old journal-blog entry: missing you.

music of the moment: away we go: eisley.

the parents are gone to the restaurant of two weeks ago; coffee is brewing, i'm having a piece of pecan cheesecake for no reason, and i'm missing you.
[written and drafted:
6:45pm, friday december 9 2011]

something i wrote on saturday, february 25, 2012.

8pm

God is all about relationships.

i believe they are nearly-just-about-most-likely the most important thing in this life.

relationships take muscles.

guts.

heart.

feelings.

investment.

choosing.

sincerity.

time.

patience.

all the fruits of the Spirit.

prayer.

openness.

gratitude.

lenience.

silliness.

coffee. ;)

dreaming.

and marriage...

is one of the most important relationships some of us will ever be blessed to grow in.

sometimes it hits me and i battle wonder and disbelief that, put simply, before i turned 20, i met the one for me.

the one i want to learn, love, and live life with.

the next line is found at the end of this post by ladaisi.

(Love: figuring life out together.)
~~~

the next paragraph or two is from a post found here.

excerpt:

Our one certainty: We are in this together. And you will make me cry and I will make you furious and we will laugh and live the best we can. We always make it work. Because when the dust clears we are left standing here with the each other and the truth. No other could love me as you do. No other could love you as I do.

I’ll ask “I’m stuck with you, aren’t I?” and your eyes will narrow and your lips will turn up at the corners and you’ll say “Afraid so, babe.” and it’s a beautiful thing to realize every.single.time.

dresses.

top: flip flops. bottom: heels.

it should be said....i'm not an impulse buyer.
i like sales.
but one day, on a lovely saturday, us ladies were out shopping at maurice's after having lunch at panera's.
i tried on this dress, amongst other cute ones they had, and knew . . . right away . . . it was the one.
mhmmm.
then i pondered for the next 10 minutes whether i wanted to splurge . . . or wait and risk not getting around to shopping again while they still had my size, on sale . . . eh.
so yeah. i bought it.
and borrowed my sister anna's bolero to go over it today. :) sisters are wonderful things. ;)

ah, i love maurice's dresses.
after browsing randomly the past few months for dresses on ruche, modcloth, and shabby apple, it was very satisfying to find a dress i adored and just get it. for a price that didn't burn the wallet. [ahem, shabby apple...]
other dresses [and swing-dance-worthy attire], including some that i got to try on at maurice's....

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

[this one, i thought would be a really cute bridesmaid dress option....bonus: it was so comfy.]

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

[this in a blue? mmmm:) the fit of this was awesome.]

Source: maurices.com via Beka on Pinterest

[my dress, yes indeed.]

have a lovely sunday.... :)

my saturday.

this child...
woke up this morning with crazier hair than i've ever seen on him before.

[and no, not mine, for those of you who don't know. i'm still working on a "the peoples" about list so you all can see the important people in my life listed there with pictures and a little description and all that jazz....]

it's probably because his mum bought gel for his hair the other day, and he had some in yesterday....he's never had this crazy bed-head look that bad before.
hahaha.

it was a gorgeous, chilly morning. 
the scarf and hoodie kind of day.

those earrings are my favorite.
and gray is one of my most favorite colors.
and.....burt's bees lip color is pretty awesome.
i wore a touch of deeper color for the special night of vintagey-themed, live-band swing dancing at the art museum last night, and i decided i kinda liked it and wore it again today.

in the awesome women's loo with the full wall of mirror....at a resort place for a conference.
gotta love sisters.

 :)

all the ladies in our family [mom, anna, me, rach and lyd] went out to lunch at this really awesome place...then hoppity-skipped next door to the cute little bakery....obviously, i got lemon poppyseed tea cake. and a small regular coffee. alterra.
we came home, and after i talked to justin for a few minutes on the phone, i crashed into this thing called a . . . a . . . nap. yeah. i think that's what it's called. it's where you close your eyes and everything disappears and goes foggy and it's like this really really wonderful thing, especially if you stayed out till 12:30 swing dancing with awesome friends [a post with tons of pics coming soon] and getting home at 1:30 and going to sleep by 2:30 and waking for the day on a saturday at 7:30 . . .
yeah.
naps are wonderful things. :)

things making me smile...

this paragraph in pioneer woman's post on stuff she's learned about blogging:

2. Blog often.

Whether you write a sixteen-paragraph essay about the cosmic implications of a free market system, a one-paragraph description of what happens to your soul when you walk into your godforsaken laundry room, or a simple photo and caption, consider your blog a precious bloom that requires daily nurturing.

i heart that whole post. that one line really makes me laugh, though. i tell ya...

the fact that miss charla has blogged, for the first time in a while! [hello, old friends.]
so good to see her sweet self's writing populating the good old blogger dashboard.

this crazy coffee maker. thingy. whatever. i bet it costs somewhere in the upper side of 5k-10k. i. just. bet.

it's insane, is it not??

this repurposed barn.
i cannot say enough words for how much i really really really really like this.

Source: ninbra.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

yeah. i'm kind of sitting here in a state of shock, absorbing the wonder of it. 

gah.

maybe dress down the design of the interior decorating a little bit, more casual and not quite so design-looking but more homey, and i'll take it.

like...

that light fixture...eh...switch it out for something a little more normal looking. more classic.
in fact, just give me the shell of the remodeled barn. i'll decorate it. :P i do like that table, though.....

sigh:)

ah.

this lace.

Source: ruffledblog.com via Anna on Pinterest

it's so vintage-inspired. i love it.

and this.

Source: tumblr.com via Pascale on Pinterest

♥

and a piece from this poem by pablo neruda:

take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.

Source: goo.gl via shelia on Pinterest

kitty.

dad brought home a 4 week old kitten from his brother and his co-owned farm, a few minutes out of town.
it was limp, and lyddie's compassionate spirit was brought out.
she held it.
i'm not a cat person [at all, really], but golly...it makes me sad to see animals--especially young ones--suffering or just...not right or happy in their condition.
they fed it some warm milk via a dropper. it started moving its limbs a little...tried meowing.
it was sad. :\
we don't plan on keeping it as a pet; the only pets we've had through the years were painted turtles, sea monkeys, and goldfish. it'll go back to the farm with all its friends and siblings, soon...
we're all hoping it makes it. 

it's been an interesting monday.

...in the middle of it all, the thing making me happy are:

music by glenn miller

music by florence + the machine.

the little guy. [crappy quality webcam picture. he was astounded that the little circle was a camera. lol.]

chocolate cheerios.

[the other day.]

sunshine, finally. the weather was deceptive and indecisive for the first 3/4 of the day. :P

clean stove tops.

simple, easy-to-execute dinners like vegan fettuccine already assembled. the above is said dish, but minus mushrooms tonight....and with spaghetti, not fettuccine.
also, the psalms and proverbs i read today....oh, the faithfulness of God.

...and....to finish off the list.....getting to hear somebody's voice before heading off to a memorial service being held for a long ago, distant family friend.

i just love bruises.

why the title? because. this move, although challenging and super fun to execute and practice, hurts the next day. or two. or three. as you can imagine. heh:)
so, since the place where normal thursday night swing dancing has switched ownership and the swing dancing is discontinued there until further notice... {sad face} ...we went to martha's house the other night. to dance and learn/practice new moves found via youtube.
it was grand. :)
so...we saw this ^^ video in the sidebar thursday night.
watched it.
and ben and i attempted it.

here's my personal favorite out of the recorded painful practices, for your viewing pleasure. lol

momentum means a lot. heh.
and....finally a good one! had to work on keeping my legs straight and together.

otherwise, here's the froggy throw.

a little easier than the windmill, you can imagine. ;)

and, finally, ben and martha:
[learn. to. dance.
it's the best thing ever. :)]

danny boy.

this little boy has been my buddy the past few days.
through the 3+ years we've been watching him, [he's obviously been unofficially adopted into our family], and he's gone through phases of making different siblings his favorite person.
lately it's been me.
for a long while there, it was rachel.
before that, it was ben and me.
and before that, it was rachel again.
he wants to do virtually everything with me.
cook. bake. clean. put aprons on. paint with watercolors. watch movies with a snuggly blanket. and, when his mom can't make it, read stories at bedtime.

last night, anna, ben and i went to martha's house to learn and practice different swing dance moves in her barn, and we had a visitation to go to beforehand. danny wanted to be by me about every minute. and then when we were leaving in a separate car, he started crying and saying he didn't like "tomorrow" when i said i'd see him in the morning. i knew we'd be home late.
poor sweetie.

...btw, someone in singapore googled "idiosyncrasy" and found my blog. um.
this post.
i guess i was asking for it.

i ♥ strawberries.

whole milk vanilla yogurt
frozen strawberries
honey
vanilla
blend in the vita-mix until smooth....
mmm....enjoy.

:)

cornbread. mmm.

firstly: here's the basic recipe for cornbread.

way back on march 13, danny and i were in the kitchen one morning and decided to make cornbread for lunch/snack.
mmmm.
the family loves having it with just milk and maple syrup [the real stuff, since we make it] poured over top.
ohmyword, it's good.
and he's always so flippin' excited to be in the kitchen and help with anything.
so it's cute. :)

basic corn bread
    1 cup corn meal
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1/4 sugar
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 cup milk
    1/3 vegetable oil
    1 egg
1. preheat the oven to 400.
2. combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another. combine the two and mix until just blended. pour into greased pan. use and 8 x 8 pan if you like it fairly (2 to 3 inches) thick or 13 x 9 pan if you like it thin. i used a 13 x 9 pan for the loaf pictured here, which produced a 1 inch thick loaf.
3. bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. remove and serve while still warm.
♥
enjoy!