Saturday, March 26, 2011

Owls


I mentioned a while back that I have this new(ish)-found fascination with owls and mushrooms, so I thought I'd share a few of my owls with you!

I like owls because...well to be honest, they're kind of trendy right now. But I think I will always like them. When I was a kid, my family raised parakeets. We had an aviary in the back yard and, at times, would keep up to 50 birds. Waking up to the sound of chirping and bird talk was normal and holding baby birds fresh from their nests in the spring time was always a fun tradition. Maybe I'm naturally inclined to like owls because of my background with birds.

I also love that they are a symbol of wisdom. And they're so calm! Or at least they seem clam...

Ok, so here are a few of my "prized" owls. Enjoy!


An owl bank from Marianna that sits on our "live, laugh, live" table (yes, live twice). My roommates are saving up for a spring break get-away.


Technically, this is a Christmas ornament, but I keep it on our key holder and use it as a hammer. It's seriously the only object in the apartment that works for one!


A hand-carved owl from India! Laura brought this back for me.


Jason Leith made this! He is a wonderful artist friend and you should check out his blog.


I made this when I was eleven! It was an art class project...see? I was destined to love owls.

Thanks for checkin' this out!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

[Least Favorite ]


Spring is my least favorite season. I know, I know, I'm crazy... but seriously, in California it's kinda always spring. In fact, on my voice mail, I say "it's a sunny day in California!" This is a phrase I stole from a dear, spunky friend which is true about 90% of the time. REALLY, that's how (usually) predictable our weather is.

So this spring I'm trying to take steps to better appreciate the season. Though it was raining on Sunday, the official first day of spring, I bought an inaugural bouquet of spring flowers on my weekly trip to Trader Joe's.

What else? What else?

...new life! Daylight savings, that's happy.

umm... we're on the road to autumn...

I know! Here's what spring is: spring is writing a dark, nasty post about difficulties, realizing all the dismal qualities of it, and deleting it in its entirety (even thought it was MUCH better writing than this). Spring is... looking on the bright side?

Come on, people. I need some help here.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

A Habit-Breaking Season?

The Lenten Season is one in which we ready our hearts for Christ's passion week in the time-frame of 40 days. I read a good article (I know, it's Wikipedia, but I learned a lot!) which really helped me to understand some of the traditions associated with Lent.

On a different note, I've been reading Living Holiness by Helen Roseveare for Women in Missions and was struck by her chapter on repentance. She describes a time during her service in the Congo when the Holy Spirit stuck a church with great conviction. Following, there were countless cries and acts of repentance. What I was most surprised by was the nature of the sins for which these Congo natives were repenting. They seemed so small in my eyes! At the close of that chapter, I realized it had been quite some time since I'd asked the Lord to search my heart and point out any unconfessed sin...and the coolest thing happened. I sat in silence for five minutes, just FIVE minutes, and the Holy Spirit revealed 10 specific issues I needed to give up to him and ask forgiveness for. I knew it was the Spirit of Truth, for I did not feel laden with guilt or paralyzed with shame. On the contrary, I was swept over with a sense of gratitude and a desire to give up some of these old ways. Now, you may be curious what some of these sins were and let me just tell you that they probably would seem small and quite frankly, insignificant to anyone NOT inside my little, sensitive heart. But that's what is so magnificent about our Holy Spirit. He knows and works with each of us in ways tailored perfectly to our levels of understanding and tenderness.

With all that said, I am utilizing the Lenten season as a time to break a few bad habits, some of them being: wasting time with online TV shows and checking my email too often throughout the day. I am also partaking in the tradition of a meatless Friday, so as to remember Good Friday and the sacrifice of animal products in medieval times. This is a season I really look forward to because ultimately, it makes Easter a bigger deal; and Easter IS a big deal!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I did it!

Yes! I met the 5 pound waste challenge head on. Here's a pic of my TOTAL waste from last school week (about 1 pound a day):



It was a fun challenge and I learned a lot about the products I use. I hope to keep my average waste at one pound or less every day... with 50% of that being recyclable waste.

Today is Ash Wednesday; the start of lent... I have a lot on my heart about this season and I'll be with you sharing next time. Enjoy the holy day.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The 5 Pound Waste Challenge


Did you know that on average, Americans throw away 4.6 pounds of garbage per day, per person?! Hey, I didn't make this up! That's the weight of an average bag of groceries! So I'm trying to get my total amount of waste per week down to about 5 pounds. This sounds so easy right? Well that includes everything, garbage produced at home, in public, at school... it really adds up.

Why do I care about this? Because God made this earth and I believe one of my duties while on it is to protect its beauty. Of course, I always stick to my philosophy that people are more important than things. But I've lately been more excited to share really practical ideas with people about how reducing and reusing before recycling can be easy, fun, and more impactful to the earth. Instead of telling, let me just show you a few things around my home that I've re-purposed into decorations or useful items.















So whether you join the 5 pound waste challenge or not, I challenge you to reuse something this weekend! Be creative; share your ideas with me.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Time for a Change!

Welcome to myHandH's new design! I thought something girlie and bright was in order.


I love him (my nephew).


And her (my sis).

As our sister-in-law would say, they're "the good kind" of family!

Happy Friday.