R ~ Ray

Steve, my brother, passed away 1 year ago today. It seems like it was just a few months ago.

I remember the day clearly. I talked to Steve that morning about how he was feeling and what they thought was wrong with him. The call about about 10 minutes. He had to go because they were about to run a test on him. He told me to call him back when I got home and we could talk longer. We ended the call with "ok, talk to you later". About 45 minutes later he passed away. Sudden and unexpected.

When the nurse called me, she was vague...but not. You know when people are trying to tell you something without actually telling you? That's what she was doing. I think he'd passed away already when she called and she just didn't want to give me that news prior to being at the hospital. Since she hadn't actually said he had passed, there was this ounce of hope in me that he'd be ok when we got there. I saw my sister in the lobby and she already knew he was gone and told me. So painful.

When we left we went to get his car from the parking lot. Holding his keys was sad. Arriving at his house, his doggy had not seen him in a few days and the sound of his car pulling up made him think my brother was home. But then we walked in....not Steve. Can you imagine that poor dog wondering and continually waiting for Steve to come home? Heartbreaking.

I think about Steve every day. You just never know when will be the last time you talk to someone. I can't wait for September to be over.

S ~ Spent

T ~ Tape

This is Japanese masking tape called washi tape. I have a small collection :)

U ~ Untied

Happy Friday the 13th!

V ~ Volkswagen

Months ago I had seen an old rusted out Volkswagen bus parked in my neighborhood. I remember thinking that the VW hood ornament was pretty cool looking due to all the rust (had to see it to understand). When I started this project I knew I'd go back to where I saw it and take a picture. To my disappointment, it was gone. Probably in VW heaven. On the way home I saw a VW bug and it was the complete opposite of the bus. It's been completely restored and looks spectacular. The paint has to be fresh...soo shiney! The interior is spotless and it's white! Whoever did the restore on it did a great job. Since I didn't get my rusty shot, I went for a beauty shot!

W ~ Wet

These might look like limes, but they are oranges. The majority of the fruit on our tree has yet to turn orange....kinda strange!

X ~ eXcel

Yes, it's lame but I struggled with the letter X.

Y ~ Yellowed

Z ~ Zucchini Muffins

Here we go - alphabet project 2013!

I'm going backwards just to change things up.

Here we have zucchini muffins. Chocolate zucchini muffins to be exact! I was pretty excited to try these since zucchini muffins/bread is typically a healthier option. Unfortunately, these tasted healthy. You know what I mean....sometimes healthy stuff just doesn't cut it in the flavor department and these fell into that category. Kinda rubbery texture and the flavor is...blah. I got the recipe from a blog and I've sorta decided to stop using recipes I find on random blogs via web searches. It's been my experience that if you go to sites like allrecpies.com or epicuious.com that have a rating system, you have a pretty good chance of finding something that will be worth your time to make. People don't mince words when leaving reviews ~ you'll know if it sucks.

I think this is one of those songs you either love or don't.

It's weird because it's not something I would normally think I'd like, but I really like it. Something about sad songs. This is the original demo tape that Ryan Bingham recorded. I don't think it has ever been re-recorded.




Until I'm one with you
Until I'm one with you
My heart shall not pass through
It'll only be forsaken

Until I'm one with you
Our world is torn in two
Until I'm one with you
Our love will be mistaken

Until I'm one with you
My death they will pursue
Until I'm one with you
My life will be degraded

Until I'm one with you