Family Dinner

The more genuine and deep our community becomes, the more everything else between us recedes. 

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dinner for twelve in our tiny apartment. 

This is the first time we've hosted so many and guess what--it worked!

We Have a House Guest

This is Shamus. 

He's hanging out with us while his owner is traveling for a few weeks and I'm loving every moment. Growing up my family had cats, my favorite one still lives with my dad in northern California. Cats are good to play with, to read with, to cuddle with, to keep you company. I know not everyone shares my sentiment--James doesn't even--but for the next few weeks we get this little pal. I'm excited.

Fall Again

Raindrops gather on the window next to me as I write this. Autumn has begun to turn cold and grey; tonight I pulled out our sweaters and scarves to better combat this fact. The tea shelf is stocked, the extra blanket has been added to the bed, and summer is quickly making its way to the basement. 

The autumn has also inspired my cooking. Tonight I made a roasted delicata squash dish, coconut curry lentil soup earlier in the week, and apples in couscous with salmon on Sunday. We've been enjoying hot soup, or spicy curry dishes the most. This weather craves the spices. A coworker of mine has requested pulled-pork sandwiches, so those will happen soon as well. 

This month we're gathering weekly with friends from church to enjoy dinner together. It is an intentional time of cooking, talking, eating, and spending time that we wouldn't normally. There is something about sharing a meal, and stories, that brings people together like nothing else. I'm excited for the chance to open our home again and host a meal here. My heart swells when people are in my kitchen, or cozy on my couch with dessert. 

Feathered Friends

Over the summer James brought home this bird-feeder for us. He also took these photos. It is one of my favorite things, to sit with my coffee in the morning and watch them right out our window. They pick on each other and constantly dive off the feeder to who-knows-where with seeds in their mouths. Silly things can eat through a whole feeder in one morning. These birds are the perfect kind of pets for James. He could not feed them and they figure out something else and they're outside so he doesn't have to clean up after them. But these tiny brown ones are so cute and fun to watch. Now that it is getting colder in the mornings--it was down below 30 today--we'll have to make sure we remember them. I'm sure breakfast on a chilly morning is much appreciated.

Around the House

Photos of our home. As per your requests. I think the last time I posted pictures of our house we had just moved in. Here's us a little more settled. 

 

Trust me, it isn't usually this clean. And would you look at the red tree out our window? Fall is here. I've been baking some, and we had Sam stay with us one night this week. We also had a lovely dinner with some family from San Antonio on Sunday. This week our work schedules are doing that thing again where we only see each other in the evening. Our evenings have been spent reading or watching movies on the new couch. 

Come visit!

In Which We Get Our First Couch

James and I have been looking and looking, and looking and searching, googling, craigslisting, and looking and looking...

For a couch--

For months. 

The problem with our apartment is the 31'' door frames. In the early 1900s, when this house was built, furniture could fit through those door frames. Not so today. With all the searching we did, we found plenty of couches we actually liked, they just wouldn't fit into our living room. You can't pretend you have more space than you actually do. 

In the end we opted for the couch in a box from Ikea. Honestly, it is pretty perfect. For one, it fits. It also looks great in our place. More than anything, I am excited to share it with friends. We can invite people over and have a nice place to hang out, and this also doubles our guest sleeping space. You could put two (or three) kiddos on this couch, and sleep on the queen air mattress if you wanted to. 

Hint, hint. 

We spent the evening putting it together and made a date night of it, complete with a delicious pizza homemade by me. We acquired three refrigerator-sized boxes in the process and I definitely took the opportunity to play in them. James fell asleep on the couch last night after we got it all assembled. Just to make sure right?

Our house feels like home. 

There and Back Again

My travel buddy. 

We went to San Antonio this weekend. Thursday morning we woke up and caught two busses into the airport. I have to admit, I was a grumpy one. But this guy got us on the plane successfully. Once in Houston we rented a car and drove to San Antonio. 

In San Antonio we spent the weekend with family. Such a sweet time to encourage one another, play together, and hear about the changes in each of their lives. So much laughter. 

From SA we took two busses to the airport, one Greyhound and one city bus, definitely a different experience. We flew home to Boston and our friend Tim drove us home from there. There were many moments of adventure along the way, but we made it together. He's my favorite. 

Minute Math

Some days I wish I could go back in time to my second grade classroom. I would find my second grade self, with pigtail braids and gapped front teeth, and I would tap her on the shoulder. She would look up at me from a thirty-problem multiplication worksheet, frustrated. Wordlessly I'd take her pencil, smile reassuringly, and I would write:

Dear Mrs. Sharp, principal, and board;

I will tolerate this no longer. Not only am I failing to learn anything as you force me to complete this ridiculous sheet of problems, but you are giving me a math anxiety from which I am likely to suffer the duration of my years as a student, and quite possibly the rest of my life. As the rest of my classmates succumb to this torture, I will sit here in quiet defiance, and refuse to participate.

I dare you to stop me.


Your diligent future English major,
Ashley


My shy, second grade self would stare wide eyed in fear. But maybe I would have the ability to sit here tonight and confidently say, I did well in math. Maybe I would have learned how to multiply square roots, or gotten higher than a 140 on my GRE Analytics test (the scale is from 130-170). Or maybe when my boss asks me to use an algebra formula to place a new pastry order, my stomach wouldn't knot up.

Eh, I rather edit books anyway.

Leaves Are Changing

From the middle of the study in our house, I can see out six different windows. The trees out all of them tell me its fall. The air in the morning is crisp and my kettle whistles away at me often these days.

There is a stack of books and a pile of assignments on my table due each week. Lately the days blend together and suddenly its Tuesday class again. I've promised myself that this week all my assignments will be done on time. Usually that isn't a problem, but for some reason this semester with extra hours spent at work, and a little traveling, I'm struggling a bit. But only a bit.

In my Editing course we're working with writers from another class, helping them and editing their papers through the semester. I'm enjoying it greatly so far. The grammar lessons are good for me and they go well with the Copyediting course I am also loving.

Dig in, work hard, that's what I have to do this week.

Thank goodness for coffee.

This Bunch

I spent time getting to know my  family last weekend. What an incredibly unique, creative, silly, and wonderful bunch. 

The eldest, so engaging when she tells a story--full of life and passionate about what is right and true. The second, an artist. She is courageous, caring, and gentle. My husband falls third, in him I'm beginning to see a tender strength. He works hard, cares deeply for each sibling, and has a tendency to sing silliness to make them laugh. The pianist, quite possibly the funniest of the bunch, values good conversation, relationships, and striving for the best in all circumstances. Also, he adores his wife. Next is the littlest sister, who finds beauty in everything, no matter how small. She values people for who they really are and has a quiet way of anticipating needs of those around her. Finally, the kid brother, who is growing into an incredibly smart man. He has a contagious smile, loyal to the end, and it seems that everything he touches turns to gold. 

In each of them I see pieces of their dad. 

My wedding photos reveal they each have his smile. 

I'm proud to call them mine.