on my nightstand...

I'm reading some great books right now, and just want to pass them along. I just finished Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" and ate the thing up. It's a really interesting premise...all about how to look at your life as a story, and then really figuring out if you're living a compelling, interesting narrative. His own story takes off, after he is confronted by two guys who want to make his first memoir into a movie and they all realize his life just isn't that compelling on the screen. So he makes very intentional decisions as to what parts of his story he wants to put to the side for a while, and what parts he wants to pursue because there is mystery, intrigue and perhaps some good personal character development potential along the way.

I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I started reading the first page.

I'm halfway through Beth Moore's "So Long Insecurity" and that's about right. I'd say about half the time I'm still dealing with this horrible vice, and the other half of the time I'm feeling good and full of confidence :) Here's to hoping the last half will get me to the place where I can say, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh-darn-it, people like me."

Sara sent me Madeleine L'Engle's "Waking on Water." The funny thing is that Sara had me read this when I worked for her and I remember devouring it then. And now as I read it a second time, I can't believe how new every thought and page is. This book is changing my thinking on vocation and how I can use my gifts more intentionally. Paired with Donald Miller's book, these two are giving me lots and lots to chew on.

And finally, "What to expect" has become a staple. My baby is six inches head to rump right now, which makes me feel good and productive. People still are surprised I am five months along, so I try to stick my belly out a bit extra when I tell people I'm five months now. It helps with the large, drawn-out, "You don't look five months!" It's funny how that should be flattering, and yet I always am left feeling like maybe I'm not eating enough or giving this baby enough room. Next Thursday we have our ultrasound and I can't wait for the doctor to kindly tell me everything is looking good in there.

Happy reading everybody!

Fireflies and Songs

Not sure how this works, but Sara's latest album, Fireflies and Songs, is only five buckaroo's at this site. I don't get how music promotion plays out in pricing strategies, but believe me, this is a ridiculous deal.

I have this album playing in my car this week, and the words are so thoughtful and honest. And the whole sound of the album is very calm, relaxed and very sara.

If you go to this site, you can hear clips of each song...it gives you a good feel for her style and songwriting. But the sweet $5 deal is back at that first link I highlighted in the first paragraph...

day two of summer camp

I have enjoyed the last two days of camp so, so much. Our first week of campers came yesterday and I have spent my days wandering camp, getting to know the campers and asking the counselors how it is going.

There are five sites in operation onsite at camp each week. Tonight I ate supper with Tipi site and enjoyed some Frito Pie made over the fire. Then I went to our Springs site and made a drum out of wood and packaging tape and joined a drumming session. Then I was asked to judge a sandcastle creation competition at Trailhead site (of course, everyone was a winner) and ended the evening at Ranch site watching tug-of-war and a funny lemonade relay game.

While eating supper, a camper asked me when my baby was due. I told her November and then a sweet boy in 4th grade came up to me and asked me,

"Do you know my sister, Casey?"
"Oh! Casey our wrangler?!! Sure I know her."
"No, she's not here."
"Oh, where is she?"
"Cincinnati."
"Oh. Did she used to work here? Or how might I know her?"
"Well, she's 26 and she is going to have a baby in November and I thought maybe you'd just know her since you're both having babies then."

So funny. This boy is a new favorite of mine :)

The other favorite line of the evening was when the two minute warning was given at the sandcastle competition, the 2nd grade girl covered in sand and carved into a mermaid started screaming at her team, "You guys! Help me! My boobs are crumbling! You guys! I'm serious! Fix my boobs!"

Staff training is an intensive time of information and important material, but now it's just so fun to sit back and get to know the little lives we were preparing for all along.

my scrapbook solution.

I have been tossing ideas around in my head for what I am going to do scrapbook-wise when the baby comes. Some of the ideas have been very grand. Some of them have been fabulous, but unrealistic. Then I found Cathy Z's templates for "a month in review." I bought the digital templates and in two hours I had made seven pages of layouts, ordered the cardstock version online, and considered my month of April pictures documented. Man, I felt good.

It's basically just cropping pictures. But let me promise you, these are pictures that would have never seen the light of day unless I found a quick solution to get them printed and into albums. I'm just that backlogged. Now that April is done, I'm hopeful to work backwards and see if I can't do pages for all of 2010.

The funny thing about this process, is that it is essentially old-school scrapbooking, when you would print your pictures and place them in an album immediately. There are no embellishments. There isn't even the responsibility of journaling for every single event. I like having one page of journaling at the end...this month it was mostly explaining who we were with for what occasion- not a lot of personality. But again, at least these pictures are compiled, printed and put in an album.

This week I will work on my May layouts. I really think I will be able to keep up with this plan, since two hours of scrapping equals one month of picture documentation. I can do this. By the time baby arrives, I hope to be a well-oiled machine.

a new joy

Rory took me camping last night. He had gone a few days ago to scout out the site and to see what else we might need. Much of the evening was spent sitting in our fabric chairs, reading our books, drinking iced tea and watching the animals in the pond in front of us, and the cows in the pasture just past the pond. It was dreamy.

I went to bed around 9, dog-tired from the last two weeks. Rory came into the tent around 10 and then the storms started. Four different storms came through, shaking the earth beneath us and allowing us to see each other much of the night due to the heavy lightening.

Around six, we were both wide awake, and listening to the rain hit our tent. I felt the baby for the first time. It was a movement coming from the same place. I felt it about five times before I told Rory. Rory put his hand on the baby, and I hoped so badly he would feel it too. I hardly trust myself on these things...

And then the baby started moving again. We felt it over and over. It was undeniable. We lay there, with the rain pouring down, warm and dry in our sweet tent and I felt a new joy and a new tenderness I had yet to experience. With every move the baby made I squeezed Rory's arm and he lay with his eyes closed, smiling with each kick, jab, summersault or whatever it was we were feeling.