Heard a few heavy sighs of relief today. The heat wave is over! Whoa, isn’t that a relief. Um…’scuse me…[raises hand tentatively]…but my car still registered over 90 degrees… But it cooled off enough for me to take a brief hike without passing out.  So that’s a step in the right direction for sure.  But I…

I love this. A lot.  It’s an important reminder – and one that I needed.  It sure would be nice if I could remember where the heck I got this photo so I could give credit or say thank you. (I know it was on a blog, but who knows which one.) Instead, I’ll share with…

First significant road trip of our vacation: Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior, and Munising, Michigan.  I’m convinced that Michigan is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen…lakes, waterfalls, endless landscapes…  Do not underestimate how jealous I was of those four tiny kayakers in the below photo. I’ve officially added a new item to my…

A long, lovely trip to the Upper Peninsula with my mom and my boys, leaving behind a midwest heat wave in favor of highs in the 70s and stretches of highways filled with beautiful old barns (some with good tidings of great joy), evergreens and endless blue skies. The first full day of the trip…

Of course it just wouldn’t be a vacation without viewing it through the eyes of a Hisptamatic.  The dock…Bond Falls…the Hipstamatic makes everything look even more magical.  Other magic: Munising Falls…a stop on the way to Pictured Rocks. Christmas, Michigan.  It was literally Christmas in July! (Santa Claus, Indiana, is next on my list –…

Lookie who we saw during lunch on our way to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park! Two black bears decided to chow down right outside the windows at this dive of a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. This one was opportunistic and lazy, not even bothering to stand up to eat. This bad boy, on…

“Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it.” ~Unknown I’m not gonna lie; I can’t do this. I totally lost my train of thought or the possibility of writing with any depth worthy of the above quote as I had intended. Wanna know why? My…

With the exception of my iPhone, I deliberately left my camera behind during a long hike at Castlewood today — which was weird for me. But I decided to try something new. I used today’s hike as a walking meditation. The idea was to relax, focus on nothing, but be aware of everything. As a result,…

…well, the taste factor was pretty low. But the cute factor of these animal crackers was off the charts. I totally felt like a little kid while eating these. 

Have you every seen a more bizarre or whimsical flower than this circus/sea creature/tilt-a-whirl?

Post-vacation withdrawal and a rough sort of day needs to be countered with something good.  So here are ten things that make me happy today: 1.) Another seasonal Hello Kitty  (summer + watermelon = perfect!) 2.) replays from the U.S. women’s soccer quarterfinal  (pure awesomeness!)  3.) Abundance of fresh summer fruit  (strawberries, blueberries and peaches,…

My first Cardinal game in years was spent with my dad, brother, nephew and (of course) my boys.  Courtesy of my brother and my brother’s season ticket-holding friend.  I love that photo.  And our seats were pretty sweet — near first base! Loved the players hanging on the dugout fence like a bunch of little…

Some scenes from the Windy City — one of two vacations planned for the summer. And we hit the ground running from the moment we arrived. First stop: Navy Pier and a ferris wheel ride at sunset. Omigosh, what a view.  The next day brought a trip to the Art Institute, which is always a…

Leftovers from last night’s dinner made for a perfect breakfast today. My favorite pizza place on earth is right down the street. Heaven. On. Earth. ♥ (Okay, so the kids downed these during dinner. No way were these things gonna be leftovers.) 

These cats have the life. That is all.

Lookie who we met on our hike tonight. Just a little bitty guy. And then we saw another baby with its mom! Two in one night! Lucky us! God is good. 

Weekend road trip to see one of my oldest friends brought a visit to an art and archeology museum at MU. The original point of interest was an amazing watercolor exhibit, but the museum’s collection proved to be quite a surprise. Lots of fun stuff to take in. Here are some of my iPhone faves……

My wish for this weekend: sunshine with a chance of shade.

Purple coneflowers are all over the place in our little downtown. I walked around for a bit tonight and I felt that strange little tug of gratitude at my heart. I love where I live. There’s no place quite like it.  Which reminds me. In case you are interested…my sketchbook has been digitized and you…

My first walk through the woods in more than a week. It was humid, sticky, buggy, itchy…and perfectly wonderful, perfectly beautiful.

Been icky, over-the-top sick all week.  Snotty, sneezy, achy, constant-coughy, keep-your-distance, stuck-in-bed, crybaby sick. But life never ceases to provide smiles and distractions. Like the above photo, for example. My sister sent this to me. The little guy was born outside her office. I wish I knew who is owed the photo credit, but I…

Both of these photos represent the mixed blessings of watching and loving earth’s creatures.  This young hawlet apparently fell out of a nearby nest and ended up at my neighbor’s. He was lovely, helpless, terrified. And those who admired him were helpless as well. His story came to an end according to nature’s plan, despite…

Who knew that Bread Company takeout could produce some of the best people watching ever. Seriously, it was a bit of a freak show today. The first person I saw was the woman to the right. Standing in line ahead of me, she reminded me of rock candy. Rhinestones were everywhere. Then I glanced at…