A Quick Word on Cicadas

So today, I went to go help a family clean their old house because they had moved into a new one. As everyone may know, this summer is the summer of cicadas for middle Tennessee. These big insects have taken over everything.
So I'm kneeling on the floor, scrubbing the laundry room floor. No big deal, just doin' my thing. Their little girl walks in from outside, holding something tightly in her little hands.

"Look at the fly I caught!" she says.

While in her hand is a

big

nasty

leggy

buggy-eyed

black

orange

buzzing

crunchy

CICADA.

I freeze.

"That's ... a big ... fly ...." I stammer.

I then proceed to run away as fast as possible and as far away as possible.

Now, it is said that one gets over one's fear by being with their fear. I'm not sure this is true. But I wanted to find out more about these weird creatures so I will share what I have learned with you, my fellow bloggers.

3 Good Things About Cicadas

1.  They are harmless - they do not sting or bite and they don't care about you.

2.  They only come out in big groups every 13 years.

3.  They all die within 4 to 5 weeks. All of them.

Oh yeah and one more thing - they're extremely attracted to noise. The more you scream, the more they come. Happy outside adventuring! :) (DUN DUN DUN!!!!)

Claire's Irish Feis 2011

Okay, so for those of you who don't know what a Feis (pronounced 'fesh') is, it's a type of Irish dance - like have you ever seen Riverdance? With the fast clogging and quick step dancing? Yeah. That's what Claire does now. I just couldn't resist posting this picture of her on my blog - she's so darn cute!She participated in 4 different dances (the reel, slip jig, light jig, and single jig). She got first place in 3 of the dances and 2nd place in the last one! Her teacher, Even, from the O'Brien School of Dance in Franklin was very proud of her! Claire looked like a natural on stage - pretty soon she'll have an Irish accent! ;)

Claire with her Irish dance attire. Those shoes were just for the ride there - normally for dance she wears shoes called "ghillies."

Prom 2011

Well, it wasn't my prom, it was Ben's prom! Ahhhh! My brother is turning into such a handsome young man (back off, girls!! heehee) and this year as a junior he was able to go to prom with a beautiful young lady from his spanish class. Everyone at the high school knows and loves Ben and I'm so glad he has great friends.
My little siblings are growing up so fast! I remember playing with Ben when we were really little - I used to push him around in this plastic baby stroller ... most of the time he didn't like it but I was happy to be playing with my "baby." I'll try to find some pictures of us when we were little so I can post them here!
Meanwhile, these will have to do :)

 Ben ready to pick up his date! :)

Ben and me ... we really don't look like we come from the same family but we do, I promise! :)

One word: Goodwill.

I have 2 things to say.

1) As of today, I'm up to 1000 views on my blog! Thanks to everyone who's been reading :) I'll keep ya posted!

2) Second thing - one word: Goodwill. Now I know some may think of it as a dirty garage sale type store but you know what? I have found more and more clothes there that are actually quite cute! You can pair a vintage shirt with some faded skinny jeans and a chunky necklace (and even get a nice handbag and maybe a pair of shoes to go with it!) for $5.00. Yes that's right folks, I said $5.00. HOW?

--> Here's the Scoop <--

On Wednesdays, specific colored tags are .99 cents. Wait, you mean the socks right? No. ANYTHING that has a specific colored tag is .99. How do I know what colors are on sale? Well. The day before, let's say, for example, the blue tagged items, are 50% off. Wednesday, all those clothes will be put on circular racks in the middle of the store. Now, some of the other blue tagged items (that's our example) will still be hidden amongst the other clothes, shoes, purses, dresses, you name it. And they have hanging signs that say the color that's on sale. The best part? There's something there for you at Goodwill for less than the price of an average candy bar. That's why, this morning, I'll be at Goodwill looking for something amazing!

This month's top 2 sites to check out!

1) Blog of the month: Iris and Lights

Something that more and more couples are doing is not only taking wedding pictures, but also wedding videos. Check it out! Iris and Lights have done the most beautiful job I have ever seen with all kinds of photos. My favorite place on their blog to venture to is Categories --> Engagements OR Film.
I have to admit, things like this (engagements, weddings, etc.) run through my mind every now and then ... ;) Especially when there's not the delicious platter of handsome young men here like there is at BYU. Seriously, if you ain't seen Utah boys, you ain't seen nothin'. Just sayin'!

But I just wanted to share this photography blog with everyone who reads my blog (which is almost to 1,000 views now, wow!)

Let me know what you thought of Iris and Lights! Comments welcome :)

2) Website of the month: Animoto

So, you thought Iris and Lights was cool? Check this website out! For FREE, you can make your own music videos using your own pictures and video, and the quality turns out almost professional. They have a whole selection of templates and music to choose from - get started on your own video today with Animoto! Let me know what you think! Comment welcome :)

BTW, if you read my blog ever, please click "Follow" on the left hand side of the page. That way, if I post something new, you'll immediately know in your Dashboard news feed. Thanks ♥

Back in the Homeland

Alright, so there's not much going on this summer other than work work work! I'll keep ya posted if anything fun happens around here ;)

...also, I've been doing a little blog reconstruction and my blog title is not centered which is BOTHERING me out the wazzoo (sp?). Help??