old hymns

I’ve heard that a child is closer to God because of their innocence and open hearts that have yet to be hardened by the world. For me, I disagree. I once was that child. And I can unfortunately admit that my heart has been hardened by the world. I am not sure if I have made the conscious decision somewhere along the way to listen and look for God in my everyday, or if He was waiting for this time to become more apparent to me, but recently I see Him more and more- even when I’m not looking.

I once was lost, but now am found.

I also read an article last week about the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness and how it is a somewhat broad phrase in terms of praise, but can be so personal to each individual. And guess what was on the bulletin to sing in church last Sunday after reading that…yep, I may or may not have soaked up every verse of that powerful song like never before.

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

My newest obsession- besides still giving a good swing at whole holistic lifestyle thing- is reading devotionals about being a Godly wife. Loving him like Jesus does, as Eric Church would call it. And quite frankly, I can’t get through most of them without crying. But I like it. A lot.

This is a short one, but I promise to write again soon of all the latest in my life. Lots of changes lately!! But I want to leave with one thought:

The zest of a lemon is minuscule compared to the whole, but it’s by far the tastiest. I believe the same goes for life. Don’t overlook the small and often unnoticeable things because they are often the best parts of life. They fill it with the unexpected and memorable times. And of course, that’s why they’re called the ZEST of life! (Sorry for the pun, I had to.)

Love always,

Addie

“You know it’s a good day when the organist starts to play the hymn and Papa starts to cry. That’s how you know there are familiar angels in the sanctuary, singing through the notes in the old hymns.”

normal obsessions

The royal baby (I’ll refer to him as Prince, because how cool is that?!) has arrived! I thoroughly understand the American obsession with the Royal family because we don’t have monarchies and thanks to Disney, every girl grew up wanting to be a princess. For Kate Middleton, that dream actually came true, giving the rest of us normal girls a sense that dreams really do come true. Besides, who better to admire than the people we fought so diligently to break away from? (Only kidding…)

So now the question remains: what is Prince’s name? People have been betting on it for 9 months now. Surprisingly I haven’t read much into it. I’m sure it will be a family name- and probably a very long one at that. Unlike us normal people, Prince will probably have about five names before they ever get to his last name. I didn’t know that monarchs even had a last name until I googled it about five minutes ago. I thought they just went by their first, middle, second middle, etc. names and ended it with something fun and royal like “the Duke of Cambridge”. Their last name however is obviously very English and very royal sounding…nothing as plain as Smith would do… which is why their last name is Mountbatten-Windsor. Good luck trying to teach Prince to write and pronounce that in kindergarten.

Not gonna lie, I was really crossing my fingers for a little princess, but I’m sure Prince will be just as dashing as his parents and just as fun as his Uncle Harry. Can I be his godmother? And I was also very glad that he arrived at a decent time of day so that I didn’t have to pull an all-nighter like I did in college to watch the Royal Wedding. (Ok, but seriously I probably wouldn’t have pulled an all-nighter to wait for the announcement of a baby that I will never meet. Watching the wedding was worth it but somehow waiting up just to hear a Royal crier make an announcement didn’t sound appeasing. Not to mention that in college, my body was trained to run on no sleep, but now that I have a job and a real-time schedule, I’m more of an in-bed-by-10-at-the-latest kind of gal.—But for the record I would, however break my schedule to watch another wedding of Royal or Kardashian magnitude on any given day. Yes, I’m that girl. Slightly obsessed.)

Is anyone else shocked at how quickly summer is passing by or am I just getting old? It’s almost August for crying out loud! I feel like say this every summer…but such is life. And what a difference in this summer and last. First of all rain, rain, rain. It rain an inch last week and is currently raining now. Not so bad since hardly any one down here irrigates and most crops are laid by at the moment. But the boys back home are singing a different story. Spence sent me a picture from the field last night after they got- wait for it…4 INCHES of rain the night before last. And guess what, they’re supposed to get more today. So instead of pumping water into the fields, they’re retracing all their previous steps and pumping water off. Fun fun. Compared to last summer which was one of the worst drought seasons ever with the some of the highest crop prices…God sure does have a sense of humor.

Another difference in last summer and this summer is my lack of tan-ness. Direct quote from my mother last weekend: “Wow, this is the palest I’ve ever seen you this time of year!” Thanks….I am becoming more cautious of sun damage after finding a few wrinkles on my face and my dad having skin samples sent off to be tested. So I catch rays when I can but am not exactly the sun goddess that I used to be. Instead, I now resort to sunless tanners- they stink, but they work. And to me, the cost of stench is much easier to pay than other potential costs.

Speaking of wrinkles, did you know that sleeping on your face (stomach and side sleepers) can cause wrinkles!? Engineers have built a pillow with a hole cut out so that only your ear, jaw, and hairline take the pressure, leaving your precious face unharmed from the ruthless wrinkle causing pillow while you snooze all night. While this may sound ridiculous, I have been overly aware of the way my cheeks smush into my pillow, creating an obsession of caution when I’m trying to sleep. The past few nights I have spent a good 3-5 minutes situating myself just so that my face feels as little smush as possible. “Prevention is key”…but somehow I still wake up looking like the Nightmare before Christmas every morning. Maybe I should just accept the fact that raisin skin is worth a good night’s sleep on a smushy, fluffy pillow (no matter how contradicting that sounds). Right…?

Last but not least, I would just like you to know that I fried my first ever batch of green tomatoes last night. And they were awesome. I also used my potato cutter to make my first batch (okay, actually the second because my first attempt was an utter fail) of homemade French fries. I’m becoming a decent gardener and cook while living down here- Mississippi makes me sustainable, and it feels so good. I posted a picture of the fried, unhealthy, goodness-es on my Instagram (another one of my obsessions) with the hasttag #BHGsummer in hopes of winning the weekly contest that Better Homes and Gardens is hosting all summer long. So far, they haven’t “liked” my photo…but it’s only Tuesday…there is still time. They’re probably just too busy gushing over Prince to notice me at the moment…

Stay hopeful my friends. Enjoy the summer and the rain. And remember that Jiminy Cricket was right when he said “dreams come true”.

Love always,

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”  – F. Scott Fitzgerald

hum drum

Sometimes I have thoughts that cling to me. I find them evoking in some way. That’s what my blogs are for…But for the life of me I can’t seem to construct one today. So today I will leave you only with my haphazard thoughts that go together about like mustard and ice cream. Eww.

Why do songs from CDs feel different than song from the radio?

Standing in the dressing room: Why the hell would anyone ever even consider wearing this…anywhere?

When did the wheat head out? Where have I been? Did this happen overnight? Surely this happened over night…

On the drive back to Sikeston: Oh sweet, flat Delta home, how I’ve missed you. I like being able to tell people that I’m from a place so flat you can kick the ground and make the biggest hill for miles around.

Riding around the farm while the summer sun settles down: The sinking sun is glowing on his hair, casting funny shadows of me on his shoulder. With my feet on the dash and the windows rolled down just enough to carelessly wreck my hair, I breathe in the sweet, sweaty summer and sigh, “this is life.”

If I haven’t clipped anything to put in my “Dream Big Binder” lately does that mean I am not even driven enough to dream? Lazy much…?

Group message autocorrect-mistakes and emojis are the best entertainment for groups of girlfriends on those mundane days at work. Oh and Snap Chat. Definitely Snap Chat.

Pinterest is every girl’s guilty, shame-free, unsocial, social media. You can pin things on there that you would never even consider posting on other outlets like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter because there are men that might see it for goodness sake! Just admit it- we’re all as guilty as the next for having wedding boards a mile long and baby wardrobes planned way before we ever get a ring. No judgment here.

Some of the new floral patterns in clothing are supposed to be “feminine” and cute. But I just look at them and see material for outdated cushions on those white wicker couches. Or bad drapes.

I wish the newly proposed Farm Bill would have passed.

As I get older, I realize that I do not put as much emphasis on bras as I used to. Push-up, smush-up…sports bras are way more comfortable. I call them “boob jail” either way and prefer to let my inmates free as soon as I get home.

I like getting old. I have started to care more about my insides than my outsides. And my outsides are starting to look better (to me, at least) because of it.

Here’s a little tip: if you’re ever eating peanuts out of the shell, don’t pull off the rust colored skin between the peanut and the shell. That’s possibly the most beneficial part of the whole peanut. I did a lot of reading on peanuts yesterday because I thought I had discovered the “fountain of youth.” I didn’t….but learned quite a bit in my research.

If I owned a football team, I’d offer Tebow a contract. It’s crazy to me that people are afraid of his “media circus” that follows….in my opinion, the players with the mistresses, ten children from different mothers, murder and rape convictions, etc. etc. are the circus acts.

This Paula Deen thing has been blown way out of proportion. I don’t think there is one person on this planet that has never said something off color. (Besides babies that can’t speak…yet.) End of discussion.

I swam in the Tom-Bigbee River for the first time last weekend. It was smelly and I couldn’t even see my own shoulders beneath the murky water. But it’s was fun. And worth the kink it put in my hair.

If you’ve never read anything by Rick Bragg, you should. Here’s a good place to start: http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2013/06/10/stillness/

Hope you have the best day ever.

Love always,

Addie

“But someone, somewhere, is looking after me, and sent me another train. I hear it bump through the city…in the small hours of the morning, and I dream and wonder, again, though I know exactly where it goes.”- Rick Bragg