{insert name here} the spy.

I'm a people watcher. I used to assume that everyone was, but I've since realized that only some of us are. Some of us are paying attention. Some of us notice.

Awhile back, I picked up "Harriet the Spy" from a thrift store. I knew my mother enjoyed the book as a kid, so I thought I'd check it out. I'm only part way through, but I already relate to Harriet. She watches people. Yes, sometimes she does it through the skylight of their apartment and that's creepy, but she also pays attention to details when she's out and about.

People are hilarious. They each have stories to tell and secrets to keep. If you're watching closely, they will tell you some of their stories and give some of their secrets away. It's human nature to want to be noticed. We all want someone to listen.

Do you watch people? Do you notice the shared smiles and the passed notes? Do you read lips, body language, and eyes? Some people do, and some people don't. I do. Do you?

fancy stuff you can pet

We painted a couple more peg people yesterday. Miss Scarlet, in the living room, with the candlestick... and the ninja. They totally go together, whatchoo talkin bout?

 Also, handmade, textured art pieces have been jumping into our hands lately. Mmm. Cozy. 

Our new mouse? Her name is Esmeralda. She's super fancy. Fancy, understated, and possibly also misunderstood. You would like her if you saw her. You'd be like, "Can I please pet your fancy mouse? Oh, and that textured art piece too. Let me at it!"

nostalgic

I'm human. I'm also related to my mother. She seems to think I'm not, but I legitimately am. I guess all my talk of taking stuff to the thrift store has her worried. Like, if she handed me a family heirloom I would quickly drive it to the nearest thrift store.

This post is to put her at ease. Honestly, I am nostalgic. In the recently made pile of "headed to the thrift store" stuff we currently have:

1. A cheap globe that I painted on and no longer like {I don't like to keep failed projects. It reminds me of how crafty I want to be, but am not}
2. A throw pillow {I still like it, we just have like 8 throw pillows for one bed and a couch. Overkill}
3. Picture frames that are cream. {I'm trying to move away from cream things. There is too much cream in the world and not enough color/bright white.}
4. A bathroom rug {It's white. Yes, I know I just said that I'm moving toward bright white things, but not rugs. We are too dirty for white bathroom rugs. Someone else can enjoy it.}
5. Clothes that are too big {Self-explanitory}


See, mom? I have my salt and pepper shakers safely in the china cabinet, my favorite childhood books on the bookshelf, and those Coca-Cola bell bottoms that Grandma wore, in the closet. They don't fit me anymore but they hold family significance and will be saved forever. :)

I have my American Girl doll tucked away, and a shell necklace {that has some sort of family significance and I think came from Hawaii} saved for future dress-up. I have no attachment to things I purchased as an 18 year old with no sense of style, but I have a deep attachment to all things family. This includes huge pieces of furniture and little silver envelopes that say "My daughter and my friend."

I love family and I love nostalgia. Really, my purging habits are just to let everyone else in the world know that I don't hang on to everything.

But Francis the bunny rabbit who I carried around as a small child? Loving him will not be optional for my children. I'm speaking about forced-rabbit-love. :) I'm hanging onto family things. And anything old/cool. This includes hardback books and handwritten post cards. Really, I keep things. I do.

Please, don't take me out of the will. I can't promise I'll keep all of your shoes, but I promise to keep all of your pictures. The important things, mom. I promise to always treasure the important things. :)

{and anything vintage/mid century. that stuff too.}  :)

money

I am $279 away from paying off this semester of school. In case you weren't sure, that thrills me to my apple-loving core. Seriously, what could be better than paying off a semester of school before it starts {yes, this will be my first time} and not having a lead dollar sign threatening to squish me? Yes, there's still another semester to go, books to buy, and a house to save for, but God is amazingly good to me. Me specifically. We have had so many beautiful answers to prayer since we started this amazing journey of marriage. Money is just one of them, and a small one at that.

 I love checking things of off lists and I love goal reaching. Yes, yes and more yes. That is all.

babies

We've officially decided when we will start trying to have kids. Just for the record, the thought makes me giddy and fills me with butterflies at the same time. Like, first kiss butterflies, not singing on stage butterflies.

Something about adding a baby to the mix makes me want to declutter. Or at least continue getting rid of the things I don't love. These things, as always, change in waves. I get rid of 20 things that I don't love, but then once they are gone, there are 20 new things, that I thought I loved when there were other things that I definitely didn't love. And so the wave beats against the shore and the thrift store bags fill with the same relentlessness.

I even got a book from the library that was supposed to help me throw out fifty things. But they wanted me to start in the junk drawer (which we don't have) and then move to the medicine cabinet which has a grand total of 3 things in it. It wasn't very helpful. I need someone to be like, "Tell me why this makes the cut." Then I have to think about its back story and decide if I will really use it in the future. Just typing this, I can thing of some things that will be expelled from casa de nowak.

Wait, were we talking about babies? Oh, well. My blog posts have kinda been "catch all" lately. Like, it's too hot to have any real inspiration (without turning the a/c on, but I'm too cheap for that) so I'll be like Little Lottie and let my mind wander from thing to thing with no real direction or purpose.

 But there is a moral: Only keep things in your house that you love (and you can love something because it is practical) and have babies.

Why should you have babies? So you can build them colorful cardboard houses and hang their art on your walls. Oh the things you can do with washi tape.

cardboard houses

tape art

let's sail away

Some days my husband comes home with brass presents for me. For no reason whatsoever, except that he loves me. I love love.

a poem about a pie

by me.

death and taxes

My day was cluttered with them. This morning, after my husband made a yummy breakfast of eggs, fried bologna, and toast, I went to dump my scraps into our mouse cage. One of our mice was running merrily on the wheel, but the other was laying in the cage, very still. His eyes were open, but I assumed him to be resting.

I've never had a pet die before. It seems strange to me, especially since Fievel was only a mouse, that I was even attached to him. I didn't expect my stomach to ache over one of our little mice. I just kept saying, "Poor little mouse." and I felt like we should have given him cheese more frequently. Makes me want to spoil our other mouse a little. Justifiable? I think yes.

Also, we had some IRS problems where they were all like, "You didn't pay your taxes!" and we were all like, "Um. Yes we did. Here. Have the receipts."

Death and Taxes. The only things in life that are sure.

This post could end there and be pretty negative, but I have to brag on our amazing God and my hardworking husband a little.

An hour after our sad little episode with our mouse, Matthew got a raise. Hooray for the Lord's everlasting provision!

 But yes, there will be more taxes because of that raise. :) It's just how life works.

scarlet for dung hills

Can you imagine being raised in splendor, but settling for garbage? I can. I know so many people who were raised to know the Word of God and have turned from it. They have treated it like it was not the Truth.

I'm one of them.


I really am. I could list sins. Despicable, disgusting sins that would make you blush. Sins that seem horrible on the "scale" of sins that we have created.

Sins that nailed my Savior to the cross.

I fully embraced the dung hill, but when I turned from the actions that broke God's law, He picked me up, stench and all. He loved me. Still. Forever.

I'm praying for the people, like me, who grew up in scarlet, but have settled for dung. I'm praying for them specifically, by name. I want them to know the joy that is found in Redeeming Love.

As a Christian, it is my job not to judge those who have forsaken the scarlet, but to pray for them. To love them, like Christ loved the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, and the thief beside Him on the cross.

It is my job to show Jesus Christ's love in my every day life. Not to excuse the dung, but to invite people back to the scarlet.

taking my work home with me

For most of you, that means lugging home some papers or tying up some loose ends. For me, it means literally bringing small children into my abode.

Toys that have never been touched by children were given some good play time, and I got to be the groom in a rather lovely wedding. All in all, it was a colorful day. And, in case you weren't sure, a colorful day is a good day.

if we were homeless

I would wander between construction sites and sleep in the concrete tunnels. Why? Because they remind me of a park we used to frequent when I was little and I'm a giant fan of Nostalgia, even when I'm homeless.

Hey, Amanda? Did ya get evicted? Why are you in a concrete tunnel pretending to be homeless?

Because the day began with this, "Yay! Going tubing!" face.

And ended with this, "Tube popped and I need a concrete tunnel to crawl into." face.

Sometimes, you just need to look at life from a different perspective to change your attitude. For example: Our tube is popped, but if we ever had legit problems we could always live in a concrete tunnel.

the harvest truly is plentiful

Perks to having a window washer for a husband.

1. Short Days. Often, Matthew is home by 4.
2. Random $100 tips.
3. Sock tan lines. Yumm.
4. Free Stuff.

check point

We're half way through 2012. That means lake side picnics, warm cars, and fireworks. Most of all, it means summer is going to be over way too soon.