It was like a grown up tree house. The bed was tucked in a corner that sported three windows looking out into nothing but trees, trees, trees. And I got to sleep in that cozy little bed and let the sun creep up and wake me up, slowly, quietly...

...just kidding. I was actually woken up by my sisters screaming at each other (I think they were arguing over who had to fold the blankets, but I'm not entirely sure; I was too bleary-eyed). Aren't family vacations just the best?!

But in all honesty, this week was absolutely wonderful. I don't even know where to start!

In the mornings, I would trample through the spongy, pine-needle-covered floor of the woods river to journal and read my bible. One morning, I accidentally startled a deer. After she ran an appropriate distance away, we stared at each other for a full minute and it was all sorts of magical. But then, to retaliate the dreamy Bambi moment, there was a snake coiled up right outside our cabin--just to make sure I didn't get too comfortable with living in the forest, of course. Darn it.

I finally understood how air can smell sweet. It's not a figure of speech--it really, truly does smell sweet, especially by a cold, misty river in the dusk. I wish I could bottle the scent right up. I fell in love with the way the trees went on for miles, even if it did make me feel a little claustrophobic at times. It's comforting in a way to know that there's nothing except nature and a few quiet park buildings for miles around. 

There was kayaking (quite literally a dream come true--I could've stayed out on that water forever), horseback riding (it felt good to get back in the saddle--it'd been way too long), and winding mountain roads (the best). There were copious amounts of snowcone-eating, scrabble-playing, storm-hiding, and snake-avoiding. There were walks down to gloriously misty rivers in the dark and one day I opened all the windows in the tree-house-bedroom during a thunderstorm (which made ACT studying so much easier). Throw in a few brutally humid days and some sibling squabbles for good measure and you just have some plain good livin'. 

When you step back from it all and stop over analyzing, it's a darn good life, it really is.

part i: flowers, sunshine, and tennis

part ii: gettin' dressed

(forever 21 top / thrifted sandals, belt, & skirt / old navy sunglasses / anthropologie headband)

part iii: pool

part iv: honoring the fallen

Simple and sweet despite the busy.

And traditions--traditions everywhere. They make me happy.

I am thankful to call myself a citizen of this great nation. Memorial Day might just be my favorite day of the whole entire year.

Any Memorial Day traditions you have? I'm very fascinated by that kind of thing; I would love to hear.

“I've decided I'm going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty is just too good to pass up.” 
― Christopher McCandless

I like to think that every one of us crazy, hungry, lonely, in-love, wonderful human beings has a case of wanderlust. You know, the kind of desire to truly experience this world and the desire to travel places that will etch the scars and laugh lines into our faces that we'll show our children someday. The tales will start out, "One time I went..." and then the stories of monkeys scampering into hotel rooms in India and catching sharks off the coast of Africa and sleeping under the stars in the Egyptian desert will spill out and I hope those children will be just as enamored as I was by my parents' stories.

Ever since I read the book (and watched the movie) a few days ago, I can't stop thinking about Christopher McCandless' experiences. I couldn't ever embark on a solo adventure into the wilderness--I love human interaction far too much--but it's still so very intriguing. Was he happy, though? Always being on the move? Somewhere I read a quote that people travel to escape reality. And you know, from my own experience, it's true. I so often feel the need to get away from it all, to cut ties and run free, but that's not realistic at all. Don't get me wrong, it's good--healthy, even--to get away now and then, but it's important to keep the wanderlust in check and remind ourselves of our vocations.

Still, I have a mad desire to collect stories and make my heart a hodgepodge of people loved and places visited. I don't think I'll ever get the need to travel, have adventures, and discover the true essence of each new place I visit out of my bones

These Oklahoma tornadoes, man. I love me a good spring storm, but those tornadoes are scary. I was going to write about how busy I've been and that ever-pressing feeling of a million things that need to get done and the way my priorities have been changing, but after this afternoon's events, my problems suddenly don't seem so big (although that four hour math final seemed pretty darn scary at the time...). I am so very thankful and blessed by the texts/calls/messages checking up on us. My family and I are completely fine--not even a drop of rain over here--but it could have so easily been different. I can't even imagine looking outside and seeing a two-mile-wide funnel heading my way. These storms happen in the blink of an eye; a solid, sturdy house one moment is a pile of rubble the next. My heart goes out to my fellow Oklahomans. I love you guys.

(a few weekend snaps that have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of this post)