love came down

i always thought this photo was taken on christmas morning (circa 1970)

when i just looked at the back, however, i read in my mom's handwriting 

(i love reading my mom's handwriting now that she's gone)...

"cathy loving me for some reason"

{gosh, i do love my mom!}

so it seems i wasn't loving on my mom because i had gotten a toy or trinket i wanted

i was loving on her just because i adored her

GOD adores us...

so

Jesus came

merry christmas 

xoxo

Cathy

outside my window {peace}

Outside My Window from The 5 Stones Group on Vimeo.

sometimes God plunks a kindred spirit right into your lap

i met my sweet and spunky friend liz at a retreat where she and her husband were performing

enjoy their christmas gift

xoxo

H o M e

did you know you can buy display props at anthropologie?  these antique marmalade jars made me jump for JoY when i saw them...i've been wanting one for years....i'm sure they hadn't been snapped up because people don't realize you can buy the props

they had to do some digging to find a skew no. for the little one...and then i bartered...ha!  they were busy, so the clerk said "oh, all right...but we never barter, just so you know"

and hobby lobby, how do i love thee?

hadn't been for months but popped in the other day and fell in love with Bessie here (or Buford)...with my 40% off coupon, she/he was a steal

i bought my mom a ceramic cow just like this one (only bigger) when i was 16...guess i've always loved my bovine

and these little anthro spice jars...on sale now for $2.95

i love all things ceramic...swoon

my husband has really outdone himself this christmas...

now, i must remember to tell my boys that when they are married someday, they should be the ones to shop, buy, and wrap their wives' gifts...our system is a bit unconventional but i love it

and my husband does too because he doesn't have to set foot in a store :)

christmas past

it's funny when i look at photos of our home

i realize i move things around a lot

and i move things on (to new homes with friends) a lot

it's how i've always been

just like my mom before me

party table, 2010

last friday i helped a friend by sprucing up her home (made a sitting area in her kitchen!) and decorated her home for Christmas (everything but the tree)

she is busy with work...aging parents...nearly grown kids

i was in absolute heaven...my sweet spot...i L O V E interior decorating

she arrived home from work and wa-la!

wish i could have been there to see her face...she sure was excited on the phone

as for Christmas...the decorating is okay

we have a smaller home so it all comes down quickly after the big day

this year the kids scattered after cutting down the tree

so my husband and i decorated our evergreen very simply with white and cream ornaments

i crave fresh...streamlined...clutter-free

like the simple beauty of these paperwhite flowers my friend Julie gives me every year

i love stuff

and i love simple

trying to find the balance

and the beauty

let it faux

i may be getting carried away...

loving the faux right now...

{ha! didn't notice 'til this moment that i'm standing on the leopard rug i acquired a few years ago} 

guess my faux fur love has been a few years in the making 

i ordered two of these throws

oh my!

they don't even compare to ones you find in stores

used this one as a tablecloth for an alaska information table we had at church on sunday

everyone touched it...some didn't even realize they were handling it! 

{one woman thought it was real}

been rainy here so no pictures of my leopard slippers or my leopard socks...or my leopard eternity scarf (guess i'm partial to leopard)

furs add that little pop of wow!

provide that big puff of warmth

and communicate a little bit of spunk and surprise!

December

december is the time for H O M E

i do believe i'll try to capture those 4 lovely little letters in photos this month

yes, there are parties and junior high basketball games and over-the-river-and-through-the-woods traveling in december

but home has always been where my heart is

and because i'm sentimental

{i have another dormant blog all about home}

i'll give you back stories and sources, too

{because i know some of you are home-bodies, too!}

angel: homegoods a few years ago

the letter "B": country living fair, summer 2010

*barn door: antique store, indiana

*my husband lovingly picked the door up for me and had to move it to the trunk half way home. animals must have rubbed against it and he ticked off the miles by sneezing.  i love that door because it's got great color and rustic charm, but i cherish that door because it represents L O V E.  my husband sees no beauty whatsoever in it and he still bought it, hauled it, and sneezed many miles

...just for me.

thanksgiving bouquet

yesterday morning i read the day's devotional and then went for my walk

{i decided to actively look for my "little treasures" along the way}

but for now, here's what i read before heading out...

as you go through this day, look for tiny treasures strategically placed along the way.

i lovingly go before you and plant little pleasures to brighten your day.

look carefully for them, and pluck them one by one.  

when you reach the end of the day, you will have gathered a lovely bouquet.

offer it up to me with a grateful heart.

receive my peace as you lie down to sleep, with thankful thoughts playing a lullaby in your mind.

a forgotten little notebook left on a stone wall

i wonder if God grinned as i turned the same corner i turn every day...

listening to the same song on my ipod...

knowing this little treasure would make me grin...BIG

it's a happy thanksgiving

get up!

here's to a bouncing

jumpin'

hole-in-one kind of week

don't know about you but watching this makes me think

that sometimes we must make God belly laugh 

when we use the bodies he gave us

to do amazing and wild things

thank you

Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt cradles a young Iraqi girl as they both sleep in the hospital. The girl's entire family was executed by insurgents. The killers shot her in the head but she survived. The girl received treatment at the U.S. military hospital in Balad, but cries often. According to nurses at the facility, Chief Gebhardt is the only one who can calm down the girl, so he holds her at night while they both sleep in a chair. Chief Gebhardt was assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad Air Base, Iraq. (Courtesy Photo)

Source: af.mil via Matthew on Pinterest

lift up a shout

hey there...happy monday

need some great house-cleaning music? workout tunes?

heard this at a concert at our daughter's college on saturday

i love all kinds of music, but i'm digging this driving beat right now

everybody rise

and SING!

back

Beth Moore JAMES PROMO from LifeWay Media on Vimeo.
for several years i hosted a Bible study in our home

took a little break beginning last winter

but i am a lazy disciple on my own

so today 6 of us (2 more join us next week) began "mercy triumphs", a study of the book of james

familiar faces in our group...new faces

hearts already being knit together in friendship

lessons to be learned...love to be shared...burdens lightened by a good God and spiritual sisters

{happy sigh}

it's good to be back

pinned

do you pin?

i spent some time today lolly-gagging around pinterest and my thumb is sore from all that pinning! 

(it's a virtual pinboard, after all)

i was  hooked on phonics today...my, how i love language and the power it has!

there's laugh-out-loud funny...

there's wisdom...

there are good reminders...

there's encouragement

i'm still not sure how the invitation and all that works out...

i just signed up (a while ago) and pretty soon i got an email saying "congratulations! the grand poo-bahs have invited you to pin!"

{or something to that effect}

so i put on my pearls and pumps to celebrate my good fortune

and have been pinning ever since

turns out my college roommate and i were apparently separated at birth because i "repinned" loads of her stuff today...

then tonight, she repinned a fashion photo i had pinned

it's a big pinning party!

{without the lavaliers}

this here internet sure is a hoot sometimes

sweet pea

i have a great niece

which makes my sister and i grin...because this fact means we're getting older

{our brother is a grandfather...our father is a great-grandfather!}

our great aunts were rose, helen...

hmmmm...we're now the "i think they're my mom's cousins" people at bridal showers

but when i look at MY beautiful great niece

i don't care if i'm getting old

watching the ebb and flow of our family's generations

and having our newest addition/edition smile at me

makes me love family all the more

{Cathy is the new Helen}

the maine thing

what a wonderful, beautiful, place maine is!

we spent a long weekend in kennebunk, maine for a cousin's wedding

in between the wedding festivities we took in all the sights

here are my men in kennebunkport

and here we are!

behind us is walker point...does that ring a bell?

President and Mrs. Bush (senior) have a home here

and what a home it is (this picture is just a segment of their home)

really interesting to see it...and to see the Texas flag flying...knowing they are there this weekend!

their impact, through centuries, on kennebunkport is astounding...lots of plaques with the name "walker" or "bush" on them...

inspiring...to see years of caretaking of a place by generations of one family

on sunday morning, i ditched the weak coffee of our hotel and walked across the street to the grocery store...

a quaint new england mom and pop place...breakfast counter...groceries...lots of pictures of bush family members with the owner on the wall

and lo and behold, there stands barbara bush herself

google image

everyone acted as if she were just a regular customer

and i didn't want to go ga-ga all over but i did want to say something to her

so i said...are you ready?

"are you in line?"

and there you have it.  my interaction with barbara bush :)

we all have such wonderful memories from our weekend jaunt to maine

a beautiful place, indeed

alaska beauty

photo: r. fox, ak 2011

funny how i get into my little groove


assuming everyone is chugging along doing similar activities...seeing similar sights...hearing familiar sounds


and then i am reminded that my friends in alaska get to experience incredible things that i can't even imagine


like meeting owl friends...up close and {look at those eyes} personal!


i heard an owl once...during a cub scout camp out


just hearing it gave me goosebumps


but to see one this close? 


amazing

the gift of T O D A Y

this just makes me want to lay down, close my eyes

and absorb his words

simply beautiful

is this thing on?

i wonder if it's odd that i can actually hear the big brown truck traveling down our busy road

the day this arrived...oh, boy! a BIG smile in a box!

just looking at my little beauty bag hanging on a wooden hook in our living room brightens my day

we've been smiling around here lately

big girl "LOVES college!" 

the boys are enjoying fall baseball

we've been attending church on Saturday nights because, of course, the Sunday doubleheaders have all fallen at 9 & 11

but getting some fresh words...hearing some new worship music...it's always good for the soul!  and will make our post-baseball return to our wonderful church that much sweeter

and me? getting used to a new class at the university...helping my neighbor (goodness gracious, she's outlived everyone's predictions!)...fall cleaning...painting bedrooms...reading a wonderful new book (i'll tell you about that later)

i hope you are well in your corners of the world...

it seems i have so much to tell you, but when it comes to sitting down and writing you these letters the time has evaporated

you are beautiful...

sure hope you remember that today

xoxo

Cathy

bEaUtY

beauty

found at a farmer's market

tucked back into an old horse stall

beauty in the people you love and who love you right back

their boy-love that says matter-of-factly

you're starting to get a mustache, mom...just a little one though

but with one arm draped around shoulder and breath close

the words are somehow endearing...the son-gift simply beautiful

and standing tall in a country field

around the bend...a surprise awaits the yearning heart

a field of sunshine

pure, golden delight

B E A U T Y

aren't we fortunate to receive it in so many ways?

open your arms, child...beauty is falling. for you!

happy

it takes courage to grow up

and be who you really are


e.e. cummings

open hands

i have watched this video 2,583 times since seeing it on her blog yesterday

i adore mindy gledhill

and i absolutely, positively, totally L O V E this song!

it's kinda sorta where i am in life

i am still working on being healthy(er)

{17 pounds...good riddance! don't bother trying to come back!}

i'm gonna walk a hundred miles and i'm gonna whistle all the while

the healthier this 46 year old body becomes, the younger i feel...is that odd?

i don't mind aging -- what a GIFT to grow older...truly! the good so outweighs the wrinkles and gray hair!

but i love how, on the inside, we can (in many ways) stay young at heart

I wanna hold the whole wide world
Right here in my open hands
Maybe I'm just a little girl
A little girl with great big plans

   “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, 
and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him. 1 cor 2:9—

*did you see her in the video? talk about inspiring

*that apache helicopter wasn't planned. talk about cool

4 minutes

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

every year we go to alaska i wish i could present

the entire gospel clearly 

during Bible school

this guy just did it

blooming!

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
— C.S. Lewis

to say she loves her college is the understatement of the year

and to say we are absolutely, positively thrilled for her is the second understatement

and we're ALL so thrilled with God we could bust right open trying to contain our thanksgiving

He just keeps heaping on the blessings...

to our sweet girl who has been trusting Him when it was hard to see the path He was creating just for her...

but now she's around the bend with jaw dropped wide open

and arms lifted high

i will sing of the steadfast LOVE of the Lord forever

-psalm 89:1

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way!...

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8:31


God so rocks

going, going...

our house is buzzing with excitement and anticipation

college!  she's heading off to college!

when she had colic, we never thought we'd make it to her 1st birthday

{i think i cried more then she did...sleepless zombie that i was}

but here we are...we made it through

and they were right...all those who told us colicky babies turn into really wonderful people

we L O V E her so! and E N J O Y her company!

we're gonna miss her, that's for sure (she is a SUNSHINE GIRL all the way)

but to watch her take her first real flight from our little nest?

breathtaking

to everything there is a season...a time to laugh, a time to cry

and sometimes a time to do both!

river run

the past 2 years we have been guests in a new (to us) village and a beautiful river runs right alongside it

in the winter, the river becomes an ice highway enabling villagers to travel to other villages

but in the summer, the river is a boat highway enabling our friends to live off the land

fish racks dot the landscape

and the reddish-orange fish flags wave in the cool Alaskan breeze

salmon as art...love this photo

nets in a heap...waiting for their next fling out into the calm water

see the little plane?  i grew up knowing someone was visiting when i heard their car tires in our gravel driveway

here we know by the buzz of a plane engine

someone coming...someone going... or ride's here!

we love this village and her people


peaceful and quiet


along the river

seaside

how many kids can say they had a mud fight in the bering sea with their alaskan friends?

icing-on-the-cake blessings

{yay, God!}

through my lense

arriving...

meeting...

catching...

resting...

creating...

riding...

L o V i n G