outdoors
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Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, Arizona
I’ve been back from visiting Jodie (here’s her blog if you don’t know her yet) and Rob in Arizona for a few days and back in the swing of things. It was a wonderful time turning online friends into in person friends. Thank you for your hospitality and making me feel welcome! I enjoyed time with like minded people and Jodie and I were such birds of feather. And I love Arizona! I had visited twice before, once on a visit to Sedona in my late teens, and again a couple of years ago for my brother’s wedding in Scottsdale. I’ve always love cacti, so visiting the botanical gardens was…
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Sunrise, Sunrise
Anytime I take a picture of a pretty sunrise, the Norah Jones song “sunrise” comes to my mind. A couple of weekends ago, I ran 7+ miles with my friends and when we parted ways, the sun was coming up. I slowed down my car to a crawl as I headed home (just 5 min) from where we meet to take some pictures. There is something about a new day welcomed by a pretty sun and some clouds. Even better if there is a water body for some pretty reflections. I’ve been enjoying our longer runs for the past few weeks. I have decided to run the half marathon again…
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The world through my 17 year old’s eyes
Ever wondered how your children view the world? Do they see beauty where we see beauty? Do they take the time to stop and “smell the roses”? I asked my son to give me 5 pictures for this post and I was pleasantly pleased that he does what I do: he takes the time to admire the beauty around him sometimes and with the ease of having a camera because he has a phone, he sometimes immortalizes that moment with a picture. Sunset by Chili’s Sunset over the tennis courts Sunset over school The sky is on fire! Foggy Morning A bientôt! Please take a minute to subscribe to the…
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Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
With life’s recent challenges, I have had to make sure to take time for myself to recharge. Last week, I shared part of my husband’s and I day date (in Marietta, GA) and today I am sharing the first part of our little outing. We decided to hike Kennesaw Mountain since it is about 30 minutes from our house, it’s a fairly short hike and it was a beautiful cold winter day. We brought along some snacks and water as we originally planned to walk this trail with the boys. One of the local vendors of our summer farmer’s market has been holding a small table/booth at a store downtown…
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A Walk down Church St in Marietta, GA
Last weekend, my sister in law came to the house to hang out with her mom so I could get away for a longer period of time without worries. My husband and I decided to go to Kennesaw Mountain and since our boys decided they would rather play with their neighbor friends, we ended with a day date of an afternoon away. After our hike (which I will share next week), we went to Marietta which is just a few miles away. We pass under this bridge every week on our way to church and since we parked on the other side, we got to walk on it on our…
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Inflatables!
Has any one seen the Inflatable Anthem with the Holderness family? I love all of their videos and parodies. Any time I see an inflatable at Christmas time, I think of their video. Last week, I promised my 3 youngest some fun when they accompanied me to get my haircut 1 hour from the house. We ate a great lunch at Whole Foods and then did 18 holes at a fun little mini golf place. This was a great budget activity for less than $30 for the 4 of us. We had some great laughs and thankfully it wasn’t freezing cold: maybe upper 40s? The inflatables made the course a…
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Foggy Mornings
I’ve shared before how important it is for my mental well being to take the time to enjoy the little things that bring me peace and a feeling of joy. Life in the last week hasn’t been easy in our household: having elderly parents is not for the weak! One of the top things that brings me joy is the beauty of God’s creation. Morning drives to the middle school can offer some beautiful views. Last week, we had a couple foggy mornings that gave the landscape a cool vibe. Going over the bridge always offers a pretty view: seeing the steam/fog rise from the river is cool, isn’t it?…
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Fun Times on 30A and Destin
While I enjoy spending time on the beach itself, part of the charm of staying on 30A on the Florida Gulf coast is the opportunity to visit the little towns along the county highway. The shops are definitely overpriced (as is the food and everything else) but it is really picturesque and fun to look around. I always budget in an ice cream outing for us and a couple souvenirs. This time, we also had lunch at a little spot in Seaside. The crepes from this little food truck were a great treat, but it was very busy and the wait was about 30 minutes. Thankfully, the kiddos and their…
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Sunsets at the Beach 2023
We had some magnificient sunsets on the beach this year! Of course, there were a couple cloudy nights and no wondrous sight, but the last sunset sure made up for it. I realized that I had not written this post as I was finishing my last Thanksgiving beach trip post for next Thursday: it would have been strange to publish this with one sentence and no pictures! We were greeted with a beautiful sunset when we arrived at the beach the first day. We even had time to drop off our luggage in the condo before walking down to the water. My oldest took this beautiful shot of his dad…
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Watercolor on 30A, Florida
30A is a county road in South Walton County, between Destin and Panama City Beach. It is known for some of its upscale towns like Seaside, Alys Beach and Rosemary Beach. We have been staying at the Adagio condos for the past 4 years in Blue Mountain which is about 5 miles from Watercolor and Seaside. We always enjoy biking there if we rent bikes. On this particular day, we had not rented bikes yet so we drove there. We’ve always like the park in Watercolor with its waterway and fountains. Watercolor also has a pretty blue fountain that appears on my beach outfit post where I take a picture…