Showing posts with label simple pleasures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple pleasures. Show all posts

Friday, May 30, 2014

Whole Lotta Happy


There is something about looking at beautiful things.

I don't really know what it is, only that it is a wonderful way to relax and let go of the world for a while. Why is it people like Pinterest so much? Some people swear by the clothing, the wedding plans, the "life hacks" (what are those anyway) but I love Pinterest for things like this:

//Source//
//Source//

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I'm not making any large, metaphorical or philosophical statement out of this post! Rather, I'm going to claim looking at pretty, beautiful, wonderful things as a good thing, and leave you with a few links to my favorite pools of beauty in the online world. Ready? Set? Go!

//Photos & Things//
The Fragile Beauties (Pinterest Board)

//People & Candid Moments//

//Fashion//

//Food//

//Words & So Forth//

We will be sure to update you on how our Romania trip went! For now, you can read more about that over at my other blog. Enjoy some beauty, free of charge, and have a lovely summer evening. <3

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Summer-it's a wrap!

Labor Day weekend is the official end of summer, I suppose. Oh, and what a summer it's been! It began with a wedding that led to a courtship that has led to a certain member of our family moving into a different Time Zone. (Not nationally recognized, but philosophically termed "Lovers' Time") This makes coordinating the simplest events rather difficult because this certain member doesn't need food or drink when he has the conversation of his "belovedid," to quote Ernest T. Bass. I am half-jesting. It has been such a blessing to see Daniel and Abigail's courtship flourishing. :)


The summer continued with a visit to the harbor to see a fleet of tall-ships and an unexpected departure to Georgia which took up five weeks! I turned 20 while down in Georgia and came back just in time to see baby saying his first words and celebrating his first birthday, and Sarah and Leah to turn 18 and 15, respectively. Life waltzed along in a at a comparatively slow pace to that I'd learned to cope with during the campaign.
Levi took his first official steps, and the girls were introduced to Smash-booking. We attended a surprise party for a dear friend, and we lived through many a day of rain for--contrary to the rest of the nation--it's been an exceptionally wet summer.


We planted berry  bushes and played volleyball. I worked on my books and lived the Cossack Uprising vicariously through With Fire and Sword. We made matches and discussed hopes and dreams. There's been laughter and joy and heartache all mingled together into the goblet of this summertime. Old ways we were fond of have gradually been effaced by a new regime of blessings that will prove to be sweeter than we'd ever have dreamed. At present they may rub now and again like a new pair of boots, but we'd never trade them back.
We've sent letters and received letters, we've sung songs and watched movies. We've danced to Ella Fitzgerald and memorized songs from Wicked and Les Miserables. We've even gained a taste for country music!


We've fallen in love with Sherlock and reminded ourselves that our tastes have grown much more refined since the days of Spy Kids and Inspector Gadget. We've made birthday cakes and eaten them, we've walked in the historic towns nearby and had a picnic or two to boot.


It's been a long, full, summer, and one I can truly say I'll never forget. So many memories, so many lessons learned...so much life. I can only look forward with breathless, eager anticipation to see what the fall will bring.
Autumn! Fire of my heart and love of my being...I come alive when the trees kindle and the breeze carries that gypsy-chill on its breath. When the blood rushes with spices and the very leaves are blushing with pure exhilaration...


I can see some of the adventures that might be lurking around the corner, and I know there will be some that take me by surprise. Graduations, dances, birthdays, camp, visiting missionaries and plots for Romania. Campaigns and bonfires and more!


 I don't know which things will come to pass and which will be replaced by something better. But I can say with full assurance that it will not be a dull autumn by any stretch of the imagination!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Which of my important nothings should I tell you first?

Getting used to being home...

...catching up on everyone who seems to have shot up when I wasn't looking...

...staying up late just to catch the last fire-fly gleams of conversation with the people I haven't seen for a month...

...making monkey-bread for a triple-birthday celebration...

...laughing just because laughing feels good....

...looking at a shelf full of books I haven't read...

...reading letters from abroad...

...putting pen to paper...

...plotting the purchase of a laptop...

...looking out onto a green field instead of a hotel parking lot...

...seeing FB notifications from friends I left in Georgia, and knowing they're thinking about me...

....kissing Levi and watching him walk...

These are the important nothings that make life so sweet. :)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I'm No Mary Poppins! :)

*SPOILER WARNING FOR ABIGAIL!!!! THIS POST CONTAINS SUBJECT MATTER RELATED IN A LETTER YOU WILL RECEIVE. READ AT OWN RISK!!!!* :D

We are all so blessed for the rain that has been falling for two days now!!! :) We have not had any rain for any length of time since the threat of Hurricane Earl, and even then, it was only a shower or two! So the earth was extremely thirsty! :) I decided to take a walk yesterday in it! And yes, this time I did take an umbrella! :) It did not take me long to find out that in the county, you are looked upon as strange anyway for taking walks, but stranger for taking them in the rain, and if you are without an umbrella, they want to send you to the funny farm! :P So I was a good girl. But I wish I could learn how to walk gracefully with an umbrella! Doubtless I could do it if I were she:



But I am not. And I do not believe even if I had a cute umbrella and not our lumpy black one, that it would make any difference. You see, I cannot walk and look forgetful of my umbrella. I either look as if my arm is tied to a very strong helium balloon, or else I drop it to low and nearly decapitate my head up amongst the ribs. I am always twirling it absentmindedly and accidently twisting my hair all around the pole, only to find I cannot get my head away from the handle five minutes later. And I like to enjoy the view when I walk, so I get wet anyway, from pushing the umbrella from this side to look at something, and from that side to look at another. Umbrellas are so unpoetic! :) And they seem to be in my way no matter what I do. Witness this scene:

Me. I see a brilliantly colored maple tree just across a ditch. Sarah has been complaining of no fall color around here yet, so I determine to gather a few leaves to cheer her up. But the ditch is too wide. No it isn't. Yes it is. No it isn't. Where would I put my umbrella? Just hold it. What!?! Yeah, hold it! Okay. So against better judgement, I agree with the other half of my brain to get the leaves. The opposite bank look very slippery, but I am resolved. With one quick move I straddle the ditch, and reach for the leaves. Blast! They are all out of reach! So with the tippiest tips of my fingers, I catch hold of one leaf, (mind you, I am still holding my umbrella!) and pull the rest of that branch to myself. Triumphant at last, with a fist full of leaves, I stand there panting. Oh joy. How do I get back across the ditch? I am almost doing the splits as it is! But somehow or another, and maybe with some help from the ever-present umbrella, I make it back over, and walk home with a wet skirt, but a happy heart. *bows* "Thank you!" :)
Isn't it so true what Laura Ingalls Wilder said? "It is the simple things in life which are the real ones after all." I do believe I got more innocent pleasure (with a dose of irritation) out of walking in the rain with an unruly umbrella than I could have gained doing many another thing! Try it! I bet no one who reads this blog is too old to enjoy a good hour of puddle-jumping! ;) -Rachel


Oh! Sarah made this cute little button for our blog! Please take it! :) Thanks Matthew for being such a good photographer! :)