shiny

The rocks in Canyonlands sparkle.
They sparkle.
It's no where near as beautiful as the sparkle on the water outside my cottage, but still.
It's like someone sprinkled magic fairy dust all over the ground.

(ps...speaking of sparkling, I think one of the stupidest parts of Twilight was that the vampire's skin sparkled in the sun.  You know, instead of them bursting into flame.  After being fully indoctrinated on vampire lore in the days of Buffy, I just laughed at how ridiculous this was.  I mean, imagine Spike sparkling? Or Angel? Oh, boy. At least the Salvatore brothers follow the rules properly.  They just need that special ring to go out into the sunlight.)

glorious dog

It was the best hot dog I've ever eaten in my entire life.
And the bun of perfection that went with it.
And 4 different (there were about 15 to choose from) mustards.
I dream about those 15 mustard flavors sometimes and curse myself for not buying some.

I ate this hot dog in Leavenworth, WA.
Just realized that I didn't really talk about the day I spent in Leavenworth.
It's was like going to the Germany Pavilion of Epcot.

I must publish this now and stop staring at that glorious dog.
It's making me ridiculously hungry.

for the love of travel

I've been home for a month now.
About 5 weeks.
And after 3 months of traveling and exploring, I am missing it.

I keep looking back at my photos of my adventures.
So many great memories.
So many wonderful moments to treasure.

I blame my parents.
Travel agents.
Lovers of travel.
They are always planning trips.

I don't have any plane tickets waiting to be used or big plans on the horizon. 
But there is always the promise of the next adventure right around the corner.

It would be outstanding if  it included one or more of the following:

a sunset hike to Delicate
Princess Castles
going thrifting with The Bro
laughing hysterically on the Tower of Terror
a burger eaten in the warm sunshine at Red Mill Burgers
iflying
watching the stars come out at the Windows
singing along in the boat in Splash Mountain

sea of humanity

We had just walked into the Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon after spending the morning at Animal Kingdom.  The moment we walked through the ticket booth and under that train station, the parade over took us.  It was jam-packed, as it always is on Main Street during the parades.

Knowing that we were going to see the night time parade, we tried to fight the crowd and head in.  But for just a minute, we had to stop.  And I snapped these photos of the munchkins.
Their little faces.  Being on Pop-Pop and Daddy's shoulders to see over the sea of humanity.  Their dazed and "it's nap time, but I'm not taking a nap today" face.
It's like a kid-right-of-passage to view things from a loved ones's shoulders.  And there is something so sweet and innocent about these photos.  They kill me.

salty air

It's nice to know that our family's love of the ocean/beach/sand will be carried on with these two.

We only had about 45 minutes here in December.

In the background, way in the distance, you can see the now retired space shuttle assembly building.

My grandma used to be able to see the shuttle go up from her backyard.

Gotta admit it makes me sad that that whole program is gone.

Anyway, we scooted over to the beach near her house the day we went to visit her.

These two munchkins didn't want to leave even though it was in the 50's and super windy.

Then again, neither did any of the rest of us.

That's right, dear ones...love that ocean.

And promise me that you'll take your dear old auntie when she has a hankering for the salty air.

The glue one

He can't say the blend "Bl-uh" or "Pl-uh."
That is one of my favorite things about him.
That means that he would tell me,
"No, my coat is glue (blue)"
or
"Will you clay (play)Wii with me?"
or
"I want the gluuuuberry (blueberry) lollypop"

He's smart as a whip, this one.
Spells like a first grader and he's only in 4 yr old pre-school.
He has an addiction to Wii.
Bowling especially.
He love hugs.
He's intensely inquisitive.
Watches everything around him.
He has the cutest giggle when he sees something funny.

Oh, my goodness I love this kid and his 3 siblings and parents.
And I miss them so much I think I can feel it in my bones sometimes.


Found this gem while I was going through the photos from these past few months.  I realized I haven't really posted about so much of my life during that time. Mostly because I had extremely limited computer time.  Also, I got so far behind that it felt overwhelmingly daunting to try and catch up.
But you know what, I don't care if it's out of the time line.  There are stories in these photos and I'm just going to share then anyway.  OCD timeline, be cursed.

So, this is Gavin.
In all his glory.
And I'm still so over the moon thankful that I got to spend 3 weeks with his family.

Sunday review

Made a new outfit out of old clothes in my closet. After not having most of my clothes for 3 months it feels like my wardrobe has doubled overnight.

Heard from the Lord in amazing ways at my church this morning. It's good to be back.

Went to see "The Artist." Yes,
all the hype is true. It really is that fantastic. I fell in love with Peppy's hats and 1930's hair.

Ate normal meals. First time since Wednesday. Goodbye nasty virus.

Got to sit and chat with camp friends about the upcoming summer. First time in a long time.

Had a great reflection time, journaling and processing. My head always feels less crazy and jumbled when I can get the words out.

Listened to Dario Marianelli's beautiful compositions from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack as I went to sleep and marveled over the delicate beauty of the piano and the violin.

Goodnight, Sunday.
You've been quite lovely.

Cottage Girl

Eee-gads, I got an iphone

I've had this little devil for about 2 weeks now.
And yes, it's just the wonder that I thought it would be.
And more.

I know.  I know.  I'm about 7 years behind the rest of the computer savy world.
My own little protected bubble of obliviousness.
I like it here.
It's cozy.
And denial is sold like chocolate sodas at Whit's End.

Moving on...
I'm sure you've noticed my strange postings the last few days.
They've been completely from my phone, which has been wonderful because actual computer time has been quite limited.  (thank you, dear desktop that is still giving me lots of headaches...)
It's been a life saver, and I can see it becoming quite the time waster/life interrupter, if I'm not careful.

But for now, I'm l-o-v-i-n-g it.
And I joined Instagram the second I turned it on.
Come follow me (@cottage_girl) and say hi!
We can be photo friends.

***I found this shirt in the depths of my parents linen closet (which I cleaned and organized while I was living at their house because I'm OCD).  It's legit vintage from England.  My aunt and uncle brought it over about 25 years ago.  Still in the packaging.  Score.  

Blah

My great big welcome back to the Cottage last night was about as bad as it can get.

Sick, sick, sick.

Been in bed all day.

Hoping to return to the land of food eaters and vertical living tomorrow.

Miss you already

One thing I am desperately going to miss at the end of this 3 months is my morning swims.

Morning swims with the old folks especially.

Empty lanes.

Water aerobics music blasting in the corner.

Locker rooms full of 60 year olds talking about how many Facebook friends they have and what their newest ailment is.

All at the amazing indoor pool 5 minutes from my parents house.

I had to snap a picture of it as I left for the last time today.

I'm thinking it may be my favorite escape on future days off.

With him

A few more.  This time of the boy himself.  And the scenery too, of course.  I like to squeeze him in to show the immensity of the surroundings. 

Canyonlands.  Please excuse the dust on my lens.  It was kinda windy up here.  We were literally standing on the very edge of a huge cliff looking out over the canyons.  Notice he is taking a photo with one camera while another is slung over his left hip. Because one camera is never enough in our family. 

Arches.  You can pick him out by his mustard yellow coat.  So tiny in that big archway.  This place was incredible.  Absolutely awe-inspiring. 

All hipster.  Headed to Nancy.  Two cameras again.  Always two cameras.  And please note that back drop.  Um, wow. 

Canyonlands.  With his sister.  On that cliff edge again.  We were joking that our sister would have peed her pants and ran away the moment she happened upon this cliff.  She doesn't do heights.  We, on the other hand, sat there for a while with our feet hanging off the side tossing rocks over.  It was ridiculously humbling to be so small there. 
*note to self.  get rid of those old ugly yoga pants, please.

My favorite.  He had been longing (and mentioning about 5,000 times) how much he wanted to climb.  He's big into rock climbing right now.  So anytime he could scramble up a rock or two, he did.  And I, of course, took that opportunity to capture the moment on "film."   

This spot was icy cold.  It's funny because when my mom saw this photos, she was saying that when they were there several years ago it was 98 degrees outside and they about melted and had to run from the sun.  We actually ran to the sunshine just so we could feel our fingers again. 


Yes, I still have more photos.
Also, these are mostly SOOC.
 I bumped the contrast a bit on one of them, but other than that they are 100% the way God made it. 
Except for that darn dirt on my lens.

Because I've been thinking about Utah all week

Sundance starts Thursday.
The Bro is working major overtime prepping everything for the festival. 
All I can think about is how much I miss him.
Him and how much fun the Festival is with him. 
I'm going through Festival withdrawl this week.

So here are some photos to take the edge off....

More to come...
In the mean time,
Utah, I miss you and that kid I adore that's working at the Festival headquarters right now.
And selfishly, can I ask that all the movies be mediocre this year so I won't miss out on much?
Please?

No excuse

I have no excuse for not posting.

I've been busy, but not so busy I can't squeeze in a sentence or two or even a photo.

Oops.

Bad Cottage Girl

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to "Tron Legacy" on my parents new Roku.

See...real busy.

Nobody...is ever gonna bring me down

I've returned yet again.

I sang lots of showtunes in the car.

I think roadtrips require Broadway sing-a-longs.

Don't you?

Is there anything better than belting out "Defying Gravity" while you are sitting in rush hour traffic?

Well, of course there are better things, I suppose, but would anything else calm your need to break all the traffic laws and just drive on the shoulder. 

Speed by all those annoying people who chose to drive on the same exact road that you are at the same exact time. 

The nerve of them....

But singing...
"Masquerade,
Paper faces on parade,
Masquerade."

Yes, that feels much better.

Thankfully, all those people can't hear my silly singing voice.

They can, however, see my face as I really get into the words of the songs.

See it because we've now been driving next to each other at a 10 mph crawl for the last 20 miles.


Yes, these are the joys of showtunes in the car during rush hour traffic.

souvenirs

The kids got to pick out a toy at one of the parks we went to.  My nephew got a stuffed dolphin from Sea World (his favorite park.  He loves sea animals).  My niece chose these from Disney World (her favorite park because she got to meet Tinkerbell).  How sweet.

I'm not much of a souvenir girl anymore.  My take-homes are my photos.  I just need to be better about printing them out and enjoying them in front of me.  That a goal for this year.  Printing out photos in various forms to enjoy them.  Then I can have gems like this one sitting around to make me smile when they catch my eye.  

Pool and notes

I've been thinking about our perfect Florida weather this week while I've been in the cold, cold land of long winters.  We had the weather I would ask for if I was placing an order at a drive-thru.  The warm sunshine.  The slightly cool breeze at night.  The almost-hot-enough-to-make-you-sweat, but not really too hot.  I think it will be the temperature in Heaven.  But then again, I love it hot, so it could be 90 degrees and I'd be perfectly happy.

We had a little pool at the house my parents rented for the week.  To say the kids loved it would be a gross understatement.  But I guess we all kinda loved it.  There's something that makes you feel almost devilish, swimming in the middle of the winter months.  Well, I guess that's true for those of us that have cold winter days to endure for 5 months of the year.  We used that pool quite a bit even with our long days at the parks.

On another note:  I'm finishing up Legend currently.  It's a slow start, but an interesting story.  Don't know if it will make the favorite list, but it's been a fun read.

Second note:  I missed Vampire Diaries last night and am cursing the ridiculous CW for not putting their shows online the day after they air.  Who waits a week to show an audience their show?  Who?!

Final note:  I'm beginning the grieving process about not going to Sundance this year.  I think it's finally hit me.  Oh, I'm going to miss it and miss spending that fun week with my brother!

Crooked little chimneys

The crooked chimneys.
They kill me.
Kill me.
The whimsicalness of them.
The way they look old and weathered.
How they seemed to lean in toward you like they were trying to let you in on their secrets.


I have so many photos to share from HP World.  Okay, not so many, but quite a few.  But I just can't stand to edit anymore without Photoshop.  They deserve the best.  So, I shall wait.

And I still haven't really worked out how to word what seeing it was like, so the words shall have to wait as well.  Until then, I'll just keep staring at those crooked little chimneys.  Staring and happily sighing each and every time.

I've packed my bags for the 4th time.  Heading out to the frozen tundra to the abode of my sister and her munchkins.  A long, long drive, but worth it.  Definitely worth it.

I'll be adding the 5th state (places I've stayed at least one night or more) to my sabbatical list.  And I'm now entering the last 30 days of my 3 month adventure.  Can't even believe it.  How has it gone by so fast? 

I'll pop in when I can (read: when my sister lets me borrow her laptop).  Here's to long road trips with Harry Potter #7 (for the 27th time), Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler sermons on the Zune. 

ps...I love this black and white version almost more than the color. 

pss...I still miss Photoshop.  So very much.  So...very...much.

beckon it to return

(taken by The Bro. Please note the snow capped mountains in the archway. So beautious.)

When I went to Canyonlands and Arches, we did Canyonlands the first day. And, I kid you not, I had an early onset of Alzheimer's. We woke up the 2nd morning in our hotel room in Moab. We had done Canyonlands the morning/early afternoon before, ending the day in Arches at Arches at Turret Arch and the Windows at sunset. I could not for the life of me remember Canyonlands. Not a single thing. It was freaky.

Sometimes I think that when I spend too much time behind my camera, I don't truly enjoy the view in front of me. It is only remembered in those photos I take. I don't take time to breathe in the air or really look around me a soak in the view.

Thankfully, now, I have vivid picture in my head of Canyonlands. I can picture the plateau we drove on with the canyons on either side. I can picture this arch, Mesa Arch, and smell the cold, clean breeze that was there that day. I can see the visitor center with my introduction to the pit toilets (fancy porta-potties, if there is such a thing) which are the only restrooms in the parks. I can see those amazing, larger than life, deep, rust colored rocks on my right side as we drove up to the Canyon. I can picture sitting on the rock ledge with my feet hanging over ledge (1,000's of feet to the bottom of the canyon). I can see my brother looking excitedly out the car window saying "I want to climb that so bad!" about every .25 miles. I can feel the excitement in seeing something new and completely unlike anything I had ever seen before.

It was a great reminder to put down the camera every once in a while and drink in the world around me. Live in it before I try to remember it. Have a memory with these photos other than just snapping away, trying to feverishly capture everything permanently before I forget it. Create those mind stamps that will stick me forever and come back to my mind the moment I beckon them to return. The sights, smells, feel of a moment that can only be recorded because the Lord chose to give us memories. Remember.

"A memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either. It is a strange thing, after all, to be able to return to a moment, when it can hardly be said to have any reality at all, even in its passing. A moment is such a slight thing, I mean, that its abiding is a most gracious reprieve. "

-Marilynne Robinson Gilead

What I'm up to tonight....

"I used only the good notes."

Christmas isn't complete without a parade of Christmas movies to watch. This one is an absolute favorite, especially if I can fast forward through Cameron Diaz's storyline. I got a weakness for Kate Winselt's perfomances. She's a top 5 favorite.

I've also checked off: Little Women, It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story. Up next: Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th Street(new version) and Elf.

What are some of your favorites?