Simple Girl

While we are in the midst of the advent season, I just want to encourage you to light a candle.  When the days go by so quickly that you can't even grasp them in your hands, candles cause us to pause. When our to-do lists seem unmanageably long, candles give us a moment to reflect. Advent candles have long been a tradition in the Christian church. They help us tell the story of the Birth of Christ. As Christmas draws near, the increasing candle light reminds us of the star that shown over Bethlehem. Our anticipation swells with each additional candle lit. While typically placed in a round wreath, I like to change our candles a little every year to keep them relevant with our lives. This year I took apple red pillar candles and put them in vases from the dollar store.  I wrapped them with green raffia and clipped some chalkboard tags (from Target's dollar section) on each.  I labeled four of them for each of the four Sundays in advent and marked the middle ...

When one doesn't blog for an entire month, her readers might just assume that A) Perhaps the blogger has passed away, or B) that said blogger hasn't done anything blog-worthy.  Well, I'm here to set the record straight.  Blog-cations are usually a result of life hitting so rapid a pace, that the recording of great (or not so great) ideas simply gets lost in the momentum.  So here's a brief recap of what I've been doing lately: I baked my mom's awesome carrot cake recipe.   I really liked the candied carrots on top! I celebrated Mother's Day. And I discovered that the key to looking good in a selfie is to have your kids hold the camera so you can hide in back. I took a walk around the lake and rekindled my love with chartreuse. I watched a sunset and felt the awe. We flew to Atlanta and I wondered, once again, how the law of gravity and the law of aerodynamics can coexist. In Atlanta, we did some seriou...

In Atlanta, winter is short and spring emerges eagerly: Cherry blossoms in February, Daffodils in March, then Dogwoods, Forsythia, and by April, cotton white Pear Trees line the boulevards and driveways of every thoughtfully planted place.  By May, the only spring blossoms remaining are the giant, white magnolia flowers with their far-reaching sweet aroma. In Minnesota, winter holds a tighter grip. The wind whips across the frozen lakes. Springs teases us with momentary warmth and then blankets us once more with snow. But the sounds of winter and spring are quite different. Winter echoes and crunches. Spring, in a day, becomes deafening as the frogs emerge from their slumber. Ice on the lake slushes like a giant, five-mile big gulp held in the earth's hand. I took this picture in front of our house on Monday. Yesterday was the official Lake Ice Out.  I think spring has finally sprung! Rachel

Summer is half over.  Can I whine just a little?  Okay.  Here it is.... WAAH!!!!  I'm not whining out of regret.  I'm whining because I love it so much.  I love sleeping in, walking barefoot and shopping at the Farmer's Market. I love grilling dinner (i.e. watching the hubby grill dinner), eating on the patio and growing tomatoes. I love picking rhubarb, concerts on the lawn and watching the sunset. Here's some of the things I loved this week: Strawberry Picking With the Cousins .  It's one of my favorite things to do during the summer: driving out into the middle of nowhere on curvy roads, passing tall silos and red barns. Fresh picked strawberries present unlimited possibilities:  Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Scones and, of course, Fresh Strawberries!  Just the smell of fresh strawberries makes me believe that I could have been happy as a farmer.  The girls agree. Another Anniversary. Nineteen Ye...

My High Schooler had half days this week due to finals, which left me with even more than the usual trips to school.  I didn't complain. He'll be driving soon, and all that precious time in the car together will be gone. Forever. All those one on one conversations. All those glimpses into his day..... ME:  How were finals? HIM:  Great!  I cleaned out my locker.  Do you know what I found at the very bottom? ME:  Food? HIM:  Yes.  A Slim Jim. ME:  Was it in the wrapper? HIM:  Yes. ME:  Did you eat it? HIM:  Yes.  Do you know what it tasted like? ME:  What? HIM:  Freedom. I get it.  The last bite out of the locker tastes like the first bite of summer. I love my baby boy! Happy Summer, Everyone!

Dear Mom, Now that I have kids of my own, I realize that it would take more than a lifetime to repay all that you've done for me. And now that I'm a mom, I realize that you wouldn't want me to try. But I do want you to know how much I appreciate all the things that you've done to shape me, to train me, to love me. Thanks for taking care of me when I got hurt and making me feel that everything would be OK.  You are still "Nurse Grandma", a role I will never be able to fill.  Thanks for teaching me to sew and for making me rip apart the imperfect seams.  I'm pretty sure I didn't thank you for that in the moment, but it taught me the importance of taking the time to do things right.  Thanks for teaching me how to make things grow. Your garden is the perfect example of how you take the time to nurture. Thank you for passing on your "simple aesthetic." I am still learning how to make life simpler.  So often it makes life better.  ...

I woke up Tuesday morning and realized and that I live in Narnia -  where it's always winter but never Christmas. Except for the Christmas part.   In fact, in some yards, Christmas decor still lingers.   Imbedded in ice and snow, it remains impossible to remove! This is what April snow is all about.  It's not some wispy flurry that melts before it is discovered. It's sticky and strong.  It takes down power lines and branches. Despite our protests for spring, it's hard to be mad at a snow that so carefully encrusts itself onto anything that stands still but for a moment. It's the final affair of winter and if we're wise we savor its final gaze. Goodbye, winter. Hello spring!

It's my birthday today and I guess God knows I like a little frosting. The way I see it, we have two choices. We can complain about the negative. Or embrace the positive. And I am thankful for all of you! Thanks to all of you for being a such a great source of encouragement and inspiration! You make my life a better place! xo Rachel

It's election day.  Did you vote?  I did. And for the first time ever, I actually did some research.  I looked up information on those running for County Offices, City Offices and Judges.  You know, that long list of offices that follow the presidential candidates, the senatorial candidates and the state representative candidates? That list that contains people of whom you have never heard?  I looked them up.  I even printed out the long versions of the proposed constitutional amendments along with commentary on how they might affect our lives. So why do I suddenly care so much?  Why, having voted in every major election since I was 18, am I actually doing my homework?  It's because I had an epiphany.  As I watch this country shift away from the roots of its founding fathers, I am reminded of the Israelites.  In the early days, they had no king, only judges.  As they looked at the countries around them, they became dissatis...

I was flying from Minneapolis to Atlanta yesterday on a bargain flight which my husband found on short notice.  It involved commuter jets and layovers, but it was cheap and I was happy to oblige.  The airplanes were small.  You know the kind.  Two seats smushed together on each side of a teeny tiny aisle in which no two humans could possibly pass.  Only seventeen rows from front to back.  These planes aren't bad on puddle jumping flights, but the leg of Chicago to Atlanta was pushing two hours. I boarded the plane and noticed a very large woman sitting in my row, across the aisle.  And by large, I mean that I wasn't sure if she was actually able to put the arm rest down between the seats.  Her grayish blonde hair was swept back into a ponytail.  Even though it was the middle of summer, she wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, white T-shirt and jeans.  It was obvious from her dress that she just wanted to blend in.  Her face was p...

I love my little baby.  She's kind.  She's peaceful.  She's shy.  She's quiet.  She didn't say a word in class for the whole first half of her kindergarten year.  But she LOVES cheerleading.  Every time I would wake her up on a game morning and help her on with her cheerleading outfit, she would say, "Is today the day we get our trophies?"  "Not today," I would reply, "But soon!"  This was our routine conversation for most of the basketball season.  Finally, yesterday morning, I woke her up and said, "Ella, today is the day you get your trophy!"   During the awards, my shy little girl walked up on stage to accept her prize. I think she was happy.  I think she was very, very happy.   I think that inside that quiet little girl is a comedian or some type of performer just waiting to come out. Can you see all that personality? That's my baby and her big sister, growing up WAY to fast!

Today is January 6th - the twelfth day of Christmas.  So while my punctual neighbors might think that my decorations have been up much too long, this delinquency, in my opinion, is completely justifiable.  The twelfth day of Christmas marks Epiphany - a day which recognizes the wise men's visit to see the baby Jesus. I sit and think about the wise men as I carefully take down the nativity - one of my favorite Christmas decorations. Then I think about my grandparents. The nativity set used to belong to them.  It's not fancy or gilded. It won't be making an appearance on Pawn Stars anytime soon.  It's simple.  Just like they were. The box which stores the nativity is carefully wrapped in paper.  Although the edges have begun to tear, I choose to repair it rather than replace it.  The wrapping tells part of the story - how, in my grandparent's lives, nothing was ever wasted. Wrapping paper was carefully removed from packages with a pock...

We've been spending the past week up in Minnesota with family - and NO SNOW!  The temperature has been above freezing, with one day hitting a record 52 degrees!  Finally, as the New Year approached, some giant fluffy flakes fell from the sky.  We sent the kids outside in the dark to stick out their tongues, make snow angels, and enjoy the delightful wonders of winter.  A white blanket of snow ushered in a New Year. Thanks so much for joining me this year. I appreciate all of your kind comments! Wishing you a year filled with childhood wonder! xo Rachel

I woke up this morning in a full blown panic. It suddenly occurred to me that, despite the fact that it was only November 27th, there was no way in the world I could get everything done before Christmas.  Nutcracker performances, school concerts, Sunday School plays, piano recital, three sports schedules, piano lessons, room mom, ballet, luncheons and women's events loomed before me, not to mention the inevitable decorating, shopping and Christmas cards!  I'm not sure, exactly, how this fall got away from me, but it did.  My self-imposed deadline of all gifts bought, wrapped and shipped by Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I haven't even started! As I paused to look at the calendar, I was reminded that today is the first Sunday in Advent.  I took a deep breath, and decided that even if I got nothing else done, I would make something meaningful:  An advent wreath centerpiece. I love to keep our advent wreath on the kitchen table. This is our prominen...