taking the nidnight train.

so... our traveling began wednesday night, because we had to take the train back to spokane so that we could fly out the coming afternoon. austin and i grabbed frozen yogurt while we were waiting for the train to pull in.

this is our conductor! he was so nice, and i loved his outfit! haha

i love train graffiti, as long as it doesnt say dirty words and stuff. it adds color!

the train left at 9:15pm, and we got to spokane at 1:45 am, so we got to watch the sunset, and then sleep the rest of the way. it was tiring, but nice. and so beautiful.

girls day road trip.

our last day in montana was spent with jenna and my mom. we took the convertible up to glacier, and just relaxed, swam a little, and then drove home.

we didnt go far, but it was just nice to take a breath, relax, listen to good music, soak up sunlight and vitaminD, and take in the beauty of montana. i wouldnt have spent my last day any other way.

a learning experience.

saturday i went to a horse cross country racing event. no, i do not know the actual formal name, haha... but... i have pictures, so you can get the idea! haha : )

it was SUCH a beautiful day. the sky was crystal clear, and literally went on for miles and miles and miles..... everywhere i looked was blue sky! it was crazy.

i have a new love... diet snapple tea! it's so so yummy! peach and raspberry are my favorites.

the horses were really pretty. there were over 450 competitors there, from all over the nation. someone from maryland even flew out 18 horses all the way to montana in their private jet just for this competition. the whole event lasted like five days, but we only went to one event.

saturday was such a learning experience for my family. we have never been to anything like this, ever, and no nothing about horse competitions and such. but aparently, there is almost this horse-riding subculture that we never knew about. for instance, if you wanna be cool, you have a kids sized dirt bike to ride around, and if you are really cool, you cram two full sized adults on these things. haha, and, if you are not cool enough to have a motorbike, then you have a two-person golf cart {that you can squeeze six people on} either these people are trying to go green by carpooling, or they are really really lazy....

{haha, happy monday everyone!}

strawberry cupcakes for dinner!

i just made really yummy strawberry cupcakes! there's a recipe in one of my new baking recipe books, and i altered it a tad bit to make these! and they taste super good.

oh, and to garnish, i dusted all the cakes in confectioners sugar, cut a heart shape out of cardstock as a stencil, and dusted all the cupcakes again, but this time with a confectioners sugar/cocoa powder mixture.

{happy friday everyone!}

nicknames.

jenna and i have officially earned our nickname.

the sisterhood of the traveling feet

given to us by our aunt due to the fact that she always sees both of us taking pictures of our feet. and, i cannot deny that i do this....and, here is the proof.

cup of color.

just a little thing i did today....

cold water and rainbow rocks.

yesterday afternoon, we all went to glacier national park. i love glacier! everywhere and everything is so amazingly pretty. and the weather was perfect for being outside. not too hot, but not too cold.

first we stopped at lake mcdonald lodge, and bought a bunch of "centenial celebration" stuff. i got a sweatshirt! this is jenna dear in front of the totem pole out in the front of the lodge.
then we drove up going-to-the-sun road for a little while. and took this side road that went off into the woods {my aunt caught an adventurous spirit} haha. and, at the end of this curvy dirt road, we found a hiking trailhead, this abandoned cabin, and an outhouse. such finds! avalanche creek was our next stop, and also my absolute favorite place in the park. we always come here, and build rock cities/sculptures like this one. haha, the tradition started when we came to glacier with colin and his family, and its kinda become a fun way to be entertained! haha, besides, the 40 degree water doesnt exactly allow for swimming, so...this is a fun alternative.jenna and i found three heartshaped rocks!
these are two little butterflies! they didnt mind me getting close to them, so i was able to take pictures of them!

Next glacier trip, we are going hiking! i love hiking so so much! jenna and i have hiked all the way up Big Mountain 3 times already, and we plan on going again tomorrow.

lavender love.

so i just discovered that you can cook with lavender. and now i really want to try, because my aunt has thousands of lavender plants in her yard, and it would be so cool to make food from them. so im gonna go for....

lavender cupcakes

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Put the sugar and the lavender flowers in a food processor and process briefly to combine. Tip the lavender sugar into a bowl with the butter and beat together until pale and fluffy.

Beat the eggs into the butter mixture, one at a time, then sift in the flour and fold in. Stir in the milk.

Spoon the mixture into the paper liners. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18 minutes, until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

to decorate
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 egg white
lilac food coloring
12 sprigs of fresh lavender
To decorate, gradually beat the sugar into the egg white in a bowl, then add a few drops of food coloring and stir to achieve a lavender color frosting. Spoon the frosting over the cupcakes, then top each one with a sprig of fresh lavender. Let set before serving

recipe found here.

all pics from weheartit.

better late than never.

so, i know its been a while since i got back from florida, but i finally sat down and took pics of what i did. here are just a few snippets.

i wish i had drawn more, but its just one of those things where we were always either on the go when i saw something worth drawing, or i didnt have my stuff with me. haha. but im still glad i did what i did. : )

going local in wmt.

today was farmers market day! so we all went down and looked around at all the fresh local foods and other things. i love going to the farmers market here, because there are so many interesting people walking around. i wish it wasnt wierd to take pictures of strangers, because i would have loved to take pics of them to show you guys! haha : )

Girls Night.

so, after a very long and stressful day, i was instructed by my bestie to “go get some ice cream. do something nice for yourself!” soooo, this is what i did.

1.bridget jones

2.mona lisa smile

3.tea

4.ice cream with too many sprinkles

5.marshmallows

6.monkey munch

7.chocolates

sunset of my summer.

this is the sunset from our house.

love.

'laxing by the lake

jenna and i spent the other afternoon at the lake catching some rays and enjoying the freezing cold water. i brought along my journal and drew some little things. i love just laying around in the sun. its so refreshing.

and we tanned, and fed the duckies {you arent supposed to but it is just way too tempting}

jenna's a cutie. haha, we have fun together when we arent bickering about unimportant shenanigans. haha, and we also enjoy fun conversations about cute boys, and planning dream choir tours across the country.... oh these long montana days! :)

happy saturday everyone! hope its filled with good friends and lots of sunshine!