a little letter

summery sunflowers = the perfect gift.

i love this one of ms. janet & mom giggling like little kids.

isn't she lovely? chloe has stunning hair.

ice cream times.

just missing bob.

typical.

dear vaneerden girls-

thanks so much for hanging out with all of us this past week/weekend! so sorry that anna couldn't come. i know that we will see each other again soon. it was so much fun reliving old stories of maggots, axes, trucks, japan, wells, slip 'n slides, lougers, & ponds!

have a safe trip back to mt. airy & then home to pennsylvania.

we've all missed you.

much love,

g.

purple

grace & the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad grammar

man, i'm no good at remembering to spell check or reread my posts. friends & loved ones, please forgive my often atrocious grammar!

other thoughts for the day:

- this article & these pictures made me sick with excitement. i sure hope k & i have a chance to explore the hills.

- i must admit i have been a little more excited about seeing italy & france, but recently, i am getting so excited about touring england. look at this photo. i hope we also get to see the countryside here too.

-i finally caught up on my POD {picture-of-the-day} project on flickr

-i need to start thinking through what i want to PACK {k & i will be flying across the ocean at this time next week}

- i want to get better about writing letters {thanks andrew reckard for your response. & for this reminder to not "worry about stupid money". . .but rather, "'do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.' (phil. 4:6)"

- the internet is rather slow today

{eiffel tower photos- various sources}

a saturday

i don't think that three photos were necessary, but lunch was divine today.

rather than wake up early & rush to yoga, i decided to sleep in an hour later & have a lazy morning around the house. i had my qt in bed & enjoyed fully resting & relaxing. after my yummy breakfast {homemade granola, fresh raspberries, & plain yogurt} mom & i walked to the farmer's market. it was as hot as india in july, but we had so much fun picking through a wide selection of beans, potatoes, cantaloupe, kale, etc. after the time there, we went to take care of the appleby's kittehs & their flowers.

lunch back home followed. as you can see from the photos, we were in love with it. cantaloupe, berries, salami, cheese, & ms. beth's favorite salad {what more could we have asked for!}.

mom & i are just really in love with life right now in general. i could not ask for more. we both agreed that we should never get too busy to forget the little things in life & wherever we must always "be all there."

i'm so happy to have had this saturday at home before leaving NEXT WEEK!

on the agenda for the rest of the day-

*pool time

*kittehs

*letter writing

*babysitting

*cleaning

all is good.

life's plain, common work

"the best things in life are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. then do no grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."

-robert louis stevenson

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

loving the new lens especially for garden shots. this little bee and all of his friends are obsessed with mom's vitex.

in other news, dad once played tennis with john isner, you know, the recent winner of the longest game in tennis history! isner was only 18 then but dad knew early on he was talented {dad beat him in the fist set, but isner went on to beat him in the next two}.

i'm now anxiously waiting for a letter from unc about deferring enrollment. . . when i get back home in august i will have a long list of things to plan out for the next year, but it is all so exciting.

my new baby came today

okay, that sounds bizarre. . . but. . . my new camera lens came in this afternoon!

it is tiny but a delight. i am so excited to play around with it more this summer in EUROPE. k & i still have an overwhelmingly long list of things to get to this week.

i love these questions like - "should we go from milan to venice or milan to florence first?" how incredible!

p.s. do not watch the talented mr. ripley. k & i did & now we regret it. beautiful people & beautiful itlay do not always guarantee a good film. summer movie time with k is fantastic, but we have wasted our precious time on dozens of truly miserable movies. when in rome & shutter island are still waiting to be viewed sometime before we jet off.

also it is certain: grace will not be able to eat while abroad this summer. & ryanair is totally sketchy, but we're going anyway. they try to convince you to buy air insurance a thousand times before purchasing tickets!

in other news, these articles & pictures will rock your world, esp. yours sarah edwards.

hello summer

you know it is summer when your attention span is worse than a two year old's. . . so much to think about/plan/etc. & so much to avoid thinking about/planning/etc!

*j'aime

*absolument

also:

*i want to bake something fancy

*see angkor watt in person

* & paint a picture that somewhat resembles this

hope you've had a happy monday!

{all photos from my weekend with the reddicks}

the american watercolor society

art & yoga = the two things i have been missing the most these days. . . i thankfully had the chance to invest in both today. . .

i started the day well with 8:30 yoga, then a shower, & a visit to the mooresville AWS show avec ms. quillen, & lunch at the daily grind. . .

the works above were some of my faves {sorry for the poor image quality}. more info here.

i needed this. i miss making art more than i can say & it is one of the things that most excites me about this whole gap year business.

a little sunshine

meet ruthie. this was her yesterday during hair-time with grace & annabel. while g was getting her hair braided in every direction by a, ruthie decided she could have some fun too. she decorated herself with every headband in sight.

love everything about this pic. she's so hilarious. i love the posture, the face, the heavy diaper, etc.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

i am watching the reddicks all weekend starting today. . . it shall be an adventure, but one i look forward to. we plan on making art, hanging out by the pool, reading mr. popper's penguins, walking to the farmers market, & cooking random foodstuffz.

wish me luck!

{photo from march, lyrics from hillsong}

days like these

+ my jam of the day {no surprise n'est-ce pas?}

+my second jam of the day {still don't know why they would want to leave cape cod . . . i hear it's amazing}

+ my third jam of the day {once again, no surprise here}

+ i had a several really fantastic moments babysitting the reddicks today. i'm not going to lie, most days the thought of one day being a mother really freaks me out, but today i had a great vision of my future {this is far far away i assure you!}. . . as i had ruthie on my hip snuggling under my chin, i was also watering the garden, & talking about basil with annabel, and then. . . i realized that is all i really want out of being a mom one day. i'll wear bohemian tops, have my hair in braids, and work in the garden with little darlings all day long. it was all too perfect. later, we all worked together to make "fluffy, puffy, chocolatey" cookies as annabel liked to call them.

+ this summer has been a jumble of babysitting, working at the beehive, more babysitting, planning for the future, staying up wayy too late {example: snuggling with kelsey & maria last night at m's place until long after midnight}, riding on the bus to charlotte, rushed meals, & distractions, but everything is pleasant, & i am so thankful for the summer & all this glorious warm weather.

+ i'm working on my proposal for unc still. . . i don't know how long a letter they want. . . mine is already three pages. . . i'm going into great detail about all that i want to do next year, & that's a lot folks!

+ i wonder where this is

+ note to self: read this before you go

+ why not take a train in n. america?

+ breakdancing & yoga {i knew it!} also, rollerblades & yoga {?} k & i laughed about bringing some rollerblades with us to paris. . . now wouldn't that be amazing?

+this popped up as my "places to see" picture on my igoogle homepage today

+ a new favorite engagement photo shoot

+ i'm entirely fascinated with this country & this sweet article on happiness

+ one last thing to make you smile {if you haven't noticed, i kinda love the intelligent travel blog by nat. geo}

photo from the beach trip to topsail

june, are you really halfway gone already?

*this song = nothing but love. it has been stuck in my head all week.

*cherries are the greatest things i have ever put in my mouth

*my empty calendar for the months of august, september, october, november, & december is both frightening & exciting {lynn & aunt b were laughing @ my ridiculously busy calendar for the rest of june. i have back to back appointments, jobs, etc. until k & i leave. . . it's all for a good reason though!}

*dad loves dublin more than his own children

* my allergies decided to strike a few months late this year. the night before last, i got only about an hour of sleep thanks to my swollen throat & runny nose. thankfully, i got a good nights sleep & i am starting to feel better.

*i finally finished this amazing book on the bus ride home from work today.

*sarah is in africa by now. . .

{photo from ck/ck in rome}

more pics of baby griff & his big sis

europe in soft light

kelsey these are for you!

get excited. . . there is a lot to see.

{sources: various flickr faves & the internets}