Playing Pretend

Remember when you were little and you played Pretend? I hope you played it. I hope I'm not the only one. Surely I'm not. I mean, what kid doesn't have imagination? What kid doesn't create their own world to live in on a daily basis? Wait, what? You have to be a kid to do that?

I might need to make an appointment with someone in the medical field...

Anyway, whether you did it as a kid or if you're like me and you never quite grew out of it, playing Pretend is all kinds of fun. And the best part? It's free! I love free. It's the best price for anything next to 2 bucks.

These days when I play Pretend, I like to pretend I'm a famous photographic wonder of marvelousness. I mystify people with my genius. My photos adorn the covers of numerous largely read magazines. I am, in a word, awesome.

In reality, I'm just a girl with a camera. A camera I bought myself for my un-birthday. A camera I love. A camera I sleep with at night. Kidding, kidding! The camera has his...her...his...I don't know it's gender...own bed.

Sunday afternoon, I loaded up my genderless camera and my momma so we could head on over to my dear friend, Tienna's, house.

{Side note}... Does the phrase "head on over" make me sound completely Okie or just mildly? Is it a phrase used in any other part of the country or just around these parts? People (read: my momma, my daddy, and my BFF Jesse) like to make fun of me all the time. What about, you ask? Well, luckily I'm here to tell you. They make fun of the way I talk. (I'm pretty sure I pronounce the word talk like this: tallck, but that's neither here nor there.)

I will now educate you on what I like to call Amanda-ese

Pink = Paynk
Green = Grayn
Seat belt = Seatbayult
Deal = Dill (this is Jesse's favorite. She's always making me say Dill or no Dill.)
Help = Hayulp

There are more, but I'm sure you're becoming bored and have forgotten what I was really talking about before I became sidetracked. I'm always getting sidetracked.

We are now back to our regularly scheduled programming!

As I was saying, my genderless camera, my momma, and I headed on over to my dear friend, Tienna's, house Sunday afternoon. Tienna was having a Fourth of July gathering and she asked if I would take some pictures of her family and friends. Being all about using random people as guinea pig models for my budding Pretend photographic genius, I of course, said heck yeah! See ya there!

A couple of hours in the 100+ degree OK heat, a few bottles of water, and 300 or so pictures later I wanted to take a nap, but did I? No! I went off to my own Fourth of July shindig where I proceeded to drink 9,162 glasses of Sangria before the clouds with the cool breezes came in and dropped the temperature by 20 degrees. Yippee!

After all of that, I looked back through the 300 or so pictures and picked out the handful I was happy with, and because I'm all about sharing anything and everything, here they are for your viewing pleasure.

And remember, I'm a Pretend famous photographic genius. Ok? Just let me believe it. It helps me sleep at night.

How stinkin' cute are these socks??? I wonder if they come in my size?

This is Tienna with her nephew, CJ and her niece, Riley (I hope I spelled that correctly because we all know I said it like some backwoods Okie...)

This little cutie did NOT want to be taking pictures. At all. But I didn't let that bother me. I'm untouchable behind the lens. It's like a barrier between me and the world. Nothing can bring me down.

Where his sister seemed to hate the camera, this little cutie LOVED it!

Tienna with her husband, Tony.

I love this one.

But this is my fave. I love catching people mid laugh.

Tienna with her daughter, Charlotte. Furry kids are the best. I might not say that if I had any children of the non-furry variety, but I don't so I can say without a doubt in my mind that furry kids are the best.

What a patriotic family! It was so nice of them all to wear all of that face paint and dye their clothes and the ground. What a way to show your love for the USA!

I'm so funny, I crack myself up.

I have to go now.

I have to make a car payment for my brother. The lazy bum.

Then I have to go home and Pretend I'm an astronaut who flies lawnmowers instead of spaceships.

Pretend, folks. It'll get you through the day better than that coffee stuff. But maybe not as well as some nice, crispy bacon.