how to survive being in a classroom when it's all sunny and springy outside.

drink yummy, homemade iced coffee.

i plead the fifth on whether it's decaf.

(sorry, lylah.)

spring break 2011: north carolina.

the second half of my spring break this year was spent in beautiful western north carolina with my dad, visiting my grandparents. spring had just started to bloom and, for the most part, we just ate, talked and enjoyed each other's company. i hadn't seen my grandparents in nearly 10 years when we went so it was a super treat of a trip. i posted about their beautiful cottage home and amazingly-creative doll house as well.

the tulip tree in their neighborhood.

so pretty.

granddaddy giving us a presentation about nasa and the space mission. he worked forever as an engineer for nasa in houston and was an integral part of the country's mission to put the first man on the moon.

i recorded parts of his talk, which i need to get uploaded here soon. i die for their virginian accents.

grandmother, listening intently.

no telling how many times she's heard this story, but she was as engaged as ever. such a good wife.

one afternoon, we trekked to asheville.

me and dad.

pretty pink tree.

another tulip tree.

forsythia.

in asheville, we ate at the historic grove park inn.
the oyster bisque was divine.

grandmother's crab cake.

my enormous lobster salad.

the view from our table. can you see the mountains in the distance?

sweet grandparents...

...with their son, my dad.

grandmother, granddaddy, me and baby lylah.

a saturday in spring.

babies enjoying breakfast on the back porch.
(can i really call her a baby anymore? what baby crosses her legs like that?! ack!)

this one is definitely a smooshy, squishy baby still. love it.
(yes, he is wearing a dirty pj shirt and camo pants. straight stylin'.)

on monday, while i was watering my two lone hanging plants, i found a bird's nest.
i fell in love instantly with its careful, beautiful construction.
when i found it, it was empty.

this morning while i was watering, i found these.
delicate yet resilient. tiny yet determined. vulnerable yet protected.
the stirring in my soul that had already begun was deepened.

God truly uses nature to speak to me. He did it last spring, and i have a feeling this little bird's nest is going to be a vessel through which God speaks again and again this spring.