j: Hello, ss! I didn’t actually take this picture this week, but Chad found it on his phone. It’s from December 2011 when I was shooting pictures for the Love Manifesto video. I thought you’d like it because it has three of your favorite things in it: Me, a camera, and a beach. xo

peace…

jb: This weekend was our annual camping trip with my mom’s group – there were 9 families with 18 kids ranging in age from 6 weeks (!) to 7 years old. I’d just finished reading “Wild” where I happily relived my backpacking days from the comfort of home so I was inspired to consciously pack less (much, much, less – and I didn’t miss a thing!) and relax more. (At least as much as possible with 18 kids that wake up at first light no matter how late you let them stay up roasting marshmallows and counting bats and seeing the moon through a telescope for the first time.) I’ve known these kids their whole lives – some I see daily and some I see once or twice a year. It is so fun to see how much they’ve changed and grown – how big a difference one year makes in their lives, how they reconnect and play differently, how they conquer the same “giant” hill (which gets less giant each year) with their scooters.

As you can imagine there weren’t a lot of peaceful moments, but I captured this one this morning. One of my other favorites was listening to the coyotes howl in the middle of the night and wishing I could join in.