Behind the scenes...

Mattresses.

Steak, fries, and coke.

Three people doing what I always thought was a two person job.

Friendships.

All images from tumblr

Reading.

I like seeing people who spend their lives in the spotlight do normal things and be normal humans.

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Jim fell for Pam and had to wait years and years until he finally got her. He's still falling super hard, and super fast.

John Krasinski fell for his wife, Emily Blunt the very first time they met and knew instantly that he wanted to marry her.

I'm a sucker for a good love story.

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. -Jacques Yves Cousteau

I don't know anything about what I'd like to do with my life except that:

1. I want to travel.

2. I want to have children.

3. I want to have an adoring husband.

4. I want to be around aquatic creatures.

"And if, with these dainties to drink and eat,
You prefer not a vestige of grass or tree,
And a chronic state of wet in your feet,
Then--I recommend the Sea."

-Lewis Carroll

"I spent fourteen dollars on tampons today. I could have gotten 2 Chick Fil A meals for that."

I still need to paint my headboard, find a real blanket for my bed, and get more furniture since my clothes are just sitting in stacks around my room. My laundry basket is currently a cardboard box and my closet is the top of my one dresser. This is the life.

Thrift store find.

I spent ALL DAY one day painting frames and framing tons of posters. I think I framed about 6 or 7. By the end of the day, my fingers were raw and my hands were bleeding. BUT, I think it'll be worth it in the end.

Edison seems to like our new home.

If I had to rate my life right now on a scale of how well it's going...I'd give it a 88.9%. My family is healthy and happy. I have a roof over my head-a cute one, as a matter of fact. I have clothes on my back-old man sweaters, actually. I have the best friends anyone could ask for. My heart is full, my laugh is real, my thoughts are occupied, and I am incredibly happy. 

See ya, Florence!

I'll miss you all so much.

 I can't wait for nights filled with camping, mask parities, more Zelda shooting ranges (hopefully), video game nights, and also...Planet Earth nights when I come home to visit.

 I took Mary Beth Coats's concert virginity and she loved every minute of it.

We saw The Decemberists at the Ryman and jammed out. Prior to the show, we sat at Panera and drank tea and ate pastries for four hours, made friends, learned that when someone asks for my number...not to give them my real number, ate a little more, and then walked over to the show. AFTER the show... we had no idea what parking deck we parked in, so we trekked around downtown Nashville at night in the muggy summer heat.  Eventually, God decided we had walked enough and sent down a security guard angel who saved the day by showing us directly to my car after we had decided to try one more parking deck before we start making phone calls to friends or family to come pick us up.

Tuscaloosa, here I come.

But for now we are young, let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see.

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body." 

I have thoroughly enjoyed my summer.

Everyone who contributed to making my summer absolutely amazing, thank you from the bottom of my little bloody beating heart.

If you have a job without any aggravations, you don't have a job. -Malcolm S. Forbes

I          AM          DONE.

Started working: May 10th

Stopped working: July 29th

Windows-Blue

Tank foundations-Crimson

Rails in the Caustic Loading area-Yellow

Safety poles-Yellow

Doors-Blue

I am completely exhausted.

I now have 5 days in Florence of being a kid with friends and staying out till the sun rises and living my life with my arms, face, legs, and clothes free of paint.

From left to right:

Bo: Would come in every day to break and lunch with a big smile on his face and say, "Whatchyall doin'?"

Seth: The other summer college worker.

Kent: He and Seth would talk about Alabama football every single day (which made me miserable) and would also sing me songs that had Sarah in the title. He also played in a band with Johnny Cash once.

Big Dave: A gentle giant. We always had great conversations about food.

(sitting)Donald: Retiring in December. My grandfather taught him in trade school. He is always the one that gets pranked. Either he or my dad.

Billy: Working in the same place and spending almost every day with him has definitely given us a better relationship. For that, I am very thankful.

Duwayne: Sat by me every day at lunch and is absolutely precious.

Corsby: Probably my favorite of all of them because we had a real connection. Everyday, he would force me to eat a peanut butter cracker, offer me dip, tell me stories, laugh at me, make me turn red, and at the very end...he gave me a cantaloupe and said, "Be good, little'n."

Everyone in the entire chemical plant treated me like their daughter, granddaughter, or their little sister in Seth's case. Everyone would call me, "Dear, Darlin', Little'n, Sweetie, Honey, Baby, or Hun." My summer has been filled with making memories and laughter and working there really was a blessing. There's just something about watching fifty and sixty year old men prank each other, scare each other, or laugh until they cry that just fills me with joy. The people in this picture are the people that I built relationships with and they all have had an impact on my life and left a lasting impression.