Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Music Monday

Last year during a little season of sadness I stumbled upon Be OK and Keep Breathing and they became the soundtrack of my life. (soundtrack of Grays Anatomy too I see!) Ingrid pulled me through.
Anyone know what that is that she plays? Small guitar? Big uke?

Music Monday II

Really nice cover......just have to wonder why she recorded it in the bathroom.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Words

As I've mentioned a number of times, last year everyone in our church was encouraged to select a word to live into for 2009. We shared them in January, and then began to work on an altered book that included each of our words. A number of us worked on and off on the book. Each Sunday one of the pages from the book was the cover for our bulletin. Today we offered up our completed book and blessed that book and those words.

Yesterday at an all day retreat, we worked together to select words that we would like to live into as a community for 2010. Many of us have personal words, but these were words to live into as a church family. The words that came out of it were strong wonderful big words- words like anchored and uninhibited, create and neighborhood, peculiar and family. There are about 24 words that came out of the day and I look forward to living with and into them this year.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wednesday Link Love

So, now I’ve got to get more sucker sticks……

And some green tomato jelly…..

Oh my, this looks like a good cure for the February blues!

A sweet message for moms and daughters…..

Oh, tiny houses!

I am so in love with this chair!

My continuing love affair with buttons…

I love every one of the three rings in this post!

And I love this sweet love story…

Allison is giving something very cool away and you really need to have a look and leave her a comment. And while you are there, you will fall in love with her and her sweet blog.

Love this! I hope to get my Valentines decorations out this weekend….

Monday, February 1, 2010

Music Monday

I don't know Heather, but I really enjoyed this.

Bliss List

In this photo made Wednesday, June 10, 2009, David Brown Kinloch talks about the new homes in the background that have replaced vacant and demolished properties as he stands in Lucille Grant Park in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood of Louisville, Ky. The neighborhood association built the park on property that was once the site of more vacant property.

After reading this post and the post that inspired it, I’ve decided I want to start putting together my bliss list.    Sure, I’ll remember the biggies like wedding day and graduations and school acceptance letters, but what of those days (or moments) where bliss just falls on me in some unexpected measure? 

I’m thinking tonight of the great great happiness I felt in the days and weeks just after our little neighborhood park was created.   I was so excited at the whole amazing way things had come together.  A house torn down, a great collaborative effort , months of planning, and in the end, a piece of green carved out for our little urban neighborhood. 

On the day that it was dedicated, I commented to my mother that I hadn’t felt as excited or happy about anything since my wedding day.   For the first few weeks, I went over and sat on a bench almost every night and just looked and and loved that little park.  I envisioned it as our great “third place”, and it has been in many ways.  What I didn’t envision, couldn’t have even dreamed, was that I would have kids of my own playing there in that park in the years to come.  Sadly, the giant tree that anchored the whole park and that we worked so hard to plan around went down in a big storm a few years ago, so we are growing new trees to someday take its place. 

We’ve shared many a meal there, played croquet, walked our dogs, played and listened to music, thrown steak dinners there for our homeless friends, met new neighbors, and crossed paths with the old.   Lots of great days have been spent there, but none more golden than that first day. Bliss.

And as for the anti-bliss……..on Friday I made a whole batch of those s’mores on a stick for C to take back to school with him.  I left them out on wax paper to set up a bit and we all went to watch a video on the computer.  The gate was locked, so I’m not sure how it happened, but I heard a little sound…..like the sound of wax paper crumbling…..and then saw Willow run down the hall with six or eight sticks sticking out of her mouth in all kinds of angles.   The rest of the sticks (we hope) were in the kitchen floor, and nary a s’more or scrap of one in sight.