Signs of early spring!

I'll never tire of searching for signs of spring in my yard each year...it will never grow old.

The back yard...

My camellia is actually blooming!

Yellow lilies pushing their way to the surface

Oak leaf hydrangeas setting forth new growth

And here is the Bradford Pear, blooming quickly in the front yard...

Spring...it's coming!

...see?

Happy list.

"S p r i n g t i m e  is the land awakening..."

blackberries in the yard last summer

What better day to make a happy list than today...68 degrees and sunny and murmuring of spring?  Thank you, Tara, for the lovely idea!

• Envisioning my flower beds bursting with wildflowers in just a few short months.  I've got 5 or 6 packets ready to plant...
• ...and juicy, tart blackberries ripening on the white trellis in the back yard.
• Driving really fast with the sunroof open, windows down, and Margaritaville on a radio, as it was when I took a quick trip to the post office earlier...
• The little book/music/tea exchange program Jenni and I have going on.  I can't wait to borrow her copy of Peace Like A River by Leif Enger, and I sent her my Rosie Thomas When We Were Small CD, an all-time favorite. 
• Tazo Passion unsweetened iced tea - the only drink I'll get at Starbucks.  Now I'm craving it...
• How my hubby looks in his grey workout jacket from Lululemon.  Yowza.
• Thinking about future fun 4th of July birthday pool parties for our little girl.  Fresh-baked berry pies and that wonderful feeling of eating lunch in the sun while still wet from swimming all morning.
• Amy Butler fabric - there's not a single pattern I don't like.  Also, have you seen her rugs? There aren't words.
• In anticipation of Shauna Niequist's new book, Bittersweet, releasing later this year, reading this beautiful excerpt and savoring this line, "I believe that suffering is a part of the narrative, and that nothing really good gets built when everything’s easy."
• 2010.  It's been a year of restoration, redemption so far.

What are your happies right now?

Observations.

• Shaving my legs is starting to get interesting.
• To be totally honest, until a few weeks ago, I wasn't necessarily enjoying being pregnant.  I've been completely and utterly thankful that I am pregnant but haven't really been appreciating the whole process thus far.  But then all of a sudden one evening, I felt a poke.  Deep down in my belly.  And that's when I fell in love with this whole beautiful process...now I look forward to the moments everyday when I can feel our little girl kicking, turning, doing her little gymnastic moves where she pulls her toes up to her ears. 
• It's almost March, and that means that spring is coming soon to Dallas! Spring in Texas is a gift straight from heaven.  I can hardly wait to plant my wildflower seeds my husband got me for Valentine's Day - one of them is a fairy meadow!
• We watched On Golden Pond last night, and I realized I would really love to live on a lake one day.  In a house with a wide front porch.  And a dock.  And big, tall trees all around.
• This shampoo and this conditioner are wonderful!  They make my hair smell like Hawaii. They also make me want to take a shower more often which is saying a lot.
• It's so worth it to pay for comfy maternity jeans.  At this point, I understand why women who aren't even pregnant wear them.  Uh-oh.
• Pretty sure I need this dress.
• I think my Aunt Lucille is watching over me...I had a dream the other night that it was my birthday, and I was really pregnant, which was kind of strange since this year on my birthday, I won't be pregnant anymore.  In the dream, I was in a big room with all of my family, and everyone was seated in a giant circle all around the room.  Then, sitting directly across the room from me, I saw my Aunt Lucille who passed away in September.  She was wearing a sherbert-orange and white horizontally striped dress and was just sitting there smiling at me.  I knew right away that I was the only one in the room who could see her.  You know how the "happy birthday" song starts, where one person just starts singing it and then everyone joins in?  Well all of a sudden, the whole room starting singing me happy birthday, and when the song was over, they started yelling, "Speech! Speech!"  So gripping my belly, I shyly shared how blessed I felt to be celebratng this day, how thankful I was for my life and for the baby I was carrying that was about to be born.  And I looked across the room again at Aunt Lucille, and still smiling, she nodded her head as in approval.  So I said to everyone in the room, "This might sound strange to you, but Aunt Lucille is here with us right now.  I can see her sitting across from me right now, smiling.  She was actually the one who started the happy birthday song..."  And then I woke up.  It actually felt like a very happy dream, but when I was in the kitchen making breakfast that morning, I burst into tears telling Steven about it.  And then we both looked at each other and knew - "I think we are going to have a girl."

It's a...

The day after...

Ten inches in all!  We can hardly believe it.  The streets, yards, homes are a wonderland.  We can hear a gentle drip-drip outside the window as the snow begins to slowly melt.  But I'm glad we still have this beauty surrounding us.

In the middle of the night, Steven and I both jumped when we were awakened by a crash that almost sounded like our bed fell to the floor.  Yet, we were both still lying there, intact.  I looked out the bedroom window and found the reason for the alarming sound - practially 1/4 of our neighbor's tree had completely snapped off and fallen into our yard and toppled our patio table right outside our window.  Bye, bye, patio umbrella.  I guess Dallas trees aren't used to this much snow either...

view from the front door

heidi says, "mom, can we go play now? can we? can we?"

over the fence

It's good to see the world covered in white - even just for a day - when things are pure and quiet.  Even though the slush eventually comes and washes it all away.

Home sweet snowy home.

We finally got our  s n o w  d a y  in Dallas!  I awoke in the middle of the night {as happens quite often lately!} and looked out the window to see everything blanketed in white.  This morning, we awoke to big, graceful flakes covering our back yard like a wonderland.  Almost 4 inches so far.  This is a once-in-every-few-years thing for us, so we're soaking it up!

back yard

branches

front yard

neighbors

quiet street

Afternoon snack.

Oh yum. A refreshing afternoon snack for me and the hubby. These fruit smoothies have been sustaining me lately...

 Well, smoothies and peanut butter & banana sandwiches on squishy farm bread...

The honey wheat bread is from a farm about 2 hours from here near Athens, TX.   We pulled up the gravel driveway to the nondescript ranch house and pulled out the driveway again with our car filled to the brim with fresh eggs, homemade fruit preserves, and about 25 loaves of this delectable bread that was still warm!  Most of it was sold in our farm store on Saturday, but we were lucky enough to snag one for ourselves!

How to make the sandwich:

1 slice farm-fresh honey wheat bread
1-2 Tbs organic peanut butter {let's be honest, I used 2 Tbs}
1 organic banana
Raw local honey

Cut a thick slice of farm bread and slather peanut butter all over it.  Add sliced bananas and drizzle with honey.  Fold the bread in half so it’s a super thick sandwich.

Variation: substitute homemade fruit preserves for the bananas and honey

How to make the smoothie:

2 cups whole milk (preferably raw or low-pasteurized) - you could also use whole milk yogurt for a more tangy taste
1 frozen banana
5-6 frozen strawberries
1 handful frozen blueberries
1-2 scoops almond or peanut butter (I used crunchy almond butter)
3-4 drops vanilla creme stevia (or 1 tbs honey)

I don't have the most powerful blender, so I blend it in a food processor, and it works great!  It comes out very thick, almost like soft-serve ice cream.  If you want it thicker, add more frozen fruit.

Then, I just sprinkled some granola on top.  Enjoy!

Happy day!

Manhattan Beach, CA ~ March 2008

Hello!  I'm so excited to introduce you to my new little home on the web.  I wanted something cheery-ier, more joyful.  And turquoise.  And bright orange, too.  When I see these pages, I feel a surge of happiness coursing through my veins as I remember the perfectly clear California beach day when I took the above photo and the one in my header, when seagulls danced over my head and waves crashed along Manhattan Beach.  It was the perfect beach day, one of my most favorite-ist simple things. 

I hope this site brings you further into my world of appreciating the simple, beautiful things in life - those found in nature, relationships, good, pure food, and individual moments.  

{If you're already subscribed to this blog, your feed should change automatically; if not, just click the "subscribe" button in the left toolbar.}

Some improvements...

• My blog and website are now one!  Explore my art and my photography on the left sidebar to see the ways I like to create and contribute to the beauty in the world.  I'm no professional photographer or anything...just a girl with a camera who likes to capture life. Most photos were taken with my good 'ole Sony Cybershot that's accompanied me to India, Africa, Colorado, Maine, California, and many places in between.  With my art, I like to mainly use paper scraps and watercolor.  I hope you enjoy.
• For those of you who would like to continue to follow my pregnancy, I put all the belly pics on one page instead of in individual posts.  
• Center column - I've always wanted a 3 column blog design, and I like how the content is nestled nicely between the two side columns down the center of the page.  I guess the left-brained part of me finds much satistfaction in the symmetry.

I'd love to know what you think!  Is there anything else you'd like to see here? 

My 2010 reading list...

Two books down in 2010 - so far, so good...

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza

What broke my heart the most about this book is that the Rwandan genocide happened in 1994 when I was a junior in high school, and I knew nothing about it at the time.  Across the world, in modern times, innocent people were being slaughtered with machetes, and half of an entire country was murdered.  It sounds like something barbaric that happened in Medieval times, not in our lifetime.  Immaculée's story will break your heart, make you smile, make you cry, and help you believe that there is redemption in even the vilest of circumstances.  This book physically made me ill at times, but I couldn't stop turning the pages.

A Mother's Heart: A Look at Values, Vision, and Character for the Christian Mother by Jean Fleming I'm so glad I read this before I actually had any children. It has encouraged me so much in the role I'm about to step into - its importance and beauty and the inevitable struggles that await me. But Jean Fleming does SUCH a wonderful job citing Scriptures and applying them to motherhood and gives great examples from raising her own children. My favorite chapter was "Roots and Wings" when she describes lots of creative ideas you can use with your own children to inspire them at home...more

I'm so glad I read this before I actually had any children. It has encouraged me greatly in my soon-to-be role as mother - its importance and beauty and the inevitable struggles that will come.  My favorite chapter was "Roots and Wings" where the author describes lots of creative ideas you can use with your own children to inspire them at home and then encourage them to go out and contribute positively to the world.

Here are more books on my 2010 reading list..

. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road  by Donald Miller

The House on Nauset Marsh: A Cape Cod Memoir, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition by Wyman Richardson

I'm about halfway through this from my first attempt last year.  It's so different that any other book I've read - it's a man's account of his days living in a cabin in Cape Cod.  Very slow-moving but that's also what's great about it...I need more slow-moving in my life.

What difference do it make? - Stories of Hope and Healing by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile by Rob Bell

Grace [Eventually]: Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

You know how much I love Anne Lamott.  This book that she wrote after Traveling Mercies and Plan B has gotten some negative reviews, but I'm going into it with no expectations.  We'll see.

Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller

Flies on the Butter by Denise Hildreth

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg

These Strange Ashes by Elisabeth Elliot
There's nothing I've read by Elisabeth Elliot that hasn't challenge me to the core.

Muslims, Christians, and Jesus: Gaining Understanding and Building Relationships by Carl Medearis

Have you read any of these?  What books would you add?  Would love to hear!