...a wet dog...

if sampson could do one thing every day for the rest of his little life, he would swim.

scratch that. he would swim after & retrieve tennis balls. all day.

lakes, rivers, ponds, swimming pools...anywhere.

sampson waaiiiting to go in the lake this past summer

wouldn't it be lovely to be so content? to be so happy doing such a lighthearted task.
i think about that often.
doing something i love and being in the moment.
taking in the unabashed joy that sampson would have during the 438th jump in the water to get that ball.
it's time to focus on more of that.

also, sampson wants to know if it's spring/summer yet. please?

...back in 2013 - washington dc....

in 2012 my mom & i ventured to nyc over mother's day weekend.
we had a blast {although our feet, legs & backs needed months to recuperate}.

this year it was off to somewhere new. the requirements were:
1) a fun city 2) somewhere my mom could travel by train overnight and get to easily
believe it or not i had never been to washington dc and had always wanted to go.
i knew it was a cool city, had plenty of sights to see and satisfied requirements 1 &2.
so, off we went.

picture from an exhibit from the smithsonian american art museum

we took the typical bus tour where we saw the monuments and memorials at night.
the frankin d. roosevelt was our favorite monument. the korean war memorial was breathtaking.
arlington cemetary was so vast and the tomb of the unknown was sad and beautiful at the same time.

we perused the smithsonian museums & stopped by the white house.
we wandered around williamsburg & georgetown & found the perfect space to enjoy a few cupcakes.

the trip was a success, unless you count my mom throwing her back out on the ride home.
the memories that we made from this touristy trip are ones i hold dear.
already looking forward to 2014's trip back to nyc!

...well hello there...

that's my little sampson looking out of his window & waiting for me to come home. 

look at that face!

i feel like this blog has been waiting for me to come "home" for over a year now.
i've missed this little space & it's time to spend some time back here.
so, hello again!