3 simple joys.

I found this quote on my dear friend Jenni's blog this morning, and how it resonated with me:

We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.
—Roger Ebert

On the days when I feel the least like I want to contribute joy, those are the ones when I absolutely must.

So here are some joys I want to share today...

A new book to inspire a tired mama who has run out of ideas...

Check out the blog The Artful Parent as well - great stuff!

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Finding my daughter this way in the back yard...

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An Easter egg hunt everyday...

It's one of the joys of keeping chickens, for sure!

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What are some simple joys you've experienced lately?

Spring discoveries.

We've been soaking up every minute of spring around here.  This year, I seem to have noticed unique flowers popping up everywhere.  Maybe because toddlers walk at a snail's pace...ha!  Well I'm thankful for the slowness that helps me to stop and notice just how detailed God is in creation.

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment."
~ Ellis Peters

Snail mail exchange - part deux.

It's time for another snail mail exchange!  The first one was kind of an experiment, but it went so well that I've decided to organize another.  It's simple...

If you decide to participate, I will randomly assign you a snail mail exchange buddy to whom you will send a small, fun snail mail package.  Think handmade, simple, thoughtful.  The point is just sending someone something to make them smile, not spending a ton of money.  And you certainly don't have to make something if you don't feel comfortable with that.  Just think of something YOU would enjoy receiving.  I'm also thinking about giving this exchange a theme, like SPRING.  Anything that has to do with spring.

Ideas:

• Handwritten notes/cards or encouraging quotes/verses
• Items from nature
• Bookmark
• Something handmade
• Seed packets
• Tea/coffee

Here are some of the items I received from my friend Ginny in the last exchange...

Colorful adorned paper clips, fun quotation cards that are now hanging in my craft room, and some beautiful pods from a sycamore in her hometown, with inspirational words attached to them.  I still look at these every day.

So, are you in?

Post a comment below (if you don't know me personally, be sure to include your email address) and I'll contact you with details.

Here's to snail mail!

UPDATE: As of March 19th, this snail mail exchange is full.  Stay tuned for the next one!  Thanks!

How to help our children appreciate God's creation.

I wanted to share something special with you...I'm honored to be included as one of the guest bloggers on Club JellyTelly - a wonderful website with positive programming for kids.  They have a subscription-based service (kind of like Netflix but only $5/month) for unlimited viewing of all their shows.  My daughter and I especially like the new show "Come On Over" - it reminds me of the ones I loved growing up in the 80s - to me, it's like a cross between Fraggle Rock, Mister Rogers, and one of my alltime favorites - The Magic Garden.  (Oh, the beloved Paula and Carole!)

Anyway, my first post for Club JellyTelly is live - "How To Help Our Children Appreciate God's Creation".  I hope you enjoy it!

"And if God took such care creating the intricacies of a simple pinecone, a flower, a snowflake…how much more does He love and care for us, His very best work?"

{continue reading}

Hello, 2013.

Hello, 2013.  Let's do this. Let's be more organized and more grateful.  Let's read more books.  Let's send more snail mail.

I've created an inspiring little space on the hutch in the butler's pantry where my leafy green 2013 planner can live everyday, safe from toddler hands.  Set on a beaded flower mat, surrounded by smooth river stones from Colorado and a sweet gum tree pod, it's far better than my planner from last year which floated from room to room and is scribbled throughout with a two-year-old's artwork.  I love my daughter's artwork but not in mama's planner, please.

So, I thought I'd share a few of my 2013 goals - none too many or too lofty, but realistic and hopefully inspiring...

1. Plan ahead better on birthdays.  I always turn my calendar page and realize there are birthdays coming up that I haven't planned for.  Even if it's just a handwritten card in the mail, I want to celebrate birthdays better this year. 
2. Send more care packages.  I think it's time for another snail mail exchange!  Snail mail is good for the soul.
3. Learn to knit. I want to make handwarmers and mug rugs and scarves and hats and all kinds of fun things.  A visit to Shabby Sheep might be in order.
4. Read more books.  I'll try to do better than the scant 8 books I read in 2012.  Man, 2010 was a good reading year - all those hours spent rocking and nursing a newborn - 27 books!
5. Sew & embroider more.  Funky curtains for the guest room, pillows and pillowcases, and a "mapron" (man-apron) for Steven.  I've got a lot of projects in my mind that need to become realities, like this adorable typerwriter pocket pillow from the latest issue of Country Living...
   
   
6. Yoga.  I've been saying for the last two years that I want to get back into yoga regularly.  It's time.  There are even mommy + me yoga classes in our neighborhood for $8/class.
7. Make it back to the northeast this summer.  This past August in New Jersey was very healing for me.  I'd love to go for a little less than a month this time, and for our little family to take a drive up to the beautiful Adirondacks in New York state for a few days.
8. 365 days outside.  I was inspired by my Instagram friend Aimee of the blog Wild Boy Yonder who recently posted this - a commitment to be outside every single day for a year.  Here in Dallas, most of the year will be easy, but summer...ouch.  The summer is scorching here, but we can still commit to make it outside every day, if just to play in the sprinkler.

What are some of your 2013 goals, friends?  I'd love to know!

When I wonder if I should continue blogging...

...I stumble upon a quote like this:

“You may not be the first person to say it, but your saying it might be the first time someone hears it. So we need you to say it.”

Inspiration today: all things handmade.

I had the incredible opportunity to hear Jen Hatmaker speak a few weeks ago at First Baptist Euless.  Her latest book, 7 : An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, is everywhere right now - blogs, community groups, Instagram.  I have so many thoughts I'm still processing from Jen's talk about spending, simplifying, serving the poor, and generosity, and now I'm deep into reading the actual book.  Can't wait to share some thoughts soon!

Image: KangarooCare on EtsyAnyway, all this pondering about how I can further simplify my life inspired me to share some recent finds in the world of "handmade." Hope you enjoy...

• Absolutely in love with every necklace on this Etsy shop, Kangaroo Care.  Perfect for mamas with babes, or any female if you ask me!  Tara Stepp, I can really see you loving these.  Thanks to my dear friend Bre for the recommendation!
• This Etsy shop, Pen & Paint.  Beautiful illustrations.
• Gorgeous skirts on this site, Open Arms Shop, made from recycled materials and made by refugees who are trying to get out of poverty.  They had them in stock at Whole Earth Provision Co. the other day and I tried one on.  Super comfy, but if you're thinking of getting one, note that are on the fitted side. 
• I want to create a "sacred space" like this in our home, out of items I already have on hand - a cozy, inviting, colorful space just for mama to do her reading and studying and thinking and relaxing. 
• I really want to embellish some old tshirts - like this and this.
• My sister-in-law Trish and I recently had a craft night, and we each made this burlap fall banner.  All we needed were apples for the stamp, burlap, some craft paint, glue gun, and yarn.  It looks perfect hanging in the doorway between our living room and dining room...

• Another easy fall decoration I made is this felt leaves banner.  Last year I used yarn, but I used embroidery thread this year and like so much better how it turned out.

Hope some of these things inspire you too.  Happy fall!

What is saving my life right now.

I absolutely loved this post from Sarah Bessey: In which this is saving my life right now.  And apparently, a lot of other people did too (like my friend Allison), which sparked Sarah to create a syncroblog where other bloggers can share their own answers to the question, "What is saving your life right now?"

So I'm supposed to tell you quickly, without overthinking it, just spilling it out...

• This trip to New Jersey, where I am for the whole month of August, is absolutely saving my life right now.  It's been a hard day - a hard year - emotionally.  As strange as it can be to return "home" for an extended period of time after becoming an adult, there are those wonderful moments when you can become a child again.  Tonight, my mom reminded me of something an old friend said that she never forgot - "When you cry, I cry." She's the kind of mom who does that, not just for her children, but for everyone.
  

• Heart friends who share burdens with me and rejoice with me and send a little text message to say "I love you" save me when the whole world seems like it's going out.  Which is often for an INFJ like myself.

• My sweet little girl whose smile and passion and compassionate heart bring so much joy to my every day.  Her newest exclamation, "Look at THIS!" makes me giggle every time - as she points to a kitty crossing her path, or a butterfly fluttering around the pool, or a squirrel in the back yard. 

• I don't know how much longer she will be nursing, as she's a big two-year-old now, but I'm happy to continue providing that for her a little longer.  She came from my body, and the special bond and quietness we share during this time is so fleeting...

• A husband who understands me and encourages my dreams and creativity.  The other day in the Marimekko store in NYC, I was swooning over all the beautiful fabrics.  I was thinking, "Wow, those are beautiful but too expensive, so let's go," but he said, "Could you make something fun with just 1/2 yard?"  I left with two 1/2 yards of different fabrics that happened to be on sale as well as the personal email address of the sales girl who helped me, another creative soul who loves to sew and secretly cut me a little more than she was supposed to of the dandelion fabric so I'd have enough to make pillowcases.

• Salty caramel gelato inside a crunchy waffle cone on a warm summer day - not just because it's delicious but because I chose not to think of the sugar content and just enjoy every last sweet, melty bite.  I swear, something is magical about gelato from Eataly - I cannot stop thinking about it.

• Trees with hearts in them.  Especially because those same trees were trimmed today, and the heart shape is no longer there.  But in my memory, it is.
• Cooler weather.  Leaving 107 degrees, I almost wept when the first 80* breeze swept across my face, closed my eyes, soaked it in.
• Joyrides in my mom's Jeep with the top off and wind blowing my tangled hair, driving past frolic-worthy fields so beautiful you have to veer the car over to the shoulder to snap a photo.

• But, I think what's saving my life the most right now is this simple truth, which I've written about time and time and time again:

I am not alone, not alone, never alone.

Thank you, Jesus. My introverted self can get so deep into my head, into my thoughts, and sometimes I feel like I'm drowning.  But those compassionate hands of my God, and the skin-and-bones people here on earth whom God uses as His hands, reach down and literally pull me out.  Time and time again, I'm thankful for grace and second chances and that His mercies are new every morning.

What is saving your life right now?  Please, join in.