things that made me smile this week

lilacs and pale pink carnations on my table filling my home with the aroma of springtime and heaven.


going through stuff and getting rid of it, i.e., donations to charity or selling.


the possibility of moving to a house with lots of light and garden space.


holding friend b's three month old baby girl at church today - pure delight and love.


dinner with ts at ted's bulletin (oh yum). she's afraid of gremlins in the dark and i'm afraid of monsters in the dark. lots of good conversation.


oven pancakes with fresh raspberries... this time not at 2 am.


after a few days of rain - SUNSHINE and shorts!


sleeping with the windows open.


banana-blueberry smoothies for breakfast.


eastern market for lunch, a good book to read and a bench in the sun on saturday.


friend tst's graduation party - such a joyous celebration of her and her life. it was fun to see family and friends come together to celebrate such a wonderful person.


a new hat.

inspiration: color

i look for inspiration in a variety of places.

this time it was paint combos from old magazines

and serenity inspiring decor

along with some inspirational organization.

can you tell i want my own house to decorate?

clippings from:

bhg.com

realsimple.com

countryliving.com

thoughtful thursday: i love dandelions

image from commons.wikimedia.org

roses are red
violets are blue
but they don't get around
like dandelions do.
-slim acres

weeds are flowers too,
once you get to know them.
-a. a. milne

perspective

Perspective is not easily or, at times, willingly gained.

I’ve been thinking this for a couple of days now. You see, I had a chance to revisit something I thought I wanted. I thought, well hoped, it could be different somehow because now I was just a bit wiser.

But it’s not. And I’m not happier, in fact I’m less so. So, now I have to let it go again.

The good news is that I now have a bit more of a glimpse into what I need, who I am and what helps me be happier.

Exciting things are still happening. Life is still an incredible place even with all the unwanted things and uncomfortable moments. I wouldn’t trade it at all.

And from where I am looking forward, the perspective is amazing.

adventures with birds

so i had birds in my furnace room.

a mother bird had squeezed her way in under the back porch support beams and built her nest up high in a corner. it was a good place to build a nest. very secure from the weather and critters lookin' for a meal. unfortunately it was a bit too secure, 'cause there was no way out.

i knew there was something in there yesterday, because i could hear it scratching and screeching. i did open the door yesterday and look around, but i didn't see the birds. i looked this morning, because i could hear something crying in there, but again i didn't see anything.

by the time i got home this afternoon with my friend DC who volunteered to help me, the mama bird had exhausted herself to death and baby birds were left without a provider. i feel so bad, because mama was absolutely frantic to get out, which was what i was hearing yesterday that sounded like something climbing up the back of the door and trying to get out.

DC helped me remove mama bird and one of the babies. the other baby hid and then when i heard it and went back into the furnace room to look for it, it hopped up into the kitchen and went back behind the washer and dryer. one of my upstairs neighbors came down and helped me shoo it out into a plastic bag which i took outside in the tall grass under a tree and release by his brother bird.

now both birds are in the grass.

if you look close you can see the little bird in the center of the photo.

 totally scared.

this one is already half dead. :(

totally helpless.

totally cute.

doesn't this one look like the black bomb bird on angry birds?

and a friend is on his way over to take care of them.

don't ask, 'cause you really don't want to know. it's not a happy ending.

good news: my friend thinks that one of the birds has a chance of making it.

photo from here

i really hope there's no such thing as bird karma, 

'cause i'd hate to be on the receiving end of angry birds.

let go

I found this piece too, which I originally wrote in January 2011. I wish that I thought it was still so easy...




This new year started off with a bang.  Lots of exciting things happening in my life, that I'm savoring and keeping close for now.  But let me tell you, good things are happening.


Last week, I met with a good friend who has the gift of helping others to see themselves the way God sees them.  I love meeting with her to talk about life, ask questions and learn how to focus myself more fully through God's lens.  As we talked last week, I felt impressed to focus on living the life I've had playing out in my heart for a while.  You know, the life for which I've always secretly wished and kept under wraps, because it all seemed too fragile to put out in the open, and I know you know, because you too have wishes and hopes hiding out in your heart.


So, this week in just the few days where I've practiced focusing on letting go and just letting my dreams and hopes turn into reality, some fun and interesting things have happened.  My heart has been lighter, happier, more full of hope. My smile has been easier and less strained.  I am so absolutely full of contentment, resolve and happiness I could just swim in it, spend the afternoon lazing about in the utter decadence of it all.  Because, really it feels so utterly decadent to feel this contented.  It's like, I've been holding myself back for a really long time and suddenly now I'm not.


Answers to a problem came easily to me in the middle of the night, causing me wake up and lose a half night's sleep, but suddenly I knew how to articulate everything I wanted to say in a situation with which I'm struggling.  My faith has grown roots 200 feet deep overnight it seems and it's an amazing feeling.  And the resolve that comes with such an explosion of faith is steadying and freeing.


Happiness is meant to be this year, and I'm going to focus on pulling it out and making it last as long as I can.  I have this image of pulling a piece of taffy out until the strings are so thin and tenuous that they break, but it doesn't matter because it's still taffy.  I'm going to savor each moment, no matter how small, revel in the explosion of flavor and sweetness to every last drop, and just be happy.


I am in awe when I stand back and look at all this, because it's all so easy.  Easier than I ever imagined to just let go and truly put it all in God's hands and say, "I trust you. Take these dreams of mine, take this heart of mine and make it all real." I know it might not all turn out they way I want or the way I dreamed, but I have learned from experience, both bitter and sweet, that when God is let go then what happens in my life is so much better than I could have ever imagined or dreamed for myself.


Here's to the year
of happiness
of letting go of dreams and letting God do his work
of dreams becoming realities in ways that are so much better than I ever dreamed.


It's all possible, I just know it.

a favorite necklace

i saw this little necklace a few months ago.

i couldn't stop thinking about it and kept going back to look at it.

i love the simplicity of the design.

i simply couldn't resist...

and now i wear it almost every day.

photo from lisa leonard designs

it's called the be still necklace from lisa leonard designs.

i get stopped frequently by people wanting a closer look.

i especially love what is engraved on the back of the necklace:

be still

such a sweet little reminder that is now one of my favorite things.

thoughtful thursday: i choose more difficult

Anyone can revolt. It is more difficult silently to obey our own inner promptings, and to spend our lives finding sincere and fitting means of expression for our temperament and our gifts. — Georges Rouault