We’re moving to New Jersey next month- meaning I will have moved every summer since 2008. 2011: From NYC to NJ2010: From Maine to NYC2009: From Dallas to Maine2008: From College Station to Dallas 2004: From Houston to Texas A&M Univ. in College Station.Before that, my family lived in Abilene Texas, West Virginia, and in…
Do you remember December car rides after dinner to view Christmas lights? After work today, when I drove around Tottenville looking at blossoming trees I was reminded of those memories. Some branches are smothered already in cotton-white or baby pink blooms- fullness like saturation- while other branches are still scarcely covered. They pop open one…
You seem to have forgotten spring. Your temperature has jumped from 52 to 88 and has put color in my cheeks. The outdoors even smell like summer, but the backdrop of brown trees looks odd behind skateboarding teens in sleeveless ts. Thank you for your consideration. I will try not to complain when it is…
Laura Joost: How are you and Linus doing? Me: We’re quite well! Chris teases me about my “little belly” growing, but he really thinks I’m cute. Side effects of pregnancy are quite random. Ex: I have never dropped so many things in my life. Nor spilled so many liquids (mostly from missing when pouring. I’ve…
You can’t fall upward. You can’t slip uphill. In order to move anywhere but down and back, you have to work at it. Right?
Here are the current rankings:TOP Boy names:JamesonWilliam (but I’m hesitant bc I don’t like Bill, Billy, or Willy. I like Will alot, but “Will Hunt” could be the end of a sentence. Is that bad?)Also:David (Davey)JoshuaAustinSamuelDanielNoahNathaniel (no one will bother to say such a long name, so it will be shortened. I love the name…
I jumped out of bed quickly because I poured my bedside glass of water on myself. Smart. After changing shirts and switching to the dryer side of the bed to cozy back in for my morning reading, Linus (My family jokingly named the baby Linus and now Chris has joined in. He comes home from…
Something urgent has come up with regards to NYS funding to assist youth who are homeless (and thus at huge risk of trafficking). New York Governor Cuomo threatens to cut 100% of NYS funding to organizations helping homeless children and youth, as well as organizations working with Domestic Child Trafficking victims. Please check out this…
You make anew the earth. You renew the life of me and You make a new life within me!If you can’t read the small print, it just says the week #. Ex: “March 26: 12 weeks”
Chris and I explored Princeton University together on Sunday to discover that spring has come to New Jersey. Some trees are already blossoming in white and red and daffodils spring up on the roadsides. BUT it snowed last night. Even today clumped snow, tiny hail stones, and fat rain drops fell fast and hard all…
The Denver Post published this picture the week we were in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. As we rode up and up the lift, the balloon appeared to go down and down on the horizon. The mountain is huge, the ski routes many, and the powder ideally powdery. Snowboarding with my siblings, cousin, and boyfriend-in-law was great…
I have learned that trusting God does not always involve my discernment. I have many a time prayed, “God, I trust you with this situation. Now, please help me to discern Your will.” Then I proceed to worry for months about whether or not I’d discerned correctly. Don’t get me wrong, I think that is…
“We rob our children if we merely seek to have them meet our expectations. We need to be on God’s agenda for our kids lives so they can experience the abundant life God intends for them.” -Henry Blackaby in Bible study, Experiencing God God, I want to be on your agenda for our child’s life. I…
Heather’s Text to Paige Marcella Rieck Hill:Hey Paige, guess what I am. It’s a sort of state of being or a condition if you will. an unplanned and unanticipated but never the less (after a bit of adjusting) welcomed one. The condition itself is temporary, but the effects are pretty darn permanent. Paige’s Response:You have…
double click the image to make it big and pixilated. http://www.youtube.com/get_playerhttp://www.youtube.com/get_playerhttp://www.youtube.com/get_playerhttp://www.youtube.com/get_playerhttp://www.youtube.com/get_player And scroll down to the next two posts for pictures.
Ice cream in Savannah because it was Blue Bell. Even though it was cold, we were so excited about seeing Blue Bell ice cream (which you can’t find up north) that we ate it anyway. The trolley goes back and forth down River Street in Savannah. The driver has a seat on both ends of…
We woke up many January mornings to a multi-inch coats of fluffiness. The winter has been fun (and for NYC, expensive), but I am ready for the spring!
Well, I came back to a 65-degree-New York (I could literally watch the snow melt) and mouse poop. Yes, almost every drawer in my kitchen was decorated with unbecoming polka dots. I sneared at them then vacuumed them up, washed every dish and utensil (twice), and double-cleaned the drawers and cabinets with antibacterial spray. THEN…
BED: BREAKFAST: AND THE PARLOR: of Park Avenue Manor, my and Chris’ uncle’s spectacular Bed & Breakfast Inn in Savannah, Georgia. If you are ever vacationing in Savannah (which I highly recommend), stay with Glenn and Maurice. When we weren’t lounging in the parlor or eating at awesome restaurants with Glenn and Mo, Chris and…
Yesterday, I toured 18th and 19th century mansions in downtown Charleston. Then today, I toured Middleton Place, an 18th century rice plantation. The gardens are extensive and the farm is still working. I followed two peacocks to the farm grounds where I saw oxen, goats, woolly sheep, guinea hens, ducks, chickens, Belgium horses and cows….
> I’m glad Chris enjoys BO school because it takes up a lot of his time. He’s at class from 6AM to 5PM everyday then he comes home to do homework assignments and study for exams. I spend most of my time on my own writing, exploring and volunteering online with the Not For Sale…
> Yesterday, we joined the masses at the World’s Biggest Oyster Roast on 350-year-old Boone Hall Plantation near Charleston. The oysters were steamed then passes out in 5 lb buckets to over 13,000 people. At three persons per bucket and 25 oysters per bucket, that averages 8 oysters per person bringing the total to 108,000…
I’m standing in the sand between Charleston Harbor and miles of yellow grass growing in shallow water that sparkles in the afternoon sun. The sea is calm at its edge, but 50 yards out between my island and the peninsula, it fights, swirls and sputters dangerously. Nearby stands a long dead forest, sun-bleached and half-buried…
>On my drive to Folly Beach, I passed a dock covered in pelicans! I have never seen so many pelicans at once before. I realized I forgot my camera cord that connects to my computer, so I cannot upload pictures yet.
>I woke Tues morning with no inclination that I would wake the next morning halfway through a road trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Only two mornings previous, I woke in a small Indiana town: Thurs/Fri- 13 hrs from NYC to IN + Sun- 13 hrs IN to NYC + Tues/Wed- 12 hrs NYC to SC=…
Hours from now, the now unadulterated slope will look dimpled and drudged. People like to feel fresh snow crunch beneath their boots. So old footprints are treated like landmines to avoid. I take one long savoring stare until I sense someone behind me. I want to be first. Quick, I beat him. Crunch crunch. In some places the snow is deeper than my boots…
>Either this robe is warmer than I thought it was or my interest in watching snow trumps my cold sensors. I am sitting in our front porch chair with two of my favorite things: my journal and coffee. Watching through the densely falling clumps is like watching a movie through a fuzzy television screen. Dozens…
REPOSTED 2016: Funny little story on how we found out our vows had been pinned thousands of times on Pinterest: When we moved from Maine to New Jersey, a new friend visiting our home pointed to them, “Oh, where did you buy these?” “I made them,” I answered. Her, “No you didn’t. I’ve seen them….
