Time for Tea

Happy Birthday Miss Sariah!

Such a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Fact.

I am obsessed with swimwear.

& this year I want every swimsuit I can get from downeast.

$223.00 on new swimsuits... that's not so bad.

Right Brandon?

.........

Brandon?

April Fools...

Need a good prank? look no further... But don't show Brandon! He's gonna be getting a call from J Lo (his "celebrity crush") tomorrow. Such a great holiday.

Tired.

There is nothing worse than when Brandon has a late night soccer game. He's out scoring goals while I'm up dreamily looking at houses and snacking on too many oreos way past bedtime. Brandon likes to point out that I could just go to bed, but it's hard to sleep without him. He argues that I've never really tried. I argue that I do try... just not very hard.

Since Brandon isn't home yet and I am now out of oreos I figure I had better blog. Since I am yet again trying to blog more often.....

It's officially 2011.

No major plans yet for the year but I'm loving the possibilities and honestly I am glad to say goodbye to 2010. It was a roller coaster.

So far this year:

We're back in school. ugh.

Brandon & I won an ipod nano at his company's work party.

Miracles are happening.

we're still looking at houses (With our lovely and most talented realtor, Ledah Andrew!)

I helped throw a baby shower for Ledah (so excited for you!)

We have a new, beautiful niece. Litte Ms. Victoria Bradshaw. Yay!

We're still playing indoor soccer (& loving it!)

We still have the best families two people could ask for!

We've already hung out with the infamous Nick & Mariah Barker.

All in all, we're off to a pretty fantastic start!

Hope your start has been just as wonderful!

Fair....

Wise words from a wise woman...

"There are only two kinds of fair. Bus fare and the State Fair, the rest is just a boobie prize. Make lemonade, eh?"

- Cambriah Heaton

Thanks for my new favorite quote, Cam.

Lately, I have been amazed at the strong lemonade makers around me. On days where I all I want to do is cry and over indulge on chocolate because my life is less than perfect I am constantly being humbled by the great examples in my life. Examples of strength, patience, kindness and faith. Examples who smile despite life's challenges, who realize the beauty in all that they've been given...

& are beautiful themselves.

So thankful for these amazing women.

Thankful...

Love Thanksgiving.

Such a great day for reminding ourselves how blessed we are.

With all the choas and madness in the world it's too easy to let life get you down. I'm thankful for the people in my life that brighten my day and lighten my load. For all of the examples of kindness, strength and goodness that I am continually amazed by. For my wonderful family that loves me always. no matter what.

I am a lucky girl.

Whoa, Dream Big!

My Father-in-law once told me that people who have big dreams achieve them more often when they tell people about them. So here I am. Telling you. I am going to write a novel, from start to finish. No matter how rough my first draft is I'm going to plug through it.

All semester long I've been asked why I write. I've finally decided it's because I have a stories to tell and words to write. So write I will!

Spooky...

Things are getting a little spooky around the Free house lately.

What can we say,

We loooove

HALLOWEEN!

stay tuned for more tricks & treats...

Why live anywhere else?

These beautiful photos were taken by my amazing little sister Lena and I thought they were too pretty not to post. Such a photographer.

It's gorgeous outside right now, one of my favorite times of the year.

I think this calls for a hike...

Sicks

Also featuring music from Brandon Free.

You won't want to miss it.

I Used to Believe...

I used to believe that the world was black and white. That, like Batman and the Joker we were all simply good or simply bad. Such easy days those were, when right and wrong seemed so obvious and understandable. Drawing on the walls, bad. Drawing a picture for mom, good. I'm afraid that age and time toughen the questions we're faced with, making me long for the days were all I had to fuss over was whether to place my crayon in the lines or out.

I remember the day when I looked down to discover i was no longer standing black or white, suddenly there I was in yellow, surrounded by pinks, reds, greens, with only bits of black and white scattered here and there. That was the day I realized there are sometimes more than two straightforward answers and that life is beautifully and tragically unpredictable.

At first I was overwhelmed by the color, by the options and decisions that lay before me, asking for a choice, I wondered how I would I ever define myself when there was so much too choose from, so much to be. I find that I am still defining, that I am a work in progress and probably always will be. How boring would life be if it were all black and white, one or the other, this way or that? What on Earth would I write about, how would we ever discover new inventions or ever truly learn about ourselves?

Today I know that black and white is dull. That life is messy so that we build character, so we are challenged and compelled to choose for ourselves who we are and what is important to us. Today I believe in the chaos of color, the disorder of life. I believe that I am an artist with my very own canvas, that I am the clay waiting to be molded but I am also the sculptor, that there is no need to try to paint in only blacks and whites when there is a variety of color begging to be used.

Today I am a deliberate chameleon, changing colors on my own terms. I believe I am free to create my own masterpiece and that it needs to be shared with others, that our colors change shades as we incorporate others into our masterpiece. That they contribute to our work and we contribute to theirs. I believe that we need each other to learn, to grow, to be inspired, to truly make something of this mess of color I call life.

{photo via sodahead}

A Life Without Love is Like a Year Without Summer

Here is our summer & our loves...

some of my favorite kids.

Nothing says eternal love quite like Lagoon.

The rarest of wildlife in the Grand Tetons!

my best friend.

Such photogenic animals.

Every occasion calls for a photograph.

love & miss Elder DeYoung (Elder Heaton too!)

Such a perfect summer.