Archive | March, 2012

Choice

7 Mar

I don’t consider myself a poet. Sometimes, though, I sit down and words just come out. This came out a little while ago, and I thought I’d share.

image from fyeahtattoos on tumblr

Before there was time
You stood.
The right hand of God
The One
who was God
who was
and is
and is to come.

Before I knew You
You knew me.
Before I knew You
You loved me.

You who breathed
and light became day
and darkness night
blew breath into my lungs
and filled me with
new life.

You, who shaped the heavens
deigned to come
to lowly Earth.
You wrote your fingerprints
into creation
into prophesy
into our bones
so men would be
without excuse.

…but still, we never knew you.

Your own refused
to recognize
the glory of
Your birth
and life.

You knew they would.

Your own chose sin
and sent you to
atone in blood
and still You came.

You knew.

You and God
brought form to void
and spoke the heavens into being.
You knew that when
You gave free will
that we might not
choose You.

And so You came.
A God so just cannot abide,
wages earned must be paid.
And so by coming into flesh
You cried to God,
“Take me instead!”
because you’d rather
die than live
eternity
apart
from us.

From me.

You who made the Earth and seas
and all creation,
called it good,
came to us
to be The Light
and shine among
a darkened world.

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

What choice is left
but to put to death
anything in me
that takes me
from You?

May Your light shine
in my dark world
so that through me,
not because of me,
they might find You
and know
eternity.

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How Tuesday: Freehand “Cloud” Nails

6 Mar

Hello, DIY lovers! This week I’m indulging my love of creative nail polish with a super easy tutorial for making freehand “cloud” nails. I love everything about this design; that you need no special skills to achieve it (if you can paint your nails and stay inside the lines you’re golden), and the fact that there are only about a million color combinations you could come up with. I found this tutorial at Nailside. Take a look:

cloud nails!

To get these nails visit Jane at Nailside for the full tutorial.

I’ve done several color combos of this design in the two weeks since I found it. Here’s what’s on my nails now:

my cloudy nails

In. Love.

I did the other hand as a mirror image to this one. I think it’s a little bit glam, a little bit rock. Just like me. 🙂

The colors are a little off, sorry about that. From the top color to the tip, the polish colors are as follows:

Zoya Maya, a jelly coral that’s way more tropical and bright than my crappy pic does justice to. It’s also on my toes right now.
Zoya Tao, a sofy, slightly shimmery grey.
Revlon Top Speed 880, Black Star, a gun-metal grey.
Clear base & top coat.

Or here:

maya

tao

black star

What colors would you make your clouds?

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Intentionally February

5 Mar

image from thresca on tumblr

We’re two months into the year of living intentionally. January went well, and now it’s time to see how it went in February. I don’t want to bore you with the whole list of ways I want to be intentional this year, so let’s just talk about where things went right.

Moving into a season of greater spiritual and emotional intimacy with my husband.

This one is still going well, though I think this month that’s more due to effort on A’s part than mine. He’s been really on top of keeping boundaries up during tax season, and making the most of the time we have together at home. We’ve had more dates this month and more time out with friends than I can remember us ever having during a tax season February. February is usually the time in tax season where the end is still so far that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, but A and his co-workers have been going at it for so long that they’re burned out. February usually brings significant stress and tiredness on A’s part, stress and loneliness on mine, and an epic fight at some point during the month. Not this month! This month we’re comparatively doing well. I’m going to chalk it up to us both being more focused on keeping the intimacy going  during the lean times. Dreaming of our post-tax season vacation helps too.

Moving forward with the ministry God’s put in front of me.

I’ve made decisions this month about my time over the next year, and keeping out time sucks so I can focus in the upcoming months. So I’m calling this one a win.

Making the most of the relationships I have, and taking time to nurture them.

This month has seen many spontaneous lunches and get-togethers with girlfriends. I’ve baby-sat for good friends, and started working out with girlfriends, which helps with my next intentional goal:

Finding fun, creative ways to get together with friends that don’t revolve around food.

I joined a gym that three of my girlfriends belong to. Within the first week of joining, my unofficial life coach Dianne called me four times to see if I was going to class. Way to motivate, Deed!

Tackling some of the harder things on The List, especially the ones that scare me.

You know how I said I joined the gym? Yeah, the biggest reason was to take yoga. Twice a week. And I’m doing it. Yay!
Also, I’ve got A on board with my vision to redecorate the bedroom, and he’s even starting to set aside a little bit to help me do it. Double yay!

Having more people over for dinner, and not letting time/stress/money get in the way of my love of being a hostess.

Two dinners this month, one quite a random mix of people, both successful. This recipe is fab, by the way. Easy, tasty, and the leftovers were great thinly sliced over salad with the aoli as dressing the next night.

Finding ways beyond words to show people that I love them.

I’ve sent out several offers of help to friends who are hurting this month. As one who has been loved on in this way when I’ve been down, I know how much it means.

Buying locally as much as possible.

I just bought the first strawberries of the season, from California. I’ve been resisting the blueberries and raspberries and blackberries that have been popping up in the store because they were from Chile or Mexico. But last week, three baskets of California strawberries were $6. Um, done. Plus, did you know that Clover milk is native to Nor Cal? It is, so Clover eggs and butter is all that’s on our table.

Reading challenging, empowering, quality books instead of solely feeding my brain a mental fast food diet of chick-lit.

Unbroken
The Paris Wife
Working on The Time In Between at Katie’s suggestion.
Plus I opened a Goodreads account! Loving the bookish camaraderie.

Putting my health first and making the time to exercise.

Hey, did I mention I joined a gym? With friends? I did? Oh, sorry. Well, joining is only half the battle. Am I making the time to go? Let’s just say I have a standing date for Monday and Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings for the foreseeable future.

If you had a resolution or a word for 2012, how’s it going? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment or link to a blog post you’ve written on this below.

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Saturday Soundtrack – Brought to You By Zen-like Dance Beats

3 Mar

When I was in high school, my color guard instructor came in to practice one day and said, “Girls, this is the best song I’ve ever heard. You’re going to freak out.” She popped The Next Best Thing‘s soundtrack into the cd player (high school, people. iPod was still in its first generation and nanos had just come out.) telling us how amazing Madonna looked in the movie as she did yoga to the song that would become our new warm up music. Ever since then, Boom Boom Ba by Métisse has been my companion whenever I feel like moving, dancing, working, or just plain feeling good. It’s the only song I’ve ever played over and over on repeat, and it was the first song A saw me dance to. I picked it for today’s Saturday Soundtrack because after a nine-year hiatus, today is the day I re-take up yoga. And just like Madonna, this song makes me want to stretch it out.

Métisse blends the Irish and African influences band members Aida and Skully bring to the table for a perfectly balanced Soul/Electronica sound. This harmonious blend of sound and cultures inspired the name Metisse, which is the French word for ‘mixture.’  Somehow the music comes out as music that infuses me with energy and makes me swing my hips at the same time that it makes me feel inexplicably peaceful

My Fault, Métisse’s inaugural album was released in 2000, and they have had one other album since: Nomah’s Land (2007). Their website’s brief about page leaves fans with this simple teaser:

“So, where do Métisse go from here? The important thing for Skully and Aida is always to do what they do best..make beautiful, intelligent and modern music that comes from the heart.”

As one who has had their beautiful, intelligent, modern music playing as the soundtrack to some of my best memories, I truly hope they continue to do what they do best.

For fans of Lamb, Imogen Heap, Jem, Frou Frou, and Coldplay.

“Boom Boom Ba” by Métisse on My Fault (2000)

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Friday Five: Books That Keep Me Up All Night

2 Mar

There’s been a lot of sleepless nights lately at casa de BiRL. For once it’s not just because of insomnia, I’ve been reading some really excellent books lately. Unfortunately they all seem to get good right before bed. So here they are, the top five titles that have kept me up lately, from most to least recent:

The Paris Wife

Since I just reviewed this awesome book, I’ll spare you, except to say read it! But not before bed. I saw the sun rise thanks to this little gem.

Unbroken

Again, recently reviewed. This one comes with a serious Do Not Start Before Bed warning. Or, if you do, stop once Loius gets to Hawaii. After that there’s no turning back until the war’s over.

The Night Circus

Oh! I so called it! I picked up this book shortly after it came out (that was pre-Bigger in Real Life, and I’ve been meaning to write the review for a while) and as soon as I was done I said to A, “I bet they’re going to make this into a movie. It would make a really good one.” And I was right! (I’d put money on Unbroken being made into a movie too, by the way.) I totally see this visually taking on a Baz Luhrmann à la Moulin Rouge feel. Here’s hoping! Check out Cinema Blend for the full story. Anyhow, self-congratulations aside, this book is lovely. Luminous yet dark with pulsating, palpable descriptions, The Night Circus is a haunting novel that feeds into my love of gothic-esque fiction. It’s a longer read, so didn’t read all of it in one night, but I definitely stayed up way past the point of comfort because I couldn’t ever fathom what would come next.

Another Piece of My Heart

Jane Green’s been a favorite of mine for years. Yes, she writes what would be classified as “chick lit,” but I like to think that it’s the thinking girl’s chick lit. I snagged this book as a pre-publication promo, and it’s another book I’ve been meaning to review. Jane Green still needs to get an American to proof-read her books for accuracy sake, but I think this is her most raw, moving book to date. She takes an already hard situation–making a blended family work when the mom is an alcoholic, the dad is raising his two girls, the oldest of which becomes unmanageable when he marries another woman, around whom most of the story is based–and ups the ante by throwing in infertility issues and a prodigal daughter. All this has the potential to stray across the line of believability in the hands of a less talented writer, but Jane Green always writes incredibly believable characters that have you feeling every hurt and triumph right along with them. Though a longer novel for a girly-book, it’s still a fast, yet satisfying read. I read this in one night mostly because I thought I could. And I did.

Garden Spells

I own every book Sarah Addison Allen has written, thanks to how utterly and completely I fell in love with Garden Spells. Her other books are wonderful, but nothing compares to this first one. I picked it up before a long weekend in a mountain cabin, not knowing what to expect. After reading for a half-hour next to an increasingly sleep-deprived A, I got up and padded into the living room because I knew I was in it for the long haul. I fell head-over heels into the world of Claire and Sydney Waverly, their lives, their loves, their tenuous trip towards accepting each other as sisters and making a life together. One part Practical Magic, one part Like Water for Chocolate, this book made me hungry for new experiences and for home-grown, handcrafted food. I’ve read it at least four times since its publication, and it never disappoints. It’s one of my best books on my shelf.

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