black shutters, ya'll.

The leaves are changing, and so are a few things in my life. First, and most exciting, is that we're moving into a new house! Not much more room, but B and I joke that we're so very Euro and only need a small space anyway. Riiiight. But the truth is that I saw this house and couldn't get it out of mind. Pie crust border below the roof and black shutters--oh, my friends, I can't tell you how much I love black shutters. I always find myself looking at a house with the potential of adding black shutters. Anyways, all the darling perks of this house--the porch in the back, the backyard, the garage, the neighborhood park two blocks away--all of this has clouded the reality of the fact that I'm not exactly sure how all of our stuff is going to fit in it when all is said and done. My plan when B says crazy things like, "pick which side table you want," or "one of these chairs has to go," I will simply slip out to the front and look at the shutters.

But, as I've said before, less space means a slant toward the simple life. I'm all for that, especially when I get to have a month or so off from freelancing. I'm currently editing a 30 chapter book with roughly 30 different authors and it's due in two weeks. Around the same time it's due, we get the keys to our new place. And I'm hosting a baby shower that week. *deep breaths* Black shutters, black shutters, black shutters....

Are you Christmas shopping yet? I'm trying to get ahead of the game, but keep getting caught on these sites where I try to buy presents for myself. No worries, a quick slap of the hand, and I'm back to where I need to be. But not before I bookmark them to share with you!

Enjoy!

Shabby Apple-- Shabby Apple is gaining in its popularity, so you probably know about it and the amazing dresses! Vintage-looking, feminine, and classic--love,love, love.

This one is gorgeous--causal, but you can dress it up.


Love this one too--so very Mad Men. Sometimes I wish my job required me to wear adorable things like this instead of lounge pants and a cami (I know I'm lucky, I know.....)



This trend of bib necklaces--I admit, I'm usually one to laugh at trends and then a few months later I'm wearing them. But this trend, I loved as soon as I spotted one of these kind of necklaces in Anthropologie.



An inexpensive version could be this at is Thistletree on Etsy, who has such lovelies as this for a mere $15




I'm loving all these embellishment pieces I'm seeing. You can just hold onto your basic, classic pieces and embellish away!

And of course I wouldn't leave you without some inspiring home decorating pictures from one of my fav blogs, Life in the Fun Lane. If you don't have a bulk of free time, don't click on that link. Because you'll find amazing pictures of Holly's house, like this



or this



and check out her little girl's room! (Whose name is Wren, which is a serious consideration on our "naming children that do not exit yet" list)



Has white never looked more gorgeous to you? Holly also has an online store where she sells the furniture she refurbishes. I wish she didn't live in Canada or I'd be snatching up some of that stuff!

Okay, that's enough for now. Enjoy!

A new article of mine is up on Ungrind today, The Butterfly Effect. Here's an excerpt.

My eyes strain to open as I push through to complete the butterfly stroke to the other end of the pool. However, there's too much churn in the water created by my young arms, as well as from the wave that keeps overwhelming me. I finally stop, emerge heaving, and, while treading water, I exclaim to my teacher in my 10-year-old awe, "That is hard!"

Almost 20 years later, my eyes struggle to open again, and although I'm not underwater, it certainly feels like it. Her tiny newborn, raspy cry has begun yet again. My husband stirs in his sleep next to me, as his fatherly subconscious has sensed her need, too. My mind directs my body when it yells "Get up!", but my body does not listen. It is tired and weak. I remember previous -- namely, childless -- sleepless nights and races run, and confirm once again, that nothing compares to this new kind of "hard."

Click here to read more....

a girlie pumpkin!

Bad, bad, blogger. No posts. No 'nothin'. And I'm truly sorry.

To explain, we've been busy around here. First, Halloween cannot get here fast enough for Little Bitty. She changes her mind hourly for what she wants to be ("Mommy, I want to be a straw"), so I decided to take charge. My pickiness and frugalness nearly had a disastrous collision, but soon, they made up and the result, was this. May I present, the fluffiest, girliest pumpkin ever. And at only a fraction of the cost I saw it for sale.



Here she is before Open House at her preschool, and below is her "smile" face while playing with her favorite toy, the dollhouse. I really think she thought we were there just for some spontaneous pretending while wearing her costume...a concept not so far removed for our family.



I'm linking up with Kimba's DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land. Hop on over there if you have a free 487 hours, because you will get lost in the innovative craftiness of everyone's projects!

two places at once

One of my posts is being featured over at Ungrind's blog today. Check it out as well as all the amazing articles that are up weekly at Ungrind. I was just telling the editor, Ashleigh, the other day that the content has been rocking lately. I love reading real stories of faith, don't you?

stream of letting go

We are flipping our daughter's room today to a "big girl's room," and it feels like I'm turning the page of a plastic, storyless baby's book to the next page of a bright, exciting pop-up book. What was stationary and pudgy, like chunky baby legs are now grown up, skipping, running little girl's legs. Pastels are cranked up into bold hues. What was blurry with deep blue, infant eyes is now clear with her sparking green ones. She has choices now--one of the most important being, does she use her powers for good, or for evil? I'm hoping her surroundings help stimulate the goodness I know is there. Reading in bed (learning), hosting tea for her little stuffed friends (serving), and letting her thoughts run over the day's event before drifting off to peaceful sleep (praying and meditating). A room to yourself is such a luxury. Quietness is such a indulgence. Independence in a 12' x 13' room is a whole new responsibility. These are some of the things I'm actively giving my daughter today. I offer her small, bite-size pieces of the world as my mothering duty, but letting her have them is a whole other issue.

God, how it must have ached your heart to let us grow up-- to give us choice.

Sometimes, I don't have a lot to say here because I'm reading so many awesome words out there. But you should have to suffer in boredom that I have the same ole post up for a week! So here are some goodies....

A writer at the New Yorker writes about who we are vs. where we come from. Can you really ever be separated from the two?

Laugh, Kookaburra

Ann at A Holy Experience writes about hope. I badgered and begged B to read this post last week (in which he loved too), so I though I'd do the same to you. Ready? Okay. Pretty, please? Seriously. Read it!

When You've Given Up All Hope

And finally, please skip on over to Sharone at The Grammar Wall of Shame. She somehow got lost on the Interweb one day and landed on my blog, commented, and now we're officially nerdy grammar friends. Her other blog is Zizzivvizz, which is equally clever. I only know Sharone in the virtual world, which is probably best, because I somehow think we would be particularly obnoxious together in real life, perhaps in an English class laughing over Florentino's wussiness in Love in the Time of Cholera. (I'm kind of embarrassed for him. Like, seriously, man up already.)

This post is particularly hilarious, detailing The Christian Science Monitor. And I think that's a good place to end this post, especially since my last sentence was a dangling participle that I'm positive made Sharone's skin crawl.

I'm on Day 1 of potty-training, so my posts may be sparse for the next week or so. Or not. I never know.

If you want more of my links throughout the week, check out my tumblr page.

We're back from beautiful Napa valley, where, among the clinking of wine glasses and the beautiful scenery, two people were wed! My brother married an amazing girl whom I'm not only blessed to know, but proud to welcome into the family.

I had been so nervous about going, mostly because I was afraid that this little blessing would turn into a little more than a disaster on the plane. She was an angel and brought us pride and joy when we received compliments on her behavior from both the row in front and in back of us on the plane ride. Here she is, sassying it up before takeoff. I tried my best to get her to look out the window, but she wasn't that interested. No worries, I wasn't, either.



I was born in Cali, and somehow it feels very comfortable there to me the two times I've been back. It's a lot like Texas in its casual, friendly attitude, but even more laid back. B fit in so well with his California coolness, and the coolness of the weather had me hooked.

No wonder, I thought.



No wonder people love it here.



No wonder people feel like they can be themselves.



No wonder people want to be the best versions of themselves with these things around.



My brother and his new wife asked me to write something for their ceremony. I was honored and terrified. I wanted to give them what they wanted, but at the same time, let them choose something better if I missed the mark. A month or so ago, I emailed Emily three options to choose, one of which was titled, "A Note from the Architect," and credited to "Author Unknown." She and Jeff picked that one, and glory be, but the author was indeed myself. Isn't it fun how these things work out?

California felt and looked a little like paradise, but so can other places....like, maybe, the here and now. It's so much easier to wish for more and better--I am so easily caught up in that muck of lies. Really, paradise is the one that you can find in your own life and not someone else's. It's home, and if people are loved without limits and things are labored for prayerfully, it may cross someone's mind to think...

No wonder.



No wonder people love it here.



No wonder people feel like they can be themselves.



No wonder people want to be the best versions of themselves with these things around.



A Note from the Architect (copyright Alison Frenzel)


Your marriage, a tower in the sky today, but perhaps a cozy cottage tomorrow, will be the only home you will ever know. The journey here may have taken years, but now, it's only a breath of "I do's" and a threshold away. The foundation is stronger than you expect, but that is because you cannot expect today what it can withstand tomorrow. Wipe the chaos of the world at the door, but feel free to bring your baggage inside. Kindle the hearth daily with gentle truth and frequent embraces. Open the windows of opportunity to bless others, whether in shelter, rest, or a new life entirely. Decorate, renovate, and restore its beauty after years have aged it beyond recognition. And lastly, never forget that although some homes fall down, are set afire, or are washed away, there are those that remain. The difference is that those homes--like yours--are not only built with love, but filled with it, too.

Welcome home.