Charlie Brown

It's true. Our own little "Charlie Brown" is on his/her way.

See the resemblance?

Jeff and I are so excited. C.B. is due December 20, and we cannot wait. Many new chapters are ahead for us and that's what makes this waiting chapter even more exciting/long/terrifying/thrilling.

driving home

My hometown.

It isn't much.

In fact, there are times when I can't wait to leave.

I'm excited to see new sights, and perhaps live near an Ikea and have more restaurant choices

someday,

but nothing beats a sunset here

or the smell of the harvest

or the dripping of melting snow...

I'm still waiting for that.

No Pressure

These are no pressure resolutions. Too many times I get too caught up in goals and get discouraged when I don't accomplish them. It's time to feel be at peace and content, despite my many flaws.

That brings me to resolution 1. Be content. Find healthy ways to cope with stress. Instead of stressing, take a moment to breathe. Read a book. Watch a movie. But most importantly, just breathe. Everything is and will be okay.

My 2nd resolution is to simplify. To accomplish resolution 1, I must do this. I must find little ways to simplify my life. It's already started, but I'm working on more ways.

Resolution number 3 is what most people have on their list: Eat healthier and exercise. I'm not going to place a number on my goal, because that's not the point. The point is to find what works for me. What weight works best for me. At what weight do I feel healthy and confident? Not only that, but how can I train my body to give me the best results? That's way more important to me than a model-sized body. I want to find ways to connect body to soul--yoga is on the list.

My 4th resolution has to do with something else entirely... well, sort of. I plan to make another blog. I think this will be a great distraction and hobby for me. If I do it. We'll see. No pressure resolutions, remember!

Resolution #5... Write. Every day. Whether it's in a journal, the blog, or my novel. I must write daily and in doing so, learn to harness and express creatively.

I would like to cook and bake a lot more often for resolution 6. I love it, and now I can chronicle everything with my awesome new SLR! (See the pic above for an example... I made whole wheat bread yesterday. Pair it with Cindi's awesome jam and yum!).

That's all I have, well for you to see anyway.

More Thoughts from MacDonald

 

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In bed attempting to recover from mono, I began reading the sequel to The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie. Only a few pages in, I found a quote that has intrigued me. I am writing it down here so that I don't forget to contemplate it over the next week or so. 

"As Curdie grew, he grew at this time faster in body than in mind--with the usual consequence, that he was getting rather stupid--one of the chief signs of which was that he believed less and less in things he had never seen. At the same time I do not think he was ever so stupid as to imagine that that was a sign of superior faculty and strength of mind. Still, he was becoming more and more a miner, and less and less a man of the upper world where the wind blew. On his way to and from the mine he took less and less notice of bees and butterflies, moths and dragonflies, the flowers and the brooks and the clouds. He was gradually changing into a commonplace man.

"There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it is a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection. One of the latter sort comes at length to know at once whether a thing is true the moment it comes before him; one of the former class grows more and more afraid of being taken in, so afraid of it that he takes himself in altogether, and comes at length to believe in nothing but his dinner: to be sure of a thing with him is to have it between his teeth" (MacDonald).

The quote is quite long, and I'm not going to pretend I understand it fully by writing shallow interpretations. It is what it is, and I will continue to contemplate it. Maybe I'll share what I discover, maybe not. 

What do you think about it?

Also, if you don't have an iPod Touch or Kindle, you can read MacDonald's works online for free, including The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie. I highly recommend it.  

UPDATE: One more intriguing thought from MacDonald, "The boy should enclose and keep, as his life, the old child at the heart of him, and never let it go... The child is not meant to die, but to be forever fresh born."

How grateful am I?

So... I'm just sitting here thinking...

It's been a long time since I felt this way.

What way is that? I'm still trying to decide.

Gratitude, yes.

Happy, maybe.

Contentment, perhaps.

It's been a long time since I felt this way.

Too long.

Thank you, God.

That is all.

"Is there a felicity in the world superior to this?"

My favorite movie, Sense & Sensibility,
(okay, one of my favorites),
Just finished the book,
It is delightful--both are so delightful.

The title of this post is without a doubt my favorite quote from the film (and the novel).
It also sums up yesterday.

It's been a while since Jeff and I have had a weekend at home--one month to be exact.

We decided to stay in last night. We ate a baked potato and fresh corn on the cob, I watched a movie (for nostalgic purposes), while Jeff played Xenogears, and then we made chocolate souffles again--thanks, Camie and Nate, for introducing us to that delish dish.

Melted chocolate... yum.

I love egg whites--just three egg whites and a hand mixer creates this!

Enjoying the evening.

How could I forget Kingdom Hearts?

P.S. I also wrote for 45 minutes. 

(and went to Zumba and purged some memory boxes at my parents' house)... good day.