little black journal

We are now half-way through our annual tradition of Frugal January – 16 days and counting of no eating out, no stops at the cafe for a piping hot latte, no shopping, no non-essential spending.  And really, it hasn’t been so bad, especially when we have weekends like this one when all I really want to do is hole up inside with my Kindle and my stash of tea and chocolate, anyway.  The past couple of days might very well go down in the books as laze-fest 2012, as I spent nearly every waking moment on the couch, leaving the house only to accept a couple of dinner invitations from friends (which was perfect, since cooking would have required more effort than I was willing to put forth, anyway…).  And it. was. glorious. Sunday was particularly perfect – we’d heard murmurings on Saturday that Seattle-ites could soon expect the first snowfall of the season, and I awoke the next morning to frosty rooftops and freezing temps.  It wasn’t quite the white wonderland I’d hoped for, but I kept my fingers crossed and by 10am, big, puffy flakes were falling from the sky, draping our yard in a bright white blanket.  We watched the neighborhood kids make snow angels in the driveway, I baked pumpkin spice muffins, and we burrowed under a pile of blankets for some serious veg time.  While Shane watched football, I pulled out my watercolors and played around in my sketchbook, reveling in the comfort of our home and the pretty, bright light that came through the windows as it bounced off the snow.  It was all kinds of good.

We ended the day with a hot pot dinner at Jack and La Verne’s – a January tradition I’ve come to associate with so much warmth and laughter and fellowship – a good-for-my-soul kind of meal for a good-for-my-soul kind of weekend.

Yes, I’m a couple weeks late on this – I’ve spent quite a bit of time lately reflecting on the ups and downs of 2011 and am just now getting on board with 2012 and all it has to offer.  Without further ado, the list:

Read the Bible in its entirety.  Even though I’ve spent my whole life being part of various churches, I think there are still parts of the Bible I have yet to crack open.  And so when our pastor challenged us to spend the next year going through the whole, daunting, entire thing, Shane and I jumped on board.  It’s going to take some big-time commitment, especially once we hit Leviticus, but I’m all in.  Bring it, Moses.

Catch up with a friend over coffee every week or two.  My life is full of people that I want to know better, but I suppose I have some initiative issues when it comes to relationships – my homebody tendencies usually win out on a Saturday afternoon.  Wine, pie, and ice cream sundaes are also acceptable means of relationship-building.

Check out one new (to us) Seattle restaurant each month.  We still have much love for our tried-and-true neighborhood pizza joint, but every time I open our latest issue of Seattle magazine, I can’t help feeling like we’re missing out on a whole lotta culinary goodness out there.  On the list:  Spinasse, Kona Kitchen, Maekawa, and June.

Read the Economist leaders each week.  Several times, I’ve expressed a desire to be more “in-the-know” when it comes to current events, and several times, I’ve fallen short.  For months now, Shane’s been leaving his copies of the Economist under my nose, opened to stories he thinks I’ll find interesting, and this year, I’m validating his efforts.  My husband will be so happy when he can throw out words like “Gitmo” and get more than a blank stare in return.  This one’s for you, babe.

Juice at least once a week.  We invested in a nice juicer over the summer, and we were both feeling fantastic at the height of our kale/celery/carrot/apple intake, but lately the Breville isn’t getting much use – it just sits on the counter and stares me down as I grab that carton of whatever’s-on-sale OJ from the fridge.  Ideally, we’d be juicing every other day, but in the winter, I’d settle for just one tall glass of hearty green stuff each week.

Cheers, 2012 – I’ve got a good feeling about this year.

It’s official – I’m back on the handcraft-wagon.  This was a fun project, easy but not too tedious, and a good re-introduction to knitting after a nearly two-year hiatus.  I was a little anxious about how it would all come together in the end, as it looked a bit strange on the needles (Shane kept asking me if I was knitting an octopus), but once I bound off that last stitch and slipped it over my head, I was (mostly) pleased with the finished piece.  I wish it had been a bit chunkier, and I’m not entirely sure about the color, but knitting season has just begun for me, so there’s plenty of time for round 2!

Pattern found here from kirsten johnstone.  I modified it slightly by adding an 8th loop and decreasing the amount of length variation between loops.

I got a shiny new Kindle for Christmas and have been on a reading rampage for the past week – I blazed through The Hiding Place in just a few days and have been scouring the library’s e-Book offerings this evening, making a list of all the books I want to tackle this year (the beginning of a new year has me feeling all goal-oriented and list-crazed).  I also like the idea of taking a look back at what I’ve read over the previous year, so here’s my recap:  I read 15.1 books in 2011 (that .1 is for the 150 pages I read of Les Miserables, before deciding I love reading too much to make myself trudge through all 1450 pages of Victor Hugo’s looooooong-winded story).  There were a few definite winners in here, a few solid Sunday afternoon companions, and a couple that I just wish I hadn’t wasted my time on.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

 The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebowitz

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Naked by David Sedaris

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

Best books of 2011:  Three-way tie between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,  The Hiding Place, and Cold Sassy Tree.  They were all dramatically different (child wizard vs. concentration camp survivor vs. mischievous boy in the early 1900’s South), so I can’t compare them – I’ll just say I loved them all for different reasons: the fantastical unraveling of an epic story, the spiritual inspiration, the witty and endearing characters…  The Poisonwood Bible and The Help were close runners-up.

Worst book of 2011:  The Friday Night Knitting Club.  Don’t read it.  Just don’t.  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was also sadly unimpressive.

On the docket for 2012:  The Hunger Games Trilogy (a carry-over from my 2011 to-read list), The Great Gatsby (I missed classics this year), and The Power of One (I’ve heard amazing things).  I’ve decided that despite the rainy forecast, it’s going to be a very good winter.

I put together our 2012 calendar today, which involved sifting through the past year’s photos and selecting snapshots of our favorite 2011 moments.  And I know I say this every year, but dang, it’s been a good year.  This has probably been our biggest travel year ever, with vacations in Florida, Chicago/Minneapolis, and Europe, and lots of little weekend getaways to places like San Francisco, Vancouver, and Portland.  We’ve shared countless meals with close friends, we’ve made special trips to connect with family, we’ve felt our hearts overflow with love, both given and received.  I’ve drawn and painted, I’ve cooked new things, I’ve enjoyed successes and new opportunities at work.  I’ve laughed a lot.  But there have also been moments when big, dark clouds overtook our happy, sunny skies – there have been times this year when we’ve felt deep, deep loss, when our hearts have broken for friends and family that are going through things we can’t fix.  There have been times when I’ve cried to God, asked him “why?” and heard nothing but silence.  And then I take my fingers out of my ears and remember His faithfulness – He reminds me of his presence time and again, in a hug from Shane, in an encouraging note from a friend, in a spectacular sunset or park full of autumn leaves.  Indeed, I have much to be thankful for.

Tonight we’ll close out the year with friends and champagne here at home.  There may be a dance party involved.  There will definitely be plenty of laughter and joy.  Peace out, 2011.  It’s been real.

As much as I loved being home for the holidays, we were all ready for a little mini-break once Christmas was over, so on Monday morning Shane, his parents, and I hopped in the car and headed north to catch the ferry to Victoria.  Almost six hours later, we checked into our lovely rooms at Magnolia Hotel and set out in search of lunch.  We ended up at Bard and Banker for some pub-style fare and then spent some time wandering through downtown’s charming little streets.

As soon as the sun set, I was eager to check out the Inner Harbor, since I’ve heard the Christmas lights there are beautiful.  Indeed, it was like a different world at night – the distinguished, old Parliament building took on the character of a gingerbread house, and the dreary, wet streets we’d walked that afternoon now glittered with brightly colored reflections.

We stuffed ourselves with a seafood dinner and then called it a night – I kept my fingers crossed that I’d awake to blue skies the following morning, so that we could see Victoria really shine during the day.  No such luck…

Yep – gray, gray skies and rain all day on Tuesday.  We did the scenic drive along the coast and marveled at the huge water-view houses, and then took refuge from the rain for another cozy pub lunch, this time at the Sticky Wicket.

And rain be damned, no vacation is complete without gelato, so we had one final stop to make before making the long trek home.

It was a perfectly mellow little trip – comfort food in cozy restaurants, Christmas lights strung on trees and buildings and boats, and quality time with family.  Pretty good stuff, eh?

Merry, indeed.  Our day was full of food, family, football, and plenty of quality rest and holiday cheer.  We ate until we could eat no more (a nine-pound ham, a mound of mashed potatoes, gravy, glazed carrots, brussel sprouts, stuffing, buns, apple pie and pumpkin pie – whew!), we opened gifts, we Skyped with family, we lounged while Shane indulged in an NBA marathon, we ate some more, and then we filled our fridge with Tupperware towers of leftovers.  Shane’s mom and dad have settled into our place, and our home has never felt warmer, with the smell of apple pie wafting in the air and the sound of family memories being recounted in the living room.

Happy Holidays, friends – tidings of comfort and deepest joy from the Schnells!

Dear God,

It’s Christmas Eve – I’m sitting here in the quiet of our living room, reflecting on how abundantly you’ve blessed me. I’m so thankful for family near and far, for our warm home, for our church, for our community of friends. I deserve so little, yet you’ve given me so much. And yet, I come here with one more favor to ask. I’m asking you to take my heart and allow it to soak in the true meaning of Christmas. I want to fully experience the joy and anticipation that was felt at the birth of Christ. I want the carols I’ve sung for years to really ring true for me – I want to hear heaven and nature sing, to see shepherds quake at first sight, to fall on my knees and hear the angel voices. I want to witness Mary’s unavailing courage and strength, to feel the amazement of the shepherds as the heavenly host appeared to them. I want to remember that the Christmas story isn’t just a story; that silent, holy night really, truly happened and changed the world forever. I know, I’ll never experience the smell of that manger, see that bright and shining star, hear that little baby’s cries; but God, somehow, in your divine power, let my heart be there. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Amen.

I don’t know if it’s the warm glow of our Christmas tree, or the addition of some really good stuff to our Netflix queue (have you seen Breaking Bad? o.m.g.…), or the way I fit just right in the corner of our new leather sectional, but I am especially loving home and its abundance of comforts these days. I’m loving homemade cookies and cups of hot chocolate, cranking up my Christmas mix on the stereo and sitting by our tree laden with so many memory-filled ornaments. I didn’t go into work on Monday, thinking I’d get a jump start on the cleaning and grocery shopping before Shane’s parents arrive on Friday, but instead I spent the entire day camped out on the sofa with my knitting and my book, just wanting to soak in the quiet joy of being at home during this Advent season. Home…that word used to conjure up feelings of uncertainty and a longing for times past, having lost my connection to my childhood house when my parents left California; now that word brings so much comfort and contentedness, as we more deeply root ourselves in Seattle year by year. Shane and I are continually reassured that we are just where we’re meant to be, in our cozy little South Seattle town home, surrounded by neighbors we trust and friends we adore, with a bakery nearby that serves the best ginger scone I’ve ever tasted and a pizza place that has redefined our understanding of thin crust (I know, it sounds like I’m putting baked goods and pizza up there with neighbors and friends, and…I am. hehe.). I’ve had a couple of friends make big moves lately, leaving Seattle for the sunny beaches of San Diego, and I felt small pangs of envy as they left, wanting to resist the fact that at the age of 30, I’m already “all settled down”. But really, settled feels pretty good for us right now. There really is no place like home for the holidays.

I’ve been watching the count on my blog entries tick up and up, and today marks a bit of a milestone:  welcome to post #400!  When I started this blog four years ago, it was largely because I wanted an incentive to seek interesting experiences and to document those experiences in interesting ways.  I’m sure that many people blog because they travel, or they make things, or they think deep thoughts, and they want to share that with the world.  Sounds strange, but I was hoping that the inverse would hold true for me – I was in a rut, and I was thinking that I would go more places, be more creative, do more cool stuff because I blog.  Nobody follows a blog full of entries that read, “today was just like yesterday, and tomorrow will be just like today”, right?  To some degree, my backwards logic has worked – I look for ways to make my weekends interesting (and often fail, but whatever), I feel motivated to take on a creative project when I realize how long it’s been since I’ve posted anything in the ‘made’ category, and I take lots more photos now that I have an avenue by which to share them.  And that’s all good stuff; now Shane and I have this nice little record of our trips and our Seattle experiences and our time with friends and family.

But lately, I’m feeling a tug to dig a little deeper.  There’s not a lot of soul-baring going on around here, which is partly due to the fact that I’m still navigating just how personal I want to be in a journal entry that starts with “www.”, but also due to the fact that I rarely make an effort to check in with myself, to put the brakes on, turn down the noise, and think about how I’m really doing.  My posts center around what I did, read, saw, or made, because when I’m not in go-mode, I prefer to just shut off my mind completely, finding my restoration in an hour of napping or TV vegging.  I’m so inspired by the talent some of my closest friends have for bravely, articulately sharing their hearts on their online journals – I want to write with that kind of emotion and honesty and introspection.  So consider this an early New Years resolution: I want to get real.  Sure, you’ll still find plenty of frilly photos and mundane weekend updates popping up around here, but ultimately I’ll be striving to make this place a better reflection of who I am, and not just what I do.  Sheesh – just writing that I want to write more honestly makes me nervous!  This will be be a process, folks – bear (and bare?) with me.