common, everyday blessings

via MamaDweeb

(Laura Ingalls Wilder)

dreams

via MamaDweeb

(Laura Ingalls Wilder)

found: inspiration

Sometimes, when I have a minute, I click around on the internet and search for inspiration.  Sometimes "inspiration" is a fun new recipe, sometimes it's someone's personal blog, and sometimes it's just pinterest.  Whatever the inspiration, it's nice to know there are others out there who want things similar to what I want, and who write about them. It's very encouraging.

I've been pondering life directions, recently.  I decided as my New Year's Resolution this year that 2014 was going to be the Year of Positive Life Changes.  The first Positive Life Change actually occurred in 2013: we moved from a studio apartment to a one bedroom in November.  In January, we bought a car and I started graduate school. In February, we got a puppy.

I've been dreaming.  I've been dreaming of a small-ish house with lots of outdoor space, chickens in the back yard and kids chasing them around.  I've been dreaming of flowers and tomato plants and laundry on the line and hand-ground coffee.

Some of those things won't happen right now.  At least, not that way.  We're in a one bedroom apartment just outside a major city.  I'm in grad school and working.  Husband works in the evenings. We have a puppy who is pretty high maintenance (and I'm pretty sure she knows it.)

In browsing through some blogs and other forms of "inspiration," I came across this post.  Jill writes about having some of the same longings and accomplishing some of the same things I want to do.  She has some land and some chickens and some kids and a beautiful blog.

via

Anyway, I just thought someone else out there might be looking for a small moment of inspiration.  This was mine this week. I'm happy where I'm at.  I love the people and animals around me. I love our little apartment that I took time to paint and decorate and make cozy.  I love being in school and I enjoy my job (most of the time.)  But, I also love working toward a dream.

wild books, homeless books

“Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.” 

― Virginia Woolf

puppy!

I realized this week that I hadn't shared one of the biggest pieces of news in our little family!  We got a puppy!

Her name is Scout.  Here are a few pictures of her.

The first week we got her. 

Two weeks ago. Happy about being allowed to take a stick inside.

Exploring in the snow last week. 

She's now 4 months old, and a sweetheart.  She bites everything (teething) and will definitely let you know if she wants you to pay more attention to her.  But, she's completely adorable and loves to explore.  She's even loved all the snow we've gotten in the mid-atlantic area, recently.

(Apologies for the photo quality -- taken with my phone! She moves too quickly to let me try and use a nicer camera.)

Happy Tuesday!

dining well

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

from scratch magazine

Have you guys ever heard of From Scratch Magazine?

It's a delightful online magazine with everything about homesteading and raising chickens and doing small diy projects around the home.  This month, they have a piece on heirloom vegetables, among other things.

Check it out! I think you'll like it.