as we were driving home, reading {the history of love} aloud in the car & then taking a break or two to knit a few rows, i was full of so much inspiration, almost sure it would explode from my fingertips. i suppose a nice, long break & the love of such beautiful {people} will do that to you.

i have a handful of ideas for handmade gifts, so many new beads for which to make earrings, & a longing for this place. oh, it is so good to come back & read of your enjoyable times with family during thanksgiving & see the beautiful tables you set for your guests. thank you as always, good friends.

for our thanksgiving, we traveled (it seems) almost everywhere in arkansas. we enjoyed delicious food, long naps at relatives’ homes, & talk of urban gardening. we met with friends, decorated christmas trees, & reminisced over old ornaments from our childhood. it was the best holiday i’ve ever spent with family & i am so grateful.

last night, i decorated our home with freshly-cut evergreen branches, glass ornaments, and pine cones in celebration of this christmas season. we took time to acknowledge all of our blessings & then lit the advent candle. we hope this will become a family tradition in our home. we soon will decorate the christmas tree & listen to the {best} christmas album ever.

have a wonderful first day of december!

oh yes, also we made another entry over at {him + her}. learn how to plant bulbs, friends!

{some portraits for my latest project…”living proof”}

hi, everyone! although i haven’t been posting in this place as much as i usually do, i have been exercising my creative muscles & picking up my camera quite often… just for a different project. i’m not sure if you know, but i am working on my bachelor’s degree in education, youth studies, and women’s and gender studies. for one of my classes, our final project is to incorporate the main topics discussed in class in a creative presentation. my group & i decided to interview a diverse group of people & find out about the influence of their ethnicity, community and culture on their personal educational experiences. it has been such an enriching project to be a part of by having the opportunity to learn about these people’s lives & capture it on film.
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i’m not sure how much i will be writing in this space this week. i’ll try to get back to you soon! i have so many ideas i’d like to share with you. until then, happy monday!

thank you. really, i cannot tell you how thankful i am for your words of {encouragement} & {comfort}. i am always so humbled when i realize how much this little blogging community means to me. you are all such a blessing to my life. all i can say is thank you.

and just as an update, i wanted to let you know that i am finally feeling more like myself. the past few weeks, for me, have been such a struggle. i felt so empty, so purposeless. i would spend my week going to class, going to work, and coming home exhausted & worn-out, only to eat dinner & be left with piles of dirty dishes in the sink & homework left unfinished. i would look forward to the weekend, to a break, but it would past by so quickly, until i would wake-up on monday morning wondering if there was a break at all. i felt so frazzled, so empty, so purposeless. i would look forward to weekends spent with my mom and date nights with luke, but at the end of those times, i was left unfulfilled. finally, at what i felt like the end of my strength & my sanity, i broke down. to be quite honest, i had never felt so dark, so sad.
i realized that i had been living on repeat. school, work, dinner, homework, sleep. school, work, dinner, homework, sleep. repeat. repeat. repeat….
through the tears, the frustruation, the helplessness, i began to pray. i began to journal. i closed the laptop & went outside. i turned on a little frank sinatra & slowly made lunch. i picked up a book, of my own choosing, & began to read. i began knitting, using my hands to create something else. slowly, i began to feel lighter, the weight of life lifted off my shoulders. i thanked God for the little moments of silent in my day. i relished in the present, not the future relief to come.
naturally, i know that there is still sadness to come. these little changes do not resolve life’s hectic pace & fleeting time. but- i do now know that these moments will pass…. and there is something so much greater to look forward to.

thank you for reading.