March 5th - Hope Chest

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers-that perches in the soul..."

-Emily Dickinson 

I remember the first time I heard about hope chests. My best friend showed me hers. I was so confused, why did she have all these things laying around when she wasn't using them? She had mugs and washcloths and linen napkins...

"Hope chests contained...dreams of domestic bliss."

I can't tell you how much I love chests. 

I seriously want to get one for Riley, Sarah suggests that it should be a 16th or 19th birthday present. And probably should be updated (people don't get married at 16 in America much anymore, so she doesn't need flatware and bed linens etc), and done with her (no one likes to be told what to like, let her choose what looks nice to her). 

But just because you never had one doesn't mean you shouldn't have one now. 

Pick a box, or a hamper, a chest if you can, and fill it with projects you want to do. 

"Not every one of our desires can be immediately gratified. We've got to learn to wait patiently for our dreams to come true, especially on the path we've chosen. But while we wait, we need to prepare symbolically a place for our hopes and dreams."

I have quite a few boxes in my craft room with projects I want to do. My craft room has kind of become my hope chest. When Robbie asked if I wanted to sell our house and buy a bigger one I said no at first...but then he enlightened me to the possibility of having a craft room all to myself...Then I said yes! 

I love my craft room. 

"Faith is the very first thing you should pack in a hope chest."

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Gratitude Journal

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1) My weekend. There is always something about going home to your parent's house that you just can't find anywhere else. Like how you can always count on Grandma's garden to have flowers blooming. 

 2) The drought is finally brought to an end. It is so good to see water again. I tried to find the before picture, but after 5 minutes I gave up. Here's the after.

And check out the video of the creek.

3) Not just water. Snow. These two pictures were taken in the same weekend. Sun one day and snow the next.

4) Allergies. I have complete sympathy for those who suffer with allergies now, because I got them this weekend. Itchy eyes and throat, cough, runny achey nose...The works. All because I worked in the yard with my mom. I wouldn't have traded it for the world. I can't remember the last time I worked in a yard, because my yards are work proof, made specifically so I don't have to do anything. It was so nice, and look at the amount of weeds we pulled! This was only one barrel full, there was a whole other barrel.

Curse you weeds and the allergies you give. But thanks for the work, making us realize how beautiful the yard is.

5) My mom. I can't get enough of this woman. We are terrible at taking selfies, but I wanted to show this beautiful lip color that my friend gave me for my birthday. She convinced me to try it by trying it on herself first to show me how pretty it was. Thank you mom, thank you friend for the gift, it really is a pretty color.

6) One last thing. My ocd children.

7) Okay one more last thing. Read or listen to this talk, I want to talk more about it later but I'm exhausted.