a week of ordinary miracles, day 1

an amazing sky

As promised, I have an ordinary miracle to share.

We went shopping yesterday to look for an Easter outfit for Sloane.  I didn't want to schlep my purse the whole time - that sucker gets heavy.  So, I put my wallet in my pocket and we shopped for several hours.  At the end of our day, I realized that I had lost my wallet somewhere along the way.  We spent nearly an hour revisiting each store to look around and ask about my wallet.  No luck.  My beautiful ostrich skin wallet that was a gift from my Dad - gone.  Everything in it - gone.  Me?  Nearly in tears.

Today I was able to go to Macy's and pick up the wallet some kind soul had turned it in.  Not a single thing was missing.  My ordinary miracle?  The integrity of strangers and a family who never teases or gets frustrated when I make stupid mistakes.

making time to give

I've spent several hours lately taking and editing photos for friends

as a thank you for all they've given me.

It's been quite a lot of fun, as giving always is.

And, as always happens when you try to be generous, 

you end up getting more than you give. 

For example, I figured out how to create the picture

above, out of this:

Click here for more pictures from this photoshoot.  

making time to drive

 

When I was a teenager one of my favorite things to do was drive.

I don't mean the way all teenagers love to drive; I mean, drive.

There's a special recipe to driving, as opposed to just driving.  

First, you can't need to get anywhere at all; you have to be doing it just for pleasure.

Second, you need loud tunes, 80s rock works very well.

Third, all your windows must be down.

This works any time of day, but late evening is best.

You must sing loud and punctuate the song with long yells out the window.

Note: you can do this alone, but it's much more fun with a boisterous girlfriend. 

That, my friends, is how you drive.

Give it a try.  It's more fun than you think.

Something about the wind and the road and the music...

MAN ALIVE!!!

I took this picture out the window today while I was driving.  I know, I know...

making time to appreciate my home

over Sloane's bed

I was thinking today about how easy it is to get complacent;

about how we often take the things we see each day for granted.

the living room

You know what I mean:   

top of the computer armoire

like when your child spends the night away and when you see her again,
you are struck anew by just how beautiful she is.

part of the mantle

Or the way we forget to notice our home sometimes; 

the very home we worked so hard to make just right.

top of small bookshelf in the Sparkle Room

I decided not to do that today.

bookshelf in the Sparkle Room

Instead, I walked around and took pictures of the little corners of my home;

our bed

the places I love most. 

a reading corner in our bedroom

 How blessed I am.

Click here for a peek at more corners of my home. 

making time for mail

Do you remember mail?

You know, the kind that requires stamps and stationary and actual handwriting?  

There are few things I enjoy as much as opening the mailbox

and finding a nice, thick bit of personal mail.

It's the very best kind of surprise.  

You know that someone took the time to choose stationary, buy stamps, track down your address,

put their pen to paper, and send you a little bit of tangible love.

How can you beat that?  

So that's what I did today.

I sent a big ol' pile of tangible love to friends and family, near and far. 

And you?  Who would love to get a letter from you?

The picture above is a weird collage-y thing I made.  I don't actually send mail out with coffee stains on it.  

making time for technology

I got an iPhone a little while ago and haven't spent much time playing with it.

Until today. 

This awesome (if I do say so myself) picture was taken with my iPhone

and gussied up with the excellent Half Tone app.

I love it!

Love the picture and love the fun I had creating it. 

So, tell me, friends, 

what other fun apps should I make time to play with? 

making time to swim

Remember when you were a kid

and nothing was so wonderful as time at the pool?

Remember the smell of chlorine and the fake 

coconuts that was the scent of every sunscreen?

Remember the shrieks and splashes

and playing teacup and Marco Polo?

Me, too.  

I love to play with my daughter in a pool.

But, when Sloane has a friend with her, 

I usually spend my time in a lounge chair with a magazine. 

Not yesterday.  

Yesterday I got in the pool with the girls to play.

I'm not sure who was more delighted, me or them.

I am pretty sure, though, that the loudest shrieks were mine. 

making time to rest

When we were out celebrating Father's Day yesterday

 I saw one of my school friends, and she gave me the nicest compliment.

She said, "You look great.  Really, really pretty.  Rested and happy; just great."

Of course I thanked her for the lovely compliment.

I could have told her it was my new haircut.

Or, my cute new tee (see photo above).

But, I didn't.  Because as we talked about our summers, 

I realized just how much I needed this time. 

Time to rest.  Time to recover.

I began to realize that the hard things show up on our faces
even when we think we have things under control and under wraps.
Apparently not because when you begin to shed your stress,
you start looking better.

I needed this.  Time to rest. Time to recover.

Time to play with Sloane, take a nap in the middle of the day, 

watch two movies in one evening if I want, 

write a few letters, go shopping, 

read an entire book in one day. 

Time.

I hope you also make time to rest this summer, friends. 

All the pictures for this making time for series have been taken on my new iPhone using Instagram.  I just love that app!

making time for Sloane

Yesterday was my day to play Taxi Mom.

Being a working mother with a young child, 

I haven't often spent a whole day escorting her around.

What a blast!

We got up early and drove to town for Sloane's first swim meet.  

After that, we had a special lunch at Fudruckers.  

Yum, but who really pays $10 for a hamburger?

Next, we went to Barnes and our library to browse and for Sloane to get 

her free books from their summer reading programs. 

She and her Daddy went shooting while I got a hair cut, and 

we came back together in time to go to the last night of VBS.

What a whirlwind of a happy, blessed day. 

I like being a Taxi Mom.  

making time for me

One of my favorite things to do is go to Barnes and Noble and browse.  

When my pile gets too unwieldy to carry, I take the huge pile of books and magazines to the cafe.  

I order a Godiva chocolate cheesecake, put in my earphones, and sigh.

I just sit and read and savor.  

Yes, we all need a little time alone to do nothing much at all. 

making time for friends

My friend Melissa and I had a girlfriend date yesterday.  We had pedicures and a tearoom lunch followed by a gorgeous movie.  It was so much fun to have hours and hours to talk.  We usually squeeze our conversations into recess duty and lunch breaks.  It was purely luxurious to just sit and chat.  (I think the waitress thought we would never leave.)

I was smiling this morning and thinking about our time together; thinking about how important it is to make time for things that really matter.  And, I got this idea.  A brainstorm really.  I thought I would commit to a ten day project.  Each day I will make the time to do one thing I have been putting off or that I don't usually make time for.  Then, I'll post about it the next morning in order to keep myself accountable.  Care to join me?

The toes above belong to three cousins.  Sloane's are the bright green ones, of course. 

in a word...

I got a ticket yesterday morning on my way to church. It seems that I am always in a hurry anymore. At the time I was pulled over I was 1. driving & hurrying to church 2. finishing putting on my make up 3. trying to eat breakfast 4. drinking a coke, and 5. listening to a book on tape. Five things. Five.

Yes, while I was driving I was doing four other things at the same time. I'm all for productivity and multi-tasking, but yesterday's ticket made me stop and think. Do I really need to rush so much? Do I really need to be productive every minute of the day? Why am I always rushing? Why am I always out the door five minutes later than I wanted to be? What the heck is so important anyway?

I've been thinking and thinking about my word for 2011. Last year my word was Leap, and boy did it shape my year. My word for 2009 was Yes. What about this year? What word will I choose to encapsulate all my hopes for the coming 12 months?

I want to choose a word that indicates growth and doing and movement and making things happen. But, yesterday morning has me thinking that I might need a word that indicates slowing down, breathing, rest, and being on time.

What I really want is to be intentional; to make choices instead of relying on habits and reacting to circumstances. Yes, I want to make choices and grow creatively. Yes, I want to be a dreamer and not just a doer. Yes, I want and desperately need to slow down, to rest, and to refresh. I want both.

What I really want is to live 2011 with intention. I want to choose what I want to do and when. I want to take initiative instead of only reacting. I want to stop drifting from chore to chore, task to task, and start doing what I intend. I want to make choices instead of relying on habit. I want to move more, connect more, write more, rest more, sleep more, laugh more, create more beauty, and photograph more. My habits are too-often not reflective of my real values. I want to live with intention this year. I want to make choices. When it is time to rest, I want to rest. When it is time to work, I want to work. When it is time to play, I want to play. Whatever I do, I want it to be from choice, not habit. I want it to be intentional.

Happy 2011, my friends. May you live with intention. I plan to.