tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9768898385726233942024-02-19T08:38:15.464-07:00fAllback WordsCathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-75128332670494249972011-07-08T15:11:00.001-06:002011-07-08T15:12:46.677-06:00boonzaaijers
We are in the rainy season here (such that we have in Colorado that is), which is perfect for morning bike rides, then lazy afternoons of reading and dozing! This morning one of the girls rode with me to Boonzaaijer's, a cute little Dutch bakery on the west side--they made the cake for Laura's wedding last year. If you are in the mood for delectable European pastries, check them Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-88247908384352870262011-06-11T19:54:00.000-06:002011-06-11T19:54:07.484-06:00summer spacesbest mini burger ever (at dbar)
(my birthday)
birthdays (Michael 22, Lydia 24)
beautiful vocal recital of my good friend, Linda.
the youngest just before her ballet recital
Some of our favorites of summer in Coloradofoodcelebrationsflowersreads(coming up...more food, from farmer's markets to table, hikes, bikes, and books--still need to hang the hammock!)
hope you are enjoying your Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-47687126226228169622011-05-07T11:07:00.000-06:002011-05-07T11:07:06.772-06:00MomsFor those of you who check here every once in a while, I didn't mean to take such a long break from blogging. These past few months have been particularly tumultuous. But summer is almost here and the sun is shining and it's finally warm in Colorado! I hope to share soon some of the things I've been learning about grace amidst chaos, especially about grace. For now, though, I'll point you to someCathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-72774095849603024802011-03-13T21:02:00.000-06:002011-03-13T21:02:23.771-06:00to care and not care...With my fundamentalist/evangelical background (long ago and yet still somehow with me), I have always felt a bit wistful with the keepings of the church calendar, as if it is a bit of a family secret that I should know but really don't. I long to measure my days by these reminders and yet when I try, it feels awkward and foreign. But the following profound reflection on Ash Wednesday does Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-46178085264839778902011-02-25T09:05:00.000-07:002011-02-25T09:05:32.494-07:00vulnerabilityA friend recently pointed me to Brene Brown's TED talk on vulnerability and its relationship to human connection. It's worth your time. What she says about transparency and courage is worth your time..."to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart". Even when it's messy--especially when it's messy. It reminds me of what some of my students said last year about brokenness Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-49061077002970373792011-02-05T13:19:00.000-07:002011-02-05T13:19:10.189-07:00what we did....this past week when it was windchill -30...we stayed inside and baked, watched Lost (and old Disney movies), knit, read, and I managed to get started on the mounds of grading already piling up this semester.
knit these fingerless gloves (easy pattern) during a Lost marathon...
some of the reading...my college roomate's debut novel An Uncommon Crusade (review post coming soon!), Gladwell's Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-62485942289140730002011-01-30T19:34:00.000-07:002011-01-30T19:34:30.476-07:00something about a tea partyWhen the girls were little, they loved having tea parties. They had valentine teas, teddy bear teas, summer garden teas. They could (and did) attach almost any theme to tea, whip out the tiny tea cups, and Voila! a tea party.
The girls are all grown (or almost), but they (we) still love a pretty tea table. Now it's a time and space to slow down, to talk, to laugh, to knit, to savor Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-5763618403244268172011-01-08T09:27:00.000-07:002011-01-08T09:27:01.218-07:00one yearOur 2nd daughter, Laura, married Michael, one year ago today! In one year, they married, moved to London where Michael finished his Masters at London School of Economics, squeezed in a honeymoon trip to the Amalfi coast, and moved back to Denver where Laura is finishing her degree at DU. They've had quite a year! It's been lovely having them close these last few months. Happy year one, LauraCathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-38081283708800123902011-01-02T15:04:00.002-07:002011-01-02T23:24:57.170-07:00new
I spent yesterday putting away the Christmas decorations and dutifully dusting a few nooks and crannies that were desperately needing it. It was a different Christmas than I had expected, yet also sweet in the giving and receiving. We went to Angel Fire, NM to be with my parents and siblings. Christmas day, the cousins chose a tree from the cabin's lot and decorated it with handmade Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-31860003880605323272010-12-24T08:05:00.000-07:002010-12-24T08:05:49.207-07:00traditions
--pictures at Old Colorado City (used to be with Santa)
before the lunar eclipse relaxing few hours with the four girls at Wisdom Tea House...one of our newer, but favorite traditions.an evening of cookie decorating and reading by the fire
Wishing all of our friends peace and joy this season!Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-6826614966516900942010-12-19T09:57:00.001-07:002010-12-19T10:00:15.611-07:00blessing and timeBecause rituals remind, the experience of time during the holidays can be bittersweet for us. Maybe, because of what is lost, we have to "fight through," pretending to enjoy for the sake of those we love. As O'Donohue writes, the work of day-to-day living is precarious: there can be danger or darkness anywhere. Habitual time can turn in a second, and suddenly some unforeseen suffering Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-11358440606486147112010-12-12T18:48:00.001-07:002010-12-12T18:57:13.312-07:00balance"We're going to start with a headstand." I felt my shoulders tense and evidently every one else in the room felt tense too. The instructor commented on the sudden heaviness and fear in the room. So she told us to breathe and notice where that tension was settling. To detach and look at it. I immediately started thinking about the vertigo I was feeling in my life, like my world was upside down. Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-57239756111143015842010-12-05T07:38:00.000-07:002010-12-05T07:38:37.883-07:00advent Jan Richardson, over at The Advent Door, writes about the first readings (Matthew 24) of Advent:
It can be tempting to recoil from the imagery...: Christ as burglar, coworkers and companions left bereft, the anxiety of not knowing when or how the Word who became flesh for us will come again. Yet the season of Advent challenges us to resist recoiling and instead to press into Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-13664001633699698222010-11-27T11:48:00.000-07:002010-11-27T11:48:08.267-07:00cranberriesWe are not huge cranberry sauce fans around here, but discovered an amazing recipe this year. If you use cranberries for Christmas cooking...here are two delicious recipes:
Cranberry Sauce: 1/2 cup agave nectar1 cup orange juice1 cinnamon stick12 oz. fresh cranberries
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix agave nectar and orange juice. Add the Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-48942179871326954542010-11-23T10:18:00.000-07:002010-11-23T10:18:58.561-07:00aesthetic momentsThe last few weeks have been a blur. So glad for some space to breathe again. This past weekend I finished Comprehensive Exams for my Masters--just have oral defense and a couple of elective credits left (my sister calls it the never-ending Masters!).
Our family is all together for Thanksgiving for the first time in a long time. I am thankful to crawl out of the philosophical cave I've been in Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-73336523883801579432010-11-05T08:45:00.001-06:002010-11-05T08:46:57.647-06:00playing for changeI love this idea!! Have you seen?
(thanks to experimental theology for the introduction.)Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-69384431733885357152010-11-03T07:34:00.000-06:002010-11-03T07:34:39.398-06:00Happy 21 Laura!Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-23153159020127917962010-10-30T10:19:00.000-06:002010-10-30T10:19:53.661-06:00Defending Halloween"...one night a year the world seems to become re-enchanted. Halloween night feels different. That night is spooky and menacing. For one night a year we go back in time and become medieval again. That's what makes Halloween so interesting. It's the last vestige of the Dark Ages. Smack in the middle of our disenchanted modernity." --Richard Beck
This past week, Richard Beck has written a series ofCathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-29426625047500691202010-10-22T16:56:00.000-06:002010-10-22T16:56:57.850-06:00at last rainy day.
fireplace day. studying and reading day. baking day.
Easy Banana Quinoa Muffins
3/4 cup Quinoa flour
3/4 cup Quinoa flakes
3 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
3-4 T. honey
3 eggs
3 ripe, mashed bananas
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Add wet to dry until just moistened. Pour batter into muffin tins till half full. Bake 400 forCathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-73996394875079405932010-10-16T15:40:00.001-06:002010-10-16T17:16:58.346-06:00moments of graceThis "betwixt and between" season has always been a favorite of our family. Like Turner's "liminal moment," fall is the boundary season. It both reminds and anticipates. This last week some of us enjoyed a break from the busyness. Time with family, time with friends, time in nature. It was lovely...
The birthday girl below about 13 years ago (at The Happy Apple Farm)The youngest turns Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-91785664475336301022010-10-10T08:11:00.000-06:002010-10-10T08:11:12.409-06:00outside margaritaThe first set of pictures are up from our night at The Margarita. You can view them on Lydia's blog or here, to see more beautiful shots.Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-57425075793270732872010-10-08T19:12:00.003-06:002010-10-08T19:17:57.877-06:00the margarita and gezelligheid One of my daughters and I spent a beautiful evening recently at The Margarita at Pine Creek thanks to the generosity of a good friend. She was playing harpsichord with a classical guitarist that evening, so we sat as her guests at the musician's table. The food was outstanding, the atmosphere magical, the music lovely. I especially enjoyed the conversation with my friend, my daughter,Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-25657534738496699852010-10-01T12:43:00.001-06:002010-10-01T12:57:58.381-06:00peaceWe've had such a fast paced week around here, from the oldest to the youngest...late nights and early mornings for all of us. Combine that with the unseasonably warm, dry weather and a prolonged fall allergy season and I awake too early (again) feeling fairly ragged. After a morning of "catch up" errands, the hammock and warm weather beckon. The house and neighborhood are quiet. Who Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-25707612059093247522010-09-25T13:54:00.003-06:002010-09-27T06:26:14.573-06:00grilled butternut squashFall was definitely in the air this morning after a rather long, Indian summer. Cool temperatures, strikingly blue skies, the perfect morning for a hike with my daughter at Ute Valley Park, just around the corner from our house.
And a perfect day for grilling. It gave me a chance to experiment with a recipe from a new friend who cooks exclusively vegetarian. Grilled butternut squash, Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-976889838572623394.post-48967255396407478772010-09-18T09:54:00.000-06:002010-09-18T09:54:23.848-06:00best of times...I love having my daughters and son(in-law) so close by. I love that they love hanging out together. Though I missed their apple picking outing this year, my youngest captured these lovely pictures.
Then she made this yummy pie...
and the oldest made this amazing strawberry rhubarb, her specialty. It's been pie heaven around here lately! (see her fun post of their pie Cathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08815367277213609674noreply@blogger.com2