five things.

i. I sniff my shoulder… it smells like baby. Oh my, I love that smell. // A few days a week are now filled with my favorite chubby six-month-old. In the past I've had very little experience with babies, but now I'm head over heels.

ii. Facebook is off. Instagram has seen few posts from me. Blogger hasn't been opened in a week. Pinterest? I almostt forgot about it. // Unplugging to plug in to life. All of a sudden I find myself gravitating away from screens and towards books and art and daydreams.

iii. The lights are out, but the fan is on and the window open. I can feel Kansas spring dancing over my face. Libby says, I say, we both giggle and repress squeals. // Talk Time is the unofficial wrap-up of our day and it always fills me with joy. Libby and I talk about various and sundry things… Sunday night's chat consisted of planning our life ten (or fifteen) years from now, including our houses, our gardens, traditions, cookie jars, spontaneous adventures (which obviously won't be spontaneous since we've planned them), placement of record players in kitchens, and evenings dancing in the kitchen to the records played on the aforementioned record players. ;)

iv. Let your light shine before men! You put the light in me. Who has The Light Bulb? Put on the Armor of Light. // The annual fundraiser for our youth group's senior trip is at hand! We're in full-swing of Dinner Theater practices… the theme is "From the Dark to the Light". We have an amazing director and a super fun cast, so it's always the highlight of my day.

v. It's 7:00. Ugggh… I'm so tired. Do I really want to go on a run when I could sleep? Duh, yes. 
I throw on my running clothes and pull my hair into the most atrocious pony tail. The morning is grey and melancholy when I set out at 7:29, but the cold air wakes me up and I'm thankful for another spring morning. // I'm convinced that morning runs are the best thing since sliced bread. They wake you up, get you going, boost your metabolism, keep you mindful of what you eat, and make you want to eat healthy food and drink more water. Okay, well at least that's what they do for me. If you hate them, call me up and we'll run together and I'll convince you to like them. ;)

What has your life been like lately?

xx.
Linds

She's Just That Cute

This wasn't posed or themed or styled.

This is just Libby.

She's just that cute.

Happy Saturday!

Emily Jean

People stared as we snapped away outside of the bike shop… and I mean stared. It's as if they thought we were dancing purple cows in tutus. So we scurried away to a beautiful red church door where a man walked by, made some *ahem* interesting comments, and left us in stitches of laughter. Next, we trekked to the Po' Boys shop to get some fried macaroni and cheese thingymabobbers, which were delicious, by the way. However, I wouldn't recommend stuffing yourself with them before you go to a vintage clothing store where all the dresses have twenty-inch waists.

With the film left in Emily's camera, we resolved to take a photo together, in which we were "legitimately laughing". I saw the print last week… I look a little quizzical and Em was laughing hysterically. That's pretty accurate if you ask me. We wrapped up the night with dinner in a basement pizza shop where we made a spectacle at the counter and shared a large soda and talked about Jesus and prayed and wrote song lyrics on a napkin for a worker. That night completely inspired me, as she told me of how her grandpa led a woman to the Lord just minutes before he died. And how he lived his life in that way. We talked and talked, and struggled with issues twisting around inside us about courage and honesty and unabashed boldness for Christ. I want to be able to do that we said. I want to be fearless like that and just spread His name all the time. We're on a journey. And I'll trust that the Lord will work through us over time, that we'll learn to speak the Truth with boldness and courage.

Without further ado, here's Emily the lovely actress-singer-artist-tapper-laugher-photographer-friend:

 Does she have a stunner smile or what?

Yes, yes she does.

Did I mention that tomorrow is her birthday?

Well, it sure is!

Happy Sweet Sixteen, Emily!

Snow Day Listography

What do ya know?

It snowed in Kansas today.

So what could be better than making lists on a snow day?

Not much… except perhaps a bowl of snow cream. 

So I made that list (up there ^^).

i also made an adventure list.

rain boots

picnic basket

overalls

cookies

exploration

daisies

french braids

knapsack

binoculars

field journal

lean-to

nature guide

curiosity

Happy Thursday!

Linds

What's the weather like where you live?

Lately Lovely

"Sometimes, I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed."

 -Mary Oliver

I just returned from a lengthy afternoon walk with my mamma and two dogs and I can feel my fingers tingling as they warm up. Today I pulled out an ancient Breckenridge hoodie as we set out and of course my converse were the only shoes that seemed logical to wear… I just realized that I've had them for three and a half years, but they're still going strong. "Today is a good day," I thought, as we walked briskly in this cold February air. "This is going to be a good year, I just know it. It's going to be a great summer." Although some days I'm just dying to get out of the house, I really do love where I am right now.

Today brought a 6:45 wake-up call and shower. Some time in the Word. Oatmeal + berries for breakfast. Mid-morning tea. Literature and a photo break in the reading room. A bit of time on the piano. Dreaming of a baby grand. Chuckles over Jane Austen's wit. Zeal for the future. Hope for some warm weather. Knowledge of no warm weather anytime soon. Joy.

How was your day? I'd love to know!

 xx.
A lovely evening to you.

Lindsey

p.s. All of your comments on my last post were buckets of sunshine! I can't tell you how much you all made my day; it was so fun getting to know more about about you. So thank you, Hannah, Noni, Natalie, Jessica, Jianine, Olivia, Marianne, Michelle Marie, Sonya, and Acacia! Y'all seriously are the best. Perhaps I'll write a post sometime with letters to each of you… should I? :)

Hello, friend!

Well, I tried to write what was in my heart, but those muddled thoughts and feelings are now scrambled  and unfinished on a draft page. Goodness, sometimes I have a hard time making sense of them all.

But since they couldn't come out eloquently, I just want to talk to you non-eloquently in stead. Because I see you all as friends, and I miss talking. To start off the non-eloquence, I'm pretty sure that non-eloquence is grammatically incorrect. I just remembered. It's ineloquent. 

So how's life, friend?
Good?
And if you didn't mean that, I'd love to know the truth. There are no masks here.

Speaking of masks, I've been thinking how I want to be a little more authentic with you all. I haven't been putting up a facade or lying to you, no, but I just mostly post about happy things, joyful things, good things. And sometimes it even sounds like I preach at you. (sorry for that… maybe it's the pastor's -kid side of me.) But please know this: my life isn't perfect. I focus on the good things because I want my blog to be a blessing and a celebration of the good. And generally my journal is the best place for my struggles, considering that the whole world can see this. But just because I celebrate life here, it doesn't mean that I don't have those days too. The emotionally out-of-whack days when I almost cry over spilt milk. Or the go-away-from-me-please-I-just-want-to-be-alone days. (<< I have a lot of those.) And the days when I skip reading my Bible because I've got "more important" things to do. Days when I'm discontent with my photography. The bad hair days. The bad face days. Days wasted by judging. Days ruined by harsh words and harbored bitterness.

Yes, I have them all.
But the only reason I can celebrate through it all is because God is good. And faithful. And powerful.

So, what do you like to do in your free time? When no one is in the house?
Sometimes I tap dance in the garage and imagine that I could be as good as Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire. And then I dream about dancing in the kitchen with a mister eight or ten or fifteen years from now. When no one is home I play piano really loudly and sometimes I sing until I can't stand to hear my crackling voice any longer, which is usually two minutes. Last week everyone was gone and Mumford & Sons started on Spotify… I ran to the computer and turned the volume up until it couldn't go any higher. And then I ran around and danced like a crazy five-year-old. And all of a sudden I was carefree. (I kind of tweaked some muscles :))

I could ask you a million questions, friends. I know some of you very well, and others hardly at all, but I would love to get to know you a little better. Drop a comment, would ya? Tell me what you do in your free time and when no one is around, and what the most exciting thing you did today was. Or what your favorite childhood memory is, or what your favorite book is, and why. I think it would be cool if we could know each other a little bit better. Sincerely.
Let's be friends.

hug, hug.

Lindsey

Every Good and Perfect Gift

Contentment has been running rampant around here. I've been counting gifts and capturing them when I can. It's amazing what happens when I stop thinking "I want this or that" and start thinking "I already have so much and I am so thankful." 

What have you been thankful for lately?

xx.

Lindsey