life

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”
― Mother Teresa

Almost everyday we talk about doing what gives us life. 

It's good to be reminded that as long as you find life and joy in the 

everyday simple things everything else seems to fall into place. 

I often find life in:

 meeting new people & encouraging them wherever they are

spending quality time with my community

growing my unborn babe

slow mornings spent in the word and around the breakfast table

being outside

baking & cooking with real ingredients

growing my own food

sheesh. Life is amazing. 

happy saturday

Happy Saturday sweet friends! I hope you slept in?!

Things to do while you're still in your biscuit:

Watch this

Listen to this

Read this

Eat this

Drink this

encouraged

This week has been so encouraging. 

I finished this book, spent time fishing, enjoyed the company of my sweet friend 

Carley, Twinner & Papa are visiting, & I ate the most ballin' banana bread french toast this morning. 

 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

spring

A beautiful friend of mine shared this poem with me & I was encouraged.

Peonies 

by Mary OliverThis morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
   to break my heart
     as the sun rises,
        as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open--
   pools of lace,
      white and pink--
       and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
    into the curls,
      craving the sweet sap,
        taking it away

to their dark, underground cities--
   and all day
      under the shifty wind,
       as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
   and tip their fragrance to the air,
     and rise,
       their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
    gladly and lightly,
      and there it is again--
        beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
    Do you love this world?
      Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
       Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
   and softly,
      and exclaiming of their dearness,
       fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
    their eagerness
      to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
        nothing, forever?

familiar

For I have known them all already, known them all:

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
-T.S.Eliot, "Prufrock"

sweet carolina

Thank you my sweet carolina, you were a place of peace & rest.

Thank you life for not being easy so we can see the simple things & be reminded of grace.

Thank you pretty Mama, you are an encouragement.

Thank you Sarah for your sincerity, I need you by my side.

Thank you Em your words mean so much & your patience will always be remembered. 

Thank you silence, you are a comfort. 

Thank you laughter, you never left. 

Thank you Lord, with out you none of this is possible. 

barefoot farmer

On Saturday we got to go learn from the Barefoot Farmer, Jeff Poppen!

If you know me, you know I love all things gardening. 

Not only did Jeff feed my science brain by talking about chemistry & biology

 but he emphasized the importance of organic gardening,

 something that's been a conviction of mine for the past 6 years. 

I was reminded of the importance of calcium in my soil

& educated on how vital fungi & bacteria are in the life of a plant. 

The earth is amazing!!! 

Thank you Foxhollow Farm for hosting this baller 

event & Jeff you're simply incredible.

local

Please & Thank You.

Louisville has always been my home & as I've grown so has this beautiful city. 

Growing up I often enjoyed the things Louisville had to offer, the community

 mainly, I love that no matter where you go everything still feels like home. 

In 2010 I began working for Edible Louisville Magazine & was inspired

 by our city's developing local food scene. 

Please & Thank You comes to mind whenever I'm craving a spanish latte 

& a cinnamon roll the size of my head. 

I know I can go there & feel at peace. It's not just the awesome sweets, incredible

Argo Sons Coffee, or variety of records that take me by surprise, but it's the warmth. 

Hospitality is an understatement for this quaint shop on 800 East Market,

 I am always amazed by the sweetness, not only in their chocolate chip cookies, but in their staff. 

These people are amazing! WOW. They make me feel like I'm apart of their family, 

not just a customer buying their product--but someone who is appreciated & known. 

So thank you and please keep it up. My weekly visits never feel enough, I always crave more. 

If you are an instagrammer follow their work here: coffeevinylfood

photo sources:

123

thankful

Thankful For:

This Family.

Trucks.

Winter Walks.

Swings.

Firewood.

Sleep.

New Journals.

Slinging Clay.

Finished Products.

Sunday Morning Snuggles.

Cast Iron Goodness.

Pie. 

sew

I've always been drawn to creativity & working with my hands. Jumping in the dirt on a cool May morning & throwing seeds in the soil is my go-to. 

I've dabbled in beekeeping, urban chicken farming, videography, furniture restoration, & lately slinging clay. 

I am so inspired by those who work with their hands to create something from ordinary materials. 

The simplest things get me excited--seeing a seed turn into a seedling and then transform into a cuke that is harvested, pickled, & saved for later enjoyment when you want a taste of spring. 

The patience you can learn from simple crafts is a lesson that can't be taught but only experienced. 

My sweet friend Bek is an inspiration. She's talented in so many ways but one that I am truly impressed by are her sewing skills. 

She can create masterpieces out of vintage fabrics & recycled leathers.
The art is something I'll always admire because it is so far from any of my natural abilities--I can just walk into her studio & watch her work. 

I don't take notes, I just watch as she uses her gifts to create. 

I stand there inspired, challenged, & encouraged.