A perfect picnic.

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It was late on a warm, sunny Sunday morning.  We were two married couples, two sets of parents on the loose, four foodies, four best friends ready to reconnect, reveling in the freedom of having our moms to babysit our children for a few hours. 

And we were likely the only people to bring no less than the following items on a casual Sunday picnic: a giant coffee air pot, two glass champagne flutes, four ceramic mugs and four plates, and a full-size wooden pepper grinder.  But that's just what we do with these friends, Tommy and Linda.  We share our lives; we share our faith; we share our food.

So, we unfurled our plaid quilted blankets under an elegant oak tree and began the first course - coffee for the boys, Prosecco for the ladies, blueberry cake donuts all around.

Then, we carefully constructed sandwiches of homemade almond butter and peach and plum jam on squishy bread.  We opened a dish of still-steaming egg casserole, ate fistfuls of tart Texas blackberries.

We played catch, one of my favorite activities in the entire world, which I haven't had the chance to do since our daughter was born. 

It's so special to have friends who are like family - friends with whom you share your food, your faith, your lives.

We ate, we drank.  We exhaled.  We lay on our backs in the grass and listened to the crickets singing in the oak trees. We were refreshed.

And it was perfect.

View from the picnic blanket

Ode to Lauren.

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Lauren & I at her home in 2006

Today is my dear friend Lauren's birthday.  Lauren is a fellow Jersey girl, but we first met back in '99 when we were both working for Grassroots Music in Houston.  We both soon moved to Nashville and then she returned to the South Jersey area when she got married.  Lauren is a gifted writer, photographer, creative soul, mother, and wife, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity to learn from her.

The last time I saw Lauren was in 2006 when I visited her home on a quiet suburban street in New Jersey just outside Philly.  I still vividly remember the moments we spent together that bright April spring day, sipping strong French press coffee on her screened-in front porch while her toddler daughter Ella played contentedly. 

I had the opportunity to make amends for my failings in our friendship, things that had been weighing heavily on me for years.  Of course, she accepted it graciously, and we started anew. 

When I later wrote about our time together, I said, "Lauren and I also talked a lot about her method of natural mothering, which I would like to model one day."  And I have.  As Lauren shared with me her thoughts on motherhood that day, I felt her words resonate deep in my soul.  It was the first time I had heard of the attachment parenting style and a more natural way of mothering.  What I remember is the respect and love in Lauren's voice as she spoke about parenting her daughter - trusting her gut instincts, seeing her child not as an inconvenience that needed to quickly adjust to her and her husband's world, but as a unique human being who was to be welcomed and celebrated and adjusted to.  Big changes came with motherhood, I could tell, both difficult and wonderful.  Talking with her made me excited about having children one day.  Little did I know how much the Lord would use this conversation in my life, how much I would draw upon it when I actually became a mother four years later.

So this August, I will pack myself and my daughter in my dad's Honda CRV and make the 2-hour-drive to Chester County, PA to be reunited with this sweet friend.  Lauren promises to give me a tour of the Waldorf school where she works and where her daughter attends, which is set on acres and acres of sustainable farmland.  Yes, please.  I'm sure there's also a hot French press and deep mugs of coffee in our near future, and plenty of time to mull over the joys and struggles of this imperfect life as our daughters play together. 

So on her birthday, I can think of no better way to celebrate Lauren than to say, "You have inspired me, my friend. And I love you."

Things I want to do in New Jersey this summer...

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It's official ~ the tickets are booked!  Luci Belle and I will be spending the entire month of August in New Jersey, and Steven will be joining us for two weeks in the middle.  Bye bye, horrific Texas heat!

So I've been making a list...

Things I want to do in New Jersey this summer:
All photos from last August 2011

* Spend lots of time with these zany folks.

* Meet up with long-lost friends such as Lauren and Allison.  The last time I saw Lauren was in 2006 in Philly when I was on tour with Matt Wertz for Mocha Club.  Unacceptable.

* Go to lots of local Farmer's Markets - Madison, Chatham, and Morristown, to name a few. 

* Go hiking again at Jockey Hollow.

* Swim at the Madison Pool.  Of course.

* Visit my favorite Jersey Shore town - Point Pleasant - for the day, so we can swim and play in the sand and walk barefoot on the boardwalk and eat vinegar fries at Jenkinson's Pavilion.

* Perhaps also visit Cape May - I've always wanted to go and see those Victorian houses.

* Eat again at Fresh in Basking Ridge.  I've been waiting approximately 297 days to have this ice cream sandwich.

* New York City trip, take 2.  Last summer's trip was...interesting.  Let's just say that quick daytrips to the City are quite different now with a small child in tow!  Poor Luci Belle was teething badly that day and developed a 102 degree fever while we were there.  She threw up on me and Steven at the Union Square Farmer's Market, and he and my cousin Colleen had to buy all of us new clothes at Filene's Basement. 

This was taken when we arrived first thing in the morning, fresh and clean and non-thrown-up-on:

The following photo sums up the 15 minutes we spent in Central Park.  I was so excited to show her the park, one of my favorite places on earth and where her mommy and daddy got engaged, and as soon as I put her down on the grass she burst into tears. So sad.

So let's hope for a better trip this time!  We're planning on staying overnight in the City so that should help.

* Feed the ducks at Loantaka Pond, one of my favorite places growing up. 

* Go to Alstede Farms in Chester.

* Do a lot of walking around the neighborhood and sitting in this grass, enjoying summer outside, as it should be.

Can't wait!  And I can't believe how wittle my Jersey girl was last summer.

Take time to look around...

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View from the hammock this morning

From Heaven Calling, May 16th...

"The work of an artist always points back to its creator. Do you remember the last breathtaking sunset you watched? I shared it with you because I love you. The beauty you see in the sky, or the sea, or the forest, or across the plain---all of it points you to me. Every good thing in this world is designed to praise me. Even the rocks testify of my works.

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Hiking is my love language.

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Photo credit: gowaterfalling.comOne of my favorite hikes of all-time is at Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee.  I used to visit several times a year when I lived in Nashville.  Oh, how I miss it.

You hike down winding, steep, rocky pathways and stairways, past cliffs dotted with rock-climbers.  You can hear the falls before you can see them - quietly roaring, its mist fills the fresh, crisp, green mountain air.  Everything smells like moss and earth. 

At first sight, you cannot get there fast enough. At the base of the pool that leads to the falls, you strip off hiking shoes and socks and sweaty shirt and shorts until all that's left is a bathing-suited body that's eager to tiptoe into the frigid water.   Go ahead - wade out onto the boulders, or perhaps just sun yourself on them for awhile.

Photo credit: swimmingholes.orgWhen you're ready, venture out further...waist-deep...shoulder-deep...then let your feet go.  Let them slip from underneath you, and make the commitment.  Neck-deep, you let out a little shriek.  Paddling erratically, then stroking smoothly, you make your way towards the rocks.  Feel the mist on your face, tickling your nose and eyelashes, until you reach the falls and swim under the pounding water as the icyness pours over you.

Goose bumps,

shivering,

refreshed,

ALIVE.

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What's one of the best places you've ever hiked or swam?

Top 5 Instagrams.

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I'm playing along with my friends Marisa and Annie and sharing my Top 5 Instagram photos.  Fun!

I love Instagram for its simplicity. There are no fancy apps, games, or whatever - you can only upload photos, or like or comment on others' photos.  I absolutely love seeing snapshots of my friends' days - especially those who live far away.

So here are five of my favorites...

1.  Joyride.  This is easy - my husband completely in his element, when we took my mom's Jeep for a joyride last August in New Jersey.  Looking at this photo, I can practically feel the breeze on our faces and the freedom we felt that day.

2. Tree.  I pass this tree almost every day, but this day, I looked up.

3.  Daddy+daughter.  A sweet moment between my two loves.  Even better - it was during a massive thunderstorm.

4. Petals.  On one of my normal walking routes in the neighborhood about a month ago, I turned a corner to this exquisite sight.

5. Lips.  This photo makes me smile every single time.  Taken on a cool, cloudy day visiting friends on a farm in Athens, TX.

As for my favorite Instagram filters, I tend to use "Rise" and "Sierra" the most.

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YOUR TURN!

Link to your favorite Instagram picture [of your own or someone else's if you don't have Instagram]. Or write a post today on your own blog with five of your favorite Instagrams and link us to that! 

What is your favorite filter to use?