Spinning Barefoot

some new pictures

2012-03-08T13:35:00.002-06:00

Alright, folks, that's it for now! :) I hope you all are having a wonderful day. I know I haven't been on much, but it's a new goal of mine to post on this blog at least monthly. Also, do y'all think about picnik.com closing? :(

blessings and love,

giveaway winner

2012-01-27T14:35:00.003-06:00

the lucky winner of the Hook in Hand Designs giveaway is...

#8 - Bekah! I will contact you with the details for claiming your prize. Congrats, girl! :)

I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

blessings and love,

dear boys | part 3

2012-01-19T16:09:00.001-06:00

dear mr. sports car,
perhaps i shall hide yoda in your mailbox. i believe he may have some jedi wisdom to share with you (possibly something as wise as 'you have too many cars'?). but i commend you on checking your maibox daily. although you proved that i truly am the only one who checks my mailbox every sunday.

anonymously,
your secret stalker

p.s. i promise i havent forgotten you. i've been stalking book characters instead.

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dear glasses,
i do love you. we truly make a wonderful team. the future seems so much clearer when you're with me. i really can't imagine living without you.

love,
lauren

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dear young ebeneezer scrooge,
i'm very sorry, but you do make me laugh. swell job, friend.

sincerely,
lauren

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dear peter,
i'm sorry my chihuahua scared you. can we still be friends? you are quite charming.

hopefully,
miss icky

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dear blogger,
i forgive you for clearing my post. mostly.

semi-love,
me

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dear little gecko,
rest in peace, my dear friend. we all miss you. i shall now call you hubert the 2nd and you shall be mine.

miss you,
lauren

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dear gluten,
i must say that this is the strangest of all my love-hate relationships.

farewell for now,
lauren

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Dear html,
Who knew you could be so much fun? I already knew you were amazing. We can do great things together.

love,
lauren

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dear God,
you know how much i like to listen to the rain before i fall asleep. *hint hint*

love,
your daughter

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dear ted dekker,
i thought you should know that i am still mad at you. nikki wasn't supposed to die! you should also know that my sister is quite sick of hearing me say that.

with a heavy heart,
a friend

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dear mr. ipod charger,
its not bribery, it's motivation. If i gave you a brownie, would you please hurry up? :)

love,
lauren

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dear very loud obnoxious teenage boy in the library,
if a book hit you in the head, would you be quiet, how mad would you be, and how fast can you run?

just wondering,
that other girl

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dear preston leatherman,
you are an inspiration.

love,
lauren

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dear grandpa duber,
you are something special.

10-4,
granddaughter

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dear antique shop,
we should hook up sometime. you, my camera and myself would get along quite nicely, methinks.

wistfullly,
la photografiá freak

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dear 'it',
run, run, as fast as you can! you can't catch me...okay, i'm not a cookie, nor a man...

cordially,
lauren

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dear pinterest,
you take awesome to a new level.

pinterestingly,
lauren

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dear bookstore,
i shall visit you soon, love. please have some wonderful books waiting for me.

always,
lauren

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dear shutterfly,
in case i haven't told you that i love you in the past five minutes (which i seriously doubt), let me say it. i. love. you. very very much.

lovelovelove,
lauren

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dear minnesota,
friends? good.

cheese and sprinkles,
lowi

p.s. would you be mad if i started calling you smallpop? or tinyfizzydrink? okay, i'm sorry.

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dear bedroom,
you should be ashamed. why have you become messy again?

innocently,
the roomkeeper

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{last five letters were posted on facebook(slight edits to 'dear minnesota')}

as y'all might've noticed, i tend to lean away from strictly 'boys' letters. but, i type what's on my mind, and i hope you enjoy {cause i sure do!}

this really isn't the post i should begin rambling on, but lately i have been considering the value of all these things i do in my life. on judgement day, will the fact that i wrote a blog for almost two years {currently} have any worth? and more importantly than "do i want to?" is "does God want me to?" but the funny thing is, i can't imagine my life without blogging. so anyway, i'm questioning where i spend my time, and blogging is definitely on the 'unsure' list. {and one of the deciding factors is if it isn't immediately on the 'yes' list, than they should probably be on the 'no' list.}

so, that's currently where i'm at. :) i hope you all are having a wonderful week!

God bless,
Lauren Elaine

p.s. this is my 300th published post. *facepalm*

a little giveaway

2012-01-14T21:55:00.004-06:00

this just happens to be my 300th post (crazy!) so i thought that i would try to do a little something. i'm pretty terrible at big events, and after this i won't be doing any giveaways for a while, because when i get behind it just makes everything stressful. anyway, i wanted to do a little mish-mash of things. a "dear boys" post and an interview will come shortly after this, but for now i have a fun giveaway for you lovelies. :) so, here's the scoop!

lovely sponsor: miss rachel from hook in hand designs {blog - facebook - hookinhanddesigns[at]gmail[dot]com }

prize: *two* crocheted flower clips! {pictures below} aren't they darling!? and i *love* the colors!

{above} pink and brown flower clip

{above} teal flower clip
how to enter:

follow spinning barefoot {either via google or by email}
follow rachel's blog {she has some GREAT stuff on there!}
like the Hook in Hand facebook page
leave some comment love on her blog(:

this giveaway closes at midnight on january 20th! Edit: also, please leave each of your entries in seperate comments! :)

goodnight, friends!

blessings and love,
Lauren Elaine

p.s. i'm on facebook now and i would love to be friends! i don't want to link my page publicly but if you ask i will add you. ♥

dear boys | part 2

2011-12-28T22:52:00.003-06:00

dear mr. camera-fixer-man,
i really want to like you, but you simply must understand that a girl can only go so long without her camera. i like you more now that i have it back.

sincerely,
the hopeless photographer

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dear future "friend" of allison,
be careful. ask her a second time and she'll change her mind.

curiously,
big sister

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dear whoever owns big fish games,
let me get this straight. your new idea is to have the virtual villagers people die after an hour (and they have to start over for the 4th time) so people play more? i really liked Suki better when she wasn't a skeleton.

frustratedly,
a customer

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dear mr. sports car,
you have too many cars. but that makes watching you all the more interesting.

anonymously,
me

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dear random boy on facebook who invited me to be friends,
hmm...i just realized that what comes around goes around. you wouldn't happen to be a stalker, would you??

cautiously,
lauren
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dear brother,
may i ask what you were thinking when you didn't tell me that dear mummy put almost two bottles of red hot sauce into the chicken dip? i'm not saying i can't "take the heat," i'm simply saying i might not have taken such a big bite.

lovingly,
lowi

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dear dad,
it just happens to be your move on words with friends. would you mind going? i want my victory to be as quick and painless as possible.

xoxo,
your dear daughter

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dear mr. old rusty watering can,

what a cruel joke. why did you have to wait until my dear camera died to show up, sitting there looking perfectly old and dirty? please, stay right there until i come back. i believe we could have quite a future together.

until we meet again,
the disappointed photo freak

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dear adorable little boy with blond hair, freckles and a British accent,
have a wonderful birthday, sweetie. and i'm sorry your hampster bit you.

love,
lauren

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my second link-up to dear boys, at elise's pieces. :) i quite enjoy this.

blessings and love,

some new pictures

2011-12-28T10:45:00.001-06:00

i had lots of fun experimenting with bokeh on the christmas lights. :)

of all the trees at our new chiropractor's office, there was one that was flaming with red and orange and yellow. what could i do? :)

i took a walk with my sister to collect some wood sorrel and i was just in time for the sunset. ♥

another sunset picture.

we love our new neighbors, strictly excluding this little guy and Mr. Black Widow who moved in uninvited.

i will have more new pictures up soon. :)

blessings and love,

what can you do in a year?

2011-12-20T15:26:00.003-06:00

a) you can get a blog up and booming.
b) you can read 100 books.

c) or, you can memorize 52 Bible verses.

Guess what? Yes, I'm doing C. I have attempted B, but I foresee a bittersweet ending to the way-out-there-half-a-year-behind-book-challenge. Strangely enough, I found it harder to read a few short Sugar Creek Gang books (just for the numbers I added ten to my little ~~stack~~ mountain) than to read a few great 200+ page books (such as Waterfall, Unlocked, and The Waiting). So, I thought, why on earth am I wasting time trying to read these when I can read longer books three times as fast? (you see, I still haven't finished a single one, and they're only 100-some pages, for pete's sake) From now on I'm going to read what I want to (sounds strange when you say it that way, doesn't it?), and I'm not going to pressure myself. See, I have quite a bit of stress in my life. So I'm going to read as much as I normally do (since sleep is quite valuable, and i can just start this again in 2 weeks - not!), and if I finish, great! If not, no biggie.
Now what was I talking about? Ah, yes. I am informally inviting anyone who wants to to join me in the 52 Weeks | 52 Verses challenge. Yes, it's somewhat short notice, but I found it quite easy to come up with 52 great scriptures that I want to memorize.
If you'd like to join, the blog is *here*, and it has a lot of helpful information about the challenge. I will be (as often as possible) posting the verses I am memorizing on here. If you do join, let me know! :)

As you all know, Christmas is fast approaching. I find myself asking Where on earth did 2011 go?Goodness, I just got used to writing 2011 on everything, and soon I'll have to learn to write 2012. 2012? 0_0 I also can't believe I'm 13. I'm sure my parents feel the same way, but wasn't I just 5 years old yesterday? Compliments of Shutterfly (you all know how much I love it!), my mom and I ordered like 200 free family pictures recently. We have oodles of pictures, but the newest ones are from September, since our camera is broken. Which, by the way, is actually fixed, and we just have to pick it up and pay for the repairs. I really hate typing in all caps, but to fully explain how happy I am, I. CAN'T. WAIT. TO. GET. IT. BACK. :) So, we got lots and lots of pictures and they bring back SO MANY memories. And besides that, there are all the seasonal memories from last year. I can't believe it has been almost one year since my dad left. Today I found a picture I took last winter of him, standing in front of a U-Haul truck, being my dad (translation: acting embarrassing. although a few weeks ago when he stuck his arms straight out like a 'plane' on the escalator definitely topped this.). I was (go figure) outside taking pictures, bundled up in my jacket.

it's pretty weird to be wearing shorts in december. DECEMBER. Wow. December!? *shakes head* Craziness. Like my mom says, the first snow is always special, you know? A few blizzards after that, it's not so fun anymore. ;) I know I'm going to miss the first snow, but after that I think I'll be slightly ok. :)

I hope you all are having a wonderful, safe, happy, cozy december.

blessings and love,

lol 297 posts by the way! 110 followers, 12 subscribers, and 11653 views. you guys seriously rock. ♥

Recipe request

2011-12-13T11:30:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone! As I am helpig my mom figure out a meal plan while we're trying to go gluten free (yikes!) I just wanted to throw this out there. Do any of you know some good gluten free recipes or good blogs where I can find them? Thanks!Also, I'm planning a follow-up to the music post. Thank you all for your responses! :)Blessings and love,

music question

2011-12-03T15:16:00.001-06:00

today I read an article on a christian website about Lady GaGa...frankly, I wasn't surprised, but I was extremely disgusted. Lots of people have told me that Justin Beiber is a christian, but I really wasn't convinced; some of his songs just weren't something I would like to listen to (I didn't say they weren't catchy! ;)). Anyways, I was just wondering what your opinion on these and other artists are? Leave a comment and let me know! :)

blessings and love,

giveaway winners

2011-12-03T14:55:00.001-06:00

Winner #1...Shelley!
Winner #2...Ashley!
Winner #3...Emily!

Please email me (spinningbarefoot at gmail dot com) with your name, birth date, state/country and e-mail address and I will forward it to the sponsors. :) Thank you for entering and I'm very sorry I was behind on this!

blessings and love,

good morning

2011-11-16T15:45:00.001-06:00

yes, I do realize it's a little late in the day to poost this, but i am going to anyways. :) let me know if you get this stuck in your head, because then i'll post the gummy bear song. ;D

blessings and love,

God's Daughter's Giveaway :)

2011-11-08T10:54:00.000-06:00

Miss Raquel at God's Daughter is having a great giveaway at her blog to celebrate *500* followers! :) Go here to enter, and here's her button:

I just love giveaways - don't you? :)

Polished Cornerstones

2011-11-05T12:30:00.001-05:00

Ladies, looking for a good alternative to today's social networking options? Polished Cornerstones is *great*! I put the little button on my sidebar, so check it out! :)

L.O.V.E.

Have a great day! I'm saving my to-do list and enjoying the beautiful day! :)

Blessings and love,

edit #2

2011-11-03T10:52:00.004-05:00

I typically dont like to use the HDR-ish effect (from picnik), but with this picture it might look OK, if I toned it down a bit. I also tried a different watermark layout. What do you think?

For this picture I used the black and white on everything but that one branch, then faded the black and white a bit, because I love that smidge of color. :)

I am hoping to be posting every 3 days or so, but that can be kind of hard to maintain. ;) So, I'll be posting as often as possible and when I can't I'll try to have at least one post scheduled.

Blessings and love,

one day a year.

2011-10-31T20:34:00.001-05:00

one day a year. halloween.

one day a year people blindly celebrate satan.

as a child i have one memory of halloween. i remember coming home from a church service and being allowed to run next door and get a piece of candy. i was probably five, but the memory is still vivid. we've never celebrated halloween. every year our church had a pumpkin party, and every year we stayed inside and kept the lights off and watched the children run by. watched our friends walk along the sidewalk, clustered together squealing over sugar in colorful wrappers. every year we asked why we couldn't do that. why we didn't get to dress up and have fun like everybody else. every year we were told "because." a few times our parents told us why, but to a eight year old, it really doesn't make sense. even now, its puzzling how people can take horrible celebrations and twist the meanings, just a tad, so that people don't see any reason not to dress up as witches and ghosts and vampires and devils and many other horrible things.

for the last two years we went to the pumpkin party at our church. even that is so twisted. really. but as the kids got older my parents kind of gave in. so the first year, there was quite a commotion over what they were going to be. i can't even remember. anyways, we went. there was a moonwalk and games. food and candy. last year, i helped the youth group prepare for the party. this year, our new church doesn't do halloween; for good reasons. i haven't done much research into halloween. i've read quite a few stories, and i don't know if i want to dig any further. halloween is a pagan celebration of the devil. those costumes, that you have so much fun dressing your babies up in every year? wandering around trick-or-treating with friends? even passing out candy at the door! they have been so wrapped up, most people don't know how it started. research it for yourself and see what halloween is really about.

so as i sit here in the dark, munching on a apple pie from mcdonald's and typing viciously, ignoring the sqeals and shouts from outside, i'm quite sickened. so, as i normally do when i am depressed, i edited pictures. which, in a way, makes me even more depressed. see, the pictures i have been working on are from spring. months and months and months ago; but in a way, it was simply yesterday that i wandered around in a sweater snapping pictures of the buds and blooms. so, on a happier note, i shall share a few pictures with you. Goodnight, my friends!

hmmm....sorry about the watermark. :)

giveaway update

2011-10-31T19:47:00.002-05:00

Since only 2 people entered the giveaway, I am extending it a bit (although I haven't posted it until now :} )! So, the giveaway will now close on November 10th! Hurry and enter! :)

~Girlz for Christ Giveaway~

2011-10-13T20:03:00.000-05:00

Sponsor: Girlz for Christ Magazine

Prize: 3 supscriptions to Girlz for Christ Magazine!

How to Enter:

Share this giveaway and/or Girlz 4 Christ on your blog, facebook, twitter, etc (please leave the link!) *mandatory*
Like Girlz 4 Christ on Facebook
Go to the Prayer Requests page on G4C and submit a prayer request
Follow spinning barefoot by email

This giveaway is open until October 19th at midnight. I will draw three winners on the 20th. I was supposed to post this yesterday but didn't get to it in time. :)

Blessings and love,

new winner

2011-10-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Since the winner of the cutebutton giveaway did not contact me, I had to draw a new name. :(

#1 - Lizzie! Please email me with the scrabble tile pendant you'd like (options *here*)

and, be watching for a little surprise today! ;)

blessings and love,

Giveaway winners!!!

2011-10-10T08:45:00.000-05:00

Katkero giveaway winner - #10 Vanessa!

Keilantra's Kreations giveaway winner - #3 Emily!

Cutebutton giveaway winner - #18 Nina!

Congratulations, ladies, and thank you SO MUCH to all of you who entered! :) Also, thank you to all of my wonderful sponsors!

Please email me at spinningbarefoot[at]gmail[dot]com with

your full name and your address
the item you would like (anything under $15 for Vanessa, which color case for Emily, and which pendant for Nina)

the winners have 48 hours to contact me before I'll have to draw new names! :(

again, thank you all! :)

Blessings and love,

roses in december

2011-10-06T17:19:00.000-05:00

my auntie wanted a picture with something poetic on it, so I chose this picture and thought of this quote (which I posted here). I'm so glad I posted this, because it reminded me that I need to print off a release form to get this picture! :) Wouldn't want to be at Walgreens and find out I cant get the picture, now would I? :)

Anyways, hope you guys are having a great day! be sure to enter the giveaways before they close in 3 days! :) But if you dont remember to enter, it might not be such a big deal because i just *might* have another surprise for y'all. ;D

Blessings and love,

a quick survey

2011-10-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

Since a lot of people voted "other" on the poll but didn't comment, I made this quick little survey which will be a lot easier for all of us. :) And, I am looking for giveaway sponsors again! If you have something that you'd be interested in donating or having me review, my email is spinningbarefoot[at]gmail[dot]com.

We are still unpacking boxes but pretty 'moved into' our new house. :) My mom just set up our computer and Internet and stuff this morning so I will be checking email and blogging a little more consistently. ;)

The mail *just* got here, so I s'pose I'd better go get it! :)

Blessings and love,

And so the journey begins...

2011-09-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

I've hugged so many people in the last week. More than I probably have in the last year of my life. I'm not saying I'm an anti-hugger, I'm saying that there are a lot of people who I've never hugged before.

Anyways, this isn't really the beginning at all. It's far from the beginning and far from the ending. It's simply the start of a new chapter.

My home must be empty by now, but I don't know for sure. All I can tell you is it's far from full. I still can't comprehend the fact that after months - 10, to be exact - I am on my way to Houston, Texas. That after months of packing, my house is probably empty. The last goodbye has come and gone. For some reason, I haven't cried. Many times a goodbye hug almost pulled the held up tears down my cheeks. But they didn't come. I bet that the minute I step into my new house all the tears will come. I'll stand in a new house, ready for us to fill it with memories, and cry.

We own a house. Just one now, instead of two. One house 20 hours from us. A two day drive. It isn't a home yet. Our home was left behind in Minnesota, with all of our good memories and good friends.

Music is humming quietly in my ear, and if I close my eyes and block out everything; the rumble of the car, the never-ending road, the bags and boxed that fill the car, then I truly am back at home, sitting in bed listening to music.

The sun sits just along the horizon, yellow beams of light shining against the blanket of clouds. Through the trees the warm yellow glow is comforting, but agonizing as it reminds me of home. Home in Minnesota.

It's not forever, no. But sometimes a year or two seems like a lifetime.

Blessings and love,
Lauren Elaine

quickie(:

2011-09-26T19:44:00.000-05:00

listening to: people talking and the keyboard clicking

that is what i am officially calling a quick update/post. a quickie. anyways... I just changed it so that when you're on a mobile device (eg. iPod touch) it's *much* easier to view everything :)
again, just quick update to let y'all know about that. :)

blessings and love,

ps: tomorrow is the closing on my house, so i will not be doing a whole ton of long blog posts. I may have a few scheduled or emailed, but mostly sort and sweet posts, since i will be blogging from my iPod touch, maybemaybemaybe a hotel computer or two. we'll see. :)

once opon a blog...

2011-09-26T17:24:00.000-05:00

...there was a girl who posted about a great many giveaways. Thankfully, she had some great bloggy friends to tell her to stop. :) But, I found a really cool one to share with y'all - click here
Hope you guys are having a great day! I'm packing and cleaning and purging and throwing away and deleting! :) Lots of fun. ;)

blessings and love,

i'm in! again.

2011-09-23T10:43:00.000-05:00

some of you may or may not know that i like to do blog design. if you don't....well, you do now. :)

so yeah, i like blog design. i used to be a part of Spring Flowers Blog Design, but i left it for a little while and recently have decided to try a bit of blog design again. i won't be able to do much for about 2 weeks but if any of you guys would like a blog button, photo header, background, html tweaks, or stuff like that i would love to help you out. :)

and, i switched the sidebar up a little! i added an adorable little music player playing on of my fave songs, which i will change every once in a while to keep things interesting. :)

and i will be updating/re-writing the 'about me' sections of my blog, just because they're pretty outdated, haha. :)

and i will be putting up a few polls....just because. :)

blessings and love,

dear boys

2011-09-22T19:25:00.002-05:00

dear nathan,

you are the most adorable babysitting charge ever.

hugs and kisses,
Lauren

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dear alex,
you irk me.

irk-ed-ly,
Lauren

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dear boy on the sidewalk,
pull up your pants. please and thank you.

Love,
Lauren

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dear dad,
see you tomorrow night.

Love,
Lauren
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dear tyler,
nice finish, mario.

high fives,
Luigi

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dear brandon,
i'm not dead. yet.

Love,
Lauren

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dear justin beiber,
i have nothing to say to you.

Love,
Lauren

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dear pastor matt,
i miss you.

Love,
Lauren

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dear grandpa gil,
how well would grandpa's cake ship?

Love,
Lauren

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dear God,
that was a weird dream last night. too many weeds, i reckon.

Love,
Lauren

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dear mr. bee,
i'm sorry i petted you. you were half frozen so i didn't think you'd mind.

Love,
Lauren

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elise did this linky thing ahwile ago at her blog and i've seen it a few places so i though i would do one. :)

good night, my friends!

and, my signature is gone. Sigh.

Blessings and love,

Lowi

oh, and my camera isn't working right now....so there won't be many new pictures...but there will be alot of posts. :)

Me and a few other things.

2011-09-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

I was purging through my iPod pictures, apps, notes, etc the other day. I've changed a lot in a year.

My mind; the way I think has changed.
My heart; the way I feel has changed.
My laugh; the way I unwind has changed.
My tears; the things that get to me have changed.

Three things haven't changed;

God. My family. My best friend.

In 6 days and counting I'll start a new chapter of my life.

A new page. A new adventure.

God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December.
– J. M. Barrie

Dear Katie,
you are completely insane.
You showed me how to eat weeds.
I love you.
~Lowi

Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would I'd never leave. – A. A. Milne

Dear Minnesota,
I love you. Mostly.
~The one who thought she could take 27 mosquito bites.
And couldn't.

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.
– Winnie the Pooh

Dear Snow,

I enjoy you a little bit more today
then when you got down my coat last winter.
~The girl in the purple hat

Dear God,
You know the plans you have for me. You know that everything is going to turn out the way you plan it, even if there's a few trials along the way. You know that I was the one who ate the last granola bar when I was 5. Please help me learn to trust you, and through all the trials keep my eyes fixed upon you.
I love you.
~Lauren Elaine

Dear Readers,
I seem to have deleted my signature. Oh, well.
I love you. :)

Blessings,
Lauren Elaine

katkero giveaway

2011-09-21T13:04:00.002-05:00

*This giveaway is closed*

Sponsor: Miss Kat from katkero

Prize: Anything from her shop under $15!

so. cute. She will also ship out of the US!

How to Enter:

Go to her shop and look around then comment here with your favorite item
Heart her etsy shop and let me know you did
Follow Spinning Barefoot by email and let me know you did (if you already are that counts too)
Post this giveaway on your Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, etc and leave the link.

Again, please remember to only post giveaway entries, and leave them each in a seperate comment! Good luck! :)

Blessings and love,

cutebutton giveaway

2011-09-21T12:42:00.004-05:00

*This giveaway is closed*

Sponsor: Miss Erin from cutebutton

Prize: A scrabble tile pendant of your choice!! All the options can be found *here*

Aren't they adorable!? I want one. Badly. And she will ship out of the US!

How to Enter:

Like cutebutton on Facebook and comment on *her* giveaway post telling her you liked cutebutton.
Follow Spinning Barefoot by email - if you already are that counts too!
Put this giveaway on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, or other and leave the link here. (At the bottom of this post there are sharing buttons for each, I believe)
EXTRA ENTRY(9.22.11) - Enter one of my other giveaways and let me know you did!

Please remember to only leave comments for the giveaway, and to leave each entry in a seperate comment! This makes drawing a winner much easier for me. :) Good luck!

Blessings,

Keilantra's Kreations Giveaway

2011-09-21T10:43:00.001-05:00

*This giveaway is closed*

I'm going to make this giveaway post as quick and to-the-point as possible. :)

Sponsor: the wonderful miss Laura from Keilantra's Kreations

Prize: Poptart iPod Touch/iPhone Case (below)

This cases are adorable!!! I seriously want one! You can read the description *here*, with all the details and measurements. :) Also, Laura will ship out of the US!

How to enter:

Look around her shop then comment here with your favorite item *mandatory*
Heart her shop, then let me know you did so- If you've already hearted her shop that counts, too!
Post about this giveaway on your blog, then leave the link in a comment
Follow Spinning Barefoot by email

Please remember to leave a way to contact you, and put each entry in a different comment! This giveaway will close at midnight on October 9th and I will announce the winners as soon as possible after that! :)

The closing on our house is Sept. 27th, and we'll probably leave the 28th but I will not have much computer time for a while.

Good luck, ladies! :)

wow

2011-09-01T08:28:00.001-05:00

that's about all i have to say. wow. wow. wow. I explained everything in my first ever VLOG!!! :D So here are the pictures!

Sorry I didn't post them yesterday - I saved a draft and came upstairs for lunch and completely forgot about it! :P I'll have more pictures tomorrow. :)

What do you guys think of the new blogger layout? honestly, I don't like it. :P

blessings and love,

a surprise for y'all!

2011-08-31T11:28:00.002-05:00

**edit: I know the video is messed up, and i have no clue how to fix it. :P Anyways, hope you enjoy it!*

Ok, I'm supersorry but I have a weird habit of saying "Um," like 5 times in a sentence! Watching this video its kind of embarrassing how many times I say it! I'll be working on that. ;)

Actually, several things about this video are embarrassing, but oh, well. :) And by the way, my best friend's name is Katie. :)

Be watching, cause I'll post all those cool pictures in a little bit!

**edit #2: my friend Bekah is having a giveaway here: there's only 10 minutes left to enter - HURRY!!!!!**

blessings and love,

please excuse...

2011-08-30T14:11:00.020-05:00

...all crazy talk that i guarantee you will be reading. honestly, I'm in shock.

i, in the last ten minutes, have found out that first thing tomorrow morning my mom is flying out to texas. she's driving right now to pick up my grandma who will be watching us till sunday.

shortly before that, i found out that i had three babysitting job offers. one tomorrow night, and two friday. about 11 hours of sitting total. only my buzz friends would know this but i had an 11 hour babysitting job a few saturdays ago (from which I am still unbelievable tired). now, i rhetorically ask you all, what's 11 + 11? 22. and what's 22 + about? about could mean 24 hours. in like four weeks. y.i.k.e.s.did i mention that on friday i will only be home about 3 hours? yup. i think i'll sleep in till, oh, noon saturday? so yes, i'm sure you're all facinated by my 'work' life. :)
although hopefully with the money I'll be able to purchase some itunes giftcards, because i have added a few new favorite songs to my list. like 'For those who wait' by Fireflight. I love the music video for this song(:

and this morning i made some cookies, so of course, here are pictures! :) and i have a few more from the state fair, and today. i'm listening to Happily Ever After by He is We, by the way. :)

And did I mention I played scrabble with ryan while I was making cookies? somehow he won. I did help him with a few words.

I like that picture so much more then the one before it. :/

Last cookie picture! :) For now, anyways. ;)

This is another one from the state fair, Probably my last picture. I made this picture small because it's actually really blurry. *sigh*

WOW! I love Three Nails Photography, and here is a post he did with pictures of his wife! LOVE. that is right here. Then someone just showed me Kelsey Lee Photography - also LOVE! She's very good. Here are a few of her pictures:

Wow - I could never get my M&M pictures to look right!

Lovelovelove.

*sigh* so beautiferous!!!! look at all of her pictures here

I'm going to ask my mom is I can do my first vlog - yay! :) Be watching for it!!!

Blessings and love,

hmmm...must've accidentally deleted my sig! Whoopsies! :)

Lauren Elaine

pointless ramblings

2011-08-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

*and i'm doing this in lowercase letters because i'm bored. :)

i've been thinking lately. i mostly blog about photography. like a minute ago, i wanted to write a post. something compelling and worth reading. nothing. my ideas were some pictures, but i didn't have many new ones, so i came and wrote this. even my favorite songs can't inspire me. ok, i lied. now please forgive me, but i'm going to ramble on now that i have something to ramble on about. :)

i've been listening to carrie underwood lately (or since i don't have many or her songs, huming i should say), and much like taylor swift, a good portion of her songs are about boys. dating. love. i really dont think thats making a good image for christians. she is very talented and i love alot of her songs.

and, or course, we come to her clothes. many of them are not very modest (read: completely immodest and inappropriate). i wouldve posted an example, but...ehhh....yeah.

what are your thoughts on her?
oh, i am in love with shutterfly. in the last two years i've order many things, and still every time i see that bright orange shutterfly package i want to jump up and down like a 4-year-old. :) i just ordered the card below, and i cant wait to get it! i got it blank on the inside so i can write it to whoever and say whatever, because i'm normally really bad at that stuff. :)

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

they have some really sweet cards. :D i've gotten photo books, prints, address labels, and i have those cards on the way, and i am fully convinced that shutterfly it amazing. i'm signed up for e-mail coupons so i think everything i've ordered from shutterfly has been free! i only paid a few dollars for s&h each time. how awesome is that!? :))

warning: subject jump! i am, once again, ear-deep in planning! if you're new to spinning barefoot, then i'll give you a hint: giveaway planning! :) slowly but surely i am pulling together a giveaway for all of my 103 awesome followers! :)

my dad is home from texas for the weekend and yesterday we went to the state fair, which means...

tom thumb doughnuts! oh my goodness, they are amazing! the three bags we got disappeared pretty fast. ;) so here are a few more state fair pictures for you all!

of course, both of these are sideways. *takes a deep breath* moving on...

i had to crop this picture*alot*, so now it's pretty terrible. but i wouldn't want random people's faces all over the internet, now would i?

and i recently found this yum-azing shop on etsy. click here to visit.

*all of those are from her shop* torture, right? *licks lips*

so yes, this ends my post. :) i hope you all have had a great day and haven't minded my 3 posts! ;)

blessings and love,

True to my word...

2011-08-27T14:03:00.003-05:00

I put Bleah's quote on my wall! :) If you're confuzzled a bit, read my last post! ;)

Blessings and love,
Lauren Elaine

P.S. this is an e-mail post. :)

the list

2011-08-27T12:13:00.002-05:00

"Because sometimes nonsense is the only thing that keeps your head on straight. To much sense isn't good for anyone." --Bleah Briann

I truly think I'll put that quote on my wall. :) Anywhoo, I'm linking up to something Bleah's doing at her blog. Go look at her blog to find out what it is. ^_^ its a list of sorts.

-Saturday, August 27, 2011
-Wishing it was Friday (a definite first for me)
-Reading too many books to list one (just look at my goodreads shelf)
-Listening to Happily Ever After by He is We
-Thinking about photography *insert big red heart here*
-Dreading the start of school
-Sulking in the self pity of being a terrible geo-cacher
-Smiling because I turn 13 in less then 3 months

So...yeah, you should go link up. :)

Blessings and love,

my new profile picture

2011-08-23T21:17:00.002-05:00

what do you think? :)

A few selfies...

2011-08-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

Today I just messed around with my (OK, sorry, it's not really mine!) camera. I love how the pictures turned out! :) Let me know which edits you like best, or how I should edit one of them differently! I can't wait to choose a new profile picture! :)

dork face.

I think this picture looks a little beach-y. What do you think?

L♥VE.

I used a light b&w effect on this picture.

On top of the light b&w I added a light sepia effect, and used blue on my eyes.

This is the same as the above picture just without the eyes. :)

Here's a picture I took a few days ago of my two little sisters. I was doing a mini photo shoot with them and told them to tell each other a secret. I'm not quite sure which secret this was but it must've been pretty funny! ;)

Blessings and love,

The Farmer's Market

2011-08-15T11:22:00.001-05:00

The other day we went to the farmer's market! I've never ever taken pictures at the farmer's market before, and I was quite delighted with how my pictures turned out! :) {Ugh - that's like saying 'shopping' four times in the same paragraph! :P}

We were there shortly before they closed and my mom got some awesome deals! :)

I had this shot idea {below} while we were there but didn't think it was the bestest shot so I didn't take it. Then as we were leaving I though "Might as well!" because I only had like 5 pictures. So I took it. :)

HAHA - I thought these were 'people-treats' I guess..until I looked a little closer and then saw the sign! ;) Good looking dog treats, though! {most of them anyways...}

My first picture there. There was a few flower displays hanging on the brick wall like this one - love!

Oh my goodness!! I love love love ivy! And this wall was *covered* in it! ♥

All in all, a great day! :) And I am without a doubt going to visit the local farmer's market! {The one we went to was out of town}

Update

2011-08-06T16:06:00.001-05:00

Hey gals! Here are a few things I've been doing lately. :)

I am doing the Goodreads "100 books in 2011" challenge! Starting like, a week ago. Yes, I've got my hands (Or eyes, rather?) full! I put my currently reading shelf below. If you're on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend, I'd love to know what y'all are reading!

I am deleting my photography blog, Spinning Barefoot Photography. I'll just be posting my photography on here from now on. This will be much easier!

I am going to throw together a basic 'shop' for my photo prints. It won't be a blog, it'll be a website and I don't update it often. I haven't figured much out so there will probably be "Coming Soon" pasted all over it for a while. ^_^

Sorry I haven't posted much - more complications on the move! :(

blessings and love,

Nahum 1:3

2011-07-27T20:50:00.000-05:00

Nahum 1:3

The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

I've realized...

2011-07-27T20:43:00.003-05:00

...while looking through old pictures that I know some very talented photographers! Why? Well, out of 100 pictures of me, 60 of them were taken mid-sentence. Take for example, this picture.

Maybe it's just that I talk alot?

Or simply that cameras remind me of something that I need to say?

Hmm...my eyes are also half-closed. Which makes them all the more attractive, right!? :P

The minute I saw ~~May Amelia~~ Jessica's evil grin behind that camera, I knew I was in trouble. ;D

So, after that amusing collection of me at my best (HA!), here's a picture to get you all laughing (or at least smiling!!)

My word, I do believe this is the first picture to ever come out not-sideways! :D

Love,

Few-words Monday ;)

2011-07-25T14:54:00.001-05:00

From a shoot my bestest friend and I did yesterday. :)

And more....

2011-07-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

pictures, of course! :) Just a few today.

This one is actually supposed to be upright. :P I like how it looks vine-y that way. :)

I have a few pictures of this bee - they're all really cool! :)

this is a really old picture, but I like it. :)

Blessings and love,

Post from the Past challenge

2011-07-21T11:02:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure about you guys, but about a million times as I read through old blog posts I wish so badly that I could re-write it. Sometimes I wish I could add something more, or remove something that didn't need to have been said. So, I thought, wouldn't it be fun to do a blog challenge where we do just that? See how our style has changed? And so here we are! :)

Here's the scoop. Y'all have until August 1st (About 10 days) to choose an old post of yours (It can't be one from yesterday! ;)) and rewrite it. You don't have to change it completely, just write it like you would normally write a post. If there's not much you'd change about it, that's fine! You'll post your edited post on your blog with a little bit about PFTP and the button.

I'm using something called Mister Linky for this, and I've never used it before so I'm not 100% sure how it works. :) You just click on it and enter your name and the link to your post and I'm not sure if it'll show the other links, but maybe I'll post those separately so y'all can go read another person's post. :)
Can't wait to see what you guys come up with! :) I'm very excited because I'll be participating also. :)

♥♥♥♥♥,

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

More random pictures(:

2011-07-19T11:53:00.001-05:00

Hi there! Here are just a few more pictures for y'all. :) Have a terrific Tuesday!

Here's Prince Charming again! :)

I love this picture. :)

That picture is COMPLETELY unedited! Except for the watermark. I just want to cry I love it so much! ;) Being a photographer, those are the pictures I live for. (So you may be wondering how I got that picture to look the way it did? Funny, actually. I brought the camera from the cool house (GO A/C!) into the hot humid air and the lens got fogged up! I took several pictures before I noticed, so I can't wait to see what else I got! :) The only problem I have with this picture is that the subject is smack dab in the middle of the picture. Anybody else have ideas of how the picture could be better? :)

Same flower, same foggy-ness, but for this one I upped the exposure a bit, and of course, watermarked it. :) I like the position of this flower alot more. :)

Allison Nicole, 2.

I love how spring-y this picture is!

Hmm...I have mixed feelings for this picture. What do you think? Also, I'm sure you've all noticed that I love water droplets. :)

That's it for today! :) More tomorrow. How've you all been? I haven't checked very many blogs lately, so if something exciting has happened in your life let me know! :)

random pictures in lowercase letters

2011-07-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

'cause random is good, right? ;)

my mom found this little guy on our driveway, just as we were leaving to run errands. i did get a few pictures of him before we left. and with any of the pictures, let me know if you want to see more. :)

i'm just saying - i left this picture small because enlarged you see how *terrible* it is. :) But hey, it's an albino squirrel, by the way. :) Pretty cool! (There were actaully 2 there but the other one was a dirtier and farther away.)

this tree attacked me and hurt my finger. :p (can't use capitol letters, remember? ;)) do you think it was worth it? ha, i don't even remember which finger it was! ;D

moving on...

i had to edit this picture for a while before i got the editing right, but i ♥ how it turned out!

which edit do you like better?

well, i'm spending the evening at a friend's house so let me finish u pa few things. :) i'll post more pictures later, there's a giveaway at the frosted button ♥here♥, and i love y'all!

blessings and love,

Josie | The next big thing?

2011-07-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

While looking around on YouTube the other day, I found one of Josie's songs. I was amazed. I saw she had some originals and I spent the next half-hour looking for every single one of them. I listed a few below. Since last year (when she was 10. She's 11 now) she's been posting videos, a few other's but mostly originals. You like, seriously, MUST watch her videos!

Sunshine
Something about you
Thinking of you
The Deep End

I command you to watch them. If you already have, well *high five*. :)
I'm working on some blog designing right now, so I'll post later. :)

Blessings and love,

Giveaways @ Inspired

2011-07-14T15:59:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! I just wanted to let you know that there are two giveaways over at the Inspired Magazine blog! Both of them are for BOOKS! ;) So although I really really really really want to win, you should go enter too. :) here (There's the right link :))

Blessings and love,

New design

2011-07-13T11:13:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Check out the new design!! I had my friend Marianne from Spring Flowers Blog Design do it for me. :) I'm so excited!!! Isn't it adorable!?

That's all for now!

Blessings,

Sun flare

2011-07-11T09:40:00.000-05:00

Olivia Kaylynn, 4

blank

2011-07-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

I don't know how to start this off. As usual. I almost have to not read other people's blog, because I beat myself up for not being able to come up with a decent title, when every word in their post is amazing. Every picture, too. I haven't been a blogger lately. I've been a wish-I-would-er. A why-can't-I-er. It's a sad life, really. But I'm here to change that. I have a new design coming, and I'm hoping this blog won't be a dumping ground anymore. Yes, sometimes life stinks. It's okay to say your having a hard day, but a blog {unless otherwise stated} is not a journal.

It's 9:21pm, well past my bedtime {sorta} so I'll say goodbye for now and hope I can finish this post in the next month. ;)

In a nutshell, I'm going to be changing, and so will my blog {hopefully!}.

You guys are amazing - I love you all so much!

Blessings,
Lauren Elaine

Oh dear... | the sad face post

2011-06-12T09:25:00.000-05:00

I completely forgot that the giveaway ended! :( I'm so behind in this stuff....I think that the weekly giveaways are going to end for a while - it's just too much for right now. :(

Thanks for understanding you guys! (And I do plan on doing them again - though that might be in a while!) :(

3 sad faces so far... :( 4!

Ok, so anyways. :) (*whispers* happy face!)

My posts in the near future are going to be bad....like, bad as in short, lame, and either every day or every once in a while....

so, yeah.....

Love y'all! Oh, and we got an offer on our house the the closing is set for July 12th so soon after that I'll be in TX! wow... Like I've said before, I'm glad I'm not moving away from (most) of my bloggy friends! :) Some, like May Amelia I know in real life. ;)

bye for now,

my dear bubble baby...

2011-06-11T09:18:00.000-05:00

Skyler Joy has passed away. I don't even have a picture....*sniffle* She had such beautiferous big black eyes, and such a cute little smile - that, literally, shined - and her little nose! I'm going to miss her. :(

I'm sorry for rambling on so, I'm at a hotel and am filled to my ears in sugar and adrenaline... :D Last night my aunt french-braided my wet hair and I can't wait to see how ripple-y it is! And, or course, I'm in a hotel, and that's always exciting. ;)

I'm actually in another state (cheesehead is your hint!) for a family reunion! I just added 'Wisconsin' as my location - I'm not sure how that stuff works, but it'd be fun for travel blogging! :D

Oh - and some of you may have heard (it was a widely spread e-mail - I got it 3 times!) that blogger has taken away the 'Edit HTML' option and alot of us are very upset - so Hannah Beasly started a petition for blogger to give it back! If y'all want I can post the link...

So anyways, I'm at a hotel and am kind of off my blogging break. :)

lots of love,

Weekly Giveaway #7

2011-05-31T19:20:00.002-05:00

#4 - May Amelia won last week's giveawy! Congrats, May! Please e-mail me. ;)

Let's try this another way! :)

Sponsor: Miss Hope from Live Your Life

Prize: *2* 8x10" prints (Options *here*) - You pick the ones you want!

Mandatory entry:
-Comment with your favorite print from Hope's album
Extra entries:
-Follow Spinning Barefoot
-Follow Spinning Barefoot by e-mail
-Follow Hope's blog
-Post about the giveaway on your blog {Please leave the link!}

This giveaway closes on June 6th at midnight - good luck!! :) I may not be able to post the winner until later - sorry!

blessings and love,

break

2011-05-31T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. :) I'm going to be taking a little computer break - I'm not sure how long it's going to go, but it won't be superlong because I have those weekly giveaways to keep up. :) I'll post the new winner & giveaway in a minute but for now here are a few pictures.

Love you guys! And thank you all sooooooooooo much for following me and my sporadic ramblings! :)

Blessings and love,

a giveaway for you

2011-05-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

Anna Gray from Bella Vita is having a giveaway - 10 winners! The button's on my sidebar, too. :) So yeah....this is a really bad post, and I'm sorry, but I'll post soon. :) Be sure to enter this week's giveaway! End at midnight on the 26th!

love,

Forgive me...

2011-05-22T13:46:00.000-05:00

I do know this is my second post today, but I'm in a greamazing mood and feel like posting. ^_^

^Giveaway there

Random weird fact: the posts where I have links/giveaway buttons are never titled 'Giveaway' or whatever. It's weird...{Hence the name "random weird fact"}

So here are some more pictures! :)

Which edit (above) do you like better?

Raindrops..

more raindrops...

I love every piece of this picture. The color, the raindrops, everything. I will have to try some different edits!

Some turtles sunbathing!

An eagle in it's nest! *grr* I wish it wasn't sideways. :P

My first graphic thingy. :P If you put in on your blog please link back to me! :)

I'm editing some more so I'll have those up later. :)

Love you all! :)

Blessings,

Weekly giveaway #6

2011-05-22T13:38:00.003-05:00

*This giveaway is now closed - but check back for more giveaways at Spinning Barefoot!*

Yay - week #6!! The winner of last week's giveaway is #1 - Liz Schoonover! Congrats Liz! Please e-mail me to claim your prize! :)

Now for this week's giveaway, the wonderful sponsor is Miss Nicole from ExpressionBYnicole

The winner will be able to choose any item from her shop! And she will ship outside the US!

Mandatory entry:
- Follow Spinning Barefoot by email
Extra entries:
- Follow Nicole's blog
- Heart her Etsy shop
- Blog, Facebook, Tweet or other about the giveaway {You must leave the link!}

Annndd...for this week she is offering you 15% off your entire order if you come via the giveaway! The code is "SAVE15"

Good luck! :) And this giveaway closes on the 26th at midnight - the winner and next week's giveaway will be announced the next day!

Blessings and love,

A poet?

2011-05-19T19:24:00.002-05:00

I may not be a poet, but I am definitely adding poetry to my intrests! I wrote a little poem today and took some pictures of my inspiration! :) Let me know what you think - I don't have a name yet, so please share your ideas with me! :)

Alone, I sit in a garden;

The flowers my sole companions. The trees watch over me, and the rocks guide my feet. The patterns of the plants, will puzzle me forever.
Cannot I just sit and wonder, forever sit and wonder?

The stillness broken by rustling leaves, the small pink blossoms dancing;

Their aroma floats through the air, and calls me to come closer. The beauty of the flowers scent I will forever ponder. Cannot I just sit and ponder, forever sit and ponder?

Shadows fly across the rocks and birds above the shadows, calling one another, singing joyful ballads. The words behind their chirping I will forever wonder. Cannot I just sit and wonder, forever sit and wonder?

The sun peeks out from behind a cloud and smiles his light upon me, clothes my body in light and warmth. I will forever ponder his light and glowing warmth. So cannot I just sit and ponder, forever sit and ponder?

The flowers sway around me as wind dances with my hair, and birds fly past and sing knowing I am there. The sun shines down upon me, and the garden's filled with light, but The Maker of the garden sends the sun to rest at night. His love is so much sweeter than any flower's fragrance, his smile so much brighter than a thousand sun's light, his arms will always hold me, as I forever sit and wonder.

(Here's another edit of this picture - which do you like better?)

So...yeah. :) Let me know if it's super terrible. ;) And for some strange reason (that was a little sarcasm...I'm kinda fed up with half the pictures being sideways :P) the pictures I uploaded (of moi) are sideways! Hmm...Anywhoo, I think I have a new profile picture. ;)

(I'll post some pictures of me later :) I want to try some different edits and such)

This week's weekly giveaway ends tonight! Hurry and enter! :)

Blessings and love,

Test post and video

2011-05-18T11:07:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! It's Lauren here - I'm just trying out e-mail posting. :) I might delete this later, so if it's in your dashboards but not on my blog then that's why. ;) I'm sure some of you have heard of the song Hold Me by Jamie Grace. It's a great song isn't it!? Here's the link for those of you that haven't heard of it: http://youtu.be/ENlO-uVg8Sk

Later,
Lauren

*edit: giveaway here* :)

Choc-oat-chip cookies

2011-05-17T11:54:00.001-05:00

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions
1. PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

2. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Then eat them, of course! (And in a big family a double-batch might be necessary for them to last more than a day ;))

Pretty simple. :) These cookies are really good, too! :) There'll be some *big* changes coming for SB. Not just removing the label 'label'. *blush* You get the point.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation)
"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

That's one of my favorite verses. :)

Ta-ta for now!
Blessings and love,
Lauren

pictures

2011-05-17T09:39:00.002-05:00

Here's a ton of pictures for you all. :)

Wow - no snow now! It's been supernice the past few days! :)

I came home from youth group one night and was sooo dissapointed that I didn't have my camera because I saw the *perfect* shot of the sunset, but I took a few make-up shots when I got home - this week I am totally bringing the camera ---Let's hope there's a good sunset!

There was a superweird storm a little bit ago (like days) - I got a few good pictures of the clouds. Don't they look like mashed potatoes a little?!

I'm not quite sure what these are...but I like the picture. :)

We were in my grandparent's neighborhood looking for this hawk's nest!

And here's the hawk we saw! After he saw me he let me take a few pictures then flew away. :P

A little neighbor girl - isn't she cute sideways? ;)

My little sisters :)

I'll get some more up later! :)

Oh--- I'm going a "100 things about me" soon!

Blessings and love,

Lauren

Some of my favorite....

2011-05-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

Books! I looove reading, and my favorite kind of books are historical fiction, adventure, mystery, and mild romance - Christian, of course. ;) The book is amazing if it's all of those. ^_^ It's kind of funny because a while ago the only thing I read was Nancy Drew books. In fact, I'm still interested...but there isn't any on the self at the library that I haven't read...

So anyways, here are some of my ♥favorite♥ books!

All books by Mary Connealy (Here's a list of her books) She writes amazing historical-fiction-Christian-romance books - I ♥ them so much!

Books by Frank Peretti - Obviously if you know about him then you know this is the exact opposite of historical fiction! lol, I've been reading lots of different things lately. ;)

The Chronicals of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - Ok, who hasn't heard of these? They are awesome! I had a little trouble getting into the first book, but I got totally sucked in!

Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot - I've only read the first book in the series, but I hope I can get the other two soon! These are historical fiction and romance, of course. ;) Christian, too!

Shadow of Colossus by T.L. Higley - Some of my older readers might reckognize her name - she sponsored a giveaway at SB awhile ago! Her books are historical fiction, Christian and there was a little romance.

The 39 Clues series by various authors - Adventure, and mystery. Confession:: When I read book 10, Into the Guantlet, I cried a little. *wince* I just said that..yeah...But it's a very good book!

So there are a few of my favorite authors/books. :)

Blessings,
Lauren

Weekly giveaway #5

2011-05-13T18:57:00.002-05:00

*This giveaway is now closed - check back for more giveaways at Spinning Barefoot!*

The lucky winner or last week's giveaway is #3 - Emily! Congrats, Emily! Please e-mail me at spinningbarefoot [at] gmail [dot] com and give me the measurements of your phone and your address!

Now for this week's giveaway!
The sponsor is Miss Bekah Wall from For Such A Time As This Press! She is donating a 1 year subscription to her magazine! This giveaway will be open from today until May 19th at midnight. Sorry the 'weeks' have gotten mixed up a little. :P

How to enter:

*Mandatory entry* Leave a comment on Bekah's blog or guestbook (tell her I sent you) 1 entry

Extra entries:

Follow this blog publicly with Google Friend Connect (Or let me know if you already are!) +1
Post about this giveaway on your blog or social networking page (Facebook, Twitter, etc) +1 for each thing you do (Please leave the link!)
Put the weekly giveaway button on your sidebar (Sidebar only please!☺)

That's four total entries! (Yes, I've been doing less to simplify things. ☺)

Good luck!! :)

Blessings and love,

oh, hi

2011-05-10T21:15:00.001-05:00

I award myself for most pathetic post title ever. I'll probably come up with {*cough* or not be able to come up with} an even ~~better~~ more pathetic one sometime down the road. :P And, the worstest blogger ever. Ok, maybe not. I wasn't MIA for a year, close down my blog without letting anyone know, or slam another blogger. Maybe it's not that bad. :)

Starting on a funny note is always good. ;) *sigh* I am so cunfuzzled, discombobulated, and well....confused. :) Life is way ahead of me and won't let me catch up. :P I just need to keep pressing onward. :)

So there's this weird thing I do, and I can't help but wonder if other bloggers do the same. While I'm doing something, I write funny or really thought-provoking blog posts in my mind. I can't wait till the 23rd century where they'll probably have some kind of mind-reader thing that will transfer appointed thoughts onto your blog! :D lol I'm just kidding ;) (Although that would be pretty neat!)

My point is I'll have a long post drawn up in my mind and I forget it faster than I do when my mom asks me to load the dishwasher. ;)

But let me warn you this post is going to be a make-up for all those other things I missed - LIKE MY ONE YEAR BLOGOVERSARY. *clears throat* Yes, that was pretty bad...

Anywhoo, I'm entering this photo in this photo contest {How'd you like my random subject change? I'm normally not very good at those...I like bacon. {Getting better, see? ;)}

Oh, and by the way, the theme is green. I'm thrilled, but although this picture doesn't do the best job of portraying the awesomeness of the color, it's kind of sentimental to me. Goodness, I need to re-watermark some of these pictures.... Oh well. :)

There are some pictures I took of my family {the last one is my cousin} recently. I've got a ton of pictures to share so I'll get those up here soon! :)

I'm heading off to bed now - goodnight!

**Edit: and quickly I ask you all not to notice that I have a label called "labels". *cough* goodbye.**

Blessings and love,

Sweet Spring Giveaway #4!

2011-05-05T18:16:00.001-05:00

*Sorry, this giveaway is closed, but keep an eye out for other giveaways on Spinning Barefoot! Also, I have weekly giveaways!*

I'm suuuper sorry I messed up ~~last~~ this week's weekly giveaway! :) First off, the winner of last week's giveaway is *4, Lisa!*

The lovely sponsor of this giveaway is....

Miss Anne from A Farm Girl Ramblings!

She is donating a handmade cell phone case! Go *here* to see color options.

How to enter:

Subscribe by e-mail to Spinning Barefoot
Post about this giveaway on your blog {Please leave the link!}
Follow her blog, A Farm Girl Ramblings

This giveaway closes on May 11th at midnight.

Good luck! :)

Blessings,

Some lovely giveaways :)

2011-04-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

So, I realized the other day as for the hundredth time (Ok, it felt like forever...it was probably 3 days...) one of my siblings came into the house, a little pile of mail clutched in their hand. Obviously, I asked if there was anything fo rme. "Yup - a package!" my sister replied one day. My heart lept until she handed it to me. It had my mother's name on it. Bummer..... Anywhoo, I haven't entered many giveaways lately! And I haven't posted about one if forever, which is exactly the opposite of what it used to be. *snort* that's all that I posted about! :P

So, here are a few lovely giveaways I thought ya'll might like. Oh, and there's mine. ;)

Spring Fling giveaway @ From Under my Little Umbrella (Yes, I'm sure ya'll know about this one)

giveaway at Grace Loves the Beatles (ends today!!)

I''m hoping to enter a few more, and I'll just add them here later. :)

Blessings and love,

P.S. Ohh! Here's something I took for you all. :) Hugs!

Sweet Spring Giveaway #3!

2011-04-15T11:20:00.001-05:00

*Sorry, this giveaway is closed! But check back for more giveaways on SB! Also, I have weekly giveaways!*

I'm sure ya'll aren't complaining about another giveaway. ;) And the winnner of last week's giveaway is....

Comment #2, which is...

Congrats, May! I have your address so I'll send it to the sponsor. ;)

This giveaway's wonderful sponsor is.....

Anna Katherine from Daisies and Donuts Blog Design! {Isn't the name adorable!?}

Deluxe Donut..................{$10 value} includes:

1 removable header
1 removable background
1 blog button
1 signature
1 menu bar (with links to pages, like photography, awards, etc)
1 post divider
Change of the post title and sidebar font
1 sidebar divider

Here are some samples of Anna's designs.

How to enter:

*Mandatory* Follow Anna's main blog, Along a Road less Traveled{if you already are, let me know}
Follow Spinning Barefoot {if you already are, let me know :) }
Post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other {if possible, leave the link! :) }
Comment and tell me your favorite dessert - yummy!

This giveaway closes at midnight on April 21st. :)

Good luck!

Blessings,

Awesomeness & Winner

2011-04-14T11:23:00.001-05:00

Ok, does anybody want to scream with me?

First of all, I have 94 followers!
Second, Spinning Barefoot is going to have weekly giveaways!!!!! How completely-awesome-and-unbeleiveable is that!?

Aaaannd, because of that, I will announce the winner of last weeks's giveaway today, and tomorrow after week 2's giveaway closes, I will announce that winner along with week 3's giveaway.

The only glitch would be that I would have to switch from "Sweet Spring giveaway" to "Weekly giveaways", which wouldn't be too much of a problem. :)

So, week 3's giveaway will be the last SS giveaway, but since they've all been weekly the official weekly giveaways are going to start with 4. :)

SO, the winner of the beautiferous earrings from Samantha's shop, Emariecreations, is....

#27 - Emma Lou!

Congrats, Emma! Please leave your address in a comment (will not be published) or e-mail it to me (spinningbarefoot@gmail.com)

I hope I didn't forget anything... ;)

Blessings and love,

It's me!

2011-04-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

Hey :)

*sigh* Yes, I'm back, if you can call it that. Moderating comments isn't exactly blogging, but it's not exactly on break.

So the Sponsors thing and the Announcements are all messed up - dumb blogger. :P

I have issues....I have a ton of overdue books and I keep checking out new ones... *blushes*

I looooove the songs Sing, Sing, Sing and I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin, Hold Me Together by Royal Tailor, and Something in Your Eyes by Shonlock. I've been majorly stressed out today, because I have school testing, photo contest stuff, a design order to finish, books to read, and life along with that.

I'm not gonna dump about all my problems, 'cause I'm sure you all have problems of your own. :) But I spent last weekend at my grandparents and I got some great pics, if I do say so myself. :) I just posted a bunch of them *here*.

So when I got on the computer tonight I felt pretty bad {stressed} and after listening to a few songs, editing pictures and catching up on a few things {yes, sadness - there's more!}, I feel alot better. :)

Well, I've been a terrible blogger for the past...*cough*....month....and I'm super sorry about that. :]

So, love you all so much! And I'm so sorry for not thanking my followers in awhile -
Thank you!
You guys mean a ton to me!! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

love & hugs,

Sweet Spring Giveaway #2!

2011-04-08T09:00:00.004-05:00

*Sorry, this giveaway is closed, but keep an eye out for other giveaways on Spinning Barefoot! Also, I have weekly giveaways!*

And here's for giveaway number two! :)

The sponsor is Miss Allie from Allie Photography! The winner will get a 8x10" print of their choice from her Etsy shop or blog.

Isn't she a great photographer? I would so love to have one of her pictures hanging on my wall! :)

How to enter:

*Look around her shop or blog then come back here and let me know what your favorite print is!*
Follow her blog, Allie Photography.
Post about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, ect. *leave the link if possible, 1 entry for each thing you do*
Put a giveaway button on your sidebar.

That's 5 total entries! This giveaway is open from today till April 14th.

Good luck! :)

Blessings,

Sweet Spring Giveaway #1

2011-04-01T09:00:00.004-05:00

*Sorry, this giveaway is closed, but keep an eye out for other giveaways on Spinning Barefoot! Also, I have weekly giveaways!*

Yes, if you gathered from the name the small but noticeable hint which *might* indicate more giveaways after this one. ;)

The lovely Sponsor:

Miss Samantha from Emariecreations! {Yes, I'm sure you all recognize her name ;) }

The Prize:

This pair of earrings! Aren't they adorable?! You can look at the details *here*, if you wish.

Rules:

Miss Samantha *will* ship out of the US.
This giveaway closes at 11:59 on April 7th. All entries after that won't count. :\
I use random.org, therefore if all of your entries are in one comment, it will only be counted as 1 entry.
Please *only* leave comments entering the giveaway. If you have any questions, please e-mail me. Other comments will not be published.

How to enter:

Go to Samantha's Etsy shop, look around, then comment here with your favorite item!
Follow Samantha's blog, The Frosted Button
Follow Samantha's blog, Simple Delights
Follow Spinning Barefoot
Post about this giveaway on your blog {leave the link}
Put one of the giveaway buttons on your sidebar, or in your post. {You won't get 2 entries if you take both buttons}

Credit: most of the button above and the background in the 1st button are made with elements from the Spring Breeze kit from Shabby Princess.

So, there you go! I will announce the winners on April 29th, possibly the 30th. **BUT, if I can keep getting sponsors set up for a week then this *might* turn into a weekly giveaway thing {which would be beyond awesome, right!?}, and I would announce the winners at the start of the new giveaway.

And yes, this is a scheduled post. :)

Blessings and love,

Pictures :)

2011-03-26T22:03:00.000-05:00

I took like 10 pictures of this shot and this is the only one that was close to turning out - *ugh*! ;)

This one is actually black & white, and softened except for the leaf floating in the water. :)

*argh* I dislike pictures that don't flip, and flipped it actually is a pretty good shot. :P

Three or so mornings in a row I woke up {early enough ;)} to see beautiful sunrises, yay! :)

I love this picture, but do you think the sunlight is too bright in that one spot?

I think this one's a sunset, but I'm not completely sure. haha, what do you think? ;)

Samoas. *sigh* {I used the Orton-ish effect on this - not to far from the real color but I loved it! :) }

Another Girl Scout cookie. ;) What's your favorite kind?

Birdies are coming again :)

My littlest sister, Allison. :) I snapped a few pics of her during her bath, and not a single one turned out. :( She is 2, though. ;) Perpetual motion!

I hope you enjoyed those pictures, and I'm sorry I haven't posted since that video. :)

Blessings and love,

Error

2011-03-20T20:01:00.001-05:00

Hey gals! {and guys ;) }

Ok, so some of ya'll may have seen a strange post on my blog recently - if you haven't then just ignore this. Ya'll know about the e-mail posting thing? Well, awhile ago I had some people do guest posts, which they just e-mailed to my blog. One of the gals accidentally e-mailed my blog, thinking it was somebody else. :) Sorry about that!

Hope that clears things up. :)

Blessings and love,

stronger

2011-03-13T10:34:00.000-05:00

Stronger: of great moral power, firmness, or courage: strong under temptation.

Great song, isn't it? :) Sorry for the short post but you can look at some pictures *here*.

Blessings and love,

Poll results

2011-03-11T07:55:00.005-06:00

Are you a first-time visitor?
Yup! I like it so far! 3 (15%)
Yeah, and I'm not comin' back. 1 (5%)
Nope, I visit often! 15 (78%)

Why are you following my blog?
I'm not. 4 (20%)
Because you're funny! 4 (20%)
Because I like your pictures. 6 (30%)
Because you're my friend. 7 (35%)
Because I like to read about you. 8 (40%)
'Cause you have a cute design. 5 (25%)
'Cause your blog is encouraging. 6 (30%)
Because we have alot in common. 5 (25%)
Other {Please comment and let me know!} 0 (0%)

You just un-followed my blog: Why?
I wasn't following in the first place. 1 (6%)
Because it's boring. 1 (6%)
Because I don't like you. 2 (12%)
Because there's not enough pictures of your life. 0 (0%)
Because you post too often about nothing. 0 (0%)
'Cause you're a girl. 0 (0%)
What!? I'd never un-follow you! 14 (87%)
'Cause you don't post enough. 0 (0%)

Now, I did lose some followers over the past week, but I did *not* put this poll up for that reason. I wasn't able to change it because people had already voted, but why I put this up was so I could find out why you would un-follow my blog, not because anybody did and I was mad or anything. :]

Anywhoo, now that we've got that all straightened out, there are the poll results! :)

Now I've gotta make french toast for breakfast. ;)

Blessings,

Tips and Tricks

2011-03-08T11:43:00.001-06:00

Blogging is a learning experience. Everything is, really. But of course, everybody dreams of having one of those *huge*, popular blogs. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. ;) So here are a few stepping stones to get you there!

Take off Word Verification on comments. Really, it's just a drag {especially when you're entering giveaways!} I was overjoyed the other day when a blog didn't have word verification - I left at least 5 comments. If you don't have comment moderation on, it's really helpful. If you don't have the time to moderate them, then set up e-mail notification, so you don't always have to check your blog for comments or moderate them.

Whatever you do, don't beg for comments, or followers. Leaving the link to your blog under your name in a comment is fine, I do it all the time, but don't ask people to follow you. Telling them about events on your blog is fine, too. These tips will hopefully help you get both.

If you know you're going to be busy during a period of time, or are going on vacation and probably won't be able to post on your blog for a while, and can't find time to let your readers know, then schedule a post for a day or so before so that you don't have to worry about anything. Also there is e-mail posting which is great, and you can have people e-mail guest posts in!

If you're following 200 blogs {or so} like I was at one point, and find all of the updates overwhelming, take the time to purge through those. Don't feel bad to un-follow a few blogs - you can't read everyone's. Also, when you're following a ton of blogs, you won't notice when one blog gets shut down. Do the same thing with your labels - simplify things {for you and your readers}.

So there you go! Several tips for blogging! *ahem* Mostly ones that I've learned the hard way. ;)

I'm working on a post full of pictures - watch for it! :)

Thanks for reading, you guys are awesome! And I'd like to thank my newest followers, Hayden, Faith, Katie, Rachel, Emily, and Marieanne. I'll get your links shortly. :) Let's see who's Spinning Barefoot's 80th follower! :D

Oh, and if you have any other tips to add, feel free to share! :)

Blessings and love,

The Snowball War of 2011

2011-03-05T19:55:00.000-06:00

May Amelia is babysitting. This afternoon, we had a snowball war.

I took some poictures when I came outside, but then I thought all of the action was over. I was gonna go put the camera away, and just play with them {May Amelia, and my three sisters}

When you see this, you start snapping pictures again. This thing was probably half ice.

Unsuspecting May is helping my little sister. Ashley moves in.

YES, May jumps up in time to avoid the monstrous snowball. ;)

Is that not an *epic* shot? Oh, and yes, it did nail May Amelia.

It's adorable until you see the snowball in her hand. ;)

Now, May did get a couple of hits too, but, of course, I only got the ones of her covered in snow, or about to be hit. ;D

I'm not saying anything, but May Amelia *might* possibly be taking a {hopefully} short unannounced *ahem* blogging break. ;D

So, there's the snowball fight for you! And, I have a bowl of ice cream waiting for me, so I'm gonna leave and post the rest of the pictures later. :)

Blessings,

my summer

2011-03-05T15:52:00.001-06:00

In the garden in the front of our house is a beautiful plant.
A beautiful plant that has a pretty name.
A beautiful plant that has a pretty name that I don't know.

Here is a picture of one of the blossoms. Aren't they gorgeous?

I just stumbled opon billions of {*blushes red* mostly my pictures} from Summer 2010. I am thrilled. Honestly, I don't know what to do with them all. You'll be sick of my pictures by next week, I promise you. Well, that's if I'm able to post everyday. ;) Anywhoo, I've only watermarked one *so far*.

One day in the summer my dad told my mom he wanted some more plants in our garden. So off the rest of the family went {I must've stayed home and blogged ;) } and came home with a bunch of plants. These pink roses were one of them. You've probably see some pictures of them around here and on my photography blog, so they're nothing new. :)

My. Baby. Latte. Isn't she adorable? I'm not kidding - I'm tearing up right now. *Here* is the story of how we got her. It was written in my *ahem* earlier blogging days, so please excuse everything out of...line? ;)

During the summer I took piano lessons from my Grandma, which, if you've read my "earlier days" then you have read about those before. I'm not taking lessons anymore, so I don't know much. :)

Allison. :)

A moth on our neighbor's driveway. I got several pictures, and I was *overjoyed* when I found them. My mind is buzzing. *grin* Ill be posting more pictures of him, you can bet your blog on it. ;)

So, there's a little chunk of my summer for 'ya. :)

Blessings and love,

my love/hate relationship

2011-02-27T19:58:00.015-06:00

*sigh* I have been getting into blog designing...need I say more?

Blog designing practically spells *html*.

*shakes head* I am in love.
I adore those cute little button codes.
It's an adventure scrolling through the 'Edit HTML' tab under the 'Design' page.

I hate html.

{Or is it the tutorial I was us--trying to use that I hate?}
Maybe It's Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 that I hate.
Or, maybe it's those little electronic sticky notes that I use to paste the html codes into.

I downloaded my first-ever digital scrapbooking kit, made a background. Then a header for my tester-blog. Neither worked, and, well, the background never made it into html. Actually, the header was never html either, it was just uploaded.

Now, you're all thinking 'haha - funny. But what did Lauren do today?' Yes, I'm terrible at blogging about myself. Sometimes my blog just looks - or is - like a big mirror with a cute design.

This morning, I woke up a little after 6:45, waited till 7 then hopped in the shower. I got all gussied up {a Texan expression, I'm sure} for church. Then some of the kids weren't ready and some weren't feeling good...or both. So, we didn't go. Not a major bummer, but I was disappointed.

I spent most of the afternoon at my friend's, which was a perfect break opportunity from html. ;) I ate dinner over there, and had a fresh peanut butter cookie at home.

After that I argued with my 2-year-old sister about who's water-buffalo was faster. Good times. ^_^

I've been writing letters with some delightful young ladies, and I'm very excited to get to know them. I have 3 new penpals, basically.

*Edit: I wrote this post yesterday {Sunday}, which I have it scheduled as, but right now it's actually 5:19 PM on the 28th. Sorry about that!*

Gotta run - don't want to miss the library trip! I'm down to about 5 books, which is *terrible* for me. *yeeps*

*Edit {5:30}: The results of the poll about the drop-down menu is:

Nope, sorry. - 6 (37%)
I haven't tried... - 2 (12%)
Yup! :) - 8 (50%)

It doesn't work for me, so I was just wondering if it worked for anybody else, and I guess it does!*

Blessings,

Those missing pics...

2011-02-22T18:21:00.000-06:00

Ya'll have said I need more pictures on SB before. So, here they are. Oh, and I post more pictures on my photography blog, so you can look there. ;)

I've had other 'versions' of this picture. Mostly with different watermarks. Honestly, I thought this picture was edited. Surprise: it's not! Yes, there is a watermark, but that's it.

Is. Not. She. Darling!?! The exposure is a little high, but I loooove the leafy background!

Ginger cookies. Yummy ones, too. Well, they were pretty yummy until I put 'em in the snow... but wet, cold cookies weren't so bad. ;)

A Christmas picture in Febuary. Ok, consider this a catch-up post. Of photography. A people-picture one will be coming shortly. ;)

Ok, this looks like it could be a Valentines picture, doesn't it? Well, I thought so. :) My Grandpa took me on a little photo-shoot and I had a great time. My bare fingers, clicking away, in the cold, bare. I think it was worth it. ;)

*ahh* Ok, I don't like this picture anymore. He's a stinker. A *naughty* stinker. *grrr*

The watermark is kind of cut off, and enlarged it's not that great quality. But, I think it looks nice. :)

My mouth is watering, too. ;)

I was watermarking some pictures {using picnik, of course!} and I thought it would be cool to use this effect {the one I don't know the name of *ahem*} on a picture, centered at something {obviously}. So, I fiddled around a bit and came up with this. Upon request I could post the original. ;)

I wanted kind of a 'lone' theme for this picture. I would re-take this picture, but the cookies are all gone...in fact, I ate the last cookie - that one! Coincidental? Probably. ;)

This one isn't my favorite..

When I uploaded it to picnik I was scared. Shocked. Surprised. Disgusted. Discouraged. One last word: Exaggerating. Well, to sum it up the quality was pretty bad. I *almost* gave up. It still isn't a fave, but it's not in the junk folder. ;)

I had such a hard time getting this picture - the flash was going off which I was sure it was too bright, I was wobbling, and ready to go inside. I got 3 pictures, and this one made the 'cut'.

Note: If you are a frequent check-er of my photography blog, all of these are nothing new. Sorry about that. :)

You know right as you do something that it's pretty silly? Well, that's what just happened. Ya'll didn't mean photography pictures on SB, you mean pictures of me, my family, and I. The photography pictures can go on the photography blog, right? Well, I just finished this post, so I'll work on that. ;)

Blessings,

I am...

2011-02-21T17:49:00.002-06:00

"Oh, she's a photo-freak." Ryan, 8

I an honored to be called a "photo-freak".

That is assuming it's meant as a good thing, though. Anywhoo, I'm a photo-freak.

Mental note: I need to make a button that says "I'm a photo-freak"

As I was snapping away at the beauty *erm* thing below, my brother {Ryan}'s friend asked what I was doing. Well, obviously, "Taking pictures." I replied.
"Why?"
"Because, I like to."
"Oh, she's a photo-freak." Ryan says in a what-a-weirdo tone.

Now, I should warn you, I don't always use the whole digital feature thing. I just snap the pictures and move on. *ahem* kind of. But anyways, a lot of my pictures turn out...well, let's just say not so great. Embarrassingly blurry. Unfoucused. You get the idea. So, I'm hinting that I didn't really get ~~any~~ a lot of good pictures.

Now, at this size, it looks pretty good. I wouldn't print this picture larger to save my life. *pause* Ok, you know I would. But I would not be happy with it. ;)

If I find that any more of my "photo-freak" pictures are decent, I'll post them. ;)

Farewell - I'm off on another photoshoot.

Blessings,

The Photo-Freak, also known as..

Lucky Ducky #2!

2011-02-20T15:21:00.001-06:00

There's one thing more pathetic than a pathetically-starting post.
A pathetically titled post. Like this one, for instance. *grin*

Anywhoo, I have a dilemma. Look at the picture below and see if you can figure it out.

Those are the entries for the blog design giveaway. One was just a 'thank-you' comment from Kendra. So, without further ado, the obvious winner of a blog design from Kendra, formerly of Blizzard Blog Designs, which I am now a part of, is

*
*
*
*
*

Shelley!

Yes, dear Shelley was the only entrant. No, I'm not complaining at all. :)

So, Shelley, please leave a comment or e-mail me {get my e-mail here}.

Congrats, Shelley! :)

Blessings,

Winner!

2011-02-20T15:21:00.000-06:00

Here are the votes for the photography contest:

Kelsey - 12 - (48%)

May Amelia - 6 - (24%)
Hannah - 5 - (20%)
Bethany - 3 - (12%)
Shelley - 3 - (12%)

Congrats, Kelsey! Please e-mail me {you can get my e-mail from the bottom of the about me page} and either let me know that you'd like the design, or pass it on to the runner-up, May Amelia.

I loved all of your pictures, but next time I'm going to have a completely different subject. ;) Sugar was just too much torture.

I've been thinking of posting my outfits, although there's nothing exciting about 'em. ;)

Also, I haven't forgotten that my blog needs more pictures - I just waited until all of the giveaways and events ended. I like how some people post a bunch of pictures including ones that they're entering, so that you don't have to have 4 posts with a picture each. :P

I'm terrible at starting posts off smoothly, poetical, or nicely at all. They usually start off with something like "So," or "Ok," Can you say 'pathetic'? I certainly can. But hopefully I'll get better at that.

I'm looking for sponsors for some more giveaways - if you have something you'd like to 'donate', please pop off an e-mail to me! I'd really appreciate it. :)

Blessings,

business

2011-02-19T13:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, honestly, I was planning on starting this off as a real post. But, I'm not a liar. :)

There's a giveaway at The Frosted Button, and Faith is having a photo contest {for her 100th post}

Here's my picture:

Did I mention the theme is Nature? Oh, and it has to be an un-edited picture. I wanted to watermark this one, but I decided to make no exceptions. ;)

*sigh* I've been purging. I un-followed 20+ blogs today. Ones that aren't there anymore. Ones that I've never checked. Ones that aren't good {and I don't know why I was following in the first place..}

So, that's what I've been doing. Oh, and I finished off two books last night, so my book pile has a little gap. ;)

Has anyone seen Mandie and the Cherokee Treasure?

I've seen Mandie and the Secret Tunnel, and I *really* want to see the second one.

In fact, my mom had it reserved at the library.

*note: put 'want to' and 'had' and you should get another piece of the picture*

The reserve expired, and who knows how many other people have it reserved. Stinks, right?

On another subject, ya'll know those nifty {that's scary...two words I've never used before in the same sentence...} "Top Commenter" gadget/widgets that some people have on their blogs? Well, I have tried to get one a dozen times...Internet Explorer wouldn't let me, *so*, I found the page on my ipod, put in the info, copied the code and sent it to myself {yes, I do send my self e-mails}.If you put two and two twogether {did 'ya catch that? ;)}, I should have one up soon.

Well, I haven't had lunch yet, so I gotta run. After all, a late lunch is better than no lunch, right? {*ahem* same thing for posts ;)}

Also, I'll be posting on how to get more comments and how to get more blog traffic soon! {*no*, that was not a blunt hint that I want more comments and blog traffic!!}

Blessings,

P.S. Don't foget to vote for your favorite picture in the photography contest!

~Tutorials~

2011-02-16T13:38:00.000-06:00

How to change the colors in a picture {with picnik} - Moderate
How to make a blog button {with Paint} - Easy
How to make a signature {with Paint} - Easy

I'll be working on more simple ones, like basic blogging stuff soon. :)

Blessings,

Sunshine Award

2011-02-16T13:30:00.000-06:00

So, in my boring blondeness yesterday, I forgot to award some of *you*. *shakes head* :)

So, without further and *ahem* forgotten ado, I bestow the honor the the Sunshine award to..

Hannah from One of Ten...and Loving it! Also, Hannah just had her 2nd blogoversary! Very cool. :)
Camille from Forever Feminine This lovely young woman deserves a "Giveaway Queen" award!
Pam from A Mile in My Shoes This is my mom's blog, and she hasn't *exactly* started yet. ^_^
Lisa from a Gymnast's Dream Lisa hasn't exactly started yet either. :)

Also, Polka Dot from Life is too short not to wear red shoes and Jessica from Seven Sisters are having giveaways!

Sincerely, {i just needed something new :) }

Photo Contest Entries

2011-02-16T12:04:00.001-06:00

Here are the entries for the photography contest, which is now closed. You guys gals did an amazing job!

Kelsey from The Flip-Flop Farmgirl {above}^^^
The light pink color is beautiful - and yummy!

Hannah from One of Ten...and Loving it! {above} ^^^
Very cute, and I love the gumdrop bowl in the background! =9

May Amelia from The Beauty of Ordinary Days {above} ^^^
Ohmiword - I can taste that buttery sweetness in my mouth right now. Torture.

Shelley from Being Shelley {above} ^^^
Great picture! I love the color and the angle!

Bethany from Joyfull Girl Creations {above} ^^^
I love the "Life is Sweet" in the background! Also it fits for Valentines Day.

Seriously, I could never pick a winner, so that's why I did polls. :) Remember, the prize {you're not required to take it} is a blog design from Chicken Scratch Designs. More info *here*.

So, start voting! :)

Blessings,

Sparrow to HQ. Repeat. Sparrow to HQ.

2011-02-11T15:52:00.001-06:00

HQ, can you hear me? This is Sparrow. Over.
HQ to Sparrow. We hear you loud and clear. Over.
Sparrow to HQ. Sparrow has been awarded. Repeat, Sparrow has been awarded. Over and out.

Sorry, I needed a little fun today. :) Besides, I thought I'd better live up to my new award, from May Amelia:

OK, I'm a little disappointed. 4 days until the photography contest closes, and only 2 entries, which the stupid {sorry} linky closed, so I had to find your pictures, and *ugh* that was a nightmare, and I couldn't even find May Amelia's. *sigh* :)

Anyways, May, could you please leave the link to your picture? :] Here's Hannah's in the meantime.

Also, I've recently joined Blizzard Blog Designs, making buttons and signatures, simpler ones, mind you. :)

OK, this is just ranom stuff... :) Sorry about that.

*sigh* Today's my mom's birthday, so she's out to lunch with a friend. which, by the way, she doesn't do often. :)

So, I won't keep you bored any longer.

Blessings,

Photography Contest Picture

2011-02-07T18:14:00.004-06:00

First off, the theme is shoes... ;)

Second, of course, here's my picture. :)

And, here is where I'm entering it. I just realized how much I love that picture of my most favorite pair of shoes that I just took 10 minutes ago just for this contest. :)

I am e-mailing this post because Hannah is installing my design, and I don't want to mess anything up {which I probably am anyways - lol}, so if anything in this post is messed up, sorry, I'll try to fix it. :)

Blessings,

lowercase letters post

2011-02-07T16:14:00.005-06:00

^that's a must-see giveaway^ i don't believe in luck one milligram, but this must be my lucky day. i win a giveaway, receive a prize for a giveaway, and find a bunch of giveaways. *sigh* i'm overwhelmed, honestly. :)

*oh*, and did i mention i have some pieces from beauty blog designs coming?
yes, a full design will finally be mine.

okay, i was thinking of getting a new design, but as soon as i saw hannah's snapshots, i was in ♥. it'll be gorgeous. ;) *dreamy smile*

ok, stupid, but weird. i just got "psycomes" as a verification word....now i think a spy is coming after me.... *sigh* so, yeah. :) this is hard for me...i mean, the lack of punctuation and capitalization is one of my <.< pet peeves. did you see the face over there? it's a 'gasp-what-was-that-noise-hmmm-freaky' face. ^_^

random disorganized thoughts and things i thought you should know about:

in 88 days, the link in your browser right up there {www.simplyme-lowie.blogspot.com} will have lead to spinning barefoot. my blog used to be called *wince* simply me photography, and there was hardly a picture on there. *breathe in...and out* i'll pick my earlier posts apart later. :) and, my nicknames and lowie {trying to change it to lowi - cooler, don't you think?}
there is an extremely cool giveaway here. and here. and here. *sigh* here, too. one more - here.
i love lowercase letters. alot. :)

well, that seems to be it. :)

**edit: entering this picture in this photography contest {theme: food}. :)

*ahh* just think of a crunchy, crispy, juicy, sweet apple. oh. my. word.**

*grimace* blessings,

Spinning Barefoot

some new pictures

giveaway winner

dear boys | part 3

a little giveaway

dear boys | part 2

some new pictures

what can you do in a year?

Recipe request

music question

giveaway winners

good morning

God's Daughter's Giveaway :)

Polished Cornerstones

edit #2

one day a year.

giveaway update

~Girlz for Christ Giveaway~

new winner

Giveaway winners!!!

roses in december

a quick survey

And so the journey begins...

quickie(:

once opon a blog...

i'm in! again.

dear boys

Me and a few other things.

katkero giveaway

cutebutton giveaway

Keilantra's Kreations Giveaway

wow

a surprise for y'all!

please excuse...

pointless ramblings

True to my word...

the list

my new profile picture

A few selfies...

The Farmer's Market

Update

Nahum 1:3

I've realized...

Few-words Monday ;)

And more....

Post from the Past challenge

Wordless Wednesday

More random pictures(:

random pictures in lowercase letters

Josie | The next big thing?

Giveaways @ Inspired

New design

Sun flare

*blank*

Oh dear... | the sad face post

my dear bubble baby...

Weekly Giveaway #7

break

a giveaway for you

Forgive me...

Weekly giveaway #6

A poet?

Test post and video

Choc-oat-chip cookies

pictures

Some of my favorite....

Weekly giveaway #5

oh, hi

Sweet Spring Giveaway #4!

Some lovely giveaways :)

Sweet Spring Giveaway #3!

Awesomeness & Winner

It's me!

Sweet Spring Giveaway #2!

Sweet Spring Giveaway #1

Pictures :)

Error

stronger

Poll results

Tips and Tricks

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