Winter Wonderland

To preface this I must let you know that I am part of that 10% minority that call themselves morning people. I do enjoy sleeping in and if you ask me to get up really early I won't be pleased with you. But when I wake up I am ready to go. I am probably my happiest all day, I could have a conversation that maked sense, and I don't even need coffee to make me like that. I do realize that most people wake up and are not actually awake; so I generally contain my awakeness inside until everybody else opens their sleepy eyes. Notice how I said generally.....today as I hopped out of bed, I looked out of my window and saw the beautiful white blanket of snow that covered the ground and trees. Yup, my excitement got the better of me and I called my brother at 7:30am... 

I suprisingly got a groggy and annoyed, "Hello?" 

Still consumed in my excitement, I started chattering about how he needed to get his butt out of bed and come hiking with me before all the snow melted by midmorning! I was interupted and reminded by my extremely frustrated brother that nobody had to go to school or work today so what the heck was I doing out of bed?! And than the line went silent as he hung up the phone on me. 

Since everybody seemed to be interested in staying in their warm and cozy beds; I trecked out into the silent winter wonderland on my own. It was all so perfect. The air was crisp and smelled so wonderfull. The sleepy silence was intoxicating, no children screaming or birds chirping, just the sound of my boots crunching in the snow. I was able to snap some pictures of the peace, before the sun and neighbors woke up. Enjoy.

Daddy's Girl

I love observing how people relate to each other. In all different types of relationships formats, from the cute engaged couple, the arguing siblings, the giggling best friends, to the frustrated mothers. But my favorite of all to watch are the father daughter relationships.

As I watch and listen I see the role of a father getting swept under the rug. His part in the influencing and raising of his daughter gets narrowed down to the easy task of handing her whatever her heart desires to completely denying her existence at all. Although the mother is an important part in how a girl matures and grows, the fathers role is just as significant. 

Daddy's girl. I love that title, but for different reasons than the majority of girls. For most, they are implying that they have their daddy wrapped around their entitled little finger. Ask for anything with a little pout and a touch of a whine and it gets handed to them on a silver platter. This is disastrous on so many levels. The biggest thing that I've noticed in those situations is how needy these girls tend to turn out. Instead of learning how to fight for her dreams and needs, she is learning how to be dependent on others in every aspect of her life. When I became a freshman in high school I decided that I wanted to play one of the most expensive sports around, downhill skiing. My dad encouraged me to do this, but on the one condition that I would need to get a job to pay for all the equipment. The other girls on my ski team got all the shiny new gadgets and the latest greatest ski models, while I was fighting for my spot on the team. Some see that situation as unfair or too harsh. However if my dad had handed me all that brand-new expensive equipment, smiled and said, "Have fun sweetheart!", I may have "liked" him more in that moment. In the long run though how would I have learned to fight for and accomplish my dreams? 

Something else that I see way to often is fatherless daughters. Women who grow up without a father tend to have insecurities that they must combat and work through. Now don't get me wrong, I have many friends who grew up without a dad who cared about them, and they've worked through their insecurities and thrived, but sadly this is not often the case. We females crave attention and love, and if we don't get that from the first man who has a responsibility towards us, we start to think that there must be something wrong with us and we run around looking for that affection. I am blessed to have grown up in a home where my dad tells me I'm beautiful and loved everyday. Without my dads affirmation of truth at a young age, I would not be the confident and secure person I am today.   

As much as we would like it to be so, kind words by themselves are not enough to instill confidence into somebody. When I was 12 years old my dad and I decided to go turkey hunting and for the first time ever, I was going to be the hunter. But in order to hunt I needed to learn to shoot a 12 gauge shotgun. When I pulled the trigger for the first time at shooting practice, I vowed never to shoot that gun again. It's kick back hit my shoulder and brought me to tears. For weeks after that my dad would take me out every few days to teach me how to handle the kick, the noise, and the flying shells that were being ejected. Slowly, after crying over my fears, the kick back no longer mattered when I was able to understand the fun of being a good shot and the enjoyment of the hunting experience. There are many instances like that over the years, times where I've "hated" my dad for making me do things that I was afraid of. Every time my fears threatened to pull me under he would look me in the eyes and say, "Laura Jane, would I ever put you in unnecessary danger?" With tears streaming down my face the answer was alway no. Than came the head first jump into defeating my fears. Over the years I grew more and more undaunted as I learned how to conquer my fears without the helping hand of my father. 

My dad is not perfect and I am sure there are things he could have done differently, but the kind of expectations he placed in front of me helped to mold me into the strong and confident woman that I am today. Thank you to my dad for alway being there for me and instilling in me the wisdom I need for the challenges of life. And thank you to all the other fathers out there making a positive difference in your daughter's lives.