on the wild side

I was laying in bed last night wide awake with blog posts bubbling up in my mind.  Not sure if that's a sign, maybe it was the sweet pleas for me to say a little something;), but I feel like taking a time out.  I'm officially blowing the whistle...my hands are waving in the air and I must speak.  HA! 


I've figured a few things out over the last few weeks.  First I'm hard wired to blog.  It's just who I am.  I love to share my life.  I love to write.  I LOVE to take pictures.  The first few days were incredibly weird.  I was so used to writing posts that I couldn't relax.  I even carried a notebook with me everywhere to record my thoughts!  Geesh girl get a grip;)  Then the reality of oh I'm like on a mini vacation set in and it was almost a relief not to blog. 


After the comments died off another shift happened, and finally for the first time in the last almost 4 years I got a little revelation that...wait for it...someday...when the season presents itself...I can stop blogging!!!  I KNOW that sounds ridiculous, but for years I've looked at my friends and family and thought how do they do it?  How do they live their lives and not TELL everyone about it?  It seemed an injustice not to record every moment and to document everylittlething.  But I tell ya girls blogging can become like a job...one in which I presently do not get paid and that's where it gets fuzzy.  So with that said...I'm still on a break, but I just HAD to blog...and I'll be back here and there because I have to.  'Nough said:) 






For Easter we flew out to Palm Springs.  Honey and I have been there 5 times!  We've always stayed over in the lush golf resort area, and almost always had it paid for by his company, and it was wonderful.  This time we took the girls and we rented a house...more on that later.  But there was a shift, and as wonderful as our relaxing vacay was that will probably be the last time we visit sunny California for like EVER!  We are on the East Coast now.  I don't know what we were thinking hightailing it THAT far when our weather here was actually better.  Sometimes you just keep doing the same thing you knew before without even realizing it.  Time to make a change.  I'm thinking Florida sounds nice next time;)

I'm so glad we chose to visit the desert on Easter.  Out of all those trips West we had never explored Joshua Tree National park.  Even as we were driving up I was skeptical.  I mean how much fun is driving through a barren desert gonna be?  Is this a giant waste of our precious vacation time?? 


NOW I can honestly say it was one of my very favorite days there.  We piled into our car.  We filled up our water bottles, took our final bathroom break and prepared for who knows what on our 2 hour, desolate car ride in the middle of nowhere.  Sound like fun??


























To say it was beautiful even in it's barren state is an understatement.  If you look really hard you can find beauty anywhere.  I have an appreciation for flowers that can bloom with the littlest amounts of rain, and animals that can survive in the harshest environments and somehow adapt and survive.  It's a lesson in nature and a lesson in life.


I couldn't be in the desert without thinking of the Israelites.  Normally I'm a little hard on them.  I mean come on they had just witnessed miracle after miracle with Moses.  How hard headed could they be?!  It's not every day you see the Red Sea part for you and become dry land.  That's incredible, and yet they grumbled and complained and started doing their own thing in the wilderness.  They deserved to wander around for 40 years right??!!  But while I was out there for a measly couple of hours I'm thinking to myself how in the world did they do that?  I would have been right on board complaining about the cold nights and the HOT days.  I would have surely been mumbling about the quail and manna again...even if it did magically appear morning after morning.  Guess what else appears morning after morning...a new day...new mercies...a fresh portion of Grace...and yet I can forget to give praise and appreciate that daily provision.  I'm just sayin' that little walk in the desert was unforgettable.
















And if you think I could go a whole 2 hours without peeing you were so WRONG!  I officially have a bladder the size of a grape, so sue me.  Finding a rock to hide behind became a priority and hoping and praying there wasn't a snake behind me ready to dig it's fangs in my behind was a real concern;) 















My favorite part was the Cholla cactus garden.  There are all kind of warnings and beware signs posted.  They make it very clear that you do not want to get close to one of these beauties because they are nicknamed the "jumping cactus" and will magically reach out and sink their spikes right into your soft flesh in a New York minute!  And apparently getting one out is excruciating.

We respected the signs.  We stayed on the little gravel path...for the most part.  We heeded the warnings, but what is it about a warning that makes you want to test its wise words.  It was hard not to just reach out and touch one.  They look furry and cute.  Could it really be that bad?

We made sure to scare the girls thoroughly before we headed out on our little nature hike.  The fear of painful cactus spikes, and rattlers really did put a love in their hearts for the desert.  I'm sure of it;)

Finally we did spot the infamous Joshua Tree.  Wish it would have been sunset or sunrise and it might have been a magical picture with silhouettes and such, but it was noon.  Not the best lighting.  Oh well, and if you don't want to venture into the park there are hundreds of these trees in Yucca Valley for free. 

After the park we were driving home and I saw a cute little strip of antique malls and a fun coffee shop.  I had to do some begging because Honey is not the most "off the beaten path" person you've ever met, but he finally gave in.  Bless his heart.  And so glad he did.  We found a great place to eat and hit up some so so antique spots.  Antiques in the West are very different than what I'm used to.  Lots of rusted metal junk, mining equipment...cowboy stuff.  Not really my cup of tea, but it was still fun.

Okay so that's all I got.  Phew it feels good to share.  Thanks for listening.  I'll be back. 

***EEEK and I almost forgot to tell you I'm officially on Instagram!!!

Three days into my break I discovered that Instagram is now offered for the Android smartphone. YEEHAW!!!  Instagram is just a fun little app you add to your phone to jazz up your pics and share your world instantly.  It's super fun, so while I may not be blogging much I'm still around.  If you want to see some more of our vacay pics or just what's going on in my super exciting life;) look for the little camera on my sidebar or look up farmgirlpaints on Instagram.

Have a blessed day.

535.  having a place that's all mine

536.  readers who missed me

537.  time spent with my family

538.  memories that will stick with me forever

539.  revelations from my Lord

540.  instagram;)