these are a few of my favorite things // 04

 

a shot from the hike we did Saturday

+ warm fires crackling in the evenings

+ being able to see the stars

+ phone conversations that leave me very happy :)

+ buying adorable boots

+ tea (haney and sons paris tea is probably my favoritest tea ever, introduced to me by my Grandmother.)

+ watching the world change from summer to fall

+ The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (Anne Sullivan was an inspiring, amazing, self-sacrificing woman, btw!)

+ the book of Psalms

+ journaling my thoughts and prayers (it makes such a difference in my life when I can take the time to sort out my thoughts in writing!)

+ unexpected blessings  from the Lord

+ this quote that I found the other day that made me smile

+ praying (it blows my mind that I can talk directly to the Star-Breathing Creator of the Universe and Savior of the Entire World, and know without a shadow of a doubt that He hears and answers me every single prayer and every single day. It's pretty awesome!!)

+ getting to spend time with the girls from my church. I have a pretty fabulous church family!!! :)

+ falling asleep listening to the sound of heavy rainfall

+ candles and christmas lights in my bedroom. (the bedrooms in this house have the worst lighting ever, but I put a strand of christmas lights up and it's so pretty and improves the lighting drastically!)

+ "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you." Psalm56:3

+ canning apple sauce and seeing the jars add up on the shelf.

+lots of strong, strong coffee (honestly, I've been so tired lately. I don't think I could function at all without coffee.) 

+ today is officially the beginning of fall!

it's a girl thing //coal and feminine

* these pictures are awkward, especially because I was talking the whole time trying to explain how to use the camera. But you know what? I've realized that my whole life is just awkward at the moment, so I'm learning to get used to it. :) 

Skirt: Thrifted {6.99}

Shirt: Thrifted {6.99}

Cami: Forever 21 {1.90}

Boots: Fred Myer {59.99}

I recently bought these boots (okay. yesterday.) and am quite excited about them. Not only are they beautiful, functional, and stylish, but they're brown! My parents have been complaining mentioning a lot lately that I wear too much black... and the truth is that I do wear black incorporated into almost every single outfit. It's a classy color, relatively easy and goes with almost everything. basically a win-win-win... except that it was starting to upset my parents. So I am excited to start incorporating more brown tones into my wardrobe to compliment these boots.  This is one of the outfits I envisioned when I bought the boots, and it just makes me feel pretty. Which means that I will probably end up wearing it often. ;)

 I swear this child gets cuter by the moment. She just learned to crawl, so we're going to have to look into getting a gate for the fireplace (right now sticking the ottoman in front of it seems to be doing the trick, although she'll probably learn to get around it eventually.) and a gate for the stairs. It's also way more work when watching her, because of hazardous choking material all over the house. But it's also fun, because it means she's growing normally. Plus she crawls pretty cute. :)

xx,

The Phantom of the Opera // Book Review

The Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux

A mysterious Phantom haunts the depths of the Paris Opera house where he has fallen passionately in love with the beautiful singer Christine Daae. Under his guidance her singing rises to new heights and she is triumphantly acclaimed. But Christine is also loved by Raoul de Chagny, and by returning his love she makes the fiend she knows as the Angel of Music mad wit jealously. When the Phantom is finally unmasked, will Christine see beyond his hideous disfigurement?

The Phantom of the Opera had been on my TBR list forever, but I was more than a little nervous about it, so I kept ignoring it. But my older brother bought me a copy a couple months ago and informed me that I had to read it immediately because it was his favoritest play ever and was oh-so-good. I am very glad that I took the time to read it. I was nervous mostly because I have a tendency to fall in love with the bad guys in films or books, out of pity. (Think Mr. Preston in Wives and Daughters... I kind of really love him, to the horror of my Aunt. :) And I didn't really want to fall in love with a sociopathic, homicidal genius who is absolutely obsessed with a beautiful girl to the point of kidnapping her and attempting to murder her "fiance." That just didn't sound wonderful to me. Much to my relief and surprise, I didn't fall for Eric in Phantom of the Opera. I felt a tremendous amount of pity, and interest for him, but nothing resembling affection. :) 

 Leroux did a wonderful job with this book! Its written beautifully, and the story was intriguing! Set from the perspective of someone totally unrelated to the plot line, Leroux crafted a brilliant "mystery" set around the French Opera, and a beautiful, unexpectedly talented girl, and a Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera, demanding money and appearing in various forms, kidnapping Christine occasionally and killing those who oppose him. (Gosh, describing him is hard! Basically he's insane!)  I loved Christine. She was sweet, innocent and trusting, yet smart and she was willling to take a stand for right and justice. I didn't like Raoul quite as much as I thought I would. He was pretty spineless, but in all honesty, so much of an improvement from Eric that I was happy with him. 

I recommend adding this to your reading list. It was fascinating, brilliant and sad. :)

My rating: **** {four of five}

watching the sky change

i love when the sun starts to sink in the horizon and bathes the earth in liquid gold for a few minutes at twilight. the whole world glistens like a jewel, and I wish it could last forever instead of just a few moments. I think I could spend hours staring at the constant changing sky, especially at sundown. i've always thought that sunsets are a beautiful love note straight from God. they certainly display and magnify His creativity and beauty!

"That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides mee. I am the Lord, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:6

xx,

the most important work // thoughts

source

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I don't understand why the world at large has decided that the role of homemaker and mother is somehow inferior or unimportant compared to other careers. Elisabeth Elliot said it beautifully; "This job has been given to me to do. Therefore it is a privilege. Therefore it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore it is to be done gladly, if it is to be done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God's way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness."  Mothers have the amazing opportunity, and immense responsibility, of pouring their lives into their children, teaching, training, loving and nurturing. It's such a beautiful occupation.

I have my plans for what I'd like to do career-wise. I've always talked about a certain field, and thought about the opportunities I'd have to serve people. But you know what I'd really, really want more than any other career? I just want to be a mama and a homemaker, and spend my life investing in my children and family. (and why am I posting about this right now? I don't know really, except that I've had the future and decisions on my mind a lot lately, and this keeps coming up.)

I'd love to hear you thoughts on the homemaking role. :)

fall // a list

things i am excited about this fall:

+ lots of tea and coffee (it's not like i didn't drink those in the summer, but being able to drink them without dying of overheating would be cool. :)

+ sweaters, scarves, and boots

+ pies

+ stunning leaves and colors

+ falling asleep to the sound of rain

+ fires crackling in the stove in the evenings

+ my girls bible study at church starting again

+ listening to Christmas music (it's my favorite, okay! Yes I do start listening to it full time in October, and yes, I am listening to Michael Buble's christmas album as I type...)

+ Pan (Fairy tales are my favorite, too, and I am pretty excited to go see this one with my favorite sister in law!)

+ road tripping to the beach with my bestie

+ getting to know new friends better

+ family camp with my church starting tomorrow.

+ reading many books and lots of the Bible

what are some things you're excited about now that it's September?