-and they called the wind fri

i lied.

i did one photo shoot in kennewick.

but only because she made me.

and isn't it funny that every time i pick up the camera i get all excited again?

maybe to make photography fun again i just need someone to handle the business/scheduling/money side of my life.

anyways.

mariah is my longest friend.

i've always felt that our friendship was such a success because we're so different (she's responsible, mature and well mannered. i'm not).

but whenever i do get to see her (8-10 days a year) all we're doing is laughing at our own jokes, embarrassing our husbands with old cheer routines and craving the same crappy food. she feels like home. she loves me for me. and she's the kind of friend that tells me i'm a complete idiot when i'm acting like a complete idiot.

congrats mariah for being such a work horse, marrying one of my favorite guys on the planet and birthing 3 sweet kids. i love you 5.

-so rad

i'm still in mourning.

we had so much fun in kennewick this summer- it makes not being in kennewick crappy.

yes- i loved the weather, good food, road trips, teasing my dad, naps and a general escape BUT what i loved most was watching my children be entertained and loved and engaged by my totally awesome parents.

like- when i came back from a midmorning run and found my mom helping my boys make volcanoes. cause that's what grandma's do i guess.

so maybe the results weren't completely spectacular but the pride those boys had in watching their beige lumpy domes bubble over was.

-i got 99 problems but a snitch ain't one

doll found here

i went to see harry potter last night.

alone.

so i didn't have to answer any questions from those that chose not to read the books.

i cried 4 times.

and had to undo my belt and pants because i had to pee so badly but refused to get up and go.

and i played with the idea of wearing Depends to future similar occasions.

i really did think about it.

mischief managed.

-god bless america. and old barns.

dad called us a couple of months ago and told us he'd made our plans for the 4th of july this year.

where?

condon, oregon.

where?

it's not by the ocean.

it's not in the mountains.

there aren't any cool pine forests.

it's in the middle of nowhere but it does have one heckuva 4th of july celebration.

the 2 hour drive from kennewick was all hills, wheat fields and wind mills.

with every passing mile i felt myself melting into the seats of my dad's red truck as we listened to garth brooks sing about rodeo cowboys and counted cars on passing trains. the further we drove the happier i felt as i embraced the love surrounding me from the 5 people that mean the most to me in the world: my husband, my sons, my mom and my dad.

i didn't even pack extra clothes because i forgot to care about wearing the same shirt and jeans 2 days in a row. my cell phone lost service so there was no way to receive texts, check facebook or blog.

my only objectives for this little trip were to slow down, relax and enjoy the happenings right in front of me. so i did.

happenings:

-a stay at hotel condon with its ancient door knobs and cool creaky floors

-chili on a baked potato

-little boys racing to gather candy thrown from the parade

-2 old mark twain books found at an old book sale

-fields full of green grass, red weeds and purple lupin flowers

-a 4lb plate of street stand bbq

-a 5 mile race across rolling hills lined by yellow velvet wheat fields

-climbing a hill with hammers and chisels to pick at the layers of fossil riddled rocks

AND

-the dozens of old barns sprinkling the 20 mile drive between condon and fossil oregon.

my dad would drive me in as close as he could get to the old structures and the rest was up to me. i'd climb through barbed wire, wade through weed covered hills in flip flops, scare off grazing deer, keep my eye on the circling and screeching hawks and scale large mounds of piled gravel to get the best angle possible of these incredible barns. the harder it was to get to, the more i wanted it.

it was such a fun trip.

i hope we can do it again next year- but with aaron, laurel, carl, dave and their families too.