Back to Akron

Dress - Mossimo (Thrifted) // Shirt - Coupe (Thrifted) // Belt - Thrifted // Shoes - Maurices

Back to Akron...for just a day, that is. These pictures were taken at my parent's house, but I decided to head out to my house in Cuyahoga Falls for the night so I could go to a NAVS bible study. It was a little weird at first 'cause it was a Kent bible study....and I go to Akron. But a few Akron people showed up. We broke up into smaller groups and discussed Acts 7. We had a list of questions to go through and they were decent enough questions that we got a good discussion going! I'm rarely in a Bible study that has a good discussion like that so I was happy that at least some people were talking :p

So I loved this spot for taking pictures, but I feel like I didn't really get very creative pictures this time. I'll eventually go back and take some more. I mean, it's still my backyard. But, it just takes a lot longer to walk to than my normal picture spots. And I can't believe I haven't worn this shirt on my blog before! At least I don't think I have. I thrifted this for a couple dollars sometime last year and wore it...well, all the time. But it's been in the back of my closet for awhile! So I'm excited to wear more this summer! I usually have my closet well organized, but there's always clothes that I forget about (wow, that's kind of sad...). What about you? Do you ever find something you love in your closet that you forgot about?

Luau!

Dress - Thrifted // Shirt - Body Central // Necklace - Walmart // White Sandals (Not Pictured) - Montego Bay

My family doesn't really do birthday parties that much. Eight kids, ya know, and that's not fun to have that many birthday parties in one year!!! Especially 'cause almost all of our birthdays are in June. If you read my blog this past month, there were a lot of birthday posts! And even some days when there was a birthday and I just didn't post about it! But, now that my dad's birthday is over we're done until July!!! Wow, that was a busy month. Anyways, back to birthday parties. Even though we don't do parties every year, we still get a couple. 6, 10, 13, 16, 18, and 21 are the years we get big birthday parties. I remember as a little kid thinking it was weird that some of my friends got birthday parties every year and I didn't. But it was pretty early in life that I actually appreciated only having a birthday party every few years. It made it more special and fun to plan. I really like what my family does with parties and I hope to one day continue the tradition with my own family! I mean, we still celebrate every year. But, it's just not a huge party.

I remember I almost had a luau theme for my 10th birthday, but my mom gave me a choice between a luau party and extra presents. ....Guess what I chose.... She was awesome for letting my make my own decision though. We had decorations left over from some other winter party so we just used those. Shows what I really was concerned with when I was 10 'cause even then I hated winter. So yeah, a winter party in the middle of winter. I loved it (not really. I mean it was a fun party, but come on... a winter theme? Really? Who wants a winter party...in the middle of winter?). But, I got extra presents so it was totally worth it.

We finally got a luau party though. My sister, Catherine, had her 13th birthday party yesterday. Honestly, I can't believe she's 13! Now we have 4 teenagers in the house. And, well I'm sad I can't be counted among them anymore. I really liked being a teenager. Back to the luau party. It was really fun decorating for this 'cause we got a bunch of cheesy decorations from Dollar Tree :p We strung paper lanterns up, wrapped some Christmas lights around the deck. And well, you can see some of the decorations in the pictures. And I made a pineapple cake! It was perfect 'cause it fit the luau theme. And...my sister loves Psych. If you don't know, there's a hidden pineapple in every episode of Psych. So yeah, this cake fit the theme very well. I know I haven't put any pictures of my cakes on my blog before, so I don't think this is particularly my best cake or anything. But, considering my time crunch, I think it turned out alright! Normally I do cakes the night before. Usually all night before. And I've had some cool ones. But, this was actually done before and even a little during the party! Yeah, very last minute!

So what does your family do for birthday parties? Every year? Occasionally? None? Have you had a favorite theme? I'd love to hear from you!

Science!

Skirt - H&M (Thrifted) // Shirt - St. John's Bay (Thrifted) // Vest-  Thrifted // Shoes - Restricted Betsy

Since it was both my dad's birthday and Father's Day, we went to the Great Lakes Science Center. Sadly we didn't get to see the Titanic exhibit because all the tickets were sold out! AHH!!!! Oh well, I guess we'll go back at some point this summer :/ The best part though was going to see the steamship, William G. Mather. I don't really have anything more to say today, so I'll just leave you with some pictures of the steamship and a few others. (PS....WOO!! Good pictures are back! Sorry about my camera troubles the past few days. I really need to stop posting if the quality's not my best :/ )

Yes. This happened. Catherine and I got super bored 'cause...well it's not that big of a museum and we'd been in there like 3-4 hours already. One of my other sisters kind of photobombed the picture too--you can see her head right underneath the lollipop!

To The Best Dad Ever

Dress - Thrifted // Shirt - St. John's Bay // Scarf - Thrifted // Shoes - Faded Glory (Which I apparently took off for pictures...just imagine this outfit with red canvas shoes)

Obviously I'm an awesome daughter 'cause I had another post written that said nothing about my dad. Thankfully I did remember at the last minute that even though as I'm writing this it's not Father's Day...when it's posted it will be. My other post will have to wait for another day. But...that's good 'cause then I get a break from writing for a day.

Like I said before, my dad's the best. He's one of the strongest and smartest people I know. And I never would have passed any highschool math, chemistry, or physics without his help. He is so hardworking and loves difficult projects. In '96 we moved out to Northeast Ohio to a completely wooded lot of around 26 acres. My dad designed and built our house (well...is still building? Don't get me wrong, it looks amazing. But there's always some new project going on and one room that's still unfinished.) I should have taken pictures of the house...and my dad. But I guess I'll have to do that another day.

Although he has 8 kids, he always takes time for all of us and takes a genuine interest in stuff we like. Even if it's stuff he obviously doesn't like. I mean really! He went out of his way just to get Princess Protection Program for one of the kids out from another library, actually sat through the movie with her, and then claimed to like the movie. Actually any parent gets an award for sitting through that movie, but dads especially. He tries to make every game, special event, or even practice that he can and always puts us first.

He's been a great example to me because he's so patient and very compassionate. He's been married to my mom for over 20 years (I'm an awesome daughter again 'cause it was their anniversary a couple weeks ago...and I have no idea how long they've been married. I just know it's more that 20 years.) and still says she's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. I have so many memories of walking down the stairs in the morning (actually mornings in general are just a memory now that it's summer, haha) and seeing him lift weights while he read the bible. Teaching his children to have a love for God, a good understanding of scripture, and good theology has been a priority for him as well.

I know not everyone has had a wonderful father and writing this has made me realize how much I take my dad for granted sometimes. I really do love him though! Regardless of your situation, I hope that you all have a wonderful Father's Day!

I leave you with a slightly blurry picture of me and my dad at Winchester House.

Darn Camera

- Zara (Thrifted) // Belt - Cotton On // Jacket - DKNY Jeans (Thrifted) //Jeans - a.n.a // Shoes - Faded Glory // Hat - Rue21

Yes, that is a water tank I'm sitting on...but the plants around it look cool :) And it was still super muddy so it was nice to not have to sit in the mud!!!

Anyways, yeah...these are about all the pictures I got today. I was not happy, 'cause the lighting was great, I found a good spot, and I loved my outfit today. The batteries ran out twice--and then I ran out of batteries. Seriously. Something screwy is going on 'cause the second set of batteries didn't even last long enough for even 4 pictures. One day I will retake pictures of this outfit 'cause I really liked how these almost turned out. I needed a little more time to figure out light balance and focus...'cause ya know, it doesn't always happen instantaneously. Oh well, 3 pictures is all you get today! And the last one was just so you could sort of see the entire outfit...kind of.

I felt like an idiot though, just standing outside and smiling for a few seconds (if the camera would stay on long enough) and then start yelling at the camera when it died. Seriously, like that's gonna help. Maybe if I yell louder the batteries will start working again. It's funny the image we get of people from blogs--it's most likely very different from real life. Although I do know of some bloggers that are very open and honest about their personal lives. I smiled for a few (out of focus) pictures, and then went back to being grumpy. Just because the camera wouldn't work. I wouldn't have looked so nice if these shots had been candid rather than planned. So, there's me being honest with you about my awesome (bazinga--definitely not awesome) character today . It makes me sad that I got so frustrated with the camera being out of battery when, in the grand scheme of things, it's really not a big deal. Oh well. Anyways, thanks for reading through my camera frustrations! Hope you have a wonderful day! What weird/dumb things make you frustrated?

May Outfits

So yes, I realize that it's mid-June and I never posted May outfits. Thank goodness though, 'cause I seriously did absolutely nothing today...and that includes putting clothes on. Yes. It was a bit of a lazy day. Well, I cleaned some stuff and did a few things, but I was just feeling a pajama day. So yes, no need (or want) to do outfit pictures today. I actually did more outfits than this, but I didn't include any of the California pictures.

Well, I also didn't go running with my mom today. There's a possibility I might in the future...but not today. I need to recover from yesterday... Anways, there are outfits I like better than others, but I really don't have any that I really dislike this month! I did, however, have a difficult time picking a favorite outfit. I like the mixed print outfit, the sunhat outfit, the chambray dress, and the floral dress/orange cardigan outfit!

Anyways, thanks for reading my super short post today. Hope you have a wonderful day! What about you? Any favorites? Any outfits you don't particularly like? Love to hear from you!

Why Running is Bad for You

Dress - Max Studio // Shoes - Forever21

So I went running today for the first time in...well basically forever. Now I know I desperately need to exercise, but I just don't think running is for me. As much as I dislike exercising in general I always enjoyed gymnastics, karate, and fencing when I did those activities. And I never ever once enjoyed running. Anyways...back to my original point. My mom asked me to go running for just one mile with her. Seriously one mile sounds way too long to me (obviously I have so much endurance.) And I don't even have any shoes (well haha I have TONS of shoes...just no running shoes) so she's scrambling around trying to find me some to wear. I ended up with some goofy, huge, white tennis shoes. There's the first problem. I look and feel ridiculous. That wasn't the core problem obviously. But seriously, knowing that I already looked ridiculous just made things worse. I'd also just jumped on the trampoline for like a half hour...so I totally count that as fun exercise.

Once we started running I immediately thought wow...this was NOT a good idea. I'm a fast runner, but I have absolutely no endurance whatsoever. I could beat anyone in the 25 foot sprint if there was such a thing. And due to my family's ridiculously long driveway I was basically out of breath by the time we got to the mailbox. ...and then we still had a long way to go. Laura, my sister, came with us (she'd just gotten back from a 4 mile run and was totally ready for another mile...geez, some people) and she just kept up with us and encouraged us. Well, it actually ended up that Laura would encourage mom, and I would vent my frustration by yelling at Laura. It was a great system, really. (I have a very sarcastic family, so there was no real yelling--just sarcastic comments really.) I laugh when people say they love running though. It's actually really horrible.

When we got back to the house I felt basically dead. And I had to hurry and shower so I could get to the feed store before it closed (I was almost out the door when mom made me go running with her). I felt so disgusting even after my shower--I couldn't tell if I was just damp from my shower or just super sweaty still. My necklace wouldn't even hang right because of the sweat--it just kept sticking! And by the time I got to the feed store I felt like I'd lost all control of my basic motor skills 'cause I kept almost dropping my keys and my money...blah. My mom has already insisted that I go running with her tomorrow...she's so funny sometimes.

There! And now you know how absolutely out of shape I am. And this is obviously not what I wore while running--I just threw this on before I left for the feed store. It was awesome taking pictures in these sandals too! They were so gross and muddy after just a few pictures! Oh well. They cleaning up all right. Anyways...thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a wonderful day! And I hope you're more in shape than I am! What do you do for exercise? Are you one of those weird people who likes to run? Any great exercise stories?