Acronyms, Birthdays and Other Such Stuff

ello there, Lovelies… How goes it out there in Blog-landria? I’m still here, in my little corner of the world…. just been taking a blogging break to focus on other things in life. Well, no – not “other” things because that would imply this blog is just another “thing” - as if it were a hobby or something I like to do when I have time. It’s much more than that – it’s been a place to record our family happenings, to remember what God has done, to ponder what He is currently doing, to pay attention to the details, and to explore creativity.   So, here I am Saturday morning with a little quiet time to write! Good for me!

• I turned 39 for the 5th time last week! Yep, if you do the math, that means I’m 43. Hard to believe it. I told a friend what a terrible number 43 was. Her response? 4 + 3 is 7 which is a lovely number. Love friends who help me look on the positive side of things.

• I had a great birthday with some thoughtful and wonderful gifts. One was these waaaay cool clogs above from Matt and the girls. I also got new pjs (yep, the ones I don’t plan to take off today!), a 2012 appointment calendar with beautiful artwork, a cup and mug made by a local potter, a bee plate treasure snagged at a garage sale, a homemade pillowcase, books, a necklace, wine corks, a Starbucks card, a sketch book with a paintable canvas cover, a hand-painted cup and saucer from Italy, and….. I’m sure there’s more but all my cups are running over!
• Well, we have entered the world of acronyms around here with SIBO and SCD. If you don’t know what these are, feel blessed. If you’re curious, follow the links…. there’s much better sites than mine that will explain what they are for you. That’s what has taken up a good bit of my time lately. If you’re doing SCD then you know what I mean. I’ve been trying to eat it along with E for encouragement. We’ve tried new recipes, made homemade yogurt with our new yogurt maker, and I have a tortilla iron on the way to make cashew tortilla chips! A friend gave me the Eat Well Feel Well recipe book that has a lot of savory SCD options including the tortilla chips. Life is interesting. Here are some of the things we’ve made that we like:
  • Healthy Hamburger Helper (with carrots instead of yams to make it SCD legal)
  • This pizza crust topped with SCD approved tomato sauce, onions, peppers, garlic, bacon, and cheddar cheese. Pretty good.
  • Almond cookies. We like them better a little undercooked and without the peanut butter and coconut. Cranberries are a pretty good addition.
  • blue berry muffins – a friend made these for us and I’m not sure what recipe she used.
  • spinach bread (I liked, not so sure about E.)
• Today we’re going to try grain and gluten-free cheez-its! And something with our homemade yogurt that finished cooking last night.
• My first instinct is to say not a lot has been going on in the realm of creativity lately, but that’s not true. I just haven’t been at home much so haven’t spent much time in our art room. But, I’ve had a couple of great things going on away from home:
  • Mary and I took a four-week drawing basics class from our friend Doug who is a fabulous artist. It was very helpful for me since I’ve never had any formal art education. He’s very precise and methodical which appealed to my naturally left-brained self. I want to start a fresh drawing using what I learned soon. When I do, I’ll share mine and Mary’s drawings from class.
  • I went to another Sociable Art session last weekend and it was wonderful! We painted Starry Night. Here’s mine. I was rather pleased. (Sorry for the camera flash glare.)

• Reading? Oh, my. Something has happened! I’m in some dry reading season it seems. I’m having trouble finishing anything. I’ve got these four going:
  • Peace Like a River – it was on my TBR list and our book club is reading it. Actually, I haven’t started it! I have a week to get it finished which seems highly doubtful.
  • The Joy Luck Club – another on my TBR list. I like it, but I’m slogging through it. And will probably totally abandon for a while in order to read the Peace for book club.
  • one thousand gifts – just love this. Love her writing, love what she has to say…. really, really good book. I’m on a chapter titled “a sanctuary of time” and it is truly what I need to hear right now.
  • The Spirit of the Disciplines – reading this with a young friend who recently moved to Colorado who truly blesses me. We’re only on chapter two but so far it’s good.

That’s all for now…. there’s much more to share so hopefully I’ll find my way back to my little oasis soon! Have a wonderful weekend, bloggy friends!