Our House in the Middle of Our Street

"We all have a secret pain. We all have a tender place. We were born to want more and no I'm not meant to live alone, but this is the life I know." ~ India Arie I've been reflecting a lot this month on my own, and sometimes, luckily or intentionally, with others.  It's been a strange month, one that started out overly emotional, and will end with raw emotional. I've run the gamut this month from trying to go slowly, to take care of myself to taking my emotions out on my family, using their proximity as an excuse. Then, just like that, an email came that broke me in half.  People get bad news every day. This was just too close. It was too hard. Too unfair. No .  I've been inside myself reflecting on this maybe a bit too much. I went outside. I folded laundry. I wrote. I pretended not to notice my eyes welling up washing the dishes. This feels stuck, and it feels long, and I want to give it back . This 'another' day, would be o...

For the last number of years, every November, I get blog-giddy (see what I did there?) because I like to participate in a friend's challenge: post 25 pictures, one per day, starting December  1st. This year's December Photo Project has a beautiful banner (above) and badge (see sidebar).  I don't feel the need to post very often, but I do love a challenge every once in awhile, and the December Photo Project *  seems to get me back into the posting mood after the new year. I like that it's a community project, and with the 2012 addition of a facebook page , the group has grown by leaps and bounds.  I love this project alongside Advent because it helps me slow down, be quiet, and enjoy what's happening around me. If I'm going to practice living in the moment and noticing the details, I might as well do that in my favorite season, that can be one of the most hectic throughout the calendar year.  Will you join me?   * DPP from here on out

As the Christmas and gift-giving seasons are approaching, I wanted to share what I'd been thinking about regarding this topic. Since the kids have been little, we've had a simple approach to gifts: something to Read, something to Wear, and something to Play with. This has suited us well over the years in keeping expectations low (remember Dudley in Harry Potter ? ), putting forward quality over quantity, and lessened space taken, packaging thrown away, and mountains of toys that can accumulate. We still follow this rule, and follow it (sometimes, not always) with our sweet nephew and nieces, too.  In the past I've often made a lot of our gifts, because I like doing it, and it obviously saves us money. Gift-giving the gift-card way is outrageously expensive if you even have more than five people on your list. We have many more than that. I also love getting people gifts. I like to think about each person and tailor make (or buy, at times) a gift they will find both ...

The other day, he noticed it was a cloudless day. That's pretty rare for our current location and season, and he took full advantage of our week off of home school.    "Mom, let's fly my kite! It's so nice out!"he asked.  How could I say no to that? Well, easily. I had been in a bad mood since roughly 6:07AM that morning, and even their voices were like crows cawing to my tired head. We needed to get out.  Life's funny. You move somewhere to be closer to the nature that you love so dearly, and then you realize, you haven't even seen it for some time. When you see the ocean, the mountains quite clear in the distance, you realize, what the heck was so important that we missed out on this ?  The rock he's standing on doesn't look nearly as ominous as it is in real life. When he told me he wanted to perch up there to start the kite off with a bit more wind, I was hesitant.       "Dad lets me do this all the time, " he ...

We've been here for over eight months now. I can't believe it's already nearly a year and that that's all . The places we have explored, the activities and events we've gone to, the summer camps we walked to, all make our time seem faster than it is. The grey skies, the low-hanging fog for long, continuous days, and the simple routine we've gotten ourselves into has slowed down time in our favor. I don't remember saying 'yes' to things I didn't want to say yes to back in Lincoln, but I remember having to quit something every so often just to catch my breath. I was over-booked and our days were going at warp-speed. There was never enough time for too many things. At least, I felt that way. I made lists every day of 10+ items that I thought had to be done that day, instead of that month. It was pure nuts. I look back at that time and I wonder how we didn't drain the life out of our marriage, and our family. After moving here, we had noth...

A few Sunday evenings per month, our family packs up some water, snacks, and sturdy shoes and jackets for an evening walk or hike. We love to get out into nature, and it has a calming effect on everyone. Not only that, but walking around  a park or going on a hike is a great way to find your own entertainment and it's free. Free is often our budget requirement. Now that all of us have our nexus cards, hopping between borders to see the sights is so easy since we don't have a border wait. We literally have two countries at arm's length to discover and explore. Often we like to go to Langley's Campbell Valley , which are more nature walks than hikes, yet great training for future treks with the kids. Each time we're there we do between 2.5 and 4 mile walks with them. They're practically running the whole time.  A month ago or so, our Campbell Valley hike gave us an unsuspecting find. About twenty tiny nuthatches (see below) were crowding around this...

top photo: The Blainiacs; self-titled, our group from bible study There are too many words to share everything about Malibu , so I'm going to share a few pictures, and some words in this post. Malibu is a Young Life camp that is it's own little village in the middle of nowhere, British Columbia, or at least it feels that way--very isolated. It's right at the top of Lake Louise Inlet (right before Lake Louise) but really, there is nothing out there. It is what a leader called "The Thin Place"; the place right in the middle of heaven and earth. It's beautiful, welcoming, joyful, and raw, pristine. This lodge is where "Club" happens. This is where the large group of the 220+ women who were present for Women's Weekend  would get together twice daily for skits, singing, and hearing speakers before breaking out into small group time. The Women's Weekend follows the Young Life way in how they structure the retreat. Everything we did rese...