Swamplands

Hello friends!! Happy Saturday and blessings be upon you. I shan’t write long. Burritos are in the oven and dinner shall be enjoyed shortly. And I hope to read a couple chapters of Lewis before then. But just thought I’d write a few words as I finally sit down and rest this day. It’s been a good Saturday but a busy one! Up and out the door before 6 to go to discipleship group. Good times were had there, then some errands before back home to see Dani. Then soon enough…off to book club at 10 to discuss the previously reviewed Jurassic Park. Solid discussion even if the book itself was not my favourite! Grateful for those friends. Following that…back home again for lunch and some more time with Dani. Then at 2? Off down south to go to a birthday party for little Ella (Daniel and Eunice’s daughter who is somehow now 9…what). Enjoyed some quality discussion times with the dads there and my heart was much encouraged. Sometimes kid birthday parties are worth it after all eh? Eventually drove back north and home again for the final time. Football on the TV! Haven’t watched the Gators this season and so it was a treat to watch them take it to Ole Miss (ranked 5 currently). Florida looked…good? They actually have a competent offense now? The mind boggles. It was a good football day elsewhere as well, as Iowa took out Michigan. Go Hawkeyes! While the football was footballing, I was also cooking and prepping for the burritos now residing in the oven. Now? Kitchen clean, freshly showered and about to enjoy a bit of reading. It is good to be busy and accomplish things and talk to all the peoples but…well, it’s also good to rest. Thankful to my Father God for granting me such. Also grateful for dear friends and family…some of my favourite moments of the day were my car phone conversations with Dad and Laura. Ah how I miss them.

Well. I’ve rambled enough. Time to close this laptop and open a book.

Sons of Scotland

About to head out from Starbucks, but Saturday post is deserved!  It’s been a nice morning…got to sleep in a bit, and then as I started drinking my coffee, realised there was a World Cup game on!  So got to watch the Argentina/Iceland game, which was a beautiful game and in which Iceland shockingly managed a draw!!  Go Iceland!!  I really don’t have any other country I’m rooting for…no America…no Scotland…no Ireland…so really I’m just hoping for good games and beautiful football.  That’s my sports news of the morning!  Later today, going to meet up with Julie – going to be fun to hear all about her recent France trip.  And will just be good to see her again, since it’s been so long!!  Later this afternoon…going over to meet up with Earnie, then we’ll go downtown to see the Scotland/USA rugby match YES.  I am honestly slightly torn who to root for(yes, I am a terrible American).  It’s probably good I don’t have a Scotland rugby top or I would probably wear it.  So that shall be tonight and I’m psyched.  Oh right – and last night was fun too…Erica and Meagan came over and we had a lovely time of dinner – Chinese take-out for the easy Friday night dinner win – and chat and laughing and finally movie watching – yay Jumanji which never ceased to make us laugh…haven’t laughed that much in a while!! – and yeah it was just a very fantastic chill Friday night with friends.  My favourite kind.  Now I should probably get some errands done and then maybe if I feel like it clean my room a bit.  We shall see.  I’ve also been meaning to write something for a while – these past few months have been shockingly poor in terms of poetry output!! – but I feel super antsy now(probably the espresso..) and so definitely not staying here in Starbucks any longer to write.  Sorry not sorry.

Now I’m off, friends.  Have a gorgeous day – delight in the Lord!  Peace and love.

Always Summer and Never Christmas

Happy Friday, friends!!  It has been a most busy and (at times) stressful week…but it is finally rolling to an end, thanks be to God.  This day may yet be relaxing(but it is early yet, so no promises).  I’m wearing my Aberdeen football top today in honour of first full day of World Cup games!!  Alas for the States being inept and not even qualifying…so I’m not even sure who I’m pulling for?  Maybe Iceland.  I’m not sure if I can stomach going for England, but we’ll see.  Any other news?  Not really – my life is honestly not that exciting lately!  Tonight Erica and Meagan coming over for a chill dinner/movie night with me and John.  Tomorrow going to see Scotland v. USA rugby match, which will be phenomenal!!  Been quite a few years since I saw a rugby match…would have been back in Aberdeen!

Now, I shall continue enjoying my peppermint mocha(courtesy of Katie, with whom I had a great catch-up chat earlier this morning!) and rejoice in the beauty of the day.  Peace and love, dear friends.

Super Post

It is Monday once again!  Funny how that happens…

Just posting a few words here before work starts in earnest – (and before the week starts in earnest!) – thought I could chronicle this past weekend, but don’t really feel like writing that much.  But – I can at least say that yesterday was a lovely day.  Deacon duty at church, which meant I was running around the whole morning and didn’t really truly get to be in the worship service, but church was wonderful nonetheless and it is an honour to serve.  Following church, had some chill time at home…talking with John…reading Spiritual Depression…enjoying a somewhat lazy Sunday afternoon!  But yesterday was also a momentous Sunday(if football events can be counted as momentous!) as it was time for the Super Bowl, fifty-second of its name.  Eagles and Patriots were playing…and honestly, since I don’t care for either of those teams, it was difficult to summon up the will to root for either of them.  I decided I wanted a good game(which I got!) and a last minute Patriots comeback(which I didn’t get), since it’s always fun to watch an epic Patriots comeback(me and John have a running joke that whenever the Patriots are behind in the 4th quarter, they’re happy because “they have them just where they want them”, deepening their opponent’s eventual humiliation when the Patriots come back to win!)  But alas, Tom Brady did not Tom Brady and the Eagles won a great game, 41-33.  Go Eagles?  Ugh, let those words never leave my mouth again.  Anyways!  It was a fun night – I didn’t want to go out anywhere, but Emily and Erica came over for a bit and so it was fun to hang out with them and catch up…and watch some football(and Justin Timberlake in halftime show!) together.

Now, this entry was longer than I anticipated so I must be off.  Going to enjoy sipping on this peppermint mocha and watching the sky slowly lighten…

that Danish charm

So this is a bit of a cruel post…just sitting here on the couch(watching Vikes/Eagles NFC championship game!) as my dinner cooks on the stove. Creamy chicken and vegetables(carrots, onions, parsley and mushrooms!) with mashed potatoes is the plan for this evening. Bit of a new recipe, but I felt in the mood for a nice hearty, warming meal…and I think this will suffice! Mmm, my mouth waters. Alright, I really have nothing more to say. Hope your Sunday has been peaceful and filled with joy. Love you all, dear friends!

the Julii

Happy Sunday friends!! A quick post here as I wait for my pizza…since today is Sunday and it is playoff football time(currently Saints v Panthers – go Carolina!), I decided it was time to get Pizza Hut, mmm…will walk down and pick it up shortly. Anyways, apart from my dinner plans, nothing much going on right now…it is truly nice to rest this night! I’ve had a busy little weekend…Julian’s bachelor party on Friday night(a poker night, where as is tradition I performed valiantly and flamed out quickly!)…then Saturday morning took my car to the shop to get brakes done. Following that, went over and helped Julian move into his new apartment(which will be his and Kelsey’s following their soon coming wedding!! I truly can’t wait for that wedding a week from today….so so excited to see one of my best friends get married. Me and Julian had a great time chatting yesterday and then this morning as I was making coffee for deacon duties…I truly love that guy). The moving took longer than I thought and then had to go do my final fitting for tux, so didn’t get home until late in the afternoon. Later that evening, I went to airport to pick up Julie – she’s now back from her home holidays in Pennsylvania. We had nice chat driving…then once got to her place, she made tea and we got more chat time yay! It was good to catch up after not seeing her for some…three weeks? We chatted about our respective holidays and other sundry things…beautiful conversating, as always. Today was a busy day at church, doing deacon duties from 8 to 1…then had some good times hanging out with Earnie, Mandy, Joe and others…I have good friends here, I must confess. And this afternoon, started my workout routine for first time post Christmas holidays. I put it off long enough…could delay no longer! And just now, had a nice chat with Maryanne…I will get to see her in Charlotte in a little over a month – can’t wait!!! Alright, now it’s time for this very dense paragraph to be over. Hope you don’t mind me just dumping all my weekend activities on you…just thought it was worthwhile to share this snapshot…as busy and tired as I often am, at the end of the day, I simply cannot help but thank God and praise His name for all He has given me. Amen? Amen. Now…time for a nice brisk walk down Heights Boulevard…pizza time is upon us!

Taffy

A short post just now! I sit down here at the computer here in the family room…minutes away from Thanksgiving dinner time. Stuffing is in the oven, turkey and mashed potatoes and asparagus and cranberries and cherry pie and apple pie await…and Mom is currently pouring the wine. A fine turkey dinner awaits – and I very much doubt any of it will taste like sand! (Wrinkle in Time reference, for you uninitiated…) The Minnesota/Detroit game is on TV, but we aren’t really watching that, as we’re all far more excited for upcoming dinner! I shall attempt(if I find time) to write a more proper Thanksgiving post at some point today…but for now, this will have to do. I am ever so thankful to my God for all that He has given me – blessings immeasurable!! Every good and perfect gift comes from our Father God – may I ne’er forget that. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever. Amen.

A Blinding Jewel of Light and Beauty

Hello friends!! Monday here and it is furiously raining outside. And I am inside. And it is glorious. Finally, my habit of coming in super early pays off…so everyone else is going to be dripping wet, but because I came in before it started raining, I am nice and dry. Fantastic. Oh and I also have my peppermint mocha, so that’s great too! Had fun chatting with the baristas at Starbucks while I waited for mine this morning…I do love getting to know my Starbucks people – grateful I’m able to make friends with them. I’ve just got off the phone with Dad – had a good chat too, recapping the football from yesterday(Packers beat the Cowboys in a thrilling game, then the Steelers kicked many(six) field goals to beat the Chiefs…now four teams left – Patriots, Steelers, Falcons & Packers. I…don’t really care who wins? I’ll probably root for Atlanta, just because they’re the one team that hasn’t won a Super Bowl recently. Ever? Just looked it up, and they have never won! So I’m definitely rooting for Atlanta now. Go Falcons!).

Football sidebar aside, this weekend has been glorious. Saturday was a crazy day of superb busyness but yesterday was a wonderful day of worship and rest. Oh how I enjoyed my time at church in the morning, hearing God’s word preached. And then after church, went home and had leftover salad for lunch while watching an episode of 24 with John. Eventually, after doing some laundry and workout…had a most beautiful time of quietude and reading. Had a cuppa tea while reading B.B. Warfield’s Faith and Life. Beautiful reflections upon the gospel – reminding me why I live and why I love. Such special meditation time.

And now friends, I must be off…but have a most beautiful Monday, thinking on the wonders and love of Christ Jesus our Lord.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Enjoying my chicken parm leftovers and a fresh tomato salad this lovely Sunday afternoon. And I shan’t write more than a couple sentences here – need to get back to my dinner and football(Giants v Packers playoff game), of course! But just wanted to take this chance to say how wonderful today has been. A day in which I was able to worship God with all my heart as I stood amongst my fellow brothers and sisters in church this morning. What a wondrous thing it is to be loved by God. What a beautiful thing it is to be known by God. We are blessed e’er so much, my dear friends.

Marseille

Happy Friday, friends!! I realized I had (somehow) managed to post here four consecutive days, so there was no way I was going to break that streak and not post today! I’m ready for a sweet day to start here, fueled by peppermint mocha goodness and the knowledge that this is the last day of the week, hurrah! I’m in a bit of a nostalgic mood today as well…Euro2016 kicks off in France today(Romania v France!) and I’m missing it. Weird thinking that four years ago for Euro2012 I was in Scotland and watching random games with John(as he educated me on all the finer points of football!) Alas, I do miss him. And now I’m trying to figure out who I’m rooting for this time around and I’ve discovered I have too many countries I’m fond of and it’s extremely difficult to narrow it down. For now, let’s just say I’m rooting for France, Northern Ireland, Italy, Wales and Hungary. That’s not too many teams right? Right?? I also think it would be awesome if Iceland did well. Because – Iceland. Sadly no Scotland. (Even though that’s not that surprising, unfortunately). Anyways, this post has consisted of far more football than I expected and I shall now get down to business here.

Have a most wonderful day my friends – may you be joyous and full of love this day! Peace.