Words

Words have power in them we cannot understand. I've always been a sucker for a well-written....well, anything.

Perhaps it's why I have a degree in Communication Arts when I never excelled at Public Speaking.

It's why I love to cry in a good book.

It's why I still read the Chicago Tribune for the columnist who made me laugh all the way through college.

It's why I have a special place on my bookshelf for the "devotional (more like books that were totally and completely honest about life and how to struggle through it walking with Christ...they never really mentioned the Bible and were about as far from a traditional bible study as you could get...) " books on my bookshelf.

It's why most songs make me cry.

It's why I love the end of a good One Tree Hill episode (don't judge haha) where there's a long monologue.

This past week I've been reading a blog I found. I'm still not sure how I stumbled onto it, but I wanted to share the power it's had on me this week. It's the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful, honest, hilarious thing I've ever read.

It's here.

Read it. you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll surely be inspired. This woman has the most amazing gift for writing down the real, gritty, horrible and beautiful parts of life. It's given me a fresh outlook.

I hope it does the same for you. Start at the beginning if you have time (and tissues).

picture post

my attempt at a wildflower bouquet from my backyard.
sorry some of the pics are sideways! i don't know how to fix that...

piano room wall is out! this is looking into the house from the garage!

new couch....yay!!!

sweet matching chair. we also have an ottoman and a loveseat to match.

Comfort

someday i'll sing this lullabye to my child. it's so beautiful.

Comfort, by Deb Talen (The Weepies)

When everyone has gone to sleep
And you are wide awake.
There's no-one left to tell your troubles to.
Just an hour ago You listened to their voices,
Wilting like a river over underground.
And the light from downstairs
Came up soft like daybreak,
Dimly as the heartache of a lonely child.

And if you can't remember a better time,
You can have mine, little one.

In days to come,
When your heart feels undone;
May you always find an open hand
And take comfort wherever you can, you can, you can.

And oh, It's a strange place
And oh, everyone with a different face.
But just like you thought when you stopped here to linger,
We're only as seperate as your little fingers.

So cry, why not? We all do.
Then turn to the one you love.
And smile a smile that lights up all the room.

And follow your dreams, In through every out door...
It seems that's what we're here for.

And when you can't remember a better time,
You can have mine. little one.

In days to come, When your heart feels undone;
May you always find an open hand.
And take comfort, there is comfort.
Take comfort wherever you can, you can, you can...

house progress

we went to Van Hill furniture on Saturday morning hoping to look around and see what we liked. we knew we'd have to buy very soon because we're about 6 weeks out as far as move-in goes...and we ended up buying a couch, loveseat, chair and ottoman! i love love love it! the couch is a teal-gray-brown color, the pillows are patterned with browns and grays and teals and the chair is the same fabric as the pillows. very fun and funky without being too trendy. love it! and the couch is huge...8 feet...but hey, when your living room is like 17x24 you can get away with it!

we're still looking for dining room furniture...good thing we got a pretty good deal on the couches because it looks like we'll be special ordering the table. when you're spoiled with a huge living room you make up for by having a 7x8 ft dining room--impossible to fit a table you like in it! well, almost impossible. looks like special ordering is the key.

house progress: we now have a re-shingled roof and the piano room has walls and a floor! i'm going there today after working at church to work on scraping the garage doors. should be able to paint them and the outside of the garage very soon! i'll keep everyone posted if you want to help ;) it's so great to have things moving along at a normal rate again! can't wait to see today's progress. the electrician comes tomorrow to start putting in the myriad of different lighting we've mapped out in our living room, kitchen and stairway going up. yay! houses built in 1942 don't tend to have a lot of lighting....

we're getting there!

thanks for reading!

It's Friday. I'm exhausted and don't feel well. I need a weekend. Hallelujiah for Fridays.

furniture, pandora and HSRT

How much do I love free, wonderful theatre? I can't describe it. There's this wonderful thing called Hope Summer Repertory Theater. I've been ushering for about six years and you get free tickets. it's the best invention on the planet. Usually, you usher and everyone knows where they're sitting anyway. It's easy. Most attendees are regulars and know the theater pretty well. However, last night Josh and I ushered at the Knickerbocker, which was a new experience. It's a taller, narrower theater, and the seats are numbered funny, in my opinion. It was horrendous. There were people in the wrong seats, several times where I led them all the way up one side only to find out their tickets were for the other side...a tiny old lady sitting in the front row of the balcony who couldn't see over the railing and we had to move her, cane and all, to a higher seat? holy hannah. we definetely earned our free tickets last night! we sat in the back in the mezzanine.

as much as i complain about this, though, the show made up for it. we saw "Suds", which i've seen before, but hadn't remembered all it's charm. it's about a young girl, working in a laundry mat, devestated about lost love on her birthday. her guardian angel, named marge, arrives, along with a "trainee" guardian angel named deedee and 60's song and dance commences, trying to cheer up the suicidal cindy. it's marvelously cheesy, as is all good musical theatre. cindy was played by a wonderful recent college grad and she was very impressive. we had a blast. I'm blessed with a husband who can enjoy cheesy theatre as much as i can.

the best part about HSRT is not that we get to see shows for free, but that they're worth about $26/ticket apiece! awesome. great date night for free! they also attract acting, directing and artistic talent from all over the country. marvelous. i love holland.

on a different note, we're going furniture shopping tonight! we were going to do that last night until i got the call that we were supposed to be ushering at HSRT...so it was postponed until tonight. this is exciting! this means that we're between 6-8 weeks out from moving and we need to order the furniture in order for it to be here on time!! yay! i can't wait to move in.

the third subject in my heading is pandora. simply this: if you're not on it, shame on you. you should be. it's the best invention.

greatest picture ever? i think yes.

what a great holiday weekend!

such fun was had this weekend.....

josh and i went camping thursday night through saturday afternoon with my parents and a group of people from church. it's always fun to hang out with people outside the church setting and it's such a great group to hang out with! families with young kids and then another family with kids mine and my sisters age...such fun. camping in the back of the van was pretty great, too :) a little bit cold the first night but we got it figured out the second night!

saturday we came back from the campground, got ready, and met up with friends for the fireworks in grand haven. i'm blessed to still have a large group of friends from high school--there were 16 people there...the group just keeps growing with spouses and such! took a group photo...to post soon (Mis? haha) love those people to death.

sunday we went to church (small group b/c of the holiday...yikes) and then after the obligatory sunday afternoon nap we went to the beach and hung out with josh's parents and brother. cookout, sun and walks on the beach :) i love summer! it was just the perfect weekend.

i hope this week is the same! i'm husband-less tonight thanks to the detroit tigers...lots to do at home, though, after a busy weekend! blessings on your week.

i need a new style...

i need to go shopping for clothes that don't make me look pregnant! haha i've had too many people ask recently...it has a lot to do with the fact that i've been married for a year and a half and it would make sense, but really, i just need to lose weight, people!

hm. time to fix this. ha.