**

For all of this…I am thankful.

It has been an amazing week.

Perfect, actually.

Except for when I claimed a piece of tree fell into my eye to cover the fat teardrops that wanted to fall on my dinner plate because of that whole “uncertain” feeling nervously settling in my gut.

Oh heart! Be still! There are so many things to look forward to. Spring, birthdays, flowers, conversation with friends, and soon enough long summer beach days. And let’s not forget about the new paintings to create!

Yet as I close in on the hours from now that I’ll be landing in New York, I can’t help but be sad about leaving this paradise and wish I could pause time. Or stretch it out like taffy….

At least I have photos and some amazing memories.

And there’s always more vacation to be had!

Some photos from my afternoon bike ride…

Friday love…

Sunshine
Bike riding
Exploring
Relaxation
Reading – The Glass Castle (so good)
Technology!

**
Happy Friday folks!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

p.s. Debbie, Giggles, and Daniel – we wish you were here!

yes… this is bliss.

It’s hard to believe I was playing in sunshine and riding midnight donkeys two days ago. I’m back from my trip and missing my girls something fierce.

Highlights of the 2011 trip

Hearing Georgia call me, “Auntie Tim”
Horseback riding
Nature walks
Midnight donkey riding after drinking “cowboy koolaid”, which btw = danger
Playing with a baby deer
Seeing Jenna and her bf
Driving around
Painting on the porch listening to Dixie Chicks

Oh how I love Oklahoma. And my girls there, Mary and Georgia ~ my love for you is as bright as Saturday night’s full moon, far as the mountains we could see, runs like a stampede of those wild horses, and is just oh-so-full.

I love you!

**

Horses really love sugar…and they like to tell you thanks!

a little thank you gift for letting me ride the horses!

like this doggy, Oklahoma is not so scary. it’s actually a wonderful place to visit and quite fun! 

More photos will be posted on my flickr page soon! And tomorrow I’m headed to Key West! Hooray for vacation.

Sunshine, here I come!

hope you all have a fantastic week!

xoxo

Happy Friday! I’m hanging in Oklahoma with two of the best girls in the world!!

So far this trip has been awesome!

Fresh mountain air
Hiking
Painted nails
Pretty sky
My yams (you are my sisters!)
Sunshine
And of course, lots of love

Hope you had a happy St. Patricks day and a fantastic week. More photos and such when I return! For now I will just enjoy this bliss.

Xo!

Dear friends-that-follow-this-blog or journal (since I’m not sure anyone really read this)….

You may have noticed my absence for the past week! I surely have noticed that I have not been able to write as much. I’ll give you a few guesses (wishes) as to why I’ve been away:

1. I won the lottery and went to Tahiti for the weekend!
2. I was whisked away on a romantic trip to Australia…
2. (cont.) …where I got to pet many kangaroos, save sea turtles, and swim with dolphins…….
3. A whole bunch of awesome stuff I wish I could have been doing instead of…

BEING SICK.

Yes. I was sick. And not just sick with a cold. I was actually seriously, super sick. After a very lovely trip seeing many wonderful people, I had an eventful drive to the airport.

1. I left my freaking wallet at Katie’s! Which only I would do something this ridiculously idiotic. This set me an hour behind….

2. I saw a car accident. I s*** you not, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I was driving on my merry way trying to get to the airport when suddenly, a semi lost control and ended up flying at me. I thought I was dreaming until I realized I wasn’t and quickly swerved into the median. I was two cars behind the semi and it was pretty terrifying. I stayed for a quick statement, but was rushed as I was trying to get to the airport.

3. I ended up in the ER. By the time I got to the airport, I knew I’d missed my flight due to the accident. I got to the gate and after being told for the 7th time that I should arrive “early” as to “not miss flights” I said to the attendant: “I’ve had a very bad day, please get me another flight. If you have bad news, please give it to me gently or else I might bite your head off….also, I think I’m going to be sick.” At that point, I doubled over and barfed into a garbage can. Thinking about this now, it’s all rather funny, but at the time it was very embarrassing. I ended up in the ER because I was in so much pain I could not stand straight. Sadly, they didn’t do that much for me and just gave me enough pain killers to make my flight to New York the next morning. Thankfully, AJ helped me get there or else I’d still be Iowa! Once I got home, I was sicker than I started and ended up in the hospital again with a kidney infection. Or something. They aren’t really sure, but either way they’ve given me antibiotics to blast it away.

NOT FUN…but hey! I’m on the mend! And am now able to post these lovely photos from my trip.

As I’ve mentioned, I spent a lot of my time in Iowa on the road (p.s. Kerouac rocks). Here are some bits from my trip. (and I promise, I was safe — I set the light before I got on the road so I could just point and shoot!)

Oh Iowa. How I love driving your roads Something about them clears my heads and brings me serenity unlike anything else.

Hope you all had a wonderful break!

xoxox

Last weekend we went to New Hampshire. It was was a lot of fun. We were pretty busy with the film festival, but were able to wander the town of Portsmouth.

Quaint, with an eerie charm.

**

Portsmouth, thanks for the fun memories.
And NHFF, thanks for being so welcoming!