Currently...

I haven't done a "currently" post in a while. I like these posts because I can look back over them and remember all the stuff I've been doing in the periphery of real life.

Listening to... 

Andrew Bird's "Break it Yourself"

find the review here.  It is a really wonderful album! He is soooo talented. 

Reading... 

A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God

it's available free on the Kindle-I highly recommend grabbing it!

Watching...

I am fine to admit that we watch too many shows that have very little redeeming qualities. Our evenings together generally consist of us both collapsing in recliners after the kids go to bed and watching TV for another hour or so.

The most exciting thing is that Mad Men started back up - and that is something I would recommend. Also just watched "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey"-a documentary about Kevin Clash. It was AWESOME. (It's on Netflix Instant, so go watch if you have a free hour)

Cooking...

Family Friendly dishes 

sweet potato chili mac

tempeh and broccoli stir fry

I also signed up to review a fellow-blogger's cookbook called Real {Fast} Food by Trina Holden. You can find her blog here. I am so excited to be a part of it! Plus I get a free e-book for one of my readers--stay tuned for that! 

The most current thing I am doing is AVOIDING preparing for my oral argument this afternoon.  I am not an oral advocate. I stumble over my words. I get nervous. My feet shake. It is not pretty. So the thought of having to deliver a 15-20 minute argument this afternoon is enough to make me want to clean every bathroom all day rather than prepare. ALAS. I will have to get through it. And preparing is probably the best bet. 

I'm sitting here...

surrounded by several law books, a cup of coffee and my planner. It is official. Summer is over. Fall has begun - despite what the calender says. My consolation is that it is my last year.

I have no idea what this year holds. I have no clue what twists and turns await me.

But I do know what I hope will happen....what I want to happen...

I want to grow in my faith. I want to cook new things. I want to spend more time with my kids. I want to run. I want to read the minor prophets with Abby. I want to relax. I want to watch True Blood with Corey. I want to invest time in my friends. I want to teach Lauren to knit. I want to marvel at God's work. I want to have dance parties. I want to take trips (mainly to Knoxville and Dayton). I want to read books in bed before I go to sleep. I want to pray - better and more often. I want to laugh- A LOT. I want to start hiking. I want to take care of my body. I want to play my guitar. I want to take a few long drives.

And what is great is that God knows all of these things. He knows that desires of my heart. And He will give them to me..."Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

So I am going to work on DELIGHT, and trust that all the other things will follow...

Book Worm - part one

the early years...

I have been an avid reader since birth - I think. (at least my mom tells me that). I certainly preferred reading to playing outside. My best friend in elementary school didn't own a TV. Sometimes I would go home with her on a Friday afternoon to stay the night. We would always hit the library to pick out a Nancy Drew book or the newest Baby Sitters Club before getting on the bus. Some of my favorite memories are sneaking flashlights under the covers to read our books when we were supposed to be sleeping.

But my real love of reading was developed in the sixth grade. I had a new teacher named Mrs. Freeman. She was supposed to teach English, social studies, and science, but I am pretty sure all we did was read. She set up bean bags in the back of the room, and we were allowed to go lounge with our free reading book whenever we finished an assignment. I tore through books, so from the very beginning she started bringing me books from her house to read. I soon found out that she was also an author. The final book she brought me to read that year was her own. I was the first person to ever read it, and I remember feeling so special. ( I don't think it was ever published--at least I can't find it anywhere)

Some of my favorite books were ones that I read that year. So for my first installment of Book Worm, I thought I would share two of my all-time favorite books from sixth grade, a tribute to Mrs. Freeman.

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards (YES it is the same Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music). This was the book that made me love fantasy. I have read it a dozen times since I first got it. The story is about three children and a professor who gain access to a land full of fanciful creatures through their imaginations. They have to save the Whangdoodles (of course) who are in danger because no one believes in them anymore. Lord of the Rings and Narnia would be the adult counterpart to this adolescent fantasy.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. I am a sucker for re-crafted fairy tales. I think I loved this book even more because I identified with the main character. In this re-telling, there are three sisters--Beauty is the ironic nickname of the youngest since she is the least pretty. What she lacks in beauty she makes up for in intelligence and a love of books. The style of the writing is really engaging and transports you to a different time. The books by Gregory Maguire (Wicked, Mirror, Mirror etc) would be the adult counterpart to this fairy-tale.

Even though I read these books when I was 11, I recommend them with just as much passion as any "grown-up" book. I hope you enjoy :)