i hear the {baby} train a'comin

We are not on the baby train.

Repeat: not riding the baby train.

Yet.

A week with my family in Montana has me completely in love with the kiddos already in our growing fam. This little guy is just one of reasons why the baby train could be coming for me and the mister, full steam. Maybe.

Who can resist when they look at you like this? (could be the shiny camera...)

Or when it's bedtime and they jump on the bed with you in their pjs?

Or when they get spaghetti all over their face? {The hand and the spaghetti taste goooood!}

Or when they pick dirty things up off the ground?

Kids are adorable. When you get to give them back. Only kidding (pun intended.) Maybe. I am unwilling to commit to any definitive answer to the age-old awkward question: "When are you two gonna have a baby?"

Baby? Maybe. Some fine day. Until then, going to thoroughly enjoy every moment just being "Auntie" and "Unk" to four beautiful babies.

morning in montana

Morning in Montana is...

...flowers waking up...

...an extra-foamy delicious cappuccino...

...and sunlight on the mountains!

Good morning from big sky country!

{more mountain views to come}

:o)

traveling light

{a beach cottage}

"Never travel with anyone you do not love." Ernest Hemingway

As I grow up I realize that it is not how expensive a trip is, or how exotic the locale, but who you are with {whether family, close friends, or interesting souls you meet along the way.}

My favorite trips are those where things are done simply, and spur-of-the-moment. Finding a comfy coffee shop with my sister and chatting for hours. Road-tripping to the Gulf Shores with my husband and sleeping on the beach every night under the stars. Heading home to Minnesota where the family gathers around the kitchen table, eats, talks, eats, laugh, and eat more. {We do lots and lots of “grazing” on the farm.}
I am hoping this week in Montana will hold the same simple, relaxing moments with those that I love.
Packing my suitcase will involve simplicity as well.
Oversized sunglasses…ribbed cotton tank tops {possibly my favorite item of clothing}…a summer scarf (for the cool mountain air)…hiking boots to carry me to the top of a peak...swimsuit and cute coverup to lounge on the dock in...
...laptop to blog with...
Ahem! Did I write that? Well, the camp does have free WIFI....can't blame a girl...
Anyway, I am wishing you a beautiful week of time spent with those that you love...even if it is just to the local coffee shop with your best friend to chat for hours. :o)

wine wednesday: cowboy up!

I love wine.

I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrve wine.

So how about every Wednesday I share with you a wine I've tried that is fantastic?

I am not going to lie: I buy wine largely based on how pretty the label is. (I have bought some really horrific wine this way.) However, this week's recommendation was based of a post I read on another blog, The Pioneer Woman. {She is a big-time blogger, famous in the blogosphere, and basically the first blog I started reading. Check her out. You will fall in love!}

Anyway, she plugged Purple Cowboy wine about a year ago, and finally I found a bottle (at Target, no less!) and had to try it. I was hooked by the charming "cowboy legend" on the back label:

"The cowboy met the old man who brought him some cuttings in a damp burlap sack. The old man said plant these in the valley where the fog comes at dusk and the soil in stony and no good for anything else. And someday you'll have some fine dark wine. So dark it turns your teeth purple. So the legend goes."

My teeth didn't turn purple, but the Purple Cowboy 2007 Tenacious Red was absolutely fragrant and delicious from start to finish. Very smooth red, with a spicy kick!

Serve with a slab of beef around the campfire, coyotes [pronounced kaaaaayoates!] howling in the distance.

afternoon delight

"Keep your true love of nature, for that is the way to understand art more and more."

Vincent van Gogh, painter of many sunflowers

No matter where a person lives, there is beauty.

I live in a rather urban neighborhood that, despite the gorgeous historic brick homes, has a lot of distractions. Sometimes I get a little down when I see the rental houses with the trash-strewn across the front lawn, or the paint faded and bricks crumbling on an old gem in need of major love [and cash.] Sometimes it takes me a while to find a shot worth taking.

Then all of a sudden it is there. A cluster of sunflowers in the afternoon sunlight.

So I guess it doesn't need to be an idyllic setting. You just have to open your heart to see the details of the canvas. Let your mind block out the dogs barking, the unsightly power lines, the car horns, the police sirens, the trash...and just see what God is waiting patiently for you to take the time to notice. :o)

ten reasons I don't need a cell phone...

{flickr}

Day 7 without a cell phone. (sigh)

Nope, I am not on a technofast. I have once again misplaced my cell phone. I do this on a regular basis, although usually I find it within couple days. I find, however, that I do not particularly miss my cell phone. I have gone a week and my world is still turning! Maybe I could go forever???

So...without further ado....

ten reasons I don't need a phone

10. I don't call that many people. I can count on one hand the people I regularly call.

9. Txting makes me feel dmbr. lol.

8. It takes up valuable purse space. (And yet, I can never find it in there. Huh.)

7. I prefer emails to phone calls.

6. Phones just aren't pretty like they used to be!

5. It makes my ear hurt.

4. I forget to shut it off in movies -- embarrassing!

3. I feel guilty cursing the people I see driving while on their cell. Hullo people! Of course, I do it too...

2. I'd rather spend $60/month on lattes.

1. I'll just lose it again! :D

There you have it, folks! I'll probably break down and get another cell, but for today you will only hear from me by blog - Happy Monday! :o)

simple, succulent saturday

It was a morning of succulence.

(Or succulents, depending on how you look at it.)

I spent the morning with my fantastic friend M. M is a beautiful, strong, and intelligent woman. We are kindred spirits!

Anyway, this was my first outing with M since becoming a blogger...and hopefully I didn't scare her with my erratic impulses to take photographs of everything we encountered on our morning adventure. Here are some glimpses of our stops along the way:

1. We rescued the neighborhood planters that some punks had knocked over into the street. We literally parked, got out and heaved the toppled urns back upright. Hopefully the local garden society nurses them back to their former beauty.

2. Ate breakfast at my favorite local coffee shop. I ordered my usual "senior citizen" meal of oatmeal with cranberries and walnuts. Oh, and brown sugar. Pure heaven.

3. Strolled down the street to weekend farmer's market. You must realize by now that I adore farmer's markets.

The highlight of this one was Bob. Bob was there selling his plants, which are grown locally in the city. Bob was delightfully eager to give me all the details. (Bob may possibly be 90-years-old.)

This is Bob's helpful hand:

Bob told me all about the "hen and chicks" plant (below) I thought it looked like a succulent.

Bob assured me it is actually a cactus.

(That'll teach me for trying to appear knowledgeable! At least I was in the correct family.)

Then I asked Bob, "How often do you have to water this?"

Bob replied matter-of-factly: "Never."

Nice! Sounds like my kind of plant. Low-maintenance, yet so very pretty.

4. The final stop M and I made was at a garage sale/flea market type place. M was first attracted to the Vietnamese delivery bike on the sidewalk out front. M, by the way, is incredibly knowledgeable. She know all kinds of random things about old stuff, which I found fascinating. I know nothing about antiquing. Zip. We did find some treasures to take home. M found some lovely and dainty hand-stitched handkerchiefs for $1.50. I went for some blue glass Mason jars (three for $27 - may have been ripped off, but don't really care.) I love the ocean blue color and the functionality - I have a million ideas for what to do with them!

{my blue lovelies}

So that was my morning -- indulging in some of my favorite things: coffee, food, flowers, shopping, and conversation with a good friend.

Hope you are having a simple, succulent Saturday as well! :o)