Ponderings: A Little Trouble

A New Space for Community

I've been working on a new project this week ... an updated website/blog for Teen Service Week. A space that past, present, and future volunteers are excited to visit, where we can gather to be inspired and remember the magic of the week. That will sustain us all year long.

Please visit and tell me what you think ♥

On Disappointment and Growth

I'm learning as I go that failure and disappointment, while it hurts so much, is a rich opportunity to start over. To pull out everything that ceased to grow, that was detrimental to prosperity. To be gentle with that ground, to nourish the fertility. And then ... in that blank canvas ... when you're ready ... 

plant new seeds.

Breakfast

Enjoy Our View

the stunning view from our sunroom couch ♥

Disconnecting to Reconnect

in the early mornings of this week, I've been contemplating the need for more simplicity in my life and in what ways I can introduce that change. after having spent the last week off the media-grid, so to speak, it occurred to me that I have an unhealthy relationship to technology. For six days, my computer remained disconnected and my cell phone was shut off. And in those days, I felt no anxiety. I felt full surrounded by the people around me, through quiet time outdoors, through conversations and prayers and communal meetings.

when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is turn on my computer and check my email. email and facebook is extremely anxiety provoking for me. I am filled with anxious energy coursing through my body ... knowing that I have a blog reader overflowing, statuses I haven't yet checked, emails that I might not want to read, texts that I can't keep up with. In every direction, I'm being pulled off my feet. My attention demanded by homes I won't have, negative articles and complaints on facebook that aren't fulfilling to my spirit, requests left and right that I may or may not be able to fulfill.

But connecting with people online is also of extreme importance to me. I miss those who are far from me and value to the social aspects technology provides. 

I don't yet know how to monitor and moderate this relationship I have to technology. I need boundaries, but I'm not so great at setting them for myself. I need time away, unplugged, and disconnected.

This week, I'm tentatively stepping in the right direction. It's my goal for the next week to connect with someone, to connect with nature before I turn on a computer. Walk outside, feed the chickies, water the garden before checking email. I need to firmly plant myself in my physical space rather than virtual space. I need to stop thinking in terms of facebook statuses and in terms of real-life conversations. 

I don't have any grand conclusions here except that it is needed and necessary. Thoughts?

Adeline is One!

a celebration of Adeline's first birthday. how I managed to overlook these adorable photos from a few weeks back, I'm not sure.

1. Uncle Warren and Auntie Jenny 2. Mama Kristen and smiles 3. Yay! Cake 4. Choosing academia on her first birthday

Kiss the Cook ... Or Else

photo by Rachel Bessony

A Week of Service

a slow and gentle Monday was today. I needed the calm introduction back into our home and our lives. It was exactly what I needed. I opened all the windows, unpacked our belongings, scrubbed the floors, went grocery shopping, and ran errands.

Jimmy and I slipped away last week to volunteer as adult leaders for Teen Service Week, a week-long retreat he's participated in for the past fifteen years. Hosted at Maria High School on the south side of Chicago, twenty-five teens and adults committed to week. Jimmy served as one of the Directors of the week while I was the co-homesite staff and cooked meals for the group each day.

I fully intended to be in the space for a bit each day in the quiet hours I had to myself while the team was away. But coming off a horrendous end of the week, I shut off my cell phone, closed down my laptop and remained unplugged for six glorious days.

Teen Service Week was founded on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and holds true to four pillars: service, prayer, community, and simple living. I spent a fair amount of time contemplating how I can best work more toward implementing this pillars into my own life.

The theme for the week was Beloved Community, something that I, too, must ponder. As I return to my home and ponder these thoughts, I'll return to share them with you.

Teen Service Week 2012: Beloved Community

Poetry: To Venerate

To venerate the land is to keep it alive

no matter the struggle for it is a labor of love.

To venerate the land is to make it lasting

and in doing so,

honoring the human spirit and the blessed spirit of all of nature

its intrinsic balance and beauty

forever benevolent to its keepers ♥

~Evelyn Grace Greer

via Beauty that Moves

Sunday Inspiration for Week of June 24

A mother's letter to her daughter regarding her and her husband's unemployment.

Novella Carpenter's essay, author of Farm City, "Why I Eat Meat."

Cheap Beer and Sparklers, an essay by Leesa Cross Smith.

50 ways to save money in your household right away.

Rough Draft Farm is my newest addition to my google reader.

pallet gardens

if we could reclaim all the pallets that are discarded in alleys, broken in dumpsters, and tossed into landfills ... every person could have their own garden full of vibrant greens. some shipping pallets are chemically treated, but others are heat pressed and once filled with gardening cloth, would protect the soil from the wood.

inspire us all to lend a radical mind to food production and change.

photo source

salads

how exactly do you prepare fresh salads for twenty-five people for six days?

your guess is as good as mine!

greens

just an early morning greens harvest ♥

Waving in the Sun

photo source

the daydreams of my ideal homestead always include a clothesline. a funny thought it is as I despised my mother's clotheslines ... the towels were too scratchy, my jeans too stiff. yet so many memories I have of running in between those sheets, hiding from each other amidst the sunning fabrics, our tiny little chihuahua napping on a basket of folded linens. the crisp corners achieved from an afternoon spent outdoors.

and so we add a clothesline to our tiny piece of urban land, strung from fence to shed. a pastoral, matronly daydream I have of my hair pinned high in a bandana, apron tied from back to front, laundry baskets and clothespins on hip. 

I learn that day in and day out, we just do. we make do. we get things done. a little bit each day becomes our way of life.

I love this way of life.

Ponderings: Wild Geese

you do not have to be good. 

you do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
you only have to let the soft animal of your body 

love what it loves.
tell me about despair, yours, and i will tell you mine.
meanwhile the world goes on.
meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

wild geese -- by mary oliver

Sunday Inspiration for Week of June 17

Soule Mama is one of my daily must reads so of course I was thrilled at a sneak peek of the Soule's farmhouse.

Ashley English's beautiful garden near Asheville, NC

DIY oreos and the cutest couple and their farm in Danville, KY.

Organic methods for taking care of common garden pests.

Yarn bombing call in Logan Square.

Canning tips from your favorite bloggers.

urban folk circuit on saturday

We have a splendid celebration planned for Saturday when we celebrate the final (for a while) Urban Folk Circuit market at 3 Brothers Auto Repair.

3722 W Belmont Ave; 12-5 pm, FREE, live acoustic music from Nathaniel Matthew and The Greenleaf Band

hella cute handmade crafts amidst the industry of an auto mechanic garage ♥

wedding clothes on the 4th

we celebrated our four year anniversary with a quiet picnic in the yard ... 

and then tried on our wedding clothes, of course!

four years later and we've still got it.

and then jimmy's parents brought over our anniversary gift. HILARITY!

Ponderings: Memory, Passion, and Hope

 It is possible to imagine marriage as a grievous, joyous human bond, endlessly renewable and renewing, again and again rejoining memory and passion and hope ♥

– Wendell Berry

Oh Heavenly Day

celebrating four sweet years since the gathering of our sacred circle of witnesses

my life, my best friend, my greatest muse

you make every day the most heavenly day ♥

our first dance song

A Handmade Business: Legalities and Inspiration

this day was filled with meetings, phone calls with the City of Chicago and lawyers, coordinating locks and keys, figuring out square footage and picking out paint colors.

it's all the things I've thought of for years and things I never dreamt of. stressful and exhilarating. 

the ceiling is gold, the walls will be jamaican aqua and white with hardwood floors. we get tons of natural light.

and what better way to wind down the evening than homemade chocolate oreo milkshakes by my redhed and a bit of pinterest inspiration?

photo source via DIY Addict

photo source via Farm7

photo source via my friend staci

photo source via a beautiful mess

Dichotomies: Business and Pleasure

I've been struggling with the dichotomy of being a small business owner and an aspiring urban farmer. The two seem to stand in opposition and given my extremely "black and white" nature, I trouble to consider them living in perfect harmony. As it seems in life in general is that one thing will always take precedence in daily life, be it family, work, or hobbies and rarely is there room for more. Luckily, in my own life, those seem to balance when needed ... one aspect slowing down just as the next is picking up.

As I find myself elbows deep in applications for business licenses, drafting consignment contracts, coordinating painters, and just generally freaking the f*** out, I've been taking pause, drinking cold water, strolling out to the garden to grant my mind rest, visiting our chickens, eating peas straight from the vine.

yes, these crisp, fresh peas may get me through June just yet.