Luddington

We went to the lighthouse at Luddington to celebrate my birthday. Lake Michigan is wonderful!

Glow

Summer ice crystals

The Dallas Arboretum Chihuly exhibit entrance. One of my favorite installations.

Retrospective fun

Apparently this week is all about Chihuly exhibit pictures. I am glad Rebecca dragged me to the Arboretum in painful, 100-plus degree weather to see the sculptures. Now  I'm really enjoying the photos I took...in the comfort of our air-conditioned apartment.

Photographic crossfire

At the Chihuly exhibit: one of my favorite installations.

Contrast

Natural and modern art together.

Blue

One of the Chihuly glass installations at the Dallas Arboretum.

Fossil Rim

Oh, hello there! Let's pretend I've been updating regularly, so I can show you what the husband and I have been up to recently. For our anniversary a few weeks ago, we headed down to Glen Rose for a stay in a cabin on the river. Nearby is the Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve, which has an amazing assortment of animals that you can see while driving through the park. Since it was ridiculously hot out, driving in a car with air conditioning sounded pretty good to us!

The animals get really up close and personal when they know you might feed them!

 

 The wildlife preserve has food so that you can feed the animals. Giraffes' heads are big when they come down to eat out of your hand!

This ostrich was convinced that no one should go past it. The two cars ahead of us had a hard time getting past it, and it sat down in the middle of the road as we drove up. They're surprisingly big birds that close up.

The rhinocerous were, sadly, far away.

Leafy

The leaves are well and truly out.

Black and white

There were a number of birds at White Rock Lake that, as the daughter of a naturalist, I can confidently identify for you as "the big, pretty white ones that might be herons, but could be something else, too." Regardless of their taxonomy, their coloring made them beautiful to watch against the white water and black rocks.

Unexpected adventure

While on a walk at White Rock Lake, Rebecca and I stumbled upon the old Dallas Waterworks, built in 1911. Although all the old machinery is gone, the outside still looks like it did when it was built back in the day.

There were some ivy covered structure out front. We couldn't tell if they were supposed to be chimneys or if they served some other mysterious purpose.

The original tall chimney still had the original inscribed door.

New life

Swirling tea

Spring!

Spring sure seems to have arrived in Dallas!

(Flowers at Cedar Ridge)

Motley

On Friday, the Stephens clan came up from Houston to visit. We went to Cedar Ridge, which has glorious trails. The hiking crew was clearly very excited and very photogenic.

Unhindered

Even telephone lines can't stop the sky from declaring God's glory.

Deliciousness

Ben and I had an amazing antipasto for dinner the other night.

Another tulip? Yes, please!

More cupcakes!

Rebecca and I have eaten a lot of cupcakes together recently. Here are before and after shots of the deliciousness.

Tiny

On Sunday, Rebecca and I went out for lunch, and then decided to make a progressive meal of it by going out for coffee as well. We split a teeny cupcake a Starbucks, trying to see who could take smaller bites. It was pretty entertaining...and delicious.

Hurray!

We've been praying that Benjamin get a history teaching position before the end of the year. Here we are celebrating that happening last week! He is now teaching seventh, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade history. I know that God is always faithful, and he has truly showed his goodness to us over this time of transitioning to Texas in the last year. It's easier to see his goodness when he's answering prayer the way that we'd hoped, but I don't want to forget his faithfulness to us when things were not going the way that we wanted, at the speed that we wanted.

Circles!

Light on branches

Trees outside the entrance to the Dallas Museum of Art.

But wait...

...another tulip!

Accidental self-portrait

This is not the picture I intended to take, but I ended up liking it the best of the lot!

Contrast

Downtown Dallas

Early morning

Although I am not really a morning person, I do enjoy the beautiful sunrises on the way to work!

Spontaneity fail

Last Sunday, the sister and husband were laughing about something, so I grabbed my camera and told them to recreate the scene. Being the special people they are, they immediately launched into some of the most ridiculous, maniacal laughter I have ever heard, resulting in this remarkably unnatural picture.

Sister

Rebecca at Cedar Ridge.

Regeneration

Because of the three day weekend, Rebecca and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to try out a new hiking trail south of us called Cedar Ridge. It was a glorious hike - the sort that restores the soul.

Early

Deliciousness

One evening last week, we had an amazing Italian antipasto smorgasbord from Central Market.

Goals

Rebecca and I met up at Starbucks to discuss our goals for the coming year. We each took a picture of the other documenting our resolutions.