Hello Dear Peaches of Windy Poplars,
It is with great sadness, and some excitement that I write to you today. For the full story, check out the post on Living Graciously HERE. The long and short of it is though, that I am closing the doors of Windy Poplars for now. Blogging will go on, but over at the Living Graciously address. Keeping up with two (well, 5 actually) blogs regularly was just too much, content was lacking, deadlines were stressful. Something needed to give. So LG is going to become more of a mash of personal AND helpful hints writing. Still more organized than WP ever was, so hopefully all will remain happy and you will truly find it the best of both worlds :-) (and my husband and pooches will see more of me!). If you are a GFC follower over here, would you mind transferring your "Friendship" to LG so I can still visit you on your feed? Living Graciously also has the option to become a Facebook fan, and get the blog posts delivered to your daily FB stream, or subscribe and have them delivered to your inbox. See all those fancy schmantzy options I've got for ya! Change can be a good thing. I promise. See you over at the new digs... ~Kristin
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Spring Break
Hello Dear Readers! Thank you for stopping by the 'ole blog today...YOU are the reason I write! Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be on spring break for the week. Taking some time to re-organize, re-prioritize, re-fresh, and re-structure. Basically "renewing my outlook" as the girls of old used to say when they were headed to the powder room. You'll hear (and see!) the fruit of it all on Monday the 18th! See you then!
Friday, April 8, 2011
A Video Tour
If you are a gardener, you might enjoy this little tour of my gardens here at Windy Poplars in the Springtime. If not, you might be bored to tears! Happy Friday to all! We'll be back to our connections discussion next week...
Video: 100_8318.MOV
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Making Connections Part #2
So yesterday we talked about the heart plugs we all have. Plugs that can energize. Plugs that can drain. Plugs that we must consciously choose to place or they are of no use to us.- Have you thought about what or who you're currently plugged into?
Let's start exploring perhaps the most obvious connections that we were created to make: with our spouse, our families, and our friends, and why these don't happen. So many times, when I ask people, "How are you doing?" I get the classic reply: {{sigh}} "SOooo busy! Just trying to stay afloat"! I'm guilty of that response myself sometimes.- HOW do we let ourselves get so busy girls? What is life demanding of us, or offering us, that we feel the need to be living at a breakneck speed 11 months out of the year? What are your days really full of? What are your evenings full of? What are your weekends full of? Are they things that 5 years from now you'll be glad (or even remember) you've done? When you get to the end of your day, do you feel fulfilled, energized, at peace?
I'm convinced that a demon in the form of busyness is the enemy of all of our relationships: marital, family, and friendships. So how can we guard against this? Some things in our lives simply cannot be cut out: church, school, etc. But what about everything else that could? Will you spend some time with me thinking through our schedules? - One thing my husband and I are working on right now, after a particular time of disconnectedness (partially due to busyness), is committing to NOT make a decision (especially when it comes to our activities/schedules) unless BOTH of us are in complete enthusiastic agreement. This forces you to think of the others feelings and consider not only your own needs, but the other persons. One thing I read recently from Dr. Harvey (author of His Needs, Her Needs), is that the "martyr stance" is not a healthy one to take. Then someone is always the loser - even if they are willingly so. Don't you think that's what we as women always default to? We must strive - even if it takes more work - to find the "win-win" solution. It's the healthy way to go. - One last note from Dr. Harvey: he says that a healthy marriage spends nearly 15 hours A WEEK of undivided attention on one another: that means, no kids, no movies, no work, no computers - just meeting each others basic emotional needs. Wow. Tall order.
Continuing on the path of spousal connections a little further, are we also making a conscious effort to spend the time we do have "free" together? Have we gotten into the pattern of doing our fun activities apart: he goes to play golf, while she goes to the spa? This can be so dangerous, even in its seeming innocence, because we're training ourselves to have more fun apart than together-enjoying our life-treats separately. The initial perceived sacrifice of giving up our personal fun activities, will be far outweighed by the closeness we breed through choosing to enjoy our leisure pursuits together. I promise! What are some things that you both enjoy together? What are some new things you'd like to try? What are some things currently on your schedules that only foster drifting apart?
I worry sometimes about loosing my own identity in this. But when we sign up for marriage, do we not choose to become one after all? And if we truly love our spouse, and they truly love us, they will delight in enjoying some of (previously) "our" pursuits with us - and hopefully vice versa.
Ok, that's enough to chew on today! I'd love to hear your thoughts. More later, when we dive into our friendships outside our family...
Let's start exploring perhaps the most obvious connections that we were created to make: with our spouse, our families, and our friends, and why these don't happen. So many times, when I ask people, "How are you doing?" I get the classic reply: {{sigh}} "SOooo busy! Just trying to stay afloat"! I'm guilty of that response myself sometimes.- HOW do we let ourselves get so busy girls? What is life demanding of us, or offering us, that we feel the need to be living at a breakneck speed 11 months out of the year? What are your days really full of? What are your evenings full of? What are your weekends full of? Are they things that 5 years from now you'll be glad (or even remember) you've done? When you get to the end of your day, do you feel fulfilled, energized, at peace?
I'm convinced that a demon in the form of busyness is the enemy of all of our relationships: marital, family, and friendships. So how can we guard against this? Some things in our lives simply cannot be cut out: church, school, etc. But what about everything else that could? Will you spend some time with me thinking through our schedules? - One thing my husband and I are working on right now, after a particular time of disconnectedness (partially due to busyness), is committing to NOT make a decision (especially when it comes to our activities/schedules) unless BOTH of us are in complete enthusiastic agreement. This forces you to think of the others feelings and consider not only your own needs, but the other persons. One thing I read recently from Dr. Harvey (author of His Needs, Her Needs), is that the "martyr stance" is not a healthy one to take. Then someone is always the loser - even if they are willingly so. Don't you think that's what we as women always default to? We must strive - even if it takes more work - to find the "win-win" solution. It's the healthy way to go. - One last note from Dr. Harvey: he says that a healthy marriage spends nearly 15 hours A WEEK of undivided attention on one another: that means, no kids, no movies, no work, no computers - just meeting each others basic emotional needs. Wow. Tall order.
Continuing on the path of spousal connections a little further, are we also making a conscious effort to spend the time we do have "free" together? Have we gotten into the pattern of doing our fun activities apart: he goes to play golf, while she goes to the spa? This can be so dangerous, even in its seeming innocence, because we're training ourselves to have more fun apart than together-enjoying our life-treats separately. The initial perceived sacrifice of giving up our personal fun activities, will be far outweighed by the closeness we breed through choosing to enjoy our leisure pursuits together. I promise! What are some things that you both enjoy together? What are some new things you'd like to try? What are some things currently on your schedules that only foster drifting apart?
I worry sometimes about loosing my own identity in this. But when we sign up for marriage, do we not choose to become one after all? And if we truly love our spouse, and they truly love us, they will delight in enjoying some of (previously) "our" pursuits with us - and hopefully vice versa.
Ok, that's enough to chew on today! I'd love to hear your thoughts. More later, when we dive into our friendships outside our family...
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Making Connections
The question was posed to me recently: "What are you passionate about?", and it got me thinking...what am I passionate about? Food? Clothes? Travel? Hydrangeas? Yes. In a way. They can all give me a high of sorts, but they aren't really my heart passions. They are my demi-passions I think - my earthly body passions. To dive deeper into my soul passion pool I swam around a little bit and settled on 2 of highest importance:
*Connecting and
Around Valentine's Day, I spent some time talking about my passion for maintaining a strong marriage over on Living Graciously, and I've touched here and there on living a connected life in the past, but have decided to spend a little bit of concentrated time backstroking and doggy-paddling in this subject. Will you come along for the swim? I'd love to hear your thoughts...
I tend to think of our lives (maybe our hearts more specifically) as an entity that has lots of electrical plugs coming out of it. We can choose to run around on our own power source, never plugging in our rechargers, and as a result we enjoy a less than lackluster existence.- OR we can choose to use our plugs to connect: to people, situations, hobbies, etc..- Sometimes we plug into sources that actually drain the energy out of us. Those are the unhealthy connections we make.- Of course, I should pause here to state that the obvious ultimate power source is Christ. We have one plug, our life-source plug, that can only fit into Him. He is our power plant of life, hope, joy, and peace. Without that connection, all the others will fail. - But, He did provide us with lots of other potential plugs to do with what we choose.- And what do we do with that amazing gift of possibility? - More often than not these days, I see people with plugs just hanging from their bodies. They simply don't have time to make the commitment of a significant connection - so they go without. Or perhaps they feel lonely occasionally and do a quick plug in and plug out with different people's sources. Never making a lasting connection - never really giving or receiving any electrical current.- Just a spark or two. I know that life is busy. My life is busy...don't even get me goin' - you try keeping 5 businesses afloat, running a home, tending a large yard, taking care of a husband, two dogs, and a cat, and being a hobby blogger (with multiple blogs) on top of all that. Yeah. Slightly busy. But I still feel the need for those positive connections very deeply in my life, they're missing, and I'm willing to do something about it: plan, sacrifice, commit. Whatever it takes. Are you?
*Connecting and
*Strong Marriages
Around Valentine's Day, I spent some time talking about my passion for maintaining a strong marriage over on Living Graciously, and I've touched here and there on living a connected life in the past, but have decided to spend a little bit of concentrated time backstroking and doggy-paddling in this subject. Will you come along for the swim? I'd love to hear your thoughts...
I tend to think of our lives (maybe our hearts more specifically) as an entity that has lots of electrical plugs coming out of it. We can choose to run around on our own power source, never plugging in our rechargers, and as a result we enjoy a less than lackluster existence.- OR we can choose to use our plugs to connect: to people, situations, hobbies, etc..- Sometimes we plug into sources that actually drain the energy out of us. Those are the unhealthy connections we make.- Of course, I should pause here to state that the obvious ultimate power source is Christ. We have one plug, our life-source plug, that can only fit into Him. He is our power plant of life, hope, joy, and peace. Without that connection, all the others will fail. - But, He did provide us with lots of other potential plugs to do with what we choose.- And what do we do with that amazing gift of possibility? - More often than not these days, I see people with plugs just hanging from their bodies. They simply don't have time to make the commitment of a significant connection - so they go without. Or perhaps they feel lonely occasionally and do a quick plug in and plug out with different people's sources. Never making a lasting connection - never really giving or receiving any electrical current.- Just a spark or two. I know that life is busy. My life is busy...don't even get me goin' - you try keeping 5 businesses afloat, running a home, tending a large yard, taking care of a husband, two dogs, and a cat, and being a hobby blogger (with multiple blogs) on top of all that. Yeah. Slightly busy. But I still feel the need for those positive connections very deeply in my life, they're missing, and I'm willing to do something about it: plan, sacrifice, commit. Whatever it takes. Are you?
To be continued...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
After the Wedding...
So we have survived! The bride was radiant, the groom so handsome, the evening was beautiful, and the newlyweds are off on their honeymoon. In the meantime, here we all sit with aching backs and hangovers. Seriously people, I am here to declare that it should be common knowledge and a mandatory practice that the family of the bride should plan a “recover moon” right after any family wedding. It's not that it's all of the emotion of the event (although that does flow freely), and not even really all the manual labor of a DIY wedding (although there is a lot of that involved), but it's the dangerous combination of the two that makes it such an exhausting ride. - I have to say though, that I loved the process! It was truly wonderful being involved in all the planning stages, and standing up as my sister's Matron of Honor. The day went swimmingly overall, and the bride and groom were so happy with the result. I was even (you'd be proud of me) able to mostly let go of the details of the day and just enjoyed the ride! That is a feat, a FEAT I tell you, for a firstborn organized, fanatical, perfectionistic, wedding director type like myself. I need a vacation.
I know what you really want though, is to see pictures. I didn't take too many, so I'm hoping the photographer will have a bunch posted on her website soon that I can direct you to. Here are a few to hold you over in the meantime:
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| At Fresh Market buying flowers the day before. Jonathan pushing the cart. I loved it! |
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| A "before" view of the venue |
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| Centerpieces in progress... |
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| Bow-tie tying lessons after the rehearsal dinner |
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| The bridesmaids at the Tea Tavern the morning of the big day |
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| After brunch, it was off to the day spa! |
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| Some girls got massages, some got their hair done. Here's our room at the spa ^ |
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| The worlds most last minute first dance lesson (while we were waiting to be announced!) |
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| *Love* |
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| Just before their getaway |
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Recovering...
Hello Peaches!
As you might imagine, I'm recovering from a wonderful whirlwind of a weekend, and as such, can't seem to put 5 productive brain cells together to conjure you up a decent post today. Just wanted to stop in and say a quick "hi" though...wedding pics to come! Stay tuned...
As you might imagine, I'm recovering from a wonderful whirlwind of a weekend, and as such, can't seem to put 5 productive brain cells together to conjure you up a decent post today. Just wanted to stop in and say a quick "hi" though...wedding pics to come! Stay tuned...
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