100ish Things I Love
and other short lists for the last day of November
I love the ocean. I love watching waves move back and forth. I love the sound waves make when they crash along the shore. I love the feeling of warm sand between my toes. Or cold sand. Any sand will do.
I love bathing suits in summer. Cozy sweaters in fall. Silk long underwear and snowsuits in winter. Lightweight scarves in spring.
I love the way snow clings to pine trees. Or to empty branches. I love waking up to freshly fallen snow; looking out the window makes me feel like I’m living inside a snow globe.
I love getting into a bed made with freshly laundered sheets. I love turning down a fluffy comforter and singing I know I’m gonna like it here. I love snuggling under my L.L. Bean heated blanket when it’s so cold I don’t even want to move.
I love the smell of clothes dried in the sun. The way the towels get stiff they almost scratch your skin.
I love pulling a bunch of ingredients out of the fridge and figuring out how to create a delicious meal. I love when everyone is surprised they like something they’ve never had before.
I love picking up food from Springdell Farm. I love the way Farmer Jamie makes me feel like family. I love sitting in the adirondack chairs in the freshly mowed grass, soaking up the sun as I watch the sheep graze in the field.
I love feeding people. Especially when they have dietary restraints. I love how the extra challenge of not being able to use certain ingredients gives me a way to love them a little harder.
I love homeschooling. I love sitting on the couch reading out loud. I love hearing my daughters’ thoughts about a book we’ve read. I love watching them internalize the world around them. I love the way their brain makes connections between the books we read and the life we live.
I love how David makes me coffee with frothed milk, brings it up the stairs, and sets it on the coaster on the table by my bed. Every single morning. I love how the girls climb into bed with me with their books and consider it a snugglefest.
I love a movie so good it makes me cry. I love books that make me feel as though I’m living in a different time or place.
I love a smooth-writing pen. I love watching ink appear on the page as I move my hand along the paper.
I love the smell of a pine forest. I love the smell of snow clouds.
I love being at home. I love a clean house. I really love being at home alone in a clean house.
I love the sound of childhood giggles.
I love a cup of hot tea. I love chocolate cake. When I have both at the same time, it’s a love explosion.
I love visioning for ministry in the church. I love leading teams, asking questions, hearing people’s dreams, and helping plan to make those dreams a reality.
I love thinking outside the box. I love remembering why the box is there in the first place.
I love my mom. I love the way she always trusts me, always loves me, always hugs and kisses me.
I love my aunts. I love my sisters. I love that I was raised by strong women who really don’t have a clue just how strong they are.
I love the surprise of rainbows. The way they always remind me of God’s endless promises.
I love love LOVE my book club. I love that what started as a spark of an idea has taken off and become the most incredible group of women that sit around and drink wine and tea and talk about books together.
I love getting messages from people I haven’t heard from in a long time, sharing something that reminded them of me. I love when a reader emails me to tell me my words matter.
I love painting my nails. I love a good nail polish—the kind that goes on smoothly and evenly. I love the way my nails shimmer and shine after they’ve been painted.
I love warm and cozy socks. I love soft slippers. I love a good bathrobe. I love buying gifts for people. Or making gifts for people. I love giving gifts.
I love dancing in the kitchen. Especially to music I loved when I was a kid. I love when songs from my teen or young adult years come on and I can still sing every single lyric. I love when the lyrics make tears fall down my face.
I love deep intimate conversations about love, politics and theology.
I love smooth legs and a smooth face. I especially love it when they happen on the same day.
I love David’s blue eyes that gaze at me every day as if I’m the most beautiful person in the world.
I love a bath so hot it makes you sweat, with a glass of ice water in one hand and a waterproof Kindle in the other.
I love the ELCA Lutheran Church. I love how its theology grounds me and how its people challenge me. I love how God continues to speak truth in grey. I love Holy Communion. I love Baptisms. I love big organ processionals and festival services. I love old hymns. I love contemporary Christian music.
I love youth ministry. I love listening to tweens and teens talk about what’s happening in their life. I love walking alongside them as a faithful adult.
I love tacos. Any and all tacos. And enchiladas. And chips and salsa and queso.
I love a good pizza.
I love hiking when the temperature is not too hot. I love the way nature always surprises me. How there’s always something new to discover.
I love baking sourdough bread. I love the way flour and water mix like magic to create yeast. I love the heat of the oven on bread baking day. The way the bread crackles when it comes out of the pan. The smell that permeates the house.
I love learning. I love my writing group. I love my editors—even when what they have to say is painful to hear. I love the way they believe in my stories. How they encourage me and challenge me to keep at it.
I love a good writing prompt. I love an unexpected theme. I love a planned theme. I love making lists. I love that once you start thinking about what you love, you can’t stop at just a hundred.
We’ve already established that I love list-making. This book is all about lists, so what’s not to love? The more lists I make, the more I realize how healing list-making can be. McEntyre shares the beauty of making lists, some of her own lists, and ideas for lists to make.
I can’t remember why I first grabbed The People We Keep, but it sucked me in from the very beginning and kept me reading until the very end. It’s a beautiful portrayal of strength in the midst of adversity, of finding ourselves when life throws us curveballs, and of the people that make a difference in our lives.
My book club chose Peacemaker as November’s book. It’s technically children’s literature, but it’s an important story for everyone. Many of us read the book to our children and did a “Kids Edition” of book club this month and I loved hearing their thoughts. I was struck by the many similarities between the story of the Peacemaker and the story of Christ, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
The Red Umbrella is another one that shows up on children’s literature lists but is good for adults too. About children who get sent to the United States from Cuba in 1961, it is such a good read for older kids, teens, or adults.
David and I have been doing “date night read alouds” since sometime in March and Piranesi is the latest of our book choices. I am not a huge fantasy reader, but this book is fascinating. It creatively tackles what isolation can do to a person’s mental health and I especially love the importance of journaling to the main character.
I usually love Christmas, but this year I’m having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. It may be because we’re traveling the week before Christmas, so setting up all the Christmas at home feels a little pointless. I did turn a corner this week though and am feeling a little more Christmas-y; sometimes just going through the motions can help shake things up a bit. If you, like me, are struggling—or if you just want a few Christmas-y ideas—here are a few things to try:
I love these DIY tree coasters made out of fabric scraps. Crafting is often the thing I need to push me out of a funk.
I almost didn’t put a tree up this year, but then I realized I was being a Scrooge. I had been wanting to buy a pencil tree for our sunroom, so this year seemed like a good year to make the plunge. We put our new tree up yesterday with just a handful of our favorite ornaments, and it gives us just the right amount of Christmas spirit for these first few weeks of the season.
Every year we choose a family advent devotion to read together at dinner. All Creation Waits is one of my favorites because it is a creative take on Advent: What can we learn from how animals live in this dark and cold time of year?
This stovetop potpourri is one of my favorite ways to bring instant Christmas cheer and amazing smells to the entire house.
My kids have been begging to make a gingerbread house for years but I’ve never given in. I think the girls have finally reached the age where they can make it without much help, so we bought kits at Costco this year. It’s on the agenda for later this week, so stay tuned. I’ll post pictures on Instagram.
Remember the days when you would make a mix tape of your favorite songs for your best friend or biggest crush? Well my friends, I did the 2021 version of a mixtape and created a playlist for you to listen to when you need a break from all the Christmas tunes. Because I love a good theme, here are five of my recent favorite songs about love. Play and repeat. Ad nauseum.
‘Tis the season for all things warm and cozy. Chicken & Dumplings is my go-to for when I have a lot of leftovers or extra veggies and I don’t know what to make for dinner. You can swap any meet for the chicken, or just add extra veggies to make it vegetarian. Trust me—everything is better with dumplings.
This Winter Squash & Spinach Pasta Bake is on repeat in our house. As long as we have winter squash and spinach, I’ll be making it. It looks complicated, but it’s actually a one-bowl dish. Once it’s mixed, you can throw it in the oven and walk away. It did take a bit longer to cook than the recipe called for, so it’s a good idea to start it earlier in the day rather than just an hour before you want to eat.
Last month I turned 41 and my youngest made me a cake with mayonnaise in it. I was afraid of it, but I shouldn’t have been. We re-tested the recipe this month with Hellmann’s and I can officially say we have a new favorite chocolate cake recipe.
I’m not a huge breakfast fan, so these quick chilaquiles are a treat for those mornings when I wake up hungry but can’t find anything I want to eat. There aren’t many days when there’s no open bag of tortilla chips on our counter.
This is the season when I hardly ever really feel like cooking. A Kielbasa & Veggie Sheet Pan Meal comes to the rescue at least a couple of times every month. This recipe is a great base recipe (bonus, it uses some of those green beans you froze in peak season). I’ve also swapped out carrots, winter squash, or brussels sprouts for the frozen green beans. This is one of those meals that is always delicious, no matter what vegetables you throw on the tray.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s November 30 and I am 95% done with my Christmas shopping. I have a handful of gifts left to make and a gift or two to buy for the hubs. If you’re struggling to figure out what to buy, here are are a few of my favorite gift ideas for the ones you love.
Slippers (for everyone)
You can never go wrong with a good pair of slippers. I love these for women, these for men and these for the kiddos.
Modeling Clay (for the kids)
My kids adore this air dry clay. They use it almost every single day and I never cease to be amazed by the things they create. This week they’ve been making play food. Last week they made a car for their Calico Critters. I love it because I don’t have to bake it. Any craft that they can do on their own without any help from me is a huge win in my book.
Popcorn maker (for the men)
My kids love popcorn (and so do I), but I am so lazy when it comes to making it. I usually put David in charge of making it using this recipe, but I recently splurged on this microwave popcorn maker and I dare say it is life changing. I think anyone would love getting this for Christmas, but especially the men. Grab some fancy popcorn to go with it and you’ll be the best gift-giver around.
Fire TV stick (for the family)
When we went on vacation this fall, the house we stayed in had a Fire TV Stick and I was in awe at how easy it was to watch TV. My biggest complaint with our smart TV is that it is far too difficult to find the app you want to use, but Amazon has made it so easy with the Fire Stick. We bought one when the newest version was released and it is my new favorite piece of technology.
The Elpis Pages (for the women)
The Elpis Pages will be released in just ten days and I am honored that a few of my words will be included. A compilation of poetry, nonfiction, flash fiction, and more, this book promises to explore womanhood from many different angles. It’s a perfect gift for the women on your list.
**Some links included in this email may be affiliate links, which means if you decide to buy them, I’ll get a very small commission. I don’t tell you about them because of the commission. I tell you about them because they are products I genuinely love.
If you haven’t seen the movie CODA, stop everything and watch it tonight. It is an incredible story of a teenager whose parents and older brother are all deaf, and the sacrifices they all make for one another. As a bonus, it’s filmed right here on the North Shore of Massachusetts, so the scenery is stunning. From ocean views to scenic quarries, it’s a movie that will make you want to come visit me again and again.
The Society of Broken Hearts completely wrecked me. I have read this essay so many times over the last few weeks and I know I’ll come back to it over and over again.
I love this hiking adventure. I don’t know how these guys did it. My stepdad has a life goal to hike the entire trail in bits and pieces, and I’m always in awe at how long people can stay in the woods without a real shower or bed.
This article about menace in politics has me thinking about what it might take for people to start listening to one another and respecting differing opinions.
This is a super helpful article about what we do and don’t know about the new Covid variant: Omicron. Stay vigilant. Don’t panic. Get vaccinated.
In Case You Missed It
David and I celebrated when our girls got their covid vaccines. Had you told me 5 years ago I’d be at the top of the list for my kids to get a vaccine, I wouldn’t have believed you. If you're feeling unsure, I shared some thoughts on why we decided to do it.
I participated in One Day Hour by Hour hosted by Laura Tremaine. It was so fun to share a glimpse of a day in our homeschool life. We were gifted with beautiful weather so we ended up hiking the dunes, which made for gorgeous pictures.
We went for a hike with some friends and found magic in the air.
I made a turkey cheeseball and reflected on all the ways I’m feeling grateful this year.
Advent began and I started writing 27 Days of Waiting Haiku.
The theme for this month’s Blog Hop was “Novel: try something new” so of course I wrote about that time I went to the beach and ended up peeing alone.
And finally, my oldest published a book as part of her final 3rd Grade Language Arts project. It took us 5 months to finish it, but it’s finally here! If you want to see it in person, you can buy a copy here. She makes a small portion from every sale, and all of the proceeds will go to help her pay for dance competition fees.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” ~Jeremiah 33:14-16
Until next month,
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