Town History

Nestled next to the original town hall in Salem NH is an old graveyard. 

Most of the headstones date back to the mid 19th century, 

not a bit unusual for a New England cemetery. 

I stopped by for a short wander yesterday afternoon.

It was a beautiful day,

and I was happy for an excuse to delay my trip to the grocery store.

Centuries collided as I caught sight of my shadowy self,

armed with my ever present iPhone,

on the side of an almost 200 year old tomb stone.

The irony...

I think this is my favorite shot from my short walk.

The vibrant, green sprig of new life

caught the light

(and my eye)

against the backdrop of this fallen head stone.

I couldn't help but be struck by thoughts of the cycle of life.

How many snowy winters and leafy springs have come and gone

since this dear Anna passed?

Hundreds.

With many more to come...

There were life stories carved into a hand full of stones...

...but most just carried a name and a date and, perhaps, the mention of a relationship.

As I was heading to my car,

the gentle simplicity of this stone caught my eye

and tugged at my heart.

I do love a good wander through an old grave yard.

Just as I love a good treasure hunt.

You see, as I wandered yesterday,

I was searching for the letter K.

Why, you ask?

Well...this year I've participated in a project 365 group on Instagram.

And yesterday's prompt was "K" ~ which was harder to find than I'd imagined.

Just as I was about to give up,

at the far end of this peaceful, reverent old place,

I found the Kelly family.

Once again, the centuries collided...

...and I got to share just a bit more about my new home town

with my little Instagram world.

Joining Kim and Kat

a gift that keeps on giving....

Our fourth of July was spent with very dear friends at a wedding!

Few things are better than all the fun we share

when good friends get together for such a wonderful celebration!!

One of my favorite gifts to give is a blank scrapbook.

I do all the decorating so the only thing left is to add the photos.

I made this book for the newlyweds so they'd have a place to save all the instagram fun!

Their hashtag?

Fourthofjoeleen

{fourth of July + Joe + Kathleen}

I hope they enjoy putting all the random shots from their special weekend into this album!
I sure had fun making it for them!

Joining Tamar for
The Good. The Random. The Fun.

I Heart Instagram!

Joining Tamar for

The Good. The Random. The Fun.

Lazy Daze

THE GOOD: It's Monday at 10am and I'm still in my pajamas. Long weekends are the best!
                     Waking up Saturday to a bit of crisp, fall air!
                     Roses. 
                     And late night rain storms.
THE RANDOM: Finding a BAT in our upstairs hallway at 10:30 Sunday night.
                          A BAT!!!!
                          The amazing news is that only thirty minutes passed from the time I called 
                               the police {non emergency number} to the time animal control had the
                               bat out of the house!
THE FUN: A long, lovely evening of conversation and laughter with dear friends.
                 Hours of crafting time just for me!

Happy Monday!

Happy Labor Day Everybody!

Joining Tamar for

The Good. The Random. The Fun.

Six Word Fridays ~ Drive

Spotted through a rainy windshield: One

steeple, worthy of a quick capture.

So glad the light turned red.

Missing: half of the Hancock tower.

Easy shot from the passenger seat.

I love my iPhone. And Instagram.

Spotted while heading home: car reflection!

Turned around. Twice. And then parked.

Anything for a "drive by" selfie!

Three Little Words

iPhone photo, Instagram edit

When my dad {the man who taught me how to think} suggests that I think about something...well...I do.

Let me back up a bit. At the end of February, I sent my dad the link to my project 365. This year I've been matching a favorite quote with a photo each day. When I sent him the first two months worth of quotes, I asked him if he had any favorites. He replied with a quote from an architect {which isn't surprising, since that's his profession} and a little challenge.

He wrote:

There's a quote from Architect Mies van der Rohe that has stayed with me the longest... 
I've found it to apply to so many things beyond the foundation for his Architecture .....

     "LESS IS MORE"

think about it..........I'll come up with others as I follow the blog.....

love,  

D

Later that same day, after getting his email, I was playing around with...yes, you guessed it...my macro lens. My goal with this little leaf was to get up close and focus on the pointy tips that defined its shape. It wasn't until I looked at the shot on my phone that I noticed the outline of the heart made by the veins in the leaf! By focusing on less, I discovered more than I imagined! The quote immediately popped into my mind, as it has so may times these last few weeks. 

In design, as in life, many of us long to simplify. 

And these three words are very helpful. 
I'll be thinking about them! Will you?!!?

Linking up with

Little Things Thursdays

and

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Wedding Weekend ~ Instagram Style!

Our Sunday began in a garden,
a simple time of worship with our friends.
Then off we went to decorate the venue - everyone pitching in.
A few hours to spruce up
and we gathered for the ceremony and reception...
a truly magical celebration of love and family.
We sent off the young marrieds under a flutter of falling leaves...
{beautiful leaf fluttering photo by Jana of Looking Glass Photography}
...took off our heels and cleaned up the hall.
Once back at the hotel,
dressed in our very best sweats,
we took over part of the lobby, relaxed together, shared some wine and stayed up too late!

In this month where we're focused on gratitude,
it's easy to feel richly blessed because of friends like these!

Home

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough,

and more.

It turns denial into acceptance,

chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast,

a house into a home,

a stranger into a friend."

Melody Beattie

My week has been full of crafting. 

Wreath making, framing, card making....

I'm loving it!

These "leftovers" are lying on my dining room table...waiting to find their place.

{shot with a little bokeh in the background}

I cracked open my scrapbooks and found a few pages that are frame worthy.

I've been gathering prints, decorating mattes and frames to get something ready for my bedroom.

Don't you love the burlap behind the prints?! 

Thanks to #PROJECTdecor

(check it out on Instagram or HERE)

I was inspired to try this by @becky_stevens.

Thanks!!

One thing I've done as I'm fussing with my decor,

is to group objects of like color.

It's been great to take what I already have and, just by rearranging it, make our space more beautiful.

I love neutrals. So I feel bad saying this....

but here is an ordinary color grouping.

We are renters, not owners.

This stove was purchased in 1989. No joke. We got a copy of the owner's manual with our lease.

Three of the four burners work. And I have been known to complain about it.

However....in true makeover spirit...

I scrubbbbbbbeeed it clean, bought shiny new burner pans...

and am pretending that I've fallen in love with it!

{and, no....my pots were not purchased in 1989...at least I don't think they were!}

My workshop space is also getting lots of attention.

All my displays are getting updated.

Don't you love the graveyard fence with the friendly ghost?

Would be great for a Halloween layout!

I truly love devoting time to my home. 

Stay tuned for more completed projects this week!

Sharing a quote and some #PROJECTdecor love

with Tabitha

And enjoying Scavenger Hunt fun 

with Ashley

In My Dreams {Bigger Picture Moment}

Before the coffee and the office and the errands, there was the awakening.
From a dream. From a nightmare?
It came early. Before the sun had fully lit the skies, I was troubled by the dream. My son had been hurt and had kept it from me. And the hiding of it was so odd, so off...so not him. As I asked him why? What had happened? He found my eyes and began to explain. As he spoke, his face changed and for just a split second I was looking at my brother. Then it was my son was in front of me once again. Before I woke up I saw my brother a few more times.
The awakening was unsettling.

After that there was coffee, and the office and the midday errands. All so mundane. So boring. But I had songs to carry me along....some instagramming to document the dullness....a note pad to scribble some words that would be written somewhere more permanent later...just a typical day. A day in which I fought for meaning. Struggled not to miss the beautiful and the Godly. As I walked through the light drizzle towards my car, the town green lured me in. So I slowed my steps and then stopped. Not to smell the roses...but to photograph them. And in those few minutes, the tension of the traffic, and the dullness of the routine fell away and I remembered to be awake.

Minutes later an email came to my inbox. A travel itinerary from my brother. He was making a last minute trip from Hawaii to Boston...to help see his son through a minor operation next week. When I called to let him know our door was open and his room was ready, I shared my dream. As we talked, we figured out that he had been online making his plane reservations around the same time his face had come into my dream.

Now - I'm not one to go searching for meaning in my dreams.
But if meaning finds me there, I'm not one to ignore it either.

Soft rain. Pretty petals. Faces I long to see.
I wonder ~ is it my job to find meaning, or simply to stay awake and aware as meaning finds me?

Sharing the Simple Moments that
connect us to the Bigger Picture
at Sarah's Place today.

#150 {Bigger Picture Moments}

I woke up without a headache this morning.

It's been four days.

And, in the grand scheme of suffering, this is NOT a big deal...but four days with a headache, a bit of a fever {and a few other not-necessary-to-mention ailments} was enough for me. Monday and Tuesday were both days when I could do little other than rest - even the computer screen hurt to look at after a while. So, when I woke up headache free, I was one happy gal.

AND, it's day 150 of my own little Project 365. Day 150! It is very rare for me to do ANYTHING for 150 straight days...so this feels like a pretty cool milestone to me! You see, I'm very good at coming up with ideas and starting projects. Less spectacular when it comes to fully completing things. Take keeping a journal for example. I'll start in, do great for a couple of days, then miss a day. And then feel like I've failed and need to start all over again. No, seriously. It's embarrassing the number of journals I have that are mostly filled with blank pages. Because they've been "restarted" in a totally new book. 

I think this mentality is, in part, just who I am. And I think it was ingrained more deeply through years of dieting....you know, you start a diet, do great {read follow it perfectly} for a little while....then you "cheat" and that turns into failure in your {well, at least in my} mind....and you have to "start all over again."  My project 365 was born from a desire to conquer this mindset and to push myself to walk {read get up off the couch and get more/any exercise}. And blogging had been something I had stuck with and totally enjoyed for more than a year...SO I combined two things I love {instagram and blogging} with two things I'm not as fond of {walking and daily discipline} to see if I could really start to see these areas of my life actually change!

So, you ask...how am I doing??! 

Well, I'm walking. Not everyday. But most days. And so, so many more days than had I never started this!

AND, I AM PUSHING THROUGH...NOT obsessing on days when I can't (or just don't) walk. NOT beating myself up if I miss a couple of days posting pictures and have to play catch up. AND, most importantly to me? NOT STARTING OVER.

As I woke up on this 150th day, with no headache, I went out to enjoy a short walk (didn't want to over do it and risk another headache!) in the fresh air. There were chirping birds and flowers and I felt like I could hear the movie music playing....you know, that sweet music that plays when all is well and the main character is feeling good about life! And I felt no {read not-even-a-hint} of panic or worry or defeat that I hadn't been out for a few days. Just really glad to be at day 150 and still be aware of and plugged into my project...so much freer than I've ever felt before as I've "tackled" an area of my life that I think needs a-changin'.  

And this is WONDERFUL.

Linking up today at
Peanut Butter in my Hair
to share our Simple Moments!

Instagram {A Bigger Picture Moment}

I really love instagram.

Because it's fun. Because it keeps me connected to people I care about.

But mostly because it allows me to capture moments - instants - that might otherwise

slip away.

Either I wouldn't stop long enough to take them in.

Or I might quickly forget them.

Ironically, "insta"gram has slowed me down...helped me to stop and take notice.

This picture says:

It's 5:00.

Work is done for the day.

You're outside and the air is fresh and the wind is blowing.

It says:

Your time is your own now.

And it's light - there's so much light!

Walk.

I'm reminded:

The sky is big - huge!

And so is God.

And He's given me another day.

Another day to work, breath, think, create, move...to live.

And I breathe in,

and exhale...

And I'm grateful.

Today I'm Linking up with:

Sarah from This Heavenly Life

Mama Kat's

Snow?

What's that? A few flurries outside

the office window? Falling only to 

remind us that winter's not over.

The season has been kind to

us this year ~ made up of
blue skies and warmish days...just
the bare minimum of wintry white.

I haven't minded that one bit.

This week's word: Bare