how it all turns out

This could not have come at a better time!!!

violated

Has something ever happened to you in your life that completely made you feel so vulnerable??

I've seen a lot and been through a lot in my twenty-eight short years but nothing has made me feel so violated than the one small incident that happened yesterday.

In short, Mark was hanging out with some (so-called) "buddies". Some things went down between them and they stole Mark's cash, his day old new cell phone and the most important thing, his keys. His keys with my car keys, house keys, etc. on it.

I've never felt so paranoid, so afraid. I'll take the loss on the cash and the phone. I'm glad that Mark is okay (even after a trip to the hospital only to find out that one of the guys had put something - read: roofie or drug of some kind - in his drink). But I'll tell you what I'm not okay with - someone having full access to my car, to my house and to all of my possessions. Talk about a sense of fear, vulnerability and stress.

Mark is nice to anyone and everyone he meets, I honestly think he's too nice to people most days but he insists that "they just need a hand", or "they just need someone to talk to", etc. but this time around, he got dealt a bad hand of no-good people and took advantage of him, of us.

So hopefully Monday night I'll eventually get to sleep when the maintenance guy will actually be allowed to make my apartment safe because apparently being cheap and not wanting to pay your worker for overtime is more important than my safety. Until then, you will find me at home looking for a new place to live.

Moral of the story: Be careful who you hang out with, never take a drink from a stranger and leave before it gets worse. I never thought I would be writing such post as this stage (and age) in my life.

Summer Pics!

Lately, I feel like every time I start a new blog it's "Sorry I've been away" or "I've been busy" or "I know it's been awhile" but really, I am sorry that I've been away and I really have been busy and boy, do I know that it's been awhile since my last blog...but, sometimes I feel like I don't have anything blog worthy to say, but today, I'll just show you...

I spent a week here at Sr. High Camp! I don't have any pics of me from the actual camp because I was the one behind the camera this time :)

I've been learning how to be a really great fish mom. We added a couple, lost a couple and now we only have Kiki, Maui, Flash, Jeff, and Wiggles. They are pretty entertaining to say the least.

I've been crazy busy with the garden at work. Lots of time and days spent in the scorching sun but it's looking really good (and this pic only shows half of it).

Visited the Tipp City Antique Show, bought an all maple double dresser for $50 and saw these two favorite friends of mine and scored some soap and a FREE $10 gift card to Living Simply Soap!!

Marked "Seeing Dave Matthews Band in concert" off my bucket list. AWESOME!

And I completed my first 5K as an adult in 45:13 coming in 69th place in my age bracket and 919 overall out of 1,053 and average 15:31/mile. I seriously only wanted to finish but I beat all of my previous times! I am sooooo PROUD of myself. I even beat Jared, the subway guy, who came in behind me!

Since I am a girl who loves photos (obviously - see above), and capturing those unforgettable moments, I want to tell you all about Shutterfly's Long Live Summer Contest!

All you need to do is log onto Shutterfly's Long Live Facebook Photo Contest page during July 9 through August 12 and participate in the multi-week summer themed photo sweepstakes and be eligible to win instant prizes. 

Here is the skinny on this awesome (and fun) contest!

You could win a trip for four to The Bahamas and a professional photo shoot so you’ll remember your vacation forever. All you need to do is upload your favorite photo and caption based on the theme of the week. Get a gift from Shutterfly just for entering! You can enter at any point during the 5-week sweepstakes period.

PHOTO THEMES

• Week 1(7/9): Americana

• Week 2 (7/16): Great Outdoors

• Week 3 (7/23): Water Fun

• Week 4 (7/30): Sports & Activities

• Week 5 (8/6): Parties & Celebrations

PRIZES

• Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!

• Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)

• Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly and a copy of the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.

• Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot

So what do you have to lose...go ahead and show Shutterfly what your friends, family and YOU are doing this summer!!!

Shutterfly Sweepstakes - Official Rules

Thanks for allowing me to show you what I've been up to, now tell me what you have been up to this summer...