It was like a grown up tree house. The bed was tucked in a corner that sported three windows looking out into nothing but trees, trees, trees. And I got to sleep in that cozy little bed and let the sun creep up and wake me up, slowly, quietly...

...just kidding. I was actually woken up by my sisters screaming at each other (I think they were arguing over who had to fold the blankets, but I'm not entirely sure; I was too bleary-eyed). Aren't family vacations just the best?!

But in all honesty, this week was absolutely wonderful. I don't even know where to start!

In the mornings, I would trample through the spongy, pine-needle-covered floor of the woods river to journal and read my bible. One morning, I accidentally startled a deer. After she ran an appropriate distance away, we stared at each other for a full minute and it was all sorts of magical. But then, to retaliate the dreamy Bambi moment, there was a snake coiled up right outside our cabin--just to make sure I didn't get too comfortable with living in the forest, of course. Darn it.

I finally understood how air can smell sweet. It's not a figure of speech--it really, truly does smell sweet, especially by a cold, misty river in the dusk. I wish I could bottle the scent right up. I fell in love with the way the trees went on for miles, even if it did make me feel a little claustrophobic at times. It's comforting in a way to know that there's nothing except nature and a few quiet park buildings for miles around. 

There was kayaking (quite literally a dream come true--I could've stayed out on that water forever), horseback riding (it felt good to get back in the saddle--it'd been way too long), and winding mountain roads (the best). There were copious amounts of snowcone-eating, scrabble-playing, storm-hiding, and snake-avoiding. There were walks down to gloriously misty rivers in the dark and one day I opened all the windows in the tree-house-bedroom during a thunderstorm (which made ACT studying so much easier). Throw in a few brutally humid days and some sibling squabbles for good measure and you just have some plain good livin'. 

When you step back from it all and stop over analyzing, it's a darn good life, it really is.