labor day and photos of florida

as you know, we spent the weekend in jacksonville, florida for a church conference. and for the first time since moving to the south (and kind of going on and on about how much i miss texas), i finally decided to take some pictures capturing the beauty of the south in all its quaint soul. well, okay, only part of its soul. really, only a teeny tiny part. it's a start though, right? it's my new mission in life. what i love about photographs is their ability to tell a story that is completely different from what it was in real life. i know that sounds backwards. but for me, the beauty of a photograph is that it can only capture part of something. i think it allows us to see the beauty in things -- when we can only see a part (the beautiful part maybe??). the whole picture is sometimes too complex, too overwhelming. it muddies the view, so to speak. but a sliver of it? that is where a story begins.

and so, just a few photos of our time on the road and in jacksonville:




















while i wasn't particularly looking forward to the car trip, i was surprised by how fast it went by on the way down (the way back was a different story, as it always is). the company weren't too bad neither (southern speak for i am full throttle to the land of the dixies). i do believe we had ourselves a wonderful weekend.

blueberry muffins for the road

happy labor day weekend!



we're driving to florida tomorrow morning (8 hours in the car with a baby, please pray!) for a church conference. i'm excited to get out of the house for the weekend, because that means no chores or dirty laundry or house projects staring me in the face and making me feel guilty and annoyed all. weekend. long. it's going to be pure bliss. and hopefully it will make up for the fact that the baby has a thing about his carseat, for which i am extra grateful to my friend jen for sending wilder a new toy (perfect timing jen!).

because we're living on a smaller budget these days, i'm packing a cooler with food and made these blueberry muffins for breakfast so we won't have to eat out as much.

muffins are one of my favorite food groups. if i'm not much mistaken they make up the sturdy base of your essential foods triangle. i highly recommend you make yourself a batch of these, for they are delicious!

big beautiful muffins:
(aka dr. B's essential *blueberry muffins)

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 cup plain yogurt (or vanilla and honey if you choose)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup (about) vegetable oil
1/3 cup (ish) soy milk
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup blueberries*

preheat oven to 375 degrees. spray muffin tins.

mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. beat eggs with yogurt and soy milk. fold into the dry mixture. fold in melted butter and oil. add in blueberries.

divide among muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes.

makes 12 regular muffins. or six jumbo muffins and seven regular muffins. i like to have options.

this recipe is adapted from a friend of a friend's recipe, by way of not having enough yogurt and thus adding in some soy milk and oil. also, you can substitute blueberries for any ol' fruit your heart desires! in fact, you can probably substitute in any ol' thing you want. this recipe is very forgiving! which is how i know it's a keeper.

all aboard

traveling by bus.

i'm kind of convinced it's the only way to travel,

when on the road. someone else to drive? yes please.

long hours of being stuck in your seat and nothing to 

do but read, eat peanut m&m's and take pictures together? 

oh sure, why not:)

torrential downpours during dinner break, marveling at the

existence of life in the middle of seemingly nowhere and making

it home in time to pick up Lars are also all good in my book.

but, it's so nice to be home.

florida

weekend highlights:

time with the family

porpoise sightings in the harbor

jazz and his dad are so handsome

walks outside

cleaning up

woke up too early this morning after our 2 a.m. 

arrival, but things are looking good after an afternoon 

nap. ready for another opportunity to hear God's speaking 

with all the other precious lovers of Jesus. 

also really happy for: 

a king-sized bed, a waterfront hotel, coffee (per usual),

reasons to dress up, getting away, sleeeeeeeeep, and

 going for a run tonight on the boardwalk with the jazzmeister. 

sadly, i didn't take any pictures last night on the bus

ride. it was just too much of a hassle after the work of 

actually getting us and our luggage on it on time, 

coffee and dinner in hand, lars dropped off at boarding

(sad face) and navigating the labor day traffic.

on the road again

road trip!

(pictures later)