Wabi-Sabi

Another blogpost inspired by another blog. This time it's Jeremy & Kathleen. Wabi-Sabi, the title of her latest post, really grabbed me. I know she eats weird vegan food and for a second I even thought, "Silly...that's not how wasabi is spelled," but it wasn't wasabi after all.


Wabi-sabi is a japanese word and basically is the whole principle behind the movie American Beauty. (That's the movie with the video of the floating trashbag and teen angst not the apple pie and teen angst.) The most basic definition is the beauty of imperfect things. As Kathleen says in her blog,  "Wabi-sabi is my old home that makes a hobby of collecting dust and cracks. Wabi-sabi is my jacked up toes and pimple on my chin." Oh how I can relate to that. Lately, two of my favorite blogs to read for encouragement are Momastry and Enjoying the Small Things. Both are women who write about their lives with utter honesty and the wabi-sabi-ness (if that's even a word) is what always seems to encourage me. Their lives are covered up with Wabi-sabi and although I didn't really know how to express it before, it helps me to see the wabi-sabi in my own life and in myself. Not everything that is beautiful is perfect. Literature has known this for centuries, a fact of which many heros with a tragic flaw can attest. I obviously don't think of myself as a hero in any regard, but it is nice to know that my flaws can sometimes be labeled as something other than tragic. I have to admit, there have been times where things didn't work out quite as planned yet blossomed into the most beautiful times of my life. They are the times when I have seen the most growth in myself. It's the story of the underdog. Life is full of beautiful imperfections. Inside, I guess I have always known that, which is why I listened to "Comfortable" on repeat during my lonely college years. Wabi-sabi on.

Resolution

"I’m a simple girl.

That’s why I’m choosing one word for the New Year. Just one."

We Are That Family

Inspiring words from one of my favorite blogs, and they rang true with me. So I've been thinking, what to make my word for the new year? There are so many good ones to choose: Faith, hope, love, wild, free... The list goes on an on. The lines of a Switchfoot song keep playing in my head. "I want to be evergreen. I want to live all year round." So there it is 2012. 

Evergreen

Hard times and good times are surely ahead. Feast and famine. Strength and Weakness. Whatever may be in store for me, I resolve to be constant, steady as a drum. My heart craves peace and balance and I resolve to gain them both and keep them all year long. Though the world may fall around me or rejoice in perfect light, I want to be evergreen. I want to live all year round.

Farewell 2011.

Christmas Eve

As I sit here thinking of all the things I should be doing...finding that one last gift I know I had earlier today but didn't wrap, tying up loose Christmas ends, and trying to enjoy the night, I find that Christmas has already come....28 minutes ago. I feel so unprepared. I'm not ready. I haven't heard enough carols. I haven't  drunk nearly enough hot chocolate. I haven't sat by the Christmas tree and listened to "Evergreen" by Switchfoot on repeat. I guess Mary wasn't ready either. No baby bed. No midwife. Only a stable. Only a man and some shepherds to welcome her baby into the world. I am humbled. A king in a manger and I on my computer in my in-laws temperature controlled house, belly full (overly full) and presents all around. It's my heart that needs preparing for this day. So I pray, "God keep me mindful of this day, the day Your Son was born for me." Happy birthday, Jesus and Merry Christmas to all.



Goodnight moon.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I've been taking pictures of Stella for 21 weeks and the number 1 question on everyone's mind has been....well...let's be honest...it's been "Are you having twins?" Oh to be all baby like that one day. I would give up anything...well except for food...which is probably why that won't happen for me. Sigh. I digressed.

So the number two question was obviously.....



And it was answered in true Stella fashion. Man, that girl loves to party. The theme of the night, a poem.

What are little boys made of? Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails, that is what boys are made of. What are little girls made of? Sugar and Spice and everything nice, that is what girls are made of.














Everyone wore pink or blue to show what their guess for the sex of the baby was. Except for Boo.



Boo preferred to stay switzerland and wore white.



Take note people. One day, I'm going to need one of these....ahem.

And now on to the grand reveal......



IT'S A GIRL!



Ace was the only one who was disappointed... I'm not sure why.



Nanette didn't give him a hard time or anything and was a lady about the whole thing....















Boo... he just wanted to know where Stella buys her sheets.



Me? I'm so happy that it's a girl, but I would've been equally happy if it had been a boy. I'm just amazed when I look at these pictures and think...wow...there's a little girl growing in there.

What a blessed miracle.