Things of Beauty: November - December

November and December were months of longing and tears and deep God-given joy in life. Of course, all joy is given by Him, but this time I realized a new depth in it.


Very Favorite Things
Teaching our current bottle calf to drink from a pail (so much satisfaction!) and I did it while wearing my mud boots and 40’s trousers, which made me feel very neat and story-ish indeed). Snow on the rolling hills of Montana. Christmas lights strung everywhere around the house. Hiking in pine forests and along lakes with my Pappy. Visiting with family and friends of old. Putting up Christmas lights + decorations with my sisters, cousins, and my cousins’ crazy chocolate lab (So. Much. FUN!). Going with my Grammy and parents to visit and talk with my 103 year old Great-Grandma (she is one amazingly strong and fun spirited lady). Every day of that vacation was a highlight of my year, but that day was a highlight of highlights. :)


Reading
In one title... The Daughter Pays by Mrs. Baillie Reynolds. I sighed over, thrilled to, and stayed up reading that book until midnight (which is something I never do, if I can help it, but I couldn't :)). And oh, was it totally worth it, because I spent the next day in a glow of joy, which shows what a treasure of story it is. BTW: I picture the heroine almost exactly like Lily James’s and I really think she would be perfect in the role, hence the significance of the photo above!


Writing
I didn’t miss a day on Clarkson and Elise, except for one. It was the day we left my Pappy and Grammy’s, and I was simply so sick with sadness that I just plain forgot. Yes, I was feeling truly awful.


Out-Of-Doors
It felt quite different from other recent years. It was brown, chilly, and there was a height to the wind and sky that told of adventure.


Cooking
Stuffed Southwest Sweet Potatoes from Everyday Detox -- these are utterly scrumptious -- and my chocolate breakfast smoothie. It went through several variations during the year, but that thing was definitely my #1 most loved and eaten recipe of 2015!


(Re)-discoveries
Blogilates
I’ve known of Cassey Ho for years (literally, I first read of her on this post of Rachel Heffington’s) and I’ve done one or two of her workouts before. However, I first started doing it regularly on my trip. And fell totally in love! I completed the calendar for December and am now into January. Her workouts make you feel so toned and strong yet nicely sore at the same time and oh, am I relishing it.

And this is the big one…

Learning that, even while your heart is aching with terrible longing for one place and people you can still be perfectly happy and content somewhere else. That’s Grace for you. This is one that you certainly must keep learning over and over again and sometimes the ache leaves almost no room to think of other things, but grace flows on and that’s the miracle of it.

So that is my last collective for 2015!!! And I enjoyed writing all of them and your comments on them so much that I’m definitely planning on continuing them in 2016!


Comments

  1. Eowyn. That was lovely. Yes, "Even when your heart is aching with terrible longing for one place and people you can still be happy and content somewhere else." But what you wrote about "Sometimes the ache leaves almost no room to think of other things." I KNOW. Let me tell you, it helped SO MUCH to read that, and know I am not the only one. But yes, grace flows on.

    ~Rilla Blythe

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    1. Rilla Blythe,
      Thank you so much for commenting! It really helped me to hear that there are others who feel that, too and reading your comment truly warmed my evening. :)

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  2. What full months! Yes, this winter has been very different, hasn't it?

    And you pretty perfectly encapsulated the life of Christians on earth. Our hearts are aching with terrible longing for heaven, but we can still be (pretty) perfectly happy and content in our earthly home thanks to God's grace. Nicely put!

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    1. Hamlette,
      Most certainly different. :) And now you have your some three feet of snow! Do you feel like you're in a western story? :)

      Thank you! I must confess I wasn't quite thinking of that when I wrote it, but now that you point it out I see that it was behind it the entire time. :)

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    2. It was only 2 feet, and alas, it's melting fast -- by the end of yesterday, we only had a few inches left, and bare patches here and there. But it was delicious while we had it! I went out and played with the kids in it twice -- we sledded down our hill and built a snowman :-)

      So now I feel like I'm in a western story where the snow is starting to melt. Toward the end of the movie Rare Breed, maybe.

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  3. Ohh, your vacation sounds like it was so wonderful! And your '40's trousers sound adorable. :)

    After seeing your pinterest board for The Daughter Pays, I'm getting very intrigued about this story! I was able to get it for free off of Amazon (as a kindle) but I'm not sure when I'll get around to reading it. I currently have three kindle books waiting for me, and I've read only abut 4 pages out of one. -sigh- They're so much harder to read than a real book is! I think it's mostly because of the laptop screen. It bugs my eyes. :/

    Aww, I'm sorry you were so sad to leave your grandparents! I'm sure Clarkson and Elise understood, though. :)

    Oh, I'm so glad you're going to continue your Things of Beauty posts!! I love reading them. :)

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    1. Natalie,
      Thank you! It was splendid... but that isn't quite enough of a word. I feel like L. M. Montgomery has many golden descriptions that would encapsulate it perfectly though (so just imagine it as that for the time being :)).

      I don't usually like reading e-books at all, but when I do, I read them off Gutenberg, which is where I read The Daughter Pays. Have you tried getting it from there? The background might be a bit easier on the eyes.

      I'm super excited that you enjoy them too!

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    2. Eowyn,
      L. M. Montgomery's descriptions are so ineffably beautiful, that by referencing her you completely summed up how perfect your trip must have been. :)

      I have a book or two from Gutenberg saved on my bookmarks bar, but I haven't tried sitting down and READING. Thank you for suggesting that! One of these days I will conquer the e-book. haha ;)

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    3. Natalie,
      Thank you! L.M. Montgomery has a line or description or character or feeling for almost ANY situation so she is definitely one of my dearest stand-byes!

      Good luck on conquering the e-book. :) My father really enjoys them, but I've never been quite able to pick the tablet or kindle up over a good ol' in-my-hands paper/hardback book! So I quite understand your difficulty. :)

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  4. I've nominated you for the Liebster Award! If you'd like to join in, here's the link: Liebster Award

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    1. Faith,
      Thanks a bunch! I just love tags and your questions are so good I will be sure to put it on my list of posts to write!

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  5. That last point is so good, thanks for sharing <3

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    1. Olivia,
      Thank you and I'm glad you found it encouraging!

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