Zumba-ing.

It's time for me to venture out of my comfort zone here. I've been
tucked in a warm house all winter, and not been as active as I'd have
liked. So tonight, I'm going to zumba class in Hazard. Hopefully I'll
have a buddy in the future, but tonight I'm on my own - a little bit
daunting in a new town, but I'll be fine. Zumba looks fun and catchy
- like I might actually stick with it. ;) It's a latin dance/fitness
class that's supposed to be fun as well as calorie-burning.

Our traditions.

Have you seen the old tasha tudor book "A time to keep"?
I love this book.

I remember seeing old Tasha Tudor books in the past-as my mom is a
big fan and we had several growing up-but I read this book to Lydia
this weekend at the retreat, and fell in love with Tasha Tudor all
over again. Beautiful illustrations and simple stories of times past.

This book especially, as it focuses on a holiday for each month of
the year. And I'm a sucker for holidays!

I bought an old copy on Amazon for $10, and I plan on getting a
matted frame that will fit the pages, and rotate a page each month,
depending on what holiday is it. To remind me to celebrate even those
"minor" holidays with our girls. (It kind of feels weird buying a
book to take it apart, but I was inspired by Dayna's wall art in her
nursery, consisting of pages taken out of a beautiful children's
book!) There are so many things in life to celebrate, and I want to
get in the habit of celebrating on each and every occasion possible.
My mom was great at that. There was always something on the fridge or
the back door that acknowledged a holiday. Our holiday traditions
were often food-related too (imagine that, food being important to
the Horvath's!), and we celebrated with a special cake, meal, or
dessert that recognized the holiday. Even on voting day! Mom would
wrap a nickel and a quarter (I think) in tin foil, and bake into a
cake. As the story goes, whoever got the quarter would be guaranteed
victory for whomever they voted for.

I read a few pages out of another book this morning that happens to
be along the same line - treasuring God in our traditions, by Noel
Piper. I especially like the forward by her husband John, where he
talks about how their family sees God in everyday happenings. "Woven
into our family life is the conviction that God is most glorified in
us when we are most satisfied in him. His glory and our joy are not
at odds. He gets the glory. We get the joy." What a great outlook.
For so long I believed that by sacrificing things that I enjoyed, by
"giving up", that in my lack of happiness, He would at least be
glorified. And that's just so opposite of what it really is. Those
moments in life when we feel that all is well, that everything is
"right with the world", that we want to bottle up and keep forever -
that is what our hearts respond to.

Wow, what a rabbit trail.

We got some more of the house cleaned out last night - almost to the
point where we can take some pictures to share! (yes, let this be an
indication of how much stuff the previous owners left!) And in the
midst of the junk are treasures - I'm very excited about the old
wringer washer in the basement - I think it's going to be fabulous
for keeping bottled soda cold for outdoor parties in the summertime!

Truth is stranger than fiction.

At a recent wal-mart shopping trip recently, we bought an insulated
bag since we live far enough away from the grocery store that we want
to make sure our frozen food is still cold by the time we get home.
The cashier pointed to it and started a conversation, "so, would you
believe a guy brought one of these back the other day and said it was
defective since his ice cream melted in it? I asked him what he had
in it, and he said 'ice cream and fried chicken. It says it's
supposed to keep things both hot and cold'." OH DEAR! I was sure he
was joking, but he assured us he wasn't, and that he sees the
strangest things working there. I have no doubt!

Today.

Was a banner day, and it's only a little after noon.

We heard that the camp retreat this past weekend was a success and blessing to the kids who attended, we closed on our new house (hooray), and I have a hot date with my lovely Sammy tonight.

And, it was 62 here yesterday, and word on the streets is that winter is coming to an end and we can look for many more 60 and 70 degree days in the next few weeks. 

The speaker this weekend talked a lot about Thanksgiving, and how being thankful in tough circumstances is actually a sacrifice that we're commanded to make. Ps. 50:14 - "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High." And with that, I'll share that it's tough right now to be thankful for my silly "eye injury". I burned the top layer of cells off of my right eye this weekend at the retreat by accidentally using the wrong contact lens solution (it was a contact cleaner with peroxide, not solution). Let's just say it was right up there with childbirth, and I'm glad that it's better than it was at first. But it was a very "in-my-face" opportunity to be thankful for something that's...well...not pleasant.  Not "compare myself with someone less fortunate" to make myself feel better, but truly be thankful.

And so - I am filled with thanks today. For all the good things in our lives. And those not-so-pleasant things as well. 

Pictures on the house to come. The previous homeowner was still packing her stuff up this morning, so we're going to give her a few days before we barge in. The pictures from before we bought it still have all her stuff in it, and it will be easier for ya'll to "see" the house without all the "stuff" in the pictures!

word clouds.

I made this word cloud of this blog at the end of last year. I love
that home is the center. It's very fitting, since that's where my
heart is too.