Here's another post from the poetic Ann Voskamp. Come to think of it, I think her metaphors speak to me more than the writing itself.
Mondays are good days for pondering. And the recent events in Japan leave much to ponder.
And just in case you feel totally disconnected from an earthquake halfway across the world, Laura's post brings things a little closer to home. We're glad you are safe, Laura!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Daily prayers
Well, folks, I did go ahead and add the Daily Prayers tab, as you may or may not have noticed. But I clearly know virtually nothing about blog design. I managed to create a separate tab/page, but it seems that I cannot add daily posts to that page. I can only create one post to edit day by day. Anyone know if it is possible to post to two separate pages and how to accomplish that little feat? Thanks, friends!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Link love
A while ago, I mentioned that I would really like to find a blog with a focus on gardening that has a format similar to a blog about design. Well, my sweet friend Kaylie sent me a link to a blog that pretty much fits the bill. And it's even written by another Okie! The blog is Aura Joon, and while her blog is most definitely not just about gardening, there are several posts about gardening under a gardening tab (and I enjoy all of her other posts). I can't really say that I learned more than a few tidbits of information about gardening, but her blog is a pleasure to read and to look at. She takes some really beautiful pictures and posts a few artsy/design things as well. In fact, one of her posts inspired me to do a little hunting and gathering on my walk with Eddie yesterday so that I wound up with this lovely, simple little arrangement.
One of these stems was from a wooded lot. Please don't ask about the other two. :)
I would definitely recommend Aura Joon's blog to pretty much everyone who checks in here (especially you, Sparky!). Her worldview is a little on the mystical side, but she always expresses a love for nature, life, and family that is truly infectious. Good times.
Through Aura Joon's blog, I found another food blog I am excited about as well, also with beautiful photos. Whole Family Fare lists simple (although occasionally time-consuming) recipes with just a few natural (not processed) ingredients. I wish I knew more about cooking this way, and I already have a few recipes picked out to try this week. I'll let you know how they go, whether you want to or not! Haha. Of course, it seems about right that the author of this blog has not posted a new recipe since I found it a couple of weeks ago, but I'm optimistic that she'll start back up again at some point. In the meantime, I can comb through the recipes she already has.
Speaking of updating you on recipes, I made the South Street Inn cookies last night. They turned out well but not as phenomenal as I remember. I think that means more tinkering is required. :) I did use a mix of wheat and regular flour, but I don't think that changed the flavor too much. And I need to get better about judging when a cookie is done. By the time they look done to me, after they cool off on the counter they are usually a tad overdone. Anyone have any tried and true methods for judging the "doneness" of a cookie?
Finally, dear friends, Lent starts tomorrow. I'm still thinking about (okay procrastinating on deciding) how to spend the 40+ days leading up to Easter contemplating the cross. One thing I am considering starting tomorrow is posting a daily prayer (under a separate tab) from Prayers of an Excellent Wife by Andrew Case. I believe there are 365 prayers, all of which are adapted from scripture. You can download the book for free here. If you would like to check in each morning and add each prayer to your prayer time for your husband, that would be lovely. Really, though, these prayers can be adapted for anyone the Lord lays on your heart--friend, family member, yourself.
While I would really like to use Lent to prepare my heart to focus on the true weight of Easter, I am also considering making a few other unrelated changes. One of them is giving up, or at least severely cutting down on, sugar. Scary, but this is really just a change that I should make for me. Because anyone who eats three bags of Cadbury mini eggs in one week might just have a *slight* problem.
And for anyone thinking about tackling Spring cleaning, I also came across this link this morning. If anyone needs/wants a little motivation and accountability in that area, this is the project for you. Five weeks, five hotspots. The first week is already underway and the hot spot is your bedroom closet. I might play along with this one too.
Think that's enough for one post? Me too. Hope something in here was useful to you!
One of these stems was from a wooded lot. Please don't ask about the other two. :)
I would definitely recommend Aura Joon's blog to pretty much everyone who checks in here (especially you, Sparky!). Her worldview is a little on the mystical side, but she always expresses a love for nature, life, and family that is truly infectious. Good times.
Through Aura Joon's blog, I found another food blog I am excited about as well, also with beautiful photos. Whole Family Fare lists simple (although occasionally time-consuming) recipes with just a few natural (not processed) ingredients. I wish I knew more about cooking this way, and I already have a few recipes picked out to try this week. I'll let you know how they go, whether you want to or not! Haha. Of course, it seems about right that the author of this blog has not posted a new recipe since I found it a couple of weeks ago, but I'm optimistic that she'll start back up again at some point. In the meantime, I can comb through the recipes she already has.
Speaking of updating you on recipes, I made the South Street Inn cookies last night. They turned out well but not as phenomenal as I remember. I think that means more tinkering is required. :) I did use a mix of wheat and regular flour, but I don't think that changed the flavor too much. And I need to get better about judging when a cookie is done. By the time they look done to me, after they cool off on the counter they are usually a tad overdone. Anyone have any tried and true methods for judging the "doneness" of a cookie?
Finally, dear friends, Lent starts tomorrow. I'm still thinking about (okay procrastinating on deciding) how to spend the 40+ days leading up to Easter contemplating the cross. One thing I am considering starting tomorrow is posting a daily prayer (under a separate tab) from Prayers of an Excellent Wife by Andrew Case. I believe there are 365 prayers, all of which are adapted from scripture. You can download the book for free here. If you would like to check in each morning and add each prayer to your prayer time for your husband, that would be lovely. Really, though, these prayers can be adapted for anyone the Lord lays on your heart--friend, family member, yourself.
While I would really like to use Lent to prepare my heart to focus on the true weight of Easter, I am also considering making a few other unrelated changes. One of them is giving up, or at least severely cutting down on, sugar. Scary, but this is really just a change that I should make for me. Because anyone who eats three bags of Cadbury mini eggs in one week might just have a *slight* problem.
And for anyone thinking about tackling Spring cleaning, I also came across this link this morning. If anyone needs/wants a little motivation and accountability in that area, this is the project for you. Five weeks, five hotspots. The first week is already underway and the hot spot is your bedroom closet. I might play along with this one too.
Think that's enough for one post? Me too. Hope something in here was useful to you!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Resolution updates: #3
My third resolution was to plan this year's garden before it was too late to put anything in the ground. And I have to say, while I am slightly behind the curve on a few crops, for the most part the planning is coming along pretty well! And I haven't even broken out into hives yet.
I started my planning by doing two things. First, I bought a gardening book from Lowe's that gives details on sowing, growing, and harvesting individual crops. Second, after two years of dragging my feet, I took advantage of a free soil sample test from our local Cooperative Extension office, which will let me know whether our soil is neutral, alkaline, or acidic so I will know what to add to amend it. The results won't be in for another week or two, but I'm glad to know that we won't just be throwing money into our garden without any idea of whether we are actually doing it any good. I also recently learned that most cities have a facility where residents can pick up free compost. I'll have to look into that pretty soon, because that would certainly save a nice chunk of change as well.
To decide which new crops to add to our garden this year, I combed through all the veggies mentioned in the book I bought for ideas. The book gave me several good tips on what would or would not withstand Southern summers as well as what to plant when. For example, I learned that I had missed the boat on planting garlic, because it takes 9 months to harvest and should be planted in the Fall. Oops.
So now it was time to map out our garden. Among the many happy little finds we stumbled across in Charlottesville, one of them was a magazine's mention of gardeners.com. This website offers both pre-planned garden maps and a tool for mapping out your own design. This was a huge help for me. Not only does this feature clearly identify how many seeds or plants should be planted in one square foot area, it also provides tips and dates for planting. After using this website, our planning was pretty much complete. We knew what we wanted to plant and what we had room for, and we also knew which plants we wouldn't be able to grow from seed because of lack of time.
Now the weeds have been tilled out of our poor neglected garden plot, and we have a few plants and seeds ready to go in the ground. Consider this your before picture. :) Eddie and Lily are happy to model this soon-to-be-filled space for you.
Where's the catnip?
I started my planning by doing two things. First, I bought a gardening book from Lowe's that gives details on sowing, growing, and harvesting individual crops. Second, after two years of dragging my feet, I took advantage of a free soil sample test from our local Cooperative Extension office, which will let me know whether our soil is neutral, alkaline, or acidic so I will know what to add to amend it. The results won't be in for another week or two, but I'm glad to know that we won't just be throwing money into our garden without any idea of whether we are actually doing it any good. I also recently learned that most cities have a facility where residents can pick up free compost. I'll have to look into that pretty soon, because that would certainly save a nice chunk of change as well.
To decide which new crops to add to our garden this year, I combed through all the veggies mentioned in the book I bought for ideas. The book gave me several good tips on what would or would not withstand Southern summers as well as what to plant when. For example, I learned that I had missed the boat on planting garlic, because it takes 9 months to harvest and should be planted in the Fall. Oops.
So now it was time to map out our garden. Among the many happy little finds we stumbled across in Charlottesville, one of them was a magazine's mention of gardeners.com. This website offers both pre-planned garden maps and a tool for mapping out your own design. This was a huge help for me. Not only does this feature clearly identify how many seeds or plants should be planted in one square foot area, it also provides tips and dates for planting. After using this website, our planning was pretty much complete. We knew what we wanted to plant and what we had room for, and we also knew which plants we wouldn't be able to grow from seed because of lack of time.
Now the weeds have been tilled out of our poor neglected garden plot, and we have a few plants and seeds ready to go in the ground. Consider this your before picture. :) Eddie and Lily are happy to model this soon-to-be-filled space for you.
Where's the catnip?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
On waiting
I have been feeling like there should be an update on the "Operation Family" front. While I wish I could announce good news, well, I am still waiting on that day.
I found out today that a friend of mine is going through a second miscarriage, and doctors are telling her that she will need to undergo genetic testing and may never be able to have a family. This news makes me almost as sad as if it were my own, perhaps because there's no way to know if it may one day be my own. At least at this point I can still tell myself, "One of these days." I can't imagine being surrounded by all things baby day in and day out with the knowledge that there may never be a day when you finally get to share in that.
I know this struggle can be hard to understand if you have never personally dealt with it. I know it might be easy to think nothing of or to wonder, "What's the big deal? It's only been a year. You still have time," especially if starting a family isn't even yet on your radar. I was trying to explain this to a friend the other day and thought I would post some of my thoughts here.
Part of the struggle is feeling more helpless than I have ever felt in my life. I constantly have to dismiss this fleeting feeling that I should be able to look something up on the Internet or have Justin come home and tell me that I'm pregnant, like it can be that easy. Or like I can have any control over it at all. But, obviously, I can't. And every time that two-week period rolls around where I am waiting to see if, just maybe, our waiting has come to an end, it is two weeks of analyzing every little feeling in my body. I try to turn it off, but I can't. It is two weeks of mind games and trying to rest in God's sovereignty and timing. And then I find out that it will be another 40 days of waiting, most likely followed by more waiting. And then all my unfounded and unwanted optimism comes crashing down to finish the latest rollercoaster ride. And through it all I plead with God that he would be enough for me. And every time I feel like I fail him when my emotions betray that he is not.
I have never been one to worry obsessively and sit around pondering what ifs. And that is a blessing in this case because several what ifs drift to mind every now and then. What if something is wrong with my body and if/when I finally do get pregnant I have another miscarriage? What if it's a problem that can't be fixed? What if getting pregnant is a struggle every time? Can we have as many kids as we would like to have? Can we have any kids at all? It is hard not to look ahead to the future.
I know that in the grand scheme of things, the wait to this point hasn't been "that long." And despite not dwelling on what ifs, the idea of them still makes the wait seem even longer because there are too many unknown tomorrows. I know that one day, when this period of waiting is past, I will have perspective, and this season will no longer feel so long, but that day is not today. All I can do is pray that it comes quickly and keep pleading with God to be enough.
And he is enough, dear friends, whatever you may be struggling with or waiting on. And he can use our struggles in amazing and mighty ways, beyond anything we could ever imagine. But the waiting is hard. Laying down our emotions day by day and sometimes minute by minute to believe that God has our best interests and concern for our holiness and happiness at heart is hard. But it is the only thing worth clinging to--in the trying times and in the good times.
When the good times come, let us not forget.
I found out today that a friend of mine is going through a second miscarriage, and doctors are telling her that she will need to undergo genetic testing and may never be able to have a family. This news makes me almost as sad as if it were my own, perhaps because there's no way to know if it may one day be my own. At least at this point I can still tell myself, "One of these days." I can't imagine being surrounded by all things baby day in and day out with the knowledge that there may never be a day when you finally get to share in that.
I know this struggle can be hard to understand if you have never personally dealt with it. I know it might be easy to think nothing of or to wonder, "What's the big deal? It's only been a year. You still have time," especially if starting a family isn't even yet on your radar. I was trying to explain this to a friend the other day and thought I would post some of my thoughts here.
Part of the struggle is feeling more helpless than I have ever felt in my life. I constantly have to dismiss this fleeting feeling that I should be able to look something up on the Internet or have Justin come home and tell me that I'm pregnant, like it can be that easy. Or like I can have any control over it at all. But, obviously, I can't. And every time that two-week period rolls around where I am waiting to see if, just maybe, our waiting has come to an end, it is two weeks of analyzing every little feeling in my body. I try to turn it off, but I can't. It is two weeks of mind games and trying to rest in God's sovereignty and timing. And then I find out that it will be another 40 days of waiting, most likely followed by more waiting. And then all my unfounded and unwanted optimism comes crashing down to finish the latest rollercoaster ride. And through it all I plead with God that he would be enough for me. And every time I feel like I fail him when my emotions betray that he is not.
I have never been one to worry obsessively and sit around pondering what ifs. And that is a blessing in this case because several what ifs drift to mind every now and then. What if something is wrong with my body and if/when I finally do get pregnant I have another miscarriage? What if it's a problem that can't be fixed? What if getting pregnant is a struggle every time? Can we have as many kids as we would like to have? Can we have any kids at all? It is hard not to look ahead to the future.
I know that in the grand scheme of things, the wait to this point hasn't been "that long." And despite not dwelling on what ifs, the idea of them still makes the wait seem even longer because there are too many unknown tomorrows. I know that one day, when this period of waiting is past, I will have perspective, and this season will no longer feel so long, but that day is not today. All I can do is pray that it comes quickly and keep pleading with God to be enough.
And he is enough, dear friends, whatever you may be struggling with or waiting on. And he can use our struggles in amazing and mighty ways, beyond anything we could ever imagine. But the waiting is hard. Laying down our emotions day by day and sometimes minute by minute to believe that God has our best interests and concern for our holiness and happiness at heart is hard. But it is the only thing worth clinging to--in the trying times and in the good times.
When the good times come, let us not forget.
Monthly wallpaper calendars
http://www.challies.com/resources/free-desktop-wallpaper-calendars-march-2011
Justin and I have been using these on our laptops for a few months now. I love the variety of designs, the focus on certain aspects of each month, and the calendar can be pretty handy too.
Take a look. I expect you'll find something you like!
Justin and I have been using these on our laptops for a few months now. I love the variety of designs, the focus on certain aspects of each month, and the calendar can be pretty handy too.
Take a look. I expect you'll find something you like!
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