Blog Design for Adoption

Hey, blog friends! I don't know if y'all already are connected with someone who designs your blog layout, but this woman and her husband are adopting their second baby from Ethiopia. The money she makes designing these cute blogs will help fund their adoption!

Blog Design Website http://lcgraphicdesigns.blogspot.com/

Her own sweet blog http://www.laurencasper.com/

Living the questions

When I was a preeschooler, I idolized the teenagers at my church, having a crush on one of them and constantly asking my mom, "Do you think Rus Horn likes this kind of chip?" and other questions that would indicate we were soul mates. I also went on imaginary dates to the Olive Garden where I drank Diet Coke and went skiing with my fake boyfriend Steve Olympic. In third grade, after years of watching Saved by the Bell, I lead my friends in pretending that we were really in college while at school, not spending our days learning multiplication. As a ninth grader, I dreamed of being a human rights attorney and working on behalf of women who whose lives were at risk of being destroyed by their governments or neighbors.

My natural way of thinking is to live in the future. I'm a planner, and I fall into dreaming about the good and beautiful life I will have in the next couple of years or next ten years. This personality is not always a negative thing--it helps me be strategic in my work and I am proud to have pursued a career in social advocacy, even though I later realized there are many more options than being a human rights attorney.

I can so easily get caught up in what might happen next, though, that I don't fully live in the present. There are probably not many people who feel comfortable with uncertainty, with the fear of pain that could come from things not going our way. It's obvious, though, that my plans are sometimes short-sighted. I have, thankfully, never been on a date to the Olive Garden and ordered Diet Coke--my idea of a glamorous date has changed over the years.

This week, I am trying to be intentional about living in the present, enjoying this time, and not being fearful of the future or jumping the gun to conclude things that I'm not ready to have an answer for.

My friend Katie posted this quote from Rainer Maria Rilke, and I really love it.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, as if they were rooms yet to enter or books written in a foreign language. Don't dig for answers that cannot be given yet: you cannot live them now. The point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Doesn't that make uncertainty sound so much more beautiful?

Good to Be Crazy

"If nothing else, what Dan and I have learned over the last year is this: if you're clinging too tightly to your things, to your plans, to your comfort and convenience, to your idea of what your family should look like -- God cannot move in your life."

God is reveling in this family's story of doing the brave, crazy things we were made to do for our neighbors. What can this be in my life?

http://www.goodtobecrazy.com/2011/01/once-upon-time.html

House Tour

My cousin Davis is going to make some pretty pottery for my house (can't wait!), and wants to see pictures since he hasn't been here. So, I thought I might as well stick them up here so he can refer back.

These are some of my

favorite flowers on the porch, but they're not holding up too well in this dry heat.

My little living room

Dining Room

Kitchen (with my cute rug that I bought with Aunt Jana's Pier 1 gift card)

Messy bedroom

And the details...

Fabric of bedroom drapes

Living room art

Dining room art

And last, but not least, my mermaid bag!

Summer Goals

I'm copying my friend Clara and coming up with some goals for the summer! Five are ones I came up with, and five are taken from Clara's friend's options.

1. Learn how to shuffle cards. (DONE! My card-playing grandparents and aunt taught me the right way when I was home last weekend.)

2. Take an Austin trip!

3. Make this cake http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/carrot-cake-recipe.html

4. Go to at least three concerts

5. Take the Inprint writing class (I had my first one last Wednesday, and I love it so far)

and from Clara's friend...

6. Make popsicles (I saw a recipe for plain greek yogurt with jam.. it's gonna happen!)

7. Give a surprise bouquet of flowers to a friend

8. Host a summer dinner party

9. Have a picnic (hello, Miller Outdoor Theatre!)

10. Make my own art

Things I Like

I like how older Texans say, "I'm proud for you" instead of "I'm proud of you."

Baron Batch played football with my brother Collin in high school. He has a brother my age, and I knew for some reason that their siblings lived with other families. Baron is now trying out for professional football teams and writes a blog for the Lubbock paper. Read his story... he is brave and sensitive in sharing his story (and a great writer)
http://lubbockonline.com/sports/2011-04-15/batch-my-story-batch-looks-back-tough-youth-shaped-his-hopeful-future?v=1302912499

My gorgeous flowers from the sweet new boyfriend!

The line-up for Free Press Summer Frest--I'm proud for Houston :)

http://www.freepresssummerfest.com/

All these new babies in my friends' lives!

Movin' On

Things were going so smoothly until an hour ago! I had the exact amount of boxes needed for packing, the movers were scheduled, the power and gas are on at the new place. Then, when I texted the movers to ask if they're having trouble finding my place, I found out that their "first move of the day was taking longer than expected." I doubt they really had a move scheduled before 9:00am, and they really forgot about me. Not a huge deal. I could take some time to get coffee and do a little work while I wait a couple more hours for them.

I got in my car (that I had just moved 20 minutes before), and it wouldn't start! Luckily, the shop around the corner said they can get to it today.

Bigger things in the world. Hoping the rest of it doesn't get snagged up!

My Favorite Memories of 2010

In the swimming pool, Collin and Tyler waltzed together in preparation for the wedding reception. Sweet and so funny.

Spending two blissfully fun weeks in Argentina with Tiffany.

Becca is my sister-in-law! So glad she's part of our family now!

Becoming friends with Jean when I needed her help for a work project. Finding friends in the ordinary (but often unpursued) places.

Tyler getting sober and moving to Austin. Seeing him happy, growing, and doing things his own way.

Practicing dating! Not always fun, but I feel like I'm inching closer to balancing wholeheartedness and healthy boundaries. Also, realizing that break-ups after short term relationships are much less painful than after a four year (sad, miserable, frustrating, unnecessarily long) relationship.

Sitting on a Mexican blanket with Tricia watching Carrie Rodriguez stomp and sing her heart out in a little yoga studio.

My grandparents, who after more than 70 years of living, confront their own discomfort by starting to routinely tell us they love us. I've always known it, felt it, seen it, but every time I hear it coming out of their mouths now I am reminded that we can always keep growing.

Cleaning the yoga studio in return for unlimited free classes. Love this part of my days!

Getting to know our Wednesday night kids better--gratitude for their willingness to share painful struggles (and to share what I learned from my own painful childhood experiences). Love that they keep coming back, and that we get to spend time together getting closer to God, sharing questions, and becoming friends. Also, so appreciative of Sara and James!

My Uncle Randy who went to Haiti over and over again to provide medical care and social help to people who are without houses, mothers without places to give birth to babies, children without moms or dads living alone in the streets. He lost his job as a result. He was brave enough to open his heart to the overwhelming pain that left the rest of us turning off our televisions because we couldn't handle witnessing the suffering people are experiencing.