June 14, 2011 @ 9:40 am | Filed under: Country Life,Family,Pure Sunshine,Uniquely Me
“Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.” ~Leonardo da Vinci
In the past four months:
- We moved to a new town, away from family, friends, and church
- Said town is a rural town where I need to drive to yet another town in order to visit Walmart
- I finished a five year college career and GRADUATED
- Our youngest finished a four year college career and GRADUATED
- I witnessed my first snake and then…my first mouse
- I built a deck, with a *little help from my man. Okay, maybe it was the other way around…
- We spied newly born buzzards in the window of the old haybarn
- We planted our first-ever garden
- I have sat many mornings and evenings on the deck we built and delighted in the cows in the back pasture
- We’ve hosted several rich and fun-filled family and friends weekends at our country place
- I got a TEACHING JOB!!
- I witnessed my first newborn calf
- We’ve begun to harvest the vegetables from our garden – such deliciousness!
All of this has happened in the past four months and I’ve not blogged about any of it. It’s been the equivalent of a thick tongue and dry mouth…LOTS to say but no real way to put it all out there and feel like I am doing any of it real justice.
I woke up this morning though and – as I walked through my house, with the sunshine splaying happily on the floors of this old house, my coffee cup warm and cradled in my hands – I realized I am doing more of an inservice by not at least attempting to journal all this newness.
All this wonderfulness.
I am not an ordinary farm girl. What is the antithesis of a farm girl? Find that word in the dictionary and I am sure you’d come much closer to finding my picture attached. Yet I am experiencing such a deep-seated contentment and sense of wonder these days that is making this transition a true adventure.
Google has been my point of reference for everything in the last few months. How far apart should I space my zucchini plants? Google. What does poison ivy look like? Google. What are the nesting habits of buzzards? Google. What kind of flowers do I need to put in my garden to keep away the bugs? Google. What kind of snake is this? Google. Pros and cons to having a farm cat? Google. Recipes for thing to do with zucchini when you have a bumper crop? Google.
Trust me, it goes on and on. And this not-your-ordinary transplanted farm girl/teacher/writer couldn’t be happier about it all. That’s not to say that snakes and mice bring any sort of happiness at all. I do, however, accept that they have their specific place in this wild new territory I now call home, and I respect that.
And that, my friends, may be the newest new stuff of it all.
I may not have all the right words to introduce this new life to you, but I do promise to try. I will leave the bits of pieces of writing that is happening now that my soul has found this fresh inspiration in the country air. I will upload pictures of birds and of projects and of any variety of animals and/or pests. I will share glimpses of the joy and wonder we are finding here as we make memories we’ll treasure forever with family and with friends.
This promise is brought to you by a not-so-ordinary farm girl.
contentment, Family, laughter, living simply, memories
January 1, 2011 @ 10:49 am | Filed under: Family,Friends,Pure Sunshine
“Life gives us brief moments with another…but sometimes in those brief moments we get memories that last a lifetime.”
2010 was chock full of those type of moments.
Brief little pockets of time that swept down, wrapped us all in their warm grasp, and then left us changed for a lifetime.
We celebrated with MJ’s mom as she turned 90 years old.
We hosted a Mystery Dinner Party and laughed until the tears rolled.
We spent lots of time doing fun things with the little people that make our life so GRAND!
We celebrated the major milestones…
and the tiny sliver of moments that took our breath away.
We welcomed new family members with joy, and we said good-bye to others who left footprints on the pathways of our hearts.
We enjoyed time with friends, drinking in all the joys that come with these type of friendships.
We cruised the deep, blue sea…
and enjoyed road trips with our nearest and dearest.
We had epic sleep-overs, complete with McDonalds, popcorn, and movies, with all the littles in our life.
We took in Game 5 of the World Series…and had so much fun that we didn’t even mourn when the Rangers lost that night.
Most of all, we lived a year full of loving this family. The family that God has so mightily blessed us with.
2010 was an amazing year, filled to the brim with amazing people, amazing events, and amazing moments.
Moments that have left us forever changed. And forever grateful that lived them.
America's favorite pasttime, Family, Friends, grandkids, memories
October 11, 2010 @ 5:52 pm | Filed under: Travel,Uniquely Me
It was a whirlwind of morning activity, for sure.
Going to class, sitting through a meeting, and then heading for the airport…for an impromptu planned trip out of town.
An oxymoron, you say? And I’d agree, except it really was just that – a trip I’d known for months I’d make in some form or fashion, but then who knew I’d catch a mid-afternoon plane with nothing more than my purse and the tiniest carry-on ever and then experience four days of unexpected break in an otherwise CRAZY fall schedule?
Saturday was Casey and Rhoads’ wedding – a family event we’ve all been anticipating for months and months now. Held on a small, intimate venue high up on a ridge in Dripping Springs, Texas, the weekend promised to gift us with many of those treasured family moments that we love the most. But first to get through the week…
And then the plan changed…and unplanned perfection unfolded!
MJ left on Monday morning, scheduled for a full week in the San Antonio region. With the changes in the structure of his company, the past few months have brought about quite a few new faces, names, and acquaintances. One of these is Noe, MJ’s counterpart on the engine side. Working closely together now on accounts for the past several months, they were bringing the entire team together for a dinner…
…and wanted their wives to be there to share in it all.
So I booked a flight for Wednesday afternoon, quickly packed a suitcase that I hoped would get me through the weekend, and loaded it all into MJ’s van before he drove away bright and early on Monday morning.
Too bad I didn’t know then that I would make it to San Antonio with only the 3 1/2 inch heels I was wearing (unless you count the 4 inch heels intended for the wedding) and that I would have to leave behind a hair pick because it wouldn’t pass security (Really, people? You think I’m going to try something with a plastic, faux-rhinestone encrusted hair pick?), AND that I would forget to grab my camera before heading out the door.
Nevertheless, the next four days proved the point that – sometimes – the least laid plans can work out to be the very best ones!
I boarded the plane on Wednesday afternoon, tugging off my ‘student’ hat and doing my best to pull on my ‘corporate wife’ hat. By the time we landed 45 minutes later, I had just about managed to forget about the paper I had left unfinished, the teacher insurance forms awaiting my signature, and the fact that the following week held mid-terms.
Instead, I breathed in the cool, crisp autumn air -
Who am I kidding, y’all? It was 4:00 in San Antonio – there was nothing remotely crisp or cool about it. But MJ was waiting at the top of the escalator, and there is just nothing that makes me feel more complete than to feel his eyes on me and see that great smile crease his face. That was cool.
I would be hard-pressed to pick my favorite moment from the weekend. Instead, there are bits and pieces that float to the top and knit together to form the most perfect myriad of images that I know I’ll carry for a long time to come.
Meeting Noe and his wife, Angie. Making new friends. Seeing our youngest boy. Taking him to dinner. A picnic overlooking some of the prettiest scenery South Texas has to offer. Naps. Conversations with my sister-in-law.
The wedding itself. Seeing the beautiful bride on her special day. My husband and his two sisters gathered around their mother.
I still can’t believe I didn’t have my camera to record each and every special, priceless moment.
It was a Fall break I had not planned on.
It was unplanned perfection.
September 13, 2010 @ 6:24 am | Filed under: Family,Pure Sunshine
Yesterday we did the Big Table.
Mike and I stopped by Mom’s on the way to church. Knowing they had already left to attend the Grandparents’ Breakfast, I wanted to slip in and set the big table in preparation for our family lunch. We were armed with all things festive and fun, and it was my intention to do what I could to ease us all into this very special lunch.
This would be the first time we’d all gather around the big table since my grandfather’s passing in July. And that is quite a bit of time for a family that has racked up quite a sum of memories by spending hours at a time sitting around this very table – sharing stories, sharing laughter, even sharing a few tears from time to time…
Last Sunday we gathered for an impromtu lunch at Mom’s too, but we almost instinctively huddled around the much smaller table in the kitchen. No one ever said a word, but it was like we all knew that we weren’t quite ready to take on the big table yet. The emptiness of my grandfather’s chair – and the one next to it, for that matter, that my grandmother had always occupied – seemed powerfully empty.
But yesterday was a special day. We were gathering to celebrate Robyn’s birthday. And one of our family celebrations definitely calls for the big table, no question about it. Not just because my sister-in-law deserves it, which she certainly does, but because we all deserve the feeling that only comes when we gather in that way.
So we left home extra early, Mike and I, so we could swing by Mom’s first and set the table. As I walked into the semi-darkness of the dining room, I was prepared to feel almost anything. Except for maybe the wiggle of delight that made its way up my middle and all the way to my face when I flipped on the light and first glimpsed the table.
Mom had beat me to it.
She had opened the bags I’d left at her house earlier in the week and she’d set the table, fun and festive. Each place was set with care. Mike and I carefully added the touches we’d brought in silence and then quietly turned out the lights and left. A deep feeling of contentment mixed with anticipation welled inside of me. All was as it should be. The family celebration would be perfect. I just knew it.
And it was. Perfect. My nieces – who’ve always sat at the “kid’s table” in the kitchen received a promotion. They accepted their new seats at the big table with a maturity and a grace that made me proud. And we laughed. And we told stories. And we passed Kael. And we shared food, love, and made new memories.
We did the Big Table.
And it fed our hearts in the best way possible.
September 9, 2010 @ 6:02 am | Filed under: Family
“I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – this greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious.” – Vince Lombardi
What’s that saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same?
Well, times have certainly changed in America’s high schools across the country. Technology literally resides in each student’s fingers in the forms of cell phones and iPods. Slang has developed to a whole new, unprecedented level. And traditional blackboards have been replaced with uber-wonderful laptops and PowerPoint presentations.
But one thing remains the same.
Friday night lights.
That’s right, are you ready for some foooooootbaaaaaalll?
High school football at its finest. Coaching at its funnest. At least from my perspective…that of one of the coach’s siblings.
I don’t get to attend many of Kevin’s games but that doesn’t in any way at all diminish the amount of immense pride I take in what he does. The relationships and levels of trust he cultivates with his players and students inspires me. There’s nothing quite like looking “up” to your younger brother.
I love it.
While my mind and heart still hold mental snapshots of him as a skinny kid who had crushes on my friends, bruises and mosquito bites on his legs, and was almost always drinking grape Kool-aid, the little brother who can be found on the field most Friday nights is a man.
A man I’m so proud to say is my brother. Strong (maybe even sometimes headstrong), hardworking (he stays in project mode), and irresistably good-looking (just ask any of my friends), he’s grown up to be a husband and father (and coach) that I’m proud of.
Here in the Wilder home, we’re cheering on the Berkner Rams this fall season…and Team Rogers!
August 19, 2010 @ 6:30 am | Filed under: Family,Pure Sunshine
Family, grandkids, memories, summertime memories
August 12, 2010 @ 6:27 am | Filed under: Family,Soul Food,Uniquely Me
“Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories. “
My heart is overflowing with gratitude.
I type away at this blog sitting in the exact same spot…each and every time. I guess you could say I am a creature of habit, and you’d be right. Tucked into one corner of our sofa, I sit with my laptop propped open and a cup of hot tea by my side. And then…
the thoughts begin to flow.
My heart is overflowing with gratitude.
By the soft glow of the light in the living room I can make out the shelves in front of me. A few short weeks ago they held many books, lots of framed family photos, and greenery. In short, each shelf was carefully and ornately decorated. And then something most wonderful happened to those shelves…
They became the home of over fifty pair of salt and pepper shakers.
My grandmother collected them – salt and pepper shakers. In all, she must have had two hundred or more sets. One of my most prized – and certainly most cherished – possessions is now a part of this collection. They’ve replaced many of the books, the pictures have been rearranged, and the greenery has just gone away. We’ve rearranged the beautiful to make room for the meaningful.
Now every time I glimpse these salt and pepper shakers out of the corner of my eye it’s a myriad of emotions that well up inside of me. But none of them are sad; and there is no sense of loss. Instead, there is the very real knowledge that love lives within this family of mine. These shakers represent a whole lifetime of summers when six grandkids would take our turn dusting the shakers and – one by one – hearing my grandmother tell the stories of where they’d come from and who had given them to her.
So this place of gratefulness where I find myself right now is a gift within itself. And it’s exactly that – a place – not just a state of mind or an emotion. Almost like it is its own little latitude where I have settled lately and claimed residence and walked its paths and met its people. It is a good place. A real place with a few dark corners and maybe even a couple of fixer-upper rooms. But, overall there is just so much beauty here…and the longer I stay, the more I see to know and to love.
This place of gratitude, of knowing where we’ve been and where we’re going and – in between all that – recognizing that where we are is equally as important. This is just one of those moments when the world slows to all but a crawl and I have a few moments to look around and drink it all in, savoring it.
My heart is overflowing with gratitude.
Our family…our memories…our heirlooms…our treasures…our everything.
August 11, 2010 @ 6:15 am | Filed under: Family,Pure Sunshine
“
A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you’re at home.”
There is something about the smile on the face of someone you adore – with a cRaZy kind of love – that makes every single thing just a little bit better.
That smile can make cloudy days appear sunnier, heavy loads a little less cumbersome, and the darkest of nights a bit brighter. It can melt shyness, dissolve anger, and restore feelings of pure goodness.
Saturday was a day saturated with these smiles. Just thinking about them now makes me start smiling all over again. My camera wasn’t fast enough or good enough to capture all the smiles on display. Of course, one of the problems may have been that I was just too busy holding babies, chatting with Carter about his first-ever tag football practice, hearing about Amy and Paul’s vacation, and laughing with my brother and sister-in-law.
One big, long table during the middle of the day – filled with some of my favorite people. Sounds of laughter, kids playing, shared stories…
It’s in these moments – when I am sitting sandwiched in between my brother and Amy, with the sound of the grands playing with Andi, and the sight of my husband loving on the nephew across the table from me – that I feel so completely surrounded by all that is good and sound and right in this world.
It arrived again on Saturday, that feeling of perfect contentment. Of fully appreciating living this life of simplicity. Of daily making the choice to see the beauty in the everyday, in the people we love and in the life and home we’ve created.
Because no matter what stress we may face from time to time, no matter the challenges that almost certainly lie ahead, and no matter what changes sometimes detour us, the reality remains the same.
It’s these individual moments that make up a lifetime.
I don’t want to miss a moment. Not one single…
smile.
Family, grandkids, living simply, memories
August 2, 2010 @ 6:05 am | Filed under: Pure Sunshine,Soul Food,Uniquely Me
Setting out for the long drive, I settled familiarly into the passenger seat with all of my traveling accoutrements: a couple of books, a lap quilt, my iPhone, and a pile of magazines. A few miles in, though, along Highway 16, and it’s clear I’m not interested in any of these distractions.
A few turns and we top a hill and there lies…the most majestic view ever.
GLIMPSES has – over time – become the spot where I leave insights into things I consider beautiful and meaningful. Places, people, cirumstances – that speak to me. When I sit down to write – to paint the portrait in the window of life of that day, I discover there are colors I didn’t know existed.
I have begun to see life more beautifully and find myself appreciating so much more.
This, I realize, is one of those moments…
We drive further. The trees get lusher and thicker as stores and gas stations grow more sparse. The traffic is light and our fellow road companions seem about as mellow as we do on this day. It’s definitely enough to make me believe Robert Frost was on to something when he penned “The Road Not Taken…”
I choose to write about the good, to catalog the beautiful…and by doing so, the bad has all but disappeared, even in my mind.
My soul has settled into a grateful place. A very, very good place to be.
And grateful places need good rest. But before good rest comes our acknowledgement of good things.
We glimpse it then. The sign. And we made the turn, almost without talking about it first, and certainly without giving it much thought. The lane was just too irrisistible, too inviting.
We heeded the beck and call, following the distant, dusty trail that pointed us about as far past civilization and noise and busyness as we could possibly get…past the traffic, the stores, the lures of anything else we’d planned for this trip.
And we pulled off of the planned – the purposed – and took a moment to breathe in serenity. Places of serenity are the spots where you find fresh inspiration, and these wells need to be mined for all they’re worth. They appear every so often along our path and, if we can see them for what they are and drink them in, then Serenity Road is a road well-traveled.
I am refreshed and excited.
To tackle it all. Because I’ve done it so far and the satisfaction of pulling it off ignites me to keep doing it. I’m actually looking forward to some crazy organization days ahead…finishing Summer II classes…delving into the big middle of the current novel I’m trying to write…preparing for the exciting yet challenging changes in MJ’s job and travel schedule…getting my resume and letter of introduction ready to send…carving out some new beautiful traditions for our family this fall…cooking…and spending as much time as possible with the kids and the grands in the coming weeks.
All this busyness and craziness will be good for us. Because you know what? This is just life, and this is how life rolls. It’s kind of like the road before us…this road I’ve dubbed Serenity. It has ups and downs and twists and turns. It grabs my stomach when I least expect it and gives me more reasons to smile than to frown.
Things will slow down, and oh don’t you know we will graciously welcome the lull when it comes. But, for now, it’s okay. Because we are together and we are happy and there are a hundred moments a day when we can stop what we are doing in exchange for something quick and simple.
Like a hug. Or a family dinner. Or a story or two.
Or pulling off the side of Serenity Road and breathing in the beauty of…simplicity.
And you know how I crave simplicity.
living simply, memories, summertime memories
July 15, 2010 @ 6:09 am | Filed under: Family,Uniquely Me
Things have felt a bit surreal these past few days.
I’m barely typing the first words of this post and already crying long-awaited restrained tears…exhaustion and love and grief and all that is to come…and family.
I have reached an emotional crescendo like the summit of a mountain, and I am sitting here, trying to let it all soak in, and feel completely inept at putting it into words.
Mom opened Mama’s cedar chest a few days ago and found – literally – a treasure chest of richness.
Scrapbooks!!
Book after book after book, filled with photos, with news clippings, with ribbons, and awards. I take a lot of teasing for my scrapbooking tendencies…but evidently I come by it naturally.
If it could be scrapbooked – Mama captured it and put it one of her books.
We sat on the floor of the closet in the back bedroom – my Mom and I – and flipped through the books. There were books devoted to Mom, books focused on Uncle Ralph, a scrapbook on World War II, and even an Elvis book. (You’d have to have known Mama to truly appreciate this one.)
For now my house is calm. And quiet, except for the whir of the air conditioner and the dryer tossing a load of towels. After a tumultuous few days I am beginning to feel healed by the immersion of what matters most to me these past several days.
Family.
And, oh, how my heart puddles at the sight of my loved ones lovin’ on each other. We don’t get opportunities like these much because we live so far away from one another and the get-togethers are few and far between. But these past days, here they are, scooping up this time – as inconvenient and as painful as it has been – and they are embracing the important.
Each other.
We are Mama and Dad’s family. Their living, breathing scrapbook.
We love one another with passion and purpose, and these days and these moments will go down in the scrapbooks of our minds and hearts.
How many times I’ve wanted lately to reach out and grab the reigns to our ever-changing, busy lives and just yank hard. Pull back with everything I have and slow things down until I feel I have control.
But that’s impossible and – if you think about it – bridled, trained life is just boring compared to the wild exhileration of just plain ‘ol living.
The only predictable thing about life is its unpredictability. It’s unbridled and wild and beautiful. …and that’s our life right now.
