yum

This is my accomplishment for the day.  I made oatmeal craisin white chocolate chip cookies.
So now it looks like I haven't been doing much other than cooking and reading books, seeing as my recent blog posts have been of food and such. I did thoroughly clean the apartment yesterday, which made my husband very happy. But cleaning isn't exactly fun to photograph, so instead you get to enjoy pictures of my adventures in the kitchen.
This weekend we are going to MI for dad's birthday and a friend's wedding.  We'll see what photo opportunities come our way by Monday...

poetry

Well, it looks like the rain decided to stay.
So i took advantage of the opportunity to get cozy with a book of poetry and a hot drink. I am realizing now that I am out of school that I actually like poetry and can appreciate it.  There's something about school that takes the joy out of everything.  I remember picking apart poems and short stories in lit classes and wondering why on earth I had to know this.  Why does it matter what the poet was thinking or trying to get at?
Yet somehow, amazingly I sit here today looking at these works and actually enjoying them.  I enjoy the symbolism, the use of language to describe something so simple in a way that makes you see it in a different light and takes your breath away.

rainy day

Sometimes I like rainy days.  They make me appreciate the sunny days even more. As long as they remain few and far between :)
But rainy days means we can make it cozy inside. We turned on the heat today for the first time. And Josh got out a scented candle that we lit. I put on some fuzzy socks and started making supper while Josh went back to his project of tackling our spare room.
My goal today was to make pork chops for lunch.  I found a recipe in my "Cooking for Two" cookbook.  The picture had me salivating, so I decided I had to try it.  And to my (and my husband's) delight, it turned out as mouth watering as it looked.

birds

My husband and I went to get our IL driver's licenses today.  Yaay, my first official card/document with my new name on it (aside from my marriage license of course).  So i'm a little behind, we've been married 48 days, and i'm only just getting around to it.  But the passport is on its way too. SS card is next.

On our way to get the new licenses we stumbled upon this amazing sight, hundreds of birds all hanging out together on a few phone lines.

a colorful day

I love color. Not really one in particular, but I love combinations of colors and complementary colors and contrasting colors...  I sorted all my books by color once, that was fun.
Today I noticed the trees are starting to change color, and on a blue sky day there is nothing more pleasing to the eye than the greens and orange and yellow and brown with a brilliant blue background.

I also walked into a quilt shop I discovered on Main Street and let me tell you - colors galore!  I am not a quilter, but i sure had fun looking at all the quilts and fabrics and patterns.

debating mysticism

I find it can be rather frustrating to talk to someone about faith/religion/belief and go around and around in circles because overall you agree but in essence there is a big difference in what and how you believe. We had a conversation with someone earlier tonight about his god.  He believes in the bible, particularly the new testament, not so much the old, but ends up in this mysticism where it's all about preserving nature and finding your belief deep down inside of you.  There's not really any way to go wrong with this guy until you say there is only one way.
But as my husband said, it is not our job to convince people of the truth, we are to simply explain to them the truth, pray for them and leave the convincing up to God. That way we can't chalk it up to our great illustrations, or debating, and  persuasion skills. And actually, I find that a relief.

prayer

Today I am thankful for Stormie Omartian.  She is teaching me how to pray for my husband.  Her book "The Power of a Praying Wife" covers so many things I wouldn't even think to pray about. And it forces me to start with myself and my own heart.  I'm learning that it's not always about changing him to be the way i want him to be, but it's about looking at things from God's point of view and changing my attitude and my perspective.  Most importantly it is about praying that God change Josh to conform to His image.

I recently got a bike from some friends, and have enjoyed getting exercise to get to this beautiful quiet park where i can read my bible on the days it is still warm.

pizza and a movie

Today is kind of a lazy day. We got home from church and decided to put pj's on make pizza with whatever we found in the fridge and watch a movie.  The pizza just came out of the oven and i am soo hungry.
I am thankful for taste buds and good food, and even more than that, being able to enjoy it with my husband.

needle in a haystack...

...or just one puzzle piece among 3000?  My husband and I decided to start putting our 3000 piece puzzle together last night, and as always we begin with the edge pieces to form the border. But after about an hour and a half of working on it we are still missing 2. Even though we weeded very carefully and systematically through all the pieces we must have somehow missed those two.
And because looking for them among the couple thousand that are left feels a little like looking for a needle in a haystack, we will simply have to wait till we find them as we start putting the rest of the puzzle together.

I feel like I should be drawing some clever analogy here, but none are coming to mind.  I'm sure as we keep working on the puzzle, analogies will abound. Puzzles have a habit of doing that...

sunflowers

I finally made it a point to go take pictures of these sunflowers I drive by whenever I go anywhere.  They are on this nice little bike path that runs alongside the railroad tracks.  I love sunflowers, I love the idea that they follow the path of the sun.  That's what I would do if I had nothing better to do all day.  Especially on these increasingly chilly fall days.  I am thankful for the blue-sky-and-sunshine days we've had all week.

I discovered that i like adjusting the exposure to the point of making the picture look unrealistic.  But creates a pretty cool effect...

market day

Yesterday was cleaning day at my house so I didn't get around to taking any pictures.  But instead i will put up some pictures from Labor Day weekend when Josh and i went to the farmer's market with his grandparents.  I couldn't decide on just one so here are a few of my favorites.

barn?

Today i am grateful that my husband was able to come home for lunch. I love that he works so close, and I love it even more that he can come home during his 1/2 hour break when he wants to.
I'M glad i did my errands earlier and was actually home at 11...

So I like taking walks.  And I've discovered all sorts of interesting things on these walks including this cool building.  It looks like a barn, but it is actually a garage that belongs to a house you would never in a million years see out in the country. I mean, it's got stucco siding, a walled in porch with pillars and everything.  someday I'll post a picture of the house too...

picture #1

So, this is the first picture.

A glimpse of the cool little town we live in.
I am grateful that we live here and not in the factory town across the river.

Motivation

Gratitude. That is where it starts. This blog is actually more about motivation (or the lack thereof) but my husband thought gratitude was a good place to start.
Personally I think the two are linked together. If you cannot be grateful for what you have, it is easy to turn into an Eeyore and sit around hoping things will get better.

The problem is certainly not that I don't have things I want to do. In fact I have a long list. I have ambitions to paint, read the classics, learn new recipes, put together the 3000 piece puzzle I just got, learn how to knit, teach myself to write with my left hand, memorize scripture, go for walks, eat healthy, exercise more, and take pictures with my new camera, but somehow none of that is being accomplished.

So first we have to work on motivation.

Certainly a positive outlook helps. The idea that I CAN accomplish what I intend to do. But still i think i have to start small. i cannot begin by trying to do everything at once. So instead i will take one thing and do it for a month. Like taking pictures. I can make a goal of taking one picture every day for a month.

My main goal here is not to let my life pass me by. I don't intend on becoming famous or doing anything earth-shattering, but I don't want to look back on this year and say "I did nothing."

I want to use the time and resources i have no to enjoy life and to make a difference in my life and in the lives of those around me, even if it is just a small one.