I love.

I love a lot of things. But right now, I really love a couple things in particular. First, I love being outside. I'm house-sitting for one of my managers this week. She's a single, older lady who has a nice-sized house and a small, quaint backyard. Yes, I just used the word 'quaint.' Whatever. Anyway. Her backyard is really cute. She has a bunch of plants and trees and shade and a little patch of grass. And she has 5 turtles that I love. I feed them every day, watch them walk around and they pee without slowing down. I've decided that if I ever have a pet it would be a turtle. I've never been fond of animals, but I have always loved reptiles. I wouldn't own a snake because snake owners are weirdos and I think lizards are more fun to catch and play with than own. But I think turtles would be fun. They don't make noise, the don't shed hair, they're not creepy, they don't lick you. They're the perfect companion! Although you can't walk them. Aleigha has tried. Anyway, so I'm sitting out here on the patio doing my homework, and it's the perfect temperature outside. I LOVE the desert this time of year. It's 88 degrees and awesome. I LOVE autumn/fall. It is perfect. I can't wait til it drops right around 80-85 during the day. AHH it's my favorite. I want to go camping. I want to go on a hike. I want to drive around with my windows down and blare country music. I want to go have a campfire by Lake Mead. I haven't done much of any of that since being in Vegas, which is sad, but I LOVE BEING OUTSIDE.

Second thing I have been loving very recently: privacy. I don't get much privacy these days. I'm either at work, at home with a roommate or two, or I'm at my aunt and uncle's house with their 3 little kids. Don't get me wrong, I love being around people I care about and I am totally okay with that, but sometimes I just want to be alone for a little while. So house-sitting has been great for that. I love me some alone time. And I take advantage of it when I have it. Like today, I haven't worn makeup or a bra all day. I feel like a champ. The other day I drove up to Mount Charleston by myself, just because I could and, as stated above, I love being outside. I especially love the forest. Everything about it makes me happy; it's one of my favorite places to be in the world. So I drove up by myself, found a place to park, walked around the forest for a little bit (in the rain, which was awesome), and then headed down before it started hailing and flooding. But it was a perfect drive. I'm moving into my aunt's house next week just for a couple months until I move back to Tucson, and those kids are on my like white on rice, so I won't get much privacy. But I'm okay with it, I love their family.

Another thing I love lately is my new car. It's not new new, it's an '05, but it's definitely the newest car I've ever owned. I've really learned to appreciate things like this. This is the 7th car I've driven in the almost 7 years I've had my license. Most of my other cars were a piece of junk, including my 4runner I bought last March. It was a money pit. It was frustrating and stressful, it didn't have AC, got 13 miles to the gallon (on a good day), and I worried every time I got in whether it would start or not. I've broken down in the middle of the road way too many times, and I wanted to feel like I WASN'T going to die in my next car. I'd been looking at cars online for a couple months, and then when I finally had some extra money I went with a coworker (who is like an uncle to me) and looked at a couple. And I fell in love with this Mazda3. It's awesome. It's stick shift, gets 26-30 mpg, has AC, doesn't sound like a dump truck when I turn it on, and I can drive more than 20 miles without it getting tired. I love it. And because of my previous car situations and whatnot, I've developed a new appreciation for it. I've worked hard for it, I think I deserve it, and it's something that I want to last me a long time. So I'm excited about it. And I love it. Yay!