One rose says more than a dozen.

Today was a gorgeous, hot, sunny Fathers' Day that, for my family, was spent on the beach. We all packed into the car around noon and what started out to be a horrible day turned into a pleasant family outing, I was pleasantly surprised. Hours were spent on a new found beach and now I can be found, quite exhausted, sprawled out on my bed with eyelids drooping. But I thought that after such a wonderful, sunny day that now would be a great time to write a post. Lately, I have really been wanting to do another one of these posts and over the last little bit it seems that I have accumulated a few photos that capture the simple happy moments.

The weekend before my exam week, my mum surprised me with a picked rose whilst I was studying for my Functions and Relations exam. She told me to keep it close and whenever I got too stressed out to take a whiff of this fragrant bud. The little reminder to smell the roses every once in awhile was much appreciated.

Being sick this past Friday night (and the whole week...) meant a hot cup of lemon balm and honey tea, with extra honey, and a surprise Caramilk bar followed by listening to music on the couch. It seems that a surprise never fails to brighten my mood. 

Today on the beach I spent more time than I would care to admit constructing this magnificent sand "castle" (moat, trap door, and shell-topped-roof included) for fun and as proof that you are never too old to play in the sand.

Books!

For the first time in a long while I have decided to do another inspiration for a rainy day post! On Friday night I visited a church book sale in my town and I must say I was in my element completely. I did restrain myself however and only cam away with five books. I regret it a little, not buying more that is, but I am very happy with my purchases.

- An old Mrs. Browning poetry book that I picked up for the cover and age alone.
- Translation:Aistreann-Tammy Armstrong, a book set in my home province about a girl who moves to Ireland and back, I couldn't refuse!
- The Best of Times-Penny Vincenzi,that HUGE book about how one day affects four different strangers on the same path.
- Letter Writing, a book from the 20's on the importance of writing letters and how to do so.
- A Cup of Comfort for Writers, I saw this book and just couldn't help myself, the stories are heart-warming and I think that a writer on any scale can understand writer's block and feeling inadequate.

All for $2.50...I am a very happy camper who is overjoyed with her pile of books, but first I have to finish The Game of Kings; set it Scotland 1457! I must saw when I do tackle this stack of books, I am looking forward to reading Translation:Aistreann the most.

Lullaby

Well, I know the feeling
Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge
And there ain't no healing
From cutting yourself with the jagged edge
I'm telling you that, it's never that bad
Take it from someone who's been where you're at
Laid out on the floor
And you're not sure you can take this anymore

So just give it one more try to a lullaby
And turn this up on the radio
If you can hear me now
I'm reaching out
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell
'Cause I can't get you on the telephone
So just close your eyes
Oh, honey here comes a lullaby
Your very own lullaby

Please let me take you
Out of the darkness and into the light
'Cause I have faith in you
That you're gonna make it through another night
Stop thinking about the easy way out
There's no need to go and blow the candle out
Because you're not done
You're far too young
And the best is yet to come

So just give it one more try to a lullaby
And turn this up on the radio
If you can hear me now
I'm reaching out
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell
'Cause I can't get you on the telephone
So just close your eyes
Oh, honey here comes a lullaby
Your very own lullaby

Well, everybody's hit the bottom
Everybody's been forgotten
When everybody's tired of being alone
Yeah, everybody's been abandoned
And left a little empty handed
So if you're out there barely hanging on...

Just give it one more try to a lullaby
And turn this up on the radio
If you can hear me now
I'm reaching out
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell
'Cause I can't get you on the telephone
So just close your eyes
Oh, honey here comes a lullaby
Your very own lullaby
Oh, honey here comes a lullaby
Your very own lullaby

Artist: Nickleback

italia & espana

 In four short weeks I will be walking along the Mediterranean, until then however I have to suffice with pictures of the beautiful countries I will be visiting and daydream.

the power of words

What has inspired me this week is wonderful messages from even more amazing people. Yesterday and the day before, as well as today, had a few low points but simply re-reading my birthday cards a smile came to my face and it changed my mood. It is great what a few simple heartfelt words can do.

before i fall by lauren oliver review

So this is the first time I have ever done a book review but considering how much I read I don't know why I have never done one before. The book in question is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Now I have about fifty books in a box that I bought this summer that I am slowly trying to work my way through but when my friend brought in a book for me to borrow on Friday and I read the back cover I knew I had to start it immediately and it is now on my list of must by books.

The novel is about this girl who dies but then relives the last day of her life over again, and over again, and over again. I remember thinking that this is a depressed version of Groundhog Day and then on the next page the book actually made a reference the the movie.

At the start of this book I actually hated the main character, Samantha, so much so that by the time we had worked our way up to her death I thought, that's what ya get. Bad, I know. At first she is portrayed as a stuck-up popular high school bitch but as she relives her last day over again, as each day progresses she gets more desperate and you start to feel pity for her as she changes. By the end of the book she has become a likeable character but I didn't find myself 'clinging to a box of Kleenex' as Now's review predicted. Usually anything in a book can make me cry, happy days and sad days. I cried at the end of The Help just because I had grown so attached to the characters and didn't want the book to end. This was not the case for this book. I did find myself tearing up at the end just because it was so sad and the main character had done a 180 but I find most of my pity lies with Kent, a secondary character. If you read the book you will understand why.

This book was 339 pages long but I finished mine in one night, I am a fast reader but the book really did draw me in and I found myself wanted to know what would happen on the next day. Parts of the book made me want to scream at the main character but other parts made me smile and I will admit the odd, awww did escape me.

One aspect I really did enjoy was that you learn more about the minor characters personalties during each day she relives her last. At the start she looks down upon them all and has her own selfish, mean conclusions about their personalties but each day she spends time with one of them or another and you find out their hobbies and what the are really like, not just the way they dress. The character I mentioned before, Kent, changed the most in Sam's eyes though, the two of them used to be best friends but as Sam got popular she stopped hanging out with him. During the first day, she calls him a dork, insults most of what he does and makes fun of him but by day seven, well he turns out to be more then a battered blazer, funny hat and checked sneakers.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and personally I did enjoy it. I will be checking out Derlirium by Lauren Oliver the next time I am in a bookstore to see if it is as good.

And that has been what has inspired me during my last weekend being fifteen, a book. Well that's no surprise. I also started working on a Christmas FF because I left my notebook with my other Christmas story at school...

snow in october?

Imagine my surprise when I woke up to my dad telling my younger sister it was snowing outside. Of course after freezing in shock I hopped over to my window and lo-and-behold, it was snowing. This is what I saw when I went out on my back deck





You can't tell but it was still snowing when I took this picture. As the day progressed the storm, yes I am calling it a stom, it got worse. It was wicked outside, the wind howled ALL day. So of course I turned on the oven and started baking (Pumpkin Seeds and an Peanut Butter-Cheerio treat) I also wrote a bit, currently I am writing just a small Christmas story. For lunch we all went over to my memere's and almost the whole family was there. It was great.



This weekend was such a nice one, I did almost nothing all weekend. After the long stressful week I had it was definitely necessary. Now the Haunted House is over, that was an ordeal in itself, but it doesn't look like things will be calming down for me until February. Swim season lasts until December and then in January I have exams so I am hoping I won't have to many break downs between here and then.

To conclude, here is a picture of Spencer with his first ever snowball. It brings a smile to my face looking at it. He had so much fun playing with it...well eating it mostly.

I know Halloween is tomorrow and my birthday is in twelve days but I can't help getting excited for Christmas!

dreaming of the future

Lately the urge to have my own apartment has been growing huge, I have periods like this where I just want to move out and furnish my own place. My daydreams are occupied with my first holidays at my own place and how I would decorate, where I would put everything. I love design so maybe that has something to do with it. I recently found Pinterest so here are some images from there that I have been loving that are related to interior decoration:

(I love the love of a white palette, it just looks so clean and fresh, however I don't think I could ever stick to a white colour scheme in my own house.)

(This. Now this is something I can see working perfectly in my own home, one drawback: I wouldn't be able to walk up the stairs or by them without stopping to read!)

(I love this. When I get my own place a mantle is a must so I can decorate it for different seasons and holidays, I love everything about this look!)

(I love how the fireplace is located right next to the dining room, I also love the mis-mash of chairs and the bench.)

(If I had a light, airy bedroom I would love to recreate this! I have actually been toying with the idea of a boxed frame bed but right now, I love my white iron bed too much..)

Although I love the white clean palette I think that when I move out I will turn to a monochromatic colour scheme. Black, greys, white and silvers with little touches of burgandy and plum thrown in!

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. Maya Angelou

thankgiving weekend.

So the lovely thanksgiving weekend is now wrapping up, we also celebrated my mum's forty eighth birthday today! It's been a great weekend full of family and food, I really have so many things to be thankful for. :) One thing that has not been good this weekend, for me anyways, is the weather! For everyone else it was beautiful we had weather around 20 degrees+ the whole weekend...ya. I love fall to death, mentioned this before, but I just really want to wear my sweaters and knits and scarfs! I think it is ridiculous if you are going to get your Thankgiving veggies from the stalls and you are sweating your face off in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. :( I wasn't happy...

That is why actually I want to write this post, an inspiration for a rainy day on a monday! Because I just want it to be fall! This week is all supposed to be sunny until wednesday and then rain thursday and friday. Let's hope for some windchill tomorrow and wednesday, but here we go onto my inspiration lately:

(I love this little girl! She is so cute and I can so imagine dressing my little girl in this before telling her to go play outside!)

(Beautiful house! I love how the fall decorations are kept elegant with a simple fall wreath on the door and the pumpkins leading up the steps! The unraked leaves add a little touch too.)

(Such a beautiful shot of the woods during fall, I love the up close colourful leaves and how you can just make out some people in the background.)

(I love the "decorations" on this house too, with the colourful leaves adorning the sides of the house and chimney anything more then the simple wreath on the door would be too much!)

(I love how the neutral colour-sceme full of different textures and patterns just screams fall, I love the shelving around the fireplace and the basket they are using to hold the wood, such a neat concept! I wish I was there...)

(I love every. single. concept in this outfit! I love the HUGE oversized cardigan and want it. I have been loving a white collar under any cardigan lately and have been wanting on myself and the burnt orange pants are a great way to add that fall trend to an outfit, before this I hadn't seen it done in a way I liked!)

(This reminds me of the scarf I just finished knitting so of course I had to add it... Again, I love this gray cable-knit cardi and want it!)

(This looks so cozy! I really want to knit myself a blanket like this and have been toying with the idea since June when I learned how to knit! Again the sweater looks so cozy and I love the added affect of the mug in hand. Wish I was in this situation in front of a firplace with the wind howling outside)

(Isn't this kitty just adorable!!! I love him he looks so cute...aww, now I gotta go cuddle with my little darlings.)

So I have deduced by making this post that 1- The weather better get colder soon, much to my mother's chagrin, 2- I want to start knitting a huge, cozy blanket and a pullover sweater (both have been on my maybe list but now it's official), & 3- I must find more money to go by more cardigans...oh dear.

On a side note I finished Angels and Demons today, LOVED the book, it took so many 180's, I can see myself reading this book again and again and again for years to come and still finding knew things. It was such a good book a breezed through it in two days, I feel I could have finished sooner but it included some difficult language, very mathematical that sometimes you had to read twice.

im living my life, you live your's.

Quotes I have found over this past week that I have moved me in some way, or summed up how a feel about something.

Life is not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it's about doing, being and becoming. It's about the choices you've just made, and the ones you're about to make, it's about the things you choose to say - today. It's about what you're going to do after you finish reading this. -Mike Dooley

If you don't have the time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over? -John Wooden

It take two to lie. One to lie and one to listen.

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

Just a few quotes that sum up how I feel about some things, and since these ones are pretty serious, here is a funny, but completely true!!, quote from one of the smartest men ever.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein

LOVE HIM!

Another Week Gone

This past week has been beyond hectic. Full of homework and tests it felt so long and tedious but looking back...it went by pretty quick. Perhaps I feel it went by pretty quick because just yesterday I hit my seven week mark. Yes people, we have passed the halfway mark and only a very small five weeks remain. I cannot believe that my time in St-Raymond has gone by so fast! I feel as if I just arrived here a few weeks ago. Needless to say that although I do miss my friends, and I admit begrudgingly I do miss a few members of my family as well, I do not want to leave. I have gotten accustomed to attending Louis-Jobin five days a week, I have gotten accustomed to speaking in French to everyone I meet and I really don't want it to stop.

This experience has been such a fullfilling one and I know I am going on as if it is already over, and thankfully that is not the case, but in my head it is slowly coming to a close. I just know that these next few weeks are going to fly by and before I know it my suitcases will be packed and I will be on my way to the airport.

Before this exchange, because of my family life, I was stressed out all the time. I was balancing swim team, student council and school work, striving to be the best in each catergory while living in an unhealthy atmosphere. Getting away for just these small three months has made me realize a lot of things. Yes I can continue to be the best I can be on the swim team, on student council and with my school work but I cannot continue to do so in an atmosphere like the one I was in. It was unhealthy for me, physically and emotionally, and made my life more stressful then it has to be at 15 years old.

I am not sure what this means for when I get back home but that I will figure out when I get there. I am trying to enjoy every minute of the short time I have left and I am trying to absorb as much of this culture as I can.

With spring just around the corner (tomorrow in fact) the snow is slowly melting away to show worn cracked pavement, the birds are chirping, hopping from tree to tree, the days are longer, the days are brighter. It is beautiful outside, warm, sunny. Everything one could ask for on a early spring's day. You can smell spring in the air, the crispness, the freshness. After the long, cold, hard winter Eastern Canada has recieved it feels almost...wishful to be thinking of spring. But the facts are here, the birds are back, the snow is melting, there are people walking about. Spring has come.

My Inspiration for a Rainy Day post this week will be two quotes. Two quotes that relate very much to what I am going through at home and with leaving Quebec. With all the decisions I will be facing very shortly I hope I can choose the right way and that these quotes will give me guidance.


And a quote one of my mother's customers told her years ago, "It is better to come from a broken home then it is to live in one."

breathe in, breathe out

Hello again dear blog, this week has gone by so fast! Not sure where it went and now I am back to school tomorrow...

Anyways the meaning for this post is inspiration for a rainy day post, now I was unsure what to do this one, I could always use a quote from my Favorite files or pick a picture from my Dream file but this week it has actually been something quite different that has helped me.

Meditation

Sounds a little odd but although this week has gone fast it has also been hectic and stressful. Not going to go into too many details but everyone here always needs do be doing something and I do not feel that way so when I decline it is automatically the Spanish Inquistition and something is assumed wrong with me! Meditation really helps just calm my nerves, I usually do it for about twenty minutes focusing on my breathing and thinking only positive thoughts. By the end it really helps and I feel much more relaxed and peaceful! Definitely something to remember in a stressful situation.

and we lived happily..ever..after

Girly title I know but what has inspired me this week are incredibly adorable, fluffy love stories that have boys with sexy accents from my favorite site ever, fanfiction.net! Those stories of a boy and girl falling in love that end with a short sweet kiss..



Some excerpts of stories that I have read this past week that fit along these lines are :

' He let out a breath, pulling her tighter; the scent of her skin was just about all he could breath for the moment, and he knew he was shaking a little bit.

"Don' ever let me do this again, girl. 'm stubborn, an' far too ignorant for me own good some days, but don' let me ever again come this close t' losing you, because I won't do it, no' without one hell of a fight." '
- The Midnight Art of Finnigans Table by Nyruserra

(http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3826788/1/The_Midnight_Art_of_Finnigans_Table
HermionexSeamus pairing. The characters belong to JK Rowling and the words belong to "Nyruserra" http://www.fanfiction.net/u/650044/Nyruserra)



' What was supposed to happen was Seamus would spend about an hour getting Hermione better at Quidditch (and considering how terrible she was, that wasn't saying much), and then Ginny and Dead would meet them down on the field for a two-on-two match. But after about thirty minutes they had gotten side-tracked, as they often did, and the next thing he knew Hermione was teaching him how to ice-skate on the lake she had magically frozen, and then they had lost track of time and were 45 minutes past curfew, and Filch was chasing them up the stairs and he had pulled her behind a suit of armor, both of them giggling, and then he had kissed her. And the best part was she kissed him back.

He liked to say the only reason he kissed her that first time was to get her quiet so they wouldn't get caught, but she knew better. Whenever he said this she would just smile to herself quietly and shake her head bemusedly, and the look on her face was so adorable it sent a jolt right to the very core of his being, and it took every ounce of willpower he had to keep himself from kissing her.

The reason why he brought it up so often, though, was because apparently Hermione found the strained look on his face adorable as well, and she couldn't keep herself from kissing him. '
-Library Visits by EccentricallyYours

(http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3646371/1/Library_Visits
HermionexSeamus pairing. The characters are by JK Rowling and the words belong to "EccentricallyYours" http://www.fanfiction.net/u/409719/EccentricallyYours)



' "I love you," Seamus said softly.

This time, when he said it, she smiled. Hermione could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and her ears felt a little like they were in a windtunnel…but it was in a good way. And this time, she could say it back. "I love you, too," she replied, tracing her fingertips along the line of his jaw. It was easier that time than it had been before, and Hermione suspected it would keep getting easier. "And I'm not going anywhere-at least not by choice."

"Good," Seamus teased a little shakily. "'Cause damned if I'll let you go again without one hell of a fight." '
-Like a Good Book by Raiya

(http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3230500/1/Like_a_Good_Book
HermionexSeamus pairing. The characters belong to JK Rowling and the words belong to "Raiya" http://www.fanfiction.net/u/144726/Raiya)

So yeah! Obviously I have been loving the Seamus and Hermione ship lately eh? I don't know what it is about it...maybe the adorable Irish accent? Yeah prob...

ANYWAYS, those were just a couple fanfics that I have LOVED this week and I did not write any of these stories! They were written by their respective authors and I have including links to the authors profile and to the story page! Again, I did not write these! Sorry but I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, I just love to share the work of amazing talented authors who have the knack of adding just the right amount of fluff! Who knows...maybe one day I will get brave enough to post some of my own creative writing here...? :/ Oh gosh, even the thought scares me! :P

inspiration for a rainy day! again!

Hello, I know I haven't posted at all this week! Besides my post about how my Monday sucked royally... Luckily the rest of my week has not been as bad as Monday, just extremely busy! Small miracles! :)

So this post might be influenced by the hectic week I had at school followed by an equally busy weekend! Luckily, this week is a short week for me with only three days! And then my March Break starts! Plus the two extra days off this week, so I have an extra long break to help get me through the next three days at school! Getting back to the meaning of this post...



So I don't know if it is just me but does anyone else imagine curling up in this chair with the gorgeous plaid throw over your legs, a cup of tea in one hand, an interesting book in the other and just unwinding after a long day of school/work, or just a long day!? This past week I have wanted to do nothing more then just that!

I love everything in this picture! Although it is very "white", (not something that I would ever imagine loving this much, sure it's nice to look at but entirely unrealistic!) I feel that the wood piled in the background, the "miss-matchy" plaid cushion and throw along with the "colour" on the mantle and the rustic floor kind of make it work. Maybe it is just me again, but I find myself wanting to recreate this when I get a house of my own! (Fireplaces and a claw foot tub are a must in my book)

Sorry for this post full of wishful thinking and exclamation marks! (I couldn't help myself, I had to add one more...) It's been a long week but I will write another post up tomorrow but for now I am off to lay down in my bed with my electric blanket and a good book and just pretend that I am in this picture...

this is my one way street

Welcome to the first addition of Inspirations for a Rainy Day, this beautiful Sunday I choose to include a quote and I love this quote just because it is a little reminder to us all to live in the moment.



This moment is unique, original. It will never happen in the same way again. Be happy with where you are at. Look for beauty in your surrounding. Whether you are drinking your morning coffee and looking out the window at the rising sun, looking into the face of someone you love or standin a top of the frickin' Eiffel tower. Look around you, be mesmerized. Absorb this feeling, remember this feeling.

As hard as it is for me to say this as I am always talking pictures sometimes I have to remind myself to put the camera down, look around with my own eyes, forget about talking pictures so I can look back on them later and remember a visit, a trip, family or friends. Just stop. Look around now, remember everything now.

Every moment of your life is unique, just like you. <3