Loving it.

Fall is in the air.  Maybe it's because the pumpkins are orange.

{This guy is SO proud of his pumpkin patch!}

Or maybe it's because the temperature has dipped below 90.

Or because we're harvesting our garden produce.

{We've selected a winner for the UGLY carrot contest.}

Whatever it is....I cannot stop knitting and baking with pumpkin.

{yummy new yarn from my favorite store: Kamille's at Gardner Village...I'm getting excited for another fall craft fair.}

I hope everyone is enjoying the changing of the seasons as much as I am.

lately...

A great review of my favorite cleaning product of all time.

VINEGAR!

In other news, we've been married for 5 YEARS!  Drew and I got to go camping while the kiddos had a sleepover with my sister's family.  It was rainy and a little cold and our intended camping place was too muddy, and I loved every minute!  Drew is a canoe man and a camping man.  I love seeing him in his element.  I would have been soaked and cold and ready to go home if it weren't for his mad skills.  And maybe I'm a total jerk and no one else knows what this is like, but watching him do something that he does so well makes me trust him more.  I'm ashamed to admit it, but it is all too easy for miss perfectionist me to think things like this: You're not doing it right.  You should do it my way because I KNOW how to load the dishwasher (or whatever).  Although I've camped a lot, my husband is waaaaay better at it!  And I just had to stand back and follow directions.

Andrew paddling; me taking pictures of my feet.  :)

   

a grateful heart

Something I read yesterday that illuminates Truth for me is that my small "blot" of ink on a clean white paper is such a small thing in a "vast sea of mercy."

Counting my blessings can go on forever while counting my difficulties would take very little time.  (And I've rehearsed them so often I could throw them at you without blinking.)  Watching the news drives me nuts because everything is so sensational and repetitive.  But I'm the same way when I examine my life.  I focus so much on the little negative spots that I'm blind to the vast sea of mercy that is all around me.

So here is the beginning of a list to remind me of all the things I often overlook.

I am thankful for:

the obvious (family, friends, my gorgeous husband, etc.)
coffee, cream and raw sugar
the amazing human body (I'm particularly smitten with my ankles every time I hike)
nail clippers
sunrise
Salt Lake City (too often I want to be somewhere else, but it is a BEAUTIFUL city)
a good cry
a good laugh
mountains
dew
babies' kisses
kids laughing
cardigans
Anthropologie
The Gap
gardens
trees
blogs
fasting (I'm in need of an internet fast....Be still, O my soul.)
calculators
inventors
washing machines
knitting
birthdays
books
the changing of seasons (especially summer to fall)
dark, minty chocolate
hand-me-downs
friendly strangers
rain
Ezra's singing ("5 little bagels jumping on the bed....")

As my list grows, I pray that God would teach me to have a grateful and generous heart.
Let now the poor stand and confess that my portion is Him and I am more than blessed.