Let's Not Get Desensitized

By now, you all should know what day is today.

9.II.01

Don't forget the horrible things that happened. It may make you cry, but I believe that just shows how much you love your country and believe in it that you would shed tears even 12 years later. But some don't want to be reminded of it, and for them, I pray that God would give them comfort. If I were a family member of a victim, I wouldn't like to see reminders of 9/11 everywhere I turn, but I just pray that they can understand we put a focus on this day because the US was attacked and people put their lives on line then--to rescue those in NYC, the Pentagon, and PA--and now to protect our nation from our attackers. Radio, TV, social media...they all honor this day by not forgetting how brutal it was. I, for one, don't want to know the watered-down version of that day. I want to know just how bad it was. I don't want to become desensitized to it just because others have. If you beat around the bush about it, then future generations will only think of it as just another chapter they have to study in their history book. 

This is why I'm into the Civil War era. I don't want to forget how tragic and awful that time was because so many men died on battlefields so that all men could be equal. I even had a relative who was a Union soldier. One of these days, I really want to go through my family's ancestry and find out more about him. 

But, l'll end my rant here, and leave you with this photo that the Air1 Facebook page posted earlier today:

ERW

Categories: 9/11, ranting

The shore trip

I know Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, so it's okay if I still talk about summer, right? 

....

That's what I thought. 

This girl has FINALLY been to Ocean City, NJ! I went down with my friends Bethany and Michael to (1) go to the beach, and more importantly (2) visit our friend Amanda from college! It was awesome being reunited because I hadn't seen her since our friends Kiersten and Travis got married last October! The first night we were there, we didn't go to bed until after 1am because we were having so much fun talking and laughing (we did a couple of rounds of MadLibs!) I'm laughing just thinking about it! Here's one on them:

Oh and let's not forget Chick-Fil-a! Hehe....we got this glorious food for dinner our first night down there and for lunch before we left for home! Chick-Fil-a is such a novelty to me that I was THAT tourist that took pictures of the food and the building! Don't judge.

On Saturday we went to the Ocean City boardwalk and had a blast! There's a lot of fun shops and food places and attractions to go to. It took us a while to get down the boardwalk because Michael and Bethany were taking a plethora of pictures! Next time you get on  Facebook, like their page, MBH Photography! They're always looking for photoshoots to do, if you're interested :)

Here's a picture I snapped of the boardwalk: 

We played some mini golf while on the boardwalk during hottest part of the day but it was still fun :) 

It was pirate-themed and we had fun at hole 17! Haha... By the end of the game, I had won without realizing it! I haven't played mini golf in years so I was surprised! 

After that we visited Shriver's. If you love salt water taffy, then this is the place for you! They also have huge windows that let you watch the taffy process! We had just missed it, but we were there to buy taffy, and boy, DID we! They have so many flavors! I recommend checking it out if you're ever down there :)

Sunday was beach day! After church, we split for the seas! We were there for a few hours before rain showers moved in, but we all swam in the ocean (I forgot how salty it is!), sunbathed, walked along the beach, took pictures, and collected shells :) 

Yep, it was definitely a memorable weekend. I'm so thankful for the friends I got to spend it with :)

Parting shot: Amanda's family's cat, Precious....just because haha

ERW

Categories: beach, New Jersey, Ocean city, summer

The 8 months I didn't exist.

Well, what can I say....I go through phases. One minute I'm this somewhat consistent blogger, and the next, I've fallen off the face of the earth. It's not that I didn't have time. To be honest, I lost interest...but I'm back now! And hopefully will post something at least once a week for y'all to read and enjoy! 

Since my last post, A LOT of things have happened! So many things that you'd probably read this post for hours on end! (That is, if I've kept your interest!) One of the biggest things that has happened is this: 

Say a cyber hello to my now 5-ish month old rabbit, Pippin (the 2nd). Yep, I'm that much of a nerd, that I named my rabbit after a Hobbit from Lord of the Rings. BUT Pippin isn't a boy! She is a female mixed breed: 1/2 New Zealand and 1/2 Giant Chinchilla. And the best part is that I got her for free! My pastor raises rabbits for food, but back in October of 2012 I asked if I could possibly have one as a pet. He said he had a beautiful black one and said he'd keep it until after winter so we could build a hutch. 

The funny thing though is that during that time period, he never checked to see its gender, but found out in winter 2013 that she was pregnant! Question answered! So Pippin stayed longer than expected, and when she had her babies there was another black one in the litter! I originally was going to take Pippin after the babies had been weaned, but Pastor Duke said she is a good mother and took great care of them that he wanted to keep her to raise more rabbits. I thought that was the sweetest thing so I said yes and took home the black baby rabbit instead and named her Pippin the 2nd. :) 

It's crazy to think that I used to be able to hold her in one hand! She gets bigger every week it seems like and she's been a good pet to have since we had to put Barkley to sleep...on my birthday :( the 22nd of this month marked the 5 month anniversary. Luckily, we were able to bring her home and bury her in the back yard near the forest. Now Pippin's hutch sits right next to her grave and it makes me happy for some reason. 

Another big milestone for me has been entering pictures into the fair! I finally remembered to get them in before the deadline this year and to my shock, I won 2 ribbons!

This one of Barkley won 2nd in the "animals, color" category! She may not be with us anymore but she still won :) this is a picture of the picture, so it doesn't look as good as the original.

And this one won 1st place in the "seasonal,color" category! I took this at the multi-use trail behind our house :)

It's definitely been a fun, busy summer! Next week I'll post more about what I've done this summer :)

Have an awesome weekend! 

ERW

Categories: county fair, my photography, Pippin the 2nd, rabbit, summer