cranberry bliss.

...text message from sara, 1:52 pm this afternoon:

Bought the stuff to make cranberry bliss bars!
Should smell blissful when you get home :-)

oh my yes. I wish you could smell this.


as much as I love coming home to chill, coming home to family, warmth, lights...and the smell of baking, is the best!

(thank you sara, it's wonderful!)

tuesday unwrapped.

...treasuring this morning moment for two reasons:

first, that brilliant cardinal red is seen best against the neutral landscape and bare trees of winter. I don't really think of winter as a pretty season, but it is. beautiful.

and second, I was already late for work (spent a few extra minutes on my hair, ugh!), but I saw the bird as I was backing out the driveway and knew it could be the moment. I tried to take the picture from my rolled down car window, but of course I wasn't close enough. so I put the car in park, jumped out and gave that cardinal my best photographer moves... and I still made it to work with four minutes to spare!

again, I'm linking up with emily. looking forward to seeing what others have to share.

tuesday unwrapped.

...I first read about tuesday unwrapped yesterday on emily's blog. and her simple suggestion to

share a moment that may have otherwise disappeared... Instead, stop. Notice. And be thankful.

spoke to me. and I thought about joining in, but it wasn't until this morning when I finally got back on my normal dark-early alarm schedule that I figured out my topic. so no, this isn't a post I triggered for today. it's what struck me as I was pouring my second cup of coffee and it was only 6:30 a.m.

I had 45 whole minutes to spend with my journal. I came to my journaling habit just five years ago (a few months before I started this blog - yes, you could say I'm trying to make up for much lost time by having an extremely well-documented second half of my life!) and it's one I love.

but this month, my journal suffered my push for daily blogging (an unsuccessful push at that since I missed  last friday - you probably didn't even notice did you? I didn't either, until saturday!) I was pushing the daily blogging to see if I could...and to see how it impacted my blogging. back to my focus battle from september, I wondered if posting more often would make my blog better. more on that later...

because what hit me full-on this morning was how much I missed the time with my journal. blank pages I can fill with whatever I want. free to cut and paste (with scissors and glue, not the cmd key on my keyboard). or write. or dream. or reflect. in a way I do not do here on my blog.

clearly this is another balance issue. I love having this blog. having a place to share and connect with others is important to me. but so is having a personal and private place to do my own thing.

so this morning, I stopped. noticed. and was thankful. for the time I had to write in my journal. for the time to work through yet another balance issue (and this evening, for the time to write about it here!)

looking forward to linking up with emily today and for the next few weeks.