emerald

i just want to let you know that i will always give you the truth. you will always know how i feel. and i never want to miscommunicate with you again. i look forward to the future. i really do.

and now i want to introduce a lovely little bundle of joy in my life







this is sparkles. i was 10 when i named her.

*edit- my brother took this one and sent it to me... too cute to not post :)

civile's

so i mentioned two posts ago that i went to a family reunion this past sunday... well here are some of the pics from it. this is the whole italian side of my family. haha. i had such a great time with them. my great uncle tom owns a classy little italian restaurant right off the water in haverstraw, ny. it is such a beautiful place... i hope these pictures do it some justice. and it was such a beautiful day :)















haha




what a diva




this guy sings at all our family events... he sings all the classics... sinatra etc. really talented guy.


a couple slow dancing in the gazebo... sigh


my parents


mom and grandma


grandma, her husband and his daughter












my great grandfather... isn't he handsome?












oh the twins...


last but not least... my mom and i :)


wow... that's a lot and there was more.

learning to breathe

Hello, good morning, how ya do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new

So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
This is the way

That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

(the first half of the song Learning to Breathe by Switchfoot)







p.s. i need to sit by ocean and watch the waves again. maybe i'll go tomorrow. i don't care if it's cold.

there is a light that never goes out

unfortunately my internet access has been very limited as of late. basically my only good connection is at school... which is pretty annoying, not gonna lie. but i will just have to deal. i went to a family reunion yesterday at my uncle tom's restaurant and i have some neat pics from it. unfortunately those will have to wait because i left both of my devices, that will connect either my sd card or my camera directly to my laptop, at my other home. haha.

so i guess what i will leave you with today is a picture i picked from my library.

this is by the barnegat lighthouse... i took this about 2 years ago. it isn't the greatest shot... but it's one i love and it just brings a lot of warm memories to mind every time i look at it :)



my friend dez and i always have these crazy adventures and they usually aren't on purpose... like every time we hang out. (one includes when were dead stopped in traffic on the parkway for about an hour... and i mean everyone turned off their cars... and we were actually out of the car and walking around... but i'll leave the rest of that for another day. haha)

this particular day we were just driving around taking photos of various beach locations by us... it was in late september if i remember correctly. we were on our way to the barnegat lighthouse and we just happened to notice a bunch of boats in the harbor and it was right around dusk, still a little bit of light in the sky. so we went over and took some shots. and we also had a chance to talk to some of these nice old men fishing off the dock. it was just so spontaneous... the whole thing... and we didn't plan it.

turns out, i loved the shots from the boats more than those of the lighthouse, which was what we planned to take pictures of. sometimes the best photos are the ones that you didn't plan or pre conceive... it's the more spontaneous ones. i'm so glad we "took time to smell the roses" and took a side trail... it lead to something greater than we thought.

that's that i guess.

brazilian hippy

well, i went to go see a lawyer yesterday. as some people may know... i was in a car accident two sundays ago. an off duty cop in a big black pick up truck blew a stop sign and hit my car on the back end of my driver's side. i spun and hit a guard rail. i'm ok... it's just annoying dealing with everything else. but i do just thank Jesus that i'm alive and well. i made an appointment with a chiropractor today for next week just to make sure everything is alright with my back and neck.

here's the damage (it was dark out and we had just the headlights of another car as a light source)

this is my trunk... which is now in the back seat:



hard to see... this is the side i got hit:



r.i.p. rae

but on a lighter note...

these are my favorite earrings ever!! they were made by a brazilian hippy. i bought them at a hippie village (one of the coolest places ever) the first time i went to brazil in the summer of 2004 for a missions trip.



and a little out of order but... this was the sky on my way home from the lawyer's office



i don't care what anyone says... God is the best painter :)

more to life

i'm sitting here... thinking of what to say to you. i feel like i'm trying to pick out my words very carefully and thoughtfully... like i'm almost afraid to offend you. it's funny actually. well, i don't want to be politically correct anymore.

anyway... my thoughts for the day: beauty will suffocate one way or another. there is more to life than beauty.

dawn of a new era

ok, so this is my first post... obviously enough. i was inspired by a friend to make one of these. and now here i am. i'm not sure where this blog will go, but i am happily going along for the ride. i love art... so expect some of that. haha. i really hope people just catch a glimpse of my heart through this whole thing. well i guess that's it. welcome to my blog :)



hi there :D