Every season has good things about it but summer is the best. Cut-offs, bonfires, every spare minute at the beach or in the river, watermelon and lots and lots of sunshine. I know everybody’s talking about boots and scarves right … Continue reading
Leaving at 3 am for an 8-hour drive home and a four-day weekend was 100 percent worth it…from sunrise on Thursday to sunset on Sunday. Even the getting stuck in traffic on the Grapevine part. All thanks to my very intrepid driver Sean. Hope everyone had a great Fourth.
This weekend was our church’s family retreat at a Christian campground nearby. It’s just a short drive over the hill from home but a welcome mini-getaway with zero cell phone reception and a kind staff (the directors go to our church) making meals and taking good care of us. I always enjoy this time because I love my church family and feel blessed every chance I get to spend with them.
In between meals and sessions the boys hunted for squawfish (at the Corner Store the Fish & Game will pay for each of these pests caught…which doesn’t really matter because the hunt was unsuccessful) and crawdads. Michaela and Grace shot bows and arrows. Abby played endless games of Pirates vs. Sea Monsters on the playset (she loves monsters…). Anna and her friends went fishing at the pond. Daniel came up for the church service on Sunday. There were campfires at night and beautiful worship music. Two guys in our church were baptized in the river. It was a good weekend.
Last night I saw something so beautiful I have to tell you about it. I was running on the ranch and it was dusk. All around was high, waving, golden, dead prairie grass. Ahead on the road to my right, I saw a family of deer grazing. They saw me too, and ran, crossing the road ahead of me one-two-three-four. They ran up the side of a hill on the other side of the road, and leaped over a barbed wire fence. There were several big oak trees tripping moss–one enormous tree on the very top of the hill. Behind this hill rose the crisp silhouettes of indigo blue mountains against the fading pink horizon and the icy, starless sky. And the edge of a great shining moon cresting the mountain just above the leaping deer. It was so beautiful. I knew we were having a full moon, it was full the night before, but then it was pae and weak. Tonight, as it rose through the sky, it was luminous. As I reached the gate, I could see the shadows of those four deer against the sky, watching me. God’s creation makes me worship.
Some great travel-related articles:
Israel: A Taste of Bedouin Hospitality — one of the things I really wanted to do when I was in Israel, but never had a chance, was stay with a Bedouin family. These amazing people somehow survive in the desert where no one else can. Still on my travel list.
Riding the White Pass & Yukon Railroad Through the Mountains — another item on my list.
How to Pack Two Weeks in a Carry-On — I hate checking baggage and think travel nirvana = packing the least possible amount of stuff. So this very comprehensive guide with pictures and links makes me happy.
Fly Better — Tips from GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog, are known for often being out of reach to the average person, but some of the tips in this article were helpful.
The Land of Big Groceries, Big God, and Smooth Traffic: What Surprises First-Time Visitors to America — from the opposite perspective. Some of it is funny and heartwarming, some sobering (“An Iraqi refugee interviewed by This American Life was so surprised to see a homeless woman in New York’s central park that he called 911, assuming that she must be sick, wounded, anything but homeless in America.”)
how i spent today. Monday = fun day.
If not in California, I would live in… a horse ranch in Wyoming or Montana (if I could stand the winters), Israel, Australia, or some tropical island to swim with dolphins and learn to surf. But ask me again tomorrow
My dream holiday would be to…travel the world for 5 years and probably a few after that
My current obsessions are…
Daily: my homemade coffee (both hot and iced) because i like it better than any coffee shop (score). my small ESV Bible my church gave me for morning quiet times. stealing my mom’s new kayak and taking it out on the lake.
Music: the country radio station. i kind of live in a music wasteland during the summer.
Fashion: blazers, neons
, t-shirts, leather bracelets.
If I had to be outdoors all day I would…love it
My favorite quality in a man is…humor, humility, passion for life
My favorite quality in a woman is…humor, humility, passion for life
I’m terrified of…wasting an opportunity. and moths.
My dream car is a…Jeep Wrangler or Ford F150
The beauty product of choice is…L’Oreal Lash Formula. after months of going-to-bed-with-makeup i started using it faithfully a few months ago. which is good because it’s summer and i wear no makeup 80% of the time
My friends and I like to…talk, laugh, eat, drive, dance, travel, plan our lives out
If I could go back in time for one decade it would be…the 1920’s, because i’m obsessed with The Artist right now
As a teenager I was totally into…sports and horses and writing a book and wanting to travel
I tend to splurge on…traveling and my little brothers and sisters (I bribe them so they love me even though I am gone eight months out of the year)
What made your Monday fun?
S K Y + B L U E 
