Day 20 - A Picture of Somewhere You'd Love to Travel

After reading the book "Roots" by Alex Haley, it made us really want to return to our 'roots' and find our ancestors in:

Ireland! Known for it's Castles

Probably wouldn't visit THIS castle.
It looks like it is about to fall off that cliff.

And Pubs

What DOESN'T look homey about this place?
That's right.  Nothing.

And Germany!  Also known for its Castles

This is exactly the sort of castle I expect to find in a will from my rich long lost relatives.
Any day now...

And Pubs.

Ok, this is from a postcard.  But wouldn't you want to visit this place???

In a weird way, reading Roots also made us want to visit Africa as well.

And then we remember that we're afraid of Africa.

Day 19 - A picture and a letter.

We weren't a hundred percent clear on how to do this one so, instead of picking something like this:

A is for Deadpool.

We opted to take this route:

This lovely letter is from Spring 2010
and never fails to make me cry with happiness. 

It reads: There is love, even in math. :-)  <3 Snuggle Puppy

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.

I think she's as dumb as a rock but, you have to admit, she's got just about the ideal smile. 

When you grow up with someone who looks (according to other people) just like you, you find insecurities in your differences. Most people stare back and forth between our faces, trying to find a difference between us so they can tell us apart. The thing is, when they find those differences, they point them out-as if we didn't know. 'Oh, your jaws are different and you don't have the same smile...That's how I will tell you apart.' Then we get to wondering, 'Gee, if our smiles are different, does that mean that one is better than the other?' So, for all sakes and purposes, our smiles are our biggest insecurity.

I have never been a fan of my smile. In 5th grade, I decided I hated it so much that I bit the insides of my cheek during my school picture to try to fix it. Didn't work. When I'm genuinely smile, my cheeks go up instead of out and my eyes get squinty and all but disappear. 

Genuinely happy = horrible smile

See, look at that picture. I'm smiling because I'm getting a hug and my eyes just disappear. To correct this I try purposefully smile differently. It fails miserably.

EVEN WORSE

Look at that! I tried to not let the smile reach my eyes so I wouldn't be all squinty and ended up looking like I wasn't enjoying myself. Boo. I love the left half of this picture and want to burn the right half.

As for me, I have always known that I have a crooked jaw.  Every doctor, dentist, and chiropractor I have every seen has mentioned my face and how it can be "fixed"- which is basically the best way to get some serious sort of mental complex (especially when I only went in for a check-up).  When I am absolutely happy, there is no holding back THIS SMILE:

Unrestrained happiness = Effed-up & crooked smile.

The older I got, the more I realized that I really only look good from ONE side.  I can no longer stand to take pictures from the other side, because in all of them I have a messed up face.  I have my good side in all the photos from modeling- yes, all my modeling photos have been taken from one side.  It truly is *awesome* knowing that only half of you is worth looking at.  I am so used to posing myself from one side now that I even do it when I have been "enjoying" my night.

Posed to hide crooked jaw.  Couldn't even tell, could you?

Day 17 - A picture of something that has had a huge impact on your life recently.

Anyone who met Figgy before we got Frankie knows how much of a beast he was. He was cute for the first two days we owned him, as I imagine all four week old kittens must be, but after that he grew into a terror. Honestly, it's our own fault. We raised him like a puppy... Regardless. Frankie. It wasn't until we adopted a three month old kitten that Figgy, just over a year at the time, calmed the hell down. So much relief has come from the new found peace.

Don't fall for the siren song, she wants to play fetch with you but you will get cut.

Sometimes she gets so happy she bites your jaw but other times she just lays on your face.

Yet other times she demands you wear her as a scarf.

It took a week or two but once they stopped avoiding each other they became best friends.

Partners in crime is what they are. This morning, before being caught, they cut open a bag of googly eyes and strewed them across the kitchen floor. Freaks.

Day 16 - A picture of a person who inspires you.

There are, as always, obvious answers to this. We could answer that our parents inspire us, or our teachers, and   it would be true. But, in reality, the man who inspires us most is this man:

Sir Terry Pratchett. 

He is the man that brought the world this:

Discworld is carried on the back of four elephants who stand atop the Great Atuin.

Terry Pratchet has brought the world such gems as:

“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”

and...

“"I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worth while?" Death thought about it "Cats," he said eventually, "Cats are Nice”

as well as...

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it”

and then again, too...

“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.”

and one of my favorites...

“People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys. People jump out at them from behind rocks then say things like, "Oh. Sorry. I thought you were someone else."”

For more on this god amongst men, you can go here: Go here or we aren't friends anymore.

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

We often joke but this is serious. We are 100% determined to return to China and snuggle our Aaron back to America. It's about time to force some American, twin affection on him again.

Perhaps we'll even get to see Noodle the Poodle again.

Speaking of China, click here!

Day 14 - A Picture of Someone You Could Never Imagine Your Life Without

In the essence of seriousness, we have chosen three people we really cannot imagine our life without.

*FAMILY*

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!

But, how could we let the opportunity to put up hilarious photos of said Loved Ones slide by?  That's right, we can't.  Without further ado:

*MOM*

The Lady that holds the family together can't drink without her clown nose.

*DAD*

Figgy, who hates everyone, adores Dad-
to the point of biting him if Dad if he tries to push him off his lap.

*SEESTER*

This was her first time ice skating-
this photo looks posed, but rather she is trying not to fall down.

Someday, we'll get Alia to another country. To make suggestions, go here!