Lovely spaces. Beautiful places.

Isn't this so refreshing and cheerful?!

While it's sophisticated in style and has luxurious pieces,

the bright yellow brings a note of light playfulness and comfort.

Perfect inspiration for summer.

...Take delight in the spaces around you!

It's time to take my song back!

Not long ago, during some casual conversation with my husband, John said something that caught me off guard:  

"You don't sing anymore."

The phrase just hung there.  The accusation hit me like a punch to the stomach. ...I don't sing anymore?!  But I couldn't tell him he was wrong.  I really don't sing much anymore.  


Anyone who has known me at all beyond the last three years would be very aware of the appalling nature of this statement.  Those who know me well would be doubtful of its truth.  In my youth, I was a person who practically made my living out of singing.  I had been involved in choir throughout high school, studied singing in private voice lessons for over thirteen years, I almost majored in vocal performance, and I have participated in a variety of worship teams over the last eight to ten years.  If anyone knew anything about me, it was that I was a singer!  ...And yet, I couldn't deny John's statement.  My everyday life is not filled with music and song in the way it once so frequently was.  I can still say that I love to sing, but I'm not humming a tune through my day or belting out ballads at any given moment, which once was a very regular occurrence for me.
 
So the conversation haunted me for a number of weeks.  Where has my music gone?  How could I, of all people, not be singing?  Has the daunting job of housewife, mother, and homemaker really stolen the song right off my lips?  Perhaps this was the painful truth of the matter.  Joyful music has been replaced with mundane routines, exhaustion, and redundant preschool television theme songs (not the kind of music I really want to be singing throughout the day... I get enough of them already!).  
  
Next thing I know, I've found myself right back to why I started blogging in the first place:  Being a full-time mom, though wonderful, has the tendency take me on such an altering journey that I lose my sense of self.  I think this happens to the best of us.  That is why we hear of those women who have "let themselves go".  The priority of children has mom putting herself on the bottom of the priority list.  It isn't long before pajamas are our daily uniform, the make up drawer goes untouched, and we start getting our meals from fast food and the freezer isle.  I promised myself I wouldn't become that person.  Yes, some days it's okay to take a break and wear pj's or have quick easy meals, but may that never become the norm in this household.  I want to live life with more fullness than that.  I want to honor the person that God has created in me by taking on life with both arms open.  And in doing so, it ultimately benefits far more than just myself,  I do it also as a model to my children.  I want my kids to take pride in themselves as well.  They will only learn that from the day to day life that I portray to them during their childhood.
  
That being said, this all has motivated a change in my everyday perspective.  John often tells me that one of the reasons he fell in love with me was for my infectious optimism.  Unfortunately, the wear and tear of my day to day seems to sometimes soak up all that positive thinking far too much of the time. It's time to take my song back!
 
Prayerfully moving forward,  I'm seeking Holy Spirit strength to reclaim my song.  It's time to wake up in the morning and look forward to each wonderful, tiring, busy, and exciting part of it.  Why? -- because my Savior gave me breath today, and I'm fortunate enough to have the delight of my children's faces and the tender love of my husband.  That's enough to sing about by itself, and my life's blessings don't stop there!  Thankfully, that's part of why I have this blog -- to record and remind myself of life's little blessings.  
...They are all a part of Finding Me. 

Why I Am In Love With Autumn: Reason #2

The Colors!!

No need to mention that oranges and reds and golds are among my all-time favorite colors on the spectrum anyway. I love to dress in beautiful warm colors, I love to decorate with them, I love just about everything that has to do with these delicious hues.
  
The colors of fall speak warmth and coziness to our psyche. These colors make me comfortable. I love driving down the street and seeing all the colors of the changed leaves. Hues of fiery orange, rich goldenrod, warm cinnamon, and deep burnt red... it's like nature's poetry.

I especially love orange. To some it's an ugly color, to others it's extremely trendy. But I love it so much that I actually have walls in my living room and kitchen painted a rusty orange, I follow a whimsical blog called "How About Orange", and every fall season I like to invest in some wonderful orange accessory. Two years ago it was a fabulous fiery scarf, last year it was a great new orange top. This year, as my budget is penny-pinching, it was a simple, fabulous bottle of shimmery orange nail polish.

Perhaps the color of autumn will inspire you this season as well!  So wrap yourself in warmth, and enjoy these rich hues of nature before the sting of winter takes them away.

I'm Becoming Betty Crocker

I guess my nesting hormones have taken over, or something.  I think I also am constantly craving tasty baked goods.  Not to mention I'm always looking for another creative outlet.  


I've always enjoyed time spent in the kitchen, but lately I've been on a baking kick set into over-drive.  I just finished a cookie marathon practically, and in the last month I can't even begin to tell you how many different baked treats I've pulled out of my oven. Just a few weeks ago I made an orange pound cake, followed by two loaves of my very first attempt at bread:  Apple Blueberry Zucchini Carrot Bread (sounds ridiculous and overloaded, I know, but it was scrumptious!), and then it was a batch of scones and a round of croissant rolls.


But get this -- In less than a week, I've whipped up over four different types of cookies!  Yesterday alone I made two of the four.  What has come over me?  I got so excited about making cookies, that I started giving batches away to the neighbors and people at John's office. You'd think it was the holidays at our house. Yes, the nesting hormones are in strong and baked sweets is my latest pregnancy indulgence, I guess.

Though I must admit,  I am also very impressed with myself.  I managed to achieve all that baking while parenting my ever-busy 18-month old toddler (who is a bit of bull dozer to everything in her path right now).  Not only that, but I still have the tenacity to don my apron again next week.  I have two more baked treats in my queue:  Fruity Strawberry Bread and Savory Palmiers.... and sometime next month I'm already planning on pulling out my famous fall-time dessert of Apple-Pear Crisp.  Needless to say, this drive encouraged me to think that if I can be in the kitchen all day on my feet while pregnant and still enjoy myself... somehow (though I know the two aren't really related)... I'll figure out how to juggle being mommy to two tiny munchkins.  Everyone says it's going to be hard, and I don't doubt it.... but I know I can do it too.


So, out all of this big baking extravaganza, I figured I ought to at least share with you my favorite creations.  It comes down to two:  Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies, and Strawberry Rosemary Scones.  These two treats are so unique, yet wildly delicious.  I know what some of you may be thinking,  "Earl Grey Tea... in a cookie?  Strawberry and Rosemary... do those even go together?"  ...But I can't even begin to tell you how good both of these are! Both of these recipes I got from Food Network chefs and you can even watch videos of them being made on the Foodnetwork website. Both are also insanely simple. Perfect treats for a tea or a brunch or just for whenever...

Click on a link to make one of these bad boys!

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
Courtesy of Claire Robinson

Strawberry & Rosemary Scones
Courtesy of Giada De Laurentis

Eye Candy... For my creative soul!

So I'm an interior design junkie, and I love anything with beautiful textiles and fabrics.  Today I was surfing the internet for some curtains for our baby boy's room, and while these are nothing near what I am looking for for that purpose, I stumbled upon some photos on this delightful little blog called "Covered in Curtains", and I just had to share them with you.

I mean, come on, isn't that just a feast for your eyes??  I love the modern Indian vibe that both of these designs lend as well as the vibrant colors.

...It's just this kind of decadent stuff that gets my creative soul yearning!

Anxious for Autumn

Crisp, crunchy leaves, scarves and sweaters, pumpkin patches and hay rides, hot apple cider and homemade applesauce, warm colors and rich smells... 

...I have never been more ready for the season of fall to begin as I am this year.  Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, maybe it's the need for a change, but the anticipation is so intense, it's literally making me bonkers.

I love the fall season; everything about it and everything that it brings.  It is my favorite season of the year (save for that short month of December in which we celebrate Christmas).  Some of the best food comes in the fall.  The fragrances are the most delightful. The colors that are attributed to fall -- rich oranges, deep reds and browns, golden yellows -- they are all my favorite colors on the spectrum as well.  And I love busting out fall fashion and wearing cozy sweaters and dawning my scarves.  Just the warmth and festiveness that comes this time of year makes my heart dance and my soul sing!

It's been a long summer.  A long, hot summer.  And finally... FINALLY ...a glimmer of hope.  The weather forecast today finally reported temperatures in the lower 80's.  I'm ready to see the trees change into their autumn attire. I want to begin making my famous apple cider and take Charity to the pumpkin patch.  

I think part of all this anxiousness comes from the fact that I am already experiencing some discomfort in this pregnancy, and I want my favorite time of year to hurry up and get here so I can enjoy it while I still have some mobility and am not completely miserable yet.  I'm nervous that I'm going to be in physical agony a lot sooner this time around.

So, I know that Labor Day is suppose to be that sort of last celebration to bid summer fair-well... 
...I'm ready to ring in autumn.