In Which We Play At Being Orphlings

A 25-year anniversary...

Five days....

Eight kids on their own...

(Well, some of us are no longer kids)

A cold in the head...

A toddler that should be weaned but still nurses a couple times a day for comfort's sake...

A camera...

An "empty" house...

Sneezing/coughing/stuffynose...

May I reiterate the "Five Days" thing?...

Oh yes. 

This is the life of the Heffington kids this weekend. We are going to be baching it here while Mama and Dad celebrate their 25th with their first trip away (without a baby in tow) since they had Daniel, almost 23 years ago! I am looking forward to this weekend and the funny videos we plan to shoot. It's going to be amazing! I am dosing my cold with cinnamon-and-honey and PG Tips, so here's hoping it withers away quickly! We've got fun things planned and of course I know my uncle and aunt are right across the field so if I need any adult help I've got it. But I think we'll be just fine, and it's kinda fun playing The Boxcar Children for a whole week. Keep your eyes out for any videos that make it through production! ;)

The Fragile Beauties

I am sorry I've been so silent of late, but if you saw my hypothetical calender which has included a good friend's wedding and 5 family birthdays in one month, the launching of my literary-themed online shop called The Warren, a re-inspiration for my writing, lots of reading, and the cranking-up of the family school-year, you'd realize there really has been very little time to devote to blogging. Along with this craziness has been lots of thinking, on my part. I don't know why, but I've been in a thoughtful frame of mind recently; such spasms strike me now and again and I think Plato himself would be rather proud of my philosophizing abilities now and then. ;)

From the thinking has sprung a little thing that I am Being Aware Of that I call The Fragile Beauties. I guess you could say that this Thing is like 1,000 Gifts, or even the book Sarah got for her birthday: Cold Tangerines. But The Fragile Beauties trend began for me when I would find certain pictures on Pinterest that had no place on any of the rest of my boards, but that I could not ignore. Pins that captured the little pieces of everyday life that I try to remember to notice. Or things that I've always wished I had a macro-lense to be able to photograph. Things like this:

 

 I haven't read Cold Tangerines , but I know that my Fragile Beauties are a bit less broad a list than 1,000 Gifts. Where the latter paints a broader picture to be grateful for, The Fragile Beauties are the strictly aesthetic blessings. I'm a visual, touchy, feeling, all-five-senses-roaring girl. So I love to notice the beautiful things here on earth that we've been given in abundance. The beauties that are gifts but oh so fragile because they won't last. (Perhaps we'll have even better ones in Heaven?)

Psalm 103:15 says:

"As for man, his days are like grass;

as the flower of the field, so he flourishes

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more."

Fragility. Humanity. Earth-ness. It's all passing, and little of it will last, huh? But when I cared to think about the fragility a bit deeper, I saw a thing I usually pass over when reading those verses. Over in Mattew 6:28-29:

"...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

So you see, man's existence on earth might be a little blinkity-thing, but it's still a thing, for a while at least, we flourish as those self-same lilies, and Jesus acknowledges the lilies are beautiful. We're also told that "Every good and perfect gift is from above", and that everything God does is to His glory. So I'm sitting here thinking:

"Gosh; The Fragile Beauties. One life to find them in. My Lover who delights to watch me notice: ...um...game on."

 I'm finding The Fragile Beauties, and I'm marking them mentally, posting them on Instagram (username: heirloomrosebud) with the hashtag: #thefragilebeauties, pinning them on Pinterest, and gathering in the beauty strewn about that so many people pass by. I'm pointing it out to other people, smiling over it myself, thanking God whenever I catch one of those fleeting, fading, lovely things, and enjoying every moment.

I hope you'll join me in this. 1,000 Gifts, Cold Tangerines, The Fragile Beauties; whatever you call them, let's go searching.

Firstly, lastly, in-betweens

"In my life, there's been no one like him anywhere, anywhere..."

But despite the absence of that elusive person (no, not the Scarlet Pimpernel), life has been full of new ideas, new plans, and fun things. First off all, since posting about Maryanna's wedding, two friends have got engaged! Though all the details aren't reported yet, I think their guys may have popped the question on the exact same day - wild, isn't it? I still can't believe that Mama was totally right when she used to tell me that it would all happen at once. So, here's the short list of everything that's been going on in my life these days:

Singing: Anna, Benjamin and I bought the sheet music to Newsies and Anything Goes for Leah and Sarah so we've been pounding out jazzy NYC-style show tunes on the piano ever since. "If I need a headline, I'll make up a headline and I'll say anything I hafta. Cuz it's two for a penny, if I get too many, Weisel just makes me eat 'em afta..." There's not much that is more fun than crowding around the piano and working out parts to our favorite Broadway shows...it's such a cool thing to do with the family. Funny thing is, we four girls have worked out almost all the parts to to an all-guys' song. (Well...barring the nuns.)
And speaking of nuns, Daniel bought Sarah The Sound of Music for her birthday. We haven't seen that movie since our VHS player went out, and going back to watch it now that I'm grown was hilarious. There are so many clever lines that I never understood as a kid.

Max: "There's nothing I hate more than a thief."
Capt. VonTrapp: "Oh Max, do try to learn to love yourself."

Definitely a favorite with our family, and I watched with contentment as the younger girls fell in love with the movie just like Sarah and I did as kids. :)

Working On: With the advent of so many weddings (and expecting at least one more engagement by the end of the month!) I have realized that my days of waiting for money to find me are utterly over.

"In terms of money....we have none." -Despicable Me

 I've got to do something to pay for all these weddings I am attending/participating in, don't I? Aunt Christy and I are seriously contemplating starting up a floral-design business together. We're good at it; pooling our talents, we have enough experience; plus, we're talking about flowers here: I love flowers. So, though it's not final, I am kind of excited about the possibilities. In addition to this, I am so looking forward to announcing one more thing by the end of the week. It's nothing big, but I do have one hint for you. Two words: The Warren.

Reading: A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper, Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (fabulous so far...quite allegorical), Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynn Truss

Waiting For: Different plans that are currently up in the air. The full proposal story from JULIA! Money-making schemes to pounce on me. Summer to finish! A letter in the mail. The next adventure.

Loving: Strawberry ice-cream; I really didn't realize how much I love real strawberry icecream till Levi insisted on having some for his birthday. New love-story right here. Kate Rusby's music. G2 pens. Reading other peoples' writing. Learning the intricate words and parts to new songs. Re-listening to the Transfer Conference messages. Summer storms! (speaking of which, my cousin took a stunner shot of lightening!)

Needing To: Get back on my shrinkage-program. Humph. Oysters. All sorts of grouchy-sounding words that mean Too Much Cake. Be purposeful in memorizing scripture; a weakness on my point. Write a letter to Grandma June. Work at making money.

So. These are the current events: God is great, I am weak, He works in me anyway, and life is beautiful. What more could I want? Hope your Monday is fabulous!

(if you'd like to follow me on instagram and see day-to-day things in pictures, you can find me as heirloomrosebud. I don't clog your feed, but you do get to see bits and pieces. :)

Wedded Bliss

Last weekend I had the immense privilege to help my Aunt Christy with the flowers for the wedding of my sweet friend, Maryanna Strautmann nee Thompson.

We have done the flowers for weddings and graduations before, and I always forget how much I enjoy it until I'm back in the thick! We always joke around that we should start a business, she and I, since we do it as a ministry and have never made money ...maybe we should....at any rate, I so much enjoyed myself, even with the crazy-long days, and I don't think I've ever seen a prettier wedding when all is said and done. Along with the wedding flowers themselves, we were in charge of assembling a team and prepping the reception: cake tables, food tables, guest tables, and head tables. I don't have many pictures of that part yet, but my cousin Matthew took some stunners of the flower-work! We used all fresh flowers except for a couple blossoms at the tippy-top of the arch. I despise fake flowers with a passion so I was excited that the bride and her family had a budget for fresh blooms! :) I'm rather pleased with how everything turned out:

Hey look! That's me holding the bouquet!

I love weddings, and being able to help make them beautiful is such a privilege! After all - is there such a thing as too many flowers? I am inclined to say nay. My favorite part of my responsibilities? Pinning the boutonnieres on the groomsmen...I get to see them all up close. ;) Actually, I loved teaching the bridesmaids how to hold their bouquets nearly as much. That, and chasing the ring-bearer every few minutes to fix his flower.  That child... :D

A beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple! L'Chaim!

Thanks, Gents

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Dear Gentlemen,
      When you hear the word 'gentlemen', you probably shrink inside, thinking we expect you to be some huge Titan of gallantry or the archetype of good manners. Maybe we do appreciate that in a man, but today I just wanted to thank you. Some people think the race of gentlemen has died off. I can't agree entirely, because you are here. I wonder if you realize how much you effect me and many another girl just by being considerate, amiable, and genuine. Not all men are gentlemen, but when we women meet one, we know him for what he is immediately.
     Did you know we were that keen? Well, we are.
     I feel that good things cannot be commended enough, and fine men deserve as much recognition as the rakish fools who take up so much space in the news without having done anything worthy. So here's your little space of glory: here I want to tell you the things that you do right, and (coming from me), the things you do that make girls breathe again and think, 'There are real men in the world after all.' This is a letter for the gentlemen I know, and their kindred whom I have not had the blessing of meeting. These are the things you do (and are) that make me smile:

      I love when you laugh. I love when you make me laugh.

      I love your friendship--you don't know what a treasure it is, knowing young men who are actually interested in appreciating my soul, not what I can give them in exchange for a little attention.

      I love looking across a room when someone says something funny, and reading mutual hilarity in your eyes, and then laughing about it with you later.

      I love your sensibleness, and the way you guide conversations into useful courses that a girl might never have thought of, were we discussing the same topics.

      I love your useless bits of information that expand my intellect in ways I'd never looked for. (cannibal forks, anyone?)

      I love it when you open a door for me--I realize you know I could do it myself and I am thankful you do it anyway, just out of kindness. You're not being a Chauvinist, whatever people might say.

      I love it when you take time to talk to me and ask questions, like you really want to know what I think.

      I love it when you remember little things we discussed a long time ago and bring them back up when I least expect it.

      I love it when you have good handwriting.

      I love it when you offer to accompany me on errands I've been asked to run.

      I love it when you have massive pools of talent, but I have to find out from someone else (or personal observation) because you don't talk up your good points to impress me.

      I love when you've read the same books I have, or new ones that you make me read.

      I love when you disagree with me and make a good case for your side of a question.

      I love when you quote Shakespeare, or my favorite movies. (or Cabin Pressure. ;)

      I love when you admire plain women, because I know you're seeing the important side of them.
   
      I love it when you obviously have taken care with your appearance.
   
      I love it when you seem to have forgotten you are looking very sharp.

      I love it when you make little kids laugh, and laugh with them.

      I love it when you ask if you can dip me when we dance.

      I love it when you give a genuine compliment with no hint of flattery inside.

  These are only some of the things I see in you, my dear gentlemen. And perhaps the thing I am most blessed by is that moment that comes along periodically where you remind me of My Man--the man I probably have not met yet, but whom I can see will be one of you. So thanks, gentlemen. You really don't get enough notice from the world in general--I didn't want to stay silent when you're such a huge part of how I can remain a lady myself.

All of my best,
        Your sister,
                      Rachel Heffington
         
     

Culinary Cabaret!

Hey guys! Check out the brand-new news from the sister-blog, Two's Company that I share with Sarah! :)

Okay guys! I am thrilled and excited to introduce to you to the new blog series starting here on Two's Company! This series will be called "Culinary Cabaret" after the line in Disney's "Be Our Guest" which runs: "Beef ragout, cheese souffle, pies and puddings en flambe! We'll prepare and serve with flair a culinary cabaret!"Essentially, this series is a challenge you all will be able to link up with any week you'd like! It will run for 52 weeks (hopefully 52 adjacent weeks...we'll see how that works out) which is a year. The idea is that each week I'll post a theme, and you will have a chance to make one new recipe (or a variation of an old one) that fits the theme. Themes could be as simple as "Indian", "Greek", "Italian" or as complex as "Pixar Movies", "Downton Abbey", "Autumn", or, hey, something as crazy as "Oxford don". Sarah and I will chose one new recipe a week and blog about it--and you'll do the same!

And for those of you who are sitting there looking at this post thinking, "Aw, gee, I don't think I can be that creative," all I'm saying is that it is one recipe a week. Not a whole meal. It won't be expensive because, hey, people in India don't always have a ton of money and if you've got some watermelon and some milk and ice you can make a melon lassi that would fit that theme and not cost a dime. And besides--a challenge isn't supposed to be terribly easy. It's meant to be doable though, and I thoroughly believe that one new recipe a week is doable. I will be posting the theme for the week on Mondays and you will have until the following Monday to link up with your post and recipe. Not only will Culinary Cabaret improve your own creativity, but we can serve as inspirations for each other! And remember, linking up once does not mean that you have to do all 52 weeks! I would love to see you anytime throughout the course of the challenge. So please spread the word, and if any of you are wizards with blog buttons, feel free to make and share a button about the challenge. I want to get as many people involved as possible. :)

Looking forward to breaking out my skillz,
                                                          Rachel

Crossing off the Bucket List!

"The Big Brown Bear went LOLLOPPING over the mountain!"

-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

(and, consequently, so did I while in Colorado!) I love how life will sometimes suddenly throw dozens of new experiences at you and ask you to juggle them accordingly. You know I've been busy busy busy with my travels and only just got back in time for my very own birthday. But now I foresee very few wanderings for a couple months and hopefully can get into the swing of quite a lot of things I've neglected over this Spring and start to the Summer. I  would appreciate prayer for wisdom regarding employment this fall. While I hope to be a published author someday, such a thing takes time, and I find I must seek some other thing that will earn me money while I pursue that dream. The current ideas a literary-themed online shop, creative-writing tutoring/mentoring, and the teaching of creative writing at some local co-op or another. These things would require me to move my botto and get out talking to people and quite frankly, that freaks me out. However, I do see the necessity and the productivity of it, so whether I pursue one of these avenues or another, I would love a spot in your prayer-time! But to round out the topic I began this post with, here are a few of the Pioneering Things I've done in recent weeks!

(bucket-list items in red!)

Cooked dinner without a single recipe in a dinky bachelor kitchen for The Three Bears.

oh look! one of the bears took a photo and instagram'd it!

I turned 21. :)

I tried Swing Dancing

I was dipped while dancing (without falling over)

I began to read my first Amish Romance (pressed upon me as a birthday gift by Abigail)

I started to save for my possible return-trip to Romania/Europe sometime next year!

I visited the real Whit's End

I set up my own iTunes account and made the choice to purchase a whole album of Kate Rusby songs simply because I like her voice and the music and now I'm nervous because I didn't consult Sarah, my Sister Who I Consult on these matters. O.o

I drank Sparkling Cider for an occasion not at all related to New Year's

I went to Colorado

I bought a grammar book

I drank an iced-coffee without the ice.

I dropped my copy of Winnie-The-Pooh on a poor man's feet next to me in the airplane.

So that's what's new with me...how about you? Having a bonny summertime?