I have a Bird in spring

by Emily Dickinson

I have a Bird in spring
Which for myself doth sing—
The spring decoys.
And as the summer nears—
And as the Rose appears,
Robin is gone.

Yet do I not repine
Knowing that Bird of mine
Though flown—
Learneth beyond the sea
Melody new for me
And will return.

Fast is a safer hand
Held in a truer Land
Are mine—
And though they now depart,
Tell I my doubting heart
They're thine.

In a serener Bright,
In a more golden light
I see
Each little doubt and fear,
Each little discord here
Removed.

Then will I not repine,
Knowing that Bird of mine
Though flown
Shall in a distant tree
Bright melody for me
Return.

Waiting

• Waiting to see if I or Cousin Steph win the PW Weekend (we're taking each other if one of us wins)
  
• Waiting on Ellie to stop this bad little phase she's going through
• Waiting to stop this whole cry-at-the-crop-of-a-hat phase that I've been going through (I've always been sensitive, but COME ON)
  
• Waiting for February 6, when I get to celebrate my birthday and meet my fam in StL where we will shop and eat, and I will pass off things that need to go into storage before we move
  
• Waiting on God to show me how I can most effectively encourage and minister to other young women this semester
  
• Waiting on answers from graduate schools and law schools
• Waiting to see where we will be in just over six months
• Waiting on answers to long-term prayers for our family
  
• Waiting on God to give us our first child (I think it's going to be a while)
  
• Waiting to see where that child will come from (My womb? Someone else's? This week, I wondered about Haiti... we're wide open!)

I'm no good at waiting. I'm an only child, for Pete's sake!

It's particularly hard to wait when I see so many in need right now. I want to help them right now. I want to grab one of those babies and hold them and rock them and teach them about a mom and dad and a God who love them right now.

I'm trusting in God's sovereignty that now is not our time for babies. Those babies are out there, though. Maybe our babies are out there. So since I can't bring them home with me right now, I'll pray for them fiercely, and I'll wait.

Wanna See Something Beautiful?

Then please, please check out this beautiful post by one of my long-time favorite bloggers, Toni Weber, at her blog Waking Up in Bavaria. You've heard me talk about her before. She began inspiring me nearly three years ago with her crafts and photography at her old blog, Simple Sparrow.

Read her blog. It's magical.

Garnet for January

I just love the color of garnet. If I'd been born closer to my due date, it would have been my birthstone. It's not that I dislike amethyst, but who can deny the beauty of garnet? I even love the name of it... garnet. It's just so... so. I love it so much that instead of getting amethyst in my class ring in high school, I got garnet. It was beautiful. I'd still wear that ring if it wasn't, like, totally uncool to wear your high school ring at the age of 24.

Today's Etsy Finds email sent me over the moon for garnet. I think I'd like one of just about everything featured in the email.

One of these:

One of these:

A pair of these:

And a pair of these:

I guess I'll just go put my class ring on and wear it around the house. Maybe I'll turn on some Nelly, do a little dance, and think about old times.

Happy Holidays!

Okay, so I'm just a little behind on wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, but we've been super busy in the Bass household. I promise. I wanted to do a cute little re-cap of our whole year, but honestly, I just ran out of steam.

Yes, it's January 4th and I'm already out of steam. Instead of a full-year recap, I'll just give you the holiday recap, okay? Okay.

We began our first Christmas celebration with the Basses in Anna. This was just the immediate family, Mama Bass, Papa Bass, and brudders. Mama Bass got tickets to see George Straight. She squealed and had to fan herself. It was the perfect gift.

The next day we drove to Chicago, in a van, with my friends. Oh, no, wait. That wasn't me. I drove in a car, with my Kyle and my very cranky, drugged-up kitty. After we passed Champaign, we started seeing snow on the ground. The roads we just fine, but all the trees were covered in ice.

Christmas Day was mostly uneventful. There was an extended family get-together, and I met new people. We ate. We napped. It snowed softly. It was perfect.

The next day, my future sister-in-law, Hope, arrived from Virginia. The whole family went to see Sherlock Holmes. It was entertaining. Jude Law had a mustache. It's the only mustache I've ever liked.

We returned home to Southern Illinois and spent the next couple days gallivanting with Keith, Kent, and Hope. We all went to Cape Girardeau for a day to meet up with our old friends, Vernon and Allison. I took many pictures to commemorate this. I also took many pictures of Kent and Hope to commemorate their engagement. You can see them here. (Disclaimer: I'm still not very good at this photography thing, but I appreciate it when people let me practice.)

This is Vernon and Allison. They are adorable, and so in love.

This is Kent and Hope. They are adorable, and so in love.

This is Keith and Kyle. They are adorable, and so in love with their women, too. Sadly, Keith's lady, Loni, was not there, and I, of course, was behind the camera.

These guys have all been friends for a long time now.

There's something about this picture that melts my heart. I think it's the smile on Kyle's face. It could be his hair, though. Oh, that hair. It's real life McDreamy.

The joy for Kent and Hope was uncontainable. I begged them to let me take their pictures. They obliged. They laid it on thick. They didn't have to try. Their love is intense.

We planned to spend New Year's Day with friends eating brisket, but it had to be pushed back a day because someone (ehem, I did it) forgot to read the whole recipe about marinating the brisket for at least 24 hours before cooking. So, we celebrated New Year's on the 2nd. The year was still new, and the food was amazing. More on that later.

Hope you had a very happy holiday.