truth.

Sleepless.

Everytime I see this, I get a good laugh. Which probably isn't the best thing...you know, laughing before bed. Because that tends to keep someone (ahem, me) awake. My sleep schedule is so off...

Let it be said.

Q u o t e s

I just love quotes. I recently found (or stumbled, tee hee) a site called Stumble Upon. Oh myyyy. I am in love. If you don't know what this site is, or what it's about...I highly recommend checking it out. But beware, it may take up your whole day. I found some great quotes on there, and a lot of them really hit home for me. I will share some here and there because I'm sure I'm not the only person these quotes would mean something to.

I'm so happy tomorrow is Friday. I've been trying to think of a good infusion to whip up for my next salve. I want it to be great, so I have to think long and hard about this. I've also been thinking about incorporating other items in my shop other than just beauty products. I do have another shop (www.benbentandmoo.etsy.com) that's partial to vintage stuff and my own creative goodies - which took a back seat once ABB opened...so I'm not sure it would be smart to add them to ABB when I do have another shop for that. Shrug haha. It's just really hard to spread the word out there. I hope to gain more of a following in the coming months, not just on here, but with my shop. I see other shops and how far they've come, and I hope to achieve that one day. I'm proud to have as many sales as I've had in such a short time though. So I can't completely complain, right? :p

So my 23rd birthday is in less than a week. I'm excited but not at the same time. Me and a ton of other people will be hitting up Great America down near the Chicago area. It should be an awesome time. I haven't been there since I was a senior in hs (five years ago, eeeeek), so I've been itching to go there and hit some coasters ;) I'm an adrenaline junky, so I can't wait!

This weekend I'm going to Fairie Fest with two awesome people. They introduced me to this awesome festival last year and I just can't wait to go there again!! I will take lots and lots of pics and tell you all about it :D

This month is going to fly by, I can feel it already... I will be out of town pretty much the entire last two weeks of the month. I'll be going to Minnesota for vacation to surprise my brother (I'm pretty sure he's not going to read this, so shhhh!) and then I will be going to Crandon (possibly the last time this year, sniff sniff) over Labor Day weekend. I will, (and mark my words) WILL catch a fish this time. I don't care if I have to go out on the boat at 6 in the morning to get one. I will get one! Perhaps I will catch some in MN with my brother. I can't wait to see him. It's been almost a whole year since I seen him last. We never got along too well when he lived down here, but since he moved, we get along pretty good. I found out we have a lot in common, which is very surprising because we are 10 years apart in age. I just can't wait to see him. He can meet little Lola and I can also visit my paw on the way there. <3

Cemetery Adventures

Now I believe in a post back or two I did say that I lived across the street from a cemetery as a child...I had a very close nit group of friends that I seen everyday. We lived right next to each other, my house in the middle. We all were into mysterious things and shared the same interests with the paranormal. Perhaps it was because we lived directly (and I mean directly) across the street from a very old cemetery. That special haunted marker held a sweet spot in our hearts, mine especially. I remember sitting on the corner of our block, staring into the old cemetery for hours on end, just hoping to see something move...To see an apparition, a figure, just something.

All of our houses were old, very old. Mine was an old Dutch Colonial, built right before the 1900's. It had a lot of history. It had a past that we never got a real chance to know about. You felt different when you were in our house. You knew something else was there, but you just couldn't pinpoint what or who it was.

I loved the unknown past our house held. I loved the mysterious old cemetery across the street. I love sitting there pondering where our ghosts came from and what kind of people they were before they entered a new dimension. I loved all the different headstones in the cemetery and how far back in age they went. The more I explored, the more my heart broke. There were many infants. I couldn't imagine baring a child for 9 months for it to pass away far too soon.

The photos above (and below) aren't from the cemetery I grew up across the street from. These photo's are from a different cemetery, just a few short blocks away. This cemetery is HUGE. You could get lost very easily inside there. When you are inside, you see no end. You see no exit, you just see hills, trees and old graves. It's very beautiful and special. I had gone there over the weekend with one of my very dear and close friends I grew up right next door to (from that old cemetery across the street).

Unfortunately, it was scolding hot out, so we didn't get to spend nearly as much time there as we would have liked, but we did find some awesome graves. They were just beautiful. I loved when you first entered into the cemetery, the graves are very very old and illegible. They are small, warn and broken. But the more further you enter into the grounds, the larger and more spectacular those graves turn in to. Many were large and tall, some were statues and a good bit were old crypts (one of my favorites).

I wish I could have stayed there taking photos all day long.