A Wildwood Story

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” -Dumbledore

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5 Things I’ve Been Working on in March

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This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links, I may receive a {very small} commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! It means the world and a bag of dark chocolate to me.

You know I love a good list! Here are my top 5 focus areas for March….

∇ Getting up early. It’s hard for me to find space during a busy day of homemaking & homeschooling to have my own quiet and writing time. This past week I’ve been getting up between 5-5:30 am which is rather brutal for me. I’m not really a morning person OR a night owl-I’m a sleep person! However, I’m really appreciating the quiet and stillness of our small house during those hours before everyone starts the day. Not only am I getting myself all put-together and ready, I’m making the time for meditation, prayer, journaling, and writing. I’m willing to sacrifice some sleep to make it happen, but it’s not easy for me! As part of my devotions, I’m using my friend Ruth’s lovely book, GraceLaced-Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart.

∇ One-on-one reading time with my youngest, Drew. I’m reading aloud A Wrinkle in Time to everyone, which we all enjoy so much, but Drew has long requested permission to finish the Harry Potter series (up till now I’ve only allowed him to read the first few books) and this is a way we can enjoy them together and I can help him process through the last and most difficult books. We just started Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and usually read together snuggled on the couch with a good cup of tea or in my bed with a fluffy blanket before nights out.

∇ Exercising and being more active in general. Along with rising early during these dark winter and early spring days, being outside in the cold isn’t my favorite! I’d much rather be glued to a leather coffee shop chair reading the hours away. As I mentioned in this post, I’ve been doing yoga 2-3 times weekly and now I’m being purposeful about adding in more activity in general. Even little things like parking at the far end of the Target parking lot so I can get some extra walking in! I am becoming an Exercise Person and shocking myself at the change.

∇ Saying “yes” more to my kids. Sometimes I feel like I say “no” more than is necessary, so I’m trying to stop and ask myself: How much does {fill in the blank} really matter in the big picture? Is it worth saying no, and if so, why? What will saying yes mean for my child? Saying yes has meant more time spent with friends as our schedule allows, letting them listen to the music of their choice as long as it fits within our family values (which means I’ve heard a lot more rap lately, ha!), deciding their own haircuts and styles, and making creative messes in the kitchen and around the house.

∇ Self-care. Everybody is talking about it these days; it’s a topic on trend and honestly, one I find a lot of value in and enjoy discussing. For me this has included working with a functional medicine doctor, consistently taking my list of prescribed supplements in order to address some deficits in my health, focusing on getting enough sleep, drinking more water, and in general engaging in things that feed my soul (this ties in with the first thing on my list!). Also, dark chocolate because #life.

Here is my last list of 5 things I’ve been working on. What about you? Anything on your list for this month?

Photo by Silvia Agrasar on Unsplash

What is Saving My Life Right Now

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This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links, I may receive a {very small} commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! It means the world and a cozy winter afternoon to me.

Remember that thing called SUMMER? It feels like a myth to me right now. The vaguest of dreams. These depictions of January by cartoonist Rox Chast pretty much sum up all my January feelings:

Year-At-A-Glance

Cruellest Month

Yet here we are, halfway through winter! {And everyone in the Midwest said, “Amen.”} Inspired by Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy, I’m sharing things which are positively contributing to my winter days in big and small ways. At the end you’ll find a sources list, should you want to check them out yourself.

∇ Hygge in the form of white unscented CANDLES. During my visit to Copenhagen fall of 2016, I fell in love with the Dane’s use of white candles. Every restaurant and cafe had them. They burned in masses on silver platters in niche boutiques, single pillars on outdoor tables, coffee shop candelabras, in every size and form imaginable, tucked into nooks and crannies, but always white, always cozy, always inviting one to sit awhile and just be. While I do love the right kind of scented candle, I’m very picky about them, and only burn one on occasion. The white unscented variety is perfect for everyday use, especially when I’m using my next favorite winter save, which is…

∇ An essential oil air DIFFUSER. I’m not an oils aficionado by any means, but I definitely appreciate how the diffuser has a way of cleaning and refreshing the air in my home {word: boys} without toxicity or giving me a headache. I’m still using Christmas blends because who doesn’t love that fresh evergreen scent mixed with a bit of citrus?

∇ Next on my list is READING. I mentioned this in my “5 Things I’ve Been Working on in January” post. Reading aloud with the children (history after breakfast, a novel during lunch), aloud to Tom while he drives, and finally to myself at the end of the day brings me so much joy.

∇ SOUP. We’ve been having some kind of comforting soup at least once a week since Christmas. When everyone had a head cold, it was homemade chicken and veggie soup. Then thick and creamy chana dal. Spiced cauliflower soup, curried pumpkin lentil, hearty beef stew…there is a soup for every mood and preference! I gravitate towards simple, healthy and hearty. I refuse to slave over soup. I cannot.

∇ YOGA. My sister Mara has been encouraging me to try yoga for a long time, but I whined (“your class is too far away from me”) and procrastinated (“I have too many other things to do”). We joined our local YMCA last fall, and it’s literally 5 minutes from my house. There was no excuse left in my bag of excuses. I needed to practice self care and get my body moving more, and it wasn’t happening at home like it should. So I made myself go to the Y and take a couple classes before the holidays, and I was hooked. Immediately in January I started up again. Do I get tangled up with myself in class? Yes. Does the instructor have to come and gently correct me so I don’t injure something? All the time. Yet I LOVE it! It’s gentle, focused, and a wonderful way for me spend an hour on mental and physical health.

Where to find all the things:

I usually purchase white unscented candles at IKEA. Also, Amazon.

This is the diffuser I’m using in the living room. I love how it fits with my semi-mid-century look. Here are some favorite winter blends I’ve used recently:

Balsam Branches {5 drops balsam fir + 3 drops orange +3 drops cinnamon bark}

Evergreen {4 drops balsam fir + 3 drops blue spruce + 3 drops pine}

Cider {4 drops orange + 2 drops nutmeg + 1 drop cinnamon bark + 1 drop clove}

Books mentioned: Exploring World History, Derwood, Inc., Your Best Year Ever, Salt to the Sea

Soups:

Chicken & veggie-I usually don’t use a recipe, but this one from Pioneer Woman is basically what I do!

Chana dal-again, no recipe but I do variations like this Hearty Chana Dal Soup and Instant Pot Chana Dal Soup

Spiced Cauliflower

Curried Pumpkin Lentil

Beef Stew-by now it’s clear I like to wing-it for certain recipes, so I give you Sunday Night Stew and Beef Stew with Beer from Pioneer Woman because they are LEGIT.

Yoga online: my daughter loves Yoga with Adrienne! And I love Jennifer, my instructor at the Y. If you’re local to me, please come join me for a class. I will wear my “Majestically Awkward” shirt and it will be fun!

What’s saving your life this winter? I’d love to hear!

Photos by  John-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash

5 Things I’ve Been Working on in January

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January is generally a time for looking back and looking forward, reassessing what works and what doesn’t, and taking the opportunity at the start of a new year to have purpose and make plans. {I feel very Adult saying as much, but truthfully I’ve loved this sort of thing since I was a teen.} Here are some things I’ve been working on this month:

∇ Reading consistently, both for my own personal enjoyment + education and aloud to the children.

∇ Our weekly morning routine: we got oh so lazy over the holidays and it was delightful.

∇ De-cluttering & organizing around the house. {Currently a mess but they say it gets better.}

∇ Eating mindfully. I haven’t had any fries this month, which is cause for equal rejoicing and mourning.

∇ Thinking about the year ahead and working on setting and implementing seasonal intentions for myself, for Tom and I, for each of the children, and as a family unit. That is A LOT for my brain to undertake, by the way. I need a whole month for it.

What about you? I’m curious to hear, please share!

Photo by Yousef Espanioly on Unsplash

Letter 29 {Snippets, BLT’s}

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Dear Candace,

It feels suspiciously like fall outside with the sky an electric blue and the temps dropping to a lovely, cool 60 degrees. It’s the fifth of August. I will only accept such weather behavior as a reprieve from the heat and not as the early onset of fall. I love fall, but in its place; it must bow to summer. It’s summer’s apology for being over. I can’t think about this right now. I need summer with all my heart.

My head is full of books and lessons and lists as we prepare for a new educational year with the kids. Classes signed up for, new math books started, it’s all underway and I am being reluctantly swept along!

I am trying to think about what happened this past week…how do summer days escape so quickly?? Our HVAC unit was replaced, so there was a lot of in-and-out related to that. We hosted a total of four nieces and nephews one day while their mama went to the doctor, I accused the deer of razing down some plants when really it was Tom trimming things up, we went to all the lessons and all the things, another sister-in-law and her girls visited, Caleb’s snake (Mango) returned home after a summer spent at a childrens’ camp, the garden started churning out tomatoes and now my counters are lined with them (BLT’s 4EVAH*), I started reading Seabiscuit, and about 40 other things.

Remember when I started the book Simply Tuesday, something life half a year ago? I’m almost finished reading it. I’ve been savoring it-a few lines here and there during my morning reading over the last several months.

Here is what I read this morning, and it’s sticking to me like a burr:

I sat on a bench with a book and a journal at a local park, but I did more staring than reading. I watched the moms and babies stroll by, the workers with their good intentions toward the public bathrooms, the guy on his bike who roe without a helmet. I read a little about David, how he was both a man after God’s heart and a killer. I thought about how none of us are just one thing, but many shades of light and dark and shadows of gray, proof that we need Jesus.

-Emily P. Freeman

Love,

Rachel

*Facebook post about this: Here is the thing. It’s tomato season and you need plenty of home-grown tomatoes (I can help you with that), thick-sliced bacon (hard for me to share but I will make an effort), crisp lettuce (not weak, watery iceberg; the real green stuff), and mayo (you know you want the chipotle or sriracha kind). Sourdough bread is delightful, too, but if you’re avoiding bread then just wrap everything else together and throw in some sliced jalapeños for good measure. Breakfast, lunch, dinner-boom. Menu planning is over.

Letter 28 

Letter 30

This letter contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links, I will receive a {very small} commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! It means the world and a stack of letters to me.

Letter 27 {Heated}

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Dear Candace,

The demise of our air-conditioning unit was conveniently timed with hottest week of the summer. There was no fix to be had, no replacement parts to be switched out, there was only the hot, sweaty silence of a broken HVAC system.

The temperature inside the house quickly climbed to 87 degrees and then some, despite my best efforts to keep fans running and blinds closed. As long as there was air-movement, it didn’t bother me too much at first. That first night we slept as au naturel as possible in order to be as comfortable as possible, taking nice cold showers before bedtime and being so thankful for electricity. Only, we hadn’t seen the hottest days yet!

On the first day that temps climbed to 100 degrees*, Tom brought home a portable window unit to regulate the main floor. It helped keep the living room area cooler. Yet even with our fans continuously on, it began to feel oppressive inside the house. The next night he bought a bargain priced old-fashioned window unit and stuck it in our bedroom window, which helped tremendously. I began to see we were becoming collectors of small AC units and fans of every shape and size. Besides all the ceiling fans, we have 4 portable fans also running constantly. The whirring and droning noises sound like a small airplane is about to take off inside the house. If the children had a hard time hearing me before, it’s impossible to get them to listen now. “What? Huh? I can’t hear you mom. I had no idea you told me 49 times to pick up my socks/shoes/dishes/books/toys.”

I just checked on Drew-he’s fast asleep on the basement floor, snuggled on a sleeping bag with his head against a large floor fan. Literally his head is on the fan.

Did you see this post about the St. Louis heat wave of 1934? I have nothing to complain about.

I have many words about my current situation, but I’ve limited my FB updates to these:

When it is 87 degrees in your house because the AC unit chose the hottest part of the year to die a permanent death, do you want to bake in the oven or cook on the stovetop? No. Use the dryer, take a relaxing bath? No and heavens no. Eat ice-cream three meals a day and dream of plunging into icy glaciers? YES
#wewillsurvive #butourdeodorantwillbetested

It’s cooling off in STL! A temp drop of about 10 degrees leaves us with a comfy 95! #rejoicealways

Stay cool my dear,

Rachel

*104 the last two days!

Letter 26

Letter 28

Letter 26 {Blackberries + Nostalgia}

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Dear Candace,

July is in full-swing and with it some familiar heat and humidity, but it’s still such a beautiful summer!

Blackberries. With July comes memories of blackberry picking as a child and all the scrumptious treats first my mom, and then my sister and myself, would prepare; namely:  jam, cobblers, and best of all PIE. Blackberry pie is my jam. The butter to my bread. It’s only contender is peach pie with warm cinnamon sauce. But in July, there can be no other pie except the humble yet remarkable blackberry.

In the early nineties, before cell-phones and helicopter parenting, Mom would drop Mara and I off at a nearby conservation area. We were given a wagon, buckets, water, and instructions to be at the rendezvous point at a specific time. Then we were left alone, trudging through the wilderness, to a familiar patch of wild, thorn-encased blackberries sharing space with poison ivy.

It’s remarkable we didn’t meet our demise in those lonely woods, by wild animal or serial killer hiker. One hot July afternoon, Mara began to feel the twinges of heat exhaustion so I laid her out in the shade and kept right on picking. There are sacrifices to be made for blackberry pie, you know. I would often get poison ivy on my face from those outings, turning into an oozing, puffy spectacle known as Cauliflower Girl. The boys were mad about me in those days.*

We’ve been traveling deep in the Ozarks for Hosanna’s horsemanship lessons, to a little farm nestled by a creek and woods. It’s a lovely drive through rich green countryside, and I’m never exactly sure what the speed limit is, though farm trucks and motorcyclists pass me regularly on corkscrew roads. We drive by old white farmhouses, garden patches, fields of corn, and homemade signs that say things like WE HAVE WORMS.

During our recent visit to the horse farm, the owners graciously led us to their blackberry patch to pick the biggest, sweetest, juiciest berries I’ve ever seen! True story. Those blackberries were the epitome of everything a blackberry should be. Three times larger than my thumb, one berry filled your mouth with its juicy goodness. While Hosanna was working with the horses, Drew and I stained our fingers and mouths roaming through the bushes. In short order we picked enough berries for a pie, which became my one fixation. No matter how tired I was, or how many dishes and chores needed to be done, we must! have! pie! Back at home that evening, I quickly put together a homemade crust** and filled it high with the glossy berries. Pie for dessert, pie for breakfast the next morning;  that’s how July is done! Until peaches are in season, I’m quite content in my current relationship with Missouri’s obsidian jewels.

Thinking now of blackberry wine,

~Rachel

*There were no boys. Mad or otherwise.

**I must be out of practice! It was not the best crust, being a bit chewy and rather a poor representation of the large amount of pies I’ve made in my lifetime. Such things keep me humble.

Letter 25

Letter 27

 

Letter 25 {Freaky Friday Arm}

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Dear Candace,

I’ve been sleeping so much better lately so naturally it was time for a bout of insomnia.

The other night at 2am I woke abruptly, feeling odd. I quickly realized I couldn’t move my right arm! It was asleep, with that funny deadened sensation. This was not a usual occurrence. I moved positions, trying to stimulate my arm. It would not be stimulated. I sat up. My arm began to feel tingly, but still it would not go back to being my arm. I got out of bed and stood up, fully awake yet wondering if I was dreaming that my arm wouldn’t work. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and left for the bathroom. There, I googled “why is my right arm dead” and received terrifying answers about my heart. I did little pumping motions and tried squeezing my hand into a fist, well aware that these were not my preferred hours for exercising. Eventually, the feeling returned but not before I was fully freaked out. Upon my return to bed, I had to be careful about how I placed my arm so as not to let it fall asleep again.

And then I lay there for one hour forty-five minutes.

Finally realizing that my reassurances every 10 minutes of “I’ll be falling asleep any minute now” weren’t working, I turned on the phone light and grabbed my book off the nightstand. {That’s how I finished Hatching Twitter so quickly.}

Other things I did to pass the time: go potty and while walking through the dark kitchen, think about how horrible it would be to see a silent figure standing in the corner. Walk faster to the bathroom with the echoes of true crime podcasts filling my sleep-deprived mind.

Eventually, I was afraid all my tossing and turning in bed would bother Tom, so I finished the night {er, morning} in the living room. I felt mad at Jack and sad for Ev (you’ll have to read the book).

After 6am I crawled back in bed, mercifully sleepy and hopeful I could get in a couple hours of rest before taking Drew to his morning swim lessons. That 9am alarm was not easy to wake up to! But I rallied and rushed out the door as one does when life must go on.

In other news, the deer ate the new growth off my new hosta plants and now I hate them. Not the plants, the deer. It’s war.

Still sleepy,

Rachel

Letter 24

Letter 26

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Letter 24 {Scotch Eggs & Life Contemplation}

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Dear Candace,

The weekend is lazy, breezy and bright. June’s last parting gift, a reprieve from summer heat. I’m loving this Missouri spring and summer! One never can tell with Missouri.

Last weekend’s camping adventure was a delight. Specifically, camping in CABINS and not in tents or hammocks IN THE RAIN. I could get used to that kind of camping! Your breakfast of Scotch eggs was so delicious. The perfect marriage of breakfast food staples: eggs and sausage. I want them in my life more. Crispy spheres of perfection.

As I reflect on the past week, two things stand out. The importance of relationships, and the brevity of life. We hosted a few visits from family and friends at our home here in STL, and mis-mashed between those was a car accident.

The boys were driving with one of the aunts to a nearby park when their car was rear-ended. Tom and I were able to quickly arrive at the scene, even before police did, and found everyone shaken but unhurt. Drew was in the backseat. I have to stop myself from letting my mind consider all the “what ifs”…our time isn’t in our hands, and I can’t live in fear. The “what ifs” are in God’s hands. We know this, but when something like a car accident happens or cancer is diagnosed our focus becomes more narrow, more exact. Suddenly we see everything which had formerly been overlooked or not given its proper attention… the feel of warm summer, freckles on a child’s nose, being present in a moment, the full gift of life being lived.

The boys have been checked out and both received chiropractic treatments which were helpful. Then I started developing neck pain and tension with a side of massive headaches, because clearly I wanted it to be all about me. I have some thick muscle-relief salve which I applied on Thursday and am still trying to wash out of my hair. It’s very hard for me to be glamorous these days.

I am currently reading: Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal. I’m a fairly new Twitter user, tweeting in stops and starts, but always mesmerized when I scroll through my feed. That 140 character limit is BRILLIANT! It’s all so very succinct and clever. Foodie bloggers, spiritual leaders, politicians, comedians, authors, that one guy with the big family I met once who likes to #humblebrag, it’s all remarkably out there in the world, in 140 characters. It feels less cluttered than Facebook to me, which is probably why I gravitate to it more. The book delves into the people and stories behind the startup of what is now a world-wide phenomenon.

Yes, I did once tweet a message I meant to text Tom. Since I discovered this months after the fact, I could only be grateful no one really reads my tweets plus it was mundane and appropriate for all audiences. One must be very careful which platform one’s 140 characters land on.

#love

Rachel

Letter 23

Letter 25

This letter contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links, I will receive a {very small} commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! It means the world and a stack of letters to me.

Letter 23 {Flowers + Owlfred}

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Dear Candace,

It’s a beautiful morning and I am pleased to report all the new flowers we’ve planted have so far survived. I didn’t realize until everything was in the ground that the color palette I chose is predominately purple! Purples and blues.

The garden owl statue you gave me for protection has been named Owlfred. He sits on the back deck and regally overlooks the yard.

The house smells rich and wonderful since I just finished baking cinnamon rolls. For our camping adventure this weekend. With you! It’s going to be fun having our families together. Let’s not get sunburns m’kay?

I finished The Foundling. Wow. So interesting! It’s hard to believe the stories in that book are true…yet they are. The truth really can be stranger than fiction.* Its been fun to read more. I’ve missed devouring books! These days I try to keep one with me wherever I go…

See you and the ticks and chiggers soon.

Love,

Rachel

* on my list of fave movies

Letter 22

Letter 24

This letter contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links, I will receive a {very small} commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! It means the world and a stack of letters to me.

 

Letter 21 {Firetrucks & Ancestors}

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Dear Candace,

I just love sitting outside and being warm. I’d rather be warm or even hot and sticky over freezing cold any old day. If I moved up north I bet my life expectancy would shorten. I don’t think my ancestors were Vikings. I imagine they were pasty European fellows living out their life inside as weavers and then writers or clerks while their hardy neighbors left to explore new continents. It was hard for them, my ancestors who lived in cold regions. As the cold seeped into their bones, the more melancholy became their poetry. By degrees they moved south to gentler climates, as they had the strength. The wives were happier, the babies less spindly. They survived.

I’m sitting out on the front porch now, and was enjoying a warm evening blessed with the usual night sounds, all quiet and still {thinking fondly of my ancestors}, when my reveries were interrupted by the sound of a monstrous fire truck coming down the road. The sirens weren’t on, but the rumble of the truck and flashing lights surely woke up the whole neighborhood (including my children) as it backed carefully down our dead-end street in order to make an easy exit later. I could see no fire nor smell smoke. The fireflies alone illuminated the dark. {see what I did there} Apparently a neighbor had a small backyard fire which was called in. Tom and I could barely talk above the noise of the truck. I looked at it with envy. It probably has more square space than my house. And so well-organized and shiny clean.

I’m jealous of a fire truck.

The truck is gone now, the street back to it’s peaceful repose. I am soon to bed and early to rise. The children and I are leaving at 3:30 am to head to Indy in time for my brother’s graduation party! My St. Louis sisters are coming with, so we can all be bleary eyed and sharing coffee together.

I was going to write you stuff but then I forgot everything when that blasted red truck came down the road.

Caleb is off to camp this weekend, after the graduation, and packing a child for 9 days away without the ability to do laundry is no small feat. Being the procrastinators we are (argh), I made a mad trip to Kohl’s with Caleb and Tom took him to Wal-Mart. He’ll just have to make do. I’m sure he can fashion shorts out of foliage if necessary. He has a bottle to filter water, and there will be plenty of protein bugs. I’m sure he’ll survive one way or the other.

I just hope he listens to me and remembers to put on sunscreen. {Wonders: did we pack sunscreen?}

And all the hipsters say-#weekendvibes

~Rachel

Letter 20 

Letter 22