walk it out

The great thing about vacationing with family is the loosely interpreted schedules. When we say "we're leaving first thing in the morning," what we actually mean is 10 or 11 am. I'm pretty sure this drives my dad crazy sometimes, but the rest of us sure love it. Last week in Montana, Sam and I would go for a walk every morning. I would wake up with achy hips (gotta love sleeping in a bed you're not used to, and without your usual armada of pillows nonetheless!). Sam would call it "walking out my pregnancy," and we'd stroll down to the lake each morning. Even with our pregnancy walks, we'd still make it back to the cabin in time to warm up by the fire (score!), and then over to the other cabin in time for huckleberry scones (double score!). It's seriously gorgeous up there, and I loved being outside every morning.

Happy Monday!

a trip to heaven and back

Last Friday I was officially 37 weeks pregnant, which is technically full-term. To celebrate, Sam and I traveled across two states for a family reunion! Sam was definitely worried about me going into labor so far from our hospital, our doctor, and civilization in general, so we packed the car seat and the hospital bag in the trunk and took it with us. It felt like something crazy, worried first-time parents do, but hey, I guess that's what we are! (In case you're actually worried: we got permission from my doctor, and I took it very easy the whole time.)

I grew up going to Hebgen Lake every summer. As such, part of my identity is based on that tiny corner of Montana: the smell of sagebrush plains, sunburns on the pebbly beach, bouncy ATV rides up the mountain, and my grandma's homemade cooking. This year was colder and more rainy than most, so we spent a lot of time inside, doing smaller excursions in between rainstorms, and NOT getting sunburned on the beach like usual. Even so, it was such a wonderful and relaxing vacation. I love that place, mosquitoes and all!

Where's your place that feels like home away from home?

P.S. All pictures from my instagram @brookejanette

wildflower plains at sundown

Here are the last of my pictures from the gorgeous Hebgen Lake, Montana. I don't usually take my nice camera on ATV rides or to the lake shores to prevent it from getting dirty or breaking. So these are pictures of the wildflower plains right outside our ranch. It was pretty rainy and cold this year, but we found a night that was clear, so my little sister and I snuck out for a few pictures. Isn't she gorgeous?

I keep promising myself that next year, I'll take my camera more places and capture more moments. But then again, maybe I won't. Part of the magic of Hebgen is that people don't have their phones or cameras on them all the time. I want to enjoy my vacations with both eyes open, really being there, and not through the filter of a lens or camera screen. In fact, in some ways I feel like being fully present in a moment is becoming a lost art.

And now a quick plea before I go - as you know, Google Reader is shutting down on Monday. That means many of you won't be able to enjoy this blog like you normally do. This is the time to switch over to a new way to follow me! I'd recommend liking my facebook page or following me on bloglovin to stay connected and read more of Silver Lining. And thank you, readers. You really do make the whole thing worth it (and then some!).

Do you think being present is a lost art?

Do you leave the camera at home sometimes?

Happy Friday!

where the buffalo roam

It's official. I'm a cowgirl.

When you first get there, our annual vacation spot doesn't look like much. The ranch is old, and nails poke through the ceiling in some parts. The lake is only 40 degrees, and feels like 10. It smells like cow poop.

Even so, try spending a morning curled up with a blanket overlooking rolling wildflower plains and tell me it's not like heaven.

Just try to hike or take an ATV ride in those woods, or canoe and relax on the beach and tell me it's not like heaven.

And most of all, try roasting s'mores and roaming Yellowstone park with your family (or doing anything at all with your family), and tell me it isn't somehow good for the soul up there, nails poking through the roof and all. I love it there.

*All of these pictures are from my insta-documenting on our trip. Our Hebgen trip is my favorite part of every year. See more @brookejanette.

Let's hear it for vacations!

Can I get an amen?

And now that all my traveling is over,
what am I supposed to do the rest of the summer?

blogging to you from paradise today

Today, this post is coming to you from the beautiful wildflower plains outside of West Yellowstone, Montana. Our family comes here every year to stay at a family cabin. Our cabin is kind of rough and comes complete with orange shag carpet, but somehow it has just enough beds year after year, and we absolutely love it. If things are scarce around here for the next week, it's because I'm spending time with family, relaxing, adventuring, and plotting how I can live here for the rest of my life and never leave :) In the meantime, you can follow along with me here on instagram, or see my posts from previous years here.

Do you have a little piece of paradise too?

Where is it for you?

instaLIFE link-up!

Good morning! How was your weekend? 

So I never posted my instagrams from my Hebgen Lake vacation (which was heaven, let me just reiterate that publicly one more time).

So here they are. Let's get this party started!

@brookejanette

YOUR TURN!
link to your specific post, not your whole blogany camera phone pics will do if you don't have instagramuse this link-up to find new instagram and blog friendsyou must let people know you linked up here! include this button in your post.

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Hebgen = Heaven

I'm back from vacation!

I'm back from vacation :(

Let me explain about Hebgen for a second. It's a lake in Montana. My extended family {I mean extended. My great-grandfather started this tradition almost 100 years ago} owns some land near West Yellowstone.

Every year, all my grandparents' descendants cram themselves in a few cabins. We swim and hike and ATV and boat and explore and canoe and laugh and eat. We come back with sunburns and mosquito bites, and I love that place more than anything.

It's heaven. I didn't even take any pictures, I was so in heaven. {Except the occasional instagram.}

This year, we tried to take some family pictures. {This is just my immediate family, mind you. Remember my crazy huge awesome blended family?} Let me tell you, trying to get us all matchy and then picking through a field of horse manure and wildflowers was a sight to behold.

This is us on a normal day. Kisses, silly faces, a bare nipple, and a polo shirt that reaches to the knees.

Oh I love that place. Mosquito bites and all.

Where's heaven on earth for you?