Setting Goals

Have you noticed how many writers were captivated by fall? Jane Austen helped me to notice, in "Persuasion" she wrote :

My favorite piece outside of this is F. Scott Fitzgerald's "life starts over again when it gets crisp in the fall." Now, I know, it snowed the other day, BUT, it's fall until the day after Thanksgiving. 

 

Like Austen, "every poet worthy of being read", Fitzgerald, and probably even you, fall inspires me.

Fall is a time for me to reset. Resetting looks like reflecting on what has happened and resolving to adjust, change, or continue. 

This year, my fall resolves or goals look like this:

* Get the last few credits I need to FINALLY complete my degree. (College got off to a roaring start for me back in Jan 2008. I worked sooo hard through 2010. The last few years have obviously been spent NOT doing school.) - Math credits and Public Speaking credits have been waiting. 

 

* Study writing and set aside time to write. This is my "reward" after finishing ^that^. I'm putting together a list of resources that I plan to go through. 

* Find a "from scratch" recipe for alfredo sauce. 

* Begin journaling recipes again.

* Get your hair healthy, trim a tiny bit every six weeks no matter what. (Since I cut my own hair, it's not about saving $$...I just need to do regular trims.) 

 

* Keep DRINKING from that fountain of living water that God has led you to! If you haven't been reading, this just means read the Bible and asking God to use it to show me more of Him. 

 

What are your goals? 

 

Do you have a favorite quote about fall?

8 Months and A Song

Here we are, day 12!

This year has been flying by. Today a certain little boy turned 8 months old!!! I get to go see him and his sister (and their parents, of course) later this week and I'm VERY excited about that.

I look back over the past 8 months, I see the highs and lows and I also see A LOT of work that God has done. I see it in that family. I see it in my own heart. I see it in this nation - God is doing SOMETHING.

Click ^^^ here for a list of the posts in this series.

Last night my mom and I went out. We tried out a new to us chinese restaurant that was soooo good. It was pretty small but stayed busy and everyone that came in seemed to know the people that owned it. At one point, my mom leaned towards me and said, "What is this place, Cheers?!?!?" We're already looking forward to a trip back!

We also met up with some friends and went to a fundraiser. It's always so nice to visit and we had our fair share of LAUGHS...I'm sure the people around us wondered what was constantly THAT funny! 

The drive home was a speedy one thanks to a nice theology chat with my mom. If there is one thing I like to discuss, it's theology and my mom happens to be one of my favorite people to talk with. We can go on and on and on! 

Today it was rainy, the DRIZZLY kind. I was happy to put on a sweater, eat some of that leftover chinese food, and watch some movies. I also read a little bit, took a nap, and did laundry.

So, again. It's only Saturday and yet this weekend has already been such a good one! 

A friend of mine shared this song with me last week. It's been in my head ever since...It goes right along with the series and with what God has been teaching me for a while now.

What have the last 8 months been about for you? What song has been on repeat in your head?

Let's Look and Listen

Here we are, coming up on another month. This year has been happening so quickly and we have all made many MEMORIES up to this point. 

In those memories are moments of joy and pain, moments of courage and fear, moments where we thought we had it all under control, and moments where we just knew chaos had won. 

Whatever the MOMENT was, God was there. And where God is, there is GRACE.

My guess is, you probably didn't stop to THINK about that grace specifically. I'll be honest and say that while I am always coming back to what God is up to, I do a lot of coming back.

I love stepping back, going back, and tracing the hand of God. In THOSE moments, I find myself right where I long to be.

I find myself in the presence of God.

You've been in the presence of God. You've seen His glory. It has left you feeling a joy and a peace and a hunger for more of Him.

I'm inviting YOU to JOIN me as I stop to LOOK and LISTEN this month. He has for us many great things and they're all wrapped up in the moments of our everyday lives.

This marks the first day of 31 Days to Look and Listen: that we may declare the praise of God.

This series will explain itself as it unfolds. I'd love to hear from you. Please share what God is helping you to see and hear, what praises you are eager to shout! 

It's About Time

This month has been FLYING by. This very cold morning, I just want to take a minute to leave a little trail of what's been happening. I'll share pictures and then explain them after each set. :) Just an FYI, this is a LONG post.

 

 

I spent the first Saturday of the month touring the countryside with my Mom and our friend Jay. It was fun to drive around looking at things and hearing what was what from a guy that grew up in this area. He actually knows things. He has an old Jeep so we loaded it with snacks, blankets, and everything necessary for a nice Saturday out. We finished the day off with dinner at my FAVORITE Mexican Restaurant.  Oh and ice cream. From a truck that we came across.

*****

 

 

 

We also checked out a circus recently. It was fun to see the animals and really just watch my brother and sister experience a circus for the first time. I have seen a couple of different ones and while this one didn't "wow" me, it was just nice to enjoy them enjoying things. It was also the first time we realized that my brother has officially grown taller than my Mom. At barely 5'2", it was only a matter of time before all of her children passed her up. As of September 2013, it happened. 

 

 *****

(That would be flour on my Mom's face...She's hilarious!)

 

I turned 23 on the 12th. We celebrated with a s'mores cake on Sunday the 15th. I'm still kind of wondering WHERE 23 even came from. The celebration was perfect. I arranged to pick up my friend Alice so that she could be here. Ron and Julie and Jay also joined in. We ate cake, visited, and Jay ended up hanging around until we all headed to church that evening. 

 

 *****

 

The pictures here would look like a lot of food, washing windows, etc.. etc...

I won't give you those. :)

 

Then Monday came and it was time to kick preparing for the huge get together we had at our house this last weekend into HIGH GEAR. Twelve extra people kind of got added at what I consider the last minute. No big deal...HA! 

 

Friday the company started rolling in. We've had this end of summer (won't see you until after winter is over) get together for three years now. Most of the people that come for it live quite a ways away and once snow starts flying, we don't see much of each other. 

 

This year, was a little different. Saturday night and Sunday were my favorite. 

 

Saturday night a bunch of people headed to the back yard to watch a movie and the rest of us stayed inside for an Apples to Apples marathon. We must have played for three hours. The house was quiet, the littlest of the children were sleeping, and we just enjoyed visiting and competing. 

 

Sunday it got cold and even rained a little. The family of twelve left and the rest of us just laid around the living room talking or not. I love it when people can be together and just relax.

 

 Eventually, it was four o'clock and no one was even hinting at leaving. My friends Heidi, Tessa, and I headed out to pick up pizzas for dinner. 

 

After dinner, everyone started loading up. I got to go outside with Turner (the baby I spent much of this year with) who was very grumpy when he woke up from his nap. We said our goodbyes and then invited Ron and Julie over for a late dinner since we still had some pizza left. 

 

Monday was all about cleaning up, doing laundry, and then I sat for several hours and finished reading "Persuasion". Now I know why people love it so much. Once I was used to her language, I was hooked. It was soooo hard not to read it during all the chaos of the last few weeks!  

 

*****

 

 

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to head out for violin lessons (my brother and sister are taking them, not me) I got hit by the geocaching bug. I'm trying desperately to get them to love it as much as I do....Yesterday we ended up 4 for 4! I think that really helped. 

Last night we ate leftovers and then I sat down to WATCH "Persuasion" for the millionth time. 

 

*****

Fall is here. Summer and the Indian Summer that followed seem to be over. 

 

It's time to pull out the extra blankets, the sweaters, the leggings, and the hot drinks. 

 

23 is happening in real time. I'm clearly surrounded by some truly special people and God has been giving me lots of wisdom to DRINK. Bible passages, sermons, radio programs, conversations, rap songs, and devotional blog posts seem to be the means...

 

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! That's what's been happening in my life, the things I want to remember.  

 

Is Fall happening where you are? What's it full of? 

It's In A Book

Yesterday I mentioned that I started a book club. I'll tell you more about it after our first meeting! For now, I'd like to tell you about the book that I've been reading - it's "Persuasion" by Jane Austen.

Cliche? Maybe...But, I picked up a copy of the book earlier this summer and I had it on my "to read this fall list". Naturally, it was the first book I suggested. We talked about several books and even though most everyone else in the club had already read it, they consider it to be their favorite  by Austen, so it was chosen as the first book.

Confession - it usually takes me FOREVER to get through a book written by her. It's definitely not her, it's me. I'm way more likely to watch a movie based on her books than ever even attempt to read them. Still, I do have high hopes for myself. This commitment to read the book is clearly the push I needed. 

I've been reading it with a few pieces of paper and a pen close by. Anytime I find an interesting quote or notice something that I think we should discuss at book club, I make a note of it on my papers. 

Tuesday evening while I was waiting on my brother to finish mowing a lawn, I sat in the van reading and these words really taught me something. 

"She could not, however, reach such a degree of certainty as not to be anxious..."

I can't say that I've ever realized that behind every ounce of anxiety is a simple bit (or heap) of uncertainty. 

Is it just me, or is this HUGE?

Obviously, as Christians we have no room or REASON for uncertainty. We have a God that cares for us and makes it very clear in His Word that we have only too much to be COMPLETELY certain about! 

In Him, we have total security.

But, in my sinfulness I look at LIFE and my heart (the wicked thing) says, "Okay, God is good and in Him, I'm set....But, what about LIFE, you know, in this big world, there is so much to be completely uncertain about, what am I to do with THAT?" 

And I don't have an answer. I know what I tell myself - be more certain in God and that will take care of your "horizontal" issues. Surely that is the answer! It's just the applying it that is so tough sometimes. 

So, if you're anxious, don't let it CONTROL you. Recognize that the remedy lies in certainty. If you can't be certain about anything else, at least be certain about this:

 When I thought, “My foot slips,”

Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

When the cares of my heart are many,

Your consolations cheer my soul.

Psalm 94:18-19

Like the Leaves

It's just time for a list...A list of the things that I am looking forward to this fall. 

* Putting my new library card to some serious use.

* My birthday is next Thursday...Only, I didn't realize that it wasn't next Wednesday until I sat down to write this post. Strange! 23, WHERE did you come from? 

* The final cook out weekend happening at my house in a few weeks.

* Football.

* I started a book club!!! We're reading "Persuasion" and we'll have our first meeting at the end of this month.

* Hitting up another living history event at a local museum. 

* The SCHEDULE that comes with fall. I thrive on routine, predictability, and goal setting.

* A trip to the corn maze/pumpkin patch - maybe?

* Warm drinks, candles, sweaters, leaves, the CRISP air, movie nights, game playing on Sunday afternoon...My list could go on here!

* Thanksgiving. 

What did I leave out? What are you looking forward to this fall? 

 

You've Got MAIL

Can someone explain to me why it continues to be so exciting to KNOW that you're getting mail and then to GET the mail you've been waiting on? 

I cannot explain it, but I get giddy just thinking about packages coming in the mail. There have been times when a package comes and I know it's not even mine, but I get excited and can't wait to find out what SOMEBODY got. 

That was me while I was waiting on my mug. It was great! In fact, I'm giddy all over again just thinking about it! :) 

I sent my mug to Elizabeth, who turns out to have an Etsy shop full of mugs and things. She was a trooper, I didn't send out her package until the day AFTER the deadline...I tracked that package like a crazy lady though, and I was happy to know that it only took two days to get to her. 

 I received my mug from Bethany. She did soooo good. I absolutely LOVE my mug. It's the PERFECT mug for fall and winter. Who am I kidding? I'll be using it all year round! The tea she included is really good. Give it a try if you're looking for something new in the tea department...It doesn't even need sugar, it is just the right balance of sweet and strong.

She wrote the sweetest note too. Bethany, I'm excited about all the conversations and memories that are going to happen while I use my mug! And, can I just point out that the card and the mug match? Yeah, Bethany? You did a good job!!!

Thanks to Kim for hosting this great swap! This is my first swap with you and it could not have gone smoother. 

S'more, Please

A year or so ago, "s'more" everything was all the rage. Everyone was making s'more cookies, bars, and pies. I couldn't wait to get in on it! There was only one problem. Ever single recipe I saw was basically chocolate bars, marshmallows, and graham crackers smooshed and repurposed. 
Eventually, I came across a recipe that wasn't quite so boring. I bookmarked it and decided to save it for later. Last summer, later never came. 

Last Saturday, we had the first cook out of the year and I decided it would be the perfect day to make that S'more Pie I'd been so excited about. 
After it turned out, I knew I wanted to share it with you here! Unfortunately for you, I was so excited to actually eat it that I just snapped a few quick pictures with an iPod...
I'll put a link to the original recipe at the bottom of this post. If you make the pie, I'd love to hear from you!!! 
The only tips I have: 
Nope, there is no added sugar in the filling. That's okay, don't freak out. I used 8oz of chocolate, half bittersweet and half semisweet. 
The marshmallow fluff goes FAST, it might be helpful to have someone else scrape it out of the pan while YOU blend it up....

 Click HERE for the recipe complete with a printable file over at Just A Taste! 
Do you have a favorite cook out recipe? 
While we're recipe swapping...
Do you have a favorite potato salad recipe?
What about a recipe for a raspberry, pineapple, pecan jello salad with 7up in it?  

More in May

There's a challenge to "blog everyday in May" going around this month. I was thinking about doing it...Then it was May 3 and May 4 and May 5 and since I hadn't blogged yet, I decided it was just too late. 
My challenge? Blog more in May. 
We'll see how it goes. 

Lately I've been...
* Clearing out flower beds. Weeds and grass and spring flowers that have come and gone needed to be dealt with. To be honest, I'm kind of sad that part is over. 
*Dreaming about what to plant this year. I picked up some seeds and am trying to decide just how much I'm going to take on this year. 
*Listening to good music. Still enjoying Talented Xth and now I'm moving on to "Heroes For Sale".
* Rearranging things. My room, closets, cabinets, the fridge, and the garage. Operation: ORGANIZE. 
* Trying to "plan not plan" the summer. There are several places I'd like to go this year and I want to be sure not to miss special events happening at each place. The calendars have been printed and things have been penciled in (penciled = "plan not plan", it's an option but I'm not bound to anything). It's coming together!!!

*Enjoying time on the patio again! So far I've spent plenty of time out there, but Sunday marked the first MORNING on the patio.   *Cooking up new things in the kitchen. Over the last few days I've boiled taco meat, tried to figure out burrito sauce, and shot from the hip at some teriyaki chicken. I'm ready to do some things I'm comfortable with too....Cold brew coffee, anyone? 

So, it's May. It's almost summer. 
Winter has come and gone. It turned out to be a pretty good one. 
We celebrated the holidays, beat the "blues", played lots of games, celebrated lots of birthdays, saw my brother, spent time with my friend and her newly expanded family, put on a play, and made it out with smiles on our faces...Mostly! 

What have you been up to lately? 
What are your "plans not plans" for summer 2013?

January 365

I just found this post in my draft folder...I started the year off attempting to do a 365 project using my other camera. Apparently life happened because I forgot all about this post and I haven't even picked up that camera in months! o

 Here are the first 9 days of that project. 

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I'm going to TRY to do 365 this year and stick to it. 

For now, I'm using projectlife365's prompts. I may not use them everyday. 

With the goal to DRINK as much as I can this year, I decided to start with JI Packer's book "A Passion for Faithfulness". Going through Nehemiah with Packer is already reminding me how much I enjoy what he has to say and the style he writes with.

Celebrated new years with the family this year. We played Settlers of Catan and watched "Secretariat". After sleeping in, I had a breakfast of eggs and bacon.

My computer is READY to be picked up. Went to pick it up and despite the cold and ice and snow decided pulling out my favorite heels was a good idea. It was! So grateful to have my computer back and with fixes that didn't cost me anything this time around.

The drive was GORGEOUS. Snow covered fields and trees complimented with blue skies. If I wasn't in a hurry, I would have loved to pull over and take some pictures. Even the ugly things were made beautiful.

Still not feeling like the holidays are over just yet...

For the first day in a while, the SUN came out and the sky was BLUE right in my own neighborhood! I snapped this picture on my way to see Alice. I spent the morning with Alice and then made a run in the afternoon to pick some things up for her.

The Price Is Right was on in the waiting room at the clinic...I got to see "Bianca" go crazy throughout the whole show. She was sooo full of joy and didn't care what America thought. She was so happy that she jumped and screamed and ROLLED ON THE FLOOR when she won at the very end.

Dinner turned into all things awesome. After a day with Alice I made her famous fried chicken with sweet milk gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, and a fresh batch of sweet tea. YUM!

Spent some time this afternoon with Alice. Trip to the chiropractor and then just visiting for a little while. Eventually, I ended up in front of the fire with some mint tea and "The Hobbit". It was grey again today...Somehow, that was okay with me.

Quiet day around the house...I did laundry, hung up a few things in the bathroom, played around with my camera, watched "Strike Up the Band", and went to bed early. I may or may not have had cereal for dinner.

Epiphany!!! Today we remembered the conclusion of the Christmas story.

It SNOWED, A LOT over last night and this morning. The kids are out sledding, I'm tidying up, playing chaffuer to and from the sledding hill,  and baking cookies. I haven't baked since Christmas, so I thought it was just time! 

Slow day with a lot of THINKING. Found 2 Peter 1:3 after looking for the verse that said what it said for months! Spent some time reading and jumping around to connecting verses this afternoon. Finished off the day with more reading in Packer's "A Passion for Faithfulness".

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What project did you start this year? 

Have you done a better job at sticking with it....or, did it get shelfed?