cute and rugged....

i love creative ideas.
i love my friends.
i love supporting local business.

so it's natural for me to be excited and celebrate my friend renee's business venture...www.ruggedidea.com  her partner ali and herself have created these creative and practical blankets for families.  

so if you're a momma, papa, or know someone who is expecting a little one this would make a delightful gift!

what christmas really should be...

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder


Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!
~Hamilton Wright Mabie

What is Christmas?
It is tenderness for the past,
courage for the present,
hope for the future.
It is a fervent wish
that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal,
and that every path may lead to peace.
Agnes M. Pharo

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Dr. Seuss

longing for a trader joe's...

every time i go grocery shopping and fill my trader joe canvas bag with my items i get a comment from someone about how much they love trader joe's. we then get into a conversation about the distances we've had to travel to visit this delightful store. if you live in grand rapids you know that we do not have the good fortune of being able to shop at joe's. so i have to wait till i visit family in chicago or make a trek out to ann arbor. i've actually brought an empty cooler with me to fill with some of their frozen goodies!

so this is what i want for christmas...a trader joe's. and maybe you'll join me in petitioning to bring this fine establishment to GR. go to this link and send an e-mail for a location request...http://www.traderjoes.com/contact_us_selection.html

on the hunt...

while i am lovin' being self-employed as a photographer, starting up your own business can be a slow process. so i'm still looking for another job, to help supplement some of our finances and to keep me engaged. it's a blessing to have time to dream, create, rest, but i need some structure too.

so i'm looking for some part-time work, probably a support position doing administrative tasks. which is great, cause i love to work on details and it would be nice to do work that has structure to it. i'd love to be working back on a college campus. i continue to feel the void of not serving college students. i need to fill that space within me that loves to mentor and serve.

so i'd appreciate all of your prayers, hopes, and positive energy. the past few months has been challenging with this job search stuff. but i trust and believe that something will come along that will meet our needs...

say cheese...

just wanted to share this link to my blog for my photography...http://kpowersphotography.blogspot.com/

i'm still working on my web-site but for now i'm posting recent work on this blog.

so i hope you'll check it out!

i'm continuing to enjoy this pursuit. my goal is to have the web-site and my marketing done by the start of the year.

stay warm...

dancing on the altar...

we're in the process of exploring some churches in our neighborhood. we've been attending a great church, with evoking messages. but we seek a space where we can encounter community, where we can be seen and known and where we can enter into the lives of others.

so we've visited this one church for a couple of weeks now...isn't searching for "community" so awkward at times? i don't know if this church will be this piece of connection for us, but already there is one thing that endears me to this place.


the children dance on the altar.

literally in the midst of worship, while the adults remained proper and in our rows, the children were rolling on the ground, prancing up and down the steps steps and one little babe was weaving in and out of the wooden altar table. i imagine they are too young to understand the "theological" meaning of the lyrics, and thank goodness. i admit i wanted to join them in their abandonment. i wanted a taste of their freedom and joy. i wanted to join the dance...

the little cheeseball...

last spring i got to be in the delivery room when my sis-in-law kelly gave birth to her 4th baby, brei (whom mike started calling cheeseball). it was an awesome moment and even more fun cause she's their first girl.

i couldn't resist getting her this little outfit...

a few favorites...

i'm a strict traditionalist when it comes to the holidays, which means no christmas music till the day after thanksgiving. but after that i saturate myself with christmas tunes. thanks mainly to my mom i have an eclectic taste in holiday music. i thought i'd share some of my favorites ( and maybe some of my favorite non-holiday music too)











vince guaraldi trip charlie brown's christmas...this playful jazzy cd makes you want to dance and have a good glass of wine


sufjan stevens songs for christmas...a creative, sometimes irreverent take on christmas music. but it's brilliant!


harry belafonte a merry christmas...i can't listen to this cd without thinking of my grandparent's and christmas eve. my family made this time of year magical, a celebration, and a season of faith. my mom still plays this cd the morning we all wake up to open presents, lounge around in our pj's and have breakfast.







a few non-holiday favs now...


ray lamontage trouble...i think i'm behind the times in discovering this artist, but he's got this amazing voice! good for sitting at home, by a fire, with your love, and of course a great glass of wine


the weepies...they have a fun christmas song "all that i want" (which is how i discovered them) but fun folky-indie music


over the rhine trumpet child...no favorite list would be without the presence of my favorite band. their newest cd is a little more sassy. their song "i don't want to waste your time" invites us all of savor what is good in this life. we're seeing them this friday for their christmas show. they have two christmas cd's which are delightful additions to your collection. check out a video of one of their christmas songs.



hoping your day is full of music that inspires you...