It's officially the day after Thanksgiving, which makes it the perfect time to switch to my Christmas blog layout. :)
Now off to bed...tomorrow we set up our Christmas tree!
Honig Kuchen (Honey Cookies)
1 hour ago
Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wishing and Hoping
I have to leave this Autumn theme up until at least the day after Thanksgiving! :) I have seen so much Christmas stuff in the last few weeks that my head is spinning. It's still too early for Christmas decorations, in my opinion. Feels like folks just want to skip over Thanksgiving and get right to the presents! As for me and my house...we'll keep relishing the golds, reds, and oranges of Autumn all the way through Thanksgiving! But the day after Thanksgiving...it'll be "beginning to look a lot like Christmas" in my house!
I am settling into the early nights of Winter. This is the time of the year where I do a lot of reflection, not only on the past, but what I want for the future. My life is going in a new, exciting direction - and now is the time I need to place myself completely in God's hands, and to surround myself with His guidance. 2010 will be the year of crossroads for me. The year where my life changes. There is nothing wrong with my life now, but it is time to move in different directions in many areas of my life. Please keep me in prayer!
Mark and I had a lovely time in Lancaster this past weekend. We went up yesterday and came back today. We ate at Shady Maple, which I always love, because I can get some real homestyle cooking there! Harvard beets and the boiled cabbage are my favorites, I have to admit! They even had red velvet cake last night, so how could I pass that up? :) Lancaster shows me a different way of life - a busy, and yet slower, way of life and of thinking. God, family, hard work, and simplicity define the life of the Amish and others who live in Lancaster.
For 2010, I pray my life embodies those four things.
I am settling into the early nights of Winter. This is the time of the year where I do a lot of reflection, not only on the past, but what I want for the future. My life is going in a new, exciting direction - and now is the time I need to place myself completely in God's hands, and to surround myself with His guidance. 2010 will be the year of crossroads for me. The year where my life changes. There is nothing wrong with my life now, but it is time to move in different directions in many areas of my life. Please keep me in prayer!
Mark and I had a lovely time in Lancaster this past weekend. We went up yesterday and came back today. We ate at Shady Maple, which I always love, because I can get some real homestyle cooking there! Harvard beets and the boiled cabbage are my favorites, I have to admit! They even had red velvet cake last night, so how could I pass that up? :) Lancaster shows me a different way of life - a busy, and yet slower, way of life and of thinking. God, family, hard work, and simplicity define the life of the Amish and others who live in Lancaster.
For 2010, I pray my life embodies those four things.
Monday, October 19, 2009
A need to be still
I am still here! :)
And I've been running off at the mouth in certain areas of my life, when I know I shouldn't be. I've lost focus, and it is affecting my life in some negative ways.
God tells us to be still, and know He is God.
It is time for me to stop trying to be the one in control. I'm not so good at it, anyway. LOL. :)
More tomorrow. For now, I will settle for the night. Reading the Bible, prayer, and bed.
And I've been running off at the mouth in certain areas of my life, when I know I shouldn't be. I've lost focus, and it is affecting my life in some negative ways.
God tells us to be still, and know He is God.
It is time for me to stop trying to be the one in control. I'm not so good at it, anyway. LOL. :)
More tomorrow. For now, I will settle for the night. Reading the Bible, prayer, and bed.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
New
I found myself close to tears last night.
My quilting class was scheduled for today from 10am-4pm. Last night, my newness to this whole endeavor caught up to me. My fingers fumbled, my mind jumbled - and I had to admit, that yes, I was expecting too much too soon from myself. To go from never using a sewing machine to quilter in 10 days is not a fair, or kind, way to introduce myself to this new skill.
So, I decided to withdraw myself from the class today, and give myself more time to become comfortable with sewing on my machine, and rotary cutting. I have successfully done the nine square pattern with help, and have decided to continue working on simple projects such as that on my own. The quilting will come. Once again, the baby steps are both soothing and satisfying.
I have my QuickMix station playing on Pandora right now, which is the mix of my Casting Crowns, Point of Grace, Steven Curtis Chapman, Twila Paris, and Francesca Battistelli stations. Francesca Battistelli is a wonderful newer artist - she has a song, "Free to be Me" that I love so much. It's a great, upbeat pop song that reminds me that God wants to use me no matter my age or circumstance.
I've also been learning I need to mix it up a little bit. I am pretty steady and true when it come to my likes and dislikes. So much so that I am constantly in danger of being bored and stuck in a rut. One area where I see this the most is in the choice of books I read. I am very devoted to my Amish fiction. And while I still love it, I have decided to add more mysteries, more contemporary fiction. I am hoping this small change (there go those baby steps again!) will breathe new air into my imagination. You should see how many books I have reserved at the library. Around 25! Luckily, I picked some popular ones that had various numbers of people ahead of me on the list, so I 2-3 new books should trickle in for me every week or so. A sampling?
Tangy Tart Hot Sweet (cookbook)
Unaccustomed Earth
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The book I am most looking forward to reading?
Stitched in Time - Memory Keeping Projects from the Creator of Posie Gets Cozy
side note: If you have never been to Posie Gets Cozy, you must!
And I must go get some breakfast. My stomach is not pleased with me right now! 12:40pm and I haven't eaten anything yet today. Oops!
My quilting class was scheduled for today from 10am-4pm. Last night, my newness to this whole endeavor caught up to me. My fingers fumbled, my mind jumbled - and I had to admit, that yes, I was expecting too much too soon from myself. To go from never using a sewing machine to quilter in 10 days is not a fair, or kind, way to introduce myself to this new skill.
So, I decided to withdraw myself from the class today, and give myself more time to become comfortable with sewing on my machine, and rotary cutting. I have successfully done the nine square pattern with help, and have decided to continue working on simple projects such as that on my own. The quilting will come. Once again, the baby steps are both soothing and satisfying.
I have my QuickMix station playing on Pandora right now, which is the mix of my Casting Crowns, Point of Grace, Steven Curtis Chapman, Twila Paris, and Francesca Battistelli stations. Francesca Battistelli is a wonderful newer artist - she has a song, "Free to be Me" that I love so much. It's a great, upbeat pop song that reminds me that God wants to use me no matter my age or circumstance.
I've also been learning I need to mix it up a little bit. I am pretty steady and true when it come to my likes and dislikes. So much so that I am constantly in danger of being bored and stuck in a rut. One area where I see this the most is in the choice of books I read. I am very devoted to my Amish fiction. And while I still love it, I have decided to add more mysteries, more contemporary fiction. I am hoping this small change (there go those baby steps again!) will breathe new air into my imagination. You should see how many books I have reserved at the library. Around 25! Luckily, I picked some popular ones that had various numbers of people ahead of me on the list, so I 2-3 new books should trickle in for me every week or so. A sampling?
Tangy Tart Hot Sweet (cookbook)
Unaccustomed Earth
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The book I am most looking forward to reading?
Stitched in Time - Memory Keeping Projects from the Creator of Posie Gets Cozy
side note: If you have never been to Posie Gets Cozy, you must!
And I must go get some breakfast. My stomach is not pleased with me right now! 12:40pm and I haven't eaten anything yet today. Oops!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Living Life in more than 140 words
It's a nasty 87 degrees outside right now, but I am comfy in my 65 degree townhouse. It's grey outside, the reminder of the past 5 days of thunderstorms. It feels like a grey November morning, and I love it.
I am hanging out in my new favorite comfort clothes - black yoga pants, white tank top, dark grey thin cotton v-neck hoodie. Perfect for those grey November days in August. Gotta love a man who likes to keep the house as cold as you do. Made whole wheat pancakes, sausage links, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was in charge of the pancakes, Mark made the sausages and eggs. We're quite the team, we ended up plating our food at the same time.
A very tender moment while cooking - I looked over and my husband and just loved him. I wouldn't allow any background thought or emotion into my head or heart while I looked at him. Just love. And I couldn't help myself, I had to hug him. The smells of our breakfast cooking wrapped us in a homey blanket and I felt nothing but love, comfort, tenderness, and our embrace. Life the way I deserve it.
After that hearty breakfast, I came on here to toy around a bit. Deleted some old, added some new. Brewed a delicious cup of Creme of Earl Grey tea. I am curled up on the love-seat, baseball on TV, husband napping on the sofa, dishwasher humming away. Not bad for a lazy Sunday.
Our big goal today is to rework our budget. Is is possible to do that snuggled under our down comforter? There's really no place I'd rather be right now than there.
I've pretty much given up on Twitter and Facebook. I want more out of my writing than what they can give. I see many of my friends have abandoned their once meaty journals for those small bites of life. It's sad, really.
I am hanging out in my new favorite comfort clothes - black yoga pants, white tank top, dark grey thin cotton v-neck hoodie. Perfect for those grey November days in August. Gotta love a man who likes to keep the house as cold as you do. Made whole wheat pancakes, sausage links, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was in charge of the pancakes, Mark made the sausages and eggs. We're quite the team, we ended up plating our food at the same time.
A very tender moment while cooking - I looked over and my husband and just loved him. I wouldn't allow any background thought or emotion into my head or heart while I looked at him. Just love. And I couldn't help myself, I had to hug him. The smells of our breakfast cooking wrapped us in a homey blanket and I felt nothing but love, comfort, tenderness, and our embrace. Life the way I deserve it.
After that hearty breakfast, I came on here to toy around a bit. Deleted some old, added some new. Brewed a delicious cup of Creme of Earl Grey tea. I am curled up on the love-seat, baseball on TV, husband napping on the sofa, dishwasher humming away. Not bad for a lazy Sunday.
Our big goal today is to rework our budget. Is is possible to do that snuggled under our down comforter? There's really no place I'd rather be right now than there.
I've pretty much given up on Twitter and Facebook. I want more out of my writing than what they can give. I see many of my friends have abandoned their once meaty journals for those small bites of life. It's sad, really.
Becoming Mary
The tea kettle whistle blows here 4-5 times a day.
It's heaven. It's home.
It has been a while since I have really written in here. That's okay though, because I had things that needed tending to. As many of you know, before Mark and I married, our pastor required 6-8 sessions of pre-marital counseling, his standard practice for marrying any couple. To this day, 14 months after we were married, we still go. I suppose we have to call it marital counseling now, but it is preventative, and so amazingly worth the time and expense. I get so much out of our sessions, it is amazing to learn that things aren't always how you see them.
As an off-shoot of those sessions, I began my own private sessions in January. Again, so worth the time and expense. I have been learning, growing, and pruning - letting go of toxic behaviors has been the hardest part. Understanding why those behaviors were there in the first place has been liberating.
Owning who I am after 32 years is indescribable. Admitting that I want things - truly, truly have dreams that are worthy of pursuing - is still such a new experience for me that I stumble across the sky and start to fall just trying to catch up to them. A familiar hand always reaches out to me, to pull me in the direction of my dreams. Mark has been such an amazing support these last few months. He always has been, but the difference now is that I accept and feel good about his support. He believes in me. And now I begin to believe in myself.
I took my first sewing class last Tuesday, and I was petrified. I almost skipped out on it. I am so glad I held onto that dream and went. I had so much fun! And using my sewing machine is much easier than I thought it would be. I have a quilting class next Saturday, and although that little knot of anxiety is still there, I will not let it get the best of me ever again. It has been a dream of mine to quilt. And I am beginning to live that dream.
I've begun to live many dreams in the last few months. Among them...
*Canning and Preserving
*Switching out our chemical cleansers for more frugal and environmentally friendly cleaners. Hint: vinegar, baking soda, and soap nuts are my new best friends!
*Identifying what my goals and dreams actually are. (This is bigger than it sounds!)
*The Art of Tea (blending, mixing, health benefits)
*Becoming more financially honest - honoring the money I make, saving, investing, and really enjoying the feeling of spending money on something that truly honors who I am. (Quilting supplies aren't cheap, and I have not regretted one penny spent on them!)
*Restorative Exercise, especially yoga and stretching.
I still have a house full of clutter and things that do not represent me or help me in any way towards who I am or how I want to live. But instead of feeling angry and anxious, I am calm. Baby steps are better than no steps, and certainly better than running head first into nowhere.
I do have a book recommendation.
A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson.
I checked this book out of the library three different times, and even after the third time reading it through, could not put it down. That's when I decided I would definitely be honoring myself by forking over the $11 for it on Amazon. And that's where this entry ends, because I see that book on my night stand, and have an overwhelming urge to find myself in it again.
It's heaven. It's home.
It has been a while since I have really written in here. That's okay though, because I had things that needed tending to. As many of you know, before Mark and I married, our pastor required 6-8 sessions of pre-marital counseling, his standard practice for marrying any couple. To this day, 14 months after we were married, we still go. I suppose we have to call it marital counseling now, but it is preventative, and so amazingly worth the time and expense. I get so much out of our sessions, it is amazing to learn that things aren't always how you see them.
As an off-shoot of those sessions, I began my own private sessions in January. Again, so worth the time and expense. I have been learning, growing, and pruning - letting go of toxic behaviors has been the hardest part. Understanding why those behaviors were there in the first place has been liberating.
Owning who I am after 32 years is indescribable. Admitting that I want things - truly, truly have dreams that are worthy of pursuing - is still such a new experience for me that I stumble across the sky and start to fall just trying to catch up to them. A familiar hand always reaches out to me, to pull me in the direction of my dreams. Mark has been such an amazing support these last few months. He always has been, but the difference now is that I accept and feel good about his support. He believes in me. And now I begin to believe in myself.
I took my first sewing class last Tuesday, and I was petrified. I almost skipped out on it. I am so glad I held onto that dream and went. I had so much fun! And using my sewing machine is much easier than I thought it would be. I have a quilting class next Saturday, and although that little knot of anxiety is still there, I will not let it get the best of me ever again. It has been a dream of mine to quilt. And I am beginning to live that dream.
I've begun to live many dreams in the last few months. Among them...
*Canning and Preserving
*Switching out our chemical cleansers for more frugal and environmentally friendly cleaners. Hint: vinegar, baking soda, and soap nuts are my new best friends!
*Identifying what my goals and dreams actually are. (This is bigger than it sounds!)
*The Art of Tea (blending, mixing, health benefits)
*Becoming more financially honest - honoring the money I make, saving, investing, and really enjoying the feeling of spending money on something that truly honors who I am. (Quilting supplies aren't cheap, and I have not regretted one penny spent on them!)
*Restorative Exercise, especially yoga and stretching.
I still have a house full of clutter and things that do not represent me or help me in any way towards who I am or how I want to live. But instead of feeling angry and anxious, I am calm. Baby steps are better than no steps, and certainly better than running head first into nowhere.
I do have a book recommendation.
A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson.
I checked this book out of the library three different times, and even after the third time reading it through, could not put it down. That's when I decided I would definitely be honoring myself by forking over the $11 for it on Amazon. And that's where this entry ends, because I see that book on my night stand, and have an overwhelming urge to find myself in it again.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Anxiously Awaiting Autumn
I am in the middle of the Dog Days of Summer. It's mid-August, and the 90 degree days have finally arrived. Nothing takes my mind off the heat like the promise of Autumn.
Get ready for...
Pumpkins and mums on the porch!
My town's annual Fall Festival! Funnel cake, we shall meet again soon!
More pumpkins, joined by gourds and Indian corn!
Delicious scones, one flavored with cinnamon chips, the other cranberries and orange.
Warming my home with the lovely colors of Autumn. This is our family room fireplace wall in October 2007.
My vacation is 2 days away! I plan to do many things while on vacation, including a romantic little getaway to Lancaster County with my wonderful husband. I will blog more on my vacation plans in the next day or two.
Until then, I savor the new layout of my blog and stare longingly at my cardigans! I look to the time when the days get shorter, the nights get chillier, and the best thing in life is coming home from a chilly Autumn stroll and seeing warm homemade bread and hot apple cider waiting for you.
Dream with me, won't you?
Forgot to add:
This is the outfit I cannot wait to wear! I ordered it last night. :o)
Get ready for...
Pumpkins and mums on the porch!
My town's annual Fall Festival! Funnel cake, we shall meet again soon!
More pumpkins, joined by gourds and Indian corn!
Delicious scones, one flavored with cinnamon chips, the other cranberries and orange.
Warming my home with the lovely colors of Autumn. This is our family room fireplace wall in October 2007.
My vacation is 2 days away! I plan to do many things while on vacation, including a romantic little getaway to Lancaster County with my wonderful husband. I will blog more on my vacation plans in the next day or two.
Until then, I savor the new layout of my blog and stare longingly at my cardigans! I look to the time when the days get shorter, the nights get chillier, and the best thing in life is coming home from a chilly Autumn stroll and seeing warm homemade bread and hot apple cider waiting for you.
Dream with me, won't you?
Forgot to add:
This is the outfit I cannot wait to wear! I ordered it last night. :o)
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