| a weekly capturing the contentment in everyday life |
| pretty |
Texas skies
I've been going on and on about the beauty of summertime in the Northeast. And it's true. Summertime is not particularly pretty in Texas. About mid-July the sun sort of picks up an offense against us and glares it's high beams day and night. If you happen to have Texan facebook friends, scroll through a few of their recent photos and you'll see exactly what I mean. We meet friends for dinner at some hip place and, naturally, want to record the moment. We rummage around for about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to angle the camera so that the sun isn't obliterating the image of our faces. In the end, we just smile and make the best of it, squinting into the camera like we're studying the surface of the sun. Which, in fact, we are.
I've been going on and on about the beauty of summertime in the Northeast. And it's true. Summertime is not particularly pretty in Texas. About mid-July the sun sort of picks up an offense against us and glares it's high beams day and night. If you happen to have Texan facebook friends, scroll through a few of their recent photos and you'll see exactly what I mean. We meet friends for dinner at some hip place and, naturally, want to record the moment. We rummage around for about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to angle the camera so that the sun isn't obliterating the image of our faces. In the end, we just smile and make the best of it, squinting into the camera like we're studying the surface of the sun. Which, in fact, we are.
To be fair, June was quite lovely. For that I'm thankful. This moment of the gorgeous puffy white clouds is a great example. I risked my life to take the photo, driving up the expressway but it was just one of those moments I wanted to notice my new homeland and be grateful.
| happy |
carpooling to work on a summer morning
It's the first morning after returning from vacation and our vehicle just quit working (thankfully that happened AFTER we finished our 3,500 mile drive). And we had to go to work and share one vehicle. Don't we look happy?
Truth is, I'm trying to enjoy these moments of having Alex and Kendra home for the summer. It'll be Alex's last summer home before he gets married to the beautiful Rebekah. So, actually, in spite of the goofy faces, we are all actually quite happy. (Ignore the giant box labelled Fragile for now. Maybe I'll show you the contents in an upcoming post.)
| fun(ny) |
my first karaoke experience
Somehow I've managed to make it 44 years in this world without ever entering a karaoke room. Mind you, we've held our own private parties with some sort of electronic contraption when the kids were little. And there was one fantastic story of Brian bringing down the house dedicating a song to me on a Caribbean cruise ship.
Saturday night I was invited to join this fabulous group of women celebrating the dear Eva's upcoming marriage. I spent half the time sitting in a corner laughing (and wondering what the heck they were singing since I missed about a decade of popular music when all we did was watch Barney all day long.
I managed to belt out a few tunes, though. And, man, it was fun.
| real |
Jay Walker Studio street art comes to Austin
I met Jay at a Laity Lodge retreat years ago, but since he lives and works in Philadelphia I've never been able to see any of his work in real life. A fun surprise, then, when he posted he'd make a quick stop in town to leave his mark on Austin's street art. Alex and I stopped by on our way home from work and decided to have a bit of interactive fun. (That is colored tape, not paint!)
If you live in Austin, you can find this sweet photo opp on the corner of E. 6th and Brushy.
You can see the real reason Jay came to Texas by following @jaywalkerstudio and @laitylodge on Instagram (tag #seeingthroughitall).
Have you captured any contentment this week?
I'd love to hear about it!
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