We are moving and I feel...

Coffee and watching petals fall with morning rain from courtyard tree.
Sound, comforting.
Site, lovely.
Sentiment, sad but hopeful.

In a few hours, our tree will no longer be full of bright blooms.  While I am sad to see the change, I have hope because that tree will not be bare.  It will turn a new and vibrant green. These last months, as we prepare to leave our dear friends here, God has given peace and comfort much like this sweet petal-tugging rain.  We have hope that our transition will lead us to a life no less beautiful than that we are leaving, just different.

Our three years here have been like a springtime in our lives.  God has taught us new and wonderful things about community, redemption, and justice.  So, I believe that God gave us this period of growth as a springboard for what is to come.  I am thankful and will always remember our beautiful time in New Jersey. 

Musical movies and shows and prose.

This week I saw the film rendition of one of my favorite musical plays and the musical play rendition of one of my favorite movies.

Les Miserables and Once

Christopher surprised me by taking me to see Once for my birthday yesterday!   Standing room tickets are only $27.00 and I highly recommend them.  The show is like an awesome Irish concert + drama and the story is so real and raw and good.  The characters are genuine; the ending counter-cultural or at least counter-Hollywood.

As for Les Miserables, I cried 5x.  The film is beautiful and deep and naked, undoubtedly one of the greatest stories ever written.  It speaks of injustices that are still prevalent today and teaches a lot about humility, love and grace.  I want to read the book!

veggies & birdies & music & coffee

Reaching for carrot shoots and loose potatoes on farm stands, pointing at hopping finches, watching where the folk music is coming from and bobbing his head to the bass players beat while sharing a fresh lunch crepe with me in a courtyard farm market walking distance from one of America's most beautiful college campuses.  I love being the mom of an almost-toddler.

Once the little guy, in his knitted bomber hat and dinosaur sweater, fell asleep, I strolled to a local cafe for some mommy time.  I read the Bible with a warm coffee between my cold hands and journaled: I recall 385 days ago looking from these same old buildings and autumn trees to my newborn and feeling joy bursting inside me.  This season marks one year of motherhood and my feelings have not changed. 

Autumn Is Still My Favorite

Warm nutella in a delicate crepe leaves little to be desired.  Especially when eaten in a 17th century structure next door to the Chateau Frontenac in the fortified city of Quebec on a crisp October day.

On our first official family vacation, we visited Upstate New York, Vermont and Canada.  Walking (and driving) through Francophone Quebec, we felt like we had hopped the Atlantic.  French dominates all signs and tongues and the fortified city is comparable to a true French village with its steep stone streets that wind between charming historic inns, shops and restaurants. 

And, truly, is there a better day of the year than October 13 to drive between the Adirondacks and the finger lakes?  Wow!  The oranges were brilliant, the reds valiant and the yellows literally neon.  Lakes George and Champlain were so still that we parked at overlooks just to listen to the quiet.

I feel refreshed. 

Simple Pleasures

Blue Eyes and I headed to the Rutgers Farmers Market, scrounged up every metal disc in the car and counted $4.03.  I tasted some sausage and some wine and a butter-toasted pecan then spent what I had:

Spinach turnover                                                                        $1.50
Ear of "picked this morning" sweet corn                               $.45
Wild flower honey straw                                                          $.50
Heirloom tomatoes 1 yellow, 1 maroon, 1 striped green   $1.50

We took our small meal to Rutgers Gardens and ate it under a fine tree.  Then we explored the flowerbeds, discussed the processes of photosynthesis and pollination (no, he didn't understand, but he's a good listener) and did some yoga on a grassy lawn.   I enjoy the simple things most. 

It's a Small World

Chris and I visited a little church in the little town of Mt. Vernon, TX last Sunday where my parents introduced us to their realtor.  Not far into the conversation, we made a discovery. 

Realtor: "Oh I was in New York City just last week.  Did you go to the Tim McGraw concert for service members?"
Chris: "Yes.  We were there!"
Realtor: "We went to.  We sat stage right in the Orchestra section."
Chris:"So did we." 
Realtor: "There was this adorable young couple country western dancing in the aisle near us."
Chris: "That was us!" 
Realtor: "Oh my.  My friend talked to the girl.  That was you?"
Heather: "You're friend is from Dallas, has short gray hair and glasses and was wearing a long brown vest and skirt?" 
Realtor: "Yes that is Judy!  I was sitting next to her!" 
Heather: "Yep.  I talked to your friend!  You were watching us dance." 

How random is that?  Haha.

The "adorable young couple"

I'm loving this!

The English supporting Fair Trade 

http://step.fairtrade.org.uk/

In America

http://www.fairtradetownsusa.org/

One Thousand Gifts Continued

In January and March, I posted lists of little things I am thankful for as Ann Voskamp did in her best selling book, "One Thousand Gifts." http://heatherpaiges.blogspot.com/search?q=one+thousand+gifts

Mrs. Masalin's list:
A double yolk
Popcorn popping on stove top
Heavy branches of snowy evergreens
Smell of rain on hot tar street

More from me:
29. Porch-grown tomato
30. Old men with British accents
31. Narrow cobblestone lanes
32. Watermelon seeds
33. Raining while sunny
34. Stolen sip of crisp Riesling
35. Manhattan in spring
36. Boston in fall
37. White monuments pink in sunset
38. Dandelions growing stubborn in schoolyard
39. Flying low over downtown at night
40. Pride and Prejudice
41. Gruene Hall

A Little Fall of Rain

Rain drops falling few, fat and loud. 
Circles growing on the puddles.
Afternoon sun shining yellow. 
May-green leaves like stained glass wet glow. 
Their shadows on wood floor dance. 
White walls yellow from floor's sun's reflection. 
All bright.  All shimmering. 
Tranquil.  Beautiful.

A Tree in the House and an Egg in the Bush

Have you thought about how odd American traditions must seem to foreigners?  I recall an Indian student at Texas A&M inquiring of me about Christmas.  "You cut down trees and put them inside your houses... then you hang things on them and store presents underneath?" 
I can imagine his confusion regarding Easter as well.  We have invented plastic eggs so that we can stick candy inside them then hide them in random places for children to find.  Why eggs?  And whats up with the rabbit?  I like our traditions, but when you look at it from the outside, it does appear quite silly. 

One Thousand Gifts

In January, I posted a list of little things I am thankful for as Ann Voskamp did in her best selling book, "One Thousand Gifts" http://heatherpaiges.blogspot.com/search?q=one+thousand+gifts.

I promised to add to my list:
14. Stained cookbook pages
15. Salon hair washes
16. Sweatshirt just out of dryer
17. Snow on beach
18. Popping packing bubbles
19. Geese high overhead and loud
20. New England in autumn
21. 18th-century stone fences in Connecticut
22. Rooster strutting free
23. First footprints in snowy field
22. Paper snowflakes taped in neighborhood windows
24. Homemade winter hats
25. Fast, clear-toned fiddle
26. Andes chocolate mint on hotel room pillow
27. San Antonio's River Walk on December night
28. Sara Groves and Jars of Clay lyrics

"One Thousand Gifts"

is a suiting title for Ann Voskamp’s biographical book.  She recounts her struggle with viewing God as ungracious and her mission to change her perception by listing one thousand things she is thankful for.  According to the back cover, she "beckons you to leave the parched ground of pride, fear, and white-knuckle control and abandon yourself to God who overflows your cup."  She "turns pain into poetry" and "gently teaches you how to biblically lament loss."  Her list has reminded me that God’s love for us is obvious even in the smallest “gifts.”

Some of my favorites from her list are:

Clean sheets smelling like wind

Bare toes in early light

Jam piled high on toast

Moonlight on pillows

Kisses in the dark

Frost’s first crunch

Kettle whistling for tea on a cold afternoon

Crackle in the fireplace

Wool sweaters with turtle neck collars

Toothless smiles
Suds all colors in the sun

I began making my own list, which I will add to periodically here on this blog:

1. Old leather boots resoled

2. Live jug band

3. A father’s happy tears  

4. Homemade pie crust with butter-- shameless

5. Snapping uncooked asparagus

6. High pressure warm shower in small, steam-trapping bathroom

7. Blowing bubbles in facial cleanser

8. Babies’ toes

9. Yellow light on white sheets

10. Winter-cool wood floors under quick bare feet in morning

11. Coffee aroma in 7am kitchen

12. Undercooked chocolate chip cookies

13. Cherry blossoms falling like snow

Birth Story Photos (a little late)

Our new little family has come home to Texas to see the grandparents for Christmas.  I found these pictures here on my mom's computer.  Click for the birth story and here for the story behind the flag. 

I'm in Texas

I had Dublin Dr. Pepper and BBQ for lunch then chili cooked in Shiner Bock beer for dinner.  Today was a good day.