Give thanks

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope your day was filled with great food, Kodak moments, laughter, hugs, full bellies, pecan pie, and thankful hearts. This holiday always reminds me to count my blessings, and the older I get, the more countless they become. Although the list is long, I do have a new entry on the list this year.

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. The cool weather is super nice, but it's the colors that get to me. I'm a very visual person. The golden yellows, vibrant reds, and sun-like oranges that blend together and splatter the landscape with life and color are by far my favorite part of the fall season.

The other day, my husband, Keith, and I were driving down the highway and I made a comment about how pretty the yellow poplars were. I asked Keith if he thought they were pretty and he said, "They look just like all the other trees on the side of the road." You may not know this, but Keith is color blind. He mainly has trouble with yellow/orange/red and blue/purple. It all looks the same to him. So I started thinking...Isn't it ironic that my most favorite part of year is dependent on the color of trees?...colors that my husband can't even distinguish between. How sad! Like the old adage goes, "You never know what you've got until it's gone." Or in my situation, "You never know how much you appreciate something until you imagine life without it." So this year, I must say, that I am thankful for my eyesight...for the ability to see the amazing colors that decorate our scenery year after year. God is an awesome artist!

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Friendship depot

“There are not many things in life so beautiful as true friendship, and not

many things more uncommon.”

Two peas in a pod, kindred spirits, sisters, sidekicks, bosom buddies. There are many ways to label best friends, but no matter what you call them, their effect on our lives are dramatic and long-lasting. But why do we need best friends? What is their purpose in our lives? When we can't see what's around the bend, they are there holding our hands every unsure step of the way. Supporting us, guiding us, and offering encouragement when we're afraid. Sharing trials, living virtually the same life, hand in hand. A true solid friendship is a beautiful thing.

Holmes on home

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Picture This

"While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see." ~Dorothea Lange

How true that is. Sometimes I wish I could boycott the overused phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words," and replace it with "a picture is worth endless feeling, emotion, beauty, life, memory, and after all that, there may be room for words." Not quite as catchy...but much more appropriate nonetheless.

I've always been good at the words. I love to write...to create thought and expand my imagination. But words without pictures (imaginative or otherwise) produce no feeling...no life. Pictures bring to life what words often lack. Complimentary. Like a team. I, for one, am all in favor of teamwork.

So permit your eyes to behold more than just what they see. Just as eyes are the window to your soul, allow pictures to be the window to your world.

Timeless souls on a modern ride

Often times, a moment from the past sneaks up on us. It could be a thought you had last week, or a feeling from an era in which you've never even had the privilege of knowing. This photograph captures my sister, Hannah, and her friend, Heather. Not only are they two of the most free-spirited individuals I've ever had the chance to know and love, they are both timeless souls. Souls who just happened to record one of those moments from another time...another place. I love this photo because it looks like it belongs on a 1920's style calendar print, but with a modern twist.