Country, from her cowboy boots to her down home roots

She's country, from the songs she plays to the prayers she prays

When you're lost and you've run out of road

Find what I already know

In the end close is all there is

But you won't find this

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Simple things in life:

• Having faith in the future. Not everyone has it. I'm optimistic; my glass is half full.

No one does it like you

But I tried so hard

Oh, this is the start of something good

Don't you agree?

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Simple things in life:

• A victorious shopping trip. Nothing like it. If shopping were a sport, I'd be an All-Star.

I wanna sleep on the hard ground

In the comfort of your arms

On a pillow of blue bonnets

In a blanket made of stars

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Simple things in life:

• Edy's Strawberry Fruit Bars. Seriously, they're amazing (and healthy!).

I'm a winner at a losing game.

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Simple things in life:

• There's always a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm just feeling funky this week, stressed out and bummed out. I'm ready for it to be over. It's summer, it's warm, and I have so many things to be thankful for. I just need to snap out of it somehow.
• Chocolate chip banana muffins (from scratch). Well, we'll see if they're any good (they're baking now).

They call me her

They call me Jane

That's not my name

They call me quiet

But I'm a riot

Mmm...salsa! I made this a few weeks ago, and again last night. I decided that it was photo-worthy, so here we are. It's obviously simple to make, but who takes pictures while they're...cooking, no ... dicing? Well, I do. It's like a combination of all my favorite blogs: Dave's cooking photos, Brooke's colors, Annie Eats' food, and Stephanie's lifestyle photos. I am always attempting to be "smart, pretty, and (inevitably) awkward," haha. Ole!

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Simple things in life:

• I can make my own salsa, and eat it too, duh! :o)

I will be your guardian when all is crumbling

I'll steady your hand

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Simple things in life:

• I made two food dishes from SCRATCH today. I wasn't even bored. I'm a regular Betty Crocker.

Summer nights

Everybody's feelin' sexy

Holler if you're ready for some summer nights

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Simple things in life:

• I just got a new pair of big, beautiful, brown boots. I'm wearing them right now to "break them in." Ha, we all know that's a joke; I just wanted to wear them! :o)

Don't be shy

I want you to come closer

So what you gonna do?

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Simple things in life:

• Today, I got to tour the newly remodeled penthouse and 12th floor at work. The first person we talked to was the CEO. When his phone rang over on a nearby chair, he told us that he had no idea where the tropical tones were coming from, haha. Good times. Cierra proceeded to ask him what he does if he forgets his security badge. Apparently, he gets a temporary one, just like everyone else. Seriously?! Everyone knows you. You wouldn't believe the views from that place even if I had a camera up there.

525,600 minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

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Simple things in life:

• Laughing so hard you cry a little. I totally did that on the phone earlier.

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

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So, I was pulling weeds out of my garden today when I realized that I have about three "simple things in life" moments. Simple things that I see that make me smile or think or are just interesting to me. Read them if you want to, or you can just skip over them. I'll add them in if I can remember them all day. Dorky, I know.

I have a few since I've been thinking about this all day:

1. I love the fact that there's a blog called "smart, pretty, & awkward." Brilliant!
2. How is it that spiderwebs can withstand rain/water, wind, and who knows what else, but the moment you touch them, they stick to you and are totally destroyed. No joke, I saw a 10-12 inch spiderweb "bridge." It was impressive. I didn't take a picture of it (shocking, I know). There were a ton of layers to it.
3. I just got a cord that allows me to play my iPod through my sweet stereo with subwoofers (boom boom pow!). For some reason, I thought that if I went to Radio Shack, they would laugh at me for requesting such a specialized item. They were totally sweet and didn't even give me a weird look.
4. iTunes has a genius playlist?! You just choose one song, and then it selects songs that go well with it to play for your musical delight. Fabulous!

Well I'm a paint my picture

Paint myself in blue, red, black, and gray

All of the beautiful colors are very, very meaningful