Challenge II, D14: {Ebb & Flow}

Some weeks, when Wednesday rolls around I am happily surprised, shaking my head and smiling at the beautiful & inexplicable passage of time.

...This was not the case this week.

I felt every. single. moment of my week until now. ...Which is both a good and bad thing ;)

On one hand, I've been feeling very present-- there's something in the air around here, it's fairly crackling with creativity. I've been drinking it in-- dreaming, watching, writing & storing the multitude of wonders that I cannot begin to understand now away in my heart for another time when they might be revealed to me. ...That is, without a doubt, the good.

...The bad part, of course, is that when I happen to be chained to an obligation that is not....oh, particularly creative or soul feeding, let's say... it feels like, surely, time has come to a stop.

Overall though, the flow of creative energy has won out. Life is good...and the ebb of the "in between" is a chance to refresh for the next high ♥

I hope the week has been wonderful for you all, too. (We're more than halfway to another weekend!)

Here's a little synopsis of what I've been doing, {Wrangling} style....

{Wrangling}

(A weekly round up. Each week I am going to “wrangle” my life's happenings into a post filled with pictures, lists & general tidbits about the past 7 days.)

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Once I got past that nasty headache business, my week was off to a great start. On Monday evening, I kept a promise I had made to myself earlier in the year and took the plunge and got involved with a Bible study at our church.

We are working through a 10 week study on how to hear God's voice, and I think that it is going to be a valuable experience for me for so many reasons. Of course, I am hoping that I'll walk away with a deeper faith, deeper peace, and a confidence that I can hear Him-- that I can trust him to tell me what He wants me to do with this life (...I realize I probably won't get all the answers... but it's comforting to know that I'm not floundering in the dark :) But I think this is also going to give me the chance to grow closer to some wonderful people. ...I've always loved how comfortable and "at home" I felt in this church, and I feel that this step is going to help me settle in even more.

This week we covered the basics-- Be still. Watch & listen. Journal. Believe.

Yeah.... Pretty sure I'm going to love this :)

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Tonight, I wish I had 4 more hours in my day, so I could ride out this "creative flow" and get all these words from my head out onto the paper...

I love this feeling.

It's what I live for during the moments of frustration & writer's block.

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Yesterday I got the chance to have lunch with my mother... just the two of us. We haven't gotten to do this in quite a while, and I was reminded multiple times just how much I enjoy spending time with her. We spent the hour telling stories, laughing, encouraging, and catching up on life ♥

I've said it before and I'll say it again,"I would be honored to grow up to be like my mother.

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Country girl that I am, this song makes me incredibly happy.

Adding this onto my marathon playlist pronto.

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My yesterday went a little bit differently than I had expected it to. I had planned to take 2 hours off work for a doctor's appointment, but when the appointment was cancelled a the last minute, I seized the opportunity afternoon ;)

Instead of spending time in a dark waiting room reading magazines, I took myself to Easton, our outdoor mall. I took our wedding rings in for inspection/cleaning/magic....I took myself to Trader Joe's to ogle the produce & "chocolate covered-everythings" while I waited for the rings to be finished (heh. because, frankly, produce makes me happier than jewelry :)... I enjoyed the sunshine.

It was lovely :) ...Just another gentle lesson in 'changing plans'...

Note: this is an old picture, from our honeymoon... but the rings look new like this again:) ... Jon had never had his cleaned or re-plated, and was rather impressed with the difference. ALSO worth mentioning, he told me he found he missed his wedding ring throughout the day.... for a man who never wore a watch before I met him, I figure that's not bad.)

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Source: anthropologie.com via Amy on Pinterest

Finally, while I am doing my best not to do any *real* shopping before our wine-country trip, I have definitely been window shopping... In fact, it may or may not have taken me twice as long as it should have to write this post because I was playing on Pinterest. ...I don't get half as excited about clothes for any other season, but fall is special. I love cozy sweaters, classic boots, bright scarves and metallic accents. LOVE IT. (This anthro scarf?! Goodness...)


So that's just a little bit of what's rattling around in my mind tonight. ... And with that, I am going to get myself in gear-- I'd like to write some more before I head for bed!

Your turn: How is your week going? Do you window shop like I do? Do you know of any fantastic fall fashions to tell me about (feel free to leave me a link ;)

Harmony

Source

Dictionary.com defines harmony as, "agreement; accord." It can also be defined as follows:

"Harmony is the inner cadence of contentment you feel when the melody of life is in tune."

- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Amidst my "internet ramblings" yesterday, I stumbled upon this quote by one of my favorite inspirational authors (ladies, if you've never picked up this book, I highly recommend it. I am working my way through it for the nth time.) I thought this Friday morning would be a perfect time to share it with you :)

Well, how are you, friends?! It's been a whirlwind week over here in "Amy-ville", and suffice it to say, I am SO glad that Monday is a paid holiday for Memorial day. Ahhhh! (remember, this is angel singing...just reminding you in case you've forgotten-- it hasn't been heard on the blog in a few weeks :) Oh , how I am looking forward to sleeping in next Monday-- I feel like this (long) weekend that is coming up will be my reward for making it through this week.

... because this week? Oh my, it's been a doozy.

There have been several (what I will refer to as) 'character building milestones' for me this week, including: J and I surviving our first 'semi-serious' illness as a married couple (J caught the flu, I *knock on wood* am still hanging tough) and my first truly panicked call to the vet (Gracie pranced around a bit too hard on her stitches and bled all over our downstairs. She is absolutely fine. I have about 10 new gray hairs, I think. ... I really hope I am just joking about the gray hairs.)

However, as it always seems to go (thank heavens) there were some really wonderful (or at least funny) milestones that occurred this week as well. You might even say, even with the 'crazies', life remains balanced and, in fact, 'in harmony'. See for yourself:

• Laurie and I ran together (first time outside of a race), and it was fabulous. I think this may be the one arena where "sisterly competition" is good for us :)



• We saw a snake on said run, and I didn't scream like the scared girly girl I am a banshee. In fact, I stepped closer to get a better look. ... Trust me bloggies... this is huge.
  



• To combat some of the stress, I have been a baking machine. We're talking smothered pork chops, mac and cheese, and the most wonderful (and possibly easiest!) peanut butter cookies I've ever made!


• I took a nap on Sunday afternoon!
  


• I finally tried the infamous "green monster" that has been taking the blog-world by storm! ... After a few tweaks (the first one reminded me that I do not, in fact, like banana flavor. Subsequent 'monsters' masked the banana flavor a bit better, and were a lot more enjoyable :)


• I finally got the chance to visit the salad bar at "The Raisin Rack" when my Mom and I went there for lunch to celebrate her birthday! It was just as epically wonderful as I had imagined it would be. For those of you not familiar with this store, it's kind of a small scale version of "Whole Foods".


• While Gracie and I were watching "The Bachelorette", I discovered that she has a sixth sense about such things, and (without fail) would stand on the keyboard (watching via Hulu, so I could spend time with my little girl in the 'Quarantine Room') -- causing the show to pause during the most cringe-worthy parts-- my kitty is brilliant.


• There was a day this week during which I consumed 5 cups of coffee. ...Not particularly a smart thing, but a milestone nonetheless :)


• I found the Answers to life's biggest questions. (not really.... this is just a fun link I found via yahoo, while I was checking my email. I thought some thoughts were insightful, while others were at least good for a smile. Enjoy!)


• I started learning how to use google.documents-- which means I am finding new ways to share things with ya'll!

So, life is chugging right along :) Another important milestone I reached this week was realizing that I have definitely fallen into the "I'll do it when things calm down" trap.

Let me explain: I feel like things have been going at a frantic pace ever since we moved into the new house (at the beginning of April... can you believe it's been almost 2 months?! I sure can't...) and I find that I keep saying, "maybe next week I'll get to it (think about it, do it, etc.) ... when I am not doing x,y,z...." Well, it seems to me that I will always have and X... or a Y... or a Z going on in my life-- and more than likely, I'll often have some combination of all 3.

... And that's a good thing. I need to cling to every moment, loving it for what it is. I need to be truly present. For goodness sake, I need to stop making excuses to myself, and just get up and go. And I'm working on that. I want to be able to fall into bed every night and sleep the sweet, contented sleep of one who has poured her heart into every waking moment and lived in the now, rather than wasting time sighing over certain realities that might not be ideal.

And so, with that in mind, I think it's time for a good list, which is (and always will be) one more step in the right direction :)

Good List

1. J. I know he will help and support me through all the 'character building milestones' yet to come :) Furthermore, I know it will be because of him that I will be able to overcome and push past each one.

2. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to sing this with a choir-- as it has always touched me profoundly. Finally, this summer I will have my chance.

3. Waterproof mascara ;)

4. Caprese salads.... mmmm....
5. Ooooh. New peanut butter! I finally got to try this (PB&Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl), and it is everything it's cracked up to be.

6. The weather this week has been amazing (haha... until this morning, which has been delightfully warm, but rather overcast.) Oh yes, am I ready for summer!

7. Ponytails and baseball caps.

8. Turquoise. It just says summer to me...
9. 'Birthday $$ financed" mini shopping sprees :)

10. Hope everlasting.

So now that we've covered the 'life-y stuff", the 'big stuff' and the 'good stuff', let's move on to the 'weekend stuff'! This weekend I am looking forward to finishing at least one book tending my (2) flowers, sleeping in late (Saturday, Sunday AND Monday, if I have any say in the matter!), and spending time with our family on Sunday. J and I are also looking forward to a 'double date night' on Saturday, when we'll do dinner and drinks with a friend of mine (gah... who, I just realized, I have known for 10 years?! Crazy... and very, very cool :) We'll be headed to an Italian restaurant in Gahanna, which has garnered some rave reviews (if I haven't mentioned it on 'el bloggy' yet, I am a fan of all things "carb". Love, LoVe, LOVE good pasta and Italian food!)-- I'll give you my take on it next week. Also, maybe J and I will have the chance to go on a "one-on-one" date to the movies this weekend (as you might remember, we were hoping to go last weekend to see 'Iron Man 2'... but then J got sick.)

Do you have any good plans for the weekend? Will you visit family and/or travel? Also, an apropos question for the weekend: what is your favorite picnic food?

Mine is definitely potato salad . .. or s'mores. ... or anything grilled. It's way too hard to pick just one :)

(PS: I apologize for the wonky spacing... after messing with it for upwards of 10 minutes... I gave up....)

Apologies

Goodness. I may have reached a new record with my consecutive days of "non-postage". Can you forgive me? ....Are you still there? ... Anyone?!

To be fair to myself, it has been a crazy-busy whirlwind few weeks over here in Amy-ville. (You know, I became a homeowner, moved my whole life, moved the cats and had the good sense to do all this during what was perhaps the busiest 2 weeks of the year, work-wise. Yeah, I really should have given the dates a little more thought... but it worked, and I'm still standing :)

And of course, dear bloggies: to be fair to you, I am giving you lots of pictures in this post! Yes, I am not above shameless bribery to get you all to come back to me after my 19 day (gah!) hiatus. ...You're most welcome:)

So, obviously I've missed you, and I could babble on ad nauseam... but, since I am trying to win you back and all, let's get right to the good stuff. (Note: Sigh. To add to my growing list of apologies, most of these pictures were taken with the iPhone. And I am no iPhone photographer because I can't hold still long enough. I seem to have *cough* misplaced my camera during the move, and I haven't unearthed it yet, booo.)

Without further ado: here's our new home!

Front of the house, lovingly mulched by yours truly this past weekend. (Sweet.Goodness. I hate mulching...)

One of my favorite rooms: The Kitchen! I love how open it is, and being able to look out the windows when I'm standing at the sink. (Baron loves these windows, too. He like to perch there and spy on our neighbor's dog :) This is actually a picture from the realtor.... I tried to take a pic earlier, and it was way, way too dark. Sigh. MUST find camera.

Our back yard. I am looking forward to hosting many gatherings and cook-outs here in the years to come :)

And finally, the master bedroom. (Yes, I 'made the bed' especially for you. ... Not that we don't make the bed on a every day -we do - but it isn't this tidy during the week... it's more of a 'pull the covers up and go' type of "bed-make". It does look like this on weekends, though ...) Again, sorry the quality isn't 100%...

And, to continue to butter you up -- I'll continue on to some more GOOD Stuff:

Good List:

1. J. Our marriage survived the move (heh. not that I was really worried... but I did get a bit crabby and unreasonable after multiple nights of very little sleep :)-- and now we are having a fabulous time nesting. Building our little home (& our lives) together. I love this man.

2. Allergy meds. Ah, Ohio. How I love hate love thee ...

3. Heroes, via Netflix. Season 1 has been fabulous!

4. Lunchtime walks (look for a "Walk with me" post later this week!)

5. Post-it notes.

6. BBQ and Country music. This stuff just makes me happy, folks. "There's a wild, wild whisper blowing in the wind calling out my name like a long-lost friend. Oh I miss those days as the years go by - Oh, nothing's sweeter than summertime, and American Honey..." (Lady A.)

7. Nesting. Love, LoVe, LOVE.

8. Libraries.

9. Sliding between cool, clean sheets at the end of a long but productive day. Is there any better feeling than that?

10. I find that, no matter what is slated to occur later in my day-- no matter how stressful or busy it is to be -- I cannot be anything but positive and happy on my morning drive. Something about driving through the early morning sunshine in the waking world renews me, and lifts my heart. In those moments I am hopeful and at peace, and the world abounds in the promise of a new day.

More later, and much love to you all .... Happy Tuesday!