Hello, world.

I decided it's been way too long since I've blogged regularly. :) This is my humble attempt at re-starting at least somewhat regularlyposting. I think my blog is going to begin taking shape and focusing on home-building and Judeo-Christian holidays. Influences include my grandmother and mother, Karey Swan, Abby Warmington and Sally Clarkson.

I'm marrying a farmer in November! Wow. Life has certainly changed for me in the past 6 months. I got a text message from a friend this New Year's day that offered up a prayer for God to have "many great blessings up His sleeve" for me this year. If you could have told me that day that I would be engaged by June, I think I would have laughed... rather like Sarai. God's plans certainly aren't our own. While I was trying to cry/laugh/kill dreams/make new dreams about how I would live as a single person for the foreseeable future, He was smiling and preparing my heart for a much different path than I was beginning to envision.

My fiance is an incredible man of the Lord who loves and pursues me with his whole heart. He's goofy, passionate, raw, sensitive, honest, hard-working, patient and many other wonderful things. His downfall is chocolate and ice cream... I think we've gotten along rather well on those points, though. :) We have made our semi-long-distance relationship (50 miles) work, thanks to cell phones and vehicles. He calls me his treasure and we are growing in our love for the Lord and one another. I look forward to seeing how the Lord continues to grow us and lead in our journey of paths uniting. November 19th is coming soon!

One of our biggest physical hurdles right now is a dwelling place. We have looked at a few houses and discovered a LOT in a short amount of time. This week we're scheduling a showing at a house in Lake O which we're both kind of excited about. Some pros: it has an acre+ of land (bonfires and gardening opportunities!), a basement which they actually took pictures of for the website (big bonus, trust me), brand new copper plumbing and electrical wiring AND a one-year home warranty. Some cons: no trees in the yard, I don't like some of the paint/carpeting, and there's not a garage. These "cons" all seem pretty feasible to modify in time... unlike a basement that's crawling or permanently flooded... you get the idea.

One smaller hurdle we are currently crossing is purchasing a freezer to fill with produce for the winter! I think Tom is purchasing this one tomorrow, thanks for a 4th of July sale.

My first contribution: strawberry jam. I researched and found a pectin that needs WAY less sugar (Pomona's Universal Pectin) - for 6 quarts of freezer jam, I only used 3 cups of sugar. Hallelujah! The color is beautiful and Tom definitely approved on the initial taste-test. It's about $4.80 a box at Harvest Health. 1 box probably makes between 3-4 quarts of jam - using only 1-2 cups of sugar (my favorite Certo recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of fruit and 4 1/2 cups of sugar - you do the math). You can also use honey as a sweetener - which I wasn't quite brave enough to do on my trial run, but I would probably try it now, at least with certain kinds of fruit (peaches?).

Needless to say, I will be patronizing Pomona's for quite some time (thank you, Harvest Health!). I am very excited to fill a freezer with jam and other good things for my home.

See you all again soon!

Seasons - Part 1

Like the skintone of summer, sunkissed and glowing

Warmed by the moments of passion and longing

But whirlwind romance wouldn't last mid-September

Soon all the leaves fell away

And love only lasted a day...

October winds came with lengthening evening

Chilled by memories both empty and haunting

Even though pain found each hour of the day

When the heart threatened to break

Hope still whispered to wait...

2010

January
Voices of Light x2
PTC

February
26
Ice skating
Swing dancing

March
Superboy and the Invisible Girl
Window of His Love
KAT performance
Dad's knee surgery

April
Seussical x4
Trinitas

May
River Bank Run
Miami + Jean-Rejouis wedding
Seattle

June
Camp Narnia x2
HPA camp x1

July
Middleton wedding
HPA camps x2
sister in China

August
Secret Garden
Stephen Schwartz
HPA auditions x3
MSVMA

September
Exploding schedule
CITA conference
Veen Observatory

October
More exploding schedule
Lord of the Rings x2

November
HPA Kids x3
KAT performance
Carmina Burana x2
Sunday night dancing
THANKSGIVING

December
Advent
Chicago/Paul Caldwell
Holiday Pops x5
Holiday Pops caroling x8
The Sing-Off
Christmas

Performances (participant): at least 29
Performances (directed): at least 18

Facebook says I have 956 "friends" - debating a clean out.

Lost my uncle and mourned with one of my communities. Death is terrible.

Ran 6 miles straight.

Watched love blossom and grow in many friends.

Sang. A lot.

Danced.

Discovered more places I love in America.

Discovered more artists I love around the world.

Given a dream, to watch it be killed, to be resuscitated, to be killed again. Maybe next year.

Put almost 20,000 miles on my car.

Has been in rehearsals for a fun show coming your way in February.

Loved. So much.

Laughed, cried and stayed up late more than ever.

Blessed beyond measure.

Psalm 139

So when I spent my summers in Florida, I worked two of those seasons at a church office. It was an interesting job. I answered the phones, dealt with all the elders and deacons (and their, to say the least, "quirky" personalities), kept our food pantry lively, spent hours in an office they kept at the balmy temperature of -40, had some lively discussions with my pastor, and tried to keep the peace between the church office and the adjoining school's office staff. It was definitely not a boring job.

However, one of the things I will remember most about that job was going into the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom.

On the wall directly facing the toilet was a picture frame. While you "sat", you could contemplate a painting of a park bench adorning autumnal country landscape. Below the picture was a beloved text from Psalm 139: "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me. You know when I sit and when I rise..."

:)

The Body... mundane yet beautiful

Tonight, we had people in our house who have literally lived on at least 3 different continents, have probably traveled to more than 50 different countries combined, shared in many different walks of life, and are pursuing many different passions and interests. Now, you may think these would be people of "mature" years that have had time to live and study and grow... which I suppose to an extent is true, but I must tell you that, with the exception of my parents, every person here tonight was my age (26) and younger.

I was having a lot of fun talking with the different friend groupings and connections. Yes, this music and theatre nerd can actually enjoy conversation with someone studying to be a PA (physicians assistant - a.k.a. "blood and guts stuff") or a college basketball player (I think you play that on a court, not a field, right?). Anyways, we grilled out and stayed up until past midnight, just enjoying the night and one another. It was definitely a fun (and by moments chaotic) group. At one point, as many as 15 were crowded around the kitchen, and even now we have 4 extras spending the night.

I was just marveling at the fact that some of them have traveled - indeed, LIVED - in more places than most people will visit in an entire lifetime. While I have never lived for an extended period outside the USA, I have done a fair share of traveling that, I believe, has helped me to appreciate and think more critically (not all bad criticism) about my own country. I believe you can observe differences while visiting another country for a week or so... but to have actually lived in another country long enough to learn the language and the heartbeat of the people... that would be quite something. Something I wouldn't mind doing some day.

A few of the people that were here tonight have only lived in the US for a few months... compared to 18+ years on "foreign" soil. All of them are American citizens, but many of them feel more at home outside the US than in it. It was refreshing to speak with them tonight - not that we spent much time country-comparing, but it was just fun to see the Body of Christ and know that the Lord is truly alive and at work in His kids all over the place. Again, not even huge "missionary" stories... just the Lord quietly at His daily work in our hearts.

"The Butterfly Circus"

I watched an incredible short film today.

http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/film/?film=4dd298f102c77b625cf37a9e7744ac68

It was beautiful. Turns out, the main guy in the film is a believer and has an incredible story of hope and encouragement he has brought around the world.

It's left me thinking quite a bit.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

Newspaper route

So my brother has a paper route. He is still finishing up getting his driver's license so we all take turns driving on occasion. This afternoon it was my turn.

My brother has Asperger syndrome. That's funny, spell check tries to correct Asperger. I'm surprised it's not in Google's dictionary; boiled down, it's a form of autism. Anyways, my brother is a genius at certain things... but like a lot of people diagnosed with Asperger's, he doesn't inherently understand a lot of non-verbal and "social" cues. A lot of people I've known with Asperger's tend to be very outgoing and will talk for hours if they can. However, for my brother, the opposite has happened over the years - he has slowly become more introverted and withdrawn from public circles and conversations. There are a few people he has learned to feel comfortable around if they continue to step forward and care about him and initiate relationship, but those people are relatively few and far between.

Anyways, so today I was driving Ben on the paper route. I have started noticing a pattern. As we get closer and closer to a house that has a dog he knows, Ben will become more and more contented and happy. It makes his day when the dog barks at him from inside the house, or (when they're outside) get excited when Ben is coming. Ben will take on an almost paternal air with the dog. He loves greeting them. It's really precious, actually, to see my giant of a little brother talking to and petting these dogs in our neighborhood. He is so excited when he learns one of their names. In fact, the entire route seems to center on the dogs.

I think, for him, it's a form of relationship he can trust. The dog will always treat him the same way, they will never show indifference or even ignore him. Because they initiate and are 100% consistent, Ben learns to respond with love and care. I love watching this; it touches my heart and makes for a very enjoyable afternoon.

So, even though the route is a bear, especially on the week-ends (2:30am arrival on Sundays!), I've really enjoyed watching Ben develop relationships with these creatures, and seeing him look forward to their brief interaction. It may not seem like much, but for a brother who doesn't have many friends, I think it may be the highlight of his average day... which makes it even more wonderful and precious to me as well.

Just a snippet into my life, today...