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& lately: great lake swimmers. elisabeth coming to visit. “in a sweater poorly knit” by mewithoutYou. neko case. decaf americanos from quills. “resurrection fern” by iron & wine. xf fanmixes. hugging tightly. peanut butter on toast. “b/c of this light w/in you, you should do only what is good & right & true.”_ephesians 5:9

& hilarity.

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for a while when i was in highschool, i wanted to be natalie merchant. i had a full-length mirror behind my door, so i’d close it and turn up this song and do my hands just like she does.
yesterday: loran turned twenty-nine years old.
lately: everynight, getting in bed w/my books and a hot mug of honeybush. remembering to take my allergy medicine.
always: learning how to accept grace.

BOOKS I WANT:

animal, vegetable, miracle: a year of food life by barbara kingsolver
living the cross centered life: keeping the gospel the main thing by cj mahaney
the discipline of grace by jerry bridges
creative counterpart: becoming the woman, wife and mother you have longed to be by linda dillow
chosen by God by rc sproul
essential truths of the christian faith by rc sproul

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we’re snowed in so i’ve been cooking & baking and i love it much. roasted chicken! baked onions! apple pie! bread! my ruffly apron! college basketball!

ps: i dress crazy when: it’s cold. i’m not planning on leaving the house.

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one of my v. favorite recipes is jamie oliver’s rigatoni w/sweet tomatoes, eggplant and mozzarella, from his jamie’s dinners: the official family cookbook. not only is it so delicious and filling and good…but it’s fun to make. i love watching the eggplant get all smushy and watching the tomatoes break down and it makes such a goodgoodgoodohsogood sauce. jamie writes, “by now the eggplant will have cookied into a creamy tomatoey pulp, which is just yum yum yum.” he ain’t lying.

also, 101 cookbooks is ohsolovely. i camp out there from time to time.
food, glorious, food. i love reading cookbooks. recipes. nigel slater’s the kitchen diaries:a year in the kitchen w/nigel slater is such a joy b/c he wrote down his recipes/meals for a year. and even when it’s not fancy..it’s still so rad. he writes, “dinner is a couple of cans of Heinz baked beans, tarted up w/finely chopped chili peppers, several shakes of Tabasco and mushroom ketchup, and a tablespoon of black molasses. it will do.” and he writes a lot about locally grown produce and farmer’s markets. and the weather. and it’s inspiring and gorgeous.

i find that esp. this time of year…i have to fight for joy! fight for contentment is prolly more like it. it’s raining/snowing/sleeting out. and still grey. steel grey. whatever. the sky’s the color of lead. i’ve been cleaning out the little room downstairs. this afternoon i was so bored and stir-crazy, i got in the bathtub w/the kiddos. atticus was like ?__?. and then he was like !__!
and i’m not really talking about fighting for contentment in my life or heart or spirit right now. i mean, literally…i NEED the sunshine. i need fresh air. and i need to be able to let the kids play outside in the open air. but it’s so cold. idk.

but, spring cleaning! and the hope and promise of easter! and what that means. and spring! and flip flops and skirts and green, green grass.

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i really can’t remember the last time i saw the sun. i just know it’s been awhile. i’ve gotten 3 new cookbooks in the past week. so inspired in the kitchen! and i’ve found that world music is the most motivating for cooking. right now, it’s african. i’m gonna revamp this blog. soon. so.

 oh we haven’t been up to much. home. work. church. playdates. trying to keep warm. i’m not a big january fan. it’s too long and too dark and too cold. (so we stay in the Light. and so we make our own light.) we’ve been reading a lot. the book of romans. gary thomas’ sacred series. and i’m also reading atonement. something about this blog makes me quiet. idk what that means. i think it’s b/c i don’t have any sort of public blog. (i have trust issues.) i like knowing who’s reading. idk. maybe i’ll do that. here? idk. but for now, this. and love. lost is (almost) back! i made a sweet pair of legwarmers. we’re gonna paint the living room/kitchen soon. the brown of cinderella’s dress/the color of the sea, respectively. loran and i had date night on friday and got mexican food and then went to the apple store. i’m a simple girl. sometimes i think about getting solus christus tattooed on my arm. in tiny type. 

:: and making truffles. and dinner. and watching the bourne movies. and lost. and knitting socks. we celebrated our eight wedding anniversary! we celebrated our twelfth christmas together! and i almost always forget to write here. but. those, things. we had a good christmas! i hope you did, too.

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“there is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.”_c.s lewis