a new season.

it's been another long season since my last blog and quite honestly, it's just been a busy time. i find when i feel really busy in life, often it is hard to sit and create original thoughts or even write down the events that are occurring.

to add to that, i found myself in a season where i never felt like i was able to completely rest. i didn't feel at home in the place i was living, a relationship ended that i thought was for the long-haul, and it made it hard to ever feel like i could just relax. i don't think i have realized how difficult those months were until looking back on them now.

and while those days were often exhausting, i feel as though a new season has been shifted into and a renewal has begun to occur within me. the catalyst: i moved last weekend into a home and into a neighborhood. this is a transition i was so ready for. i got out of a noisy and cold apartment and moved into a place where i can settle a bit. where families play outside. where there is quiet instead of beer cans laying in the hall outside my front door. what an incredible change and amazing blessing.

the place you live has an effect on you in a way that i was completely unaware of until recently. your home, the place that is your respite from the world, has the profound ability to create rest and peace or continue to further the stress that daily living can often perpetuate. this was a new realization for me and after a season of living in a location where i never felt able to truly rest, i am so thankful for this new chapter and season. i'm thanking the Lord for his sweet faithfulness in providing this opportunity, this house, this neighborhood to renew and invigorate my spirit again.

the week before i moved i also made a quick trip to nashville, my heart's home. it had been almost a year since i'd been and i was itching to get there. there is something that happens to me there. i slow down. i breathe deeply. i feel creative. i feel alive in a profound way that i do not in dallas. it is good for me to go there and i pray that one day i will in fact call it home. for now though, dallas is where the Lord has placed and kept me. nevertheless, my trip provided a time to breathe and begin to prepare for this new season. i read, drank coffee, spent time with my sister, and sat in beautiful locations like the one above. that was on the patio of an italian restaurant. enchanting evening. i returned from my trip ready to turn the page of a new chapter.

so here i am in a new house with renewed energy and hopes for what this new season will bring. i pray that it will be a sweet one with times of celebration, joy, peace, and rest. i can't wait to see what the Lord has in store.

colder weather.

one might think that the title of this blog is referring to the crazy snowpocalypse we've had in dallas over the last few weeks, but that would be incorrect. not the crazy snow part. apparently we were living in the north pole for a while there. the incorrect assumption would be in thinking this post is about that. it's not.

rather, the title is in reference to the latest song release from the zac brown band.  the song is entitled 'colder weather' and it has been receiving regular play time on my ever-changing playlist. the harmonies produced by these guys are unmatched...except for maybe by 'the rescues.' see a few posts down for the scoop on them. this song definitely creates the "i'm gonna come out of my skin" sensation that communicates to me that a song is a winner.

enjoy.

p.s. the rescues...their music...or a few bandmates will be appearing on 'glee' next tuesday. you don't want to miss it. you're welcome for the heads up.

deciphering me.

on this warm, bright day i decided to take to the katy trail and pound it out on the pavement. the mission was two-fold. get some exercise and spend some time with jesus. as i walk and have my music turned up, the Lord speaks more clearly than most other times to me. and i needed to hear from him today.

so i set out, began to walk, and turned the music up. as the sun poured out gently and generously and the wind broke forth cautiously at times, the comfort and gravity of the Lord's love for me enveloped my entire being. i could have walked for hours to continue to walk in that space and time of clarity, knowing on a deep level that i am loved and held in that love by something that is not any of my doing, but only by his. i am known and anchored by he who created me and that is the most comforting thing i can think of.

the musical conduit that the Lord used to communicate this message was the australian voice of brooke fraser. her songs 'shadowfeet' and especially 'deciphering me' powered my steps and moved my mind as i walked in the light of the afternoon.

the rescues.

i love music. a life without music is a little bit like life without oxygen for me. it's what moves my soul, fills me up, and stirs my affections for Jesus. music lifts and energizes and refreshes me.

so when i find a band, a singer, or a specific song that is legit and lights out fantastic, i get super excited and usually begin to herald said band, singer, or song to anyone who will listen.

so let me continue to herald. if you haven't heard of the band 'the rescues,' allow me to introduce you. they are rob giles, gabriel mann, kyler england, and adrianne gonzalez. and they are the bomb. buy their album. go to their shows. help them keep making this beautiful sound.

enjoy.

hello again.

well, it's been a while. that is partially due to my internet going out at my house (i loathe you, time warner) and partially due to the overwhelmingly busy season that has been the last several months of my life. while it's been fun, it has left me worn out, tired, and having had little time to write and blog.

one super notable thing happened in my blogging absence. you all know of my love of shauna niequist's writing and how i kind of wish we could be besties. yes. so she came into town to do an event with us at irving bible church! it was such a special night getting to hear her thoughts and ideas about writing, motherhood, and bittersweet seasons. i was struck by just how open, honest, and comfortable she seems in her own skin. completely look up to her and if she lived in dallas would be stalking her to just absorb as much wisdom as i could.

i was also impressed because not only did she remember prior conversations that we'd had, but she remembered my sister's name. she met my sister 2 years before. 2 years. that's impressive, people. i already knew she was legit, but that just confirmed it. you rock, shauna.

here's a photo from the evening:

speaking of shauna, she is quite frequently posting book lists of things she has recently read that i always find really helpful when making trips to the bookstore. so here's what i've been reading over the past year:

hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet 
by: jamie ford
loved this one. set in the pacific northwest during the time of the japanese internment camps of WW2, this is a sweet and innocent love story between a chinese boy and a japanese girl and how the prejudice of the period affected their relationship. ford is a good writer, evoking a very real sense that i was in seattle while i was reading. love that.

the help
by: kathryn stockett
again, LOVED. told in 3 separate female voices during the 60's in mississippi, the tension from the race riots is palpable. a must read.

the girl with the dragon tattoo
by: lars stieg
i read this whole series in the matter of a couple months. they are compelling. lisbeth salander is an incredibly complex, interesting character that is not often found.

the secret garden
by: frances hodgsen burnett
honestly, i liked the movie better. and that never happens. this just felt really repetitive in its describing the garden and all the plants. i'm not a big fan of naturalism writing and this proved why. no thanks.

the bell jar
by: sylvia plath
hmmm...it took me almost a year to get through this one. i think that means i didn't love it. while esther greenwood is a compelling character, i just never really connected with the story.

twilight
by: stephanie meyer
i resisted this for so long, but finally gave in when a co-worker that is a reader told me to read them. while i will submit that the plotline is an addicting one, the writing was not the best. sorry, stephanie meyer. it wasn't. yell at your editor a little bit.

found art
by: leanna tankersley 
i think i went into this one with unfair expectations. i expected her to be shauna and to have the same voice because the genre is similar. when she didn't, i was disappointed, but i think that's my fault. leanna is a good writer and has interesting stories to tell, i just didn't personally connect with them the way i have with shauna's writing. fault is mine. write more, leanna.

bittersweet
by: shauna niequist
duh. loved it. you should read it. it's phenomenal. i actually read this a couple of times this year. and get excited...shauna's hard at work on #3. it will be titled 'bread and wine.'

that's enough for now. i'm reading 'life of pi' by yann martel currently. it's interesting. i think i like it. i'll let you know.