Fear, Wonder, and Darkness

December 21st, 2022 The solstice always gets me to thinking more ponderously about darkness and light and the coming of Christ, which I am already thinking about intentionally during the Advent season and all the more as Christmas nears. As a people, we are waiting for the Light that we know is coming -- the…

GAPS Update // Challenges and Blessings

I have learned so many things so far in this first six weeks of investing in the GAPS protocol. I say investment because it truly is -- an investment of time and energy and, yes, money into what I am believing are huge improvements for the future. I have already seen a lot of improvement…

Autumn Flavors // Sourdough Apple Cake

Some friends and I did some adventuring and visited an orchard over the weekend. The smells of apples, cider, popcorn, grapes, were alive! And the colors, coming to a close now in Ohio, are still vibrant enough to give me thrills. Admittedly, it does not take a whole lot to give me a thrill. I…

Cozy Sourdough Ginger Cookies

Cookies make me giddy. I didn't even eat any of these -- still living the good life on the GAPS protocol -- but sliding them off the cookie sheet onto the counter yesterday morning gave me the lightest, happiest of feelings. I am grateful I can still make cookies for the other folks in my…

My last cup of coffee // beginning the GAPS journey

(This is not the typical content of this blog, but here are some thoughts about what is happening in my life lately and my current journey with the GAPS protocol.) Two days ago I had my last cup of coffee. It was extravagant. It had whipped cream on top. And yes, it was pumpkin-flavored. There…

The walnut tree

There is a little walnut tree on the edge of the yard where we live that I have adopted as my own. Through puzzling turns of events, I have been a woman at home for a good bit of the time I've been a married woman so far, from sickness to the unpredictability of life…

We got married!

We got married! Our wedding was as close to perfect as something real could have been to the dreams I had been tending in my little mind and heart. The evening was truly magical. It was a lovely little hobbit wedding under the trees with plenty of sunflowers, kombucha, cheesecake, and nobody fainted or lost…

Talking to strangers, wedding plans & too much cilantro.

I had gone in search of someplace where there was green. The city, though it has not treated me altogether unkindly, comes terribly shy of fulfilling my longings for space, smells, skies, and flowers on these long summer days. There is a park that I started going to last winter to run laps around the…

Happy news

Regarding April 2nd: Samantha met me in the bathroom before service started. At our church, most people drive 30-40 minutes to get there in the morning, so it’s no wonder the bathroom gets so much traffic in the few minutes beforehand. Sam was nearing hysterica. “Emma!” She had been one of the first to receive…

Whatever it is weird, eccentric people do.

"Grace and Emma are back from doing whatever it is very weird, eccentric people do," said her dad to the person on the other end of his phone conversation. We had just walked in the door with armfuls of foraged dried twigs and windblown hair from the endless Wyoming wind. The last time Grace and…