these are some things we've been doing lately

Since I've been lacking with my own words lately, here are some pictures of some things we've been doing in the last couple of weeks.

I've been reading plays like "The Miracle Worker" (about Helen Keller) while we waited for a baby to be born.

Here's the handsome family! Andrew (another one!) & Laryn with their baby girl Lyric.

Andrew getting some baby time.

I (while Andrew had a barbecue with the guys) helped my friend Coralie throw a green themed tea party the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day.

My friend John made the shamrock cake. Chocolate mint with ganache filling
and it was vegan too!

We have eaten broiled grapefruit.

We've worn green for St. Patrick's Day.

We visited IKEA.

Spent some quality time at Powell's Books in Portland with my cousin Brianna & Aunt Sue. Breezy & I are here in the cookbook section.

And enjoyed a delicious dinner on St. Patrick's Day with our visiting relatives. It was such a fun time! I'm so thankful for visiting family, and for spring breaks that make visits like this one possible.

Also been thinking about how I can encourage my man with his music. I'm attempting to be more vocal about this & to demonstrate with my actions that I can gladly make room in our lives for him to create & pursue his dream. Working on it. Last night Andrew helped his friend Josh by playing in his band for a show last night. During & after the time they were performing, two people we respect very much (yay Ray & Becki!) came up to me & said what a great bass player Andrew is, how there's something about his bass playing that stands out from other bassists. I think so too, but it's not only with his playing of the bass. It's also with his singing, his guitar playing, his songwriting, his screamo-ing, his roaring.
He was meant for this.

sabbath sentiment

"This is my Sunday closet," she said, showing him shelves filled with picture-books, paint boxes, architectural blocks, little diaries, and materials for letter-writing. "I want my boys to love Sunday, to find it a peaceful pleasant day, when they can rest from common study and play, yet enjoy quiet pleasures, and learn, in simple ways, lessons more important than any taught in school. Do you understand me?" she asked, watching Nat's attentive face.

"You mean to be good?" he said, after hesitating a minute.

"Yes; to be good, and to love to be good. It is hard work sometimes, I know very well; but we all help one another and so we get on."

--Jo (March) Bhaer speaking to Nat, the new boy at her Plumfield school
Excerpt from Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Hope you had a pleasant, good Sabbath!

braving the Beauty through prayer for colleges

Thursday Feb 25th is the collegiate day of prayer, a day set aside for focused prayer for our university & college campuses, for reawakening of the God-honoring foundations many of our colleges were established upon. That's flowery language for: colleges-liked God in the beginning, now not so much, let's get there again!

For more info on what the heck this is about, visit www.collegiatedayofprayer.org. Register to let them know you're praying.

Will you join me in braving the Beauty by praying too?

Thanks for reading!

spiritual gifts

Ever take one of those spiritual gift assessments? I took one last week & was a little surprised by the results. The three gifts I scored highest on were, in order:
1) teaching (with fifteen points)
2) word of knowledge (with thirteen points)
3) faith (with twelve points)
Teaching, my highest? I come from a family of teachers. Three aunts, two sisters, both my parents...and I sort of hoped my tendency to break the mold in the family (not necessarily accurate, but by that I mean I was the only girl who wasn't a band kid, the only girl who stayed home a year after college...unless Moriah changes that, and other little things like that) would disqualify me for teaching. But I find myself more pleasantly surprised that I scored so high in this area & it makes me think. Jesus, how would you like me to put this gift to use?
Also, interestingly, I scored a 6 in intercession. My disciplines don't match my lofty ideas of my prayer life. Room for improvement.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! By trying to get in the habit of celebrating holidays, I've been cutting out lots of red hearts & finding things to do with them.


Poor Andrew finally drew the line when I taped some hearts to the bathroom mirror, saying he needed a sanctuary away from the hearts! Poor guy has a crazy wife... He's humored me this week, though & kindly watched a few chick flicks with me. (I'd recommend Leap Year but not Last of the Mohichans.) Must make it up to him!

Leave you with this loving thought: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." That comes from 1 John 4:18. May you be free from fear, perfected in love!

Happy Valentines Day!

No Regrets: Honeymoon in the Black Hills

For no particular reason, today I remembered our honeymoon & that I loved it. Andrew & I were married in the Black Hills & spent a few nights there, then worked our way back west for the rest of the week long honeymoon. Simple, budgeted, with a couple of splurges & glorious sunny (!?!) November weather for a post wedding road trip. I'm thankful for it & can't think of a better way I'd want it to be. Here are some photos leading up to the wedding & of scenes from our honeymoon travels.

We took communion together the night before the wedding, something my mom & dad also did before they got married.
The morning of the wedding, inside the cabin where we were married.The view out the window the morning of the wedding. It snowed very briefly that morning.
Also the morning of the wedding. We had "church" with some of our friends before setting up the cabin for the wedding.

First full day of being man & wife, we stopped off Highway 395 at Pactola Lake & took some pictures.

Playing with the color settings...

On the road trip home, we spent a night here, in the McFarland room. Ironically, my maiden name is McFarland!
Hope you enjoyed my reflection down memory lane...thanks for reading!

write, right (in my best British accent)

Saturday was infused with influence from Britain. Made scones. Made loose leaf Lady Brit tea. Watched Jamie Oliver make tiramisu. Wore Andrew's London hat on an excursion where I pored through a Jamie Oliver cookbook (recommended by a friend). Andrew & I then went home to eat our version of banger & mash (sausage & potatoes) & mushrooms, and capped off the evening watching Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World.

I like our interests, unintentionally themed days.