solar eclipse and daddy's birthday || my best friends are gone (but i had so much fun!)

We witnessed the solar eclipse!! It was so neat!!! I really wanted to get some eclipse glasses, but they were all sold out by the time we actually were going to buy them, so Daddy made an old time eclipse box, that actually worked very well!! It was neat!

 

We celebrated Daddy's birthday!! He requested pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner!!! We also surprised and made him hot wing dip and chocolate chip pound cake!!! It was all delicious!!

My BEST friends came and stayed from Tuesday to Saturday with us! I had such a good time. The worst thing about their visit was that it didn't last long enough. It flew by. But I am so happy that they got to come stay with us!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to a bookstore on Friday!!! They had a deal where you filled a bag of books as full as you can for $7.00!! I got 30 some books for $7.00!!! I was SO EXCITED!!!!
We rode on the gulf cart for hours (which was so much fun!!!) while we listened to music and talked!!

I am so blessed to have friends like Abigail, Joe, Stin, and Anna!!! They are so much fun to be around. I feel like we're like family (I actually feel closer to them than some of my real family! lol!)! We have fun being crazy together (we certainly did some crazy things this past time) and I love it that we're making wonderful memories together!! :)
Can't wait til next time!!! :D

 

what have you been doing lately? did you watch the solar eclipse? when do you start school? what grade will you be in? 

my 17th birthday || lots of pictures + a ride in the country

As you probably already know, I had a great 17th birthday!


Mama took me to the store with her on Tuesday and we went by goodwill together!!! :)
I got two adorable shirts for just $7.00!


Once we got home, we ate lunch, and then Kristen took me outside for a Birthday Photo Shoot (I'll do another post on that sometime) :)
After the photo shoot, I spent time with my family. We sat outside together. Kristen made us some homemade iced coffee (which is SOOO GOOD) and we drank that up while we enjoyed the nice weather.


It's been really hot here lately, but on Tuesday it was in the low 80's and very low humidity! It was absolutely gorgeous!



After dinner, we all went for a ride in the country (at my request) with the windows down!! It was lovely!
(Gideon, our bullmastiff, also came along and rode in the back! He loves going on rides! :D )



It was a wonderful ride!!! I am so blessed to live in the country!!!
It was a laid back sort of day spent with my family and I loved it! :)



 

 

 

what did you do for your last birthday? do you prefer the country or the city?
do you live in the country or the city?

 

book review || tortured for his faith

I read this book about a year ago and I loved it! Haralan Popov's faith is incredible. He is tortured so much and still he remains faithful to the Lord.



Tortured For His Faith
By: Haralan Popov
146 Pages
5 Stars



Tortured for His Faith: An Epic of Christian Courage and Heroism in Our Day. Haralan Popov was the pastor of one of the largest churches in Bulgaria. The Communist government imprisoned him for 15 years.



I really loved this book. Like I said earlier, Haralan Povov's faith is incredible. He amazes me. He loved the Lord so much that he was willing to go through years of torture for Him.
I recommend that every single Christian read this.
You can purchase the book here.

Also, Happy Birthday to Kris, Ben and Emma! Kristen and Ben's birthday is on Wednesday. They share a birthday and are nine years apart. Kristen will be twenty three and Benjamin will be fourteen
Emma's birthday was last week and she turned two.
I love all of y'all so much!

have you ever read Tortured For His Faith?
how did you like it?
do you enjoy reading real life stories?

tea party // photography practice

Chloe turned six on Thursday. I cannot believe that! She has grown a lot, and she is such a sweet little girl! I love her so much! :)
Chloe wanted to have a little tea party for her birthday. So we (the family), went over to Jason and Katy's house to celebrate.
This picture really captured how Chloe was. She was so excited and was like a busy bee running around filling and refilling people's cups with new tea. I think she had fun! :)


After her little celebration, Jason and I went outside so he could teach me a few things on my camera. I learned a lot about aperture. He wanted me to do a little photo shoot with Napoleon. I definitely need a lot of practice. Jason let me borrow his lens and his polarizing filter.

The one above would have been good, but the focus point is on the right side of the bucket, and Napoleon is blurred. I was very disappointed that this one didn't turn out better.




These turned out a little better. Napoleon is in focus and the background is blurred. I think these turned out the best. I tell y'all though, taking pictures of dogs is tough. Especially puppies. Napoleon would not stay still. He's a little wiggle worm :)
Thank you, Jason, for helping me edit some of these!

I also got to take some pictures of Bella. I think some of these turned out ok. She's a good little model! :)

I would have liked this one a lot more if the house wasn't in the background. But I liked the lighting.


So they were a few of my favorites. I plan on starting Nikon School really soon, so I can improve my photography! :) I'm really excited about starting it!