June in Pictures!!

I'm addicted, absolutely addicted to soulemama.com. She models the kind of home I want to have. Very crafty, making lots of things from scratch. I've had to make peace with the fact that I am simply a domestic person. Home is where I feel comfortable. Whenever I had a break from school, I would stick close to home, either in Eau Claire or Madison. Now, my activities at home aren't always "mom-like" - quite often it involves playing video games - but I've been testing out the truly domestic life this June, thanks to SouleMama and other crafty-mommy blogs I've found through her. So enjoy this peek into my domestic accomplishments!

The beginnings of a stuffed nativity set. Because my sewing abilities are not... quite at the level of my mom's... these may be going to some kids I babysit as playthings. Lots more work to go on these.
Mmmm, fresh baked bread. It's rather squishy in the middle. Good for eating hot, but must leave in the oven longer.
Clothes on the line! Sooooo happy! If it weren't so cold today, they might have actually gotten dry.Before and after. Voila! Dishes gone! This took at least an hour and a half, mind. I don't do this often.June reading consisted of eight Tamora Pierce books (Song of the Lioness quartet and Immortals quartet) as well as Praise Habit by David Crowder (the musician). The Creative Family and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are my newest purchases. The former is by Amanda Soule, which is how I was led to her life-altering blog. The latter has only been read up to the second chapter, but promises to be worth a good ole time. Sorry the picture on the cover is so disgusting. Add to the June reading list Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House, which I read this morning.

Not pictured, but highly delicious menu items: steak kabobs, carbonara, tex-mex chicken casserole, marashino pound cake with chocolate frosting, date pinwheels.

So that's June around the house for you! I did a few other things, but honestly, not much. Like I said, I'm just a natural homebody. July holds many more books (Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet among them), adventures in felting (!) and embroidery, repurposing clothing from thrift shops, recipes to use up the food I still have (chicken and mushrooms with creamy sauce, scones, scalloped potatoes, coconut shrimp), and plenty of housecleaning chores. I think I'll take a break tomorrow - I'm exhausted!

Musings of the Unemployed

I'm not exactly sure how it's already the 28th of June. I admit that I'm still unemployed, something that can draw tears on occasion. I had thought that I could have found a nanny job by now. But I'm discovering that this summer is all about God upending everything that I thought should have happened. I thought that I would have found a secure job after college (an economic depression was not on the radar four years ago). I thought that I would have found a man with whom to spend the rest of my life. I naively thought that everything would be perfect for me.

Ah, those were the days.

Well, things aren't perfect, but I am blessed beyond comprehension. God gave me huge amounts of trust when I asked for it (little known facet of a relationship with God: when faith is hard, ask Him to help you out! Everything comes from Him). I am filled with the most peace about my place in life than I have been in months, possibly the last two years. I may not know where I'm living or working come August, but I know in my soul that THIS is where I'm meant to be. In Madison. Letting a little bit of flexibility into my life. God filled me with the desire to stay in Madison and absolute peace about the decision. After months of indecision, and prayer time made up of "please please please tell me where I'll be next!!!", I can sit in front of the tabernacle and just BE with Jesus.

I am so blessed in my friends. I'm learning that 'networking' involves telling lots of people your game plan. Several times in the past few weeks, I have casually mentioned in conversation that I want to work with children's education outside the classroom, especially literacy, and that my career goal is to work for PBS Kids television. Well, I'll be darned if they didn't whip open their phones to call someone they knew in that kind of field. And I thought, what amazing people they are who want nothing more than for me to succeed and want to help me out. So very grateful.

I am so blessed in this time that has been given to me right now. While I'm not working, I have been filling my days with reading, cooking and baking, and crafting. I can't lie. I absolutely love it. I love being at home. Going from project to project, following my desires of what to do and when to do it. Reading for pleasure! (As a side effect, reading young adult fantasy novels has made my dreams MUCH more vivid!) Even chores like doing the dishes becomes relaxing when I don't have homework that needs to be done. It's very therapeutic for me to do dishes and watch the mess vanish. Mom has always said that I was always a few years ahead of my grade in school - when I was in 7th grade, I was ready for high school and when I was a junior in high school, I was ready for college. Now I realize that I was ready to be done with college two years ago. The academic life is not for me, for all that I love learning and am good at school. God made me to feel most comfortable at home. The domestic life. So I'm happy to be here while I have the chance, and excited to see my vocation develop around it.

Thanks be to God. :-D