Last year was quite a different story.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
other days
Some days, like yesterday, you have a nasty sinus headache and feel like your life is a total failure. Fortunately, the sun goes down and the searing affliction fades, and with rest your normal work can resume. Other days, the absence of misery puts a spring in your step, and you can tackle your massive organization project with joie de vivre!
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| The North Porch: stuff to save, sell, & salvage |
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| Outside of North Porch... |
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| Fireside Porch inspiration? (wood stove instead of fireplace) |
Saturday, May 4, 2013
splendid to find
“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.
It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
L. M. Montgomery
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| Sarah, Millie, myself, Rachel |
Friday, May 3, 2013
snowatonna
The wild dreamer part of me wonders if someday we will adopt a kid and find out he/she was born during Owatonna's May Day Blizzard of 2013. Kid, if you are out there somewhere, you are INCREDIBLY special!!! I can't wait to meet you.
Yesterday was so surreal. Sure, we got snow on May 1st and put hot chocolate in the May Day baskets we made, and Norah tasted the snow off the swing, sandbox, and slide (a mere three days after we were outside in swimsuits and cooking over the firepit). But in my five years of marriage, the snow has never stopped Brett from going to work - and that includes the crazy DC blizzard in 2010 - and on May 2nd he did try for five hours anyway, to no avail.
Instead of our usual work, we walked through 15" over to Brenda's, put together a puzzle, took pictures and marveled at the fallen branches, made snowcreatures, passed stories of green and gardens on to our children, laughed, went to the National Day of Prayer service, sang about alabaster cities, and ate waffles.
Brett and I went to bed last night thinking, "WOW. Don't want this day to ever end, it'll never come again."
This morning I woke up to more freshly falling snow. It's still a snowglobe out there as I type this, with my hot chocolate and cinnamon roll. Narnia, Groundhog Day, "Don't they know about second winter?" - all the jokes apply. I just revel like Hannah in 1Sam 1:27, " the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him," and I devote this snowy day to Him, as though it were my last.
Yesterday was so surreal. Sure, we got snow on May 1st and put hot chocolate in the May Day baskets we made, and Norah tasted the snow off the swing, sandbox, and slide (a mere three days after we were outside in swimsuits and cooking over the firepit). But in my five years of marriage, the snow has never stopped Brett from going to work - and that includes the crazy DC blizzard in 2010 - and on May 2nd he did try for five hours anyway, to no avail.
Instead of our usual work, we walked through 15" over to Brenda's, put together a puzzle, took pictures and marveled at the fallen branches, made snowcreatures, passed stories of green and gardens on to our children, laughed, went to the National Day of Prayer service, sang about alabaster cities, and ate waffles.
Brett and I went to bed last night thinking, "WOW. Don't want this day to ever end, it'll never come again."
This morning I woke up to more freshly falling snow. It's still a snowglobe out there as I type this, with my hot chocolate and cinnamon roll. Narnia, Groundhog Day, "Don't they know about second winter?" - all the jokes apply. I just revel like Hannah in 1Sam 1:27, " the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him," and I devote this snowy day to Him, as though it were my last.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
the book of life
Today is May Day
...and it's blizzarding.
When we basically had zero snow last winter, I seriously doubted the shortage would ever be remedied, but I'm finally beginning to feel that my hopes are within reach. (I should apply this lesson in other areas. God is not fair but He is just.)
Snow melts, flowers fade, children grow up and fly away. So dig in and savor the good, and know that eternity will last forever and we have been given each moment for a reason. Grieve, hope, rage, laugh, but thank the Maker for this beautiful messy Story.
...and it's blizzarding.
When we basically had zero snow last winter, I seriously doubted the shortage would ever be remedied, but I'm finally beginning to feel that my hopes are within reach. (I should apply this lesson in other areas. God is not fair but He is just.)
Snow melts, flowers fade, children grow up and fly away. So dig in and savor the good, and know that eternity will last forever and we have been given each moment for a reason. Grieve, hope, rage, laugh, but thank the Maker for this beautiful messy Story.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
beat with you
Five days away from my husband and daughter, scrapbooking five years of life together, and we chat on the last day:
R: My heart wants to beat next to yours.
B: I misread that, thought you said your heart wants to be with mine.
R: Pretty much.
...
R: Anything in particular you want to do when I get home?
B: Beat with you.
R: My heart wants to beat next to yours.
B: I misread that, thought you said your heart wants to be with mine.
R: Pretty much.
...
R: Anything in particular you want to do when I get home?
B: Beat with you.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
beauty and the mess
Only a little snow left, patches and puddles. Since two years have transpired since we got our home, and we have only 10 items remaining (five of which are optional) on the 77-item list I typed up that first month, an update is in order.
In December 2012 my sister Abi helped me paint our crumbly, cracked, stained, smudged, and crayon-scribbled EntryWay/DiningRoom. After months of deliberation, the perfect color finally dawned on me: a roasted coffee chocolatey brown. Behold, the transformation:
(Drumroll, please:)
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty stoked. You can still tell that the trim is mid-stripped, exactly the same as it was when we bought the house. We hope to strip and refinish all the trim eventually (one of the five non-optional items left) as well as refinishing all the wood floors which need it pretty bad. Super exciting, and yet so easy to put off indefinitely. Besides, I've got summer gardens and trips and markets and celebrations to keep me busy.
Technically, shouldn't this room be called the Mess Hall? I definitely had to excavate the mess before I took this picture (as you can also see in the 'before' pics). It's also the entryway where coats, boots, bags, mail, and all manner of cast-offs get piled on a daily basis. But I'm open to suggestion, especially if they sound tidier.
“O, how this spring of love resembleth the uncertain glory of an April day”
- Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 3
In December 2012 my sister Abi helped me paint our crumbly, cracked, stained, smudged, and crayon-scribbled EntryWay/DiningRoom. After months of deliberation, the perfect color finally dawned on me: a roasted coffee chocolatey brown. Behold, the transformation:
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| BEFORE - white-ish walls, different furniture |
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| DURING - Abi paints over the color we did not like |
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| ...facing west, only the top edges left. |
.JPG) |
| AFTER |
.JPG) |
| AFTER in regular light |
.JPG) |
| AFTER with enhanced colors |
Technically, shouldn't this room be called the Mess Hall? I definitely had to excavate the mess before I took this picture (as you can also see in the 'before' pics). It's also the entryway where coats, boots, bags, mail, and all manner of cast-offs get piled on a daily basis. But I'm open to suggestion, especially if they sound tidier.
“O, how this spring of love resembleth the uncertain glory of an April day”
- Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 3
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