MORNING!

it's a new day!

i am savoring every ounce of morning time on our porch that I can get.

there's a nip in the air, so as I grab coffee and Bible...

i reach for chunky sweater, too.

the sun is StRetChiNg...

the sound of the wind is my music this morning

echoed by the wind chimes

which always remind me of my incredible mom

oh, what a beautiful morning!

Groovin'

One of my favorite places to be is anywhere near an antique shop or flea market, in our alley before trash day, or rummaging through someone's junk before they have a garage sale.

Last week, our neighbor's daughters let me go through 60 boxes in the basement, give them a fair price for any treasures I wanted, and take them to their new home next door.

This typewriter called me over before I had hardly walked in the door.

The daughters laughed when I asked if I could take the old wooden rulers. "oh, we were gonna pitch those..." (me = GASP!)

Oh, can I just tell you I have wanted one of these for YEARS?

I even ordered a new set of McGuffey Readers from Amazon, but sent them back because they were just too new looking.

I nearly swooned when I found it at the bottom of a box of old books.

And my neighbor wrote her name in the front, in 3rd grade style, in CRAYON!

(She was born in 1917!)

Tick-tock, beat the clock. I cut off the bad cord and wa-la! it's always morning now -- my favorite time of day! (but if you like nighttime, then it's 8 PM for you!)

Bowling anyone? How cute are these old bowling pins and balls?

If I had to name my house, I would call it...

The Sentimental Home: where everything tells a story.

What would your home be called?

fRiDay!

a little birdy is wishing you a happy friday

i don't know about you, but my wings are tired today.

flying here, there and everywhere all week!

it's all good...

blue skies, sunshine, loved ones flying with me...

but i'm glad to sit in my little nest and REST

just how much flying did I do?

when I stepped into the shower this morning,

this is what I found because we're out of soap

i bet people at work wonder who smells like lavender and camomile!

here's to a lavender scented,

autumn-nesting

kind of weekend!

reward

dear kurt,

when i first met you, you were a baby

i was amazed you were riding a bike with your sister

i almost didn't return to your village after that first summer

because your way of life is different than mine

and it made me think of myself in new ways

and sometimes new ways of thinking about myself are painful in my soul

but i returned

because God wanted me to watch you grow into...

him!

on the list of things i love God for

"kurt" is there

Anthropologie-ist

"dug" around some garages this weekend

found treasures to wear!

oh heavens-to-betsy, this carpet bag carried by "Grandma Wernicke" makes me swoon

could you not see this sweater on the rack at Anthropologie?

as soon as the weather turns a bit chillier

it will be hanging on me!

oh, be still my beating heart

Grandma Wernicke had TWO carpet bags!

i carried the darker bag yesterday to church...my children were mortified to be with me

our daughter asked if i had an umbrella in there

(mary poppins)

i told them that being a trendsetter is sometimes lonely, but i'll do okay

my husband was fine with my new threads

since i didn't step foot into the real anthropologie

and only spent $3

"Amazing Space"

repainted goose that weighs a ton ($10); new $119 lamp (scored for $11)

About 4 years ago, my dear friend Peigi and I began a little "business" called Amazing Space.

Untrained decorators that we are, we decided to formally help our friends (and their friends) with decorating.

(Which we had individually been doing when asked).

We did more laughing than anything, and our husbands rolled their eyes at our bookkeeping skills. [Our first job made us each $6 which didn't cover our celebration lunch.]

My mother-in-law thought our prices were way too cheap. I thought her prices would be a rip-off.

If a client couldn't afford a small accessory we suggested, my friend wanted to buy it for them.

We bought and returned so many accessories that I was sick of shopping. Gasp!

Our kids were picked up late from school more than once.

We risked life and limb in a snowstorm to do a decorating presentation at a women's retreat.

Our families wondered what happened to hot suppers.

And clean underwear.

And so we gave our little business to the Lord.

Phew!

No more marketing materials. We would decorate if asked.

My phone rang last week..."sure, I'll stop by and help you..."

At a labor day party, she walked up..."could you stop over and help me with my family room?"

I'm staging our neighbor's house before it goes on the market.

Hmmmmm. It's not Amazing Space, just helping some friends.

Or is it? ... Hello, Peigi?

Running

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit!

No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever.



And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Hebrews 12:1-3 (The Message)