Grateful

Today I'm extra grateful for

~A fridge full of strawberries, cucumbers, lettuce,

carrots, peppers, and all sorts of other summer produce

~Little miracles on the bus.

Like watching a lady get on and not being able to pay

and without asking several people got up and 

gave money until she was paid for.

And the bus driver wasn't even going to charge her.

~All natural remedies

~The iPhoto screen saver.
We could watch it for hours.

~Birthday wishes that stretch over days

because the mail and my phone is stupid sometimes

~Early afternoons off work that mean we're 

going to our spot to watch sailboats and daydream

~Feeling Little One play and trying to figure

out what body part of his I'm playing tag with

(its usually his bum :))

~Beautiful buildings

~Happy mail days

~Cupcake ATM's

~L.M. Montgomery

~Husband.

Always and forever.

Happy Wednesday,

xoxo,

lyss

Spring! Kinda sorta......

I have lots and lots of pics from Ireland and many lovely stories to tell,

its overwhelming me actually,

such a nice overwhelming (:

But today the sun came out and matched its beauty with warmth

and we found ourselves outside with seemingly the whole city

alive and enjoying stretching its limbs.

Neighbors we've passed quickly in the cold for months now

we spent long moments chatting with about travels,

goats milk, chamomile honey, and all types of other random

things that make neighborly conversations such good ones.

So so happy you're here,

random warm spring day.

 You're so hopeful and lovely.

xoxo,

lyss

Morning

Good morning,

Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm sitting here smelling the warm cinnamon rolls

on top of the oven just waiting for husband to wake and eat them

while I mull over pinterest and curate places I dream of visiting some day.

I am thinking over this past year and how incredibly painful and joyful it has been.

It seems like each year just increases in both pain and joy.

The pain becomes sharper and deeper, deeper than I ever thought it would go,

but the joy always matches and supersedes the pain in a gentle quiet way.

I don't mean this to be melancholy, really I don't,

but sometimes gratitude and thanksgiving is a bit melancholy isn't it?

I know that sounds odd and maybe I'm wrong,

but when we express gratitude for what is here and what we have

aren't we quietly aware of what isn't?

And doesn't that make thanksgiving all the sweeter?

Thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude, especially to God,

so says Webster's dictionary, and I know that most of the time

I think of gratitude as very joyful but maybe it isn't always.

The pilgrims had lost many many of their people in fact MOST of their people.

They had lost babies, husbands, wives, and friends, and at the end of that season

is when they decided to have a dinner of thanksgiving.

 I'm sure they were very aware of who and what wasn't there

as the celebrated and gave thanks for who and what was there.

This morning as I look over beautiful images and mentally

make a list of places to mention to husband to add to our dream travel list,

it is strangely calming to look over this past year

and the expected joys that never came and the unexpected joys

that bring such wonder and gratitude.

Today will be quiet for us.
We are both sick with colds and feel the need for rest and simplicity.
I will finish cooking and baking all sorts of yummy things,
then we will dress up and enjoy our meal together just us,
 then we will most likely change back into
our pajamas and watch Fiddle On The Roof
(husband has never seen it!!)

We are so grateful.
So very very grateful.
For God's excessive love and grace towards us
and this day set aside to quietly express our gratitude for Him.


Happy Thanksgiving


xoxo,
Lyss & Josh 

This week and coffee induced ramblings

This week has consisted of lots of little sleep nights,

lots of early mornings,

and lots and lots of coffee to try and stay awake

and pleasant (;

Although I should note that the heatwave

ended Friday morning and the weekend was such a delightful beginning of fall!

Bring out the sweaters and pumpkin soup!

 I got a wicked blister on Friday 

from wearing boots that I forgot I hadn't completely broken in last year,

So we kept pretty close to home all weekend.

(seriously! I was limping the whole weekend and there was slight concern of infection.

And I wore socks! Promise! I was not an idiot this time)

but it was wonderful all the same (:

Husband kept tsking over me with concern and we got lots and lots done

in lieu of fall cleaning at home.

This week and the not sleeping much has just done me in,

although in thinking about it its really just the not sleeping much.

This week standing on its own has been delightful.

Yesterday I texted Husband and invited him to go to the zoo

with my boys and I after school.

When I told the boys Josh was coming to the zoo with us

you would have thought I had told them we were going to 

Disney land. Squeals and fist pumps and "oh yeah!" all around (:

those boys LOVE Josh.

It was one of my favorite afternoons.

We had SUCH fun 

and had so many little adventures.

Playing tag with Otters, high fiving Beavers (No really! It was the coolest thing!)

climbing through a massive maze jungle gym, and singing 

Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" at the top of our lungs.

I am so grateful for the honor of getting to love 

and take care of these little boys

and so humbled when Josh comes along side

and loves them too.

We are so blessed.

And with that sappiness....

I hope you have a wonderful weekend

filled with long naps 

and autumn picnics!

We're hoping for sleep without nightmares

(please. please. please)

and to go record hunting (:

xoxo,

lyss

That One Time We Went On a Impromptu Labor Day Roadtrip And Forgot To Charge The Camera....

 hence the weird mix of phone and dslr pics (:

We are so enjoying this season of independence and being

able to do crazy impromptu trips like this one.

As we were talking about random things Saturday night

we realized we had 2 days off and hadn't seen one of our good friends

(he helped us move here in the middle of winter, 

so actually he's a really REALLY good friend ;))

in almost 3 years, so hey lets take this time off and go to Louisville and see him!

We had such fun (:

It was so delightful and encouraging to catch up 

and find that we were learning/going through some of 

the exact same things, just different circumstances.

To laugh about old stories (some of them new to me)

and make some new funny memories,

like losing Blake's car in the middle of downtown and

spending an hour in the sweltering heat searching for it.

It wasn't so funny in the moment (we all had blisters and were quite sweaty :P),

but in the evening we were crying we were laughing so hard about it.

 We ate so much yummy food too!

Some of the best chinese we've ever had,

sushi, fudge (the boys said it was AMAZING),

and we ate at one of those grilled cheese and soup places popping up everywhere. 

Their vegan cheese was reeeeally good!

And of course we had some local coffee (:

It makes me sad that the camera was dead,

because Louisville is just beautiful

and I would have enjoyed capturing more of it

for memories sake.

Especially the bridge they transformed into a walkway from

Kentucky to Ohio.

Have you heard about it? Its so cool! 

We walked on it in the evening after eating

and it was just breathtaking.

I took some pics on my phone but you'll have

to squint really hard to see much of anything...

I kinda of want to go back just to 

go on it again.

I am so grateful for old friends

and roadtrips (:

xoxo,

lyss

P.S. pics of the bridge

Dairy Allergy: In Case You Were Curious

When we decided to try cutting out dairy from my/our diet

6 months ago we had no idea what we were in for.

We have learned SO much,

but other than mentioning "I'm having a reaction"

here or there I haven't really talked about it here.

So if you're curious,

here we go (:

So far we have found that I have a "reaction" to 

Milk

Butter

Cream

Whey

Caseinate

Any milk derivative

What a "reaction" entails for me has taken awhile for us to fully figure out.

We immediately noticed the intense arthritic pain that comes within

45 min - 3 hours of me consuming dairy,

but it took us awhile to pinpoint the length and other particulars of my reactions.

As I mentioned, the first thing that happens after I have any dairy

is the pain. Swiftly and intensely it comes and stays that way for about a week.

Pain deep in my muscles and spine from where my skull meets my spine

to where my spine and hip bones meet together. 

After that first week it lessens a bit, but the pain as a whole lasts about a month.

We order Thai about 3 times this week.

The second week of a reaction Josh describes as my "bite everyone's head off" week

and he's pretty right on, sadly.

I am extremely on edge, shaky, have a very hard time thinking,

sleep very very little, and have crazy wild emotional/hormonal swings.

We order Thai once or twice this week as I'm really not that hungry

and husband's busy hiding from my unpredictable wrath.

The third week is when the depression comes in.

I was reluctant to acknowledge this until recently, I felt silly and trite 

admitting that depression was part of my struggle with dairy allergies.

But it is a very real and hard part of the reaction.

There is a dark sadness that settles into my thoughts and daily tasks

that is a moment by moment battle not to submit to.

I could sleep all day,

I hurt all over every moment,

I desire to crawl into a hole and hide,

and generally desire to avoid all people.

Even husband.

Its horrible.

We order Thai every night this week.

The 4th/5th week I get sick.

It varies as to what specific illness I get,

but I do get sick and usually pretty sick at that.

I think my immune system just gets so beat up

that it throws it hands up in disgust and lets

 the first virus I meet come in and stay for awhile.

This week its a raging cold/cough.

Yippe ki yay.

So far we've ordered Thai twice this week.

 We have also found lots of substitutes that we enjoy,

such as homemade almond milk (so good!) and coconut oil.

We substitute coconut oil or olive in a lot of recipes that call for butter

and we are also growing our repertoire of dairy free recipes.

 This has been such a painful and wonderful growing experience.

We had no idea when we first began how much we would have

to change the way we eat,

but I cannot say enough how grateful we are for the way

we have grown and changed which in a run around way 

makes us grateful for the allergy itself.

So, yep, there you go.

My allergy and allergy reactions (and addiction to Thai food!) in a nut shell (:

We are still learning and documenting in order to learn more,

hoping and praying that my body will heal.

xoxo,

lyss

P.S. I feel like the unsung hero here is Husband.

He helps SO MUCH with this and is so very patient with me.

I mean, can you imagine loving and living with someone who this is your life

for the next month if they have the tiniest bit of dairy??

Oy.

Tender Mercies pt 1

There has been so much that has happened this past little while

that has humbled me with an overwhelming knowledge

of what awesome things God can do and how easily I can miss these things.

I have felt an urgency to write them on my heart,

to remember and reminisce on them,

and to take to time to fully realize them.

I'll start with some silly little ones (:

I've wanted/needed some new jeans and had in mind the 

the jeans I wanted, but they are very very expensive.

I had a gift card for the store, but even with the gift card

I was uncomfortable with the thought of spending that much

on some jeans. A week ago Josh had a big long meeting

so I went meandering downtown and stopped into the store 

because they were having a huge sale.

All the while thinking "this is really stupid, I don't really need anything 

and it is not wise to be looking at expensive things I don't need" 

while I walked in the store (:

As I looked at this and that I saw the jeans I had been eyeing for a year 

or so and saw that they were on sale, so I checked the price.

They were 50% off, but still not quite the price I was comfortable with.

Then I saw the "extra 40% off sale items" sign,

and started doing the math.

50% off + 40% + 15% off student discount

(really enjoy that student discount :))

+ gift card

=affordable!!

I ended up paying $11 for two pairs of jeans that

are usually much MUCH more than that.

I was so humbled that God saw and knew my want/need 

and answered it in such an awe inspiring way.

But there's more (:

You see those sandals up there?

The really cute ones?

I've also been eyeing those for a looooong time

but again was uncomfortable with investing THAT much

into a shoe/sandal.

They were not on sale and are all sold out in most stores/online.

I checked with my local store and they said they had one pair

left in my size, but they were not on sale.

So I submitted that these were just not meant to be mine.

Until two days later when Josh was asking me about it again,

and I decided I would call headquarters just to make sure they really weren't on sale.....

and they were! 

But they hadn't been on sale, it was only that day that the sale had started.

So we ran over to the store and they STILL had that one last

pair waiting there just for me!

Again, sale + 40% off + 15% off = Yay for new sandals!

Such silly little things but they really

bless me and bring such beauty and awareness of God's providence

 to my daily tasks.

xoxo,

lyss

p.s. I really need to work on that tan line :P
anyone want to go to the beach??

Grateful

Job transitions

That these flowers are still going

Kind and gracious employers/clients

Lemonade in the heat of the afternoon

Talking to family on Sunday afternoon

Christmas plans
(eeeeek! So excited!)

Ibuprofen for aching muscles

Our bikes

Summer in the city

Communication,
even though we butcher it some of the time,
it is such a precious thing.

The beach and its unique beauty

Iced coffee (:


Hope you're enjoying the heat of summer
and drinking lots of lemonade!

xoxo,
lyss