Resolved.

     As a new year dawns, I have that fresh feeling of starting over. It's a wonderful feeling. I think Anne Shirley describes it so well, "Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" Well, here's a new year, clean and fresh. All these days stretching out before us, like a clean slate, waiting to be filled with memories, laughter, tears, joy and pain, wonder and excitement. 

     I know this feeling of "this year's going to be the best yet" is rather cliche, but it's not an entirely unhealthy feeling, I don't think. God designed this cyclical world in a way that brings fresh starts like new days, new weeks, new months, and new years. And he wants us to feel that way because with him, starting things anew is possible. 

     Well, this year, I am resolved to relish the little things. Rejoice in the early morning light streaming in divided lines through my eastern window. Savor the sweet smell of rainy days, and the clearness of the sunny ones. Delight in the sound of laughter. Read the good books. Soak up the moonlight. Listen to the birds and the trees and the wind. Watch the sunrises and the sunsets. Enjoy homecooked meals. Sip coffee in contentment. Work hard, enjoy well deserved rests. Celebrate family and friends. Listen with wonderment to the music around me, the symphony of the lives of a million people living together in this wide, vast world.

     But, here's the thing. I know, that in order to do this, I've got to say no to the internet. Right now, I'd rather pin pictures of those happy moments, or post about them on facebook, or share a picture of them on instagram, than I would just enjoy them. There was a time--and I'm more than a little embarrassed to even tell you this--but there was a time last winter when for various reasons, I found myself home alone for the evening. Now, I love my family, I really do, but a cool, winter, night with less homework than usual, all to myself is a rather happy prospect. So I decided to grab a blanket and get lost in between the pages of a hardback. But...the moment was too good not to instagram. And the picture would really look so much better if I had a cup of tea in my anthro mug...and I definitely needed to get the lighted Christmas tree in it...and this type of evening really isn't complete without a nice, bright fire in the fireplace, so I built one... I tell you, I spent so much time making my evening look enjoyable, that I barely had time to actually enjoy it. And I think it's so easy to unconsciously go from just living life to making sure it's well documented. It's easy to get caught up in pictures because we don't want to forget whatever is going on…but if we don't put the camera down sometime, we may sacrifice actual memories for a nice looking scrapbook. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for pictures. They're great. But they aren't the real thing.

     So, I'm resolving to care less about the way my life looks on a Facebook page, and care more about my actual life. 

Happy New Year!

    

Let's get real here.

That's what Thanksgiving should look like. Smiles, family, perfect turkey, clean, unwrinkly clothes. Yes. That's the picture of Thanksgiving.

--------------------------

Every year our friends do a Turkey Bowl--basically a game of touch football--on Thursday morning. I wasn't going to go. I was put in charge of more cooking this year than I ever had before, and so I thought I'd stay home. But then, everyone was leaving...and well, I decided I could do it. (Side note: Target lunch time is 1:30)
So I get back and start cooking cream corn in my sweat pants and t-shirt. Things are going pretty great--I'm taking my time, singing along to Les Mis. Then one thing leads to the next, and it's 1:00 before I know it. People start coming in showered, and looking all spiffy in their Thanksgiving clothes and all...and I've still got an apple pie, green beans, and sweet tea to make. Not to mention I'm still in sweat pants. So, I scrape everything together, put the apple pie on hold, and run back to my room. I had picked out my outfit the night before. It was just the thing you might see in a Norman Rockwell painting... except, I forgot to wash those jeans...and iron that shirt... I pull the jeans out of the dirty clothes pile--they don't smell too bad--and the shirt isn't that wrinkled. So much for some nice looking hair-do--there's still an apple pie in the kitchen waiting on me. This Thanksgiving, I'll be sporting the Turkey Bowl pony-tail.
So much for the creative pinterest-inspired pie-crust I had planned to make--this thing's just going in the oven. "Who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good?" I said as I put it in the oven. But I did. I cared what it looked like.
My picture-perfect Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving was down the drain.

Funny, because writing all this down a week later, it all seems pretty insignificant, and I feel silly telling you I was really in a bad mood about all this--but I was.

But, with the help of my lovely mother (who took charge of the green beans and helped with the apple pie.), everything was ready on time ("on time" may not be completely accurate, but the Lunsfords haven't ever been "on time" for a Thanksgiving meal yet. Why break tradition?), and the table was loaded with a feast an Elvin party could have been proud of.
And lemme tell you. Food, family, and friends makes everything okay. It's like a miracle drug for an ailing soul.
I'm sure we've had some pretty great, near Rockwell style Thanksgivings before, but I don't remember them. I do remember the time we ate three hours late because we forgot to take the turkey out of the freezer to thaw (you've never heard such stomach rumblings before). And the time the grocery store accidentally gave us a ham instead of turkey. And that one time the water in the house didn't work so we had to wash all the dishes outside with the water-hose (and it was cold too). And the time we had to microwave the turkey because it didn't cook fast enough.

Picture perfect Thanksgivings might be nice in theory--or hanging on the wall--but really, it's the mess-ups that are most memorable. Those are the ones you find yourself laughing at years down the road.

Two of My Favorites

I'm a bit late here, but I couldn't let the birthdays of my two favorite authors go by without acknowledging it.

November 29, 1898: 

 

C.S. Lewis. 

(Clive Staples Lewis, but many called him Jack.)

I think that if I could study under an imperfect human being (that is, any human other than Jesus) it would the this guy. 

He was brilliant.

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited." 

-C.S. Lewis. 

It makes me happy to think that he's seen it now. He's found the flower, heard the tune, and lives in that country. 

November 30, 1874:

L.M. Montgomery. 

(Lucy Maud Montgomery. She went by Maud.)

Author of my favorite series of all time: Anne of Green Gables. I've yet to read a book by her that I don't like.

We actually just started reading Anne of Green Gables as a family. She has a way of wrapping up magic in words and putting it on the page in a way that sends a certain kind of loveliness into the very depths of my soul and makes me feel as if I were flying--in a strange, wonderful sort of way.

Every time I open up those Anne books, finger the pages and smell of them, and read just the first few lines, I feel as if I've come home. It's a familiar place that I'll never tire of. 

“Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?" 

-Anne Shirley (L.M. Montgomery)

Happy Wednesday!

Cutest thing ever.

October Happenings

How do you pack for a two and a half week long trip? Open up your suitcase and pour your closet into it. 

Believe me. I would know.

----------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks ago, my dear mother and sister, and I loaded the back of the car with suitcases, baskets of books and school, snacks, and other odds and ends and started off.

First Stop: Baylor!

Quality time with family (brothers, yay!) and friends. Really, that's just the best. 

(Oh, and can we just take a minute to notice how completely amazing Julia's hair looks? I mean, really. )

And then we drove.

______________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  

_______________________________________________________

(get it, it's a road. It took some time to figure out how to make that work, so please appreciate it. Thanks.)

And then we met up with these lovely people.

                                                     

(I just kind of love them all.)

Had a nice chat, over lunch. (I mean.. we talked while we ate lunch.. not that we chatted about lunch) Friends and food. Two of my favorite things right there.

And onward to Franklin!

______________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  

_______________________________________________________

(You don't have to appreciate this road as much because I just copied and pasted.)

Where I got know this lovely lady a little better.

She is really fantastic. 

And I visited New College Franklin.

We played frisbee

 (I realize this is a pretty lame picture.. no one is even running and the frisbee isn't even in flight, but it's all I got. sorry.)

And this cutie dressed up as an Indian.

(It was Halloween)

And then we drove some more.

__________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _    

__________________________________________________

(again, copy and paste. It's really a wonderful tool.)

To see these lovelies. 

I LOVE this kid! 

They're swell folks. And I love them to death.


Aaaand then. More driving. 

______________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  

_______________________________________________________

We visited the Greens too, but I don't have pictures from that. But it was fun (duh.) and I love their house. Like, a lot. I mean, I love the Greens too, but their house... :)

Anyway...

______________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  

_______________________________________________________

Back to Texas.

______________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  

_______________________________________________________

(More driving because everyone knows, the longest part of the roadtrip is driving through Texas.)

Almost home, but first...

We met Governor Huckabee! And that was cool. :)

______________________________________________________

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  

_______________________________________________________

And then.

 Home. Sweet. Home.

It was a wonderful trip. 

But really, 

there is no place like home.

New something I learned about myself: I realllyyyy like my bed, guys. I didn't know how much I liked it. But oh, do I ever.

So that's that.

__________________________

"I do like a road, because you can always be wondering what is at the end of it."
~L.M. Montgomery~

Arwen's Vigil-The Piano Guys

And The Piano Guys do it again. Incredible.

Happy Friday!

Dear Roy Rogers, You're My Favorite Star

Today, 102 years ago, the King of the Cowboys was born. 

And I'm kind of glad he was because, you see, I grew up watching this guy. And I still like his movies and his songs a whole whole lot. 

Favorite movie: Probably "Don't Fence Me In"

Favorite Song: It's hard to pick just one, but I think my two favorites are "Sunday Kind of Country Kind of Love" and "It's Good to be Home Again"

Fun Fact: His real name is Leonard Franklin Sly. And because no cowboy ever was called "Leonard," he chose the stage name Roy Rogers.

-----------------------------

Well, I think the only fitting way to end this post is by saying, 

"Good bye, good luck, and may the good Lord take a likin' to ya." -Roy Rogers.