Day 20: A picture of somewhere you would love to travel.

I first want to point out my favorite place that I have ever been. December 2009 my mom and I went to the Bahamas, best Vacation ever! I loved it. I WILL go back one day! We staied in the condos near Atlantis and got the passes for Atlantis for free. It was SUCH an amazing trip. 

Seriously, best vacation I have ever had. I want to go back with the husband one day!

Now to today's category... where I WANT to go.

When I was little, I went on a cruise. The only thing I remember about that one was having to stay on the "top bunk" and getting all the coke I could drink. That is it! I sorta remember going snorkeling, but not really. I really want to go on another one. Fingers crossed, I will be going on one this summer with the in-laws after Rusty graduates power school. I am trying not to get my hopes up until we have our cabin booked. 

I have always wanted to go to Australia! Just something about it has always attracted me. I hope I will be able to go one day.

Another place I would like to go is Hawaii. I am so indecisive if I actually want to be stationed there, but I definitely want to visit!

Lastly on my list is somewhere in Europe. I don't know where, I just kinda want to go to say I have been. :-P

Day 19: A picture and a letter.

Uhhh... this category is dumb. Again, like the last post, I have no idea what to put for this one. I can't just put a picture. I created a blog so I could write about the pictures.  This category is proving to be a challenge. I don't really want to put a picture showing how many freakin letters I wrote to my husband when he was in boot camp, it was a lot though! I don't want to post a picture of alphabet blocks, a piece of architecture that looks like my favorite letter, or anything else of that nature.

So, after giving it some thought I have decided to actually write a little letter. There are some things I would LOVE to say to some people. However in an effort to avoid drama I decided to just write a general letter to all of you, my readers.

Ummm... here is a picture... 

Dear Readers-

Thank you for taking time out of your days, busy or not, to read my blog. I make it for my own entertainment, but I LOVE that it entertains yall as well. So close to 2500 page views in a month and a half. I'm impressed! I do wish yall would leave me some comments every now and then. It would be pretty neat to know WHO reads my posts. 

Writing this letter was  stupid idea, I am feeling pretty ridiculous at the moment. I hope yall are having a wonderful weekend!

-Anne

Day 18: A picture of your biggest insecurity.

Hmm... I am having a hard time thinking of something for this category. I decided to look up the word "insecurity" to see if the definition would help. Wikipedia says it is "a feeling of general unease or nervousness that may be triggered by perceiving of oneself to be unloved, inadequate or worthless (whether in a rational or an irrational manner)....Insecurity may cause shyness, paranoia and social withdrawal, or alternatively it may encourage compensatory behaviors such as arrogance, aggression, or bullying." Yeah, it didn't help much. 

So I cheated and looked at other people's "challenge" pictures on facebook... I found not being good enough, acne, and other things that didn't fully fit me. I do have a concern that people won't like me, that I am not pretty enough, that I am always being judged, but I don't think that I have one single biggest insecurity that really stands out. I really don't like my body. I feel kind of hobbit-like. Honestly though, I recognize that my flabby tummy is something I could change, but haven't. If it were really my BIGGEST insecurity I would work out and/or watch what I eat. After doing some searching.... I found something better... a different category. So now this post will be:

Day 18: A picture from the summer

Clearly I am incapable of picking just one picture! :-)

Cow Appreciation Day!

4th of July with my amazing sailor.

Traveling to California to NACURH

Programming as an RA in Lowndes Hall.

Going to Wild Adventures.. for free :-)

And some more visits with my sailor. <3

Day 17: A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life.

Growing up I was never one of those kids who got homesick when I slept away from home. I have always been pretty independent in that way. Maybe it is because I didn't always have the greatest home life, maybe I was just born this way. (If you sing that lady gaga song I will punch you. k thanks) I know that doing 4H got me out there and made me more independent. It gave me unique opportunities and chances to meet a variety of different people. 

4H really has had a huge impact on who I was growing up and who I have turned out to be. When I was young it allowed me to go to camp and feel comfortable away from home. I feel like this helped my transition to college and my transition to SC. I learned how to shoot a gun in 4H, how to judge chickens and eggs, consumer skills, and other random things.. like how to decorate a cake. My main goal being in 4H was to become a camp counselor. Thankfully, I gained more from the 4H program than my ultimate goal. I had one awful summer and one outstanding summer in the camping program before my heart was shattered and I was not given a third summer. It hurt, but even the pain allowed me to grow as a person. 

Last night I gave Jasper a bath. There was no way I was going to let his little sandy self get on our bed, couch, exc. I actually took pictures during the bath this time! I like giving him baths, saves me money getting him professionally groomed.

The "before" picture. He doesn't look as dirty as he actually was. This picture doesn't capture his smell either!

In the bath. Just started getting him wet. 

He looks like a different dog! Haha! 

I wanted another picture. He looks so goofy with those big ol ears!

At this point he has decided the joke is over, and just wants to get out of the tub.

Getting him all soapy! 

Trying to get all the soap off. I promise I didn't just hit him or something to get him to make that pathetic face.

He is wondering when this torture will be over!

Blow drying and brushing him. Look how fluffy!!!

There is my handsome clean boy. 

I am pretty much obsessed with my dog. He is so special to me. :-) I have had him for one month as of today! 

Day 16: A picture of someone who inspires you.

I have given this one a lot of thought and I have had a hard time coming up with an answer. There are several people who can fit this category. Old teachers, mentors, bosses, friends, coworkers, family. I really don't have a celebrity that inspires me to do anything. I am also not sure if I have someone who CURRENTLY inspires me now that I am away from Valdosta. 

I am going to have to give credit to my SAI sisters. Each one of them has their own story and inspires me in a different way. Some inspire me to want to learn more about music, some inspire me through the joy that they find in life, and others just inspire me to be a better person... I have two big sisters (one is from color guard) and then a grandbig who supported me a lot through my time at Valdosta. I am not sure if that counts as inspiration, but I want to give them props when mentioning my sister's influence on my life. (Adrienne, Brittney, and Theresa)

I had such a great day off! I got a few things done and had so much fun with my pup. :-)

I did end up sleeping in after I finished my photo challenge post in the morning. It was some awesome sleep too. As you can tell in the picture in my previous post, jasper even joined me. He was a good buddy. :-)

When I finally got up and moving for the day I took some of Rusty's uniforms to be dry cleaned and then went to the NEX to get some more clothes from work. I ruined one pair of black pants so I was CONSTANTLY washing another pair before each shift. That got old fast. When I was at the NEX I decided to get a big girl wallet. For the past few years I have had one of the pouch wallets that attached to my keys. One of my minor pet peeves at Gloria Jeans is when people hand me waded up money. I realized that I might be one of those people when I use cash places. So I got a new wallet that will make my bills look more presentable. I went with Vera Bradley, because I just couldn't resist! 

After I went on that little errand, I realized that I hadn't eaten much and food seemed like a good idea. I got McDonalds for the first time in MONTHS! I hate that place, but sweet tea sounded like an amazing idea and I didn't want to go home and cook. I broke my no McDonalds rule and got myself a happy meal. :-)

I am so happy that they have gone back to the cute cardboard boxes instead of paper bags.

I got sweet tea squared! :-)

I really don't think this is fair. Some things in life should be left a mystery. 

I lied earlier and said I wouldn't take Jasper shopping with me. I went ahead and took him so I wouldn't have to drive home to pick him up. When I do that it typically results in me getting on the computer for 15-30min mostly creeping on FB. He didn't seem to mind coming with me though. He looks pretty happy.

Aaaaaand we were off to the beach!!

Until that stupid car decided to chill in a turing lane for 5min... ugh pissed me off. I got my road rage on by snapping this picture. 

But we finally made it. This was actually a really pretty sight, my poor quality camera kinda killed it though. 

This car was next to me at a stop light. Totally changed my mood around. :-)

Jasper did really pretty well at the beach. He had a few random barking frenzies where he embarissed me and would not stop. At the end he settled down though and relaxed with me while I attempted to tan. It didn't work well, because I had to use a SPF tanning lotion since I am so white. Ugh I need to get a base tan so I don't burn. I only stayed at the beach for about an hour and a half, because I didn't want to get sun burnt. I am glad I went though!

....and now for various pictures of me and/or Jasper at the beach.

Ugh! I am freakin albino!! I didn't do anything to my hair after I took a shower this morning that is why it looks kinda crazy.

After the beach I went and checked out the dog park down the road. Jasper TOTALLY embarrassed me though so we only hung around for about 5 min. He wouldn't play with the other dogs, he just barked and barked and barked and barked and barked and barked the whole time. Ugh. The other people in the small dog area LEFT!!! Oh man I was embarrassed. I did have one tired dog after we left. 

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The rest of my evening was pretty great. Rusty got an AWESOME score on his test today (3.91)! I was so proud of him. We went out to dinner to celebrate. :-) He is doing so well in power school. I love it.

I gave Jasper a bath tonight as well. I am going to post those pictures in a separate blog at another time. Here is a sneak peek though: