The Office

     This past weekend, My Love and I spent some time at my Grandparents' house. Saturday evening, Luke, Jordan, Grandpa and myself found ourselves down in Grandpa's office. Now, the word office doesn't really conjure up the right idea of what this room truly is. It is a mix of museum, antique store, and curiosity shop.
      On the walls and shelves of his office are years of memories. Pictures, cards, letters, and random and quirky gifts he has received from his children, grandchildren, and friends over the years. One thing that particularly stood out to me was the long stick that was carved to somewhat of a point that he had hanging on the wall. I picked it up to look at it and realized that it had writing on it. In my Grandpa's distinctive script it had the memory of the stick scrawled on it. My Grandpa then proceeded to tell me the story.
      Apparently, one day when my brothers were young he had taken them down to the crick. My youngest brother Mick had decided he was going to catch a fish and so he had sharpened that stick to use as a spear. I remembered the day as he retold the tale. On the wall above that was a pinwheel from Luke's and my wedding. On the bookshelf he had the Christmas gift I made for him years ago, a walnut shell cleaned out and turned into a mini treasure chest with a tiny rolled up piece of paper inside. If I remember right, it had a Bible verse on it. As well as the many memories, my Grandpa has a bookshelf full of Bibles. Brand new Bibles just waiting for someone who needs them. My Grandpa is like that, he believes that word of God with his whole heart and has a passion for sharing it.
    Grandpa's room is special because it is a room of memories. Pictures, letters, photos, objects, all kept because they are snapshots of time. Reminders of the beautifulness of life.

"We don't remember days, we remember moments." ~Cesare Pavese 
“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”~L.M Montgomery

A Christmas Adventure

     Last night, my love and I returned home after a week of being gone. Having someone stay at your house to stoke the stove and feed the turtle while you are gone is the way to go! We returned home to a hot supper and a cleaner house than we left. Thank you Kristina! This year, our holiday travels had us passing through 5 states, including Minnesota. Last Wednesday we headed down to my parents for Christmas. My entire family was home and it was so good to see my brothers whom we haven't seen since last Christmas.

                               My parents: Rohn and AmyJo

                                                   Lydia

                                          Jesse

                                          Jordan

 

 Mick and his fiance Payge 

While we were at my parents, Luke helped my Dad install the door on the bedroom that had been remodeled awhile back. They did a lovely job. Before they got it all closed in, I wrote a time capsule note and stuck it in the framework. 

 The finished product, minus the trim.

      Saturday, we headed West to spend some time with my Grandparents. My Grandpa used to build model airplanes. He said that Luke could have them so we took a trailer with us and loaded it up. Some of them are not finished so Luke is looking forward to getting creative.

                                  My boys. I love them!

    Sadly, the next leg of our journey was due to a funeral. Luke's Grandpa Alvin passed away so we headed to Nebraska for the funeral. Despite the fact that it was a funeral, it was fun to see everyone and Luke got to show me his grandparents' home. The place of childhood memories. Also, since we were heading to Nebraska, my brother Jordan journeyed with us(He lives in the Western part of the state). It was so good to road trip with him once again. I miss that boy!

      Our journey home took us through South and North Dakota. And now we are home and I am looking forward to life getting back to normal. Merry Belated Christmas, almost Happy New Year and a delightful Wednesday to you!

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." ~Alex Haley

December's Goodness

     December is such a lovely time of the year. Winter is upon us, but it is fresh and exciting(unlike how I sometimes feel about winter in February).  It's a season of cookie baking, memories, lights and friends. I am getting pretty excited about this coming week. My love and I will be heading south to spend Christmas with my side of the family. My brothers whom I haven't seen since last Christmas will be home and I am really looking forward to it!
      Around the beginning of the school year, I received an email from a place called Studentreasures. They offer "publishing" for class projects. I signed up and they sent me a complete manuscript kit. So, my kids and I began the process of writing a group story. We went through all the parts of a story, voting on what direction we wanted our story to go. Then we began writing and finally illustrating it. Just before Thanksgiving break we packaged it up and sent it off to be published. Well, this past week the box of our books finally arrived, the excitement was high! I must say I was quite happy with the results.  The Mythical Amazon River Adventure By Mrs. Williams 3rd and 4th graders.

     For awhile, I have wanted to get white Christmas lights to string around the perimeter of our living room. Luke found these and I think they have quite the magical effect.

I was blessed the other day when a friend gave me a brand new winter coat that she had but it didn't fit her.

    Today the loveliness of the Christmas season was fully experienced with a cookie baking party. I particularly thought it was adorable when we set the giant roasting pan of caramel puff corn off in the corner right at toddler level. The kiddos thought that was a grand set up. It was like the watering hole of toddlers.

Irindee

 Mara

 Kristina

 Mara and Emily

 Katy and Nettie

So much loveliness. Happy Saturday!

“Love is God. Love is divine. Love is an act of God.”~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Enjoy Your Day

      Lately, our Saturdays have been busy. One weekend we butchered chickens. Then we spent one Saturday cutting up and shredding the 40 pounds of cheese that we ordered and split with the Lovely Keren Ruth and Benjamin. And last weekend it was goat butchering time. Needless to say our two freezers are quite full now, we are blessed.
      So this weekend, Keren and I decided to get together simply for the fun of it. Nothing to cut up, package, or shred. It was lovely.
      We made sugar cookies and split pea soup and played scrabble. I lost, which I always manage to do when we play scrabble, but I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

     Then today we proved that great minds really do think alike when we showed up to church with similar outfits.

     So, may your day be filled with joy, and beauty, and an overpowering realization that The One who created the goodness that goes into a simple day loves you.

“Joy is found in simple things.”~Todd Stocker

The Circle of Goodness

      Yesterday I had parent teacher conferences. So, I typed up the kids' report cards, pulled a couple chairs up to my desk and settled in for a day of chatting with parents. And it was a wonderful day. I work at a small school so I only had 8 conferences and I knew most of the parents.
       Afterwards as I was thinking back over the day and things parents had said, I realized that parent teacher conferences are as much for me as they are for the parents. I shared with parents their child's grades and how they were doing in my classroom and they shared back words of encouragement for me.
       When a parent brought me a cup of tea because she thought of me while she was picking up her own Caribou on the way to the conference, I felt loved.
       When a parent came in a told me that they appreciate me and that I truly am having an impact on their kid, it reminded me of what an important job I have.
      When a parent came in for their conference and afterwards asks me how I was doing and if there is anything in my life I would like prayer for, not school stuff just my life stuff, I felt blessed and cared about.
       So it's a circle. I shared and they shared right back. And that is how life should be, a circle of goodness. Happy Friday. 
     

"If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it - young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous - is changed by it."

~John C. Maxwell

The Year a House Became Home

      Last Saturday we hit one year of being in our home. We had a lovely day spent with friends. The sun was shining and it was Fall perfection.
      It is kind of crazy that it's already been a year. It's been a good 365 days. We have loved having a space of our own. I love having company and may of those 365 days have been filled with friends and family spending time in our sunny kitchen.  We've done some remodeling, grown a garden, and Luke's worked on numerous vehicles in his giant garage. We are so blessed.

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do....But how much love we put into that action."
~Mother Teresa

   

Frienship: Let's Vote.... I Say Yes!

    The other day I came home to a lovely sight. A plethora of notes and greeting were scrawled across the driveway in chalk. My sweet friend Emily had been over with her kiddos while I was at work and worked their magic to bring a smile to my face the moment I pulled in. It was a nice surprise. I have great friends!

      Actually the past month has been full of great friends. My dear friends Polly and Peggy, and their brother Bobby(one of Luke's oldest friends) came up for a visit. It was so fun to see them.

 Luke and Bobby, Then and Now.

      Then this past weekend, my friend Larisa from college came up for the weekend. It was fun reminiscing and just spending time together. My first year at BSU we lived across the hall from each other. We had quite the adventures!

Friendship is a good and beautiful thing. I for one am in favor of it!

"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood." 

~Lucius Annaeus Seneca

And a touch of Fall.

Happy Thursday!

Autumn

Fall...
     The days are getting cooler and the colors are vibrant. I just keep thinking how beautiful it is. The vibrant gold of the birch and popple leaves as they play against their creamy, grey bark.
Coziness...
    The cooler days means that the wood stove has been fired up and the wonderful smell of wood smoke lingers around our home. We have a pile of logs waiting to be cut and stacked and it is just makes me feel good inside.
Goodness...
  The Lovely Keren Ruth came out tonight and we cleaned up the garden. It has been a good first run.
Memories...
       The past few days I have been feeling cozy and nostalgic. It was around this time of the year 5 years ago when my love and I first started falling in love. It was this time last year that we bought our first home. Really, this time of year has always pulled out good feelings in my heart.
Restfulness...
       I am curled up on the couch, there is lovely music playing, there is peace.
Remember...
      The One who painted the colors of fall, the One who fills our hearts with His peace and rest, the One who blesses us with beautiful memories, the One who designed in us the ability to delight in a beautiful fall day, He loves you and He wants to fill your heart with the peace and coziness and beauty of all that He is.
Happy Fall!

“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile." ~William Cullen Bryant

And Then Summer Became Fall

     September is winding down and October will be here soon. It is a little crazy how fast this year has gone. My love and I are coming up on the one year anniversary of moving into our lovely home. A lot of good has happened in this year. I successfully had my first vegetable garden, My love and I finished paying off my student loans(Yay!), we've laughed and cried and been blessed with a beautiful life. And now, Fall is starting to show his face. The colors are changing, the sun is shining from a different position in the sky and the bright colors of summer flowers are being replaced with the rust reds, oranges, and yellows of Autumn's finery.
     I've been thinking lately about who God is. Rediscovering the One I put my faith in when I was just a little girl. I decided to do this because I realized that a big part of the reason I worry is because I have a skewed understanding of who God is. I need to relearn who He is and then I need to find my way back to the child's faith I had when I said "Jesus loves me this I know..." Because the One who turns Summer into Fall does love me. He loves me and you so very much. It's not just the words to Sunday school song. 

Happy Monday!

"Autumn paints in colors that summer has never seen." ~Unknown

A Formal Affair

     This morning, a couple ladies from Church put on a Fall tea party. I woke up wondering if I should call and see if this was a "wear something like I'd wear to Church" event or more casual. But then, I just decided to call the Lovely Keren Ruth and see if she just wanted to go ahead and be really formal with me(She's good about spontaneous adventure that way.) And so we did. Out came my garment bag of bride's maid dresses. It was lovely.

      I am truly blessed to have a friend like Keren. I have often thought that I sure lucked out when I married My Love because not only did I get him, but I got an amazing friend in the deal(Keren is Luke's sister.) Friendship is such a gift!

“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."” ~C.S. Lewis

Beautiful Days

     Today is beautiful. The sun is shinning, the air is breezy and it's warm but not hot. The light is changing and the days are starting to have that Fallish sort of feel. It's nice. I really love this time of year. My sunflowers are taller than the porch roof now. They are so fun to look at.

      School is of to a running start and I do believe that this is going to be a great year. My garden continues to do well as does the Lovely Keren Ruth's. Last weekend we made a giant turkey roaster of spaghetti sauce. When I canned it it came out to 14 jars. That was satisfying. 
      Last Thursday I went out for ice cream with the girls I worked with this summer(and the past couple of summers). Friendship is such a great thing and I love to watch how it grows. We laughed and laughed hard. I am blessed.

     This week the Lovely Keren Ruth and I watched the movie Julie and Julia and were thus inspired to try our hand at French cooking. So, the other night we made Beef Burgeon and French bread. I will say that French cuisine is not for the cook who wants a fast and easy supper. Good grief there were a lot of steps. But it tasted good.

      I am getting super excited for this coming week because it is Jackpine time. There is nothing quite like camping in the coolness of fall with some of your favorite people. And this year is even more exciting because my dear friend Miss Polly is coming up early to spend a couple days with us. Actually both Polly and her brother Bob, one of Luke's closest friends, are coming. It's going to be good.
     And to top it all off, we bought the new Matt Kearney cd the other day which is just full of good sounds. Flowers, friends, music, and memories in the making. Life is good. Happy Monday.

"A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot, and realize how blessed you are." ~Unknown