sittin on top of the world...

on our way back from DC this monday, we made an unexpected detour to visit the roanoke star.  I have romanticized a trip here for almost a decade now and finally got around to it... only to find out that my camera battery was dying after shooting this weekend's beautiful wedding in Richmond, the star needed to be pushed back a good 1000 feet for anyone to get a decent picture with it, and the $500 i threw down on a fancy new speedlight i don't know how to use (my old and simple one conked out the day before the wedding as my luck would have it) did not do me very well in this poorly lit situation.

Petty things, I know.. but after rushing home from your vacation after finding out that your sweet baby-dog has gone missing you feel like the universe would show you a bit of sympathy and give you perfect family pictures in front of the snazzy red white and blue star you've been dreaming about most of your adult life, right?

stay with me, darlins'... i'm really not here to complain.




turns out, this big ole star illuminated a little more than i expected...

 my husband would do anything for me. granted roanoke was a bit out of the way, and he had been driving for the past 4 hours with a ripped contact in his eye (ouchie!), he knew this was important to me and made the trip anyhow.  sweet pea, apple of my eye.... for certain. it was a sweet gesture and i ate it all up.
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have you ever stood in front of the ocean? do you remember feeling so small in comparison?  i have always cherished that feeling... it has been my constant reminder that God is bigger than all my problems and there is so much more to this life than the little things I sometimes find myself hung up on.  I had that same feeling standing at that overlook gazing at the city. between all those twinkling lights and the soft and warm breeze that hit my face... time seemed to stand still for a minute and all my worries seemed to be gently blown away with the wind.  it was exhilarating and intoxicating and I could use a few more nights of being on top of the world like that.
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family picture or not, Haley thought this mountain-top retreat was the greatest thing ever. as soon as she saw the big city lights she exclaimed the most priceless expression, "it's like disneyworld, mommy!" the funny thing is-- she has never been to disneyworld, but you could tell that every bone in her body was ready to jump for joy.  we had a rocky-top dance party instead, where everyone rooted my spinning princesses along.  it was the most perfect and joyous celebration my little 3 year old could imagine... even without a princess crown or fireworks.

although these past 5 days have been filled with a huge heaping of heartbreak (most of which i am just not really ready to talk about)... life has a way of tenderly showing us some sweetness in between the cracks of our watering eyes (ripped contacts and all) and assuring us that all these bumps in the road are purposeful and for our own good.