And the reflections on our Oregon Adventure continue. Smith Rock State Park Welcome to the birthplace of American sport climbing — and apparently one of my greatest fears. Yes, we trekked to the top of this thing. This gives you an idea of where we started. And here’s where we ended up. Suffice it to…
Category: photos
Oregon Adventure, Part III
I thought this spot deserved a solo post. Painted Hills – John Day Fossil Beds National Monument “When you travel to the Painted Hills, you can see millions of years of history revealed in the layers of mountains of earth, one color at a time. The hills get their name from the delicately colored stratifications…
Oregon Adventure, Part IV
Here are odds and ends from our Oregon adventure. I managed to get a few runs in while we were there, including getting lost on the grounds of Reed College. Another neighborhood running photo. We went to a beautiful Japanese Garden… …and to the lovelier International Test Rose Garden. On the way back from the…
A New Adventure
“One way to make the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.” At the close of our Oregon trip, we put Tanner on a plane back to his new graduate assistant position in Texas and went home for a day. Then we packed up the car and headed to Drew’s…
Octavia
This was the most unusual cloud formation I’ve ever seen. (An “anvil” cloud, as a dear friend taught me.) I watched it billow and balloon as I made the drive to see something even more unusual. Meet Octavia. I first saw her on Friday night at the Botanical Garden during a visit with my oldest,…
Summer at the Garden
“‘Cause a little bit of summer is what the whole year is all about.” – John Mayer Trip to my favorite place with my favorite friends this weekend and just a few photos to share as a result. See the butterfly? Lovely desert exhibit going on.
Note to Self
“Note to self: No matter what, hang on to that part of you that gasps at a beautiful sunset or gets super excited about a new notebook or a freshly baked cupcake or a dog you just met on the street. Allow yourself to be regularly startled and humbled by joy.” – Nanea Hoffman, Sweatpants & Coffee Pretty sure there are…
A Good Look Around
“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” – Marc Riboud, French photographer Isn’t that the truth? I’ve been a visual and creative girl since day one, but never did I observe, absorb, and experience my surroundings the way I do now having picked up a camera. Seeing and thinking as a…
Distracted Runner
As I’ve described in earlier Distracted Runner posts, there’s a reason I’m a horribly slow runner. And it’s not just because of the way I’m built or my lack of talent (though none of that helps). Rather, it has everything to do with my attention span. Seriously, I ran five miles today and took photos…
Is that what I think it is?
Ohhhh…..Black-eyed Susans…. ….Purple Coneflowers… …I Spy cloud-gazing (I see a heart here. You?)… …streaming water fountains… …seas of fresh strawberries… …it’s starting to look a lot like SUMMER around here!!! Bring. It. On.
Always
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” – Henri Matisse
Enough
“‘Enough’ is a feast. — Buddhist proverb I just realized how long it’s been since I pulled together a gratitude list. I’ve had a lot of big, obvious things that top the list — Drew’s grad school graduation and internship offer, Tanner’s grad school acceptance, both kids living back at home for a little while, time…
Sunday Gem
“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to uncover these jewels — that’s creative living. – Elizabeth Gilbert
Garden of Glass at Night
For the first time since Christmas, I have my family together. We spent our first full evening at the Botanical Garden with Tanner’s girlfriend and my Little Sister for the Garden of Glass at Night. Before checking out the glass, however, we wandered around the Garden grounds as the sun went down. I’d somehow forgotten…
Garden of Glass
Took today off and headed to the Botanical Garden for its newest exhibit. The bulk of the pieces were in the Climatron greenhouse, which was awesome because there were times that it was tough to tell what was glass and what was real. It was all gorgeous. As was the rest of the garden, per…
Rest Day
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass I don’t know when or how this came to be, but Mondays are rest days for me. The “Sabbath” of my exercise schedule, if you will — which means no running, no biking, nothing. Normally I end up at home doing laundry or catching…
Ahhhh
Blue skies. Soft breezes. Warm sunshine. In a nutshell, today was gorgeous. Thank you, weekend. I needed this.
Little Surprises
I’m gonna be honest. Sometimes I wish I could be a fast and serious runner. The early-corral-assignment, knows-all-of-her-PRs-by-heart, badass type of runner. But the longer I do it, the more I realize that it’s just not in the cards for me. I’m slow. Running doesn’t come naturally for me. Plus, the only thing shorter than my stride…
What Was That?
So life has been weird lately. Depending upon how you look at it, I’m either entering a new phase of life or leaving an old one. My kids are building their resumes, planning careers, and I will likely have an empty house by the end of the summer. I’ve never had a childless house in…
Do-Overs!
“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.” – Bern Williams, author A work trip up north gave me a second chance at Spring…and I felt so, so lucky and hopeful. As if one spring isn’t cause enough for gratitude, I got to experience it twice this year. It…
A Few Wishes
Last week brought a work road trip and glimpses of what I’m calling a superbloom of yellow along the way. It brought reminders of how we’re supposed to care for our fellow human beings. And it brought gorgeous skies after days of rains that were seemingly without end. My wish for this next week? Bravery…
Please Continue
“My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.” — Maya Angelou I have to chuckle at some of the little messages life has gifted me…
Just in Case
“In case no one told you today: You’re beautiful. You’re loved. You’re needed. You’re alive for a reason. You’re stronger than you think. You’re going to get through this. I’m glad you’re alive. Don’t give up!” — unknown
hey there, friends 