well, hi there

My, my, how time does fly! The past nineteen days have been filled with

a visit from a Sweet, Engaged Friend (pictured below)// Maria and I have been letter writing for some time and, as she lives quite a few states away, we don't see each other as often as we'd like, so it was a delightful treat when she came and spent a few days at mi casa (that's "my home" for you non-Spanish speakers). I just have to smile when I think of our letters this time last year; she hadn't met Her Bruce yet and we were probably going on about our lives and what we were thinking at the time, now she's preparing for a September wedding~ this is such a beautiful time of life. :)

time spent with my Amazing Sister and her Brood// Unfortunately, there is rarely a time when I don't miss my Dear Sister (today especially!), so the time we spend together is greatly treasured, and we do have a grand time. I especially treasure two traditions we share when she visits: first, grocery shopping---I love it! She's so speedy fast, breezing through the store and stuffing items in the buggy; we have some of the best times and conversations while waiting for our order at the cheese counter. The second would have to be our evening/ night routine; tall glass of homebrewed kombucha, a games of cards, popcorn, perhaps a hilarious film, and lots of laughing. It's a fabulous way to unwind and relax after a full day.

lots of canvas painting// A Sweet Family from my church has kindly commissioned me to paint name signs for their seven children (two down, five more to go!), and while I've spent lots of time decorating, embroidering, and painting, I have loved having this opportunity to pray for them and think about the blessing it has been to know this family!

knitting a hat for my Traveling Dad// Recently he flew across the pond to Wales for a business trip; I LOVE it when he travels to the UK, it's just marvelous. I love researching and mapping out places for him to see and experience, it's nearly as wonderful as traveling there myself someday. :) This was his first time to go to Wales for business and I must say that I was instantly charmed by my virtual tour of this truly British place; it has made it to my "I'd Really Love to Go There Someday" list.

staying up a wee late reading,// I confess, it's been QUITE some time since I've made it a priority to read; apparently I've developed a multi-tasking mind and I only make something important if I can do three other things at the same time! Lately I've come to see the danger in this and am working to make time for the simple things in life, like reading. The WWII era is perhaps my favorite in history; I love studying and readying most everything about it; a few years ago, I made an intense study of the holocaust, readying about different aspects and from various viewpoints, stopping only because reading about the Jewish children struck too close to home as it brought to mind my delightful nieces and nephew, I can only imagine how it must have been.

the happily engaged couple

All of that to say, 

I've been a wee busy,

and since my unannounced blogging break, I'm excited to start writing in this space again! I've started reading some new blogs and rediscovering some old ones and I'm officially inspired to make some wonderful changes to my shop and this blog. So, stay tuned and get ready for the ever changing adventure.