Skip to main content

Vacation Dreaming {going home}


I awoke yesterday feeling a bit tired, overwhelmed and ready for a vacation from my vocation.  When did May become a second December?  What I mean is that with three boys in school, May becomes a blur of end-of-the year parties, field trips, birthday parties, teacher gifts, graduations and awards ceremonies.  On top of that comes registration for summer sports or camps, tryouts for fall sports and loads of battered school supplies being dumped just inside the entrance to the house.  And I love all of it ~truly I do~ but somehow I just wish it could be spaced out a bit more rather than crammed into the last two weeks of May.

I think part of my worn out feeling is that we have planned a summer getaway for an entire month.  The packing, planning and organizing the van for this three-day drive has been exciting and a great challenge to my list-making skills.  Then last night, at our older two boys' final track meet, my husband arrived, looking weary himself and gently wondered if I would mind postponing our trip for one more day so that he could finish up a proposal at work.  Suddenly the gift of more time, 24 hours of unexpected time, blossomed before my very eyes and relaxed the muscles in my shoulders that I had not even realized were so tensed.  What a simple but blessed gift - the gift of time can be.

Some of my friends who read my blog have asked if I plan to continue blogging while on vacation.  It has truly been a debate in my head for a while.  My first reaction is to make an announcement here that I will be "away" from technology until after the 4th of July but the truth is that I know I want to share my journey with you all in some way while we are there.  I guarantee that I will be Instagramming, Twittering , Pinning and Flickring often.  We are heading to my native homeland - the great plains of North Dakota - and I am sure so few of my readers have ever been there or even know that it is more than roaming buffalo and waving wheat fields.  

This vacation is going to be a tourist trip for my three sons and a walk down childhood lane for me.  We will visit the Block Houses, the Indian Mounds, the state capitol, the zoo, the Badlands, Medora and the Red River Valley.  Mixed in will be lazy days by the pool with nine cousins, overnights at grandparents' houses and even a girl's get-away for me with my best friend from college.  We will be bitten to death by mosquitos, stay up until the sun finally sets  (around 9:45 pm on the longest day of the year) and snuggle under blankets in the cool early mornings while sipping coffee on the deck.  I will sleep in the house where there are pencil scratches on the wall marking my height from two years old and up.  We will reconnect with our family and friends through the gift of time ~slow,  extended, unhurried and most welcomed ~ time. But I will also have access to my blog and I have a few posts prepared in advance so ~ I guess I will simply say this ~ there may be a bit of time between posts here on this blog over the next four weeks but I love it too much to stop altogether. So when you have a bit of free summertime for yourself, please stop by and come along for a  bit of my vacation as well.

Week 7 ::  Black and White
52 Photos Project

Comments

  1. I love this shot with the spiral shape. Have fun on your vacation!(saw you on 52 photos)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great shot ~ very creative ~ Enjoy the 'vacation time' ~ rests are the most important part of musical composition and life ~ thanks, namaste, ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  3. love that spiral!
    have a wonderful trip...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like a wonderful trip Misty! And a whole month... that is awesome! I have been in South Dakota and Montana and of course Nebraska. I am guessing North Dakota might be similar. If it is, it will be a beautiful and peaceful visit! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is very similar to those places but because it is farther north, it also has a distinctly peaceful nature.

      Delete
  5. I love the updated look of the blog. Have a safe and fun trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bobbi - I am having fun fixing things up around here.

      Delete
  6. fabulous photo!
    Have a great,
    and rather than could I/should I
    take what equipment you need to share
    and be prepared, just in case!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the simplicity of our photo xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. PS: and your smile in the banner....gorgeous! xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yay! This will be fun! Can't wait to see your pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm looking forward to reading all about your trip! Have fun and stay safe!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

~Grace and peace to you~

Popular posts from this blog

Locally Grown {stuffed green peppers recipe}

  Last weekend we took the whole family to a nearby produce stand.  We were craving something that tasted fresh from the garden and since I don't have my own garden, we found this place.     The fields were full of fall-colored flowered.  Can't wait for those cooler days to come.         But for now, we are reveling in the height of summer sunshine and produce.       It's easy to go overboard here and buy much more than you can use in the next few days.  I don't even like okra but they look so inviting in those cute blue crates.     These tomatoes inspired a caprese salad for lunch: tomato slices cut into quarters, hunks of fresh mozzarella, snipped basil leaves, salt, pepper and drizzles of olive oil and red wine vinegar.       These strawberries wound up being dunked in Silky Chocolate Fondue .       Every girl dreams of doing her shopping with one of these adorable woven baskets, doesn't she?       Even the boys had fun playing in the sand while I took m

Savoring Summer {Staying in the Season}

The desk full of binders, calendars, sports schedules and dreamy ideas is where I currently find myself, while my mind continues to stray back to the mountains and clouds of our trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have been home for a week and I decided in future, I must come home better mentally prepared for the onslaught of emails and to-do items that pile up when we go away for two whole weeks. The fact that school resumes one week from today only intensifies the pressure to get it all done right away. Usually at this point in August I am eager for cooler, less humid days hinting at the beauty of spicy Autumn flavors. Not this year. I am so invigorated by my return to normal movement following the long recovery from knee surgery that I don't want these summery days to end. At least not until they officially end on September 23, 2014. This year feels like a do-over, the last one so consumed by injury, pain and slow, slow, slow recovery. My mind is bursti

Petals :: 52 Photos Project

Where I live the Bradford Pears have bloomed and blown and the Cherry Blossoms are in full blossom.  Even though that means our allergy season is now officially underway, I cannot help opening our windows every morning in hopes of hearing the birds singing to greet the day.  Springtime has conveniently coincided with my personal recovery process from knee surgery.  As I am slowly re-gaining mobility on crutches it seems an added encouragement that the weather is also improving and the trees are welcoming my return with their flowers. What a treat it would be to be able to put down my crutches in time for Easter Sunday and walk again on my own! (I am doubtful but one can hope.) Sharing with 52 Photos Project :: Petals