tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18846299118015467422012-01-27T19:04:33.122-07:00being cindy {baldwin}cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.comBlogger9801100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-67222438762148159972012-01-27T15:40:00.001-07:002012-01-27T15:43:39.800-07:00Women of God: A Manifesto
{My beautiful colored glasses now decorate the windowsill just above my kitchen sink....}
Earlier this week, I was exposed to two different online sources that both reminded me just how supremely confused the world's view of gender in general, and women in particular, is.
The first source was a brief article discussing a certain celebrity couple's choice to hide their child's gender for the cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-10655715993253519082012-01-26T10:48:00.000-07:002012-01-26T10:48:14.814-07:00First Things First
I may not have unpacked all my boxes or put pictures up on the walls . . .
But I've taken my first official trip to the library!cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-54696919727103679502012-01-24T13:12:00.003-07:002012-01-24T21:04:31.581-07:00Tender Moving Mercies
Mist-shrouded mountains seen through my bedroom window
Well, here I am: I write this from my couch, where it sits next to the window with a stunning view of snowy Mount Timpanogos, so close it feels like I could nearly reach out and touch it.
This move has, from the start, been an experience full of powerful reminders that the Lord loves me, that He is watching over us and that He is cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-48077987187735099942012-01-20T09:19:00.000-07:002012-01-20T09:19:00.342-07:00Life, Packed: AddendumI forgot to mention in my post yesterday one thing:
The look of surprised glee on his face when I told Mahon that I had packed all of the coat closet hangers and that for the next four days, we were just going to be hanging our coats and scarves on the backs of our chairs.cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-82731310575965347102012-01-19T07:52:00.000-07:002012-01-19T07:52:04.367-07:00Life, PackedThis is kind of what life looks like right now:
I wake up and stumble into the bathroom. I open the drawer to find my hairbrush: Not there. I locate the hairbrush in the travel bag and start to brush my hair. I look up at the wall to see what time it is: No clock.
I come out and settle in to do therapy on the couch. Only two throw pillows remain; the other three have all been used as extra cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-15628976511618481042012-01-17T11:50:00.001-07:002012-01-17T11:50:23.765-07:00Never Forgotten
Another view from my wonderful much-to-be-missed window! (Taken this time last year)
Last Sunday morning, as I sat in church at the beginning of sacrament meeting, I was feeling a little sorry for myself. I had spent the past two days traveling. I was exhausted, getting a small migraine (an almost-daily occurrence right now due to a medication I'm on), and stressed about the coming two weeks cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-63074200555204594092012-01-16T12:12:00.002-07:002012-01-16T12:12:29.524-07:00Taking Today OffI'm taking today off.
It's 12:09 PM and I'm still in my pajamas. Sprawled on the couch. Browsing Pinterest (well, until I had to stop because the overload of cute ideas was just way too much for my one-track packing brain right now!). I felt distinctly ill last night, after a couple days of threatening symptoms, and I decided that was my cue. I've packed like a madwoman for the last week (I'm cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-33276059782410034282012-01-13T09:48:00.000-07:002012-01-13T09:48:07.466-07:00What We Did With The Extra Game
So.
What did we do with the extra copy of "Acquire" that we, ahem, acquired this Christmas?
Well, after calling my mom the Friday before Christmas to relate my hilariously awful duplicate-game story, she had a brilliant suggestion. After all, she pointed out, my dad's birthday falls on January 29th. And after all, his birthday present for the past two years has been Mahon's Christmas game (cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-86900793343050768462012-01-12T15:50:00.003-07:002012-01-12T15:50:52.651-07:00What I'll Miss Most About This Apartment
Need I say more?
(All pictures are taken either directly through my front window, or standing outside right in front of my apartment.)cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-6270156893808221342012-01-11T17:49:00.000-07:002012-01-11T17:50:56.361-07:00Life Lessons from Lord of the Rings: Gandalf Is Moving To Portland
This autumn, Mahon and I pulled out our copies of the Lord of the Rings DVDs (bought for $2 each last year during Amazon's Black Friday week sales!) and, over the course of about two weeks, watched them all. As always, I was struck all the way through by the many powerful principles addressed in the story. I started scribbling down a list of ideas for what I envisioned to be a week of "Life cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-79116726038730088712012-01-10T21:01:00.000-07:002012-01-10T21:01:11.823-07:00The Year Of The Larger Heart
For a few weeks leading up to the advent of 2012, I tried to think of what to make my theme for the year. 2010 was simplicity. 2011 was zestful living. (I don't remember anything past that, sorry!) And honestly, my theme for 2011 had been so wonderful and had such an impact on my life that I sort of found myself wanting to go "Um, yeah, I'll just stick to that one."
Because, despite the fact cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-36318697516791257222012-01-01T20:30:00.000-07:002012-01-01T20:47:52.378-07:00How To Use A Chinese Lantern
One of my best friends and psuedo-sisters got back last night from a semester spent teaching English in China. Tonight, after her brother's Eagle Court of Honor, we all went out into the church parking lot to light off a Chinese lantern (yes, like in "Tangled"). It was an exciting experience and involved us all being really certain we were about to start a forest fire, but the best part was cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-312337934508273672011-12-31T22:09:00.002-07:002011-12-31T22:09:45.930-07:00New YearUsually, the last days of the year are a time of enormous reflection, planning, and self-reflection for me. I have several blogging traditions that look back on the year passed and prepare for the year to come. I love the time of the new year.
But in all honesty, I have thought about the coming of 2012 almost not at all this week. My mind has been so caught up with the events of the past two cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-88416705702763762902011-12-30T10:10:00.001-07:002011-12-30T10:10:12.214-07:00My Family Is Probably The Only One In The World That Regularly Re-creates A Major Natural Disaster
This picture is actually not of an ice storm (it's snow), and not taken in NC (it's inIdaho a few years ago). But it gives you sort of an idea.
North Carolina doesn't get a lot of snow. What it DOES get is the occasional ice storm—a winter rainstorm where the ground is colder than the air, so rain falls as rain but becomes ice once it hits the earth, encasing everything—trees, grass, cars, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-74480422362513038682011-12-26T16:30:00.002-07:002011-12-26T16:31:27.163-07:00Also!One more thing! Because this move was so unexpected, we recently signed a lease on our apartment through next September. (OOPS.) We really, REALLY need to find new tenants for our place as soon as possible so if you know of anyone who is going to be in Rexburg anytime after the 21st of January and needs a place to stay, let me know! It's a beautiful apartment that we have loved living in. For 2 cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-12477509069302859282011-12-26T11:01:00.002-07:002011-12-26T11:01:24.329-07:00Christmas And Other Stuff
Several times over the last several days, I've thought about profound or funny or interesting things I could sit down and blog about. Several times I've almost sat down and done it. But I never did. This weekend has been an interesting combination of frantic activity (Friday) and quiet stupor (Saturday and Sunday). I had been running a fever since Tuesday and spent most of the week in bed (or,cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-50626586476022529402011-12-22T17:30:00.000-07:002011-12-22T17:30:00.623-07:00Oh, The Irony!!!
Every other Friday at Mahon's work, they stop regular work at three in the afternoon and spend the last two hours of the day doing what is officially called "Team Building"—but more commonly referred to as "Game Day." Yep. They play games. And get paid for it.
Shortly after Mahon started working at this company in the summer of 2010, he came home talking about this new game called "Dominion."cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-42969086894234797462011-12-21T09:49:00.002-07:002011-12-21T09:50:01.688-07:00The Season Holds Its Breath
Today, the darkest day of the year. The scene from my window supports that idea: outside it is a barren landscape of grey and white, the skim-milk sky reflecting last night's dusting of snow, the sun nowhere to be seen. Often Idaho winter days are like this, a perpetual twilight from daybreak to nightfall. It is pretty, in its own severe, desaturated way, if you can get past the bleakness.
I cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-49867431803535056712011-12-12T04:15:00.000-07:002011-12-12T04:15:00.505-07:00So THAT'S Why The Titanic Went Down
Next spring will be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Yesterday, while browsing a favorite book blog, I learned that because of this upcoming anniversary there is currently a rash of Titanic-themed books for all ages being published. The blog I was reading gave glowing reviews to one book in particular, and so, as is my habit, I popped over to Goodreads to add it to my "cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-2459047555242983142011-12-09T20:42:00.001-07:002011-12-09T20:47:24.159-07:00Things I've Been Doing This Week Instead Of Blogging1. Reading (Anna Karenina)
2. Playing Bananagrams
3. Figuring out, ordering, and wrapping gifts
4. Making Christmas goodies (the first of many!)
5. Working on fun handmade things... some to sell, some to give away
6. Brushing up on my violin skills to audition for the community orchestra next month (if I can ever figure out where to get more information on said orchestra....)
7. Hanging outcindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-26998886793121950942011-12-07T17:25:00.001-07:002011-12-07T21:34:32.260-07:00A Few Ways We Save
One of my sweet blog friends recently did a post about saving money which inspired me to share a few of the ways we've been saving lately. I am pretty thrifty/frugal (both of which sound better than "miserly" or "cheap"!) by nature, plus I love trying new things—so I've honestly found it pretty fun over the course of my married life to continually try new ways to save. It's amazing how much cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-49389381990479631402011-12-05T05:46:00.000-07:002011-12-05T09:29:33.740-07:00Tutorial: Ruffled Tree Skirt
Before I start this, let me first say—I am not particularly good at tutorials! I always start out with good intentions, but get caught up in my project and forget to take pictures about halfway through.
So this is only sort of a "tutorial." Consider it part tutorial, and part "description of how I did this with links to how you can learn these techniques yourself." I'm also more than happy tocindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-60605758454964851122011-12-02T14:11:00.001-07:002011-12-02T14:39:54.344-07:00Scenes
I got Mahon Bananagrams (aka "speed Scrabble") for his birthday and we cannot. Stop. Playing.
Lunch. Dinner. Several times a day.A week or two ago I came to the table to find this lovely message awaiting me....
Our advent wreath, gracing our kitchen table (when we haven't shoved it to the side
to accomodate our scrabble space). This year's candles are gold and white.
The view out cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-29656432261250205252011-11-30T05:44:00.000-07:002011-11-30T05:44:00.624-07:00Wreath Update
I sort of did this one on the spur of the moment the other day, inspired by the box of old dollar-store Christmas tree balls that were sitting next to me! I love how it turned out.cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-30059968098943771902011-11-27T13:40:00.001-07:002011-11-29T09:44:16.380-07:00On "Having It All"
The first candle in our Advent wreath, lit Sunday evening while we decorated for Christmas.
This autumn has been an interesting time for me. After a year of much trial and tribulation, September was a month of pure, deep joy. October was a month of service, learning, and purification. November has been a month of contrasts: Very busy moments followed by empty ones; health followed by sickness;cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-82219187445165743692011-11-25T20:54:00.001-07:002011-11-25T21:02:26.707-07:00Funny Moments
Me: In all honesty, I didn't even know that Rocky was a wrestler until just now.
Mahon: Boxer. He's a boxer.
Me: Uh... yeah. See my point?
. . . . .
Mahon: I will just have to wrap my face up and breathe through a scarf [if I want to go running in the mornings].
Me: If you want you can use a hospital mask. I know you would think you would look ridiculous, but it would be easier cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-17961570430452542132011-11-24T17:18:00.001-07:002011-11-24T17:32:54.806-07:00GratefulI woke up yesterday running a fever and spent the day pretty out of it (I actually spent the day watching TV, which is something I almost never do!), so there hasn't been much blogging happening in my life this week. But I wanted to stop in with the obligatory quick Thanksgiving post. Without further ado, here are ten of the things I am grateful for today (in no particular order):
1. Ibuprofen
2cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-9032141115804661562011-11-21T08:08:00.001-07:002011-11-21T20:04:49.390-07:00TodayOutside my window the sky is grey today: Not steel-grey or sea-grey, but the palest shade of soft grey, colorless, enclosing my world like a glove. This is winter (and oh yes, we are fully into winter) in Idaho, the skim-milk sky and perpetual twilight that leads to either contemplation or depression, depending on my mood.
This morning it is contemplation.
Thoughts swirl in my head—thoughts cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-42295670554499536112011-11-18T09:53:00.001-07:002011-11-18T10:02:44.333-07:00Happy, Happy, HappyThe best thing happened twice this week:
Two different days, I accidentally forgot my midday therapy treatment and didn't even realize it until that night.
Ordinarily, that's not something I really brag about. Although it usually happens from time to time when life gets in the way or I'm gone during the middle of the day, it's something I always curse myself for later.
But this week, honestly,cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-88408576024625474322011-11-17T09:04:00.000-07:002011-11-17T09:04:00.527-07:00My Husband, The Fashion Maven
(Not the purse in question, but definitely the color.)
Mahon starts asking me "What do you want for Christmas?" sometime in mid-summer. It's probably a good thing, too, since it takes me from about then until November to decide on an answer. This year, I decided I really wanted-slash-needed a new purse. (I say "wanted-slash-needed" because it was originally a want, but became a need last weekcindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-74806454971779830242011-11-16T10:26:00.001-07:002011-11-16T10:57:04.454-07:00The Real Kind Of Beautiful
I lost about seven or eight pounds this summer. Last year, after switching brands on my enzymes, my weight suddenly shot up several pounds to a range I'd never experienced before—and, even more unusual than that, it stayed there. This summer, after several rounds of viruses and one particularly horrible month of illness following a small hemoptysis, I lost all that weight.
At first, in all cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-39040398305579101692011-11-14T14:23:00.001-07:002011-11-14T14:27:56.624-07:00Too Cold To Blog
I thought about blogging today.
But after walking Mahon back to work after lunch in the below-freezing weather with a wind-chill factor of negative a million, I concluded:
It's just too cold to do anything.
Blogging included.
I'm not sure why Chicago earned the nickname of "windy city," because let me tell you, despite the fact that I've never been to Chicago, I'm pretty sure my town beatscindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-7754892672592851762011-11-11T05:33:00.000-07:002011-11-11T13:45:36.623-07:00An Open Letter To Everyone I LoveDear Everyone,
The descent into colder weather, and therefore cold and flu season, has got me paranoid about germs again. (Okay, who are we kidding? I was paranoid about germs even in the heat of summer!) As such, I thought it was time for a blog post with a little bit of explanation of why it is so, SO important that people not be around me when they are sick. I really hate to cancel plans or cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-59409111977791588132011-11-10T10:58:00.001-07:002011-11-10T11:05:27.754-07:00And That's Why I Decided To Call It HOLIDAY Music, Y'all
I broke out my Christmas music collection yesterday. It's actually late in the year for me—usually I listen to Christmas music after the first snowfall, which usually happens sometime in October here in my neck of the woods! Last year, though, I had sort of burned myself out on Christmas music by the time the holiday actually rolled around, so I got all the way through last weekend's snow cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-89995296185842404042011-11-09T15:27:00.002-07:002011-11-09T15:27:51.705-07:00Happy Birthday To My Favorite Person Ever
Pic by Missy
Four years ago today, Mahon and I celebrated our first official day as "boyfriend and girlfriend."
Four years ago today, Mahon and I had our first kiss.
Four years ago today, I celebrated Mahon's birthday for the first time.
And four years later, I am four million times more in love with this handsome, amazing, sweet, wonderful, funny, kind, perfect man!
Happy birthday, Mahon!cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-73054326913751941762011-11-08T16:57:00.000-07:002011-11-08T16:57:12.972-07:00Musings
I love this picture. A few weeks ago, my ward did a bulk honey order with a local beekeeper (whose honey I have bought and loved at the Farmer's Market in recent years). I left a pair of Mason jars with the woman heading the order up, and a few days later went back to collect my honey. It was so beautiful that I had to set it on my light-filled windowsill and take pictures of it. I've never cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-86656136973233539052011-11-05T21:54:00.001-06:002011-11-05T21:54:16.506-06:00And The Winner Is....
So. Funny story.
Every year, Mahon comes up with some crazy amazing pumpkin carving idea. Every year, he tells me what he's going to do. And every year, I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I acknowledge that really, there is no way I can beat that.
And yet, four years in a row, the odds have aligned in such a way that—despite my highly inferior pumpkin-carving skills, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-80971230464363811782011-11-04T05:39:00.000-06:002011-11-04T05:39:00.638-06:00My New Favorite Thing
Not that this picture has anything to do with the Mormon Channel... but isn't it pretty?
Do you ever discover something that is so incredibly awesome that you just have to shout it out to everyone in the world?
In the past week or two I've made one of those discoveries. A while back, I started hearing some stuff about the Church announcing the creation of "the Mormon Channel," an online cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-76282547045136354982011-11-03T11:49:00.000-06:002011-11-03T11:49:24.180-06:00Things I've Learned Lately
1. It's okay for me to feel good about myself and what I'm doing. I should be able to be content with the Lord's reassurance and the peace in my own heart that is saying, "You're doing a good job, Cindy." I should not feel guilty for that, and I don't need to feel like I ought to be wanting or expecting validation to come from outside myself.
2. Living by the precept of "Never suppress a cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-17432392266694851262011-11-01T14:50:00.001-06:002011-11-01T14:50:15.194-06:00Mahon's Pants + My Scissors and Sewing Machine = A New Skirt For Me!
Let me tell you something about my husband... he is really hard on pants. Give me a couple of pairs of good pants and I can wear them for years. As for Mahon, I've finally just conceded that I'll be getting him new pants every Christmas. They always end up with holes, or ruptured seams somewhere, or something.
And, because I am the person I am, I don't usually throw out or donate his old cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-64463142545638986512011-10-31T11:37:00.003-06:002011-10-31T11:53:07.385-06:00Zest*, Again
I confess. I'm reading Eva Ibbotson again. Last week was a hodge-podge of physical and emotional stress; busy, exhausting days combined with bad news in the lives of nearly everyone I know to make for a wrung-out me by the time Saturday rolled around. (Plus, Mahon had a cold, which always stresses me out!) And something about stress in my life seems always to bring me back to Ibbotson. Her cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-53709820699155859452011-10-28T22:24:00.001-06:002011-10-30T13:13:17.400-06:00Cast Your Vote In The 5th Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest!
It's that time of year again, my friends.
The time of year where Mahon and I pull out our knives and our ingenuity and try to carve the better pumpkin. After an evening of hard work, we have completed our masterpieces... but only YOU can decide which deserves to win this year!
As the savvy among you have already guessed, this year's theme is The Lord of the Rings. We actually bought a cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-65222324289617889802011-10-27T14:56:00.001-06:002011-10-27T14:59:44.774-06:00Last Breath
Autumn is on its last breath.
Sunday afternoon we left for a quick trip to Utah, encompassing all sorts of things: Returning a young weekend guest to her parents, buying a car, having a follow-up visit with my doctors, purchasing a cheap pendant lamp at Ikea so that we can finally have light over our kitchen table, driving two cars (old and new) back to Idaho.
We were only gone for a little cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-63299142944644052342011-10-26T06:45:00.000-06:002011-10-26T06:45:10.504-06:00The Real Happily-Ever-After
Let me tell you something: I get really excited about marriage. Several of my dear friends have recently become engaged, are very close to being engaged, or are in strong and healthy relationships right now. Seeing their happiness makes me happy. Nothing in my own life has ever brought deeper joy into my life than the choice to marry my handsome husband in the temple on August 22, 2008. I am acindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-87617892665381233522011-10-25T14:48:00.000-06:002011-10-25T14:48:05.835-06:00Burning Bush
I woke this morning to this sight:
the bush outside my window ablaze with autumn glory.
When I left town Sunday afternoon, it was lovely, but not quite as dazzling as it is today.
A line of poetry from Elizabeth Barrett Browning has been in my head each time I've seen it today:
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off hiscindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-43581169639434797522011-10-22T11:06:00.004-06:002011-10-22T11:12:36.006-06:00This Guy
Can anyone spot what's odd about this pic?
This guy is an incredible example to me.
Right now, he is out spending his Saturday morning painting the house of somebody in our ward.
Last night, he went over to help a couple in our ward move from one building in our complex to another—despite the fact that they had called him only about 20 minutes before to ask for his help. He came home after cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-7794884706495622682011-10-20T09:37:00.004-06:002011-10-20T09:37:53.630-06:00Eating Healthy: Quick and Easy Back-Up Dinners
Lemon Spaghetti
Mahon and I don't eat out a whole lot. In part that is a money-saving thing—when we got married, we really couldn't afford anything besides groceries, food, and the occasional Redbox movie—and in part it's just a personal preference. We both like eating at home and making our own food. When we do eat out or get take-out, it's a treat, not the norm.
As I've been thinking over cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-41622461212265482002011-10-18T12:55:00.000-06:002011-10-18T12:55:26.828-06:00Dinner And A Murder
I have always, always wanted to do one of those murder mystery dinner party games. In fact, a couple of years ago, a friend and I even started trying to write our own (before we realized how monumentally challenging that would be!). The only thing that's held me back from actually buying one was not wanting to spend $20 for a game we could only play once.
A month or two ago, I happened cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-738256811268707202011-10-17T05:49:00.000-06:002011-10-17T05:49:00.890-06:00Grateful For What I Have
It's no secret: I can't wait until Mahon and I are home-owners.
(Which isn't going to happen until we settle somewhere that we plan to stay for more than 2-3 years!)
I love space, and being outside, and having a beautiful place to be alone and collect my thoughts.
I can't wait till we have a house with a yard.
Although I really do love our apartment and am very happy here, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-40159773726765340772011-10-14T16:55:00.002-06:002011-10-14T16:55:21.230-06:00Photoessay: Autumn Afternoon
Despite the fact that I got very little sleep last night (and so desperately needed a nap),
and started a new medication today that was making me really sick,
and had a bunch of insurance paperwork that needs to be done,
and my dishes were sitting dirty in my sink (and on the kitchen table),
I spent the afternoon at this stunning park a few miles from my cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-69579426919727942802011-10-13T09:44:00.001-06:002011-10-13T09:44:31.933-06:00Seeing the Beauty
Yesterday afternoon I took a walk. Ostensibly it was so that I could check up on the candy machine that Mahon and I own (which lives in the laundry room of the complex we used to manage). Really, though, it was because I wanted to get out, to feel the autumn wind on my face, and to take pictures.
Our autumn is turning out to be interestingly understated this year. The maple trees, usually cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-82403809924647729522011-10-12T05:34:00.000-06:002011-10-12T05:34:00.198-06:00Stop.
Life has been busy lately. Really, it's been non-stop busy since midsummer; we've had a flurry of guests, travels, trips to and from the doctor in Utah, produce to preserve, doctor/dentist/other appointments to fill, and so on.
Sometimes I just have to remind myself to just stop for a few minutes. Slow down. Breathe deeply. Put on some quiet music. Bake bread. Read a book for a few hours at acindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-57005673005794521202011-10-11T09:55:00.003-06:002011-10-11T09:55:48.041-06:00Keepers At Home (Or, New Insight Into the Titus 2 Woman)
If you spend much time as a homeschooler in the South, you are sure to come across the phrase "Titus 2 Woman."
In the second chapter of Paul's epistle to Titus, Paul gives direction as to how the young men and women of the church should be taught. One phrase that is often made much of in connection with the Titus 2 Woman is Paul's admonition to teach the young women of the church "to be... cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-17786065386891242832011-10-10T05:01:00.000-06:002011-10-10T05:01:00.239-06:00Glimpses
I've been a steroid zombie for the past few days.
Each night I've gone to bed at a reasonable time and taken two, three, four hours to finally fall asleep. Each morning I've woken up way earlier than I should have considering the abominably late hour I fell asleep.
So today, you get pictures instead of words. Snapshots. Glimpses of my life lately.
I give you:
Golden evening sun cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-3450149485461339262011-10-05T15:06:00.004-06:002011-10-05T15:06:45.934-06:00On Autumn and Being Happy
Our long, lovely, and thoroughly unusual Indian Summer has ended. Monday was one last day of brilliant sun and mid-80 temperatures; Tuesday morning we woke up to rain, and the temperatures have fallen to the 40s and 50s—much more normal for October in Idaho.
I've loved the unexpected mildness of the past few weeks, but I've also loved the last two days of rain and chill. I love when the cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-11504423959628115602011-10-04T17:48:00.000-06:002011-10-04T17:48:29.443-06:00By Hand
Mahon is a computer guy. He would do everything digitally if given the opportunity (and does do as much as he can).
But I guess I'm old-fashioned; I still love the scent and feel of paper and ink, and I love writing by hand. It's soothing, centering, in a way that a keyboard and screen will never be.
And, of course, it's personal. I'm pretty sure that someday my grandkids will be cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-48684506883112745622011-10-03T23:27:00.001-06:002011-10-03T23:28:41.991-06:00For Those Wondering How My Clinic Visit Went
Today I:
Woke up at 4:15 a.m.
Got on a shuttle to Utah at 5:05 a.m., since our car developed problems yesterday
Spent 5 hours on the shuttle (unable to sleep because it was so cold)
Didn't really eat much of anything because my stomach was iffy, which turned out to be a good thing later in the day....
Did my pulmonary function test and learned that I had managed to keep my lung cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-35892554129813056422011-09-30T11:22:00.002-06:002011-09-30T11:35:56.501-06:00How To Be Happy
“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.”
(Laura Ingalls Wilder)
I've been happy this autumn.
By nature I am a very determinedly happy person (I once said that if I ever write a memoir, it will be titled Confessions of a Happiness Addict). I don't spend a lot of time being unhappy, and I usually prefer to focus on the cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-69660650638011809652011-09-29T05:30:00.000-06:002011-09-29T05:30:03.099-06:00One Sphere Of Influence
Saturday night was the annual Relief Society General Broadcast, a world-wide broadcast for all LDS women 18 and older. I love the broadcast and look forward to it every year. I love the opportunity to spend an hour or two hearing some of the Lord's chosen servants speak specifically to the issues of a woman's life. I was not disappointed Saturday; I came away feeling uplifted, challenged, and cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-48378526028554218982011-09-27T10:39:00.001-06:002011-09-27T10:39:56.839-06:00My Autumn Wreath
My original idea for this wreath was a lot more complicated (and kept the cream-colored ruffle from the previous two iterations), but I ended up liking this version better!
My spring wreath
Last winter's wreath
cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-1814677233024129942011-09-26T05:30:00.000-06:002011-09-26T05:30:03.435-06:00Playing With The Sun
I've been obsessed with sun flares and sunspots lately... in just about every batch of pictures I've taken, you can see me playing with the sun!
Highlights (no pun intended):
cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-90953819400191713322011-09-23T09:26:00.001-06:002011-09-23T09:26:34.224-06:00A Lovely Little Trip
I had fun taking pictures along the freeway through the window....
Mahon had an appointment in Pocatello early Wednesday morning, so instead of making him drive an hour and a half to make a 7:30 appointment, we got a hotel and made it a little getaway. The hotel wasn't much to brag of (and neither was the incredibly obnoxious owl outside that woke us both up at 3am), but the rest of the cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-67053794874862351972011-09-22T11:53:00.004-06:002011-09-22T11:57:00.737-06:00Guest PostI guest-posted over at MormonWoman.Org yesterday, on "Finding Purpose."cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-17940328626499040652011-09-21T09:02:00.000-06:002011-09-21T09:03:44.586-06:00My Small Umbrella
Yesterday afternoon I was listening to the soundtrack for the Broadway musical of Little Women while I did some sewing (which I will not be showing off here, thanks, because it was a miserable failure!).
At the end of the musical, Jo receives a sweetly bumbling proposal from her friend Mr. Bhaer, a German immigrant whom she met and fell in love with while spending a season in New York. In onecindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-25446466347275614262011-09-20T10:30:00.005-06:002011-09-20T11:10:25.244-06:00Why I Love This Guy
(Please ignore what a bad picture this is of me.)
Yesterday evening I was having a tough time (for many assorted reasons, most notably the fact that my hormones have taken another trip to Crazy Town and left me weepy and emotionally fragile).
After venting about it for a few minutes to Mahon, we got up to make dinner. I was getting ready to grab some cream from the fridge when I realizedcindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-29823966942452059692011-09-19T10:42:00.002-06:002011-09-19T10:46:34.127-06:00An Interesting Weekend
Taken at Mesa Falls on Labor Day!
I had an interesting weekend.
In our stake conference Saturday evening, one of the speakers read 82:3—"Of him unto whom much is given much is required."
That verse struck my heart in a new way; it seemed to be a perfect description of my weekend experiences.
For the last two weeks as I've been processing fruit, I have listened to a lot of stuff to keep mycindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-17729340324886608882011-09-16T05:23:00.000-06:002011-09-16T05:23:00.160-06:00Dear BabyIt's been awhile since I've written to you. At first, I didn't write because it was too painful to think about you, too painful to dig up all those feelings yet again. It's been a tough year, dear baby, because you have seemed so close and yet so far away all at the same time. Sometimes I think I can feel you near me, present in my heart and in my day, warming me with your sweet spirit and cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-71558377213929363702011-09-15T07:33:00.000-06:002011-09-15T07:33:00.596-06:00Harvest
Autumn is much slower to manifest itself this year than in years previous. Usually by this time, the trees are flaming and the air is cool; most years, we get our first snow in early October. This year, though, the afternoons are still hot and most trees are clinging to their green—even the ones that are changing are making that change slowly, so subtle that I wouldn't even have noticed it cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-89731484917132206422011-09-14T13:47:00.002-06:002011-09-14T14:23:44.336-06:00The Stats
I began with:
55 pounds of fruit picked
And ended with:
-1 bowl of orange plums for delicious snacking
-1 crisper drawer of apples for the same
-A handful of perfectly ripe, sweet bartlett pears for the same
-4 overstuffed quart freezer bags full of dried apples
-1 pint dried pears
-4 1/2 trays of apple fruit leather
-1 apple harvest coffee cake
-4 1/2 quarts (plus some more cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-77027326550768937032011-09-13T10:27:00.000-06:002011-09-13T10:28:40.050-06:00Righteous Womanhood
Photo by Missy last night... I'll show more from our photo shoot next week!
I'll be honest: Where my faith in concerned, I don't have a whole lot of doubts. I really feel that I was blessed with the gift of a believing heart; I do not have the intense struggles with doctrine and believing that some do.
But there is one issue that, all my life, I have had a harder time with. And, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-64124996198763445682011-09-12T11:00:00.000-06:002011-09-12T21:28:01.267-06:00Quiet Power
I sat in the temple Saturday morning, in the small, light-filled chapel where you sit while you wait for the ordinance room to become available. We had tried to get into the earlier session, but it had been full, and so we waited for three-quarters of an hour in the quiet chapel until the next session began.
Much of the time, I spent praying. Lord, I prayed, Please help me to have a good cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-35592477624670664162011-09-08T11:35:00.001-06:002011-09-08T11:35:13.354-06:00Hello, Happiness
Have I mentioned lately how happy I've been in these last two weeks?
I go through my days filled with an ecstatic delight, a sense of deep wonder and joy, a feeling that all is well and truly right with my world. I fall asleep at night smiling, and wake eager to start my day. After a summer of frustration, these last days have been heavenly.
For the past two nights, we had the pleasure of cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-4022177125517356982011-09-07T11:09:00.001-06:002011-09-07T11:10:18.206-06:00Drowning In Enjoying The Harvest
One bag down... three to go!
Why didn't I blog yesterday?
One word: Apples.
I woke up yesterday morning, threw a load of laundry into the washer, unloaded the dishes, did therapy, hopped in the shower, and ate breakfast all at the speed of light in order to be ready for the day's main event: Apple picking. I love apples, I love picking fruit, I love the orchard on campus, and so cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-84462670323359372172011-09-05T10:51:00.000-06:002011-09-05T10:51:11.053-06:00Choosing Happiness
I've blogged a lot lately about tough stuff. It's been a tough year. Last year there were a lot of things that were hard and faith-testing, but for the most part, the Lord gave me the strength to really coast through them without having a particularly hard time. This year, it's different. This year, for whatever reason, He is letting me feel every moment of the soul-grindingly hard, rather cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-31616102788536900202011-09-03T10:09:00.002-06:002011-09-03T12:02:41.797-06:00Afternoon in the Garden
I actually wrote this whole essay on my cell phone yesterday, and then had to text it to my email in 16 messages (plus typing up two paragraphs that couldn't be texted). Ah, the miracle of modern technology!
The shade is cool here, the vine-strewn pergola diffusing the brilliant white light of a late afternoon. I find myself wondering why it is I come here so infrequently. What is it about cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-87235877640965274832011-09-02T11:22:00.001-06:002011-09-02T11:22:08.058-06:00Autumn In The Air
Most things in our landscape show no hint of fall, but there are two very confused treesalong my regular walking route that have had red leaves for a week or two now.
Yesterday I stepped outside into a quintessentially perfect first of September: the much-longer-than-normal heat wave had broken the evening before, and I was accompanied on my walk by a crisp, refreshing breeze that smelled of cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-69640584853545895202011-08-29T05:31:00.000-06:002011-09-02T11:27:20.617-06:00We Are A Family
Recently someone asked me, "Do you think you are a family once you have a child?"
I was taken aback. "No," I said immediately. "A married couple is a family. Mahon and I are a family, and we don't have a child yet."
She agreed, and explained that after the (recent) birth of her baby, someone had said, "Oh, now you're a family" to her, and it had unsettled her.
It unsettled me, too.
I cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-44881063421364352342011-08-26T05:10:00.000-06:002011-08-26T05:10:00.776-06:00Lingering In Between
This time last year
I always liked having a birthday in the summer. Except for one thing—the fact that we were often traveling on my birthday and so it sometimes got passed over—a summer birthday seemed perfect to me; the carefree, easy, happy, sunshiney summer was exactly right for celebrating my day.
After moving to Idaho, my birthday became even more appropriate. The end of August cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-57725690616435817282011-08-25T13:06:00.001-06:002011-08-25T13:06:56.486-06:00The Alma Effect
If you've read my blog, talked to me, or known me for any amount of time, you're probably aware of one of my pervading insecurities: The continual feeling that nobody ever notices, cares, or is affected by me or anything that I do.
I don't dwell much on the idea, but it's always there, shaping the way I interact with others and value myself. I'm always shocked when something happens that showscindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-76398293070779998682011-08-23T11:02:00.000-06:002011-08-23T11:02:18.562-06:00The Me That Might Have Been
Am I now hooked on Photoshop Actions? Why yes, yes I am.
Sometimes I think about the me that might have been—had cystic fibrosis, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia not had a place in my life.
She would have been extreme, I can tell you that. I don't know exactly how her extremity might have manifested—if she would have been a high-powered academic, or a one-hundred-percent organic home cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-72115641887047119392011-08-22T15:17:00.001-06:002011-08-22T15:39:36.637-06:00A Third-Anniversary Letter To My Sweetheart
(I mastered Photoshop actions on this picture!)
Dear Mahon,
It's crazy to think that we have been married for three years. In some ways it feels like forever; it some ways, it feels no longer than it did when we celebrated our first anniversary.
I could not have imagined, three years and a few days ago, just how perfect marriage to you would be. I had plenty of fears and probably enough cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-36698911098966296012011-08-20T06:34:00.000-06:002011-08-20T06:34:00.483-06:0023 Things About Me
A few things you may not know:
1. I have never dyed my hair. It's become a point of pride with me, and I love my natural hair color. (If I ever were going to dye it, though, I think I'd go a little darker.)
2. I have completed 3 novels and am working on another one. Whew, that's exhausting to think about!
3. In our first 3 years of marriage I have been in the hospital 7 times.
4. My second cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-23567433274309553372011-08-17T06:02:00.004-06:002011-08-17T10:44:20.717-06:00My Wild Space
I am not a city girl. As much as I enjoy the convenience of living 5 minutes away from the grocery store, the bank, the shaved ice shack, no less than 6 (or is it 7?) Redboxes, half a dozen restaurants of varying qualities, a movie theater, and Wal-Mart—
I'm really not a city girl.
I crave places of wildness, places that I can retreat to to commune with the Lord and with myself. I yearn for acindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-40385990899570159302011-08-16T14:01:00.000-06:002011-08-16T14:01:01.584-06:00Mindful Of Me
Ways in which the Lord has been mindful of me in the last three days:
Beautiful, beautiful sunsets. (All of these pictures were taken over the course of 3 nights, right outside my apartment.) For three nights, my heart has been stilled by the beautiful collusion of clouds and dust and sun on the western horizon at dusk. For three nights, it has been a gentle reminder of a Heavenly Fathercindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-1069787030974365552011-08-14T11:07:00.001-06:002011-08-15T14:45:36.983-06:00Sunday Morning Yoga
Child's pose; prayer. Table. Why does cat & cow always make me cough? Easing up into my downward dog shows me just how long it's been since I did this.
The house is quiet; I am alone this morning, staying home from church to nurse myself back to health after a week of travel and sickness.
Last Sunday morning I had another hemoptysis, my third this year. A dry, clinical term for a vivid, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-44161908324338216852011-08-11T07:51:00.000-06:002011-08-11T14:59:17.972-06:00Always Okay(I forgot my camera cord, so until I get back home tonight I don't have any more beach pictures to share. But soon!)
For the first part of last week, the ocean was calm and often glassy, the waves just gentle swells that came every few seconds and hardly ever broke over even an unwary swimmer. In the last few days, however, the wind picked up and the waves became rougher. One day was particularlycindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-68510873716745717212011-08-08T10:45:00.000-06:002011-08-08T10:45:31.404-06:00Alligator Sky
The last nine days have been full of beautiful moments: dozens of ocean swims with the water like warm silk on my skin; seeing dolphins in the near distance one day while we were swimming; nights spent playing games and laughing so hard it hurt; afternoons of sitting with my sweetheart on a deck in view of the sea.
But strangely, one of my very favorite moments of this vacation was as we were cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-68994438830733364302011-08-04T08:56:00.000-06:002011-08-04T08:56:11.234-06:00I'm at the beach this week.
My senses are overloaded with wonder: The feel of the water on my skin like warm, wet silk; the everpresent susurration of the waves and the keening cry of gulls; the sight of all this beauty; the taste of the salty sea; the briny, sharp scent of the ocean carried on the always-blowing breeze.
Life is good right now. I am recharging, focusing only on this moment, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-48159269548713977002011-07-29T13:52:00.000-06:002011-07-29T13:52:59.075-06:00In Defense Of EscapismLast night I woke up in the smallest hours of the morning, and ended up getting up to do a midnight therapy session (something that's happened all too frequently in the past two weeks). Through several nebulizers, two full cycles of the Vest, and a cough drop to provide the final mentholated airway-opening, I read the entirety of Patricia Reilly Giff's Pictures of Hollis Woods—an old Newbery cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-56268040657934469642011-07-25T12:22:00.000-06:002011-07-25T12:22:04.498-06:00Bitter & Sweet
All year, I've had on my mind the unique relationship between bad and good. Bitter and sweet. Sorrow and joy.
For two Octobers in a row now, I've found myself in unexpected (and largely unexplained) debilitating chest pain. The kind of pain where you can't move, breathe, think, eat, sleep. The kind of pain that takes over every thought you ever have because it's so intense.
The first time, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-75067170006115582932011-07-21T17:17:00.001-06:002011-07-22T09:37:58.890-06:00How Much Do You Share?
I've found myself becoming one of those bloggers lately. The blogger who alludes to life challenges but doesn't go into detail. The blogger who dangles little tidbits of information without actually sharing anything in full.
I try not to be an overly nosy person, but in all honesty, reading blogs like that drives me crazy! I always want to know exactly what is going on, so that I can express cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-5589213224783490422011-07-20T22:39:00.000-06:002011-07-20T22:39:39.181-06:00Why I Read Fantasy
This week has been crazy with a capital C-R-A-Z-Y. So it's not especially surprising that after I woke up from my nap today, I felt like garbage—garbage that had been run over by a truck, no less. I spent the afternoon cuddled in blankets on my couch (in my non-air-conditioned apartment), watching movie trailers and reading this article and the ensuing comments.
I agreed almost one hundred cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-49543039257061600212011-07-19T22:03:00.000-06:002011-07-19T22:03:57.462-06:00Comparisons, Again
I haven't been able to get comparisons off my mind for the last few weeks.
As hospital recoveries go, this one has actually been not as bad as most. (Sadly, I have a sneaking suspicion that part of that is due to the fact that it also wasn't as effective as most.) Still, processing through the emotions brought about by the dramatic re-routing of my summer to include a hospitalization has been, cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-60694047508712423812011-07-18T06:17:00.000-06:002011-07-18T06:17:00.374-06:00When Tamales ATTACK!Here's something you may not know about me: I love me some Mexican food. Not so much American Mexican food (i.e. Bajio, Costa Vida, Cafe Rio fare)—though that's fine too. But my one true love is real, simple, fairly authentic Mexican food. Preferably if it involves beans and/or masa harina.
I don't know if I equate summer with South American cuisine or what, but in the last few weeks I've been cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-11843329238341546142011-07-13T12:04:00.000-06:002011-07-13T12:04:53.235-06:00Thinking Through, And Other Things
I planned to inundate you this week with interesting and insightful things—all the things that have been on my mind in these last weeks.
But, as always, life has been in the way.
I got another cold over the weekend and am still fighting that.
My hours have been full of reading and writing. (23,858 words on the novel so far.)
I've been eagerly spending time with my little garden, trying to cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-697878627627225442011-07-11T10:39:00.000-06:002011-07-11T10:39:10.277-06:00Luck
One day early in my hospital stay, I had a beautiful girl with a huge smile as my housekeeper for the day. She cleaned my room energetically, grinning and chattering to me in a thick accent—telling me where she was from, about her husband, her mother, her sister, the places she'd lived. For the longest time, I thought she was saying she was from "Utopia," which really confused me. Eventually I cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-78561357970253273592011-07-06T10:53:00.000-06:002011-07-06T10:53:13.188-06:00I'm Here.I hate summer hospitalizations. Want to know why? Because then I get discharged and am immediately tossed into the frenzy of summer vacation—visitors, family reunions, fun-but-totally-exhausting excursions.
I'm here. I'm alive. I did get out of the hospital four days early (hallelujah!). I made it in one piece back to my own home on the evening of the Fourth, after a day of various fun and cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-42916993234005184622011-06-30T10:01:00.000-06:002011-06-30T10:01:38.424-06:0010 Reasons You Haven't Heard From Me
1. I'm too busy eating way more Nutty Guys Cherry-Vanilla Granola (it sounds like a healthy snack, but trust me it's not!) than I should, and don't have time for mundane things like blogging.
2. I have a specific blog post in mind, but I'm too lazy to actually find my camera cable and transfer the picture I need for it.
3. Two words: They keep me really busy! (Oops, I guess that was actually cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-69976046594712214692011-06-28T12:57:00.000-06:002011-06-28T12:57:53.609-06:00In-Comparable
Saturday night I sat in bed, holding Mahon's hand and watching the wispy purple sunset through my picture window. I was exhausted, and happy to just be laying there, not needing to talk, not needing to do.
As I lay there the thought crossed my mind: In this moment, I am perfectly content. My soul felt saturated with simple satisfaction. I was happy just to be, and to be in that particular cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884629911801546742.post-5496594621523041892011-06-22T14:34:00.001-06:002011-06-22T18:01:30.136-06:00A Letter To, Well... Everyone!Dear People Of The World,
I know, I know. It's just a little case of the sniffles; no big deal, nothing that should have an effect on your productivity or your bottom line. You don't want to use up your sick leave over a silly little cold. It will be over in a day, anyway. You won't breathe on anyone, right? Of course not. You can go to work/school/church like normal.
But here is the thing. A cindy baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01173344689280406987noreply@blogger.com6