stacie's sacred space

valentines, health, and gratitude

valentines ... it's become our family thing to make 'em together. 

we make about 100 of them!

i'm getting ideas from the web while i'm supposed to be cleaning up the messes in this house or playing with my kids.

i have a pinterest board for my favorites.

i think i'll show 'em to the kids during our family fireside chat tonight so we can decide what they want, then i can shop for supplies and we can get to work soon!

*********************************************************************************************************

health ... how much i take good health for granted.

i'm thanking God everyday for healthy, strong bodies now.

what a scare we had last week with jeff!

the nurse i talked to today told me she's never seen a desmoid tumor in her thirty year career.

hmmm.

my heart is still a little restless.

it's just so nice to have a plan for next steps now.

(sigh of some relief).

******************************************************************************************************

i'm thankful for rainy days and white space on my calendar.

i'm thankful that dave laughs at my quirks and loves me just the way i am.

i'm thankful for friends who pick up panera bagels for me and my j kids so i don't have to go out and about in the rain with three kids.

i'm thankful for all the people who pray for our family.

some stuff

playing in the snow with my three big kids today was so good for me.

deep breaths of fresh air seeped deep down into my soul.

i got to practice being in the moment instead of all up in my head.

i have a new appreciation for all of the love and support in my life.

we had quite a little scare when docs found a tumor on jeff's femur bone.

thank you to all the friends and family who stepped in by praying for us, texting us, caring for the three big kids, cleaning up around my house, playing words with friends with me, commenting on my instagrams, cooking, calling, sleeping on my couch, bringing gifts, baking goodies, doing laundry, making us laugh, and driving here from out of town on a whim.

 

when i was doing homework with janie today, i had to pick four numbers between 1-10.

i picked 2, 5, 6, 9 because those are the years my kids were born.

i realized that those are their ages right now too.

strange coincidence!

my mind is a little mushy feeling so i was happy to discover it's still sharp in some silly ways!

this little guy loves playing photobooth.

i'm a little tired of it.

i am sleep deprived in general.

one word

i picked my word of the year for twenty12.

yep, it's a practice i started a couple years ago.

this blog world inspired me!

the combination of 2010's word: pray and 20eleven's word: peace, helped me to stamp these words in phillipians 4: 6-7 on my heart

************************************************************************************************************************

don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

************************************************************************************************************************

i am learning life is a practice.

i will be practicing love, self care, patience, photography, exercise that makes me sweat, remembering to breathe, faith, yoga, laughter, eating healthy, gratitude, vulnerability, and living fully into the moments that make up my life.

it might even be okay to make some mistakes in this practice.

(the recovering perfectionist in me told me that :))

here is one of the families that let me practice my photography on them while i was in california last weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you, kristin for the opportunity to snap the beauty and joy you guys exuded on the beach last friday afternoon!

enough said

my favorite daily calendar that sits on the sill above my kitchen sink was behind from being away.

i noticed and still couldn't even turn it yesterday.

i was too busy loving all over my family!

today, it got quiet after i got the big kids off to school.

i was thinking about grandma f (since today would've been her 85th birthday) getting ready to clean the kitchen, and i turned the page.

this was it.

great message for me right now in the very moment.

god spoke.

my heart was open to really hear these words.

i'm still processing all that's gone on in my life in 20twelve so far.

it's been a lot!

and that sums up my feelings.

gotta go get on with my rainy day now.

the little things

i got a thank you note in the mail last week from a newish friend, jenny.

i had to read it a couple times.

it made me smile and cry at the same time!

how's that for real joy?

the thing she was thanking me for was something i thought was really little.

i like little things.

i love to share little things!

sometimes they are so little that nagging inner critic tells me they are too tiny to share.

in this thank you note, jenny shared a story about how my gift came just at the right time in her life.

serendipity ... yep, i believe in it!

that thank you note was so touching to me that i wanted to sit down and write thank you notes to all of the people who do so much for me (yes, even in the little things!).

this isn't the only time recently that i've heard how much little things i do touch others.

so gosh, darn it, i am going to continue my mission to quiet that inner critic (maybe even kick her out of my life).

i'm also gonna get caught up on my own thank you notes.

sometimes the little things make a big difference!!

13 things about today

1. i better understand the value of facetime today because i'm away from my family and i got to show my kids the ocean and the sun then they showed me the snow.

2. i am inspired by these awesome people.

3. i have new friends from all over the country.

4. i am madly in love with my husband.

5. i am very tired by friday almost every week (this week included), and i am so energized too.

6. this text between me and joey makes me smile.

 

7. serendipity surrounds me, and i feel grateful for it.

8. sunshine and the ocean is so good for my soul.

9. i am tired.

10. janie learned yesterday that friday the 13th isn't a lucky day, and she told me about it.

11. i didn't feel unlucky at all.

12. i got to have in n out for dinner ... first time!

13. the wild, wild west (southern california) is way cool.

my hometown

when we went home for a christmas celebration, dave and i got to take a nice walk.

it's a walk down memory lane.

dad had these routes all mapped out way before gps and apps :)

 

i couldn't help but pull out my iphone when we walked by the first high school that i went to.

i was a sophomore when we moved into town.

i remembered matt and i running down the street to get to school on time because we had to park about 1/4 mile away (which was far to my lazy buns!).

 

 

i love the gazebo on the green.

it's such a cute town.

i was so happy we lived within walking distance (okay so a mile didn't feel far for that).

 

 

that's town.

that's all town was when i lived there.

main street has changed over the years.

the post office moved out and the gap moved in.

stores went out of business and new ones came in.

this one is the same. 

 

 

it's been there for over fifty years, and it's awesome!

cutest boutique ever.

the windows are always awesome.

the people who work there are so cool.

dad especially loved their windows and displays.

mom probably pointed 'em out to him first when they were on walks.

he noticed 'em on his jogs too.

the grey colt is just neat!

it's what i will miss the most when mom retires.

 

 

well, i might miss the clocktower too.

it's the trademark of town.

it didn't feel like it when i was fifteen moving into a strange place, now i know how very nice my hometown is.

isn't it funny how perspective changes with age?

 

 

and on our walk home from town, we stopped at the new little grotto at the church we went to.

it's a nice pausing spot.

that was our walk through town.

i'm so thankful dave and i got to do that while we were there.

love of my life and best friend

yep, it's his birthday.

uhuh, uhuh.

so we started celebrating him last night because he gets to pick what we do all day today.

and most of it will be without kids.

the best gift ever comes from wendy and eddie.

they get to hang with our kids for twenty four hours.

and we get to celebrate another year for dave.

this aging stuff isn't bad!

we're having a lot of fun building our life story together.

today's prayer

it's a beautiful day for the epiphany.

there's lots of light where i am.

thank you, sunshine!

i found the prayer below here.

dear jesus,

as you led the three kings to you by the light of a star,

please draw us ever closer to you by the light of faith.

help us to desire you as ardently as they did.

give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that keep us far from you.

may we, like them, have something to give you when we appear before you.

mary, our mother, help us to know your son.

amen.

*****************************************************************************************************

and this one is the one we are going to pray tonight around our family dinner table.

their presence

i'm getting in my twenty12 groove slowly and surely.

i have missed my kiddos a ton the last couple days.

we just had such an awesome christmas break!

we spent the beginning travelling, then the last week and a half mostly inside these four walls.

 

there was some dancing!

 

 

there was a ton of game playing (rory's story cubes, below, made us laugh a lot).

 

 

there was a bunch of ipod playing.

 

 

there were trips around the block on skateboards, scooters, and feet.

i loved when the rosy cheeks returned home!

 

 

there was a little painting.

 

 

there was some jamming to music.

 

 

and of course, we celebrated!

 

 

now we're onto the routine and rhythm of the busy life we lead ... school, dentist appointments, basketball, dance, doctor appointments.

their presence still exists it's just different than those awesome days of christmas break 20eleven.

dreams and resolutions and the best of our days.

it's all happening here at 391!