At The Prairie, Part I

Picture this: you've been driving about two hours now, through farmland and fields of cows and strange eerie pine forests and hills and empty expanses of land and little towns that look like tiny settlements you may have seen 100 years ago and never really changed... and just when you think you might never find the place, you see the sign and turn down a bumpy dirt road, anticipation growing, because you have a feeling this is going to be good.  And then you arrive, and you turn into a field with a long, long lane down the middle and a big white house at the end, and you've reached your destination! Shabby chic paradise... the Prairie by Rachel Ashwell. As you may know, I was there last week for some photos, and it was to. die. for.

When I was looking through my images last night, I realized that I have way too many for only one post, so today this is just an introduction to the grounds outside, which really can't be captured accurately in pictures. It's like some kind of dreamland. Already planning my next trip. Can't wait to show you the amazing details of the place tomorrow! Happy Wednesday...

right: Brittney of Smitten Imagery in action!

this is Pearl, the Prairie dog. She is amazing and I took four hundred pictures of her. 

See Part II (indoors!) HERE


 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

Weekend in D-town

Matthew and I packed ourselves a bag and headed up to Dallas this past weekend since, as you may recall, I had scheduled a few photography sessions there. I had never, ever been to Dallas except to the airport (crazy, right?), which hardly counts, so I was super excited to experience this major Texas city. I've heard such mixed reviews of Dallas, and I'd say at least a little of everything I'd heard proved to be true, both the positive and negative. Just like Austin, I'm sure, Dallas has its stereotypes, which are usually only part of the truth. One thing is for sure: Dallas is a surprisingly beautiful city! We stayed downtown and didn't really leave central Dallas - the farthest we drove out was to White Rock Lake for my Saturday mini sessions (gorgeous lake, by the way!). After my photos sessions, we headed out for a late dinner, and even though I'd brought a nice dress for the occasion, we were both too hungry to go back to our B&B to change, so we headed straight to the Mexican food place recommended by a friend. How fancy could it be? we thought. The average price of a plate there was about $10-15, so no big deal.

WRONG.

Every single person was dressed to the nines. Every man in khakis and a polo. Every single one. Every girl in platform heels and a fancy dress. I rolled up in my cutoff jean shorts, Sperry's, and sweaty floral shirt, and quickly realized that this is NOT how Dallas peeps roll on a Saturday evening. Oops.

I think I said to Matthew about 100 times, "OMG it is SO different here!" and "Holy shit, what planet are we on?" and "Jeez, everyone looks so nice! Why does everyone look so nice?"

Haha. Oh, Dallas. You are not Austin, that much is true. But you were fun, and we'll be back!

Anyway, below are a few photos from our stay at Daisy Polk Inn, which was a very adorably quaint little bed and breakfast, though I feel the need to warn potential guests that it is located on the edge of a questionable neighborhood and we could hear base bumpin' and engines revvin' all. night. long, even between TWO iPhone Sleep Machine apps on full blast. The bed was also so creaky and squeaky that *ahem* the prospect of spousal relations taking place there is basically nonexistent unless you plan on traumatizing every other guest in the inn (the walls were definitely thin). But it was SO pretty, especially down in the common areas (which I didn't actually take any photos of), and the staff incredibly nice and helpful. We really enjoyed chatting with an older couple over breakfast, too - they had met six years prior in ballroom dance class, and were down from Portland for a wedding.

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

follow here! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Photography

The people you choose.

We spent some time out at the ranch this past weekend, and while we were there I kept feeling this overwhelming sense of gratitude for the family placed in my life and for the blessing it is to be surrounded by people who are loving and accepting and kind and good and an example of how family should be for one another. I'm not a perfect person. We all have our faults and our deeply held beliefs and opinions and our life path that we chose and our weird personality traits that are sometimes good and sometimes bad, but I kept thinking to myself how lucky I am to be surrounded by people who choose to love others just the way they are.  I think you have to come to a place of security in yourself to see differences in others - areas where you may disagree and sometimes strongly - but love them anyway.

Just when we got home from the ranch on Monday, I got into yet another fight with a challenging person in my life (sorry to be vague, but this one is a bit too personal to get into details about - it's a relationship I've chosen not to discuss on my blog), and I got to thinking about the difference between accepting and loving someone fully when it's easy, because they're just like you, and accepting and loving someone fully when it's hard... when they are very different. And that's the measure of real love, isn't it? It's our natural inclination to surround ourselves with people who are just like us, because they make us feel good about ourselves and they agree with us and they don't challenge us or make us question the paths we've chosen. But I think it's so important, as a citizen of the world, as cheesy as that sounds, to be OK with people who are different. Who come from a different culture. Who believe in a different God, or none at all. Who have more money than we do, or less. Who voted for a different president. Who speak differently, live differently, look differently, make different choices. IT'S ALL OK. The only thing that isn't OK is when someone discriminates against you or is cruel or makes assumptions or casts insults because of those perceived differences. That's been my struggle with this person in my life. Where do you draw the line between loving someone despite your differences and "taking their crap?"

Personally, I think it's important to respect yourself enough to let go of relationships that only add toxicity to you life, and focus your energy on the ones that add light, instead. Not because they agree with you and make you feel good about yourself and have things in common with you, because they may not even have all of those things! But because there is no excuse for hatred. There is no excuse for purposefully being cruel or knowingly hurtful. There are rules in relationships. There just are. And I guess, as a rule follower type of person, I'm willing to let go of relationships that break the rules. And my rules are simple: 1) love, always, and show it with your actions 2) accept, even if you don't agree with 3) respect, always.

I haven't always been perfect at keeping those rules, myself, but I think I'm coming to a place in my life where I'm realizing that these simple things are all it takes for a successful friendship/marriage/relationship of any kind. It sure is fun to really bond with someone over your similarities, but differences are totally OK too. We need all kinds of people in the world.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling thoughts this morning. Thanks for listening. :) Here are a few more random pictures from our weekend at the ranch. Happy Wednesday!

PS - If you'd like to read more of my ramblings today, this time on what it takes to "follow your dreams," head over here. :)

A birthday tea. (no real tea involved)

First thing's first: thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes yesterday! You sure know how to make a girl feel special. :) It was mostly an ordinary day, with the exception of taking my mom to the airport at 5 in the morning (she's in Vegas with my grandparents now!) and a lovely little lunch with Megan (my friend who just got married over the weekend... they're doing their honeymoon in NYC the week before Christmas, which makes me want to weep with envy). 

Matthew is finishing up his last finals today and tomorrow, and then I have my husband back for over a month. Let that marinate.  It will actually start to feel like Christmas! We can celebrate my birthday! We can do couple things, and feel what it's like to be married to someone! Ha! No but really, I am SO excited. It feels like the end of a very long dry spell. Thank GOODNESS.

Here's a few photos from the River House Tea Room in Gruene. Such a cute little spot, in case you ever have the opportunity to go!

 keepin' it country... this is Texas, after all...

I love that cute little face! 

Megan's bling.

it's my birthday, and I'll match the curtains if I want to....

love my new address stamp from here... excellent, quick service in this shop, and great prices. she's closed 'til January though... bummer. 

PS - new post on the photo blog!

PPS - the 20 blog/20 ad spaces giveaway is still on! The winner of this one is one lucky duck...

Old friends and fine dining

Any of you Texans been to Huisache Grill in New Braunfels? SUCH a cute place. Man, sometimes I think I should have been a food blogger. But you know, not the kind that MAKES her own food. The kind that goes to cool restaurants and bars all the time and then writes them up. How do you get a gig like that?! Sign me up for it!

Anyway, yesterday I met an old friend at Huisache (pronounced wee-sach)... a friend I hadn't seen in FOUR years. Since Communication and Conflict class our senior year in college, which also happened to be the exact point in time when I met Matthew. During the course of that class, my sweet friend Erica listened as I ranted first about breaking up with the current boyfriend and then as I carried on about the dashing guy I met *ahem* two days later.  Now here we are, and I'm all married up and Erica has since graduated from law school! Man, time flies.

Another fun fact: Matthew and I went to Huisache on our third date. The food is great and the atmosphere is fabulous. If you're ever in the area, go there!

PS - I enjoyed the response on yesterday's post SO much. Seemed to really strike a chord with a lot of you. Thank you for the time you took to leave your thoughts!

Ranch Things

Lots of exciting things happened at the ranch this weekend. For one, we went swimming with Gracie (her favorite thing ever), and Matthew and I talked about how THIS must be what it�s like to be a parent�when your children are happy, it gives you SO much joy. Watching her play in that pool (while Cooper reclined beneath a lawn chair, only occasionally making the trek to his ice-water bowl), so alive and so excited and just so dang happy, had us smiling so hard our faces hurt. That dog is obsessed with water�the extent to which you wouldn�t believe until you see! (check out the pictures from a ranch trip last year� I got even better jumping shots that time.)

My mom-in-law and Matthew�s sis, nieces, nephew and I also went out to the river to hunt for rocks and arrowheads and fossils, and we hit the jackpot with a couple skulls, too. We think the larger one is a monkey, escaped from an upstream aviary back when there�d been a flood. Crazy, right?

We relaxed, ate lots of good food, drove around and looked at animals, shot guns (Texans love their guns), and saw bunnies having sex (not pictured). Perfect weekend, if you ask me.

 My sweet MIL knew I was heading off to edit pictures at one point, and I opened up my laptop to find this sweet note from her� love that woman.

Happy Monday, everyone. :)