[ three ladies, one chauffeur ]

March 23, 2015July 15, 2015 ~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

three ladies, one chauffeur.
in other words, my mom and sister came to visit!!
and my sweet husband drove us around.
can i just say that these 2 are my most precious friends. so many years of joy, laughter, tears, learning, adventures, trials, and, just plain ol’ life with them.
they have such a special place in my heart.
we took a quick peek at D.C. after we picked them up from the airport. and i made us get out and take a picture with the FROZEN potomac river!
oooo, it was SO good to see them again.
i am a slightly accident prone baker, but these 2 won’t ever let me give up. ;)
and for that, my husband is grateful, haha.
my sweet pastor’s wife took us up to her parent’s farm one day…
ahhh. that’s all i can say.
if i were a writer, i’d try to describe the crisp fresh air, the rich blue skies, the pristine freshly fallen snow covering the mountains…
but i’m not, so i take cellphone pictures and attempt to capture a bit of God’s magnificent creation.

one afternoon we visited a manor near downtown Fredericksburg, called Chatham. it was used in the civil war and was frequented by famous people, including presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.
the first borns. always minding the rules…
the second and third borns… :)

a cold but beautiful day for a view over my new hometown.

introducing my girls to noodles & company, loft browsing, and the classy serving of pudding for girl’s (yay “north & south”) movie night.

oh, and hanging out with this kid. she’s the perfect hostess.

come back soon, my girls!

[ now that it’s over… ]

March 15, 2015July 15, 2015 ~ Rachel ~ Leave a comment

now that it’s over…
i can say that the winter was simply beautiful. on that day it dropped to -2°, my sentiments may not’ve been quite so positive, but because my blogging is always about a month behind, and i don’t have the most stellar memory, i can say with all sincerity that winter was awesome, haha.

this is me. gettin’ after that snow shoveling business. it’s actually the first time in my life i’ve actually had to shovel snow, so yes, quite momentous.

the last time this red vintage sled was used, it probably had a little 12 year old boy on it. yep, the same handsome boy that’s in this picture. due to the light, poofy snow, it was more for looks than capability, but i shall continue to dream of someday when we have feet of thick snow and a huge hill. then it’ll earn its stripes.

our cozy little pod, covered with a blanket of snow. and our not-cozy little shed, where i keep hoping i didn’t leave anything temperature sensitive buried in all my bins. this house already has so many happy memories. it’s tiny, but if houses had hearts, it’d have a big one.

let’s just say, she was pulled a little farther and faster than he was. ha.

oh, and i don’t know if i mention it enough, but this guy makes me smile.
not only because he wears a cap cause i said it was cool,
(even though it’s a kid’s size cause i found it for like 90% off for $2 at Gap and couldn’t resist in case i have a little boy someday)
and not only because he trudges to work in a small blizzard to provide for us,
(even though it is just trudging across the church parking lot, and yes that is 2 pictures pasted together on a cool app i didn’t know could do that)

but he’s got the kindest heart, the hardest work ethic, the strongest shoulder to lean on, and such a heart for serving God and people. it may’ve taken a lot of waiting for us to find one another, but now that the waiting is over, is sure is easy to smile.

and now that winter is over, it’s even easier to smile, too. :)