Listen here

When I first heard this song I thought of Josh right away. It describes who we are to each other. As a lover of boats, water, and sand, I knew he’d appreciate the metaphors. So, I post it here in honor of his 30th birthday.
I love you, old man.

If you were a boat, my darling
A boat, my darling
I’d be the wind at your back
If you were afraid, my darling
Afraid, my darling
I’d be the courage you lack

If you were a bird, then I’d be a tree
And you would come home, my darling, to me
If you were asleep, then I’d be a dream
Wherever you are, that’s where my heart will be

Oh, do you know we belong together?
Oh, do you know my heart is yours?

If you were the ocean, I’d be the sand
If you were a song, I’d be the band
If you were the stars, then I’d be the moon
A light in the dark, my darling, for you

Words and music by Dave and JJ Heller

On Saturday, despite snow and a little ice, we met up with some friends of ours at Lancaster’s Central Market. After we’d walked around and made our purchases (Lady Gray loose tea, honey, and Pequea Valley Farms Yogurt–so delish!) we headed to the Fractured Prune.

It was the perfect place for a cold snowy day. The donuts are made to order, so they come out fresh and hot. Slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, you can concoct your own creation or order a specialty donut like I did: French Toast (a maple glaze with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar).

The have multiple locations, so you might want to check if one is near you! A perfect outing on a winter day!

(Serves 4)

1/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 Tsp. instant coffee powder or granules
1/8 Salt
1 C. water
1 stick cinnamon (if I don’t have a stick I just sprinkle some powdered cinnamon in)
2 C. milk
1 C. half-and-half
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

In a 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa, instant coffee, and salt. Stir in water; add cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes

Add milk and half-and-half to cocoa mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.

Mix in vanilla and cloves; remove cinnamon stick; beat until foamy, then serve.

One of my favorite Jane Austen quotes–perfect for a homebody like me–became one of my favorite Christmas gifts.

You can get one too at this delightful Etsy store.

I’ve been listening to the newest Sara Groves album, Invisible Empires. “Miracle” is definitely my favorite song (besides “Open My Hands”) on this project and I find it’s simple melody and profound lyrics so moving.

We all have experienced pain, of various shapes and sizes. And when we do, we can be tempted to bitterness and anger. But as this song reminds me that I can choose God’s grace and be a miracle instead.

Listen here.

Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
Quiet our hearts for a little while

Things have been spoken
Shouldn’t be said
Rattles around in our hearts and our heads

Let’s feel what we cannot feel
Know what we cannot know
Let’s heal where we couldn’t heal
Oh, it’s a miracle, it’s a miracle

Things have been spoken
Shouldn’t be said
Rattles around in our hearts and our heads

Oh, it’s a miracle, love is a miracle

Let’s say what we cannot say
Let’s see what we cannot not see
Let’s hear what we could not hear
Oh it’s a mystery, love is a mystery
Oh it’s a miracle, it’s a miracle

Let’s be a miracle

-Sara Groves

Wow, I’ve not posted a Multitude Monday post since before Christmas! Time to get back on track with counting my blessings. Well, I’ve been counting all the while, but not sharing them much. The picture above is from Christmas and makes me laugh. I thought it was an appropriate way to kick off counting my gifts this new year . . .

544. Homemade cinnamon buns.

545. Family pictures from our autumn session finally framed and hung.

546. Homemade pizza dough.

547. Earlier mornings alone with God. Thankful to find getting up earlier not as hard as it seemed.

548. A walk outside by myself.

549. The help of a friend to fix my knitting.

550. Despite not having a washer for a month, the kindness our neighbor to let me use hers!

551. That the washer was finally fixed! Never so happy to do laundry in my own home.

552. Finger painting, collage making, and play doh time to make the cold winter days fun for the boys.

553. Marble run fun.

554. Being able to order gifts online.

555. A delicious and hearty chicken recipe to eat and freeze for later too.

556. Outside playtime on a warm 60 degree day.

557. Lots of green smoothies last week. Almost everyday! Tried a new recipe too.

558. Revamping of photography business underway: updated my client contract, new questionnaire, start on redesign of the logo.

559. Everything running smoothly while Josh was away on a business trip.

560. That Josh came home safely.

561. Insurance to go to the dentist and get teeth cleaned and friends who will babysit the kids for me so I can go.

562. Extra finances to finally purchase a new couch and bookshelf from Ikea. That the old one found a new home.

563. Celebrating the pregnancy and soon-to-be-birth of a baby boy with a friend at her shower on Saturday.

564. Seeing Jesus more clearly in the Old Testament. Noticing even more how every story points to Him.

I never read sequels written by authors who write about characters who were not originally their own. It just seems so wrong to me, to hijack another author’s character and write books about them. I love Gone with the Wind but will never read Scarlett. I love Rebecca but you’ll not find me picking up Mrs. Dewinter. Nor will you find me reading the plethora of sequels by various authors to Jane Austen’s beloved books.

First of all, in most cases if Mitchell, du Maurier, and Austen had wanted to have written more about those characters, they probably would have. Secondly, it just seems like a horrible marketing act and grasp at fame by authors who want to make money off of another person’s character.

However, when I saw that Death Comes to Pemberley was coming out, I decided to risk giving it a try. And that was simply because P. D. James wrote it.

I absolutely love James’ Adam Dalgliesh crime series. I’m not one who usually reads crime, but James’ writing is engaging, pulling you into the lives of the various characters that people her mysteries. Also, Detective Dalgliesh has his own sad past to deal with. Her plots are interesting, descriptions intriguing, and characters fascinating. And I love that her novels are primarily character-driven, versus plot driven.

But, I have to say Death Comes to Pemberley let me down.

First, it took a very long time for anything to actually happen. There’s lot of background explanation. Understandably, James recaps Pride and Prejudice within the first several chapters, just in case you don’t know the story and have no idea as to Elizabeth and Darcy’s history. But, that creates a first few chapters that simply drag.

Second, because it’s about Jane Austen characters, you can’t help compare it to Jane Austen’s writing. And Austen’s writing just sparkles. Perhaps that’s an unfair comparison, but I don’t think you can help it. She’s witty and clever. There’s lots of dialogue and very little description. In this novel there was lots of description and very little dialogue. At one point I found myself wondering if any of the characters were ever going to have a conversation! And when I compared this book to James’ other writing, it felt stifled. Perhaps that’s because James felt like she was treading on sacred ground with these characters, she wasn’t being her true self as a writer. I don’t know, but it this novel lacked aspects that I love about James’ usual fiction. Instead the descriptions were flat and characters also felt like they lacked dimension.

Third, the mystery just didn’t grab me. I just wasn’t spellbound by the plot. I really didn’t care about what happened to Wickham, who was on trial for murder.

All in all, I’m sorry to say the novel was basically lackluster to me. I really wanted to like it.

Have any of you read this novel? What were your thoughts?

All over blogosphere people are writing about their new year goals. I wasn’t going to join in, however, a couple of people have asked me what mine are, so what the heck!

Goal writing has been something I’ve done since a teenager, because I tend towards being what Emily Freeman calls a “good girl.”

First, a recap on last year’s goals . . .

Focus on memorizing large portions of scripture: See article below for more on that.

Spend one-week finishing decorating projects: Done. You got to see the result in this post.

Write a book proposal on With Child: Meditations on the Meaning of Motherhood and/or Brown Eyes: I picked Brown Eyes and polished it and sent it to various publishers and agents. Nothing developed as far as that goes and I’m going tow work on developing more books to create a series and try again (see below, it’s a goal for this year).

Continue growing in technical and creative aspects of photography and pursue developing my business: Last year was my best year thus far for Danielle Jones Photography. I focused on growing my sales and offering more products.

Do a “Our Life” series posting one photo a week: This didn’t even get off the ground. Didn’t happen, unless you want to count an occasional post joining in with Soule Mama’s This Moment.

Finish 2010 Blurb Book: Done.

Date nights once a month with Josh and each of the boys: Not really. Sporadic at best.

Start a regular workout routine: Not so much. This has never been much of problem for me until having Sophia. But having a hard time this time around getting anything more than once a week, at the most.

Have boys finish learning numbers 1-20, alphabet, and portions of scripture: We’ve been pretty faithful in this area, starting a new routine this past fall to helped in this area.

So now onto this year. Drum roll please . . . .

2012 New Year Goals:

• Continue memorizing large portions of scripture (Just want to remind myself to keep doing what I’ve been doing).
• Writing goal: write a blog post once a week.

• Personal photo project: 12 in 12 (one family picture a month, inspired by this post).

• Revamp backend of photography process: website, blog, Lightroom presets to speed up processing, credit card payments on website (goal for January).

• Revamp visual branding of Danielle Jones Photography (goal for January).

• Writing goal: publish something in Thriving Family broadening my article writing venues.

• Writing goal: write two more children’s book to add to Brown Eyes to create a series (Summer Project).

• Create more one-on-one time with each of the boys.

• Start a regular workout routine, 2x a week.

So that’s it. I’ve already set things in place on my calendar to start meeting some of these goals. My main focus will be the photography goals for this month and exercising twice a week.

How about you? Do you set yearly or monthly goals? What are they and how do you decide to put them into place?

Every January I put on my list of New Year Resolutions: memorize scripture. And every year I fail.

I always attempt it; don’t get me wrong. I’d start memorizing a verse or two from a passage that caught my eye. But then the index card would get lost. I’d find it some months later in the bottom of console of my car.

Oh, that’s where that went. I should get back to working on it, I’d muse, holding a crumpled and stained 3×5 card. But by then I’d forgotten what I’d already memorized. Frustrated and unmotivated, the thought of memorizing scripture would fade away.

And then I’d pull out those resolutions in January and be reminded again. Memorize scripture. Right.

Continue reading . . .

(Image: Ungrind.org)

It’s that time of year. Time for the annual reading list. And I want to know what you read too. I know a lot of you also post your reading lists from the past year too, so if you do, make sure you link up at the end of this post. I know we’re all looking for great reads for 2012.

In the fiction department I had a much more satisfying reading experience than last year. My personal rating system:

* Mediocre
** Good
*** Very Good
**** Excellent

Fiction

The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton****
I like gothic novels. Strike that. Love them. I went on a Kate Morton extravaganza this year and read all her books. This one was my favorite. Mystery. A fairy tale book. An old garden. All is finally told as family secrets are unravelled.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows****
This book was pure delight. This witty narrative is told through letters but it’s not at all stale. The characters come to life as they share their war stories to writer Juliet Ashton who’s searching for material for her next book.

The House at Riverton – Kate Morton***
An “upstairs/downstairs” type of novel, the drama unfolds through the eyes of housemaid, Grace. Now, elderly, Grace thinks back on her younger years and the mystery surrounding a young poet’s death.

Ahab’s Wife: or, The Star-Gazer – Sena Jeter Naslund***
The author takes the reference to Ahab’s wife in Moby-Dick and fashions a life-story for her. Superbly written and meticulously researched, the story was at once gripping and disturbing at times. Sometimes I loved reading it and other times I got bogged and wanted to put it down. I ended up with mixed feelings about it. Not for the faint of heart in length or at times, substance.

The Distant Hours – Kate Morton****
A long-lost letter finally reaches its destination and causes Edie Burchill to peel back the layers of her mother’s history and her connection to the ancient spinster sisters of Milderhurst Castle.

In the Company of Others – Jan Karon***
I listened to this as an audiobook. It was a bit slow, but I love the character of Father Tim and joining him on his trip to Ireland. After a theft at the B&B where they’re staying and Cynthia has an injury, their stay is extended and Father Tim becomes involved with the family problems of Conors.

Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy****
This was a second read through this magnificent novel. It’s one of my all-time favorites. With themes of betrayal and faithfulness, love and forgiveness, death and life, it transcends time and is as relevant today as it was when first published.

Entwined – Heather Dixon****
This book was just plain fun. I listened to it on audiobook and was hooked. It’s a retelling of the fairytale of the 12 dancing princesses. It was a beautifully written fantasy and had marvelous descriptions.

Hamlet – Shakespeare****
A classic. What more can I say?

Stepping Heavenward – Elizabeth Prentiss**
This was my first free Kindle download. I used to own the book but have since misplaced it and wanted to reread. I like the fact that despite the fact it was written during the 1800′s it still comes off as being very real. The main heroine is completely honest with her faith struggles and failings. As it went on it got a bit tedious and didn’t always agree some of the theology presented.

Coming Home – Rosamund Pilcher***
This was my first Pilcher and I soon was sucked into English world of Judith Dunbar. This was another audiobook read by the lovely Vanessa Redgrave. The quality of the recording was a bit old, but still enjoyable. Looking forward to reading more Pilcher next year.

The Violets of March – Sarah Jio****
This was a fast and easy read, but one that immediately “grabbed” me. After her marriage ends, Emily goes to spend some time with her Aunt Bee on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. Once there, she discovers a diary that plunges her into discovering  a mystery in her family history.

The Seamstress – Frances De Potes Peebles**
Although it started off great, I found it ultimately tedious. The history was interesting as were the characters. However, in the middle it dragged.

Non-Fiction

An Ordinary Woman’s Extraordinary Faith – Patricia St. John****
This book has since been renamed, but is writer and missionary Patricia St. John’s autobiography. Just as engaging as her many children’s books, I loved learning about her amazing life. As a missionary nurse someone who reached out to many beggar children, I wonder how she had time to write all she did!

The Ministry of Motherhood: Following Christ’s Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children – Sally Clarkson***
I really appreciate Sally Clarkson’s parenting/mothering heart and this book is at once deep and practical. I constantly need to be reminded that motherhood is ministry.

One Thousand Gifts – Ann Voskamp***
I relate to Voskamp on many levels: her struggle with forgiveness and her strained relationship with her father being the most obvious. I appreciate her gut-wrenching honesty and her tenacious attempt to find God’s gifts in everything. Her poetic and almost stream-of-conscious writing is one-of-a-kind and can be hard to get used too. It lends itself well to blogs, but was harder to stay with in a longer book, I thought.

Speaking Truth in Love – David Powlison**
Good content, excellent writing. But I still got bogged down at times for reasons I’m not sure. I really appreciated the message, however, as I plowed through.

Faithful Women, Extraordinary God – Noel Piper****
This was a reread for me. I love biographies and this is a compilation of five biographies: Sarah Edwards, Lilias Trotter, Gladys Aylward, Esther Ahn Kim and Helen Roseveare. These women are so inspiring. And Piper ends each chapter by drawing from their lives and applying it to our own, contemporary Christian walk.

His Word in My Heart: Memorizing Scripture for a Closer Walk with God – Janet Pope***
This was a year of me growing in the area of memorizing God’s Word. This was the perfect tool to help me with that.

The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism – Timothy Keller****
There’s only one Tim Keller. This book took me a long time to get through because it’s got so much to think about. It basically gives a rational argument for Christianity. It’s at once deep and refreshingly direct in writing style. I appreciate how widely read Keller is and how he includes so much writing/arguments from contemporary atheists.

Currently, I’m finishing up Emily Freeman’s Grace for the Good Girl and P. D. James’ Death Comes to Pemberley.

Now it’s Your Turn

I want to know what you read. It doesn’t have to be a whole list like I did. It could even just be your one favorite book of the whole year! But do share. I want to do some good reading in 2012. Comment below or share by linking a blog post of your own below:

Click here to enter the link to your booklist post and view other’s lists…