Joyful.

...I hadn't planned to post today. Y'all have been amazing in your support; my family has loved and appreciated every single comment. But I thought today would be ... simply too sad to share.

I've never been so happy to be proved wrong. The sunrise was clear and bright.

The service was standing room only, a fitting tribute to a young man who touched many lives and will be remembered for his gentle spirit and his smile... joyful.

Late this afternoon we gathered at my sister's. PJ would've enjoyed the party. The food was delicious. And there was wine & beer and the company was ... family.

I"m sure he would've had a ball entertaining his cousin Charlie. 

and all of us.

In Loving Memory.

this past Memorial Day weekend

...my nephew PJ passed away last Wednesday. suddenly and unexpectedly. He was 22 years old. Needless to say, we are all devastated. But as I look back on these last few days, my heart is uplifted by the love and support my family has shared and by all the kind and thoughtful words from so many others.

His mom (my sister-in-law Lydia) said it would be good for me to share a little more about all of this here today.

His dad (my brother Steve) wrote his obituary and a very moving post on Facebook. My brother's words describe PJ perfectly. He embodied joy. Of course no number of words or photos could capture everything we love about him, but I do think these two boards tell exactly the right story.

For the service tomorrow, Steve and Lydia chose these six photos (in addition to the one at the top of this post) to highlight.

We have a long, hard journey ahead of us. Please keep us close in your hearts.

A Grace Note.

Yesterday afternoon, heavy-hearted for a dear friend's loss, I took Holly for walk down to the lake. It was a beautiful early fall day, not too hot, blue skies and a bright shining sun.

In the end, only three things matter:
how much you loved,
how gently you lived, and
how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
 ~ Buddha

A Grace Note.

...last week was hard. It started with a head cold that kept me in bed for more than a day, and then progressed through Marc's second shoulder surgery in four years and a second cancelled contract on our old house. By the end of the week, I only completed about half of the items on a relatively short and easy to-do list. And I thought a lot about grace.

Grace isn't about feeling sorry for myself, or letting a bad mood keep me in my pajamas, un-showered.  It's also not about having to be perfect.

Grace is about seeing the good while I acknowledge the bad. It's thinking about others more than myself. And mostly, it's about being a better me.

I was there for Marc. We have a 3rd contract on the house. I took a few long walks with Holly and enjoyed the slower pace. Blue skies and a fall-like chill in the early morning air didn't hurt either. Not perfection, but grace.

A Grace Note.

...my sweet friend Rella giving Holly one last snuggle as we said a long good-bye last week-end. Rella moved to Las Vegas this week for reasons that are full of grace and a strong reminder that family ties cannot be broken. I treasure her friendship and the love and laughter she shared with me and Holly. And who knows, this might just be the reason I've been waiting for...to finally see Las Vegas!

Grace Note(s).

...despite the silence here about this year's one little word, grace is still very much in the forefront of my thoughts, and occasionally my actions! The monthly exercises in Ali's class continue to both challenge and inspire me; this blog post grew directly from our July activity and this quotation I shared back in January.

In July, we wrote our word on post-it notes and then used those notes to prompt actions, record thoughts, inspire, whatever. I made seven grace notes and stuck them on my desk. Yes, grace notes - literally! 

For one week last month, I used those notes to journal daily about grace. Thoughts, actions, sounds, sights, words, dreams...I was amazed how easy it was to fill up the seven notes. I'm not using post-it notes anymore; rather, on a weekly basis I thought I'd share my grace note here.

finally some blue sky...on our walk this morning

Sam beside me and the songs of unseen birds make me look up and around, make me notice the patches of blue sky between the dense branches. Maybe this is what grace is, the unseen sounds that make you look up.  I think it's why we are here, to see as many chips of blue sky as we can bear.

-Anne Lamott, Plan B

(and a huge thank you to my dear friend Sandy for sending these words my way!)

Social Grace(s).

...whoa, I am delighted that so many of you are still reading - and taking the time to comment on - this blog! especially because I realized as I read those comments on Tuesday's post that I hadn't done a good job of letting y'all know what I've been up to while I haven't been here.

...on my mind | instagrammed april 20, 2013

yep. our Katie is getting married. next Saturday. I cannot give her enough credit for all the planning and good sense (and good sense of humor) and practicality and consideration and compassion and love that she's pouring into this event. but turns out simply being Mother of the Bride takes time. and energy. and patience. and composure. I am so very grateful that I have enough of these (most days anyway) to help. and most of all to simply be present.

Way back in January, as I was thinking about my one little word, May seemed so far away. I remember choosing social grace(s) a bit tongue in cheek. turns out it was the perfect focus. mind my manners. watch my tongue. and celebrate.

Katie and I met for a few hours this morning (after a 7am run...she's still my favorite running partner hands down) to review the final to-do lists and lay out the hour by hour schedule for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's a busy week (especially for her since she's not taking time off from her job until Thursday) but it works. I love that we're starting both Thursday and Friday with 7am runs and if all goes well, we have a bit of time each day to just chill. The planners in both of us feel much better that we have it all mapped out (and it works!). And I hope it gives us the freedom to have fun and enjoy. and to celebrate.

...so there you have it. not an excuse, but a very good reason! I'll be back soon. with photos. promise!

another month of grace.

...as in wow, it's March already and there's another prompt up for Ali's class...but before I start that, I'd like to share what I did for February.

Ali's prompt was to create a vision board. I was really excited when I watched the video back on February 1 and immediately spent a few hours poring through magazines and catalogs...but Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Southern Living, Traditional Home and Pottery Barn weren't as full of grace as I'd hoped. So I let it sit for while and even visited the bookstore and leafed through a few other magazines to see if they were more inspiring. Nope. So it sat a bit longer. Until last weekend when I finally sorted through all the pages I'd ripped and realized it really was enough. I blocked out time this week to get out my scissors and glue and just.do.it. I did buy a 16x20 canvas, but I had a jar of soft gel medium (from a few years ago; how it survived the scrapping purge is a mystery!).

I started by sorting the pile of pages again...a pile to use and a pile to discard.

the discard pile - I hated that the twinkle lights ended up there, but I couldn't find a place for them!

Then, following Ali's advice, I separated the pile to use into big images and words (and trimmed them all).  I arranged the images first.

And then adhered them. The soft gel worked ok on the paper, but not so great on the heavy cardstock. I ended up not being able to use that piece I'd planned for the lower right, but I got to use the twinkle lights instead (I was glad I hadn't actually thrown away my discard pile).

And finally added the words. Here's the finished piece.

I do need to get some Elmer's glue to clean up the edges (handily cropped smooth for this photo!), but otherwise it's done. and I will definitely do it again. I could see it being an annual process and how cool would it be to have a collection of these 16x20 canvases??!!

And then the intentions and actions I planned back in January.  February's intention was to accept grace, inspired by this verse

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. - 2 Corinthians 6:1 NRSV

working together. I wanted to dive into my Deacon Care Team assignment and start a Lenten devotional journal. and I did both.

My Care Team is Sympathies and Celebrations; it's a lot about prayer support and connecting with the congregation. I've written a lot of notes and a few emails and delivered flowers. I'm enjoying all of it (although I'm still getting used to having such a long prayer list...it has seemed overwhelming some days). I also volunteered to lead our Meals to Heal ministry (providing prepared frozen meals to folks who need them). The ministry has been around for a few years, but it's under-utilized (our congregation is nearly 1,000 members and we delivered less than two dozen meals last year). After a few discussions, I think all it needs is a good communication campaign and a little bit of Excel to track the usage. [if any of y'all have ideas/experience with similar ministries, please share!]  I'm glad I had this intention so early in the year...I'm not sure I would've said "yes" to another commitment without it.

For my devotion, I'm reading N.T. Wright's Lent for Everyone: Luke, Year C...on my kindle. This is my first experience reading a book like this, which I expect to mark up a lot, make notes, etc., without having a "real" book. So far, it's going well. I have a little moleskin tucked into the inside pocket of my kindle cover so I have a place to write notes, and I'm getting a lot more comfortable highlighting the text (I guess it's helping me get more comfortable reading on my kindle altogether). It helps that Wright includes the scripture in the book so I don't have to look it up separately. This is my first time reading one of his books, and I am really enjoying it. He makes it so approachable, and he has great insights to share. I've had a few aha moments and look forward to more.

and now I'm excited to begin a new month, inspired by the half-marathon on March 17th and this verse:

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.- Hebrews 4:16 NRSV

bold grace. train. encourage. run!

grace.

...my one little word for 2013. this has been a favorite word of mine for a while. I'm delighted it was the right word to choose for this journey this year. (I made the final decision in early December while I was decorating my word tree and that's the real story behind my blog banner for this winter!)

one of my favorite things about this word is that it looks out...and in. and I am really excited Ali has re-worked her class this year.

I must admit - the new prompt threw me for a (very good!) loop when I first watched the video back on New Year's Day. I was completely prepared to re-run the opening pages like I did the last two years...but no. this year we're journaling intentions - one for each month. and actions to support those. my original thoughts had been tied up with Princess Grace. and pearls. and it took me another week plus before I figured out how to approach it. and how the 18 cards that make up the spread could really come together.

another few weeks and I got more settled on the actions. and tweaked another verb or two.

one hang-up I wasn't expecting is that I de-stashed a lot (as in almost all) of my scrapbooking "stuff" before we moved last fall. and I was not going to let myself buy anything new to start this project. then my printer died and I almost bought a new one yesterday, but fortunately, Marc decided he didn't need his and now I have a new-to-me HP Photosmart C4480 and I am in love with what I can print myself. I just got the printer setup yesterday, so finally. I'm ready to go. ...and now a little bit later, ready to share it here.

this is actually the front and back of a single divided page protector

I am still using pearls.

but all the papers and other "stuff" are coming from this small collection of Anna Griffin papers and embellishments (plus a small piece of music, a stack of Papersource cards, plain white cardstock and a few other things I kept):

I'm hoping that, just like Project Life, having a smaller selection will make the decisions easier.

I assume the remaining 11 months of prompts will give me reason to share my intentions and actions for those months, so I'll close this month with the wonderful quotation that prompted my January intention - grace notes:

text printed onto a tag ... and mounted on a piece of the Anna Griffin paper.

My actions - pay attention to the details and smile!

grace notes indeed.