This giveaway is now closed.

France is one of my favorite countries. When I visited it last year, I fell in love with the richness of the culture and the beauty of the countryside. (now that I have German and Latin under my belt, something tells me that learning French should be my next challenge... ;))

To celebrate everything that France is, I'm giving away a bonjour necklace from Piano Bench Designs. This would be so perfect with a loose striped tee and jean shorts...or with a sundress and boots...or with anything, really. I'm jealous, y'all.

Want to enter?

mandatory entry: 

Comment on this post with your answer to this question: Florals or stripes? 

Though I adore both, I'm going to have to go with stripes. Because I love them that much. 

(one entry)

extra entries: 

 + follow this blog via Google Friend Connect (i.e., that little follower's gadget in the sidebar)

+ follow me on twitter

+ tweet about the giveaway (please include @pastorsgirl so I can track your tweet)
+ blog about the giveaway – be sure to leave the link in a comment!

(each with one entry...please leave one comment per entry)

The giveaway will end on Sunday, July 10th, at 9:59pm – any entries submitted after then will not be counted – and the winner will be announced the following week.

Have fun and good luck!

-carlotta

I've now reached a point where blogging is ingrained in the rhythm of my life. It's settled in a spot that's just right -- neither an obsession nor passive afterthought; neither a struggle nor fight. What used to be a source of stress has now become a source of relaxation -- there's something about stringing words together with images that I love. I've eased into a comforting schedule, and when I begin pressing the keys on my computer to form sentences, it's a time that allows me to look back at the goodness that is life.

July has taken the place of June. A month into summer, I've slipped into the laziness of summer days. Even though the heat is brutally oppressing at times -- I'm talking 110 degrees, y'all -- it's a small price to pay for this perfect time of good music (Mumford & Sons' album Sigh No More is permanently on repeat), being with dear friends at the pool, iced coffee, redecorating rooms, and outfits involving vintage lace (my favorite).

headband: vintage lace / necklace: the shine project / bracelets: miscellaneous / tshirt, skirt, oxfords: target

A little side note on my necklace: sent to me by Ashley, it reads "shine". Ashley has started something called "The Shine Project", which was born to inspire people to "go out of their comfort zone andto bring light to those who need hope". You can learn more about it here; it's such a wonderful venture that I'd encourage you to take part in.

It's the fourth of July. Maybe it's because my family is rather new to this land called America -- heck, my parents didn't move to the states until six months before I was born -- but we've never been big celebrators when it comes to holidays. I must confess I'm envious of those who have all their family within a fifty mile radius; my relatives are scattered across the globe, in Chile, Germany, as well as various states in the US.
However, the little we do for each holiday makes me perfectly complacent. A little grilling, some cold lemonade, sleeping in, and I'm content.

As Erma Bombeck so poignantly says: ‎"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." Oh yes.

How was your Independence Day?

Happy Fourth, y'all!

-carlotta

We've just been to the pool -- my damp, unruly hair and smudged makeup testify to the fact. Swimming in the dark is one of my favorite things. The underwater lights cast warped shadows on the walls and the water, full of waves from splashing, gently slapped against the sides of the pool. A summer can't go by without a dip or two in the water while the stars twinkle overhead and crickets chirp.

(don't you just love hair mussed by traveling? sigh.)

After a total of thirteen hours spend driving in the car, I'm home. There's nothing sweeter than pulling into the driveway amid happy squeals after spending nearly two weeks away.
With the six of us being cramped in either a tent or hotel room nearly the whole time, the house seemed so wonderfully large and spacious. But with that wonderfully large and spacious feeling was also a tinge of melancholy.
While yes, everyone has their own private space again, there would be no more giggling under a tent made of bed sheets while MeMe and Lilly are supposed to be sleeping. No more crowding around the lamp in the tent, arranged in a way so one could obtain a sliver of light to read by. No more complaining about having to sleep on the hard ground, but secretly loving it. Because home is wherever I'm with my family.

In our time away, the backyard had grown unruly. Weeds defiantly poked up amid the grass and the bushes grew shoots. But past the yard desperately in need of taming grew wildflowers. Vibrant blossoms in hues of lavender and saffron stood among the vegetable garden; their presence forgave the rest of the surroundings.

Today was my father's birthday. I confess spending my special day cooped up in a car wouldn't be my ideal choice, but I admire him for his ability to be happy simply because he was with family. Of course we couldn't let his day go by without something -- hence the powdered sugar doughnut cake with ice cream. We worked with what we had, okay? ;)

I'm so blessed to have him in my life -- no matter what I've been going though, he's always been there and supported me.

Happy birthday, Dad. I love you!

So our trip is over. It was perfect in every way and the small sacrifices -- ahem, bugs, dirt, bugs, dirt, dirt -- I had to make were more than worth it. As I unpack the jumble that is my suitcase, I unpack memories as well. Like Lilly losing her first tooth (see last scene in video below). Or fleeing from wildfires. Or moments at the lake, the wind rushing all around us.

(to learn more about "the shadow of the cross", go here)

It's good to be home.

-carlotta

Sometimes, things don't go according to plan. No matter how carefully scheduled one's itinerary is, it seems that God always has something different in mind. Case in point: I had planned to post this last night, but Blogger crashed, deleting nearly everything I'd done. Then wildfires broke out five miles from us (one of which has grown to over ninety thousand acres since its start three days ago), forcing us to rethink our journey.

 Smoke billowed from the blazes, the plumes raising to thirty thousand feet above the ground. Everything was bathed in a strange orange glow and the smell of smoke was strong in the air.

So I'm back in Taos, though this time I'm tapping at my keyboard from a cozy hotel room instead of watching the sun slip behind the mountains. While I'm a bit disappointed we didn't make it to Santa Fe, due to the severity of the smoke there as well as evacuees, Taos has by far been my favorite stop in New Mexico.

There were times when the city girl in me reared her head, lamenting over the dust that seemed to find its way into everything, the gnats constantly buzzing, the walks to the bathroom in the darkness of night (where MeMe ran across a rattlesnake one night...eek).

But then there were moments like seeing the world spread out before you after hiking to the top of a mesa seven hundred feet above the ground – it made the bugs and dirt worth it. Heights make my palms damp and heart race, but while balanced (slightly precariously) on the edge of a rock, gazing at everything below me, it wasn't quite so bad.

The temperature – which, we were told, was unseasonably high – dipped for a few hours, giving us some time to go to a lake. The water was choppy from the wind, and against a backdrop of smoke shrouded mountains, it was beautiful. I sat on a rock jutting out over the water, absorbing my surroundings. The wind snarled and twisted my hair into knots, but at that moment it didn't matter.

Today we being the trek home. These past nine days have been brimming with new things and time spent with family and friends – a combination sure to garner a lovely time. Our time here will be slipped into the well worn journal that is our family history, a vacation that will evoke laughter and smiles when thought of. While I'll be glad to return to a soft bed and not having to live out of a suitcase, I'm going to miss New Mexico and all the memories we've made here.

Today I'll say goodbye to New Mexico and all its beauty and say hello to the wind swept plains of Oklahoma that I call home.

Happy Thursday, friends.

-carlotta