Random Acts of Birthday Love

Tomorrow is my 27th birthday.  It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my 24th birthday in this space.   I have to say that in my life I am extremely blessed with wonderful friends, loving family, a warm home, and a wonderful job.

Tomorrow I've asked my friends and family to celebrate by sharing one random act of kindness.  I'm imagining the joy that twenty seven acts of kindness will have on the world.

On to the celebrating!

November, as of late

As of late we have been

• sitting next to spectacular bonfires, soaking of warmth on chilly evenings
• celebrating and preparing to celebrate more
• knitting up a test knit (such fun to work through)
• baking favorite cookies
• simmering delicious soup on the stove all afternoon
• cracking open windows as often as we can, knowing each time might just be the last time
• savoring the last bits of autumn colors
• finding woolens and folding them carefully into drawers for use this winter
• and working, yes working lots

These days have been busy, yes, but full of goodness all around.

Friday: The Art of Community

Joining my friend Kyrie today chatting about the beauty of the ordinary arts.

When I left the town I had lived in for all of my life to go to college (a mere 45 minutes away) the thing I missed the most was driving down the road to see someone I knew driving down the other side.  Seeing a friend, family member, or a familiar community member on the other side of the road was so comforting to me.  

It is no secret that I love the community that I live in these days.  Unlike many of the classmates I grew up with, I still live here. In fact, I live in the home I dreamed I would live in- my great-grandma's school house.  Beyond living in the middle of the village, across from my old school, down the street from my family, I work in this community as well.  I love this.  

I love living less than a half a mile from my two closest friends, down the street from my family, and walking distance from work.  I love running into families I work with in the grocery store, walking to the cafe, and turning the corner for the farmer's market.  Driving down the road waving to friends and familiar faces brings me so much joy.

It is no secret that I am a homebody and familiarity brings me comfort.  However, this community means so much more.  It is support, kindness, and love. 

unplugged in the woods

This past weekend we went back into the woods (just as we did last year).  It was the perfect weekend to sneak away into a world that is abundantly autumn-like at that very moment.  Without the pulls of technology, we hiked, cooked, laughed, and biked.

 

Although we weren't too far away from home, we were far enough south to enjoy the leaves at peak along with slightly warmer weather.  We spent our days completely outside under the sun, breathing the fresh forest air.  Coming home from an unplugged trip is always hard.  Life seems so much more simple when the phone does not have service and the electricity is limited. 

Upon returning home, I kept the computer turned off for the rest of the day and enjoyed the quiet of being home, cooking dinner, and folding laundry.  It's the simple things that make a get-away last just a tad longer.

Happy autumn, friends!

it's autumn again

It's autumn again. Really, I wasn't quite ready for it this year. I still had summer on my mind. My windows were open, my woolens were stored away, and my sandals were by the door. Then the leaves started turning and I ordered a new down comforter. I found the corduroys. Then I pulled out the knitting. But I wasn't ready.

It wasn't until I took a hike through the woods that I welcomed autumn.  Suddenly everything felt right. The lower sun in the sky.  The cooler  nights.  The flannel sheets. 

So here I sit with wool on the needles, comforters on the bed, chili on the stove.  Autumn is back and I'm soaking these days right up.