World Turtle Day

My cousin Sara brought to my attention that today is World Turtle Day.  How could I have gone so long without knowing this?!  Here is what I found out about World Turtle Day on wickipedia (which, as we all know, is the most accurate source of information in the world!):

The purpose of World Turtle Day, May 23, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.^[1][2][3]

Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles or wearing green summer dresses, to saving turtles caught on highways, to research activities. Turtle Day lesson plans and craft projects encourage teaching about turtles in classrooms.

When Sara wished me a happy World Turtle Day on Facebook, I responded by saying:

That is SO exciting. Now I have to figure out what I need to do to celebrate. I feel like I should take the day off. And do everything slow like a turtle would do. Or hide inside my shell and read a book. Or soak in the sun (I would only do this as a turtle though, because I don't really like the sun). Actually, I had a turtle related blog post that I have had on the back burner...I should post it today!

As promised, here is my turtle post, blog style!  I began collecting turtle figurines in high school.  I don't know what it is about them that is so cute, but I enjoy them.  My obsession has turned into quite a collection

 37 turtles on this shelf in my bathroom!  At some point in time I decided that I should start collecting turtles from around the world, to make my collection more meaningful.  So let me introduce you to some of my turtles.  To the left, hanging on the necklace is my turtle from Hawaii.  The wooden one on the far left top shelf is from Guatemala (I have quite a few from Guatemala but I think this is the first one I got).  The one in the middle of the top shelf with the hat on is from Macedonia.  And the one on the end of the top shelf is from the Bahamas.  The mirror is from Thailand.  All of my turtles used to fit on that shelf, but the collection started growing, so they've moved other places.

 These four also reside in the bathroom.  The one on the left I received from a family member's visit to my hometown of Covington, GA.  The two in the middle are also from Guatemala.  The one on the right was from a member of my small group in Texas.  I think I was actually supposed to grow something in it but I just use it to hold hair stuff.

 Turtle even decorate the walls.  This turtle, that hangs above the toilet, is from St. Augustine, FL.

 I have these four turtle in my bedroom.  The one on top of the speaker is from Australia.  The one in the middle holds my earrings.  The candle holder was from a friend.  And I think the one on the right is from Arizona (I've started to lose track of all the places people bring me turtles from).

This guy, Tyler, was a present from a boyfriend when I was in high school.  I had the biggest box under his tree that Christmas, which is step-sister didn't like!  He sat on my bed all through college and was often used as a pillow.  When I would move home every summer, Tyler was buckled into the front seat beside me. :)  We stopped mentioning the fact that he came from my ex-boyfriend because it wasn't a great break up and I didn't want Tyler to keep hearing about where he came from!

And last, my turtle shirt.  You can't really see it in this picture, but it was the best I could find.  It says "I like turtles" on it.  Plus, I just love this picture of Dad, Daynah, and I.

Happy World Turtle Day, everyone!