A long silence

I know there has been one these past few months.  And it will probably continue.

If you read this blog and are not aware, my father passed away on May 9.  It was sudden and shocking, and the shock hasn't worn off.   I'm not sure it ever will...

My friend just recently gave me a print of image below.  It has spoken so much grace...God is teaching me to have grace for myself, to sit with Jesus and mourn, and to learn how to be where I'm at.  It's going to take Him a lot of undoing, but it's worth it.  
Thanks for allowing space to make it happen unknown-Internet-folk.

beautiful poem

I have greatly been enjoying nature and being loved on by Jesus via his creation...

This poem seemed to describe what God was inviting me into.

I know who you are, I know who I am
I know the truth and the meaning of love.
God is singing within your heart
breathing inside your breath
more close than a hand within a glove or a thought within the head.
If you listen, my friend, with an open heart
you will know this declaration's true the Truth?
You forgot some time ago the surprise - the revelation's you
you wrote this poem yes, you
back then when your heart was filled with ecstasy
blind drunk on the clear wine of love.

Anyone know who it's by?

El desierto de sonora

Photo dump!

Let there be fruit

When my mom was here, she bought plants.  Cactus, more cactus, cassia bushes, and citrus.  Because of my generous parents, I am the grateful recipient and owner of 4 citrus trees. WOW.  I don't typically buy a lot of citrus at the store, but lately grapefruit and I have become dear friends, so I'm very excited about the possibilities.  In addition, I'm not sure if there is a more lovely smell in the world than citrus blossoms...so with the warm temps here in Tucson, the blossoms have started to go crazy.  Which is splendid because in the past, I don't know if anyone could kill plants faster than myself, so blossoms and life is a wonderful turn of events.  

Above is the first piece of fruit off of one of the trees:  a Bearss Lime. The typical normal sized limes you buy at the store.  Isn't it so cute!?  I'm trying to decide what to use it for, but I think it will flavor Pellegrino today as I live life to the fullest on Spring Break.

A treat from last week

He was Plush. One of my favorite artists! Got to see him with three of my favorite people. Only wish he could have played longer...get some of his music free here.  An impeccable album

Bits of school...

Pretty much the cutest thing ever...

It SNOWED!!! in TUCSON!!!!

The kids and I took a field trip and they were super excited to build telescopes. Thanks Raytheon!

The fam came to town

My mom, dad, brother, aunt and uncle were all in town, peppered over the last 3 weeks.  Lots of family = not much time for anything else!  We're not really "Let's take pictures of each other!" kinda peeps, but I did take these fun shots to try to immortalize things a little...

At Patagonia Lake - mom and bro

Visiting a screech owl at the Desert Museum

The mother!

The brother!

My uncle (mom's brother), aunt, mom and dad  (it was sunny out behind me :)

Mom and her favored horse sculpture

Camera+

I've been using the app "Camera+" on my phone lately.  It lets you adjust the exposure and choose where you want it to focus, which is super nice.  I still haven't really got the hang of it, but I took the same picture and edited it using 3 different filters.  

Which one do you like?

This is what Darcy and I were up to on a lovely Sunday morning...both enjoying the sunlight in different ways...

Plantas pequeñas

Estas son algunas de las plantas de la casa

Snapshot of the weekend...

It's been gorgeously rainy here in Tucson, but unfortunately my body seems to want to reflect the outdoors, and I've been battling with minor sicknesses.  Here are some snapshots from the lovely rainy weekend.  

the kitchen window with RAIN in the background!

the dog's wet footprints

she loves to chomp and bite at the rain as if it's attacking her

lovely friends on a Saturday night - aren't they so cute?!

winter in Indiana

Oh how I miss actual winter...

There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the forest
clothed to its very hollows in snow. 
It is the still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray,
every blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of twig,
is clad with radiance. 

William Sharp

Etsy: A Scottish Fling

I follow Etsy for just about everything- weddings, gardens, art...I just can't get enough of the design and creativity you find on their site.

So when I saw a link in Etsy Weddings called "A Scottish Fling", I HAD to post it! 

YES, PLEASE.

Check out the link. The photos are gorgeous!  Just for the sheer enjoyment of beauty and loving that someone in the world got to live in Australia, have their wedding in Scotland, and honeymoon in Iceland.  I'm not jealous at all ;)

From the Emerald Isle...

Well... Christmas Break is officially over, and the Irish lost the BCS Championship. Boo and double-boo. 

However, as a toast to Christmas Break and the Irish, here's some photos of a few yummy details of this past week. I ordered a vintage map of Ireland with my Etsy gift card (thanks Brother!), not realizing I was actually ordering it from Ireland - so cool! I had to take pics of the packaging when it got here :) It kinda made me sad, though, that the package had been to Ireland and I haven't!

Then, on the last day of break, I went to the Auld Dubliner and spent some quality time with Jesus journaling. Below was a gift from the bartender!

Yes, that is my finger. I didn't notice it was in the picture til I looked at them not in a dark pub.

PS - Happy New Year!!!