It's The Weekend | Number Two

We had our roof and gutters replaced this week. I feel like such an adult whenever I do homeowner stuff like that. Our house is looking good. Our bank account is looking sad. But, we were able to pay for our portion with cash, which is a big deal and helps me check off one more thing from my 31 Things Before 31 List. Hooray. 

It's no secret that I love to make lists of any kind and then check off the items on each list. Sometimes, I compile lists of things I've seen and read. Sometimes, I create lists of things I would love to do in the future or things I can do now to make our present even more awesome. 

Here are a few of those things for your weekend....

50 secondhand items you should never pass up. 

Parenting can be super pricey. I would like more information on how to raise a family without going totally broke. 

My pregnancy cravings and general love for PB & J sandwiches lead me to these cookies. 

I've wanted to make this hippy banana bread for a long time. 

Why "I Don't Have Time" is a poor excuse. This video made me think. 

Have a great weekend!

Our Well Is Full | Our Roots Are Deep

We dedicated Marin last night, surrounded by many people, family and friends. The evening began with chili and soup, the breaking of bread and cornbread muffins, wine and beer. The sound of little children and adults filled the home and the chaos seemed fitting. We talked about what Marin's name means, "Little Queen of the Sea." Words were spoken over her life of "strength" and "authority." We ate good food, drank good wine, and managed to have Marin asleep in bed only a hour and half later than usual. 

Sometimes it hits me that our little baby will be an adult someday with her own hopes and dreams. She will fall in love. She may get her heartbroken once or twice. She will figure out her path one trial and triumph at a time. I already see so much of myself in her, which is thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. The words spoken over her last night are very similar to the ones that have been spoken over me, time and time again. As long as she grows up knowing and loving Jesus and the church, her strength and spunk will be directed in the right places. 

I made some poor decisions in my college days and I know many people tend to rebel at some point in their life. I just want to protect and guide her forever but also allow her to make her own decisions and learn through the seasons of life. I guess that's what parenting is supposed to look like in some ways, right?

It's so weird to think of her out in the world. Driving a car, heading off to college, dating boys, and working at a job. It seems so far off but I know it's really not. By that point, I will be around 46 years old. That's a strange thing to think about. What will be we be doing with our lives? Where will we be living? How many kids will we have? What dreams will have died and which will have survived all of those years of living? 

Such a strange thing to wrap my mind around. You only get just one life. It seems so small and fast in the grand scheme of things. The insatiable need to make it worthwhile and full of life is needed. I want to live a full, full life. I don't want to look back and see that I worked too much, lived too little, and didn't help my kids discover who they are and what they are meant for. 

Even as I journey through this year of "LESS," I still want to make sure that my well is full and my roots are deep. I only get to live this year once. I better make it worthwhile. I don't want to miss a single thing. 

The Everyday

I want to make a point to capture moments throughout our week, however mundane or extraordinary. This also forces me to take my camera with me more often instead of using my iPhone to take pictures all of the time. These are little moments. I want to remember each and every one for what they are and what we felt during that small sliver of time. Time is fleeting. 

(Sweet potato tots can cure all things.) 

(A new experience. Solid-ish foods.) 

(The sun on my face, the grass underneath my feet.) 

(How I've been beginning every morning.)

(unclear vision) 

(A promise and declaration. No turning back now.) 

(Early morning storms.) 

Currently Clicking: Week #23

Each and every week, I gather links of all of the places I have been perusing in the great, grand internet. There are plenty of people out there doing big things and small things. Some of these are practical, some are inspiring. This week we are reaching deep into how to live an exceptional life and have gratitude. There's a new coffee house in town that I didn't know about. I am thinking about baby proofing and trying to find ways to make it look better. Then, of course, I've thrown in a cookie recipe, because why not? 

1. I think this is a reminder that all of us need sometimes, especially when life isn't full of adventure but is full of routine and putting down roots somewhere. How to live an exceptional life, even when life doesn't feel exceptional. 
2. On the same track, wasting time is not something I am fond of. I have had many an afternoon wasting away in front of the television,  binge watching Netflix. Don't Waste A Moment. 
3. First of all, I love coffee. Second of all, I had no idea this coffee house even existed in my own backyard. I think what they are doing is neat. Colorado Coffee Shop Employing Homeless People Is 'Opening Up the Eyes' of Its Community.  I will need to go check it out sometime. 
4. Before we know it, our little gal will be mobile. I think baby gates are necessary but not very cool looking, decor wise. Here is a DIY red door, baby gate. I think it's great! 
5. These chocolate dipped, peanut butter cookies look great! 
6. A shift in perspective is always good. We can get caught in stuff that really just doesn't matter. Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt. 

Reunions & Reminiscing

The oldest photo I could find close to high school. Summer '04. I only went to school with 2 girls pictured here. 

My ten year high school reunion was last night. I didn't go. I stayed home, still in the yoga pants I had worn all day around the house, and I cared for my child. Later I made a delicious, new, paleo meal and hung out with my husband. That's how I needed yesterday to be. The baby had been fussy most of the day, I had accomplished some things (I finished editing the wedding) and didn't accomplish others. As I sit and write this, I am surrounded by piles of our things that I either need to sell, donate, or throw away.

I kept thinking though about high school and about all that has occurred in the last TEN years. Ten years. How did that happen? In the past ten years I painstakingly made my way to graduation, went to a satellite Bible college taught at my own church, didn't sign a record deal, went to actual Bible college, saw so many bands come and go, wrote a few records, made a few mistakes, felt the ocean on my face, saw a lot of good concerts, fell in what I thought was love at the time and had my heart broken twice, graduated from college, moved back home. In the past ten years I made it back to Colorado, days later met the love of my life, starting working at my grown up job that I still am at, got married, bought a house, played more music, took some photos, and had a baby.

Goodness. That's a lot of living in ten years of life and I am totally fine with the realization. Honestly, I didn't want to go to my high school reunion. High school for me was simply a launching pad into the life I live now. I went to my classes, got decent grades, went to work, and then went and played music late into the night. I really wasn't all there. I was everywhere else that I needed and wanted to be.

Would it have been cool to see people? Sure. I probably only communicate with about 3 people from high school and most of my close friends went to the high school across town. I just didn't want to deal with yesterday, if I'm being honest. My jeans don't fit the way I want, I would have to try and remember all of the faces, I would leave my kid and my husband for an evening to take a trip down memory lane that I don't really need.

The only thing I need today is what I already have: the realization that I have truly lived the past ten years. That's the only reminiscing I really need today.

Maintenance

 

Life seems to slowly teach me certain things. Some things I grasp easier than others. Others have to hit me like sledge hammer for me to gain one ounce of respect from whatever situation I’m facing. I keep finding myself thinking about the depths of life, how time passes, and how it passes too quickly. It is a terrifying thing to sit and grasp for a moment how quickly minutes really do pass and how far I’ve come in my 26 years of life. So much has happened. So much will still happen. Even though I am young, I still feel like time passes by so quickly. The weeks all blur into one and I’m left watching the leaves turn and fall yet again as the first snow graces our lawn. Time moves quickly. I want to keep a hold of it. But how?

Maintenance. I know I’ve spoken of this before, but it’s in the journey. Every day we are faced with a decision to merely sleep our way through life or to take every day by the horns for all that its worth. You have to make the decision though, it just won’t happen the second you finally decide to quit hitting your snooze button and get out of bed. Maintenance is found in the eating of wholesome meals, working out the kinks in my muscles, keeping our house as much of a home as possible. Maintenance is in reading a novel when life slows down in the evening. It’s found in picking up a guitar or paint brush. Or having a campfire out back while drinking wine and spending time with others. Maintenance is a massive process.

I want to know that I have maintained a good life, one that didn’t settle even when everything seems so routine and mundane. Life can be found in the maintenance only if you are willing to seek it out. We are all from somewhere, yet we have now found ourselves here with one another. I don’t think that should be taken for granted. I don’t think time is incredibly fair, but my goal each day is to make the most of it, in whatever way possible. No matter if I sit in an office staring at a computer screen all day, get to play a show, or experience the outside world as nature has intended: it’s all about maintenance.