It's a rainy day here in North Texas, and I'm enjoying the cooler day and the air conditioning after 2 weeks of being burning hot! I feel pretty spoiled here in a comfy chair, a "snuggie" (must get myself one of these!), and a cup of coffee. Charlie and I made our way down to Texas for a long visit, though he left this morning to fly back home so he can work while I spend another almost 3 weeks here. I hate hate hate having to be away from him. It makes me so sad. But, I am thankful that he's willing to make the sacrifice so that I can be here to visit my family. I imagine it will be another year until we can make it back to Texas, so I am thrilled to be here right now.
I wish I had something interesting to blog about today, but I don't really. We've just been busy with seeing family and it's been really great. We attended a family reunion for Charlie's side of the family, which was a blast. I am so blessed with great in-laws!
Summer prevails over the blog, but I do look forward to getting back to it when the trip comes to an end!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Simplicity
Over the last several weeks and months, through prayer and experiences, it has become clear to me that my heart desires simplicity.
Simplicity...it has become the name of the game. It has given me peace in the past, and after all the chaos that is now behind us, it is back in my life for the time being.
Moving, employment changes, and the end of the school year as a missionary family do not lend themselves well to this coveted style of life. Nothing had a place, and therefore nothing went back to where it belonged. Sports events needed to be watched, and guests entertained. Meals had to be prepared in a kitchen devoid of its necessary components, and then eaten somewhere, somehow without the kitchen table. Paper plates, paper bowls, paper towels, plastic cups, disposable diapers...everywhere, they seemed so wasteful, but so necessary. The dog was going crazy, the kids were going crazy, I was going crazy!
And then, we arrived here.
A little unpacking and a little tidying, some shuffling of furniture, and a trip to the grocery store - this was all it took to settle my heart. Now, I am content to call this little apartment home. My sweet children rest their heads here at night, family meals are opened and closed in thankful prayer together, and the most basic of necessities and favorite luxuries reside here with us.
We have no TV. In fact, we'd like to keep it that way when we move to a far grander homestead. Occasionally, Charlie and I enjoy a movie together after the children are in bed, via streaming Netflix. I still allow the girls to watch a little show when they first get up so that I have a moment to collect myself, make breakfast, and such (these days, the baby will not permit me to leave the bed without her, so I cling to every moment of sleep that I can, and figure I will conquer the "heroic moment" when this phase of babyhood is sadly over). We don't miss it, and life is simpler without it.
The girls and I have developed a rhythm for our days, it includes lots of reading (we just finished Little House in the Big Woods - the girls' first chapter book!), thoughtful playing (I only brought along a few favorite and Quiet toys - wooden blocks, a selection of dress up clothes/play silks, wedgets, baby dolls, and a few baby toys), coloring, tea parties, and taking walks. It also includes mandatory rest time for all children, something that fell by the wayside while we were in chaos. I have found audio books to be a great way for my big girls to rest without having to sleep.
My daily chores are literally cut in half since so much *stuff* isn't here. The laundry gets done with ease, despite the fact that I'm sharing laundry facilities with other people. I'm back to cloth diapers (which gives me such joy!). The dishwasher isn't an option, so all dishes are done and ready to go for the next meal. Meals are all prepared at home, as eating out isn't so readily accessible! Picking up the apartment takes about 10 minutes, and then I'm free to spend time with Charlie, the children, or pick up a book. It's been really lovely.
I want to be simple. I want our lives to continue like this as much as possible. There is happiness to be found in routine, peace to be found in simplicity, satisfaction to be found in completion of one's duties. We enjoy time with others and as a family, we pray and seek the Lord, we devour the fruits of order with thankfulness. I thank God for this time of consolation!
Simplicity...it has become the name of the game. It has given me peace in the past, and after all the chaos that is now behind us, it is back in my life for the time being.
Moving, employment changes, and the end of the school year as a missionary family do not lend themselves well to this coveted style of life. Nothing had a place, and therefore nothing went back to where it belonged. Sports events needed to be watched, and guests entertained. Meals had to be prepared in a kitchen devoid of its necessary components, and then eaten somewhere, somehow without the kitchen table. Paper plates, paper bowls, paper towels, plastic cups, disposable diapers...everywhere, they seemed so wasteful, but so necessary. The dog was going crazy, the kids were going crazy, I was going crazy!
And then, we arrived here.
A little unpacking and a little tidying, some shuffling of furniture, and a trip to the grocery store - this was all it took to settle my heart. Now, I am content to call this little apartment home. My sweet children rest their heads here at night, family meals are opened and closed in thankful prayer together, and the most basic of necessities and favorite luxuries reside here with us.
We have no TV. In fact, we'd like to keep it that way when we move to a far grander homestead. Occasionally, Charlie and I enjoy a movie together after the children are in bed, via streaming Netflix. I still allow the girls to watch a little show when they first get up so that I have a moment to collect myself, make breakfast, and such (these days, the baby will not permit me to leave the bed without her, so I cling to every moment of sleep that I can, and figure I will conquer the "heroic moment" when this phase of babyhood is sadly over). We don't miss it, and life is simpler without it.
The girls and I have developed a rhythm for our days, it includes lots of reading (we just finished Little House in the Big Woods - the girls' first chapter book!), thoughtful playing (I only brought along a few favorite and Quiet toys - wooden blocks, a selection of dress up clothes/play silks, wedgets, baby dolls, and a few baby toys), coloring, tea parties, and taking walks. It also includes mandatory rest time for all children, something that fell by the wayside while we were in chaos. I have found audio books to be a great way for my big girls to rest without having to sleep.
My daily chores are literally cut in half since so much *stuff* isn't here. The laundry gets done with ease, despite the fact that I'm sharing laundry facilities with other people. I'm back to cloth diapers (which gives me such joy!). The dishwasher isn't an option, so all dishes are done and ready to go for the next meal. Meals are all prepared at home, as eating out isn't so readily accessible! Picking up the apartment takes about 10 minutes, and then I'm free to spend time with Charlie, the children, or pick up a book. It's been really lovely.
I want to be simple. I want our lives to continue like this as much as possible. There is happiness to be found in routine, peace to be found in simplicity, satisfaction to be found in completion of one's duties. We enjoy time with others and as a family, we pray and seek the Lord, we devour the fruits of order with thankfulness. I thank God for this time of consolation!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Volume 3
7 Quick Takes
v. 3
v. 3
#1 Smitten
Oh goodness, I have been blindsided! When we first visited this little town for Charlie's final interview, they were in the middle of a pretty brutal snow storm (in May) so I had no idea really what would be available to us here or anything about the town really. I must say, even though we have only been here for four days, I am just enamored with this place! Everyone is so friendly and I really feel like it is culturally closer to Texas, which makes me feel much more at home here. It is insanely beautiful, surrounded by mountains and big grassy hills, a stunning state park is only a 5 minute drive out of town (we went hiking there yesterday I saw all sorts of amazing things: gorgeous wild flowers, a huge rushing river, geological wonders, and animals, notably, a beautiful humming bird and a snake!). We've already signed up for library cards at the brand new, well stocked library, signed up for a gym membership, and visited many local shops, including a used bookstore to which I am going to become a regular patron! There is a trend toward outdoor recreation, many fun annual events to attend, and all sorts of fun things to do. I think we are going to be very happy here, I really hope so!
#2 Friday Night
Well, it's Friday night and we are going to start a new tradition that was suggested by some family friends (I'm pretty sure several families do this!). Pizza and a movie for Friday night. We don't have cable or any tv in general for the summer, which we are actually pretty excited about, but we can watch movies on the Mac. So, for tonight we rented An American in Paris (the girls loved Singing in the Rain, so hopefully they'll like this too) and we're going to try out the local pizza joint. Pretty sure homemade popcorn is in the future too! Does anyone have any great family movie suggestions? I'd love to start a list!
#3 Pro-Tek
We are within walking distance to the Post Office right now and so I took Colette and went for a walk yesterday to pick up our mail (we have a PO Box until we get a house). When I returned, there was a strange man in my apartment cleaning and showing Charlie this (non-toxic, green) magical cleaning solution. Now, we have never purchased anything from a door-to-door salesman, but this guy was pretty convincing, removing stains from all sorts of places, cleaning my shoe, cleaning permanent marker, getting rust stains off of the camper rims, cleaning the windows and leather on the Suburban, etc. Long story short, we purchased some and it's so great! I have been able to get some things clean that I never thought possible. Lovin' it!
#4 Family Dinner
We had been in the process of moving since pretty much Easter, and because of that, we hadn't had a dinner table to eat at for just over 6 weeks! I have been just thrilled to pieces to sit down at the table with the whole family for meals over the last several days. What joy.
#5 Speaking of which...
Speaking of family dinner, the baby is now eating finger foods and enjoys sitting in a booster seat at the table with us for meals. I have found this Baby Bjorn bib to be just so helpful! The best part is that it's the only one I need, I just scrub it down between meals, instead of having to get out a new cloth bib and then adding more laundry to the piles and piles I do each week. Another wonderful feature, is that when she misses her mouth, which she often does, the food catches in the little lip underneath. Genius.
#6 Summer Projects
We're in this apartment for the summer and so I don't have access to all my stuff, nor do I have a large home to clean. I have two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. That is it. It's not going to take much effort to keep it under control, so I have several projects I'm taking up for the summer. The girls are signed up for the library summer reading program, so we'll be doing a ton of reading. One thing they are all enjoying right now is the Little House series. I'd love some suggestions for other appropriate chapter books as well for me to read them. My oldest is 6, so it's hard to find that balance. I brought along my sewing machine and I have all sorts of things I want to try out, most importantly, I'm going to work on making some felt play food for the girls. I need to get my act together for homeschooling 1st grade in the Fall. I have some ideas, but have a lot of work to do as far as laying that out. I brought along several books to read over the summer, and hope to spend a lot of time doing fun stuff with the girls (including trying out all the local ice cream shops!). What are your summer plans???
#7 Publish
I'm out of takes for now, so I had better hit publish while it's still Friday! Have a great weekend my friends!
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