to try it. Here goes:

Number 1: Make beds right away.

Number 2: Do one complete load of laundry.

Number 3: Empty all garbage cans.

Number 4: Keep kitchen sink empty.

Number 5: Clean up after yourself. (If you have kids help them do the same!)

Number 6: Bathroom wipe down!

Number 7: Before bed, 10 minute clean up.

   Now, below I broke down each of these tasks for you, even though they're pretty self explanatory.. (:

Make Beds Right Away 
   The second you climb out of bed every morning make it. The feeling of joy that you've accomplished something at 6am is unmatched. But seriously people, it isn't that hard to pull a sheet up and straighten the comforter. (Unless you're Lynnlee and you sleep like a small lion then it's a different story...) Also, if you haven't already done so, strip your bed to the bare essentials. There is absolutely no need for 50 decorative pillows and a stuffed animal collection from your childhood, really. (:

Do One Complete Load of Laundry
   Just so you're aware, a complete load is one that is washed, dried, folded and put away. I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic! It's no fun to save the laundry for one day of the week and not be able to leave the house because you're tackling a mountain of clothing. Save a beautiful afternoon and do your laundry bit by bit each day, you won't regret it!

Empty All Garbage Cans
   Just get it over with. If it's full, empty it. Don't wait around for the designated trash-taker-outer to see it spewing over the rim. I promise, it won't take that long! You can do it. (:

Keep Kitchen Sink Empty
   Alright so I've always been raised that you put your own dishes in the dishwasher, no questions asked. We were not allowed to leave our own dishes in the sink for mom to rinse and load. If every person in your family loads their own dishes it will save a LOT of heartache. It's much better to take 10 seconds out of your day to put up your own dishes than taking 10 minutes out of your day to put every person's dishes in the dishwasher! Have everyone be responsible.

Clean Up After Yourself
   I'm a bit lacking in this area.. (: I just tend to leave my mark in every room of the house! Shoes in the living room, purse in the kitchen, coupon book on the table. It's just the way it is. This little fact doesn't please my mom at all, so it's my responsibility to pick my stuff up! Make it the same way at your house, it'll make things so much easier.

Bathroom Wipe Down
   This is my favorite. I keep a container of disinfectant wipes in the bathroom, and wipe down the toilet (inside and out) every day. This keeps me from never having to scrub out the toilet with one of those scrubber brush things that I find beyond disgusting. I also quickly wipe down the shower stall and bathroom floor. After showering, use a rag to dry off the shower door to keep mold and soap scum from building up. After that, take the damp rag and wipe the floor. This should pick up any dust or hair so it will keep you from having to clean the floors as much. 


Before Bed 10 Minute Clean Up
   Before retiring for the night, take a little bit of time to do a pick up of the living areas of your house. Grab the magazine left on the coffee table, fold the blankets, wipe down the counters. You'll wake up a much happier camper if you aren't greeted to last nights messes.


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   So I hope you enjoyed my Daily 7. I thought it was pretty useful! ALSO...

So Long! Farewell! (For a week)

I shall try to inform you in great detail of the joys of Church Camp. Have a GREAT week! (:

Just Trust Me..

Dreaming of Summer

I'm dreaming of warm sandy beaches.
I'm dreaming of days by the pool.
I'm dreaming of fun in the afternoon sun,
and week after week of no school.

I'm thinking of swim suits and sprinklers,
imagining lemonade stands.
I'm lost in a daydream of squirt guns and ice cream
and plenty of time on my hands.

I'm picturing baseball and hot dogs,
Envisioning games at the park,
and how it stays light until late every night,
and seems like it never gets dark.

I long to ride skateboards and scooters.
I want to wear t-shirts and shorts.
I'd go for a hike, or I'd ride on my bike,
or play lots of summertime sports. 

Summer is here, there's no denies

Kick back, relax, but watch out for flies! 

--Kenn Nesbitt

   So I must admit that I found this from a kids' poetry site. This is also a kid poet. BUT how great is it?! That right there is exactly how I feel! It thrills my soul just reading the simple words that he's written. I applaud you Kenn Nesbitt.

  I have some news. I'M GOING TO CHURCH CAMP! I'm super duper extremely excited about it! I've gone before, but I haven't gone in the last 3 years. Lynnlee is going with me! It'll be so much fun! The bad thing is I won't be posting anything on JTM for a week. The good news is I'll have an awesome post about how camp went! Anyway, I'll keep you informed. Have a fantabulous summer day.

Just Trust Me..