Of Weddings and the Northland

At the end of May
I was so excited and thankful to be able to spend a week in Minnesota!
Wait what? Did I just say May?! Wasn't that forever ago?
Yes, yes, it was....but after being gone from blogging for so long,
I'm still playing catch up guys! Bear with me.
 

As I was saying,
this past May I went up to my once home-state of Minnesota to be there for my best friend's wedding.
It was most beautiful and I was more than thrilled to be a part of such an important day!

Her awesome family is near and dear to my heart,
and I consider them an extension of my own.

Spending time with them was more encouraging, refreshing and motivating than I can say!

Some days were spent in the Cities- oh yeah baby, I drove in the Twin Cities and survived!
Praise Jesus! I think I missed at least one turn every time I got behind the wheel,
but hey, I eventually got where I was supposed to be!

Picture not mine, courtesy of Facebook.

The wedding was beautiful, touching, significant, and tear jerking.
I saw my best friend- who I spent the greatest, scariest days of teenage life with- marry a wonderful man and step into a holy, exciting chapter of her journey!
It was a pretty weighty experience for me, in all honesty.

I was also able to visit with old friends and in general have a splendid time.

After leaving the cities, we (my travel companion, co-driver, and brother Anthony) made the trek further north to join my grandparents who were finishing up a camping trip and share a corner
of their camper for the night.

Ahh...I fell asleep to the sound of soothing frog chirrups and calling loons. 

Sitting on a picnic bench I had the lake shore in front of me, trees behind me,
and these wonderful people to each side of me- my brother and grandparents.
Don't worry. My brother wasn't being one of those on-the-phone-while-surrounded-by-nature
kind of people, he was taking pictures.

This was such an unusual and eye catching tree formation.
Grandma told me this is actually tree cancer- the tree grows around
the area like this.
Isn't it amazing how something harmful made this tree unique and beautiful?

In the park we stayed at, there is a white deer that roams the forest!
We were blessed to get a look at her!

These shots are blurry because she was so far away, but you get the general idea.

I love all the adorable little churches scattered across this country.

Even the fields of dandelions were gorgeous in my eyes!

Once you have lived in a thirsty land for a while,
this is a heavenly site!

After leaving the camping grounds, a couple more days were spent relaxing with more of the family back at the 'home base' with all the aunts, uncles and cousins around.

 BOOM!
Oh yeah...I decided I need a motorcycle!
This is my uncle's ride- he is the teddy bear driving. ;)

I'm not even kidding.
I want a bike now.
Or a guy who has one.
Yeah, that might work.
We'll see which one happens first.
Good times.



Old friends, family, stimulating conversation, and open hearts coupled with deep drinks of bountifully green and grassy landscapes...sunlit tree canopies...and lakeside walks, made this trip deeply restorative and motivating.

What has this summer taken you so far?
Where will your travels take you in the months ahead?
I'd love to hear all your exciting plans!

Franklin Bound

You're back!

Ready for that stroll through Franklin, like I mentioned?

Then let's be off!

For the duration of about two hours, our party of six drove past scenes like this,

before arriving at our first stop...an antique shop, on the outskirts of Franklin.

There I found the most extraordinary doll house I've ever set eyes on!

The exterior was covered with tiny colorful, pebbles, and some of the windows

were made of green and red glass.

There were two stories, and a balcony!

Aspen stands next to it for scale...
she is about, oh 5.4 I would guess {Correct me if I'm wrong dear.},

and it is taller than her!

Shall we have a look inside?

This is the front door entrance...there is a room off to the left...

....which houses an lovely ceiling light and a sweet little 'hanging' painting.

The other door you saw front the entrance,

leads to a flight of stairs in the back... shall we see where they take us?

Look!

It is an adorable little stage with a painted backdrop and a chandelier!!

I mean, how cute!

This upper room was all open and very large...at least for dolls.

While the details were darling, and while most interesting, overall I found it slightly creepy.

So I didn't get it. 

Not to mention it would fit in my suitcase.

And not to mention it cost over $200.

Yeah...not worth mentioning.

BUT...

I did find a little souvenir!

I finally converted to a tea cup lover and collector last year,

and have slowly been building my collection.

I found this old, slightly stained, but still so pretty cup and saucer.

I know...they don't match.

But they are both blue, and they were together, so I went with it.


After a bit more driving we found ourselves in the heart of downtown Franklin!

Some pretty, old brick buildings.

One of our first stops was the amazing store, Anthropologie!

I've always loved the style and look of their merchandise, 

but this was the first time I had been in one of their stores...it was amazing!

Look at this scrumptious collection of vibrant dishware!!

I was completely in love.

These tea cups...I mean...*sigh*...they have little legs!

We went into many more shops...but it was so busy and full of people,

I forgot {or was too camera shy} to snap shots of each one.

I'm really not the type that feels comfortable carrying a camera around 

and taking pictures, but I always wish later that I had, so I'm working on changing that. 

 

We stopped for a sit down on the steps of an old church, I think it was,

which was home to this gorgeous blossoming Magnolia tree.

It was dripping with full, creamy blooms.

 

The bud pods were fuzzy, isn't that interesting?

Our final stop of the night was supper at Whole Foods Market.

Oh. My. Word.

I had never been in one of these stores before,

and I'm telling you, it was pretty amazing!

Any sort of healthy, natural, organic, gluten-free food can be found in this

Wal-Mart sized wonderland of edible goodness!

Oh, how I wish we had one near us.

If you live near one, please, count yourself supremely blessed.

Because you are.

Like I said,

I'm not used to carrying a camera around,

so this concludes my photographic documentation of my week-long stay in Tennessee.

Believe it or not, this was my grandest and best effort to date!

It is my dream someday to go on a trip with the understanding

that we can and will stop at any given moment for pictures...and I will

unabashedly tout my camera along with me everywhere.

Since that day has yet to come,

I hope you enjoyed my present efforts!

{If you want more pictures of our day in Franklin

you can see lots more pictures in this post at Aspen's blog!}

And guess what,
it just so happens that today is Atlanta and Jordan's 1st Year Anniversary!!
 Happy Anniversary you two! 

There and Back!

Hello all!

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, haven't they?

Can you feel an absent-blogger explanation coming?

I dropped a little hint as to my recent where abouts in this short post,

but in case you didn't catch it...I am {somewhat} recently returned from a week long stay in Tennessee!

About one year ago,

my dear friend Atlanta was swept off her feet and consequently all the way to Tennessee

when she married.

I was blessed to attend the wedding,

but didn't get the chance to see their home.

However, upon the arrival of her baby girl in February

I had good reason and great excuse to make a trip to see them!

I tagged along with Atlanta's brother Cim and sister Aspen

who were also making the trip to meet their new niece.

Here is Auntie Aspen holding sweet, sweet baby Marian!

Honestly,

this little darling is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!

So, ok, it is my friend's baby...I don't think that makes me prejudice...much.

A bed-full of ladies admiring the baby!

Marian will be a pro at this picture taking thing...

T O E S!!!

She was modelling a new dress, and doing a darling job of it, no?

Aside from the beautiful baby,

there was of course, some breathtakingly beautiful nature to explore.

Ahhh...wandering these lovely woods was utterly and truly refreshing...for this northern girl,

it was like being home. Trees and water bring life back into my soul.

Can you see the little trickle of a stream, just there, meandering its way through the forest floor?

I found this verdant, mossy growth to be most intriguing.

 

 Here is a close up....

it reminded me of tiny tropical trees or something of the sort.

And here we have a log specimen covered in fairy like stepping stones

made of paper thin, mushroom like growths.

This also warranted a closer look.

Ahhh...trees...I just love getting lost in a forest.

So, funny story.

Notice the spattering of trees here that still have their dried, dead leaves intact?

I inquired as to what type they were, but received no satisfactory answer.

Then, lo and behold while further indulging myself in Jane Austen-esque films

after returning home (a past time with Atlanta) I received the answer!

I learned from Mr. Plumbtree aka Tom Hiddleston, in Miss Austen Regrets 

that these must be Beech trees.
I had to marvel when I heard him spout off this little offhanded information
in an awkward scene of the movie. Funny how little things come together.
"Fascinating subject, botony."
{You can see clips from this movie here,
including the very last scene with the beech tree reference.}

Anyway, back to the greenery...

More adorable moss to document.

A nice walk by the creek, just at sunset, does a heart good.

Slightly infatuated with water...don't mind me.

I just love how this gnarly, moss riddled tree hangs over the bank.

Do you see this?!

Doesn't this look just like the flower from Horton Hears a Who?!

I'm not sure what these are, other than they are a type of seed pod-thingy that grows on trees,

they had all fallen off and there was a generous smattering of them everywhere.

Sadly,

 I had not my camera with me the day we saw the most beautiful scenery of all, I was quite heartbroken.

It was Sunday, see? And I thought, silly me, that, one needn't bring a camera along...it was only going to be church, then home again, right?

Big. fat. wrong.

We saw waterfalls...waterfalls you guys!!

Ohhh, it was thrilling...waterfalls are among my favorite things in the worlds,

and these particular falls were nestled deep in the craggy, wooded back roads.

There were steep, towering rock walls to one side, complete with tiny cave holes,

and an ever expanding forest on the other, with the river weaving its way in between.

There were wild daffodils, old abandoned houses, valleys and hills.

 I ran about like a school girl at Christmas, and kept muttering thanks and awe

to God for the beauty He created. 

It was one of those times when it almost hurts, the beauty and wonder of it all.

So, the moral of this story.

Always. Always. Bring your camera.

Did you enjoy this little walk through the countryside?

Well tomorrow,

I'll take you 'round on a little excursion of Franklin, Tennessee.

See you then!

{For LOTS more pictures of sweet Marian and Tennessee scenery,

you can see things through Aspen's point of view in this post!

Including a few pictures of the falls, 

courtesy of Atlanta, who had pictures from a previous visit.}