MollyMadonna.com

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a little beach love.

Today was glorious–hot and summery and just as I’d hope it to be on Memorial Day weekend. We made our first (and second) trek of the season to the blissful, sandy beach…the first, to nap and soak in the sun, and the second, to test Kruger’s paws at doggy paddling at sunset. Both visits were life-giving in their own right; there’s nothing I love more in nature than the beach, and nothing lovelier to me than the beach at sunrise or sunset. This is the time of year when I feel most at home and at peace in Michigan.

As a student at Hope (a few years back), I’d escape to the beach on a weekday afternoon for solitude–a place to rest and think, write and pray, watch and wonder. To this day, a quiet afternoon alone with the sun and the waves is one of the most re-energizing ways I spend my time. There’s something so intriguing to me about the beach!

On a Sunday in the summer time (or in this case, on Memorial Day weekend), it’s unlikely to arrive at the lake and find it quiet and empty. Instead, it’s challenging to find a square in the sand to call your own. The water is bustling with families–kids splashing, building sand castles, running through mazes made by beach blankets and shady umbrellas. Even so, there’s splendor in it; and when I’ve found a spot to lay my towel and settled in, I’m back in the same, wonderful space of last summer, and the summers before it. It’s always changing, ever the same. I love, love, love the beach!

Tonight, after a summery barbecue in the backyard, we took our sun-kissed selves back to the lake with Kruger, our one year old lab, to see whether the beach might become one of his favorite places to visit, too. This, after last summer’s futile attempts to get our then few-month-old pup into the water. To our delight (and admittedly, our relief), Kruger turns out to be a certified lab after all. His little webbed feet made their way into paddling position in no time, and while he seemed to prefer a sort of in-the-water, out-of-the-water routine, we’re no longer concerned that Kruger will forever fear the lake.

As I write this, both boys (Jason and Kruger) are curled up in their respective spots in the living room–a testament, of course, to the activities of the day. Undoubtedly, we’ll all sleep well tonight–perhaps dreaming about the sunny, playful summer that stretches out before us. If I could, I’d give the beach a great big sandy hug before bed; a little love to let it know how much I appreciate the joy it adds to my world.

jason and kruger, out for a swim

learning to paddle

post swim, sandy and content

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sweet things

Today was filled up and brimming with sweet things…time to cuddle with a precious newborn. catching up with friends. two year old, water color painting time (“look, molly, it’s a bird! look, it’s a bear! watch me!” must love two year olds…they say the most wonderful things).  arranging flowers for a baby shower. the shower itself. laughter. de-cluttering. making posters (garage sale signs) with a Sharpie marker (i forget how much i like to do that kind of thing). a new pair of summery sandals (for cheap!). sunshine-y blue skies and a warm, lovely breeze. the quiet, sleepy end of a day.

mmmm. i love finding joy in the little things! can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow…

wish me luck. it’s garage sale time 🙂

mm

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“stuff” for sale

Confession. I’ve never held a garage sale before, and even though we’re planning one for this weekend, I can’t decide whether I’m for it or against it. And maybe, as I do with most things in life, I’m giving it too much thought. I’ve weighed the pros and cons all week.

Pros: getting rid of stuff we don’t use/need/want/like, making a little extra cash to offset normal expenses or put away for a rainy day, eliminating the piles of cardboard we’ve saved in the basement for “just in case”.

Cons: We actually have to organize and sort and move the garage sale piles we’ve been keeping in the garage and basement, we might be up to our necks in neon-dot-price-tags stickers for the next several days, and I’ll probably have to say goodbye to a few items I have unwittingly struggled to part with in the process.

More cons: It’s possible that we could spend the entire duration of the weekend sitting in our driveway amidst piles of stuff we don’t want, bored, and without any luck of luring others to want the stuff we don’t want and then to actually pay for it and take it home. Oh, the horror. We might then find ourselves boxing it all up in the aforementioned cardboard boxes and driving it across town to the nearest secondhand store–in dash hopes that it will benefit someone else. (The guilty side of me is inclined to feel like there’s something weird and wrong about expecting someone else to want…or even be blessed by…the clutter we’re trying to eliminate from our lives; but I digress.)

It’s amazing to me, that after living in Africa for an entire year and each packing only three suitcases to move ourselves there, Jason and I could manage to have accumulated enough “stuff” over two years time that it could amount to a full blown garage sale. To be honest, maybe this is the thing that’s getting to me the most. HOW ON EARTH did we collect so much since arriving home? And what the heck did we ever think we were going to do with it all?

There was a time (not merely twenty-some months ago) when I could hardly imagine filling up a home with enough furniture or household items to even make it feel lived in, let alone somewhat cluttered. And it’s not that our rooms are filling up with things we don’t need or use, but more that we’ve tucked older versions of things away in closets and attics and basements to be replaced by newer, “lovelier”, more useful-to-us-at-the-given-moment type things.

There was a season not that long ago, when I never thought I’d care again what we had or didn’t have, whether we had what we needed and/or if our needs would be met right on time. Sometimes I recognize that place and still feel right at home there, and others, I fight kicking and screaming to remember how it’s supposed to feel. I know that this is normal, but I don’t ever want it to become the norm. We’ve always had what we needed and then some. Even with six suitcases in tow and a one room space in Africa to call our own, we were never, ever without.

So this garage sale then. Perhaps it tips the “pros” scale a bit more than I originally thought. It’s teaching me, and it hasn’t even happened yet. This Friday and Saturday, I’ll be out on the driveway–no doubt re-arranging and bartering and enjoying the view, but more importantly…clearing out the clutter so that we can better see things for what they really are, and giving away the things we have that will serve a better purpose to someone else… hoping that, for a day or two this weekend, the “stuff” we’re truly made of will make its way into worthwhile interactions with complete strangers as we invite them to peruse the physical “stuff” that has too long been filling up our lives.

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did you hydroseed that?

It’s nearly 11:40pm, and Jason is out watering our desert, ie. our front lawn after it was completely dug up and re-seeded earlier this past week. With the weatherman boasting 80s and 90s for the next few days, we’re pretty determined to keep our facelifted, parched little corner of the universe well-hydrated–and I’d be withholding if I didn’t tell you that our motive is entirely twofold. It’s safe to assume that we’d love to see lush green grass sometime before the season is out (we had the whole yard graded as a major effort to keep water out of the basement this summer), but what we’re not telling, is that we also like to see the neighbor across the street squirm–if only a little bit.

Ok, so let’s be honest. Jason and I are both a bit spirited when it comes to board games and races and such, but lawns and yard work? We enjoy planting and gardening and keeping things trim–I just can’t say that we’re overly competitive about the lawn. We have, however, noticed a trend that makes us laugh every weekend that’s yard work-permitting. When Jason gets the lawn mower out, our fifty-something neighbor does, too. Weed whacker? You guessed it. Pruning shears? He’ll get out two pair. And it’s always within ten minutes of us indicating any type of yard-nurturing activity.

This is somehow hilarious to me. It’s probably because I’m female, and because if the grass is green and the flowers aren’t dead, I’m happy. But really, friendly neighbor? Is it worth all of the extra energy and effort? We’re just trying to avoid the city enforcing some ordinance and citing us for having an overgrown property and such. And it’s nice every once in a while to spring for a bright flower or two to cheer up the place; but that is all. We just love our little home and want it to feel that way. We’re not terribly interested in a contest.

This weekend, when Jason was out tending to our baby lawn’s hydration needs, said neighbor made his way across the street to tell him that our landscaper “took THREE loads of dirt off [our] front lawn last week. THREE LOADS. That’s a lot of dirt.” He then proceed to inquire regarding our choice to lay grass seed. “Did you hydroseed that?,” he questioned. “Hydroseeding is really the way to go. You should probably put some hay down over that.” Thanks, friendly neighbor. So you have grass. And no, we didn’t hydroseed that. And yes, I can hardly wait til it’s lush and grown and I’m able to squish my toes into it again.

Enough about OUR lawn. YOUR turn to share. What does your ideal summer yard look like? Post a comment, a photo, a vision. And don’t forget to hydroseed. 🙂

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gleek!

There’s nothing quite like the synergy among a group of folks with the same passion and ambition to do something and do it well. This weekend was no exception at the first ever Gleek Retreat, held in Holland, MI at the beautiful and cozy, Into the Woods Retreat Center. It was a delight to be among 35+ amazing bloggers, their ideas and insights in tow. As I look to launch mollymadonna.com into a space where readers feel welcome, included, safe and informed, I’m so grateful to have had the privilege! A few highlights:

-getting the chance to glean from some amazing, well-versed bloggers-extraordinaire, including Melissa Summers, Donielle Baker, Katie Kimball and Courtney Velasquez

-Hearing from Neil Chase from Federated Media

-Speaking on a panel with Melissa and Neil about working with companies and PR

-Spending the night as a “sleeper” and enjoying all of the amazing camaraderie and food (thanks, Second Floor Bakery for the yummy midnight snacks!) that went with it

-The INCREDIBLE swag bags, provided by a great number of dedicated sponsors (my personal favorites include my new, shiny red Eco Usable water bottle, gift certificates from Canvas People and Uppercase Living, the latest Eric Schrotenboer CD, and tomatoes and a cookbook in sweet packaging from Red Gold). I was also excited to win a french press, coffee (Tulip Time Blend:) and a mug from the one and only JP’s Coffee

Did I mention that I learned some practical and helpful tips and tricks of the blogging trade (so good for me as someone re-entering the blogging world and hoping to do so on a connected, effective level)? The sessions and breakouts were fantastic!

One last detail not to miss about Gleek Retreat ’10…its beautiful and intelligent creators, Jodi Schaap and Stacey Heneveld. These two were brilliant for coming up with the notion to gather bloggers together in West Michigan as they did, and they arranged every last detail to the hilt. Kudos, ladies, on your determination and all of those late nights planning and prepping. We’re grateful!

All in all, my first experience as a “Gleek” was one for the books. Great people, great info, great food, great location, and…great new motivation for me to be back and blogging again. As the weekend winds to a close, I’m all kinds of inspired and re-energized. May mollymadonna.com be all the better for it!

gleek on 🙂

mm