Recipes

I find just the cover of this notebook inspiring. What wonders could I come up with to put inside of it?!

say thank you

"When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow." ~ Shauna Niequist

Good News

Hi friends and family!

Thanks for the calls, comments, emails, prayers and good vibes.

As you may have noticed, July was not my favorite. I tried not to let my bummer-attitude leak into the blog, but it may have snuck in anyway. Bummer attitudes are sneaky like that.

August, however, already has July beat, and its only the 4th.

First good news: I got a job! I got a phone call last Friday, which set up a dinner meeting/interview for Monday, by the end of the interview I had a job offer, we shook on it, and I started Tuesday. Just like that.

Second good news: Mom is starting to recover and feel better. I didn't mean to be all dramatic and cryptic before... So let me be a little more straightforward this time: Mom broke her arm really bad - like, completely broke through the big bone in her upper left arm and fractured the shoulder joint and had to have surgery and thet put pins in her arm and she could barely move. She has lots of people around her to take good care of her, the surgery went as well as it could have and she is starting to feel a lot better. I still wish I could be there to take care of her, but I'm grateful that she is recovering and that she is surrounded by so much help and love.

Third good news: I made friends! I am reconnecting with old friends, meeting some new ones, and in just a few days time I went from having nobody to hang out with to having lunch plans and craft buddies and shopping partners. I couldn't be more grateful and happy.

So thanks for the love my dear and darling friends. Thank you so very much.

Things are definitely looking up.

Get out and swim

Life is Fun

And don't you forget it.

Love Life

"Love life, engage in it, give it all you've got... because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it." Maya Angelou

Life is short.

Life is Art

SO true.

And all the way home

Commitment Is Liberating

Let me start by acknowledging that I've been married for a whole big solid two months now. I am infantile in the ways of the eternal relationship. My husband and I have shared a few raised eyebrows over who makes the bed in the morning, but we have not born children together, faced illness, conquered great trials or risen to heights that we never thought possible. Those things will come, I have no doubt, but for now our relationship is founded mostly on hope and faith. Faith in each other, faith that we made the right choice, and faith that God will see us through. Hope for our future, hope that we will rise to the occasion and hope that the changes we experience will be changes for the better.

Sometimes people ask me how I like being married. I enjoy it.

Sometimes people ask me if its been a big adjustment. I suppose it has, though it was an adjustment that I was ready for.

I was reading an article today, however, that encourages men to stop "hanging out" and start dating more. One of the arguments that the author made was that commitment is liberating. The ability to forego transitory flexibility and to focus on the person or the task at hand allows you enormous freedom and an increase of capacity. This sentiment rings true for me.

That is the biggest difference that I feel being married. There is a stability and a profound sense of peace that is not confining, as you might expect, but liberating. There is a foundation of trust and love that expands and broadens my life rather than limiting it.

Commitment is liberating. That's how I feel about marriage.

So here we are at the very beginning. And on we go...

Get Busy Living

Since when do you need a manual for this?!? Just GO!

Births and Weddings

I feel like I'm surrounded by births and weddings right now. Everywhere I look... babies and engagements. I've never experienced this sensation before.

Life, life, life. 

The plan is working!

Too Important

Life is art

Don't act it, or show it - just do it.

Oh Selvedge Yard... You are a blog from a bygone era.

This Selvedge Yard post about James Dean hit home for me today.

To quote:

"I love that story.  It’s like, don’t go through the motions like you’re doing something– actually do it.  How you live, move and breathe should be natural.  Speaking for myself– so many times in life, it’s like we’re so busy planning out our routines instead of encountering life naturally.  Not that all planning is bad, but we’re focused on the efficiency, convenience, routine all the time- and also how the world sees us.  What should I say?   What should I wear?   What will people think of me?  Blah, blah, blah.  And life becomes stale.  It becomes predictable.  It can become this sad little trap that ultimately is the end to all means. We stop anticipating or welcoming anything unplanned, different, or unexpected because we wouldn’t know what to do with it.  Where would I fit this into my neat little plan?

I wonder sometimes what I’m missing out on in life because I don’t want to be inconvenienced.  Because I don’t want to take my eyes off the hamster wheel under my feet and look up.  Stop planning and analyzing everything to death– just do it."