a week's worth of odds & ends
8:51 AM
We made it guys! It's the last day of january and I sort of have all these butterflies in my stomach when thinking about next month. I am so looking forward to crumpling up january and throwing it away. Well, I suppose I'll save a few shreds here and there but most of it was not something I'd like to remember. I will admit that I think my attitude played a large part. Somewhere in the second week of january I got so beaten down that I gave up. I stopped looking for the positive and the second you do that your eyes, ears and mind can't help but practically seek out the negative. Part of it, I believe is the fact that I have been slacking on the spiritual front. I always had some dumb excuse as to why I didn't have time for my devotional, I haven't been spending as much time praying and we're still trying to figure out this whole church thing ever since we lost our senior pastor this summer. It's nothing new, I've always known that when I don't keep myself spiritually fed I always flounder during tougher times. And I'm determined to change that next month.
I've had this poem by Mary Oliver on my mind all week, brining me back to a place of peace and gratitude:
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 your 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.
My lovely friend Eliza challenged me at the beginning of this week to continue to find inspiration and beauty in our situation. Even though we weren't at home and I was missing it like crazy I was determined to make the best of our situation. My in-laws graciously gave us their basement and on monday we stopped at Ikea to get some things to spruce up the place and make it feel more like home. It's amazing what a pretty print and some beautiful plants can do for your mood. Yesterday we popped into a used bookstore we used to frequent when we lived in Maryland and we walked away with a whole box full of beautiful classic books that have been on our reading lists for ages. I haven't read any Rudyard Kipling since I was a child but he's one of my father's favorite authors and I can't wait to discover his other works.
So this week actually turned out not too bad. And february is already looking great! I'm having brunch with a sweet friend tomorrow, we're hoping to head back home on tuesday and once home I hope to drown myself in heart shaped cookies, garlands and love notes. Speaking of which I saw this awesome waffle recipe on Pinterest perfect for Valentine's day! And this doesn't really have anything to do with Valentine's day but Mary Beth's post about thanksgiving (not the holiday) was just what I needed to hear this week. She is such an inspiration!! Also this phenomenal article by the remarkable Grace Bonney about the current state and future of blogging has all my wheels spinning. For anyone interested in the blog world it is a must read! *
*On this subject I wanted to get your feedback regarding how you feel about comments? Do you like having the ability to comment or do you prefer to use other avenues? If so what are those avenues? I love communicating with you and I feel that if comments are no longer the way to go about it I would be happy to change things up!
13 notes
I love posting comments so I think those should stay :) but I like that you're available on twitter and instagram too! Obviously this is your blog and have the freedom to do whatever you'd like, but I like commenting so I can tell you that I love Rudyard Kipling and that I haven't read his books since I was little either and that I would love to more of his works (trip to the half price bookstore this weekend? I think so!) and that the photo of the London print/plants in white pots/dark wood just made its way to my home decor board on Pinterest and how much I look forward to Fridays so I can see your odds and ends posts from that week and are you so happy that Birdie's hair is long enough to put a bow in?
ReplyDeleteLove you. Love this blog. Have a lovely weekend (:
apartment pants
Wow Christine! You have no idea how much your kind words mean to me. I am so grateful that you take the time to engage here with me and read my words. I am so happy to have you be a part of this community. Lots and lots of love to you and wishing you a fantastic weekend!! THANK YOU!! xoxoxo
DeleteI love leaving comments here, but I also comment on your tweets and 'grams. Ultimately it's up to you, but it's nice to have the chance to say something here once I am finished reading your posts :)
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend!
Thank you so much for sharing Jenna! I think the comments will definitely stay :) xoxo
DeleteHi! I only comment once in a while, although I read your blog every day. I don´t have an iPhone and therefore no access to instagram. Also, I don´t use twitter (quite old-fashioned, eh?), so I would love the comment section to stay, of course.
ReplyDeleteAbout Rudyard Kipling: When I was in elementary school, a teacher read to us "Riki-Tiki Tavi" by Kipling and I still remember that I was thrilled. Is that among your purchases as well?
I had a horrible January as well. I wanted to start the new year off full of new energy, but on the third day of the month my little one (2) started throwing up, then the older one (4) followed, then my husband. After that was through after 10 days and me being the only person in the household not getting sick, my little boy got this mean highly contagious skin infection which had to be treated with antibiotics. :-( Since at least one of them was not able to go to kindergarten, I got nothing done and, like you, gave up around the middle of the month, hoping for February to come soon. Now it´s here and it already started nice with having friends over for afternoon and dinner tonight. I wish you a nice February! ;-) Keep up the good spirit.
Hi darling! It's always lovely to hear from you! "Riki-Tiki Tavi" is part of a collection in of the books. I think there must have been a collector of RK that donated all his books and I snapped up most of them :). Oh no! Sick kiddos are absolutely the worst. Birdie is just getting better after having a nasty cold all week and I am just thrilled that she is eating and sleeping again. And I feel you on getting nothing done, it felt like this week was a total waste :(. Dinner with friends sounds so lovely! I might need to work that into our plans this month as well! Wishing you a fantastic month as well! And thank you for always being so sweet! Lots of love! xoxo
DeleteI love being able to comment :)
ReplyDeleteHowdy! I read every post, but am not much of a commenter...maybe my quiet personality? But I love having the option to be able to. In an effort to keep technology from getting on top of me, I've kept myself off of twitter and instagram. But happy February, here's to a new month and a fresh start!
ReplyDeleteHey! Thank you so much for chiming in! It was nice to hear from everyone and so I think the comments will definitely stay. Wishing you a lovely month my dear! xoxo
Deletehope everything goes well tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteThank you! xo
DeleteI also really love being able to comment! I've only just jumped on the commenting bandwagon like Susan above because it occurred to me that I avidly devour blogs weekly but never let the writers know how great I think they/their blogs are! I've made it a bit of a challenge to myself this year to let people know the positive things I think about them when I otherwise wouldn't. Being able to comment on your blog allows me to do so! It also allows me to tell you that that London print is awesome... I just moved to London and have had one eye on the lookout for something adorable to add to our new apartment, something just like that! Where oh where did it come from??
ReplyDeleteJemima x https://blakeandjemima.wordpress.com
I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for sharing and thank you so, so much for all the kind words! They mean the world to me! The London print is from Ikea! It comes as a set of three adorable prints - London, Paris and New York. I just love them! Have a great weekend!! xoxo
DeleteLet's talk!