24 before 25, the Revised List

Since my birthday is in September, this is essentially a summer to-do list.  Here's what I'll get up to: 

1.  make my own natural skincare products
2. press flowers from Papa's garden and other beloved places I pressed flowers from my best friend's wedding (shhh, I haven't given them to her yet!).  I still want to save some from my grandfather's garden.
3. *spend a week as a vegetarian
4. write a bucket/life/awesome list in clever way and hang it on the wall
5.  go hiking by myself in a beautiful place
6. begin planning adventures inspired by this book  7. send snail mail 
8. *go for evening walks with Cory and Jack 
9. sew some simple clothing
10.  learn to do the splits like I always wanted to in ballet when I was a little girl
11.  finally read all of Anne of Green Gables
12.  sew this apron and put buttons on the back because it'd make a great dress13.  read The Fault in Our Stars
14.  *get moving (here's why)
15.  get this necklace and write its words on the wall
16.  *edit*  run a 5k  Go on long bike rides (because my knees don't like running).  
17.  *read at least five books on my to-read list, including Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
18.  start my days (or the part that comes after work) with some yoga19.  go on at least two dates a month, with lists like this one for inspiration
20.  stitch a constellation on a sweater
21.  find a copy of this book: a Regency-era romance about a girl studying at a school for wizards.  I KNOW.
22.  hang my own painted galaxy on the wall done
23.  paint this on a window or on picture frame done
24.  start collecting all our ticket stubs from summer movies (since that's the only time we go to the movies)...and perhaps fill it out with other little items from places we go

*revised items

22 + 23

+

[projects guided/inspired by Moorea Seal and Amanda Wright, respectively]

Link With Love

You might notice a new button on the sidebar.  I had it up awhile ago, but must've deleted it in a layout shuffle at some point.

This post from {AV} of Long Distance Loving got me started on a little Pinterest clean up project.  I have been checking sources slowly but surely, and making a point to only repin images for which I can find original sources.  For those ideas I love that lack an original source or link to a source marked as unsafe/spam/etc., I've created a secret board so I can keep the ideas without contributing to the problem of bad links and stolen images.

This is what happens when you haven't found a job for the summer yet...

Grace

These words from Ann Voskamp* arrived in my inbox the other day, but I only read them this morning:

Every ungracious moment means someone doesn’t understand grace.

And I thought, this all makes sense.  When we don't understand grace, when we haven't been able to receive it--from others, from God (or whatever we believe in), from ourselves--then how can we be fully gracious?  

And then I thought, what kind of grace do I need to give myself so that I can extend it to others?

It reminds me of those words I've stumbled across a few dozen times: be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.



*you may notice I reference Voskamp a lot--it is because I connect to her words in a way I haven't found in faith writing in a long time.  also, I fall for her words because she is a poet even in her prose.  the whole post, though it's more like a journal, really, can be found here

[image of downtown Louisville, looking out from The Henry Clay, where my best friend got married on the first of June in a ceremony full of grace and joy and crazy gorgeous flowers...and a heart-swelling sunset outside.]

Summer

I spent the last semester working as a sub/floater at the Alfred Binet* School, a public school that serves students with multiple disabilities.

The job was tiring, messy, and also exceptionally fun.  When kids smile--little or big--my heart swells.

And even though I have never worked with special needs students before, I found myself figuring it out with the help of many kind teachers and assistants.

Now that the school year is over, I don't know if I'll be returning in the fall or if I'll begin subbing as a teacher, rather than as an assistant.  And I realize that I'm going to miss those kids and my colleagues so much this summer.  I'm not sure when, but I'll definitely be paying them a visit, even if I don't work there.  Some of the kids might not remember me, but I'll remember them and I can't wait to see how they've grown.

(pronounced bih-'ney; named for this psychologist)