New Etsy Item! And Listening To: Rising Gael

Hi hi hi hi!

I'm in a super good mood right now!

I have yet another new item in my Etsy shop!

[ Ch-ch-check it out! ]

It would be greatly appreciated!

And since it's Wednesday [well, it was a few minutes ago...], it's "Listening To" time!

Today we've got Rising Gael.

They're a great band that does Irish music!

[ Youtube didn't have my favorite song by them, called "He Moved Through the Fair". Sad day. ]

[ "Stretched on Your Grave" ]

Once when my mom, my grandma, and I went on a roadtrip, we stopped at a pub and this band was playing there. I had never heard of them before, but I instantly fell in love. They're so much fun to watch and they even include the audience in things. They had a contest to see who could write the dirtiest lyrics and whoever won, they would sing the song with the new lyrics, and the winners got a free CD. 

[ Being the gutter-minded women that we are, we won the contest and got their CD. ]

Also, I don't listen to Irish music all that much. But this is a definite exception. I seriously recommend that you look them up and listen to a variety of their music. It's definitely worth it.

Let Your Colors Burst

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm not patriotic at all, [most of the time, I feel like I would be better suited living in Europe] and so really the only part of today that I like is the fireworks.

When I was a kid, I was scared to death of them. I loathed every Fourth of July and when we watched the fireworks show, I would cower under an umbrella and sob hysterically. I was positive that the burning pieces would fall down on me and light me on fire. 

It annoyed my parents. Quite a bit.

Thankfully, those days are over and I'm now in love with fireworks.

There's just something so magical about them.

Too bad today I had to work, and so I couldn't go with my family to see any. A very sad day, indeed. 

So I'm filling this void in my heart with pictures of fireworks, instead!

This is super cool. When you look away for
a second, it almost looks like the fireworks are moving.
[ source ]

Loving the red to green to pink!
[ source ]

So amazing; a completely new way to see a firework.
[ source ]

Grand finale!
[ source ]

Do you have any Fourth of July traditions?

What's your favorite part of this holiday?

Days

I've been pretty busy for the past two days.

Yesterday (Sunday), I had to attend a family party for my cousin's 8th grade graduation. 

Ate some food, played some frisbee, was practically interviewed by all of my aunts and uncles...

(I'm not a fan of family parties. At all.)

And then today (Monday), we had to bring my grandma's car back to her. She was away for the weekend and so she let me borrow it so that I could get to work and back without my parents having to drive me. 

Oh, the troubles with not owning your own car.

Later I went on an adventure walk with my good friend Lindsey. 

We made sure to take lots of pictures and act as childish as we possibly could.

Afterwards we stopped at the local beach and had a nice, long serious talk about life and people and such. 

Swinging!
[ Lindsey, me ]

Climbing!
[ me ]

...Sliding?
[ Lindsey ]

Standing on frolfing pins!
[ me ]

So a pretty decent day to follow a not-so-decent one!

Father's Day

Today my family and I went to visit with my Grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. 

We had a nice lunch, opened presents, ate cake, and played croquet.

We visited the cemetery where my other Grandpa is buried. This little angel statue was on one of the other tombstones and I thought it was nice. 

We got my dad an open fire popcorn popper for Father's Day. That meant bonfire. And that meant s'mores. Yum!

All in all, it shaped up to be a pretty good day. 

My dad and I have never been very close, but recently we've been spending a lot of quality time together. We've been telling each other stories and learning a lot. 

Do you have any Father's Day traditions? And what's your favorite memory of your dad?