where are thou? I blame the bedbugs...{2017 beauty hodge-podge}

What have we been up to you ask?

1. BED BUGS ~ read about this family adventure here.

• Some day I may not see pictures of bedbugs in every article and newsfeed on my phone. I was researching how to deal with these little monsters so extensively, bedbug extermination tips and related businesses are apparently the only advertisements I will ever see again. Irritating. Salt in a wound.
• Bedbugs did not exist before the fall of man, or maybe they were more like ladybugs, but I digress...
• The above picture will soon be hanging in my laundry room. This is how I felt and how very tempted I was to crawl into an industrial dryer, click my heels and get out of OZ.

2. Oh life...

• new company for my husband 
• new classes and so much lovely learning for me 
• + so much of the every day ordinary ups and downs and messy beauty.
• Oh, and my kids are doing PARKOUR! My brother may have placed bets on how soon and how often we will see the inside of an ER and/or Urgent Care. But my youngest girl is a delight to watch ~ like she found her home planet.

3. New projects afoot...details to come, but most often you'll find me on Instagram: @literaturethreads.

• I saw an Instagram site once that said "Instagram killed my blog". I totally get it.
• But how do I love Instagram? Let me count the ways...

4. Speaking of poetry, we have been placing Poetry Tea Time into our weekly rhythms. We all love it so much. A few links for you:

• Brave Writer // @juliebravewriter & the blog
• Instagram // @poetryteatime
• Build A Path for the Soul: 12 Poems, 12 Hymns, 12 Scripture Passages 

5. With all that pulls on my heart, mind, and physical abilities, I think of how to savor my moments ~ in solitude and with my people. 

• Breathing new life into your time with God
• Why You're Off the Hook for Making Every Moment Matter

• I really enjoyed this book about Denmark this summer ~ I did not come away thinking Denmark was amazing. Like every country, it holds claim to great strengths and deep weaknesses. But still, great read.
• I most like the Danish concept/practice of Hygge. 

6. I haven't forgotten about my 300 days of beauty. I will finish, but was much too ambitious for last year. (In this post I stated that I was realistic to pick 300...delusional/optimistic might have been more accurate!)

I hope this post finds you well, encouraged and choosing hope. 

(Some pictures of our recent months...)

Soft boiled eggs and hot cocoa for breakfast...

Poetry Tea Time

It's important to buy pretty cakes sometimes.

More Poetry Tea Time with homemade maple cakes by Cece

Many nights called for sparkling cider in stemmed glassware just because.

Brother-sister sugar-cube pyramid creation

This version of audio fairy tales is just lovely...

Dinner party using only recipes from Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist.

When you don't have a fireplace, Netflix delivers. Hanging with D during a wintry cold day and loving it.

Laundromat pizza picnic (one of many)

This is how you save a table in the laundromat...evidently. No one sat here ALL DAY. I know because I was there ALL DAY.

 

 

300 days of beauty, days 83-86 {Jenny Lake}

Oh, how I love our family adventures. Four days by this gorgeous lake~the sweet life.

 

She captured a fairy...

300 days of beauty, days 42-45 [spring?]

So, the first week of spring...70 degrees on Monday, and then the rest of the week looked like this...

300 days of beauty, day 12

Again, strolling through Amsterdam--the swans, the boat, the yellow hues from the afternoon light sparkling on the canal waters, the distinct Dutch architecture, and the words. Perfect, picturesque, profound.

LOVE ME.

The cry of every heart.

300 days of beauty, day 11

On that same stroll through Amsterdam...another of my favorite pictures capturing the beauty of this city. 

I love Holland.

300 days of beauty, day 10

I'm going to brag. I totally took this picture and it is one of my favorite photographs of all time. My husband didn't even think that I took it, and it remains free of any surgical alterations. 

The most magnificent aspect of this photo has nothing to do with the photo itself. I traveled by myself to Amsterdam to be with a very dear friend. On this day through late night, we walked the canal-lined streets of Amsterdam, cameras in hand, and captured the city. I have no other friend who enjoys photography as much as I do. (Her abilities far outrank mine, however.) So, as we strolled, I never felt as if I had to apologize for holding her up. I could halt and linger and observe the beauty and unending photographic landscape around me. In my mind's eye, that day stands with crystal clarity, much like the canal tapestry I saw on this enchanted April evening in Amsterdam. 

Friends. Adventure. Beauty. 

Food for the soul.

summer moments...August collage

There is adventure in the form of climbing Mount Everest (I have a decided opinion on this form of adventure), and there is adventure in the every day nothings and everythings. I looked up adventure in the dictionary and was given this definition: "an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity." I may be taking poetic license, but I'd say that parenting and marriage fall under this definition more frequently than not. Just sayin'. As we slowly transition out of summer, I pulled some August snapshots from my phone. It's just life, a bunch of little nothings that make everythings. Not most people's definition of adventure, but mine.

celebrating my mom's birthday...

evening reading time...

pizza and pop on the patio with our neighbor

Spider-belle

D and Cece rocked it also, so to speak...

Princess Belle/Elsa and her patio art...I'm learning to let go and just let her grab whatever supplies she wants to create her "masterpieces." She loves anything hands-on.

The girls had a friend over and can I just say that our girls have a pretty terrific daddy. He gave them designer pedicures. And won over a few hearts too.

D and Cece each made thank you signs for our waitress when we were out to lunch. So sweet.

Ducks! We were crossing our fingers that she wouldn't go swimming with them....

Our sweet neighbors Maggie and Marge had the kids and I over for a movie (in their movie theater) and the real-deal old-fashioned banana splits complete with homemade pineapple, chocolate, and strawberry syrup toppings, and of course whipped cream, pecans and cherries on top. And, as an aside, old movies are awesome. We watched The Castaways with Hayley Mills. I grew up on her movies and they were considered classics at that point too. So fun.

Pure joy...Belle is in the shimmering splash somewhere...

This is how we ended our first day of school. The girls started this week, D starts on Monday. Still more summer left, but it'll be mixed with a bit more structure. And we'll probably still end up at the pool.

summer moments~mountain meadows