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This has been on my mind the last few days.  Doing the right thing, speaking truth when no one wants to hear it, and living with integrity, sometimes makes you part of the unpopular crowd.  Keep you chin up and continue to be a light.  People will start to notice eventually.

List, list, list // 52 Lists project

Week 3 of my 52 lists project! It's short because I could only come up with a few that really mean something to me. 

Hope everyone's having a good start to their week!

My dog Molly..

I got a call from my mom a few minutes ago telling me that they had to say goodbye to our dog Molly today.  Molly was my first true dog love and always will be.  When I was little, like 8, I started praying for a dog.  This dog had to have three very specific qualities: it had to not shed, it had to be free, and my dad had to like it.  So for months and months I prayed almost every night for that very dog. One day, it was answered and my dad brought home this little puppy, already named Molly, and from then on she was my baby.  She slept at the foot of my bed every night, until she couldn't jump up there anymore.  She was always so excited to see me when I would come home from a trip or from being away at school.  I'm so sad that she won't be there to greet me the next time we make a trip home, but I'm glad she lived a long life.  I mean, the girl was 16 years old!

RIP Molly...you'll be missed a lot.

A Monday list // 52 Lists Project

Last week I started this 52 lists project.  Here is week 2!

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope this coming week is a good one for you.

friday letters

 

Dear world, you need Jesus. All this nonsense is breaking my heart.  Dear NBC news, I'm watching your breaking, live news and it's hard not to laugh at the reaching that is happening to fill time. So much babbling.  Dear Boston, I'm praying for you.  Dear tornado watch, I don't really like you, but I'm glad it seems like we're gonna miss anything too crazy.  Dear husband, I'm so glad it's the freakin weekend and I get you all to myself for two whole days.  Dear mom, thank you for making us help you clean the house every Friday.  My cottage thanks you too because it's nice and clean today.  Dear April, I'm ready for you to be over.  Dear Mr. Mass, you make this girl very happy.  That's all.

climbing that mountain

Two more weeks and we've conquered another tough month.  Have you ever had a streak where you feel like you can't catch a breath before another wave of misfortune hits you?  How do you cope with that?  We've been praying a lot and leaning on each other.  Sometimes I may not act like it, because I get caught up in the stress and worry of things, but I'm so grateful that we're going through this time in life together.  

I'm just ready for things to run smoothly.

little letters.

Dear best friend and roommate, so the above picture happened last night.  I think you look sexy with your new "do."  Also, thank you for your hand-drawn diagrams of how I needed to cut your hair.  I'm sorry our original plan didn't work out like we'd hoped.  Dear Abby,  your habit of pulling dryer lint out from the trash to eat is annoying, but it's also cute when you look up at me and have a piece hanging out the side of your mouth.  Sometimes I don't know what to do with you.  Dear oven, you're all clean and have a shiny new part.  Please don't blow up on me again anytime soon.  Dear overcast weather, go away.  I have a deck calling my name and need some Vitamin D in my life.  Dear JD Mass, you get two letters because you're special.  Thank you for cooking me breakfast on the weekends, bringing me otter pops in bed and for putting down your game immediately  whenever I want your attention.  You're the best husband a girl could ask for.

Mon-List-Day

I love Pinterest for many, many reasons, but I really love it when I come across beautiful things and people that inspire me.  I came across this 52 Lists project and was so inspired by Moorea's that I wanted to make my own.  So here it goes, 1/52.

Saturday.

Happy Saturday friends! I hope you're happy and that your house isn't invaded by a spring cold this weekend.  While you're lounging about, here are some things to do:

Watch this,

Listen to this,

Read this,

Eat this,

Drink this.

Blog lovin

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Life lately

Day 3 of extreme pollen.  Having a little fun with it despite the fact that my dogs and my floors are covered in it.  It poses the age old question of should I clean now or wait until it rains and things settle down.  I think I'll wait.

This is the underside of our truck. We have had transportation issues since I hit a deer with my car right after moving here and I'm starting to wonder when we're going to get a break.  We had just put a lot of our paycheck into fixing the truck so James could have one of his vehicles working and then he threw a rod and it's now totaled.  Vehicles - 4(ish) Massingales - 0.  We'll be taking donations to put into the "fix the Harley fund" if anyone wants to donate.

 

This is how we spent our Monday night after that happened to the truck.  Wine for me, beer for him.

Abby is huge now.  It blows my mind every time I look at the pictures of her when we first brought her home.  She's always getting into something and still likes to bite our hands and ankles, but we're working on it.

(untitled)

My first North Carolina spring is here.  I've been using our deck for some much needed sun-soaking and book reading.  I was expecting and anticipating the rise in temperature, but I wasn't expecting pine pollen.  The last few mornings when I get up and let the dogs out the air is thick with it, the cars in our neighborhood are dull and yellow, and I need a pill-a-day to keep the allergies away.  It sticks to everything, including wet puppy noses that are always sniffing something.  Our bathroom needs a complete scrub down because of a window being left open to help with the heat inside.  I'm not complaining, I'm enjoying it.  This is the North Carolina I'm used to and love.  The one that makes you want to live in a pool and wear as little clothing as possible.  Bring on the humidity and the sun-kissed skin.  I'm more than ready.

Learn

“Learn to like what doesn’t cost much.
Learn to like reading, conversation, music.
Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.
Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbing hills.
Learn to like people even though some of them may be different… Different from you.
Learn to like to work and the satisfaction doing your job as well as it can be done.
Learn to like the song of birds, the companionship of dogs.
Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, and fixing things.
Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on the roof and windows, and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day.
Learn to keep your wants simple and refuse to be controlled by the likes and dislikes of others.”

-Lowell C. Bennion 

Found on awelltraveledwoman.com

This lovely row of beautiful trees greets me on my drive home from town.  It's cheerful and inspires me to get into spring cleaning mode.  Here's just a little list of things I'd like to do in and around our little cottage.

+ Finish furnishing our small space!  With friends and family coming to visit in a few months, we need to make our home more of a home, instead of just a bunch of empty space.

+  Plant some flowers and a small garden. Luckily one of my girlfriends has a green thumb and is willing to help me out! 

+  Print and hang our wedding photos.  The hallway in our house is the picture perfect place for pictures (see what I did there?) and I need to display those amazing photos.

+  Print and hang some other photos and prints.

+  Pull out our bed a vacuum behind it.  That might sound silly, but with a long haired dog, it's not.

+  Buy new sheets for our bed.  We have a flannel set, a satin set, and a set that doesn't really fit the bed.  It's time for some new ones.



What's some other "spring cleaning" things that you think are important? Let me know!

Easter.

This weekend was a welcomed four day. 

We're on a roll with seeing and being with friends and I really like it.

Plus! We are no longer just a one car family! The truck has two brand new tires and I have my car back. 

I will be celebrating by running to the library and the grocery store.

Easter Sunday was a really nice day, despite the rain.  Easter service at our new church was good, but I always makes me miss home a little.  James bought a grill, because you can't live in NC and not "grill out," so we had our friends and their dogs over for a steak dinner and some good old, Super Nintendo.  We also loaded everyone up in the car and went to the dog park, which is always an experience.  My sweet husband surprised all of us with Easter Baskets that were mostly Star Wars themed, which made the day even sweeter.

This week is a three day weekend because we got to get our dance on at the ball. I'm super excited and I can't wait to share pictures!  Have a good week everyone!