I have been thinking a lot about death lately — not in a dreaded or depressing way, more of an understanding. Death to me is not the end but the beginning of a heighten perspective of life. I’m here on Earth to experience both the good and bad, to learn from them both, to share, to celebrate, to love, to strive to be better. To GROW. If I continue on this journey learning as much as I possibly can I think I have lived a prosperous life. After death, this is when we recollect, compile, and digest our knowledge we have acquired through out our life. In that moment, we will reach the highest awareness of the word LIFE and all it’s meaning. All our questions will no longer need answers - we will know everything. It excites me and I even look forward to that moment. Don’t get me wrong, I intend to live a full, healthy, and brilliant life. I’m no longer afraid of death because I know there is much better things awaiting me. Lost faces I will see again. New places to go. Another life to triumph.

I am a huge fan of clouds, any one who knows me would know that. Today, while Chris and I were out eating lunch, huge puffy clouds scattered the sky, so many of them — was breathtaking. I, unfortunately, did not have my camera with me (I need to remember to carry that thing with me where ever I go!). I started thinking about life & death and how I hope the day I die (hopefully many years from now) the clouds will look a little something like this — to remind those I love that life is still beautiful even in the midst of chaos and death.

The latest drawing I’ve been working on. I apologize for the horrible quality. I’m having trouble getting my old scanner to work on Vista so I had to use my camera instead. :P Anyways, I’m looking forward to finishing so I can finally paint it. I’ve had the idea in my head for a few weeks and I’m glad to have it on paper now. It’s been hard finding time to do anything creative lately, so I’m grateful to have this much done. I’m going to use watercolor, india ink and micro pens. I hope it turns out good. :)

Yesterday was my niece, Alana’s, first birthday! Was a blast and crazy seeing 25+ people fit into a small apartment. I was not only thrilled to see Alana turn one but I also got to see my other niece who’ve been away since April. She’s gotten so big! They grow up so fast, too fast.

I’ve been looking for some sort of mp3 flash player I can put in my wordpress (in posts, not sidebar) but have failed miserably. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! :)

Yay! I finally finished it and I have to say it looks pretty badass on a wall. This is my very first painting I’ve done for someone else and it’s so exciting, especially the nice check I got for it. :D It was such a pain to hang up though (took about 3 hours). Thank God Chris was there — he was a huge help. :) My sister is pretty excited about it and I’ve already gotten a few requests from people who want one as well. My sister’s friend wants one EXACTLY like it, lol. So that should be interesting.. guess I’ll be busy for awhile. I love it though! This is what I’ve always wanted to do. It feels really nice that people would actually pay money for something I’ve made. :D I have a lot of ideas about small paintings and so I hope to get started on those soon. Oh, and I’ve uploaded a few other pictures of the painting, so be sure to check that out.

Tomorrow is Chris and my 8th anniversary and I couldn’t be any more excited. We’re going to stay at a casino tomorrow night. During the day we’re going to go play putt-putt and eat lunch at Olive Garden. There’s also a few museums we want to check out as well. Should be a great little vaca for us both. I’m soo excited. Eight years! Damn, I feel old.

The fourth was a blast. Spent the entire day/night over my aunts house along with 30 other family and friends. Was nice because I got to hang out with a few people I haven’t seen in a while. A bunch of us played badminton & my arm is totally sore from it now. We also played rock band…

OUTSIDE. We used a zoombox which projected it on a huge canvas outside of the house. Was so much fun! Chris and I totally owned it. Later on, I got to play the drums to “Welcome Home” by Coheed and Cambria. THAT was too cool. I rocked it too. :o)

I’m in the process of editing & uploading a few pictures to my Photo Album. Since I’ve gotten my Nikon, I haven’t put it down. I’m surprised how long the battery life is, I’ve only had to charge it twice since April. I got most of my family wanting one. :P I would love to take photography classes some day, I think I’d be pretty good if I could learn a few techniques & whatnot.

So, I originally planned to have the painting completed by now but I came down with a pretty bad cold & sinuses the other night and it’s slowing me down. I think I’ll be able to finish it by tomorrow. I can’t wait to hang it up in my sister’s new apartment — It’s going to look so badass on a wall.

I absolutely love the summer. We have this tree in our back yard that just started blooming. I sat underneath it for hours yesterday afternoon while my niece crawled around in the yard. She picked out all the small rocks around our pond and threw them in the grass. She also likes to pick the dirt out of the flower pots too. So cute but leaves a lot of work for me. :P

What’s more summer than watermelon? We got one the other day, I swear it must have been 20 lbs. I gave Alana a piece — what a mess! I had to hose down the carport before all the ants came.

I keep my niece about 40 hours a week so my week has consisted mostly of swimming, chasing her around outside, and cleaning up her mess. :P She has kept me busy now that she’s crawling around and being active. My anxiety has been getting really bad lately so it’s nice having her around so much, a nice little distraction. I have a doctor’s appointment Wednesday so I’m looking forward to that. Scared but happy to figure out what’s bothering me. It’s to the point where I have trouble sleeping and eating. But I’m hoping they can help me.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. Our family is big on Fourth of July. We’re having a pool party and a Rock Band competition. Not to mention all the food we’re grilling! And the outdoor movies and $1,000 worth of fireworks. It’s going to be huge. Can’t wait. :)

** Oh, almost forgot. I’m almost done with the painting. I expect to finish it this weekend since I have Saturday and Sunday off. I’m really liking the way it’s turning out and can’t wait to start on others (smaller of course!). Btw, Happy 4th!