Top ten for Tuesday

Follow a blog called the blue hour. He linked an idea that I liked from here glee farm and I liked it, so here's my Tuesday top 10.

1. A rainy spring day. Kind of a sleepy start, and my residents complained of being cold, but it was the first day in a while that I didn't sweat while running around all over the building.

2. I accomplished more than expected today and can only give thanks to the Lord for the strength I had to get through it.

3. Reflecting on my Monday and then today... I am happy to say tomorrows gotta be even better :)

4. Laughing with my coworkers about all the funny stories of missing teeth, bowel movements, and food allergies to broccoli and Brussel sprouts. Right!

5. Talking to Sarah about future plans :) oh how blessed I am to have a sister. In medicine.

6. Pandora - Misty Edwards radio

7. Perspectives reading- what's better than reading of God's love for his nations?!

8. My chase. His outlook to life. His unending patience with me and how thankful I am for him.

9. Lovely j crew spring April 2011 edition hanging out in my mailbox for me after work :)

10. Easy dinner (yes, chase there is such a phrase)

I am my mother's daughter

She brought me panera today. Fuji apple chicken salad. Delish. If only panera learned to toast their nuts, mom says. :) we ate a lovely lunch, shared coffee and a small red velvet whoopie pie courtesy of http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/02/10/red-velvet-whoopie-pies/.. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Probably because it was lunch with my momma. And I love her.

For those of you who don't know my mom. Her name is Joy. She cuts, styles, colors, highlights and pretty much does anything else you can imagine to a head of hair for a living. She's been doing it for years. Works at an amazing salon and has a fabulous clientele. Some even that hate themselves when they go somewhere else ... Because of the usual.. $, time, availability, etc excuses and then come crawling back because of their botched jobs. I love hearing the stories. Oh how interesting they are sometimes. But she's good. Really good.

She also has two dogs. Emma and Lucy. They live with her and my dad in their quaint 3-2. Happily. Days like today make me thoroughly enjoy my mom. Driving 25+ miles for 1 hour of my time. Lunch, laughter, tears.... I love her.

So, here's to a mom (...and dad) who never let me miss a month of having bad roots, never forgot to pack me a healthy lunch or who missed a concert or recital when I was younger. It's been quite a fun-filled 25 years but you're incredible. Oh how grateful I am.

Much love, your haha

14 hours one Saturday

I slept 14 hours today! 14... That's more than I have in awhile. Much needed. Considering my last weeks hours totalled about 50 hours. I don't know how people work 60-80 hour weeks. So I slept in. It was bliss. I woke up to many missed calls and texts (thankfully phone had been put on vibrate) but the sleep was well worth my time and missed calls...

I spent the rest of my day with my precious chase, eating dinner with our friends and relaxing with a movie to end it.

Thankful for restful weekends.
Wondering why it has to be so windy in north Texas and blow the horribly nasty pollen around.... My eyes, nose and throat are struggling.

On another note, looking forward to Tomorrow. Night friends.

favourites

today is tuesday. one day after monday. {most people's least favourite day.} 3.5 until friday. :) {my new favourite day.} so i reflect. sit in my favourite-purple-velvet chair at starbucks (you know the one that's near the window, not the bathroom, so i can see the sky and not the person coming out...akward), drinking my favourite drink and thinking about life.  in the midst, Christ's love surrounds me and reminds me that favourites are temporary...His life and work are permanent.

i spent a significant amount of time last night with one of my dear special friends.  we talked of love, time, family, life, death, the Lord, worship, free time, quiet moments, and the entire time i was at peace with the things going on in my life.  we got to laugh and share life together.  i truly enjoyed every moment.

reflecting on that time i spent, i had a favourite friend sitting next to me while my favourite manicurist/pedicurist gave me a pedicure ....one of my favourite treats after pay day...a favourite day for almost anyone.  as humans, we form favourites to things (days, drinks, food, hobbies, shows, clothes, friends, etc), however, my recent thoughts have deepened about this matter.  why do i do this so often... and is it what i want to do? answer 1: it's human nature to classify things and answer 2: it's just fun, why care, hannah?  well, i ponder the thought of lessening my favourites and opening myself up to more to what the Lord may be doing in other ways that may at first interfere or be "unfavored" by me.

my ideas:
1. time with friend     vs     with acquaintance i may share Christ with
                                            
2. eating favored foods                   eating new healthier foods
(aka cookies, coffee, etc)       vs     (kale, grains, green tea, etc)


3. less $ on hobbies      vs       more $ on giving 

i tell my friends all the time, "try this/that! it's my favourite." "go here/there...they're excellent."
but, i want to change my ways.  don't get me wrong, we'll have the natural favourites that just are what they are...but give it some thought...  what favourite things are worth re-analyzing?  which ones may be limiting you from growing as a person, or worse... sharing Christ with those longing for Him?

conversations in my world

i overheard a funny conversation at work today.
the picture: two older (btw lovely) ladies in the ladies' room, washing their hands, and looking at themselves in the mirrors before they walk out the door.
lady a: every time i look in the mirror, i hope to feel inspired.
lady b: every time i look in the mirror, i am thankful i can see my face.
ladies: hahaha.

i couldn't help but giggle. i have no idea what lady a meant, but i sure was thankful for hearing lady b's reply. it reminded me...
some things are worth being thankful for- even if it means our vision is still intact.  i am learning a lot from my residents.

sometimes i think back to all of the conversations that i've had. some of them encouraging, some challenging, and a few--- well, a few that i wouldn't want to do-over.  however, i am truly grateful for the Spirit and His way in me.  i am reminded everyday of wisdom.  i sit sometimes and pray, let not these words be mine, but be full of You and your ways.  have Your way in me.

i pray for you, my friends, that you'd allow the Lord to change your life.  in turn, it takes a change of mind, too. His ways truly are higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:9) Oh and the great depths of his wisdom and knowledge (Rom 11:33)...

found here

happy spring lovelies.

rest. inspiration. **

it's been an amazing past few days.  love having the time just to relax and not do anything.  this past weekend, i was able to share some time with chase, my family and chase's family sunday night.  family time.  ahhh. wonderful.  and ps. i ate pizza.  and it was delicioso.

i've also been pinning a lot. on pinterest.  i've mentioned to you before in other posts.  it's greatness.  while chase does his 'work' - aka creating code to make his computer do his work for him, i peruse beautiful pictures like the following:

via here

via here

i believe also via here

** beautiful ** 

origin...?

via anthropologie

i need to get better at saving my original sources.  (noted)

hope you are all having a fabulous week sofar. 

interesting weather here in texas. 

sunny yesterday. chilly and overcast today.  when will my garden grow? 

(i guess i need to plant things first) :)

truly inspired from several things happening.

thankful.

the struggle before growth

over the past week. my life has been a time to a. work, b. enjoy others, c. see the gospel spreading around the world, d. feel the effects of taking ABx on an empty stomach, and e. realize how God answers every time.

sometimes it seems that life is just challenging event after challenging event...then a moment of rejoicing and then another event.  well, since the death of my aunt almost a month ago, i am realizing that every event that happens allows an opportunity to rejoice in a way and continue to appreciate life in a new way.  even in death can we celebrate a life lived...mainly when a life is lived for Christ.

in every struggle, there is hope.

a way to grow.

{parisapartment.wordpress.com}

truly thankful for those that i get to share my life with on a daily and weekly basis. i encourage those of you i may or may not know to see life in a new way-- even in those strange, challenging, and struggling times.  growth happens.  the Lord's work always prevails.

1 corinthians 15:56-58 --the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

for a few of my readers who enjoy inspiring places, check these out:
the marion house book
the paris apartment 
the neo-traditionalist
abode love

happy weekend. :) xo

remember stirrup pants?

do you remember stirrup pants??  80's thing, i think.  however, they're back!  i've got proof.  my residents wear them.  at least 2 of them do. ...so they're back. :) seeing them wearing them today made me smile.  and i needed to smile.

next thing that made me smile was during a meeting with one of my residents and their family, they asked if the optometrist would come to see her...our response was yes, she can or she can go out to see a specific one if she has one in mind..."why?" we asked.  the resident proceeded to lay her little frames on the table in front of them and they were definitely the most bent/out of shape frames i'd ever seen.  totally don't know how they were even staying on her little face.  anywho...she was positive about it. said, "well i just know i don't wanna fix em.  i need em to see.  i'll probably make them worse, if i try to bend them back."

sometimes i hear about BMs.  well, let's just confirm that i hear about them a lot.  it's definitely part of nutritional practice to assess constipation or diarrhea...but wowza...the elderly are not shy about talking about their BMs.  color, textures, how often, or not... i overheard the conversation at the lunch table the other day...two ladies, mid-lunch, talking about the meds they use to resolve their issues.  quite hilarious.  i laughed inside, and then thought to myself, "what will i talk about when i'm 85 years old?"  hope that my friends will kick me and tell me to talk about my garden instead. :P

on another note- i've been perusing www.pinterest.com (go check it out...you have to sign up...maybe get placed on a waiting list these days...but totally worth it if you enjoy photography and find inspiration that way)

Found this quote by Lewis:  I love that we were created for another world...why we live like this is our home, is beyond me.  Thank you, Christ, for making this possible. :)

 

so true...picture found via here
also lyrics from the fray

Hope you'll smile when you realize we just made it through hump day.  Hope the rest of the week is even better. ** 

I know I can't wait for my lovely weekend to arrive. yea!

Life is simple

Life is simple. I learned something on valentine's day from my Chase. It went something like this 'life is simple...' he had a wonderfully eloquent unplanned saying that I can't think of at the moment but it meant so much to me.
Why do we clutter our minds with the unnecessary things?
So basically he stopped me in my tracks by specifically calling me out in my perfectionism without even knowing it. (insert i like it when we can be brutally honest with each other and leave the conversation sharpened)

Life is simple.

I know there are hard times.
I live in them, too.
I work with them.
However, I rely on them to make that simple life... well honorable and pleasing to Him.

I lost one of my favourite people tonight. Sudden. Difficult. Incomprehensible.
She was amazing. Aunt Jenn, you are loved more than you ever realized on this earth. But now you are in heaven...no pain, tears or struggle....(so sad i won't get to read your personally sent blog replies to my inbox)
Life is so hard, yet leaning on the words that Jesus once said, 'I am the way and the truth and the Life.'

He is Life. I've made my life so much more complicated. earning a living, the wining and dining of life, trying to fit in to whatever circle you're trying to be a part of, proving something to someone ... These things are far from Life.

I learned something on Valentine's Day.
It's challenging to live the simple life when the pattern and natural tendency is to complicate it. Relax may be to some of you a dirty word; to others a word of freedom. To me, the simplicity to life begins with freedom. I was promised it long ago. You were too. Accept Him as Life.

ArT and CooKies

the cold weather and snow outside are starting to make me antsy for the warmer months.  don't get me wrong, i definitely like snuggling with my beau, watching chick flicks with the girls, and art nights with alma and kate however...those sunny days when the weather is perfect to sit outside and read a book just won't get out of my head.

know what else won't get out of my head? heart art and cookies
sarah and bendrix have a lovely little shop on etsy... i found these pieces here.  quite lovely in time for valentine's day.

originally i found them here @ happiness is... but i always like going to the real source (s and b)

other things....have you visited joy yet?  i told you that you should.  if you haven't, go see her lovely, little
v-day cookies here.

(**photo is courtesy of joy- please go visit her site) whole wheat chocolate brown sugar sugar cookies.
mmmm :)