Dear Maggie,* Last May, Jared and I found ourselves in that funny place of not-yet-being-engaged but knowing we would be pretty soon, if know what I mean. It’s a gentle transition you don’t necessarily talk about, but that’s written all over a girl’s face and obvious in the things she starts buying: dishes, for example. … Continue reading To a Girl Engaged
It was one of those mornings in June when the air was so thick you could almost bottle it like syrup and put it on your pancakes. In fact, I did have pancakes that morning. We'd loaded the van early, picked up my Nanny Karen, and stopped for breakfast at Perkins somewhere off the highway. … Continue reading A Good Soldier
On the Vocation of Nursing Jared and I spent one long week in the hospital back in February, watching his grandpa struggle to live. We stood at his bed rails all hours of the day, watching the nurses come, check, chart, rearrange IVs, then pass the clipboard of notes to the next nurse, then the … Continue reading Take Care
"Hold us in quiet through the age-long minuteWhile Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill;Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?~ Amy Carmicheal Things that brought me joy in May: The afternoon the storms swept in from Oklahoma; rain and homemade lattes … Continue reading Visiting, Fishing, Watching the Storm
I called Mom from the kitchen the other morning while doing four things concurrently—telling her about the weekend, emptying the sink of dishes, washing towels and bedsheets, and making a grocery list. I was also thinking about how I needed to water the garden, make the bed, and take out the compost bucket. Mom herself … Continue reading Wife & Mother
"I hope when we find our 'house of dreams,' dearest, that there will be winds around it. I wonder where it is... that unknown house. That home of the future where we will have love and friendship and work... and a few funny adventures to bring laughter into our old age." ~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne … Continue reading Our Spring Wedding & Winds of Change
"A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven." ~ John 3:27 The hard and the good things in February: Getting up early on potluck Sunday to put tomato soup in the crockpot Jared picking out his wedding suit at Rainwater's Over the week we spent in the hospital with … Continue reading Wedding Plans, Winter Sun, & Other Points of Light
A month or so before we started dating, Jared offered to send me seeds in the mail. This surprised me, because I didn’t know many guys who planted gardens. I knew fewer who had an abundance of heirloom seeds on hand. When I thought about it, Jared was the only guy I’d ever talked to … Continue reading Seeds in the Mail
My good friends lost their mom and grandma back in December. We are such good friends, in fact, that I'd only ever called her "Nana." Nana was known for her knitting and quilting, so at her memorial, her family hung her quilts in their kitchen for folks to look at. They filled a basket with … Continue reading She Knitted Things
"The frosty air stings one's face, prickles in one's nose, sets all the blood to racing warmly. The snow creaks and snaps under one's feet, and the sunshine on the silvery fields is blinding to the eyes. This I know well: that the chief part of every life consists of small things. If we have … Continue reading Deep Snow, Soup, & Strawberries
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