•2 min read
Lessons from night-shift
Below is a photo from an early morning run a few weeks ago. Speaking of mornings...
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Zucchini bread (gluten-free)
I've been watching a fair amount of Call the Midwife lately. One of the many things I enjoy about the series is the culture, specifically, the practice of offering tea to all visitors. I appreciate the little rituals of hospitality and how...
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A thoughtful grip
I have relatively small hands. When Nicholas and I bought our wedding bands, the clerk said, "Your children will have small hands!" We're still laughing about that. But lately, I've been mulling over this simple truth: We can only hold so much.
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Coffee table scenes
You can tell what occupies our time by what's on our coffee table. I mentioned this over a year ago, back when we lived in Indiana and had a different coffee table. I find myself taking pictures of our table, not because it's all that interesting,...
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Go-to recipes
Not too long ago, I wrote a post on how and why I meal plan. In that post, I said I'd write about our favorite, frequently made meals. While I enjoy trying new recipes, I love having a set of "go-to" recipes that we know we love. Also, as dorky as...
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My (slow) blog
When I first started writing blog posts, I felt some pressure to utilize quotas—like three to five posts per week, and at least two should fall into weekly, repeating categories, because that's what would produce the best reader response, they said....
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Two years of us
Yesterday was our second anniversary. Two years of change and growth and love. To celebrate, we did a mini series of local dates (his idea!) and visited our favorite places in Austin.
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Joy for ordinary days
It's a Monday, but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad day. I'm off work and a lot of my day's activities aren't particularly exciting. But something about ordinary, everyday activities makes me reflective. Today's to-do list included:
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How (and why) I meal plan
Happy Wednesday, friends!
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Choosing Heaven-mindedness over like-mindedness (and comfort)
After more home remedies and a trip to urgent care, Nicholas is steadily recovering from his poison ivy, (yay)! To entertain ourselves while he tried to not think about the rash, we watched episodes of Lost, made homemade macaroni and cheese (with...
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A goal update & daily life around here
Naturally, a whole bunch of little everyday things are happening over here lately. In particular:
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Sriracha spinach egg medley bowls
I wanted to share a meal that is quickly becoming a staple in the DeVries home. Of course, it involves eggs, because we like inexpensive, nutritious, protein-based meals. And it's a fast meal, because life is busy (a lot), but that doesn't mean we...
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Visiting family & San Antonio adventures
A few weeks ago, Nicholas' family visited us in Austin (of course, they're my family too)! Whenever we have visitors, we take them to our favorite spots, and usually explore some new ones with them.
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Pulled to love: On getting unstuck
Do you have periods of life where you can't seem to gain traction in anything? Okay, yeah, me too. Life has been lots of work and then lots of play, and now I'm in the midst of transitioning to a (more normal) blend of the two. But in the midst of...
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What it's like being a Registered Nurse (from my perspective)
I don't write about work very often, aside from how it intertwines with our daily life. But I wanted to write a brief post about "what I do" and why. I've discussed the very basics: 12-hour shifts (really, they're more like 13-hour shifts) at night....
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Life in the in-between
Hi! For some reason I scheduled myself four shifts in five days, oops! So I've been at the hospital a lot this week. However, I wanted to write a brief post about the bits of life between shifts and sleeping. If I'm not intentional about those...
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7 things I'm learning about myself (or: thirsty souls)
I've read these verses dozens of times, but I've never read them in an identify-defining way:
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June joys, with reservation
This is a delightfully uneventful month, in the sense that we don't have too many extra events aside from our normal work/church schedule. However, there have been so many small moments in the last week or two that make me pause to appreciate a...
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Necessary adjustments: spending, food, & social media
Every several months, I notice a sluggishness in my life, a need for refinement of my priorities. I'm of the opinion that generally, conviction has a purpose & should lead to a change in behavior.
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Speaking another language
Friendships, marriages, and family relations all need investment, maintenance, and love. What I've learned and observed in every relationship is that it matters how I invest in and maintain relationships and how I love the people around me.
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May making & planning
When I finish a fun, challenging, but accomplished project, it's a bit like finishing a good book. Coming to the end brings bittersweet feelings—excitement for the completion and sadness that the enjoyable process is done. After I finished my Lila...
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When we have visitors (we have fun)
My sweet mother-in-law, Karen, came to visit recently, and we had such a good time. With no set plans for the week, each day we woke up and decided what sounded best. Despite all the rain we've had, there were a few fairly dry, albeit humid, days...
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Practicing rest & balance
While I do have the luxury of having 4 days off each week (thanks to 12-hour hospital shifts) I'm not very good about setting aside time to rest. I've mentioned it before, but ever since Nicholas and have been married and we share a home together, I...
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Personalizing our (rental) home
After some deliberation, we've decided to extend our lease for our current one-bedroom apartment. Knowing we'll be in the same space for another year or so gives us a even more motivation to continue to make it feel homey. Of course, we're still...
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Homemade granola (gluten-free)
It's no secret that breakfast food is one of my love languages. Eggs, pancakes, waffles...they're all my favorite foods. That being said, I'm not 100% on the granola bandwagon. I generally don't crave it and we rarely buy it. The blend of textures...
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