Showing Up on a Friday

Since I sometimes jump on the bandwagon of “Things I’m Loving” on Fridays, I thought it’d be fun to make it fit with this month’s theme.

5 Places I Love Showing Up

1. Home–I love love love coming home.  I love when my little man greets me with a big smile and all sorts of his crazy jumping up and down.  Boaz goes crazy (though, let’s be honest, he loves when anyone comes to the house).  The husband’s there ready with a hug.  My bed is ready for me to crawl into and get cozy.  Home is pretty much one of the best places ever. 

2. Dirt roads–running and walking on dirt roads have been my favorite.  I love showing up there with my shoes on and my phone ready to play music or a podcast.  Showing up to pray and talk to God.  Showing up to take care of my body and push myself to keep running or to listen and slow down to walk

3. A good book–I love setting aside time to read a good book.  Clearly, I’ve been trying to pass on my love for reading to Asher…

4. My journal–I have almost a full shelf of old journals now.  I was given one by someone because they said that good writers often have a journal.  So I started and now I’ve got a lot of them!  They have a mixture of sermon notes, prayers, scripture verses, pictures, and all sorts of random parts about life.  I show up in my rawest form with some intense emotions and write it all out.  I couldn’t find a picture of my journal offhand, but here’s one of my grandma’s journal. 

5. At the airport–I LOVE to travel and showing up at the airport is one of my favorite things.  Take me somewhere new or somewhere old and I’m just happy to board the plane.  I am super excited about our upcoming trip to Africa and to get on that plane (well…a little nervous about the actual flying with a toddler, but the being in Africa as a family–yes, please!).  Here’s a fun picture from my time in Rome!

Friday!

Yikes! This week kind of felt like it was dragging on, but I’m sure glad it’s finally Friday.  I’m ready for a date night, family time, church, and maybe even a few other fun things packed in there.  Oh and guess who is 10 weeks old today!? Asher!  I am like whoa he is already in double digits for weeks.  To celebrate, he oh so kindly has been sleeping 8 hours in a row the last few nights.  I’m a fan of this new stage.  Plus, he is extra smiley too.  Though, let’s be honest…the flip side is that during the day he has been extra hungry and quite a bit clingy.  There’s always something new to learn and an ever expanding lesson in flexibility.  Other than that, this has been a pretty normal week.  Here’s a little list of the things I’ve been loving!

• KIND Bars
  • Since I’ve been nursing (and that boy can eat!), I have been so snacky and have often found myself needing something fast.  I’ve taken to trying out some fun granola bars.  I’ve been loving the Vanilla Blueberry by KIND this week!  I’m on the lookout for healthy, fast snacks so send them my way if you have any!
• BOB Stroller
  • The more I use the BOB stroller, the more I love it.  I’m a little addicted.  Trip to Target, okay I’ll grab the BOB.  Grocery shopping? Why, of course, I’ll use the BOB and then I won’t need a cart.  Time for a walk or running? Yep, the BOB.  I am so very glad and thankful that we budgeted and made getting a nice jogging stroller a priority when it came to baby things.  Asher loves it and he’s a happy guy in it or well probably mostly sleepy or content, but I will take that!  Plus, the shocks make rocking him just enough if he does get fussy and they help curb the uneven ground on the dirt roads by our house.
• Journaling
  • I’ve been intentional about journaling more lately and really trying to set aside time to write.  I love writing.  I have for a long, long time.  I can remember whipping out a 70 or something page book in middle school and being extra proud.  Though, I also know other times where “art scars” have popped up and caused me to hold back from writing.  I’ve got a whole shelf full of journals and they’re one of my favorite things.  I’m working on putting those gremlins death and to keep on picking up the pen or typing out the words.
• Baths
  • Since having Asher, I’ve learned the wonderfulness of a warm bath and time to sit and read or write or just plain think.  The time alone is golden and I am a big fan in this season.  Plus, we have a nice big bath so I will take advantage while I can!  I’m glad I’m finally learning to enjoy this and this week was no exception!
• Instagram and Feedly
  • I’ve really been enjoying reading other people’s stories lately and seeing beautiful things in the pictures they post.  Lately I’ve been inspired, encouraged, challenged, and refreshed by the updates I have been seeing.  I love when these are what I walk away with rather than bitterness, jealousy, envy…those are my red flags to check my heart and see what is going on inside.  All that to say, I’m loving them right now.

Lastly, here are a few of the pictures I’ve loved from this week!

Boaz cracks me up!

Somebody looks SO big!

I love that we are a family who loves to read! 

I made food! Frittata deliciousness. 

What have you been loving!? 

Friday Love

We made it to Friday!  A full week with the husband back at work.  I’ve been having fun getting to know our little man more each day and he sure makes us smile and laugh a lot!  Plus, he’s already 3 weeks old today!  That is way close to being a month old and so far I totally get how things are in a “blur” for the first bit of having a newborn.  Mostly, though, I’m loving this stage!  Here are some of the things we’re loving…

Things I’m Loving:

1. Tummy time with the little man.  He’s pretty good at cuddling.

2. Lots of walks.

3. Tacos! Pretty sure I’ve eaten tacos for lunch for the last three days.

4. Reading with the husband.  We have continued our habit of reading a book together before bed and it’s one of my favorite times of connecting.  And let’s just say any time spent with him is pretty much my favorite.

5. Sitz baths and showers.  My midwife and my nurses were big on telling me to soak/take a sitz bath in order to help things heal.  I totally jumped on board and have continued to take time to be alone and enjoy hot water!  I like to think they’ve helped me heal up fast too 🙂

Things Asher is Loving:

1.  Falling asleep during tummy time.  This is one of his favorite places to fall asleep.

2. Eating. eating. and more eating.

3. Being in his car seat for walks or car rides.

4. Kicking his legs like crazy and getting his arms out of his swaddles.

5. Being rocked in his rock n play.

Things Our Family is Loving:

1. Walks with the four of us!

2. Time together in the evenings and mornings.

3. Ice cream! Well…Asher hasn’t tried it yet, but I’m guessing he might like it someday. 🙂

4. Sleep.

5. Reading books.

10 Day You-Books

Jumping back on board with the 10 Day You Challenge I started a while ago…I recently raided the library so here’s 4 books!

4 books I am reading right now…

1. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner

–This one is so interesting to read in learning about how we deal with anger in ineffective ways.  So much packed into each chapter so far!

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

–I have actually never read this!  I don’t know how I missed it, but I’m glad to finally be able to read it.  I’m loving the balance of whimsy and quick reading in comparison to my other books.  So far it seems like the perfect summer book.

3. Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott

–I saw this one at the library and picked it up since I loved her Bird by Bird book.

4. Choices by Melody Beattie

–I am loving the format of this book!  There are mini stories that end with some thoughts about the choices we make.  They get me thinking for sure.

4 Books on my “To Read” list…

1. Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

–I just picked this up from the library too and am curious to read it!

2. Brene Brown‘s books

–Yep. I want to read a lot of her books and haven’t read any yet!

3. Carry On Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life by Glennon Doyle Melton

–I’ve heard interesting things about this one too!

4. Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen

–I’ve heard fabulous things about this one too.

 

I’m sure I’ve missed all sorts of wonderful books…so let me know what else I need to add to my list or what you’re currently reading too! 

Things I’m Loving Friday

1. My one word for the year! I’m so excited for this word even if it’s already been hard!

2. Gummy vitamins! They taste yummy and I actually take them.

3. Sleepy, cute, cuddly puppies.

Boaz has been so good to me in the mornings and sleeps most of the time, which is so nice!  Poor puppy though has not been able to get outside much because of the extreme cold.  Thankfully, he’s been a champ and gone on the treadmill with me a few times even if I go much slower than he would like!

4. Days off with these guys.

A day off in the middle of the week was perfect!  We slept in, got some things done, watched a movie, and generally just hung out together.  Pretty sure I could get used to having him around all the time.  I suppose work is important too 😉 And I would get antsy if we didn’t do anything and would eventually make us leave! Even though, I love a good day at home; I also love getting out!

5. Mornings to read! Almost done with the Divergent series too!

I was so happy to see that while this series reminds me of the Hunger Games, they are different enough.  So far, they have been fast, easy, and interesting reads.  I am curious about the movie that is coming out soon too!  I also downloaded a whole bunch of those free Beth Moore books! My reading list for 2014 is growing!  I got Angie Smith’s What Women Fear and Chasing God too for Christmas.  So many good things to read!

–Thanks to Julie for the fun post idea!

3 months and counting

3 super happy months of being married! woot! in celebration, I went through our wedding pictures and honeymoon pictures to finally post them on facebook.  if we’re friends, you can look at them here. made me totally want to do the whole day over again and to run off to the mountains and the beach like now. but instead, i’ll make a list of all the fun things i love about life right where i’m at! in no particular order here are 12 things for the 12th.

1. being married

2. my awesome husband

3. my adorable dog Boaz who loves me

4. my church family.

5. a wonderful place to live that is warm even though it’s still cold outside

6. traveling to look forward to in the future

7. friends’ super cute babies

8. being able to e-mail and text best friends

9. being able to cook all sorts of deliciousness

10.  pinterest boards of lovely things

11. books to read and time to read them

12. mornings spent with god reading the bible and doing the breaking free bible study

What are you loving about your life right now?

I write because…

I’m a learner at heart.

As I read and write…I learn about myself, about God, about others, about life.

When I write, I want to capture a moment, a feeling, a piece of truth staring me down, and share that with whoever is listening.

And just maybe, sometimes, the words might strike a cord with someone else’s heart like they did with mine. They might bring up a question, bring them back to a moment, touch them, make them feel alive, let us share life.

Because when I feel deeply, the words are part of the story and what I see.  I don’t want the moment to go unnoticed, to slip away.  So, I capture the memory in the words that portray beautiful truth.  And when this happens, how can I not share the painting?

As life truly is a work of art made up of brush strokes that move us along in the journey.  So, I splash words on paper to evoke inspiration, encouragement, freedom, and the simple every day moments.

Good writing changes me, deepens me, makes my eyes go big and sometimes makes them green with tears.  And good writing itself makes me want to write to stir up the paint to make something beautiful that expresses the abundant life in Christ.

Why do you write?

Hear No Evil

You know when you’re zipping along in a book and you come to a funny part?  Do you laugh out loud or do you laugh on the inside? Mostly, I do the latter especially if I’m in public.  Hear No Evil, on the other hand, had me laughing, giggling, and smiling at the GYM! Yikes!  And, apparently, I’ve been in the “church” long enough to catch onto some of the lingo, jokes, and well messiness. Here are a few snippets of the book:

“Good music changes me, shocks me, makes me feel uncomfortable, and drives me to think and hope and believe differently.”

“I was learning that I didn’t know a lot of things. And I think a part of faith is learning how to become okay with that.”

“I can understand why some people don’t use their imaginations. Why is that? Because it gets you in trouble sometimes…People who play it safe rarely accomplish much.”

If you love music, can appreciate some church truth/humor, and want a speedy read with some nuggets to chew on then check out Hear No Evil. If you’re in the area…feel free to ask to borrow my copy though it has been to the gym with me…. 🙂

*This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. You can buy one here 🙂 Oh! and don’t forget to check out his blog here.

Covered with Books

Being back in the States provides a wealth of opportunities to catch up on reading.  Though, I tend to bite off more than I absorb at a time and literally surround myself with reading material.  Just for fun I counted…6 books on my bed, 4 on my nightstand, and even more on my bookshelf’s to-read section.

Last night, I finally moved one of the books to the done section.  The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The book made me want to jump up, find a sunny, cute little writing desk and pour out all the thoughts jumbling in my head into written words. I also found myself tossing around some quotes from the book.  Here are a few that stuck out:

“Now he has a world. What can he possibly do with it? He has no muscle tone on his wings. They are atrophied, probably beyond hope of recoevery. Where his pectoral muscles should be, he has a breast weighed down with words of human beings: by words interred, free-as-a-bird absurd, unheard! Sometimes he flaps his wings as if he nearly remembers flight, as he did in the first jubilant terror of his release. But his independence was frozen in that moment.”

“Can’t they be patient? Could you be? If your belly was empty and you saw whole baskets of bread on the other side of a window, would you continue waiting patiently, Beene? Or would you throw a rock?”

“Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you are good, bad things can still happen. And if you are bad, you can still be lucky.”

Have you read it? If so, what did you think? If not, what are you reading or what else should I add to my stacks of books??

Question.

Have you read Secondhand Jesus by Glenn Packiam? Or heard anything about it? If so, what were your thoughts?