Our House in the Middle of Our Street

found in a community garden in Blaine, WA The silence around here has not been intentional. I (as usual) have overestimated my obligations, administrations (oh! the phone calls!), and stress my body can take with a move. This past one was international and I think aside from driving 1800 miles with 2 kids and 2 vehicles in 3 days , it has been 'the dooziest ', if that were a word. When duties got too overwhelming or I had listened to one too many automated services for one day, I would bury my head in the sand in a book and tell myself, 'tomorrow'. Look, dear readers, I even read a fiction book! Now where's my cookie? Five might look like a lot but don't be amazed, two of those five were poetry books and took all of one hour of naptime or a long back-and-forth drive with the family. I sure loved this month's choices, though! * What the Living Do by Marie Howe was recommended by one of my favorite journalists, Krista Tippett, on her NPR segment, ...

Please understand the silence for the next week or two. We are moving internationally , and although my best intentions will be to get internet up and running as soon as possible, but that depends on availability in our area. Thank you! See you on "the other side"!

Hop over to The Well Read Sleepyhead's weekly post for a great series of early readers about the Wonders of America. 

**This lovely post is brought to you by my writerly friend, Victoria ! ** If my blog were Sarah-fied it would be called “Our Apartment Squished On The Corner”. I am so crazy excited to be guest-posting on Our House in the Middle of Our Street today and I’d like to write about exactly that: houses, streets, and where we belong. Over the years my idea of ‘home’ has shifted. In high school, home was a place I was desperate to leave. In college, home was a fluid concept: dormitories, basements, and guest bedrooms. As a young married and new mom, this settled rambler finds that home is a place where I have begun to lay down roots. I do enjoy homemaking, though I’m far from winning any sort of Pinterest 'Home of the Year' award . But if I’m not careful, I start to believe that home is confined to four walls, a ceiling, and a toy-strewn floor. Home, if by ‘home’ we mean a place of belonging, cannot be defined with geographic coordinates. C.S. Lewis’ words are helpfu...

flower corner in a local community garden I've recently become a bit of a podcast addict. There really isn't a better way to get housework done than listening to interviews between authors, artists, financial gurus, and spiritual leaders. Killing two birds with one stone makes my INTJ-self happy, and I'm learning a lot while doing the necessary mundane. Here's a few episodes that I wanted to pass on to you. I hope you find something useful and interesting between the links. *I loved this podcast from Elsie Gets Craft about Having Writers' Block . Awesome tips on mapping ideas, creating 'more' from inside the box, and more. *Listening to cellist Yo-Yo Ma doing a Julia Child impression on Krista Tippett's On Being podcast literally made my day. *Doesn't everyone want a book deal? Well. I know I do. Listening to Tsh and her literary agent , Jenni Burke was fascinating and humbling. I've got a long way to go before I'm ready to ship, ...

Freight train coming right through White Rock Well, that moment has come. We're finally moving to Canada! When we moved to Blaine 18 months ago, we had a job placement and easily found a place to live, a church, and a homeschool group that we've enjoyed. It's time to move across the border, though, and keep all our income (!), put down some roots in the same area for a few years, and keep living our life, reconnecting with Stefan's friends, making new friends, and investing in our community.   We're thrilled . We found a fabulous place ( like, so fabulous, I'm still pinching myself ) and we get to paint and improve in whatever aspect we want. It's a dream location and I'll be posting lots about it once we're over the line. We move on Sept. 20, and we have a lot of packing to do. We're going to try to shrink wrap as much as we can (bookshelves, dressers, etc.) and move as is. My job for this week is to inventory our entire household, and p...

Timber!!! We're on vacation this week. Soaking up the last of the summer sun with my parents; beaches, good food, ferry rides, exploring, and a canoe trip thrown in for good measure. I'll be posting regularly again on Monday.

one of the prettiest houses in Blaine This month, I did what I never do: I started about five books at one time. So many books I want to read right now , and so little time to give to them. I buckled down and read The Best Yes without interruption and then went on to to Guiliano's book, followed by a slim start on Outliers. I try not to read too many books at one time because then I feel like I stall on all of them. Plowing through one at a time helps me focus, truly, on the message of the book without getting distracted by my nightstand. I almost *never* check out more than one book for myself at a time, simply to keep in line with my silly, self-imposed discipline. I can always go back, right? * Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion by Robert Coles was a book I borrowed from a friend when we got to talking about Dorothy Day. This is a book recording the conversations Coles and Day had together over many years, really going into depth in the mind and philosophies behind Day...