2011. It's going up in flames baby.

Run ragged and wrecked.
Catching a tiger, baiting a bully.
Was this my idea? Is it a mistake?
Why did you take me here?
Am I too far from home?
Am I really all alone?

Walk, child don’t run.
Go off and have fun.
We’ll be waiting.
Just look before you cross.

Take love with the loss.
I know it’s frusrating.

Reach but don’t push it away.
Say nice words and play with intention.
Practice restraint.
Find out what matters.

I know your heart’s been broken.
But martyrs never open doors.

The world is yours.
Carry this torch and use your voice.

~ Lissie

This week I've been living in a place I'm leaving. It's a hard place to be. It's a sad place to be.

But a new place awaits. So I'll go and find myself there.

Happy Thoughts

Turning the page.

I believe this to be true

Nothing sacred nothing new

No one tells you when its time

There are no warnings only signs

And you know that you're alone

You're not a child anymore

But you're still scared

All your mountains turn to rocks

All your oceans turn to drops

They are nothing like you thought

Can't be something you are not

Life is not a looking glass

Don't get tangled in your past

Like i am learning not to

-BCXO

Don't bring me bad news, no bad news
I don't need none of your bad news today.
You can't have my fear, I've got nothing to lose, can't have my fear
I'm not getting out of here alive anyway.
And I don't need none of these things, I don't need none of these things I've been handed.
And the bird of peace is flying over, she's flying over and
Coming in for a landing.

~ Patty Griffin

maybe the flood isn't a flood at all, but a current of Grace that keeps you afloat, keeps you moving

Find your tribe, little girl. And stop calling yourself girl when you are woman... mostly.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Hope by Emily Dickinson
photo

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

-- Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
photo from here

I went upside down today. I wasn't sure I could do it. But two strangers encouraged me. And, all of a sudden, there I was with my heart above my head.

the world expanded by one, and my heart is busting at the seams

...it's the thing that sometimes happens between two people who bring each other so completely out of the mundane into this magical and other worldly place.

~Galt Niederhoffer

I find myself at a place where I, again, have to be gaping open and hurt to know healing. To feel the grace.

I am despearte for Him, but don't want to be. I want it to be easy. I don't want to hurt. I want to understand and have answers. I want to be right. I want to have what I want.

Why do I return to this place? When, I know this, I've been here before, He will make it right. He will take care of me.

But it's broken. I'm broken. My heart is broken.

So I'll be desperate, and once again, He will break my fall.

In the end, I hope I have a whole jar full of broken hearts. Just think of all the love it would take to collect them!

she requires a steady diet of faith and fancy with a little mischief here and there for good measure
~ Leigh Standley

When I die, I hope someone will say "She looked good in blue."

*please do note, this is a happy thought*

And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind. And you make it a point to keep smiling, keep trusting, and stay open to every wonderful possibility.

Finally, with courage in your heart and with God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

-author unknown

 slow down little feet...

... at least give me time to change my polish

my Sweetest niece turns five years old today.

will she ever know how she changed the world?

I'm on the pursuit of happiness. And I know, everything that shines ain't always gonna be gold.
~ Lissie

I expected tears. Just not so many of my own.

It just takes some time
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be alright, alright
~Jimmy Eat World

1 Peter 3:4

Look! You guys, He set the world on fire for me!

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your bones. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. ~Isaiah 58:11

Use what He gives you. Not only will He supply -- He will multiply.
“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

it is definitely time for some Happy Thoughts.

champagne. girls night. tiny-baby holding. christmas lights. finding yourself at great heights. severely cute new shoes. reading stories with my Precious niece. swinging with my Sweetest niece. sliding with my Charming nephew. new friends. spontaneous sleepovers. favorite music at the Paramount. favorite novels snuggled in bed. holidays at my home. virginia wedding play list. surprises and prizes. laughing at old pictures. breakfast dates. fixing things. christmas cards on the mantel. cheese. haircut day. winter dusk. quiet lunches. new calendars. quilting. letting go. unexpected invitations. cleaning sticky popsicle juice off the floor. giggling. crock pot cooking. club craniums. missing teeth. storypeople. fashion fact friday. peppermint bark. feeling the pull. afternoon coffee. saturday morning dance party. really, any dance party. waves. house shoes. being heard. being loved. becoming.

Surely Eternal Optimism isn't a bad thing. Surely...

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:2

Don't be afraid to be yourself, even if you're unsure of who that is.

I've figured out that the things it takes guts to do are the things most worth doing. Or they're illegal. So we'll leave those off the list.

Can't stop what's coming. Can't stop what is on its way.
~Tori

2011: Year of Fire

1. sometimes you have to burn things to make way for new growth
2. warm the hands of others
3. know what you'd grab if your house was on fire
4. dance like flames
5. a slow burn can spread into wildfire, and a wildfire can calm to a slow burn
6. give off light
7. this is gonna hurt
8. cook, nourish your body and soul
9. be mesmerized, watch the sparks fly
10. some days you will need to stop, drop and roll with it
11. smoke can be seen before the flame
12. burn hottest at the center
13. call for help
14. make s'mores!
15. be brave, run into fire when there is something worth saving
16. it's okay to flicker
17. drink more water
18. sit around with people you love
19. without an explosion, the shuttle couldn't get to the moon
20. Ignite! Feel the burn! Be on fire!


"And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them"  Zechariah 13:9


2010: Year of the Jump
2009: Year of the Pancake