the LOVE game:

1. i love anne of green gables and gilbert blithe.

2. i love saturday sleep-ins, especially when i wake up to my dad blasting his country music.

3. i love that point during my morning run when i break into a hard sweat. ahh, the feeling!

4. i love letting my hair dry in the summer sun after swimming in the heat.

5. i love apricots picked from the trees in my backyard.

6. i love puzzles.

7. i love half-priced clothing.

8. i love driving home from town the long way, through the giant santa clara trees.

9. i love teaching my five-year-old primary class.

10. i love high-waisted skirts and colorful fabric.

what do you love today?

homemade bread

a little while ago, i had a little bread adventure.  believe it or not, as much as i love to cook and bake, bread-land was unmapped territory.  natalie, my more-experienced-in-bread-making sister, helped me out, and oh gracious did it turn out wonderfully!  there's simply nothing like homemade bread to soothe the soul and warm the heart.

my mother's fantastic wheat grinder above, and our color aprons below.

in the process....

right before the oven...

and wawlah! some of the most delicious wheat bread i've ever tasted.

the only problem is that i have one more thing to buy before moving back up to provo.... bread pans!

this morning's unintentional journey

the last week or so time has completely gotten away from me.  i feel as though i'd been snatched up, held still above life below me.  but while i was enjoying the view the tornado hit, spinning people and places around, scrambling things like a spatula.  when my feet touched down again, i wasn't quite sure that this was where i'd left off.  changes happen quickly, sometimes i guess.  rambling: there i go, again.

really, what's being muddled in the typing process is that i've been absent, again.  not absent minded, more absent for the sake of sanity.  when all those people and places start to spin faster than i can keep track of and the changes rapid-fire, when i feel like i can't quite keep up with all that spinning, i'm afraid i close off a little.  unintentionally.  but, as i said, people and places have indeed been spinning, changes aiming, and i went absent.  i gave myself a little time to process, to deal, to center myself and realign some positive energy.

i'm back - back to myself and back to this beautiful world below.

my younger sister went on my morning run with me today, and it was exhilarating.  running with new people always lends a different perspective.  i use my runs to appreciate life, as a calm before the stormingly busy days.  hailey was a hysterical running partner, and i loved every minute!  it was cooler, this morning, and i love that.  her lively energy, continual positive talk, encouragement, and just downright good energy was exactly what i needed this morning on my run (not to mention her impersonations, try laughing while running up a killer incline!).

i love life - shouldn't we all?  that's what i remembered this morning.  so, i'm back.  and i'll admit, this was more of an exercise to simply get myself writing again after two breaks.  but i think i arrived somewhere, which is exciting for having no expectations when i began.  even if it doesn't quite make sense with the words i used, it was an accomplishment.  i started at nowhere, and ended up at appreciation.  that's a  big step, isn't it?

appreciate life this week, it truly is a precious gift.