Beautiful Things

Our road trip to Texas was fairly quiet, everyone listening to their own personal music, the girls watching movies, and me reading. But we also made a point to look out the windows and appreciate the many things we don't see everyday.

We found beautiful things in the most common of places. These are three of our favorites...





At a gas station we saw a pink & yellow fuzzy moth - Dryocampa rubicunda













All along the roadside in north Florida we saw the Dogwood trees blooming.

















And of course on the roadside in Texas were huge patches of Bluebonnets in full bloom.





On the way home my youngest was struck with a bad case of homesickness. Trying to sleep in the car, as we pushed it to do the 20 hour trip straight through, finally broke her spirit and she was crying for all our pets and her own bed. Frankly by the time we got home at 4:30am I was about in tears for my own bed too. Today I have been appreciating the beauty in my own home. The simple things I love and take for granted everyday. First my pets who love unconditionally, I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw their sweet little faces this morning. My bed, it is exactly the right size for hubby and I, the sheets are soft, and the comforter is the perfect weight. And my shower, where everything is in the right place, no discovering I forgot something in the bag in the other room, oh how I missed my own shower. Although the pet cages are currently smelling up the zoo ... um, family room (guess what I'll be doing tomorrow), the living room smells heavenly today. My favorite scent is clean linen, (no flowery or food smelling candles in my house) and I hadn't realized until today how strongly our house smells of it. Even our clothes smell like clean linen. Those of us who get hand me downs from the friends we visited in Texas always joke we know exactly which clothes they gave us because they have the "Stratemann Scent". Then once Drama mentioned her hubby could also pick out all the clothes we passed down to her daughter by how they smell. We never realized we had a "family scent" until then. Early this morning as we were putting on pjs and snuggling into bed hubby and I were laughing about loving the smell of our own laundry. Strange the things I missed while away.

What didn't I miss? The MESS this house always seems to be in. Granted I didn't do a lot of cleaning before we left, but tonight the house is a disaster. I have a feeling it's going to be a long week. More Griswold family vacation blogs to follow.

11 comments:

I am working on getting photos up on another site. They are mostly of my kids so I'm not putting them up here. However, I know there are a few of you who read my blog a lot. If you are interested in the photos of our trip, comment or email me and I'll give you the link. :-)

April 6, 2008 at 10:32 PM  

There's no place like home, there's no place like home.

April 6, 2008 at 11:13 PM  

Welcome back!

April 7, 2008 at 4:13 AM  

Beautiful pics...can't wait for the rest. Hope you had a great time. The critters did miss you. KBHR looked sad and the boys would squeak when I walked in. Nibblets got her cheerios...boy she loves those things.

I hate unpacking and cleaning after a trip. It's the worst part I think.

April 7, 2008 at 8:47 AM  

That's how you know you live in the right place, when you're just as happy to get home as you were to get to your destination. :)

April 7, 2008 at 10:44 AM  

I wanna see them please!

April 7, 2008 at 1:31 PM  

Weren't the bluebonnets amazing?? I have read that Ladybird started the wildflowers in Texas. What a very fun coincidence we were both in Texas. I was in Houston. I can't get over how cheap everything there is compared to here. I'm glad you made it home safely.

April 7, 2008 at 11:15 PM  

All I can say is glad you are all home, safely!!! Syd is no longer calling "Brookie Bear" on the "phone" daily which is good and I no longer have to have imaginary conversations with you on the "phone"!! Oh today should be F-U-N, fun! :)

April 8, 2008 at 9:17 AM  

That is the coolest moth EVER!

April 8, 2008 at 6:16 PM  

Beatiful pics, and a personal thank you for the bluebonnets! It's one of the things I miss about Texas. *sigh*
Welcome home! Ahh, to sleep in ones own bed is a great feeling, and it makes even the part about the mess to clean a good thing.

April 9, 2008 at 6:57 AM  

I think that's the coolest moth ever too. I had to come home and look it up.
I was so happy we were in Texas for the bluebonnets. I envisioned beautiful pics of my kids sitting in a field of them, not so much. Ha!

ps for the record, I did not take these 3 pictures

April 9, 2008 at 8:10 AM  

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