Trekking with Me

Good Morning! It's a lovely quiet morning, and I am soaking in every little second of being home, on a Tuesday, with no real demands, agenda, project, job or responsibilities screaming down my neck.  For now, that is... and I love it. I even slept well last night.  Which is a gift, since REST is from the Lord.  Yes, I must admit anxious nightmares have been flickering through my nights, stirring me to action, as school is about to start up again.  It's my minds way of dealing with fear of "oh no, it's just around the corner" and I will have to face the end of these lovely do-what-I-want-to-do days in a week. What a gift this summer has been! It has been a full, very productive, eventful, surprising summer!  From summer house projects, family time, reconnecting with old friends, trips all over, meeting and making new friends, to leisure mornings like today: Thank YOU Jesus for refreshing my soul! "Refreshing" is the word that my soul has repeated...

I was recently blessed with a trip up to New England to celebrate completing my M.A.  My dear friends,  Tracy and Jamison , treated me to a trip so we could all be together again.  We had a wonderful time together and only wish we could have squeezed in a few more things.  We spent most of our time in Connecticut ("Connect - I - Cut" ~Thanks Tracy!), of which the capital is Hartford (a fact I will never forget thanks to my seventh grade social studies teacher).   Everytime we said "Hartford," I started quoting, "In Hartford hurricanes hardly ever happen..." in an ever-so-british accent.  (Name that movie!)   We also had a little surprise thrown in from sweet Tracy: one night in Newport, RI.  Everywhere we went I was in awe of the deep luscious foliage and the brilliant hues of the waters.  Add to that, sailing related paraphernalia was everywhere, my sailing soft spot was itching something fierce. Here are a few moments I captured...

I have been surprised this week with a Spring Break! I have been pushing through my weeks like a freight train and I did not see this stop coming.  What a blessing!  As I realized my evenings were clearing out for this week (last week), I anticipated being able to work more during the days - substituting - and enjoying my evenings, sitting on my backyard swing, being home. So as I geared up to sign up each day to substitute, no jobs were available... no calls, nothing! Then I realized the district in which I work is testing this week.  It's a big deal; teachers have to be there and no sub jobs will be posted.  Bummer for the loss of income but God has been blessing me, and He knew my body needed rest, my house needed cleaning, and a list of things were waiting to keep me busy.  That "list" of things are things that re-energize me, so I have embraced the week.  I know He has each day under control.  Thanks LORD! He gave me a special assignment yeste...

My close neighbors had a little baby girl last Saturday.  I thought I would put a bun in the oven for them to enjoy while they enjoyed their New Bun. So...  I started with some whole grains.... Ground the grain in my mill...  Put some basic ingredients in my universal mixer... One scoop at a time.... Sprinkled my cutting board with flour.... Got it just the right consistency.... rolled it, patted it... .... into a nice little raw bun... Let them rise for about 45 minutes... Put them in the oven for 22 minutes... Hand delivered a hot, steamy fresh loaf of bread to the Bun Makers up the road... came home and ate almost a whole mini-bun myself. Yum. Yeah, that is what I did Friday Night between watching four episodes of 24. It was great. :-) Your Domestic Diva, checkin' out.

I have been blessed with a new Camera!! :-) I am so excited over it... "i can't stop smilin'".... so, here are some random shots with my new toy: My dad and I scrubbed those railings and he painted them ... it is a tougher job than it sounds.  Myrtles are EVERYWHERE around here; I can't give over how long they stay bloomed. You can see almost every variety of color in my neighborhood: white, pink, purple... it really is beautiful. These two are just over my back fence.   Evidence that my dad has been here for a few days...  the yard is SO beautiful after a few long days of work.   This would be Sasha's favorite toy. My favorite place: the Farmer's Market. That would be Nancy, Tom's wife - what a joy to work with such fine folks. This is a beautiful sight; it is also where I get my veggies!!!  One of the sweetest, hard-working women I know....makes me want to work on learning some spanish...  our conversations are f...

I have a DRYER!! My wonderful dad kept telling me he could find a dryer for a good deal; i was ready to buy one new from Home Depot a few weeks ago. I have enjoyed hanging out my laundry but having several days of unpredictable weather, a dog who LOVES to play "pull all the clothes off the line," and at least one trip to my brothers to get my laundry done had me pining for this useful machine! But, because I truly did not want to spend at least if not more than$300 on a new machine, I trusted my dad's word and waited. It was WORTH it! $50 and a little trip up from FL - Dad delivered! I have a fantastic, wonderful, good dryer sitting in my utility room! Yeah DAD! So, today I did my first few loads of laundry in my new dryer as the day was a bit overcast but it was more about TIME than inclement weather. I won't forego using my laundry line if the weather is nice and I have the time. It is a good way to save energy, enjoy God's beautiful creation and just slow...

Tonight I enjoyed going shopping with a friend. She and I shared the same disdain for shopping so we made a good pair - IN & OUT, "what's the next item on the list?" okay, list done! I have been called "the purpose driven shopper" - let's make this as fast and painless as possible please! Our last stop was a notable book store and as she found her last item on her list, I meandered around; a bookstore is an pleasant and interesting place to wait for someone. As I made my way through the calendar section, getting a few laughs from a "BAD CAT" calendar - (hilarious!), my eye caught a little coffee table book called: "14,000 things to be Happy about!" It was sweet and simple and gave me an idea of this post! So here are a few things, but not nearly as many as 14,000, I found to be happy about JUST today!! --hanging clothes on the line, a cup of italian coffee, two handsome toddlers to love on, sunshine, flip-flops, the sound of ...

Yesterday I enjoyed almost a whole day at home. Now, that may not sound exciting to some but when your schedule is in "weird" mode - no rhyme or reason, a day to just be at home is such a gift! I love being at home; I love traveling as well but the womanly part of me that is a God given domestic side is alive! Being that clouds were rolling in, eventually bringing rain made it even more a "stay at home" kind of day. I had plenty of studying to keep me busy; one great thing about being in seminary is that 99% of my school work is geared toward studying about God and His word! What can be better than that? I have to admit I wasn't really doing well on focusing on my school work but i was enjoying God! So as i was doing this, and pondering (and procrastinating) some projects I took some time to look back over this past year on my blog. I found some unexpected encouragement. Last spring I wrote about what God was doing as I taught school, worked and lived the...