Sometimes, I have days where I want to write, but it seems that instead of forming sentences, all I do is hit the backspace key. The repetitive cycle goes on and on. Write a few words, erase three out of four, write some more, and consequently erase some more, until you're left with what you started with – a blank space.

When faced with this frustrating predicament, it seems that the only remedy is to use photographs in place of words. After all, don't they say that a picture is worth a thousand words?

(Taken in January...until I stumbled across them on my hard drive today, I'd quite forgotten about them.)

-carlotta

Neatly wrapped balls of yarn. This particular ball was previously a jumbled up mess until I finally took the time to untangle it. It's so much easier to work with now.

Sunny seventy five degree weather in late November. Yes, it's true. As I'm typing this, it's over seventy five degrees outside. I guess that's what you get for living in Oklahoma...being pretty much smack in the middle of the country, we get everyone else's leftovers. Ha.



Sparkly Christmas lights. This is one of our local art museums, decked out in twinkly colorful finery. But to tell you the truth, even though I'd love to, I can't bring myself to turn on Christmas music and drag out the jolly Santa figurines until after Thanksgiving. But this Friday, you'd better believe I'm going to be weaving strands of Christmas lights into my headboard and making paper snowflakes.

The fact that I have five hundred and eighty followers. You have no idea how much joy it gives me to see that people actually like what I write and photograph. Thanks for putting up with all my dorkiness :)



The crazy ideas Jeremiah comes up with. This is his "Tortilla Man" mask that he fashioned using none other than a tortilla and a knife. Ever since he was a baby, he's been coming up with the most hilarious, but extremely creative, things.



Quesadillas. The buttery, flakey, melted, cheesy triangles of goodness are the epitome of comfort food. No matter what's ailing me, they never fail to cheer me up. And they're so simple, too. I just slather two tortillas with soft butter, slice a few pieces of colby cheese, and fry them in a buttered non-stick pan over medium heat. Delicious.

Shopping. I know, that sounds totally materialistic, but it's true. I love flipping through racks filled with colorful clothing and finding amazing deals. My favorite stores are the moment are Target, Delia's, and H&M. I just wish the latter two were closer...I'm just going to have to deal with shopping online. And don't get me started on the amazing store that is Etsy. I could spend hours on there.
Speaking of Etsy, I've been thinking of opening a shop there, selling some of my photographs. What do you think? Would you be interested? Let me know! :)



Crackling, falling leaves. Even though they are a bit of a nuisance to rake up, I love them.



Having my sweet cat, Patches, curl up on my couch in my room and sleep for hours, only waking up to purr when I pet her. I love that cat.
(Please ignore the purple and white checkered sheet. Embarrassingly, it's still on my couch from when a friend slept over a week ago. I still haven't gotten around to taking off the sheet yet...)

My wonderful friends. I seriously have the best friends a girl could ask for. I'm not one of those people that has a ton of friends...I only have a few really, really, really close ones. You guys know who you are...I love y'all :)



Brownies with a swirly design. I think I'm going to do this to all the brownies I make now. Before placing the pan in the oven, I made swirls in the batter. I love it.
I just wrote about swirly brownies. I really need to get a life.

The new iPod Touch. While I don't have one, I'm planning on purchasing one soon. I've got to hand it to Apple...they have amazing designers. All their products are so sleek, gorgeous, and have wonderful features. It's my dream to have to have a silver MacBook Pro for my next computer. Swoon.



Fields dotted with horses and separated with wooden fences. Enough said.

What are some of your favorite things? I'd love to know!

-carlotta

While wandering around town a few days ago), I stumbled across - or rather my parents pointed it out - this candle room in a chapel. The crooked way they were all standing intrigued me...perfectly imperfect. 

You know how much I love bokeh...I couldn't resist getting this shot.

Our visit to Germany is going fabulously. 

I adore the freedom I have here...no one gives me a second glance if I'm wandering about town alone. Not to mention, everything is so close. It probably takes about 5 minutes to walk from my grandparent's house to the middle of the town. 

There's this fabulous ice cream shop here that I'm obsessed with. I think the attraction began in 2007, and it hasn't lessened since.
This store ice cream amazing. Every thing (including the cones) is all hand made in the store, with fresh, natural ingredients. When strawberries are in season, their strawberry ice cream is unbelievable. And I don't really even like strawberry ice cream! But my favorite - by far - is their chocolate ice cream. Mmm. I wish ice cream that good was available in the States. Seriously. Plus? It's only €.70 for a cone. That would be about 90 cents in America. Good ice cream, for barely anything? That's what I call a deal.

My German is slowly coming back, but now that I want to be more grammatically correct, it makes it harder. I'm probably too much of a perfectionist...but at least people can understand me. It still frustrates me, though. Even though German isn't new to me (I've been able to speak it since I was three or so), I don't speak it often in America, as everyone speaks English. It always takes awhile for everything to "resurface" in my mind...I know what I want to say, but I can't always make it come out right. I don't remember it being this hard last time we were here...but I know it'll get better the longer we're here. I still have another 3 1/2 weeks to improve :)

Jeremiah's birthday was wonderful - thank you all for your sweet notes on his birthday post yesterday! He loved the attention. Among his presents was a new hat he'd been wanting...I stole it - see above photo. What do you think? I'm thinking of getting my own...even if it is a men's hat. Oh well.

Note: I'm not trying to be vain by posting photos of me. I admit, I've posted more in the past few days that I have in a long time, but I really only have good intentions :)

I gave Jeremiah The Encyclopedia of Immaturity. It's just what he needs to give him even more crazy ideas:) But really, from what he's said of the book, it's a riot. He also now has a Blogger profile (with the picture I took of him a few days ago as his profile photo!)...so if you see a familiar face following/commenting on your blog, yes, it is my brother.

And now? I have a stack of homework to do a foot high - yes, classes don't stop even while I'm in Germany - so I'm going to conclude this post.

Also, don't forget to enter in my giveaway! It ends today at noon (CST).

Have a wonderful day! What do you have planned?

-carlotta

Where did the time go? Can it really be that my favorite (and only!) brother is ten today? It seemed like yesterday that I sat on the couch with my grandma late at night while my mom and dad were at the birthing center. I remember the huge thunderstorm that raged outside. I remember my parents finally coming home, with a tiny bundle in their arms. My brother! I was finally a big sister...and was overjoyed.

I remember his "sausage fingers" (My brother and I always laugh over that...his fingers really looked like little sausages ;)). I remember the time he scribbled all over the wall early one morning while everyone was still asleep. I remember how he loved to climb above the kitchen sink and sit on the window ledge (don't worry, it was completely safe...). I remember his made-up sign language...his sign for "deer" was making both his fingers into a peace sign and wiggling them behind his head.

I have so many more stories...he was - and still is - quite the character.

And this is what happens when I try to take a picture with him...

And now? He's ten. He's lived a decade. In three years he'll be a teenager. In just six years he can drive. In another ten years he'll be twenty. That's kind of scary. 

No comment. I did receive his permission to post this, though :)


Jeremiah, thanks for being such a wonderful brother. I know I can get super annoying at times (That's just the job of a big sister! Kidding. Kind of. ;)), but I always have so much fun with you. We've had so many good memories together...I can't even begin to list them.

Happy birthday, Jeremiah. I love you.

Oh, I have a special request. Would all of y'all leave a little note for him in the comment section for his birthday? I'm going to show Jeremiah this post at the end of the day, and I know it would make it him so happy to see everyone's well wishes. A million thanks!

-carlotta

PS Don't forget to enter in my giveaway, if you haven't done so already! You have until tomorrow (9/13) at noon.