tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62078290793787398782024-03-13T21:40:59.241-05:00emy in the world"I want to see the whole world, and I want to write down everything!" (Harriet the Spy)emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comBlogger407125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-40988693466427365732016-09-24T17:13:00.000-05:002016-09-24T17:27:41.913-05:00seven quick(ish) takes: life lately<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ooooh, I've missed this space! But maybe I needed to miss it to feel energized about writing here again? Maybe? I don't know. Still lots of not knowing on my end. Some things may never change. Other things, however, continue to change way too fast, namely...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1.</span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> My boys!</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Two whole kiddos that I somehow have the great blessing of caring for each day. Toby will be one in November, and Caleb will be three. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. I started homeschooling Caleb a few weeks ago, if you can call it that. Basically, on Monday and Wednesday mornings we do projects and explore together while Toby naps, and on Fridays we have field trips. Tuesdays the boys go to a multi-age music class at <a href="https://www.oldtownschool.org/" target="_blank">Old Town</a> (which they LOVE), and on Thursdays my dad watches them so that I can get some work done & have a break. So far it's a beautiful system. Just enough structure to keep things sane yet flexible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Speaking of structure, Caleb has also started doing a few chores, and it feels like a glorious glimpse of what's to come. So far his main job is to feed the cats, which he can do completely independently. He also puts his dishes in the sink and wipes his spot at the table after meals, helps dust the furniture and baseboards, and waters the garden. All of which take a lot longer than if I were to do it myself, but hey, teach a man to fish and all that. I'm already waiting in joyful hope for the day he is able to do his own laundry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">{washing his own hands}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. I started running again, and I'm in love. Last week my "long run" was four miles, which may not seem like much, but it's the farthest I've ever run in my life. Pretty dang proud of myself. On Sunday I'm upping it to five, and the following weekend I'll run my first 5K in two years!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">{view from one of my runs earlier this summer}</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">{on a hike, not a run, but uh... it's still active?}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. I'm also getting into modern cross-stitch. Who knew? I love that it's simple and repetitive enough to keep my mind calm & my hands busy without requiring complete focus (meaning: I can listen to a podcast or marathon <i>Gilmore Girls</i> in the background without losing my concentration). My stitches ain't perfect, and that's OK. Perfect isn't the point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. A few weeks ago I realized that, in order to make all of the above possible, I really needed to get some quality sleep. I've decided this in the past, but it never stuck. Until! I kicked my phone out the bedroom and bought a simple <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Lexon-Flip-Alarm-Clock-Warm/dp/B00CJ4YN7Q/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1474754555&sr=8-10&keywords=flip+alarm+clock" target="_blank">alarm clock</a>. All it does is tell time and sound an alarm. You flip it over to turn it on or off, and it's been a total game-changer. Now I switch my phone to airplane mode after we put the boys to sleep (around 8), unwind with a show/project/book, get myself ready for bed, and am out by 10 most nights. Makes the mornings (and morning runs) a LOT easier to handle!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7. And now for the final, totally random take: Three Fictional Characters to Describe Me. This "game" has been floating around Facebook, and I couldn't help myself. Except I chose four, because Matilda and Anne are tied ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">{the top two: YES. the bottom two: kind-of-almost-depends-on-the-day}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Linking up over <a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-up-your-spiritual-game-with-deliberate-practice/" target="_blank">here</a>, because why not? CHEERS to the weekend, and to getting back in the good ol' fashioned blogging swing of things.</span></div>
emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-65292400299482913312016-03-24T16:20:00.000-05:002016-03-25T09:05:31.761-05:00holy, holy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had big expectations for Lent this year. Visions of waking to pray and journal before the rest of the house stirred. Plans to forgo screens and social media. A desire to make it to both church and confession <i>at least</i> once a week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So here's a confession for you: I haven't been to church since Ash Wednesday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The baby, who had been sleeping 6-8 hour stretches at night, started waking every hour again a few weeks ago, and my own sleep has been all over the place. It doesn't help that I've </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">made a habit of staying up until midnight or later, butt planted firmly on the sofa in front of the glare of one screen or another.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Basically, I feel like a failure at Lent (and also, life). I have none of the markings of a "good Catholic" these days. But the more I consider what it means to be "good," the less I want it. I'd rather be uncomfortably Catholic, repentant in my own time and firmly entrusted to God's incomprehensible and inexhaustible mercy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That probably doesn't make me very Catholic at all. I don't know; you'd have to ask one of the "good" ones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have to remind myself that Catholics of every stripe are only human, including this one. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'd like to think I'm doing the best I can. Truth is, I give into sloth and pride and any other number of sins I can rationalize away as "</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">not<i> that</i> bad</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">" all too often, even though I know better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is where we get to the miracle of it all:<b> I'm loved anyway.</b><i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The stars never existed in order for us to earn them. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm learning it can be a whole lot healthier to marvel instead of strive. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This changes everything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm not sure I'll ever be comfortable being human, or Catholic. It's hard, and painful. I've spent a lifetime immersing myself in those aspects, only to neglect the fact that it can also be full of, well, <i>joy</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And isn't that kind of the point? Of the Resurrection, and therefore of the Christian narrative as a whole. It is the best plot twist ever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So tonight I will wash feet: Those of my babies, and my own. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will break bread with the ones in front of me. I'll plan our Sunday brunch and fill Easter baskets and mail cards and take a long bath and say a thousand times: </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wow</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, and</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Amen. </i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will believe in the "small-s" sacraments of the everyday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will revel in the fact that I already know how the story ends, and that even on the days it's all I can do to climb out of bed and show up for my family (let alone show up to church), I am still loved beyond measure and wrapped in a mantle of stars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And that right there? <b>That's enough.</b></span><br />
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<br />emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-78029895908321848712015-11-22T14:19:00.000-06:002015-11-22T19:27:32.618-06:00to & from & me & you (toby)<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the midst of some pretty terrible tragedies, when suffering and fear took hold of the global stage once again, you arrived.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am thrown for a second time by the magnitude of it all, this love made tangible. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Is there anything more powerful than this?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Tobias Harold Joseph Kiger, born Sunday, November 15, at 2:40 AM</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You kept us on our toes for over a week, but when it was finally time, you came fast and furious. Zero to 60 (or six to 10, if we're talking centimeters) in under two hours. Fifteen minutes of pushing, followed by what the midwife called a "textbook rotation," and then, somewhere in the space of my relief and disbelief: You. Tiny and perfect and dark haired and wailing<i>.</i> We'd waited 41 solid weeks, and yet it still felt so sudden. You cried and cried and kept right on crying. I guess you got it out of your system right then, though, because you've hardly made a peep since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'll admit, I was scared this time around. And it <i>hurt</i>. It hurt so much more than with Caleb, probably due to the quick progression. (As our midwife also said, "Faster doesn't necessarily mean easier.") I kept looking for an out, trying to find the off switch. It took everything I had to dig deep and keep faith during the brief moments of in-between. Yet somehow, we made it. You're here, I survived; there was no out to take. And despite what I may have claimed at the time, I'd do it again. Of course I would, and hopefully, eventually, I will. The ability to share my body with another human being, to be "home" for new life, is an honor and a gift.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I know so many people are walking around battered and weary right now. It feels counterintuitive and, frankly, a little bit subversive to look at the hurting world and choose to participate in this act of creation. To joyfully welcome new life in the face of pain and suffering. To choose hope and unabashed, full-throttle love. The newborn bubble offers one powerful forcefield. I look at you sleeping peacefully in my arms as your big brother gives you gentle, giddy kisses, and I think: <i>This is it. This is all there is. </i>At the same time, I am as aware as ever of our immense privilege.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We've been waiting for you, sweet Toby. May you always know how very loved and chosen you are. Or maybe it's you who chose us. Either way, I'm so very glad you're here, and so completely grateful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is nothing better than this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJhlJCuPpTsuTt9bNrEB02cEySC8ObxzfNwM0QQmkFH8A_aMD-sy0OYdc07RNPY9OpdNmfAU4GIoQ1pGSmOGYL8RfuAegkoYhJfC64Nm7pAvbTXtphRE_p6b2kz_aoKQQ5n1tjQlvIdLf/s1600/EITW-Monday%2527s+Cup+No+15_Hygge+Style.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJhlJCuPpTsuTt9bNrEB02cEySC8ObxzfNwM0QQmkFH8A_aMD-sy0OYdc07RNPY9OpdNmfAU4GIoQ1pGSmOGYL8RfuAegkoYhJfC64Nm7pAvbTXtphRE_p6b2kz_aoKQQ5n1tjQlvIdLf/s1600/EITW-Monday%2527s+Cup+No+15_Hygge+Style.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><a href="http://www.lovelylife.se/babes-in-boyland/category/the-seasons/winter-2/page/2/" target="_blank">Image</a></i></span></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6207829079378739878" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6207829079378739878" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-82222753813587226012015-09-21T16:25:00.000-05:002015-09-21T16:28:44.771-05:00monday's cup, no. 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 25, 35); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">"</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 25, 35); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #141923;">I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 25, 35); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #141923;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Rabindranath Tagore</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 25, 35); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #141923;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><a href="http://browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com/post/93194779999" target="_blank">Image via</a></i></span></span></div>
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<br />emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-41127902055531490852015-09-20T17:54:00.000-05:002015-09-30T22:07:38.985-05:00nothing i asked for, more than i wanted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>These thoughts have been percolating in my head for months now, but I've been too nervous to put them out there. The message feels pretty counter-cultural, though that could just be me, </i><i>renegotiating what I thought I knew. My words aren't perfect (they never are), and they didn't come easily. As always, I'm still figuring it out, and this is what I've found true, for now.</i></div>
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<i>Recently I started reading </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Matters-A-Midwifes-Manifesta/dp/1583229272" target="_blank">Birth Matters</a> <i>by Ina May Gaskin, and she touches so fiercely and deeply on what I'm trying to comprehend and convey. So at the very least, I know I'm not alone. </i><i>(It also doesn't hurt that Ani DiFranco, my teenage idol, wrote the book's intro.)</i></div>
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<i>Deep breath. Onward.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBr21M2Qm0878MwRLI4_bg0Ow0p5MhdbKfrLY3W0kLP8xVr3xemeyZUwWIkZS6RV-bi_2RlNmBrXiij11C-sqfBD79cSWmjkGB_0bYfNc8C9J5Oh-AwOua6_mlABABspJ4lVZS-yukP-Tb/s1600/Two+Days+Before+Caleb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBr21M2Qm0878MwRLI4_bg0Ow0p5MhdbKfrLY3W0kLP8xVr3xemeyZUwWIkZS6RV-bi_2RlNmBrXiij11C-sqfBD79cSWmjkGB_0bYfNc8C9J5Oh-AwOua6_mlABABspJ4lVZS-yukP-Tb/s1600/Two+Days+Before+Caleb.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I was around four years old, I put together an elaborate Christmas wish list for Santa. I don't remember specifics (though the hard copy may very well be lurking in a box somewhere in my parents' basement), but I do know I didn't receive a single thing on it. "Santa" had already obtained all our presents that year, and none of them matched up with what my preschool heart desired.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Turns out, it didn't matter. On Christmas morning I woke up to a sea of beautiful dress up clothes surrounding the fireplace. They were "nothing I asked for, and everything I wanted!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Direct quote right there, via my mom's retelling: <i>"I got nothing I asked for, and everything I wanted!" </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Motherhood, for me, has been a lot like that. Minus the fancy outfits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had <i>no idea</i> I could be so deeply satisfied as a wife and mom, that it was possible to find a soul-level calling in motherhood. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I still feel like I'm not supposed to admit this. I'm not supposed to say that the thing that has taught me most about what it means to be a woman has been becoming a mom. Or that t</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">he most empowering experience I've ever had was giving birth, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm actually looking forward to doing it again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've never been very athletic or physically-inclined. My brand of feminism growing up mostly had to do with wanting to be seen and appreciated for my mind, whereas my body was best ignored entirely. Sure, I picked myself apart with the best of them (feet too big, boobs too big, thighs too big, etc.), but damn anyone else who dared objectify me. Down with the man!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In labor and delivery, though,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I finally understood what I was </span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">made</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>for</i>, made to do and to be</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. For the first time, I saw my body as an incredible, powerful gift. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My body was capable of successfully growing, birthing, and feeding a brand new human being</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, and one that I instantly loved like none other. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Predictably, this threw my sense of self into flux. Not because I was suddenly a mom--that part actually felt unbelievably natural; but because <b>i</b></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">t was </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">utterly counterintuitive to consider my body sacred when I'd lived my whole life half-heartedly trying to accept that I had a body at all. </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a lesson I'm still learning: That my body and mind must work in tandem, and neither is better or more necessary than the other in this all-too-human experience. In this way, my feminism is much more rooted in an understanding of the<i> feminine</i>--what it means to be female, body, mind, and soul. The experience of motherhood, of mothering, is an innate part of that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On a larger scale, I believe our society is craving a similar kind of balance. Pursuing "equality" within a patriarchal structure, where we essentially advocate for women to be treated more like men, does nothing to address or elevate the inherent gifts we bring to the table </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">simply by being female.</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Edith Stein said, "The world doesn't need what women have, it needs what women are."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wholeheartedly agree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-11432541716512928432015-09-14T13:12:00.002-05:002015-09-14T13:19:16.228-05:00apple picking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We spent Saturday afternoon at the orchard, enjoying the beautiful weather and picking a full peck of Gala apples. I was a little worried we'd have to get baking or give a bunch away, but Caleb has been chowing down on them like nobody's business. Although there is definitely still a warm apple crisp in our future, and I plan to grate a few into our oatmeal now that cool mornings have arrived. We went to the same place as <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2014/10/at-orchard.html" target="_blank">last year</a>--I guess that makes the family tradition official now? Crazy to look back and see what a difference a year makes! It was definitely nicer going early in the season this time around, and with a healthy, well-rested kid. Plus, he's just so much fun these days (I mean it! So far, the almost-twos? No so terrible :) ).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm having a little trouble sizing photos for the blog at the moment (all these fancy software updates on my new computer are throwing me!), so what you see above is it for now. Hopefully I'll get the kinks worked out soon and have a manageable system once again! I've been missing this space more than I realized.</span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-71277762600428619682015-09-10T23:51:00.000-05:002015-09-30T22:04:53.958-05:00on kim davis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small; text-align: start;">LOVE, people. Love love love love love love LOVE, with a big side of forgiveness. Grace in motion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today I figured out where I stand on the whole Kim Davis thing. I know, you're relieved. You can rest easy tonight, America! Or at least, I can, since I was reminded that I am not, in fact, Atlas, and the weight of the entire world is not mine to bear. (False idols, anyone?)</span><br />
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Here's my job: To love. </span><br />
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Figuring out who is right and who is wrong and who said it better? Pass. Because a lot of times it seems like the only answer is: There is no answer. And the only question worth asking is: <i>What would love do? </i></span><br />
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When I'm consumed by world events and the media, I do a pretty crappy job of loving my family and neighbors. I swear at traffic and frown at strangers, which is not good for unclenching the heart.</span><br />
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I know these things. Yet somehow over the past few weeks I grew increasingly convinced that if I only kept reading, stayed down the information rabbit hole long enough and late enough, collecting various evidence and opinions, I'd eventually find THE TRUTH in these problems that are not mine to solve.</span><br />
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Frankly, I don't buy the story of Kim Davis' victimhood. What I do buy, however (given that I've never met her and have been following her story peripherally at best), is that she's lost in self-righteousness. That possibly, she's just like all the rest of us: Broken, and a little bit afraid, and a whole lot human. Do you know what feels really good when you're in that void? Making other people <i>wrong</i>. Making yourself <i>better than</i>. </span><br />
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It's not about gay people, or God: It's about her. Her own ego and fear and insecurities and pesky human nature.</span><br />
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Kim Davis may want to feel <i>better than</i>. Maybe she just wants to feel <i>good enough</i>. If that's the case, then we have more in common than I thought. </span><br />
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If she shows up at my church next April wanting her feet washed (doubtful, but roll with me for a second), I'm washing 'em. Same goes for any gay/transgendered/divorced/post-abortive/addicted/homeless/fill-in-the-blank person, and for Donald Trump. Also millionaires and dads who wear socks with sandals. I'm not saying we should all necessarily hang out and be friends (or that the Donald's feet wouldn't gross me out); but every single one of us is still invited to the table. I'd like to see less political rallying and more <i>rallying around each other</i>. It doesn't matter if I have all the answers in the world if I'm failing to love the ones in front of me. </span><br />
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The other day I was listening to an old <i>On Being </i>interview with astrophysicist Mario Livio. He was talking about mathematics, and he said that, as with anything, we like the answers to be black or white. Most people can even live with grey. What's dang near impossible for us to accept is that something can be <b><i>both</i> black <i>and</i> white</b>. This is also where he finds truth.</span><br />
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Both/and.</i> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The hardest and truest place to dwell. In math, and in life.</span><br />
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But WE CAN DO HARD THINGS, right? Is that not the rallying cry I've heard over and over again through certain places on the internet? And as Mama T (and, yes, Momastery) reminds us, <i>we belong to each other</i>. </span><br />
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Even Kim Davis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">"Do nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with humility consider others superior to you, as you look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 17px;"><i>Philippians 2:3-5</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">"In the end, dear friend, it is always between us and God, not between us and them." </span></span></span><br />
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<i style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mother Teresa</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17px;"><i>Image <a href="http://modernhepburn.tumblr.com/post/31462457954" target="_blank">via</a></i></span></span></span>emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-34180571222722306562015-09-07T06:41:00.000-05:002015-09-09T13:59:20.740-05:00monday's cup, no. 13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg5QP7ZSgjEh6eXhSE6ayPgzfBJ9xrqpKY7GrEQ6YtEkG4QHQE0lD3k0ijcgTwikLG90aWWwyFx-Ahm5QOr5qJNZOJ6HSbTvFv1LEStdgJZ2eCosUaqdxi6AvpSYNV8DLqHoUn_LuLdar6/s1600/EITW-Monday%2527s+Cup_9.7.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg5QP7ZSgjEh6eXhSE6ayPgzfBJ9xrqpKY7GrEQ6YtEkG4QHQE0lD3k0ijcgTwikLG90aWWwyFx-Ahm5QOr5qJNZOJ6HSbTvFv1LEStdgJZ2eCosUaqdxi6AvpSYNV8DLqHoUn_LuLdar6/s640/EITW-Monday%2527s+Cup_9.7.15.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>James Oppenheim, "Bread and Roses"</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image <a href="http://beyoumediagroup.com/2013/12/02/an-ode-to-mornings-why-morning-people-need-to-keep-mornings-free-shira-engel/" target="_blank">via</a></span></i></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-35816521287909163252015-08-05T16:32:00.000-05:002015-08-05T22:28:22.905-05:00hi.It's been awhile, hey?<br />
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A few weeks into my <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2015/02/desert-days-lent-im-ready-for-you.html" target="_blank">blogging hiatus</a>, Caleb helpfully bumped my arm while I was holding a cup of coffee...directly over my laptop keyboard.<br />
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It did not end well.<br />
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At the time, I decided it was kind of the perfect turn of events: No internet for Lent? Well, since I now had no computer, this would be no problem! I started setting aside a little money to buy a new one after Easter and didn't worry too much about it.<br />
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Then my car broke down, and it took my entire laptop budget to fix it.<br />
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Then Andy's car broke down, and it took a few thousand dollars more to fix <i>it</i>.<br />
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But! I decided to look on the bright side, namely that we could afford these repairs up front. (There's also the privilege of owning two cars in general. Maintaining them is a part of life, even when it sucks.)<br />
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Fast forward to the end of July, and I have a <a href="https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/" target="_blank">sparkly new gem</a> sitting on my lap. Not that I'll be able to hold it here for much longer, because this also happened during Lent:<br />
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No, that's not taco belly.<br />
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Our second baby boy is due in early November, and I can't wait to see Caleb as a big brother. (Cue heart-eyed emojis for days.)<br />
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I have about, oh, a thousand more things I want to say. Not writing for months (but still reading and watching the news and, I don't know, BREATHING) will do that to a person. Especially if pounding it out on a keyboard is how you process the world. There is certainly some lighthearted nonsense I want to share, and the usual this-and-that, but I think I "tend towards melancholy," which is how I once heard Barbara Brown Taylor describe herself in an interview. I look around at all this stuff that's<i> too heavy</i> and <i>so serious</i>, and I want to examine it from every possible angle, and before I know it I've managed to absorb its energy into my bloodstream. If I'm not careful it eventually takes up residence in my heart and mind instead of filtering back out, and then one day I wake up and wonder why I'm barely functioning.<br />
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How do you unpack baggage like that? It's hard, unzipping the suitcase. Sometimes you just have to sit and stare at it for a few minutes, then go put on Netflix and make a snack, and come back to face it when the weather and timing and karma feels right. (It should come as no surprise that I'm terrible about putting things away in the literal sense as well, especially after a trip. It can take weeks.)<br />
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For now, my only goal is to keep getting up each and every day and loving the ones in front of me to the best of my ability. I'm only human, and sometimes? Sometimes the full suitcase gets shoved under the bed. Guess this post is like me finally taking a peek at the contents, knowing that one of these days, I'll get around to airing everything out ;)<br />
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6207829079378739878%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dsidebar&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-7wkWh6L5vnw%2FVcJ8CqxSBhI%2FAAAAAAAADzo%2FtbdSHm8mvac%2Fs400%2FEITW-BabyBump2_Lent.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=gWFaEEJaChLQ&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 414px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6207829079378739878%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dsidebar&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-7wkWh6L5vnw%2FVcJ8CqxSBhI%2FAAAAAAAADzo%2FtbdSHm8mvac%2Fs400%2FEITW-BabyBump2_Lent.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=gWFaEEJaChLQ&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 414px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6207829079378739878%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dsidebar&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-7wkWh6L5vnw%2FVcJ8CqxSBhI%2FAAAAAAAADzo%2FtbdSHm8mvac%2Fs400%2FEITW-BabyBump2_Lent.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=gWFaEEJaChLQ&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 414px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D6207829079378739878%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dsidebar&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-7wkWh6L5vnw%2FVcJ8CqxSBhI%2FAAAAAAAADzo%2FtbdSHm8mvac%2Fs400%2FEITW-BabyBump2_Lent.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=gWFaEEJaChLQ&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 414px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6207829079378739878" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6207829079378739878" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-84060565316304756022015-02-12T21:07:00.000-06:002015-02-17T20:59:50.255-06:00desert days (lent, i'm ready for you)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCVLYT0beUJfqttCBkrkn32lTioS78mHVQeBYzRBFFMb1NtZkRzLY1hnHX9lIzhtx9aourXw8rGF0_KS4jF4RGqsufGNPSsmSb2wUTqukr0fDLKqkpxUqGuNFGhbPjLLK1Z9VugCfpGoN/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+rift+in+sand.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCVLYT0beUJfqttCBkrkn32lTioS78mHVQeBYzRBFFMb1NtZkRzLY1hnHX9lIzhtx9aourXw8rGF0_KS4jF4RGqsufGNPSsmSb2wUTqukr0fDLKqkpxUqGuNFGhbPjLLK1Z9VugCfpGoN/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+rift+in+sand.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places to pray."</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luke 5:16 </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. . .</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lent is coming, and I have been dreading it. I've been diving into the questions so often and so deeply these days that I forget to come up for air. For the past few weeks I've just felt <i>tired</i> -- of people, of religion, of God. Over it, angry at it, and yet still in hot pursuit of.... Well, <i>something</i>. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7mTcFTTSHbGmSlQ6uOfJfdEnlFXGV2II_GIJgHJZ0nSjfVDxKLeYVo0xpDluKHCSYCUu-BrWxPPeIwfLsCBhbdPjV21YWbgO-_Ol-tN-hHMBBGo4VUe9o3AH8QRXuXtOl0AauU6-bXeM/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+sandal+print.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7mTcFTTSHbGmSlQ6uOfJfdEnlFXGV2II_GIJgHJZ0nSjfVDxKLeYVo0xpDluKHCSYCUu-BrWxPPeIwfLsCBhbdPjV21YWbgO-_Ol-tN-hHMBBGo4VUe9o3AH8QRXuXtOl0AauU6-bXeM/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+sandal+print.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I first lived in Germany (over a decade ago now) I'd spend two or three hours almost every day walking in the woods near our apartment, just thinking and noticing and being. Sometimes I'd stroll into town, maybe stop by a shop or the library at the German-American Institute, or I might walk near the water. Once in a while I'd bring a pen and my journal; usually I wouldn't bring anything at all. I didn't own a cell phone, there was no such thing as Facebook, and I checked my email once a week (and on dial-up internet at that -- I'd walk the cord from the phone jack at the front of the house, down the hall, to my room at the end, and connect it to the computer).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lately I've been finding myself not only really missing that time, but also feeling sort of, I dunno.... <i>assaulted</i> by all the noise online. All these thoughts and images and ideas and opinions and articles and and and and AGGHHHH! </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I need to turn it off.</span> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I need to get quiet, really really quiet, and listen. To the sound of silence, and hopefully, eventually, to the still small voice I know is there, just waiting. Ready.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4LOrWstK4nnoqGulusMHV9h3Zas8u5of6iSgyEmzQ9VbBCKfFnP73i9mocB8QUukVknwB534NZBXSBv6TQBENdfxSozd89hWAYjdV_gwlyVorkjmKf-jeOnGP8wOVONfeFXNoGZnSMBe/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+sky+above.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4LOrWstK4nnoqGulusMHV9h3Zas8u5of6iSgyEmzQ9VbBCKfFnP73i9mocB8QUukVknwB534NZBXSBv6TQBENdfxSozd89hWAYjdV_gwlyVorkjmKf-jeOnGP8wOVONfeFXNoGZnSMBe/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+sky+above.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Growing up, our family always gave up TV for Lent, and Andy and I have honored this tradition the past few years. However, since cutting cable last year, we just don't watch that much anymore, and when we do, it's usually pretty intentional (not to mention commercial-free). Yet the ruckus and racket and TOO MUCHNESS feels more overwhelming then ever, and I believe it's coming in large part from the computer. So I'm going for it, I'm doing it: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm giving up the internet for Lent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I mean, pretty much. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Here's the game plan:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>NO</b> (and I mean absolutely NO)</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Facebook</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pinterest</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Blogs (especially reading)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Instagram</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">LIMITED</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Email (twice a day, morning and evening)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Searches (one thing at a time, and only with a set intention. Think: Mapping directions or booking airfare)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Podcasts (again, intentional is key)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll continue to use my online meal planner, and I may watch a show here and there. The point, for me, is to be clear about why I'm going online each time I do it, and to detox from social media and the general barrage of information that comes from mindlessly following links. I'd like to tune out other peoples' ideas for awhile and see what arises internally, in the space between each breath, in this "season of discernment." And I trust that God will meet me there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">See you on the other side. And maybe bring some water, eh? <i>x</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk2r-iqFPtyLkAMeiTDStGJvLwjPE3SiNgFamC10nr5el25PmH9pplemQZQ3rdshJFiUOhr58yE33S2o1tQwcOqxfo6xph3nNp10OAXWuvbCwdKR_zkImcX3D2xN4j42kxQgaebOYE6VfH/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+Wandering+Off.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk2r-iqFPtyLkAMeiTDStGJvLwjPE3SiNgFamC10nr5el25PmH9pplemQZQ3rdshJFiUOhr58yE33S2o1tQwcOqxfo6xph3nNp10OAXWuvbCwdKR_zkImcX3D2xN4j42kxQgaebOYE6VfH/s1600/EITW-Desert+Days_Lent2015_Liwa+Wandering+Off.png" /></a></div>
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<i>Images from the Liwa Desert, June 2012, taken by my friend Maria Clary. More desert reflections <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2012/04/desert-life.html" target="_blank">here</a>, from our days in the <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/search/label/uae%20adventure" target="_blank">actual</a> </i><i><a href="http://andyandemy.blogspot.com/">desert</a>.</i></div>
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<a href="http://blessedisshe.net/bissisterhood-link-lent/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2vgqUU5r3t-wTu-xuH88IIZaCah6yuYqRApGyA-pw7RWBr-LDvXtv1KVa0oTaV2GnqUv9pY3j9FCcPgVvUfRu0dTjZDZUoQBWqdXkav7FR1UKtZD8G67rog7rtCWIe8QY6GjxKxPs4tu/s1600/EITW-BIS+Lenten+Linkup+2015.png" /></a></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-52812337603753619512015-02-05T15:55:00.000-06:002015-02-05T16:02:23.456-06:00stahhhhp already!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlV7QmetEtObj29wi6PDSWUUFixeaF_Khgs6rjvckOadFYv0U7pRxeiVRazDuRQj0VVJNvAc2oKv7v2S5GJXwP9MtQlWYopCgTXbWd0OTRs9BW4Pi7VtXqnsNo6N8CzY1pfQ56iT7hC_81/s1600/EITW-Cabey+is+over+winter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlV7QmetEtObj29wi6PDSWUUFixeaF_Khgs6rjvckOadFYv0U7pRxeiVRazDuRQj0VVJNvAc2oKv7v2S5GJXwP9MtQlWYopCgTXbWd0OTRs9BW4Pi7VtXqnsNo6N8CzY1pfQ56iT7hC_81/s1600/EITW-Cabey+is+over+winter.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WE ARE OVER YOU, SNOW! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Actually, Caleb pretty much loves it. He does not, however, appreciate being propped in snow banks by yours truly in order to take staged photos. I was attempting to replicate a similar pic from last year's snowpocalypse </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(third down <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-favorite-and-my-best.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. Thankfully this winter at least took its time coming. And we've had some reasonable temps and blue skies in between all the snow, so there's that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Still, I couldn't resist buying some tulips at the grocery store today, and it's entirely possible I've already purchased some <a href="http://www.teva.com/women-sandals/original-universal/1003987.html" target="_blank">new sandals</a> and have been breaking them in around the house.... Sigh. So close, so far, oh well. Onward!</span><br />
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-77123839390576047802015-01-27T12:45:00.000-06:002015-10-01T15:10:54.119-05:00songs i never thought i'd like & things i never thought i'd do<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxU-TN3ZhGNTvaL7WK3mDsW-IE-4Eu8UllN-MMF_GsBrjAGJmBmVR9xmPhTZ3djiZLN6IcVwY2NRqa84BQAwAOzCJjuP-C8vShy_EzBpDynsCkG0cFFlXl64Ccy4jXR_1ya5CheZ55260/s1600/EITW-Life+Yoga_Face+hidden.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxU-TN3ZhGNTvaL7WK3mDsW-IE-4Eu8UllN-MMF_GsBrjAGJmBmVR9xmPhTZ3djiZLN6IcVwY2NRqa84BQAwAOzCJjuP-C8vShy_EzBpDynsCkG0cFFlXl64Ccy4jXR_1ya5CheZ55260/s1600/EITW-Life+Yoga_Face+hidden.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Caleb and I have started listening to <a href="http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Rain/6MG2WH?src=5" target="_blank">this song</a> every morning after breakfast. It's not my usual jam, but Cabey nuzzles right into my shoulder and we dance around and it. is. perfect. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I never knew how much I wanted to be a mom until I became one. It is the very best unexpected gift I've ever been given.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In college, yoga was my saving grace. Escaping the chatter in my mind, shedding my ego-based identity, even if only for a few minutes -- it changed me. It was the closest to a cure for my depression I'd ever come across. Giving that up when I became pregnant was <i>so hard</i>, but between my physical state, our tight budget, and time constraints, it just wasn't as accessible. So, after years of being OK, <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2014/02/well-shit.html" target="_blank">depression came roaring back</a> in full-force shortly after Caleb was born.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have never been more suicidal than I was last year. I daydreamed about death regularly, and I tested out what it would be like to asphyxiate myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the back of my head, though, was that still small voice I'd become so accustomed to hearing during years of yoga: <i>This is not who you are. It will be OK. The pain will pass.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Depressed, suicidal behavior is kind of like being drunk: In the back of your mind you know you're about to do something stupid, but you can't seem to stop yourself. You are at your own mercy. The postpartum chemicals raging in my brain took hold, and it required everything I had to cling to the whispered truths of that <i>Still Small Voice</i>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZAvKFtwZMWHxHy-V7N9xok7vSrY0zckLvoNZ8BlvkJ9Xs0A81aJWpsd8pRbriF535_M8MBUj9a8rGQ7NjrZk837l_MlLgzzOyN8K8hkbYRmwyl720iAhgPwmiq5nIIBInQa_MnZSlJkR/s1600/EITW-Life+Yoga_Mary+Statue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZAvKFtwZMWHxHy-V7N9xok7vSrY0zckLvoNZ8BlvkJ9Xs0A81aJWpsd8pRbriF535_M8MBUj9a8rGQ7NjrZk837l_MlLgzzOyN8K8hkbYRmwyl720iAhgPwmiq5nIIBInQa_MnZSlJkR/s1600/EITW-Life+Yoga_Mary+Statue.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2014/12/worth-it.html" target="_blank">depression reared it's head again</a> a few months ago, I took more immediate action, and I found exactly the counselor I needed to help me begin reclaiming my place in the light. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm hesitant to say "it's over," but I've come so stinking far in the past few months. I know how to recognize when the dominoes are starting to topple (my number one sign is not showering). I've started meal planning and created a weekly chore chart for myself. When my energy levels are high, I take steps that will help "depressed Emy" down the road -- I'll make a freezer meal or two and tackle the more labor intensive cleaning projects. Washing out the bathtub is a big one: While a shower feels dang near impossible when I'm in the downward spiral, a hot bath is one of the few things that helps relax my hurting body and mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've come to realize that true marriage and motherhood are Yoga in the School of Life. They are <i>all about</i> surrendering the "self" in the name of Love! In Catholicism we speak of <i>sacrificial love</i> -- well, what exactly are you "sacrificing" but your own selfishness and ego? My EVERYDAY EXISTENCE is a yoga practice. I can take all the tidbits I learned in that incredible hot room and apply them over and over and over again <i>right where I am.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Live to the point of tears."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This quote, by Albert Camus, is on a magnet I've had since high school. I used to think it was about absorbing the world around you, really being "in" it, and it spoke to my overly-sensitive self. Now I see it differently though. The breathtaking beauty of surrender to a life I never thought I wanted brings me to my knees and cracks me wide open. It is an aching, overwhelming, joyous point-of-tears I never knew existed before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am not the same person I was before I became a mother, and you know what? Thank God. </span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is so much better.</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fX7_Enjvq3xmuWELNYB-kzzEYPgPHDLKENInfPbdj6XIQtkEOo6ByTKMFM2AVxDSwvfIcCB-yKUdI0vsGN8oF-f9hKr-6mSKrg4JS7eoJPxeIhQlWCVWN4i-k1Q6mrKLg1LC8TGKsev-/s1600/EITW-Life+Yoga_Peonies.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fX7_Enjvq3xmuWELNYB-kzzEYPgPHDLKENInfPbdj6XIQtkEOo6ByTKMFM2AVxDSwvfIcCB-yKUdI0vsGN8oF-f9hKr-6mSKrg4JS7eoJPxeIhQlWCVWN4i-k1Q6mrKLg1LC8TGKsev-/s1600/EITW-Life+Yoga_Peonies.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Images top to bottom: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/katyaford/5744200854/in/photostream/lightbox/" target="_blank">1</a> </i>|<i> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tylerw/5457729320/in/photostream/" target="_blank">2</a> </i>|<i> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualinsanity/3615244765/in/photostream/lightbox/" target="_blank">3</a></i></span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-30988275698970674682015-01-24T13:18:00.000-06:002015-08-05T22:34:41.818-05:00january bits + pieces<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been sort of slow going around here. I feel like I have SO MUCH to write about, but I can't quite wrap my brain around all-the-everything yet. Eventually. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the meantime, a glimpse of the everyday this & that of our 2015 so far....</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWm-uyamXMDJRzvzVa2KrziFTqPIgx_qZu3onqYD20sjCmKfSpSIwOpCMhqKhGXUQBSsbh215p8BYY9mbTk8RpwhlMcO9KZRY3CGqB-5I6_v6FGifxaPW-C3iXgVIz4wbM3RZ_-2fC0rC/s1600/EITW-PJs+for+New+Year's.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWm-uyamXMDJRzvzVa2KrziFTqPIgx_qZu3onqYD20sjCmKfSpSIwOpCMhqKhGXUQBSsbh215p8BYY9mbTk8RpwhlMcO9KZRY3CGqB-5I6_v6FGifxaPW-C3iXgVIz4wbM3RZ_-2fC0rC/s1600/EITW-PJs+for+New+Year's.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rang in the new year in our PJs...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRCTrua-pIBpa0km5h3f_Zy2RHNrwjow5R7JBbX-D2ObLDWy98S4DZeDDZADahKmgj5uO3tjkfltjVcfcoOp-N2h2EzZ0TJ0Cm2bwT4Z2VqUSS9kqhPWTUA04U2IEQh6Ah5yK_V6_HTAm/s1600/EITW-Pizza+for+New+Year's.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRCTrua-pIBpa0km5h3f_Zy2RHNrwjow5R7JBbX-D2ObLDWy98S4DZeDDZADahKmgj5uO3tjkfltjVcfcoOp-N2h2EzZ0TJ0Cm2bwT4Z2VqUSS9kqhPWTUA04U2IEQh6Ah5yK_V6_HTAm/s1600/EITW-Pizza+for+New+Year's.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...while eating pizza. It was the best! Definitely the start of a new tradition.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-do7EzIpV4evvyQOkm7mJDIFPaqN-USYj2tj540WrSMCE767OxQuHR6UscPODqte7TXMsd3VZsltjLXatRWNPF7ry3bk6d8I0FV3ztttEP914nKFJfTG_REzWGrW2p3c1fhGXfPrvgyqN/s1600/EITW-Peekaboo+Playroom_Cabey+Taxi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-do7EzIpV4evvyQOkm7mJDIFPaqN-USYj2tj540WrSMCE767OxQuHR6UscPODqte7TXMsd3VZsltjLXatRWNPF7ry3bk6d8I0FV3ztttEP914nKFJfTG_REzWGrW2p3c1fhGXfPrvgyqN/s1600/EITW-Peekaboo+Playroom_Cabey+Taxi.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cabey learned to drive! ;) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cars are definitely high on his list of favorite things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He also carts his "duggahs" (doggies) everywhere these days and loves to love on them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZ5zafBPVvoSXo97t2W55j1JZ0VtP055xzaZ7qCIxJKQBLAIlZMKU-ggJLhmED1n7vF1zS1kMSEYMgZzf2e7iUmWL1M9yXlgJGwHmALgoupzE40V7ND1cdZI-AAYUQCY2zH1gaKSfuYOL/s1600/EITW-Boy+Band+outfit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZ5zafBPVvoSXo97t2W55j1JZ0VtP055xzaZ7qCIxJKQBLAIlZMKU-ggJLhmED1n7vF1zS1kMSEYMgZzf2e7iUmWL1M9yXlgJGwHmALgoupzE40V7ND1cdZI-AAYUQCY2zH1gaKSfuYOL/s1600/EITW-Boy+Band+outfit.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Andy: "When does he start his boy band career?"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifMKkuPMwQB8V4ZGUItjWhsSV8EpA3pFF3zs5olWbMvByKsJWq_GYU8QSB59YZWAIunoOpBvVHbJMsVbnsurtcI015SYdphdR9ztpC5G2r3lIASNgBrwQ3a-Y6WbJ4zm2HEHJtL-6ZWgy/s1600/EITW-Downton+Celebration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifMKkuPMwQB8V4ZGUItjWhsSV8EpA3pFF3zs5olWbMvByKsJWq_GYU8QSB59YZWAIunoOpBvVHbJMsVbnsurtcI015SYdphdR9ztpC5G2r3lIASNgBrwQ3a-Y6WbJ4zm2HEHJtL-6ZWgy/s1600/EITW-Downton+Celebration.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I celebrated the return of Downton Abbey with some bubbly (but haven't had a drink since--and I feel so much better! Not exactly super well-rested, mind, as I still have to work on getting to bed at a decent time. But better.).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupKmq31tdF5KW6ovdoqTrW11uc9Rb68gq9cgUpAYk4kjCUEnASQ1Q2EEonrLHgMx1FSbtZi_2j0iZ5LPgDy22C3keKW9FP8zubK0W78m7F-OMALUxkV8B_GuOrPT-cXhYpgmh9tHpa1Gu/s1600/EITW-Caleb's%2BObsession_Sweeper.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupKmq31tdF5KW6ovdoqTrW11uc9Rb68gq9cgUpAYk4kjCUEnASQ1Q2EEonrLHgMx1FSbtZi_2j0iZ5LPgDy22C3keKW9FP8zubK0W78m7F-OMALUxkV8B_GuOrPT-cXhYpgmh9tHpa1Gu/s1600/EITW-Caleb's%2BObsession_Sweeper.png" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Caleb is suddenly OBSESSED with cleaning supplies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think they even surpass his love of cars and dogs these days.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFF09V-ddjKtsmkzb0UIxBAAEmKqEmeM6yTJBuXRRyUZVyMemHkMVW4-l-YUo7Wq6P9Mxlfvb4sZySfbI2AIhyS_V9lBRRJqBZZpcVmwVCFhP7mU6ktAYjL8BWIm9EHfohcccKgB_fjUK/s1600/EITW-Caleb's%2BObsession_Mop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFF09V-ddjKtsmkzb0UIxBAAEmKqEmeM6yTJBuXRRyUZVyMemHkMVW4-l-YUo7Wq6P9Mxlfvb4sZySfbI2AIhyS_V9lBRRJqBZZpcVmwVCFhP7mU6ktAYjL8BWIm9EHfohcccKgB_fjUK/s1600/EITW-Caleb's%2BObsession_Mop.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I mean, really.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxh2QGukoT2OT6098dRBS0xS6HrJxS6bp0AQknIrqXPSUuUh3uc6-zCzyNYFZfDiLox3fuv64pKVUBJsOApCnT-2VHEeukO1H1Ay4uqQTdhN5rkrQ9SDPddfK01yfbvMPpVf_FyBXu9al0/s1600/EITW-Cool+Mom+Stuff.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxh2QGukoT2OT6098dRBS0xS6HrJxS6bp0AQknIrqXPSUuUh3uc6-zCzyNYFZfDiLox3fuv64pKVUBJsOApCnT-2VHEeukO1H1Ay4uqQTdhN5rkrQ9SDPddfK01yfbvMPpVf_FyBXu9al0/s1600/EITW-Cool+Mom+Stuff.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But I guess he comes by it honestly :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(I think I'm like one of those cool moms or something?!?!) (Or something.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRPCuDep2pJDuJFbTcg_Bnw1I4zmDQvNDE3F-TxuCQLH_p2Esj26HDsuZeWN-4z2fDPZLw36n4_rTJCgbI89eUQyJ6wh23RFNmo4h7uWVGb9Wj9Se1NyQ_LtrjNs08TTAfnsBQZqTt2pL/s1600/EITW-Ballpit+Heaven.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRPCuDep2pJDuJFbTcg_Bnw1I4zmDQvNDE3F-TxuCQLH_p2Esj26HDsuZeWN-4z2fDPZLw36n4_rTJCgbI89eUQyJ6wh23RFNmo4h7uWVGb9Wj9Se1NyQ_LtrjNs08TTAfnsBQZqTt2pL/s1600/EITW-Ballpit+Heaven.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ball pit heaven at the local community center.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnB3NGJ3XqE3aUWbTCr_1hGvZhmW_0xWSKtwJxJf6Fnm0zFEaZUsgklezvwa3tY8frJHET0UunGMIhDcSejW9p_sfMaS94wmbYQrTEViFPsGdbNT8bZVlyDz731ztrPfJ1GCc1A_OX2WYL/s1600/EITW-Hot+tea,+hot+bath.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnB3NGJ3XqE3aUWbTCr_1hGvZhmW_0xWSKtwJxJf6Fnm0zFEaZUsgklezvwa3tY8frJHET0UunGMIhDcSejW9p_sfMaS94wmbYQrTEViFPsGdbNT8bZVlyDz731ztrPfJ1GCc1A_OX2WYL/s1600/EITW-Hot+tea,+hot+bath.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hot tea & a hot bath is good for the soul.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQndtH3dlV330XtCKsYKi5RLTB2CsjZWJX_CJqRDwD0nmFZlJ05LsybLY50y6zn2uuhD5eD8ZY5Hv4PrrJ4L4R3rafdEWw0I_RkeDuYCsNmb1z3D3HDplTnE0TDDZR6OvlXijw_y4SC9C/s1600/EITW-Guard+Cats.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQndtH3dlV330XtCKsYKi5RLTB2CsjZWJX_CJqRDwD0nmFZlJ05LsybLY50y6zn2uuhD5eD8ZY5Hv4PrrJ4L4R3rafdEWw0I_RkeDuYCsNmb1z3D3HDplTnE0TDDZR6OvlXijw_y4SC9C/s1600/EITW-Guard+Cats.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guard cats.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEOZTORIw3i-FKE4Kop_HkrC89ldamKQ9JY-Ovh0zGK-Mmyp9X81AhHEakXBf-u8qRJNyJ6gfwvvY8TE891kd12uPTVF0uq7S2_l8ZlFwEUu0N0OfS_ERegmdetdfIWuzzzYiuXinaOJT/s1600/EITW-Rosary+Delicious.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEOZTORIw3i-FKE4Kop_HkrC89ldamKQ9JY-Ovh0zGK-Mmyp9X81AhHEakXBf-u8qRJNyJ6gfwvvY8TE891kd12uPTVF0uq7S2_l8ZlFwEUu0N0OfS_ERegmdetdfIWuzzzYiuXinaOJT/s1600/EITW-Rosary+Delicious.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Saying our bedtime prayers. Rosaries are delicious.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8eYXD6tgGDANN0fcDu-wDdGiTsaYXyXVxalQrv0U4OMSq3wsCXnPVbDCjScqHCCLrjz8ieqsr2PlyeTx8aoGDArzFUY2E4f1PxKxrjopiism1h0CFrtn0HqBtpheSmCFjpVZVzM0kKwY/s1600/EITW-Marian+Meditation_Our+Lady+of+Guad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8eYXD6tgGDANN0fcDu-wDdGiTsaYXyXVxalQrv0U4OMSq3wsCXnPVbDCjScqHCCLrjz8ieqsr2PlyeTx8aoGDArzFUY2E4f1PxKxrjopiism1h0CFrtn0HqBtpheSmCFjpVZVzM0kKwY/s1600/EITW-Marian+Meditation_Our+Lady+of+Guad.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You are covered in stars."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Late night meditation on Our Lady of Guadelupe, Patroness of the Unborn. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZE-EBWdKgRviftDUHcuGzzoFQK7xsq-D8W4fnjsydcnDWv6L6e7FGwSS29nwYo9-R1y5fWZtxMSLVE3aA7E6DMJIUHM0Qe8bamkGrEj2-rTdWUU1VOLI7EtfyM9_Cmtkco8d8mTKevJJ/s1600/EITW-Marian+Group_Ten.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZE-EBWdKgRviftDUHcuGzzoFQK7xsq-D8W4fnjsydcnDWv6L6e7FGwSS29nwYo9-R1y5fWZtxMSLVE3aA7E6DMJIUHM0Qe8bamkGrEj2-rTdWUU1VOLI7EtfyM9_Cmtkco8d8mTKevJJ/s1600/EITW-Marian+Group_Ten.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Excited to begin a small group series for young moms on the Ten Virtues of Mary at a local parish</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, inspired in part by </span><a href="http://totheheights.com/2490/ten-virtues-mary/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">these gals.</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So there you have it. I'm getting my balance back, and it is oh-so-good.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSG8yMAZxGMrPzSg3DUmOtZLBftsRQ-dpOaw-h-HkF2PnO7ERxmF0L6zNW1kS-TC7DheyVfdGnqRS2RfV2VmOd4YMyEuT3PeAdfQnllVHHlFdTi-e16nMsv4SOR4FwENbXhB6k9Pe4zDs/s1600/EITW-Vday+Tshirts+2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSG8yMAZxGMrPzSg3DUmOtZLBftsRQ-dpOaw-h-HkF2PnO7ERxmF0L6zNW1kS-TC7DheyVfdGnqRS2RfV2VmOd4YMyEuT3PeAdfQnllVHHlFdTi-e16nMsv4SOR4FwENbXhB6k9Pe4zDs/s1600/EITW-Vday+Tshirts+2015.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'd love to get my guys these cheerful t-shirts for my for Valentine's Day. They're festive without being over-the-top.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For Andy: <a href="https://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=will-bryant-clear-eyes-full-hearts-red-shirt" target="_blank"><i>Friday Night Lights </i>quote shirt by Will Bryant</a> [Honestly, I'm inclined to get this for myself too! It's also available as an <a href="https://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=clear-eyes-full-hearts-red-8.5x11-print" target="_blank">art print</a>.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For Caleb: <a href="http://peekkids.com/baby-heart-breaker-jersey" target="_blank">Peek Kids Heart Breaker Jersey</a></span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-7256624334944886482015-01-19T07:19:00.000-06:002015-01-19T07:19:00.160-06:00monday's cup, no. 12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6ePpC37NMjkeSKBLqYtE_by5F4hYJk-1mesQ_nr1dsy8hoxudjG5nhPCCFKpQ8ozcxZewYk9biCYRkGWLz81HTw3tLGvu9zY7laBNRBeYw_7F0Jcr4V1ITZHXZGItG8VLoNf7vaOE3VO/s1600/EITW-Monday's%2BCup_1.18.15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6ePpC37NMjkeSKBLqYtE_by5F4hYJk-1mesQ_nr1dsy8hoxudjG5nhPCCFKpQ8ozcxZewYk9biCYRkGWLz81HTw3tLGvu9zY7laBNRBeYw_7F0Jcr4V1ITZHXZGItG8VLoNf7vaOE3VO/s1600/EITW-Monday's%2BCup_1.18.15.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“If you can’t feed 100 people, then just feed one.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Mother Teresa</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cordellia/4539738503/sizes/l/in/photostream/" target="_blank">here</a></span></i></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-78321440975684820172015-01-17T10:58:00.001-06:002015-01-17T11:07:20.771-06:00what i'm reading now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfim-_EhIfgKBZM16qfc9T98MuWAFDIN4sLG69rKbTLWmhVGfgrjFyb18n5aualiEEMQjanZzbwyfqgbMM0fjCv9_tCAE-ddUUIM7yMp5F2Ga24MSqRGB30XLnq3203_Fy0C2ETxu1vXZ_/s1600/EITW-Reading+List_Winter2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfim-_EhIfgKBZM16qfc9T98MuWAFDIN4sLG69rKbTLWmhVGfgrjFyb18n5aualiEEMQjanZzbwyfqgbMM0fjCv9_tCAE-ddUUIM7yMp5F2Ga24MSqRGB30XLnq3203_Fy0C2ETxu1vXZ_/s1600/EITW-Reading+List_Winter2015.png" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Winter is my favorite time of year to read. As the days grow shorter, the stack on my nightstand gets proportionally taller, and I love it. Here's what I'm working through at the moment:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1 | <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Being-Having-Doing-Enough/dp/0307591395" target="_blank">A Life of Being, Having, and Doing Enough</a> </i>by Wayne Muller </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I picked this up on a whim while out Christmas shopping. Anyone endorsed by Mr. Rogers seems worth a try. Haven't started yet, but I have high hopes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2 | <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Rule-Life-Bring-Order/dp/1928832415/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421367765&sr=1-1&keywords=a+mother%27s+rule+of+life" target="_blank">A Mother's Rule of Life</a> </i>by Holly Pierlot</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This book is CHANGING MY LIFE, no joke. Punk rock atheist-turned-homeschooling Catholic mom. Feels like she can't breathe under the weight of her household duties, financial woes, and childrearing. So she creates a way out. (Spoiler: The answer is not running away or selling her children to the gypsies.) Conversion stories/doubters are my favorite these days, and keeping Pierlot's "Five P's" in mind (prayer, person, partner, parenthood, provider - in that order) has already altered the landscape of my marriage & life in beautiful ways. Her "rule" also suits my routine-oriented personality so well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3 | <i><a href="http://www.carrienewcomer.com/a-permeable-life-poems-essays/" target="_blank">A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays</a></i> by Carrie Newcomer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My godmother gave me this book for Christmas and pointed me in the direction of Newcomer's <i>On Being </i>interview, and I'm officially hooked. So hooked, in fact, that I'll be flying down to Georgia at the end of March to see her perform live, courtesy of the aforementioned (fairy) godmother. Simplicity, gratitude, community... It's all here, and I want to soak up as much as I can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4 | <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-A-Pilgrimage-James-Martin/dp/006202423X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0" target="_blank">Jesus: A Pilgrimage</a></i> by James Martin, SJ</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll be honest, it's been extremely difficult for me to get down with the whole "Jesus" thing. The call to faith has been unwanted and annoying at times, like a fly buzzing around my ears or a repeated tap on the shoulder that I can no longer brush away or ignore. For many years, I've had a practice of imagining people I don't like or find repulsive as small children, since it is <i>impossible</i> for me not to love and forgive a very young child. At Christmas I had a stupidly huge revelation on the Jesus front: Start with the infant. I do not need to befriend Jesus the man; my path, my way in, is to love Jesus the child. I've had Martin's <i>Pilgrimage</i> on my nightstand since Caleb was born, but I think now I'm finally at a place where I'm open enough to, well, open it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">5 | <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Calligraphy-Everything-Started-Script/dp/1250016320" target="_blank">Modern Calligraphy</a> </i>by Molly Suber Thorpe</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because I've gotta feed my left brain too, you know? Since leaving the classroom to stay home with Caleb, I've had the opportunity to create stationary for several friends and clients. This fall I designed a custom wedding suite, along with day-of paper goods, for two lovebirds. The digital aspect was fun and necessary, but doing the lettering for their place cards reaffirmed for me how much I LOVE and NEED to create with tangible materials and my own two hands. Hoping this book will help me hone my skills. Plus, it's a fantastic way to relax.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Clearly, I'm not so big into fiction at the moment. I think I gravitate towards a juicy story more in the summer, and then I tend to zip through books in a day or two. Winter, on the other hand, lends itself to a slow pace and deep processing. I'm good at that :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are you reading these days?</span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-78916932021331614702015-01-08T13:18:00.002-06:002015-01-08T13:20:45.126-06:00a bundle of nerves at the foot of the cross<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #141823; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">"My dear friends, let us love one another, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I posted this on Facebook late last night and wanted to share it here as well. It, like me, is imperfect, but it is the song of my heart right now. Love and compassion, in all things, even the smallest stuff. It's not an easy way of life, and we mess it up over and over again, but I still long for a world where it doesn't take such horrific acts of violence to remind us of its necessity. Breathe. Step. Hug. Repeat.</span></span></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhnP7cxUBcekWoI9uqLFcB_sij_1U-iwhoKYMgoVEQJI0KOEYgl6QB8YmbUQNyZqrlgDjYl1cL9JTte9mzhuxE_cv8Rk8IY6-D_k9jTWpg1jLxeeGTpn0xgwoVHPaU60Mr9etKYwxpqPw/s1600/EITW-Lucille+Clerc_Pencils.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhnP7cxUBcekWoI9uqLFcB_sij_1U-iwhoKYMgoVEQJI0KOEYgl6QB8YmbUQNyZqrlgDjYl1cL9JTte9mzhuxE_cv8Rk8IY6-D_k9jTWpg1jLxeeGTpn0xgwoVHPaU60Mr9etKYwxpqPw/s1600/EITW-Lucille+Clerc_Pencils.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So. Many. Thoughts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One week in to 2015, and here it is again: Violence, tragedy, vitriol, all mixed up with support, hope, and courage... It's a lot to take in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Can we all please remind ourselves that religion is NOT the same thing as fundamentalism? No matter which religion we're talking about. And religion itself is not inherently evil. But it IS made up of HUMAN BEINGS. Flawed bundles of ego and nerves and free will. In this way, we're all very much the same. Evil is so </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">good at whispering in our ears and rationalizing our choices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mostly I stick to a policy of one foot in front of the other, hot baths, and doing my duties as a wife and mother to the best of my ability. I am still learning forgiveness, kindness, and to remember to always always ALWAYS ask: "What would love do?" I'm starting with myself, because I'd eventually like to set aside all the navel-gazing and be a presence of mercy and light and goodness. It's hard to do that when you're full of pain and self-loathing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm doing the best I can, where I'm at, with what I've got. Setting the heaviest stuff down at the foot of the cross, wrapping myself in an invisible mantle of stars, and receiving Christ through the Eucharist week after week is changing my life in mind-blowing ways. I've been too shy to actually come right out and say so, but I'm seeing the disgust for what happened in France today morph into a disgust towards religion in general, so here it is: I love my Muslim friends, and I love my Catholic faith. I love the free speech that allows me to say so without any real threat other than my own inhibition and discomfort. Truly living the teachings of the Church is the most profoundly beautiful push outside my comfort zone I've ever experienced. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Art by Lucille Clerc <a href="https://twitter.com/LucilleClerc/status/552961721959473152" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-28329826041500618462015-01-05T23:49:00.000-06:002015-01-05T23:49:53.156-06:00monday's cup, no. 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“And I found that I can do it, if I choose to -- I can stay awake and let the sorrows of the world tear me apart and then allow the joys to put me back together, different from before but whole once again.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Oriah Mountain Dreamer</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image <a href="http://moonandtrees.tumblr.com/post/104039023716" target="_blank">via</a></span></i></div>
<br />emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-5611028473690048362015-01-02T06:21:00.000-06:002015-01-05T23:51:22.588-06:00the big 2-9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In honor of my last year in my twenties, I took these awkward bathroom mirror selfies. And because <a href="http://emyintheworld.blogspot.com/2015/01/welcome-new-year.html" target="_blank">my word of the year is courage</a>, I'm actually sharing them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I generally despise having my photo taken, and I only very rarely share pictures of myself here. But I guess today I'm saying: Why not?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So that's almost-29-year-old me up there. Hair and roots both longer than ever, no makeup, in my PJs. (Although, I actually just had my first haircut since June. I broke down and sprung for highlights, too. Blonde may no longer be my natural color, but it's still my <i>original</i> color. I tried to grow it out, I really did. But I felt like the uncomfortable middle school version of myself -- that's about when my hair went dark -- and I HATED middle school. Even more than getting my picture taken, which is saying something. So, for now, highlights it is!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In those pictures up there, though? I felt <i>happy</i>. Caleb was fast asleep, I'd just finished cleaning the kitchen, and I caught a glimpse of my curly hair and rosy cheeks in the mirror and thought: <i>Hey, I like that person.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was kind of a big deal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The older I get, the more myself I feel. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today I'm taking myself out to wander, and tonight I'm going to dinner with my husband. I'm beyond excited for both. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love having a fresh start to a new year, two days in a row. 29, I think we're going to be good friends.</span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-46433265086448508422015-01-01T20:48:00.001-06:002015-01-05T23:51:34.260-06:00welcome, new year!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is my word for 2015. I have a strong mind and a bold heart, and this year I'd like to be brave enough to use them. To let the Holy Spirit work in me and through me, without being embarrassed to let others in on the source of that light.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You fearful saints, fresh courage take</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The clouds you so much dread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are big with mercy and shall break</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With blessings on your head."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Be strong and stand firm. Be fearless and undaunted, for go where you may, Yahweh your God is with you."</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joshua 1:9</span></i></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-80726811494548166682014-12-30T11:37:00.000-06:002014-12-30T11:53:56.487-06:00ordinary abundance<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>I've been sitting on a version of this post for almost a week now, waiting for the words to come more easily and eloquently. Maybe I'm still feeling the holiday fog, but I'm tired of waiting. This is so close to my heart right now, and I just need to get something down and out into the world, however imperfectly expressed.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love Christmas. I really do. I used to take more joy in the preparation than the actual celebration, but slowing things down this year and honoring Advent as a time of reflection and simplicity helped make both more manageable and merry. Which isn't to say there isn't plenty of room for improvement, but we're taking it one year at a time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All that said, I find myself so <i>hungry</i> for Ordinary Time. Maybe it's that I'm getting older, or perhaps it's just this season of life, but I long for routine, simplicity, and everyday grace. For the unexpected beauty of "normal," the bounty beneath the surface, just waiting to be noticed. In this way, Advent and Christmas mirror the cycle of our entire lives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our tree was beautiful this year (it still is, actually, as we're keeping it up until Epiphany). We never got around to hanging more than a handful of ornaments, mostly those that belong to Caleb or have been gifts to Andy and me during our marriage. Still, I love having those little lights on in the evenings, and I <i>love</i> watching Caleb wave hello to the tree when he wakes up in the morning. It was wonderful to see gifts wrapped and ready piled underneath, too, tokens of love given and received. I generally enjoy buying presents. We don't go overboard, but we do try to carefully consider each person on our list. I offer up prayers and goodwill as I wrap everything, hoping to somehow imbue the items with the spirit of care in which they were chosen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But -- in the midst of wrapping gifts and baking counters full of cookies (I managed four kinds this year, phew!), the thing that really grabbed me was the fruit basket sitting on our counter, in the same spot it lives most days. <i>Suddenly it</i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i> was so inexplicably beautiful</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Call it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satori" target="_blank">satori</a>, call it the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594631298/?tag=saloncom08-20" target="_blank">"wow" prayer</a>, but whatever name you give the moment, it was as though someone pressed the pause button on the world for a second. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently I started watching the BBC drama <i>Cranford </i>(I promise this is connected), and in the second episode there's a scene where the main characters are given oranges to enjoy. For reasons of dignity and decorum, they go to their bedrooms to eat their fruit alone. The idea that oranges could be such a treat, so exotic, and pleasurable to the point of inappropriateness really stuck with me. And I think that's part of what got me when I saw our fruit basket, full of bananas and limes and clementines and even a pomegranate. The basket itself is something Andy and I brought back from Oman. What a miracle it would seem to the people of Cranford to see such treasures sitting in our kitchen! Yet we very nearly expect that we'll have access to these things at will. They blend into the background. But to really <i>see</i> them, even if briefly? Wow.<i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The same thing happened last night when I caught a glimpse of my hands in a sink full of dishes, scrubbing the pans from dinner. And I <i>saw </i>them. The whimsy of the soap bubbles, the dim light just so, and two capable hands -- hands that help me care for a family. <i>Wow</i>. I felt my throat catch at the wonder of my regular life. I get to be a wife!<i> </i>I get to be a <i>mom.</i> <i>It is so</i><i> beautiful.</i> I'm learning how to nourish my family both physically and spiritually, and while the journey has no endpoint, I can't believe how far I've come in the past year. In a way, I'm even more grateful that I was finally able to be present to this abundance, to recognize the profound blessing that is my ordinary life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've gotten pretty good at saying "HELP!" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" this past year. Or at least, I tend to call out those prayers often. But I've often stopped short of "<i>Wow.</i>" So that's what I'm aiming for in 2015: Eyes to see the abundance that surrounds me, and a soul moved to tears by the wonder of it all. <i>x</i></span></div>
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emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-48700719463890581792014-12-29T09:01:00.000-06:002014-12-29T22:02:05.759-06:00monday's cup, no. 10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are." </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Mary Jean Irion</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image <a href="http://elegant-classics.tumblr.com/post/89969410479/coffee-coffee-click-here-for-more-coffee" target="_blank">via</a></span></i></div>
<br />emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-16346587763859864132014-12-28T22:21:00.001-06:002014-12-31T19:11:59.013-06:00holiday recap 2014<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few small snippets of our Advent and Christmas. It was a beautiful season, and I only had one stress-induced breakdown ;) In all seriousness, though, by Thursday night I was completely drained, just bone-tired -- but my heart was bursting at the seams. If you're talking love & joy, Christmas with a little one is where it's at.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>From top to bottom: </i>Advent in-progress | St. Nick was here! | Lots of simple meals, including this homemade bread | The only decorating I did, apart from our (ornament-less) Christmas tree | Neighborhood tree lighting | Peppermint-scented play dough | Two of the four kinds of cookies I made: Salted PB chocolate pretzel, and rolled butter cookie cutouts | Homemade marshmallows | Brown paper packages, tied up with string | Andy and I bought each other the same (AMAZING) candle | Baked eggnog French toast on Christmas morning | Merry and bright and full of light <i>x</i></span></div>
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<br />emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207829079378739878.post-88305960384012865942014-12-22T12:37:00.000-06:002015-09-09T13:59:06.464-05:00monday's cup, no. 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="font-family: 'Century Schoolbook';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Creative people must retain their capacity to keep going, even in the face of very little external validation of their worth.”</span> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Century Schoolbook'; text-align: right;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Nancy C. Andreasen in </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Creative-Brain-Science-Genius/dp/0452287812" target="_blank">The Creative Brain</a></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.lucylaucht.com/imported-20120506203325/2014/11/17/hello.html" target="_blank">Image</a></span></i>emyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04648914862063566166noreply@blogger.com