"on the road..."

i've been gone for 16 days.

six. teen. days.

that's like half a month.

it feels so strange to be home.

and good too.

i look my kids up to my sister's in Bend, OR and we hung with her for two weeks.

for one of which reedo came and we called it a family vacation.

but first it was just the kids and i, and we flew my sis down so she could road trip with us 

how nice is SHE??

she's a saint, i tell ya....

we hit lotsa in-n-outs

a couple mcdonalds

and we stopped in san fransisco to see the golden gate bridge and to stay at a RAD hotel that my super sweet reedo booked for us!

it was so amazing.

i took a crazy amount of pictures.

so lets just start with what i like to call,

"on the road"

and then we were there.

in my sisters cute house.

the most adorable house ever invented.

blog-free

just in case you are wondering....
i am going blog free this week.
my sweet sister is here and i am just needing to put blogging out of my mind for a week.
so, for now, i am blog-free.
no posting and no reading.
do you think that is crazy?
it's not.
it's great.
you should try it.
i'll be back soon.

the good life. a guest post.

hello friends of the reed life!
i am so so so pleased to present my very first guest post by my sister, gracie!
i know you will love this too.

she is .....
i can't even describe how great she is.
she makes me want to jump up and down with love and pride and thankfulness.
the best i can do is say that she is part of me.
like my mom is part of me, she is part of me too.

 please leave her some love so she will promise to make this a regular thing...
she is a wise young lady that i, for one, would love to hear from often on the reed life!


enjoy.




happy july day.

(baby sister grace here.)

shauna noel asked me awhile ago to contribute my "two cents" on her blog.

whether it be music that inspires me.

or some of my simple thoughts.

well.

here i am.

and today my "two cents" is a song that makes my soul smile.

(and some thoughts sprinkled on top.)

it's called "good life" by onerepublic.

the melody is happy.

the lyrics are so simple.

here we are.

you.

me.

today.

we have so much.

to "give thanks" for.

that is really all that God ask of us.

to "give thanks." not to "be thankful."

if we "give thanks," then He has promised to be faithful.

to cultivate "thankful hearts" in us.

through us.

all we can do is be still. know. that He is. that we are loved by Him. choose Him.

(even when it seems absolutely IMPOSSIBLE.)

today.

may you go.

and remember all that our good God has done for you.

be happy like a fool.

and give thanks for this "good, good life."

a grouchy lady edits pictures...

i did it.

i organized and edited my photos from bend.

sigh.

one thing checked off my list.

but, you should know that ella was in her dress up princess costume all day.

that includes two trips to walmart (gag),

three to the elementary school,

and two fast food restaurants...yep two.

i didn't wear make up or do my hair...at all.

i had that funny head scarf thing on all day.

i also wore head to toe navy blue.

i have nothing against navy, it's just the head to toe part thats kinda depressing.

i was grouchy today.

so give yourself a pat on the back if you smiled a lot today, you did better than i did.

i told the kids that i was in a bad mood.

i thought it would be a good example.

you know? to model just admitting it and asking for some extra understanding?

jake just asked seven hundred and twenty eight questions about why i was in a bad mood....yep....that didn't really help much.

it may have made it just a tad worse.

but it did make me stop and try to figure out what made me grouchy...i think i may be getting sick...that's what i came up with.

my trip to bend was really so great.

i had some super special time with my sisters.

we even went to a little town CALLED sisters.

perfect.

it had antique shops and a fabric store.

plus a little market that had fountain diet coke(hard to find around there).

we each got one and then there was this little spinner at the front counter and if you spun the slot that said "free drink" you got it free...

we spun two free drinks and it was as if someone had won the lottery...

val yelled and i wooped.(i was not in a bad mood that day)

the guy behind the counter had the giantess smile and we all agreed it was gonna be one of the best memories form our trip...

those two free 99cent drinks...

sisters also had a cute little ice cream shop with cool floors...

here are things i saw in bend...

one evening val and i went for a walk by the deschutes river.

it was so perfect.  the lighting and the loveliness....

grace and i did some exploring too...

she is a goof ball.

but i finally got to photograph so real clouds...i have a lack of real clouds in california, so i loved finding these...

grace is like reedo, she doesn't shy away from the camera, but she doesn't pose either...or make weird faces (like i do).

i kinda go crazy when they are both just hangin out letting me snap away...

they love me.

we got lots of good time with grace and her boyfriend tom and that was so happy to me.

my favorite.

and then we were home.

bam.
can it really be over?

(i have tried and tried to fix the weird funky "text on the side thing" and i don't know whats happening with blogger right now...it won't let me fix it....that doesn't help my mood.... %$@#$ blogger! didn't you get the memo that i am grouchy!??)

bend

ok so here's my real deal.
i only have so many words.
i am incredibly exhausted in that area right now.
for a combination of reasons.
but I also know that I can count on you friends to work with me give me some grace for a lack of words.
so here is part one of my spring 2011 bend trip.
the minimal words version.
enjoy.
i am confident that my words will return soon(ish).

another song? {yes please!}

i am getting myself together.

i've had one whole week away from my job.

you know that place where, you have no idea where to start because it seems like more than you can ever do, so you just do a blog post?

yep.

that's me right now.

now, don't get me wrong, i am so well taken care of!

i got to visit with my sisters, hang out with a dear friend, snuggle and take walks with reedo, and then i came home to my sweet sweet mother in law who had seriously held down the fort for me in a BIG way.

not the kind of "hold down the fort" where you look around and just thank God that every one is still alive, the kind where my laundry is folded and the kids have eaten veggies all week....yah, not. too. shabby.

i am so thankful for that break!

i have (around) a bazzilion pictures to share, but i need to download them and edit them still....

so for now, i will share this music video of my amazingly talented sister gracie girl.

i got to listen to her sweet voice for a whole week and now i am listening to this over and over because i just can't get enough.

she is such a treasure.

really.

she makes my life better.

i couldn't love anyone more.

if she's not lovely, i don't know what is....

so here you go...you are welcome.

linking up with heather....of course.