Jan. 29

Just a few quick things:

- we are all varying degree's of ill over here. We don't have to dreaded flu, thank goodness, but we seem to have some sort of nasty head-cold that's accompanied by nausea. Lovely stuff.

- visited the market this morning and found a lovely herb vendor. Her stall was so organized and tidy, everything in individual baggies, labeled neatly. I got some hibiscus, passion flower, and alfalfa. Picked up some nag champa incense as well.

- really enjoying this blog. A lot of healthy juice and smoothie recipes there.

- would very much like to make this scarf.

- want to do the picture-an-hour idea, as found on the Bleubird blog. I keep meaning to do it, and then forget every single day.

- utterly smitten with the writing and photography on this blog. Makes me immediately want to sit and write something lovely about my life.

Off for yet another cup of ginger tea. xo

P.S.
I almost forgot to leave you with this quote:

“Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw at it still. Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good — be good for something. All fables indeed have their morals, but the innocent enjoy the story.”
Letters to a Spiritual Seeker ~Henry Thoreau

Wow, right?

friday senses.

Making: something with this glorious alpaca and merino wool I found at the thrift store. Can you believe this? Gorgeous, most of it with variegated color throughout...hand-spun. Wow. Under $20 for the whole lot.

Seeing: images from this blog. Inspiring and lovely.

Smelling: my enormous mug of vanilla coffee.

Tasting: avocado on toast, with a drizzle of honey, sea salt, and black pepper.

Hearing: songs from Bon Iver that I revisit over and over again.

Feeling: cold. It's snowing here and we are going to light up the woodstove.

Loving: my husband. We've had some good talks this week about our lives and our goals and about God. We're connecting well.

Reading: I just finished How the Light Gets In by M.J. Hyland. Sad and beautiful and absolutely worth reading.

Praying: that we can save up a bit of money this year, though we don't have an exact amount in mine. That we can find a spiritual gathering place for our family...doesn't have to necessarily be a church, just a place for fellowship and like-mindedness.

Enjoy your weekend. xo

how to get happy.

1. make yourself some delicious, healthy, healing food.
2. adorn yourself with your very favorite scarf.
3. go to the thrift store and buy many good books and a cute pair of shoes for only a few dollars. Make yourself a green smoothie to replenish the energy you lost whilst browsing.
4. make something beautiful.

friday senses.

Making: a knitted cowl. Progress is slow and sporadic at best. Also whipping up some granola.

Seeing: the wind blow the tree's around, and possibly carrying my recycling can away.

Smelling: peanut butter...strange, because I'm not eating any.

Tasting: a smoothie--blueberries, banana, greek yogurt, almond milk, spinach, honey, and cinnamon.

Hearing: the latest from Passion Pit.

Feeling: awfully restless lately. I have such an urge to go stay somewhere completely different, a big city or at a cabin in the country.

Loving: oatmeal. I am on one of my obsessive oatmeal kicks.

Reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Always a favorite.

Praying: some good results for all the hard work I've been doing (if that seems vague, well, it's meant to be), and for my husband and I to have a peaceful and rest-filled date night on Saturday.

God bless your weekend my friends. <3

**friday senses inspired from the Kalanag blog.

homemade face wash.

From left to right: cinnamon, nutmeg, tumeric, dried lemon balm, chamomile, and sugar.

I love whipping up a quick face wash with things I have around the house. The cinnamon and nutmeg are natural anti-fungal's and anti-inflammatory's. The tumeric I added to give my face a little glow, to beat back some of this winter-white complexion. (Though, if you choose to use tumeric, go easy. Add to much and you'll look jaundiced.) Lemon balm and chamomile are calming and reduce redness. And I threw the sugar in there to give my skin a little exfoliation. You'll see above that I also chopped up some oats and added those in, which are wonderful for fighting itch and inflammation. I didn't do any actual measuring here, but I'd say I had close to a heaping tsp. of all the ingredients.

Directions: chop and/or grind the chunkier ingredients. Throw everything in a jar and shake to combine. To use, wet your face and apply using your fingers. Massage in slow circles for roughly 30 seconds. Rinse. Keep this tightly sealed for one week.

***IMPORTANT***
If you have very sensitive skin, please keep the cinnamon to a minimum, as it will inflame whatever area you apply it to. I mixed everything so that there is a ton of the other stuff in addition to the cinnamon, therefore a bit "diluted", if you will.

at home.

1.  Knitting again. I can't believe that I ever stopped...three separate times. I get really frustrated and then quit. It's hard to teach yourself a new skill, especially when you have no one to ask "am I doing this right?" I'm going to try to stick with it though. I need a quiet hobby for those times I'm not well enough to do anything more mobile.

2.  Quinoa, spinach, and olive salad. There's also some red onion and roasted red peppers in there. A little lemon juice, some fresh parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper. Very simple and easy to throw together, and goes along wonderfully with this gluten-free diet I'm trying. I've been experimenting with it for about two weeks now and I must say, I definitely feel better overall. More energy, fewer skin issues. It's sometimes hard to find something quick to eat when I'm in a hurry, but really that's making me slow down a bit and take some more time out in the kitchen. And that's a good thing.

3.  Bread making. Not for myself, obviously. But I still enjoy doing it.

4.  Hayden's self-portrait. What a face.

5.  My morning materials. I woke up early today, giving myself a little while to sip my coffee and read before getting the boy up for school. I try to do this every morning now, knitting while I watch the sun come up, listening to some soft music while I putter in the kitchen, reading my bible a bit. This is often my only "me" time, and it offers me a bout of quietude.

What are you doing at home lately?

a little extra snazz...

A little line painting I did on the doorway leading into my kitchen. I love ultramarine blue.

new.

Wondering if this is it.
If this is the year when
my prayers will change things.
If my body will be healed
so that
I can begin dealing with the mind.
Wondering if this
is the year we will
take that family train ride
and rent that little house
at the beach.
If this is the year I'll
make some money of my own.
I have
so.much.
work to do this year.
But I'm excited to do it.