Weekend

Saturday consisted of a meandering country drive in Virginia's finer places, a box of freshly made apple donuts from a little bakeshop located in the middle of nowhere, and dinner with Jay and Brenda. The weekend was topped off with punkin' cookies...

Friday Refresh

Friday always seems to come at the just the right moment. The calendar shows one more day in the line up of days, but somehow, Friday seems to wrap it all up. Thanking God it's the end of the work week today.

Thursday Thought

I desire to do your will, O my God, your will is within my heart.
-Psalm 40:8

There is a season...to Fall

Despite this year not producing a vibrantly colored autumn, I still find myself looking up. I'm a tourist in New York who has never seen a skyscraper. I'm a traveler from the desert who feels the ocean breeze on her face for the first time. It's amazing to witness the change in the trees, and I'm not afraid to stop amidst the rush hour to experience this incredible transformation.
This coming weekend, we plan on making a small trip to Shenandoah Valley, driving along Skyline Drive. I thought spring time was beautiful with the cherry blossoms scattering the region, but this season by far earns the gold star. Not sure I'll ever tire from it...until it's time to snow.

Word of the Day

The clock screamed 10:23pm, yet Jesse sat on the edge of our bed literally reading the dictionary. He had grabbed the robust red book to look up a word (that I might add I insisted wasn't a word...and I was right), and he found himself in a realm of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. He was mesmerized and completely satisfied to fore go a few minutes of sleep to skim the small-print pages. I buried my head in my pillow, trying to fall asleep amidst his explanation for each new word he found. And I'll admit, I did listen in because after all, words are way more fascinating than sleep.
The word of the day: prink.
It means to deck oneself out; to deck out or dress for show.
Now, I definitely didn't spend time prinking this morning when choosing my wardrobe for work, but I did consider what it might be like to go to work looking as such. Needless to say, I will be adding this new word to my vocabulary.
(Oddly enough, when I used the spellcheck on the blog, it assured me prink isn't a word. Guess I need to let them know their dictionary is not expansive enough!) :)

Imaginary Friends

Our refrigerator door is currently home to a bright yellow piece of construction paper. Scribbles in every color scatter the page, and if you didn't know what it was, you might wonder why we are displaying such an odd piece of "art." Some friends of ours have a three year-old daughter who has an expansive imagination and a bright little mind. She has a great sense of humor, she understands how to speak the English language better than most fifth graders, and yet she's still this tiny little girl revelling in her three year-oldness. After she finished her scribbles on the yellow paper, her mom asked her to share about what she'd drawn. Bella began explaining that each color was a friend of hers, and she proceeded to name each scribble with a proud smile on her face. It wasn't until last week that I learned that her best friend, Tricka--the brightest and biggest scribble on the page--is in fact an imaginary friend that visits every Thursday. Tricka comes over and plays at Bella's house once a week, and they are best of friends.
Despite this being one of the cutest things I've heard, and amazing that she's so particular that the imaginary friend only visits on Thursdays, I started thinking about how I kind of have an imaginary friend myself. You can't see Him, you can't touch Him, and it can be very difficult to hear Him. But the best part, is He's not imaginary at all. He doesn't visit once a week, but instead He is there all the time, when I feel I need Him, and when He knows I need Him. He never leaves my side.
So the yellow paper is on my refrigerator door, not just as art, but as a reminder of my own "Imaginary" Friend.

The Cops and the Bees, the Monuments and the Trees

I'm a little late on the draw in sharing this story, as perhaps it was broad casted in the far regions of the country. Monday brought "Breaking News" to the DC Metro area televisions. Now, normally Breaking News means there has been a shooting, a terrible storm, or even the sighting of the First Lady taking Bo for a walk. This news story, however, was just a tad bit different. "DC Cop hits Transformers' Bumble Bee." Apparently the cop operating the vehicle wasn't aware the street was closed for filming Transformers, and just as Bumble Bee was pulling onto the street for a chasing scene, a DC cop smashed right into him. Bystanders were appalled by the carelessness of the policeman, and the little boys in this region were devastated and concerned for Bumble Bee's safety. I'll admit living in DC has its drawbacks, but it's not every day we get to see real, live action!!!
On a side note, I was driving in downtown DC on Monday night, when I saw flashing red and blue lights coming toward me. I pulled over to the side to then see there was a film car chasing the policeman down the street...watch for a red 2010 Toyota Corolla in a police car scene in the movie when it comes out. :) There will be a blond girl sitting in the front seat with a huge smile on her face and waving!!!

Little Reminders

Our home is scattered with little reminders of people and places we love. Haystack Rock rests in a frame over a bookshelf, candid family photos decorate our bedroom wall, and gifts from the past sit on shelves and tables. Some people like to decorate their homes eclectically, never really choosing a specific style to commit to. I like to think of our own home as not eclectic, but just one big reminder of where we come from and whom we love.
This morning, I redirected my fingers from picking up my diamond stud earrings to grabbing a pair of little heart earrings. My dear friend Susan who lives in Florida gave these earrings to me last year for Christmas. Her encouragement, her hugs, and her ever present smile kept me going on lonely days down in Florida. When I needed a Mom-hug, she was always there to give one. So today, I have little reminders hanging from my earlobes. A little touch of love to make my heart swell in memories.

Nothingness Leads to Everythingness

"Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely useless."

~Bill Watterson

This past weekend allowed for some leisurely activities, but it was heavily orchestrated by piles of sticky notes reminding me of my To Do Lists. Some days it feels like I'm on turbo speed--able to accomplish ten times as many activities as normal--and this weekend was one of them. After two full and busy days, I sat back and revelled in all that I had accomplished. The floors were vacuumed and mopped, every surface was dusted, the bathrooms were sparkling clean, every nook and cranny was clear of clutter, and the spare bedroom closet was reorganized and labeled to smithereens. Sticky notes no longer were clearly written but demolished by crossed-out lines and thrown into the trash. A book was read, a scarf was crocheted, a craft party was a hit. My weekend was a success, but was still lacking something.

How often do we sit back and do absolutely nothing? For me, it happens rarely. When I sit down to relax, I usually have something in my hands--whether it be a crochet project or my work iPhone--I am multitasking with something. Monday was a day off for Jesse and me, but unfortunately Jesse ended up having to work the whole day. This left me alone to continue trudging along through the weekend, completing errands and getting more house projects done. With him absent, I decided to challenge myself. Everything that needed to be done was done--nothing needed cleaning or organizing, and unless I wanted to tackle painting the guest bedroom, there was nothing waiting for my busy little hands to attack. So I sat. With my toenails drying from a quick self-pedicure, I sat back and did NOTHING. Granted this only lasted about five minutes, but still...there were five minutes void of doing. My mind wanted to wander to a world of lists, but I diverted those thoughts to things I'm thankful for. And it was then that I realized that perhaps nothingness is what leads us to everythingness. It's not until we stop amidst this crazy paced world that we see what we really have. Blessings poured into my heart and mind as I sat there, and in those short five minutes, I was more fulfilled than any checked off list could ever provide. Realistically, I know I will always find accomplishment in checking off my lists, but I think I'm realizing more and more that until I STOP and look around, I won't really see what God has provided. Blessings aren't seen or felt until I decide to look for them.

Crafting, Crocheting, and Calm

Escaping into the pages of a book is perhaps the best way to spend an early morning. Snuggling up under a homemade afghan with a cup of tea and a good book was the start to this weekend. The only drawback--I ran out of pages to read. Which led me to yet another favorite past time...crocheting. But then I ran out of yarn...

So that put me into the kitchen to whip up some tasty treats for my craft party on Sunday. But then I ran out of things to bake...

So I quickly set up the craft supplies, making the best use of space on my ever so tiny table.

And whuallah...my centerpiece.

The best part about this little story? The weekend isn't over yet.

Friday Ramblings

When I sit down and click the "New Post" button on our blog, I immediately feel the need to draw back and control my desire to share every flicker of thought. Rather than delivering with a slatted spoon, I opt for the big sided one with no holes. When blogging first became popular, I thought it silly for people to share their ever-waking opinions and personal life to the entire online population. Diaries gathered dust as letters faded on the keyboards from overuse. I vowed never to begin a blog--to revolt against the new form of communication. Yet here I find myself sharing our simple life with a daily posting. A photo, a thought, a verse--anything but those streaming thoughts of mine. I clench the creativity back, thinking my ramblings might become boring and insignificant. I tell myself surely the daily updates are far more interesting than those thoughts of yours. And for whatever reason, I decided today to unleash the beast. I'm rambling, and I'm loving it.

Perhaps my blog will begin to take a new form. One searching for clarity, constructing ideas, and yet still sharing those every day pleasures we experience. I've rambled enough for one day, so I'll tame the beast and squelch the multitude of thoughts...but only for now.

Finding Community

Perhaps the most difficult part of moving to a new area is finding a church family to plug into. We don't like to consider ourselves church shoppers, but we are particular in finding a church family who desires community, servants, and a real heart for Biblical teaching. I think we've finally found where God wants us. Fairfax Community Church is centered around solid teaching, and they strive for a strong community that reaches to areas outside the church as well. Last Sunday we attended a newcomers meeting to learn more about the church, and we were pleasantly surprised to see the Sr. Pastor lead the meeting and get to know him. We got to know the others in the meeting as well and hopefully can return this coming Sunday to see some familiar faces. We've also signed up to be assigned into a small group. I'm hopeful we can contribute to this church family. It's large, but instead of allowing the size to separate the congregation, they allow it to strengthen the family and cause it to grow. We're very excited!

Bentley

We lost Bentley yesterday. Though we knew she was dying, it doesn't make it any easier to say good-bye. Some may think it's odd to be emotional over a parakeet, but we really did love our little baby (even if she did become quite high maintenance). Kolby flew around last night looking for her, doing his usual call when we've taken her away from him in the past. This morning, the first thing he did was go into her cage looking for her. Call me tender-hearted, emotional-wreck, whatever you want...we just miss her.

Grooming Gentleman

After some unfortunate experiences at the walk-in hair salon down the street, Jesse decided to become his own hairdresser. He's turned out to be quite good at cutting his own hair, and with me fixing up the back, you'd never know we did it at home. Oh the joys of saving $30-$60 on a haircut!

Bake Time!

The weekend welcomed a morning full of chocolate chips, succulent sugary treats, and plenty of dirty dishes. After a busy five hours of baking we now have two loaves of pumpkin bread, one loaf of banana bread, a large batch of peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, oatmeal shortbread cookies, and a yummy box of English toffee. Now, who's going to eat all of this??

Do the Hippie Dance

It's Friday...which calls for a hippie dance.