Loving Life

"Will you work on cleaning the house today?"  Those were the words my husband spoke as he left to go to work this morning. It's important to say this upfront that he was not being mean spirited when he said it. Yet I heard those words on repeat all morning long through my head. At first I was angry.  Just what does he think I do anyway? Every day I work on cleaning the house! Sometimes I make more progress than other days. Some days I get sidetracked. Some days I have other things to do that are not related to cleaning. Some days the kids (mainly one small one) undoes 85% of what I've done.  I thought out a number of angry retorts I could use when he got home. But nearly as soon as the anger came, it left, leaving a sad, melancholy, woe-is-me-I'm-a-loser feeling. You see, I AM a bad housecleaner. My house has piles. My house has clutter. Dirty dishes on the counter are the norm.  A clean and tidy house is not my strong point.  Here's proof:

Here's a post to catch you up on some pictures in my life. We'll start with something recent and then move back to a time when life was warmer. Aaron and I below enjoyed an evening with friends and ugly Christmas sweaters last week. We had a great time together celebrating all the upcoming birthdays and anniversaries. The whole group decked out in their finery.  Now back to summer! My peach tree produced peaches again this year. Not like my over abundant first year of peach production, but enough to give us a lovely taste of deliciousness. This year's peaches were huge. The peach on the right is a normal large peach. Most of my peaches were softball sized like the one on the left. So delicious!  Cousins came in summer and we had a great time with them. The kids spent a few nights sleeping at our house and they all transformed our livingroom into a huge fort for everyone to sleep in each night. I loved hearing all the giggles and fun that was going on. We went t

This summer Aaron and I had the fantastic opportunity to take a sabbatical. It was such an amazing summer. We were able to travel more than we have in the past - I documented that in my previous two posts. We were able to spend more time doing the things we've wanted to do. But a lot of the time a sabbatical is about making space in your life to hear what God is wanting to say to you. I took a number of personal retreats. Through that and just making space for less stuff, I was able to remember who I am. I didn't purposely decide one day to stop acting like myself. It crept in. Slowly. Over time. It crept in everytime I said no to ideas on things I wanted to do for fun. I was too busy saying yes to everything and everyone else. I said no to myself so many times that I stopped asking. I stopped dreaming. I stopped seeking adventure. It was just easier that way.  This summer I became aware that the person I had become was not the full picture of who I really am. So I began t

This is the year for big trips. We just got back from our Great Eastern Adventure. Be prepared for picture overload! All good long roadtrips need to have plenty of reading material on hand. This is Ana's pile for the trip. She finished them during the eight days that we were gone. Our journey began in Ohio with celebrating Aaron's grandma's 85th birthday over the Fourth of July. Abby had fun making clover crowns for all relatives who wanted one.  Keilah and I stayed busy hauling potatoes and carrots in her pickup truck.  Keilah was delighted to find out that she fit perfectly in the cornhole circle.  Grandma Jean and our family  Aaron is a much better player than me. :(  Grandpa Tom, Grandma Kay, their ten grandkids, and Grandma Jean  Since it was the 4th of July, Grandma Jean gave everyone a flag and told them to march around in a parade.  She then threw candy at the parade marchers - kind of a reverse parade.  Aaron and his grandma. Sh