looking for quiet in a busy day...

today will be busy. in a very good way.

i get to see this lovely woman who is visiting from norway,

and this lovely lady who lives up in the mountains.

then there's the to-do list: grocery shopping, looking for more

ways to find more pennies to get to europe in a few months,

and teaching some cute little kids how to play their recital pieces...

and i'll be embracing the small little quiet moments in between:

listening to my favorite music while driving up a canyon,

being grateful that i live where i do {so close to the mountains},

eating delicious food with dear friends for a picnic lunch and with ceej for dinner,

finding time for my violin tonight...

more photos of birthday festivities tomorrow.

this is the west : no matter how far i travel i will always come back

you might like to listen to this little song while you view our trip to the tetons

i feel as if this was a life-time experience. so happy to have spent my thirtieth here.

if i could perpetually be in one state of heart and mind it would be a state of awe.

i prefer awe to happiness {though who would turn down a moment of happiness?! not i}.

how can you beat witnessing the shimmer of gold leaves with a backdrop

as breathtaking as a sudden and grand mountain range?

and the drive to get there was just as wondrous as the destination. 

fall is everywhere. and it's incredible this year. 

ceej got us a little cabin to stay in to keep us cozy at night.

as much as i love camping it's nice now and then to have

the comforts of running water and a warm bed.

i had my fave veggie burrito for dinner...mmmmm.

we went to bed early so we could wake for the sunrise,

and go for a little hike up the mountains.

can't believe that just a month ago ceej climbed the grand. so awesome.

maybe next year i'll join him. i like him to test out the big stuff first.

{and i forgot to share his photos with you...will have to do that soon}

i left the camera inside of my backpack for the entire second day...

i wanted to say that this was a deliberate decision,

but basically i was too lazy to take it out.

and now, of course, i'm kicking myself for not taking

more photos on the drive or the hike. time travel would be great right now.

but the shots i did get i am happy i did. 

i'm addicted to fall and the mountains more than ever.

ceej and i went for a trail run this morning,

and i had to stop a few times just to take some photos with my phone.

this world is incredibly beautiful, yes? 

i can't get enough.

home again...

we're back from the grand tetons...and it was beautiful.

more photos tomorrow.

happy monday!

{p.s. my little winter picnic made its way on to a well traveled woman's blog...lucky me!}

thirty : i am so ready for this decade

tomorrow is the big day...thirty! i've kind of been waiting for this birthday

because i've heard such lovely things about being in your thirties:

more confidence, no more messing around, slowing down, etc.

it's going to be a good year. i'm already feeling thirty,

and i usually don't feel any age. but i think thirty is my year.

this past year has been incredible. mostly because i've learned that i can

obtain the biggest most "out there" dreams i could ever dream:

i finally got to go to oxford...and i met with success there,

so much so that i'm going to work towards getting a phd there.

it's quite an incredible feeling once you've reached a big goal in your life,

it makes all the other "big" goals seem that much more possible.

i've also learned this past year that you're never too old:

at the age of 29 i started playing the violin...me and the 3-year-olds,

and i love love love it. it's lots of hard work and can get frustrating,

but i think i'm making some good progress now.

i've learned that i'm not too old to figure out what i want to do in life:

it took me nine years to get my undergrad degree;

it will take me four {maybe five} years to get my first master's degree;

another year or two for a second master's degree;

and finally three more years for a phd. 

i'm just going for it. no matter how old i am...

and if i change my mind later, it's never too late.

i let go of a lot this year. it feels good to let go.

i chose the things dearest to my heart and i'm giving those

things all of my attention...i'll let the rest of you be 

artists, seamstresses, crafter-extraordinaires, designers

and i'll enjoy everything you create and do.

i'm content with school, writing, music, and ceej.

i'm content with truly simple food, simple clothes, and a simple house.

oh, hooray for thirty! it's good to feel content & that dreams do come true.

ceej is taking me away tomorrow for a weekend in the mountains.
should be a good birthday indeed.

this is what fall looks like : a nature walk in maple canyon with friends

our climbing day turned into a nature walk thanks to the wet weather.

i would have been happy either way...but i'm glad we got to see

as much as the canyon as we did, and all of the little crawling things we found:

a butterfly that was unable to escape the frost, fuzzy caterpillars, empty nests...

signs that the cold weather has arrived and things are quieting down.

moments like these are both so very earthly yet so very heavenly:

awe mixed with tangible world in front of my eyes,

experienced with people i love.

will remember this weekend forever. see more of our weekend here.

{by the way, been swooning over this song and figured out the melody on my violin...quite pleased with myself}

{also in love with this song}