Friday, February 27, 2015

nice to meet you!

A little bit about me...

I love country music, musicals, and small-town America (but I am a bonafide city girl). As a child and tween, I was sure my dad was on a personal crusade to embarrass and torture me with his twangy country music never absent in any car he drove. Now, I love it. Most of it anyway. I like variety...in music and in life.

I love to travel, study languages, learn and understand (aka be immersed in) cultures. With unlimited time, I would love to be fluent in at least five languages, but I'm content (mostly) to keep up with two. I enjoy experiencing new places through food. If it's a local delicacy, I'll get it. If it's weird, I'll try it. I also love to share with my friends (some are noticeably weary when I return from a trip and tell them I brought something for them to try...vomit jelly beans anyone? Thank you, Harry Potter).

I am content curling up for days on end with a cup or tea or coffee and a stack of books (but I admit this is more pipe dream than reality with three kids at home). I'm hopelessly passionate about reading...diving into quality literature as well as sweet, fluffy treat literature. I’m a hopeless romantic and devour light-hearted movies, Jane Austen and anything related. Plus, I love dance movies--although they are all the same, I envy superb dancing because the closest I come to that ability is Zumba.

Autumn never lasts long enough, spring doesn’t arrive soon enough, but I relish cozy blankets, hot tea, and good literature (did I mention I love books?) with a snow-scaped window view. Raised by the Rockies, I long for the beach--there is no destination I love better. One of the best gifts my husband gave me was my beloved beach-cruiser which I don't get to ride on a boardwalk, but I digress.
Autumn in the Rockies
I journal with my camera. I find so many moments beautiful, I want to capture them, even in part. It soothes my soul to play with the dials on my camera to capture the image as I see it. I love to feed people, cook new recipes, and create dishes based on what I find in my fridge and cupboards. I have been known to photograph food.


I feel deeply the pain of the world around me. I’m passionate about adoption, homeschooling, my family and friends, and Jesus. I have three amazing kiddos, a husband who loves me with humor, grace and generosity, and a lap dog who I affectionately call "fluff muppet" (if she were dyed red, she might resemble "Animal" from the Muppets). I love life and all of its complexities and strive to find beauty and joy as I journey. This is me, created in the image of God, constantly growing and learning and changing, hoping to honor God with my life and seeing His hand and beauty in the world around me. I'm Stef.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

I picked a different new year



Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed on January 1st? I have a giddy anticipation mixed with a heaping dose of dread. The unknown is scary and exciting all at the same time. Hope and idealism splash around in my mind but I know my overly optimistic tendencies. Status quo realism is likely to have taken over by the month’s end.

Maybe we shouldn’t make resolutions on January 1st. (Obviously, I didn't.) Frankly, December burns me out and runs me over. I love it, try to savor it, but it is exhausting. This year I tried to keep the season simple, but simple in December is still not simple. We marathon through never ending to-do lists, errands, shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning, and wrapping (shall I keep going?). Add a few Christmas parties, multiple practices and kids’ (adorable) performances, and a cookie exchange for good measure and my sense of normalcy resembles more closely the wrapping paper shards left in the wake of my six-year-old unwrapping presents. And suddenly, January enters, heralding an aromatic scent of “blah” and I want to discuss new “to-do” anythings as much as I want a root canal. I’ve barely reinstated normal and am 99% likely to still have Christmas decorations up.

So although my husband and I have thought through our vision and dreams for this year (well, it is tradition after all…), in January, I marked the Chinese New Year on my calendar. And just like that,  February 19th has nearly arrived! Hoorah! I feel recovered from December and I'm looking for a shake-up (in homeschool land, February is considered akin to evil so I secretly hoped to be making resolutions from a sandy beach, but alas, maybe next year!)

I've kept it simple:

image