My Latest Casual Friday Morning Preperations...Or Failure Thereof.

Friday morning I woke up, exhausted. There is no way it's time to get up yet, I said to myself. Groping for my phone, I saw that it was not time to get up; it was five minutes past my second alarm. Shocked and confused, I stared at my phone. That can't be right! I then proceeded to stare at my phone and cross-reference the time to ensure I wasn't going crazy. Yes. I was indeed running late this morning. 

As I unwillingly slid out from under my mountain of warm, fuzzy blankets and fluffy pillows, I could not believe how un-rested I felt. I proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes getting dressed, doing my hair and makeup, and figuring out what jewelry to wear since my boots had gold on them and I couldn't find my gold necklace. Finally, I decided on pearls. Not perfect, but passable with my blouse, cardigan, and brown and gold boots.

Boy, did I look pale and drawn this morning. Glancing at the clock, I was dismayed to see that I was behind schedule. Oh well, I need to be at work before 7:30, so I guess I'll just grab a quick yogurt, heat up my coffee, and bolt out the door. Sighing heavily, I trudged out of my room, pausing by the bathroom to check my appearance in a different light (literally). Still horribly pale. Still unbelievably tired.

As I began to climb the stairs to grab a yogurt, I noted how dark and quiet the house was. Unusually dark. Not unusually quiet. Suddenly, something inside of me snapped.

I gasped, Poop! I'm not supposed to leave for work at 12:50 a.m.! I'm supposed to leave at 6:50 a.m.!

Needless to say, although I got about five more hours of "sleep" this morning, I was very, very tired at work. 

Tired as I was, I had enough foresight to take a selfie of my tired self at 12:45 a.m. to document the moment. 

2016 Edition of "Warning: Contains Images of the Hunted Looking...Hunted"

As the title suggests, this post is about our annual family hunting trip. In my opinion, this year was not the best year for hunting; however, that could just be because I didn't get one this year. We were still blessed with three deer this year and also had a fabulous week of quality family time in God's creation.

 Beautiful sunsets.

 One of my favorite aspects of hunting season is being able to spend so much time in God's glorious creation.

 See Pollywog? She's pretty boss with camo, even when she isn't trying to be very sneaky...

 Early morning fog: so cold and wet but so cool

 We are so camo with the plants in our hair that I bet you can't even see us in this picture. 

 Sunrise on top of the world

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 No, I don't necessarily advise wearing bright blue converse archery hunting (unless, of course, your other shoes are soaking wet and it's all you have); see the elk track though? I have big feet for a girl, and that is a big track...Unfortunately, I never saw the elk to whom this track belongs.

 Selfie while waiting for the others to get in place for our hunt.

Sometimes I wish deer would get the point of why we even go hunting...

 Sweet Pea and I put citronella bands on our persons to avoid being eaten alive by no-see-ems -- We tried to be cool about it, but may have (possibly) just ended up looking slightly goofy.

 Pollywog and her two-point buck! So proud of her!

 Mozzarella and her huge doe! 

 Washing their hands in this puddle after field-dressing Mozzarella's deer...Sometimes we're odd.

Beautiful, sweet, and yet savage hunters (hunteresses?)

Clari also got a nice doe, but it was pretty wet so I didn't get a picture on my phone...

In short, even though I didn't personally get a deer this year, it was a truly blessed year. We had a wonderful time spending time in nature with one another, chasing deer, trying not to get eaten alive by no-see-ems (gnat things), and not getting any sleep. God is good.

Wow, this took much longer than I anticipated to post, mostly due to uploading a gazillion pictures. I shan't have time to go back and proof-read. Forgive me, Grammar Nazi's, for I have (possibly) sinned.

Now, I must flee like a fly and prepare for another crazy work and school week.

Hold fast to Jesus!

Sonia