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loveliest village on the plains

A good friend from high school (who graduated from the University of Alabama) texted me this picture last week with the single caption:

"Do you know where this is?"


Of course, I do: Auburn, Alabama. One of my favorite places on earth. You know what gave it away? The orange and blue sky. Every time.

view from the top







Last weekend, while in New Hampshire, Brendan and I went hiking on a small mountain in southern New Hampshire, Pack Monadnock. It was perfect weather: mid 80's with a constant breeze, sunny and beautiful views. We conquered the feat with only one snake sighting, so I'd call it a success! Brendan was very gracious in letting me stop as often as I wanted to take pictures, but I chose to forego the option of capturing the snake on film and just screamed as loudly and shrilly as possible instead.

a week at the beach

It's been almost two weeks since I got back from Florida, but better late than never with the pictures, I suppose. The water was beautiful! Actually, it was more beautiful and pleasant than it's been in probably the last three years. We had a fantastic time!!!

All the kiddos.
The annual jumping pic! We actually had more than one successful shot this time.



Abbey's getting better, but she still has her moments where the thought of "Aunt Perryn" is too dreadful to bear.


Until we meet again, white sandy beaches and beautiful ocean waves, I will miss you.

beautiful city


If I didn't love New York City so much, I would surely move to a place like this. This is a community in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil where the community was commissioned to help beautify the neighborhood by transforming the facade of 34 houses into a colorful art project to create pride and ownership for the residents. They were given a small salary and an education during the process of turning their neighborhood into a beautiful, bright, cheery rainbow! I love it.

[Found here via Suwatch. Thanks!]

fabuloso dress-o

I don't speak Italian at all, and I only speak a teeny bit of Spanish so I'm sure the title of this post is insanely butchered, (Anyone who wants to help- Anna? LA?- feel free to leave a comment...) but the main idea stands: this dress is completely beautiful and fabulous! And something that I would have possibly stolen from the museum had I seen it in person.

Anna sent me this picture from her travels abroad in Italy this summer. She said this is from the Roberto Capucci Museum in Florence. Until I can get there one day and see it with my own eyes, I'm going to be on the hunt for about a million different color silk fabrics to make my own version...

magic garden

Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in parables so that it will become more real to us and we can grasp it in our own terms: how we see beauty, wonder, splendor, and treasures since that is what Heaven will be. [Here are a few examples: Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:44, Matthew 20:1] This is what I think heaven will look like for me:





The Magic Garden is an outdoor garden-like-house-structure with tunnels and grottos that is completely covered in mosaics. Walls, ceilings, floors- all mosaics with beautiful glass, tiles, bottles and other pieces of recycled material. Isaiah Zagar began this as an art project in a vacant lot in 1994. He completed it after 14 years of working on the installation, where it is now a beautiful work of art for residents of the neighborhood and visitors to enjoy. In 2002, when the lot was supposed to be sold to construct a parking garage, the residents of the community raised $300,000 to buy the lot and preserve the beautiful art! I'm glad they did.