Ten Things.

Inspired by a recent post on my cousin's website, and in light of the jump start I've already gotten on my "year of accomplishment" I've decided to make a conclusive list of ten things I want to achieve this year. I've asked Tim to do the same.


Doing so brings to mind my past affinity for goal.set.achieve. and the adventure that mindset brought to my life. The biggest being my move to England five years ago. Truth be told, I haven't set any big goals since then. Call it what you will, whether lack of vision or the fact that since that time I met, married and had a baby with Tim (which was a dream come true in and of itself), I think it's high time I start dreaming big again.


Dreaming apart from God is unwise, so I want these goals to be pleasing to Him as well, knowing all the while that, from my point of view anyways, they will only be achieved with His help. I've given us until the end of this weekend to make up our individual lists. I haven't decided whether I'll share those lists on here; it will be dependent on how personal the goals turn out to be.


I'm already excited for December 31st, 2011 to see where the list has taken us. I'm hoping for twenty check marks next to twenty dreams!

Resolution Report.

January, thus far, has been a good month for accomplishing the things I set out to do. I received my guitar about a week and a half ago (I'll post a picture soon) and have strummed out a few chords quite nicely. I'm sticking with G and D for now, but feel hopeful that the more time I put into it, the better I'll get at positioning my fingers (reason would stand to agree with me....). The biggest challenge at the moment is that while my fingers are long and can stretch across the frets, they're not exactly nimble and I tend to have to "hand place" them on the strings for more difficult chords. I'm going to assume this gets better with time....


I've also learned the basics of knitting. And for all my apprehension about taking up this hobby, I actually really enjoy it! It's very therapeutic - much like coloring - since its the same repetitive motion and there's not a whole lot of thought involved once you get going. It's also much easier than anticipated. Who knows what sorts of hideous projects I'll create at first?! Tim thinks I'll end up making some sort of large "sleeve" for Jack that just slides over most of his body. A wool sack, if you will. Here are the fruits of my labor thus far:

The next thing I'd like to put into practice is taking time each day to be quiet; to have about a half hour's time each morning to pray and read and listen to God. I have a stack of good books I want to get into including this one and now this one. That's the beauty of working for a church - devotional time is always encouraged.

"... to seek God does not narrow one's life,

but brings it, rather, to the level of highest possible fulfillment."

Back from the North.

Our trip was much smoother and more relaxing than I anticipated. Traveling long distances with a 7 month old can certainly have its challenges, but Jack proved to be a better traveler than we gave him credit for. Having two weekends in a row with Allie and James was wonderful and something I don't think has ever happened in the history of all our visits.


I should interject here with an explanation about my anticipation of passing the state prison on the way up (as mentioned in a previous post) and my hope of seeing some prisoners outside in the yard. I realized this makes it sound as if I get a thrill from witnessing people being kept behind a barb wire fence when in reality I just find it fascinating to get a glimpse into what seems like a whole other world of which I'm not a part. This is also the case when entering Amish country.

Anyways, now that we've had a fairly positive experience of taking a long car ride with Jack and not arriving home too worse for wear, I feel our future in taking more trips to Canada is a bright one. Something interesting that we, or should I say Jack, picked up along the way was this seemingly unidentified object - which could easily be mistaken for squished poop - is actually a piece of plastic steak. It's only too fitting that the son of a formerly dedicated vegetarian mother and a proudly carnivorous father would develop an attachment to a fake piece of meat. It's from a food play set that his cousin's had for their mini diner and after watching him chew on it all weekend I asked if we could take it home with us. They graciously obliged and it is now our go to object for when Jack is in need of something to do. Aside from chewing on it, he also occasionally enjoys scratching it lovingly over and over with his little thumb nail.

Here are a couple more pictures from Jack's busy visit up North:

Eating a rice husk and being a Cowboy

Zach Williams-Fears

Packing and Unpacking

I love packing for trips. Carefully picking outfits for each day your gone. Making a list of everything you need. Toothbrush? Check! Books for the car? Check! Hundreds of thousands of bibs for drooling baby? Check! I love the folding of the clothes and then neatly placing them in your suitcase, tucking everything all snug. Fitting it all into the back of the car just so, like a game of Tetris. I especially love the packing of the snack bag with all its special "car food" - the sandwich halves, the crackers, the fun drinks and other assorted varieties of deliciousness. Flavors are always boosted when eating food in the car on a road trip. Or in the car period. Tim always teases me because when we go to the grocery store I always have to open something in the car to eat on the way home. This whole concept of not waiting till you get home to break into the snacks was new to him, and I think he thought was weird at first, but is now warming up to this awesome tradition.

That all said, I have the exact opposite feelings about coming home and unpacking. Packing to leave for home never involves careful consideration for me - it's mostly just an annoying hassle where clothes get thrown into the suitcase haphazardly, all crumpled and shoved in there, and they usually stay "packed" for at least a week after returning home. The drive home is also never exciting and more of a drag. The only thing to look forward to is passing the jail - which gives me the same thrill as passing an Amish buggy on the road. The anticipation builds as soon as I see those orange balls on the phone wires and the signs that read "Correctional Facility Area. Do Not Pick up Hitchhikers" as I'm always hopeful the prisoners will be out in the yard. Since it's winter, my chances are slim. These are the things that keep my life interesting - prisoner and amish sightings.

Pizza Night with Harold.

Tomorrow we head to Canada for a few days to visit some family. I'm looking forward to seeing people, but I'm definitely not looking forward to the lack of sleep that seems inevitable since Jack will be forced to sleep (or not sleep) in a pack-n-play. He hates it. And just when he's made the decision that he'd like to fall asleep on schedule with out much help. I truly believe that three days ago he woke up in the morning and decided from that point forward he would make nap/bedtime a smooth joy ride. The past few nights, after laying him in his crib, he's gone nuts - waving his arms and laughing and acting as if we just fed him straight sugar (which I'd take any day over crying). Last night, after doing this little routine, I left him to his own devices thinking I'd have to go back in to settle him down but the next thing I knew there was silence and he was fast asleep.


...switching gears....


I promised my mom that while she was out of town we'd make sure to have a night with my dad to keep him company. So he'll be coming over this evening for pizza (his choice... which is funny since my dad is kind of a health and fitness nut). I called him today to see if he had any preferences for pizza toppings... "Umm, you know the usual... tomato sauce and cheese..." I'm pretty sure without those two things it's just a giant piece of bread. But sure... we'll get you tomato sauce and cheese dad! My family is also a lover of pineapple on pizza which I've never fully embraced but we'll go with it for tonight.

2011. The Year of Accomplishment.

Today, the first day of 2011, is also the first day of returning to reality. Of going back to life before Facebook when you wrote letters and paid someone a visit instead of silently and secretly staying in touch by watching their life unfold on a wall.


Today is the first day of getting back to one on one time with my world and to spending each day purposefully. It's a return to the life I always want to live but never get around to because I'm too absorbed in watching everybody else's unfold online. I don't want to get to the end of my life - which could be tomorrow or eighty years from now - and realize that most of my free time (or time in general, really) was spent on a website. In virtual non-reality. I don't say all this to make you Facebook users feel guilty.... in fact, I'll happily admit that my break up from Facebook will be a difficult one that I may even regret from time to time. But I also know when something has taken too grand a place in my life than it deserves and virtual social networking is one of them.

Hi my name is Lauren and I'm addicted to Facebook. Or was.

Today is my first day of sobriety.

I'm dubbing these next 365 days "The Year of Accomplishment" and hope I live up to its name. I want to look back on 2011 with a sense of productivity and purpose. I want to know that I gave life my all and was the best of myself in every measure. I want to feel confident, at the end of it all, that very little time was wasted. That every breath, every minute was spent with intentional pursuit of the next.

This year I want to ...

knit.draw.develop.create.love.soak.learn.teach.
submit.sing.strum.seek.pray.laugh.embrace.excel.