life these days

it seems to be spilling out all over my floors!

And lack of sleep at night from time to time results in mid-project naps.
My floors don't always look like this but it is more often then I would like, and I am learning about choices in the home these days.
As lovely as it is to have a clean home, it is not lovely if I am cleaning my home at the expense of spending time reading the Bible and quieting my heart before God. 
Sometimes it is hard for me to choose time with God, but I am learning it is totally worth it.

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Prov. 30:5 

Summer in Syracuse is...

Summer in Syracuse (for me at least) = visits to the ice cream stand as often as is reasonable - the hotter it gets the more often those reasonable visits occur.

ice cream outing with the nephews and niece

Here is how it goes down in the Jackson home -

• You pile into the car, calling a friend or two as you do to see if they want to meet up.

• On the way to ice cream stand you discuss what you will get this time - a very important decision.

• While in line you study the menu options and continue to discuss what kind you are going to get (unless you are one of those people who always gets the same thing), and perhaps ask the people in line around you if they have tried such and such a flavor.

• With ice cream in hand you settle down to enjoy the buzz of activity around you and some good conversation - sometimes you can even snag a table to sit at.

• You make sure to sample the ice cream of those around you - using extra care when trading licks with the toddler sitting next to you!

• You load back into the car happy (and sometimes a little sticky) and usually spend the ride home discussing the good & bad of the ice cream you chose and what you will try the next time.
  

This was just a little advert to entice people to come to Syracuse - !! - we would love a visit any time and I promise a visit to the ice cream stand as long as you arrive in the summer.

I remember grocery shopping with my mom early Saturday mornings growing up (she would go really early so I don't think I made the trip very often...).
Now, I am practically all grown up - and I have a family of my own to shop for. I don't always manage to go early in the morning, though have found it is the most pleasant time to shop - you guys out there probably know what I am talking about.
I find myself doing things she would do, studying the meat prices - is there any super amazing deal this week?, browsing the flowers - sometime I buy some as a treat like she would, and if it is one of those rare early morning I get a small coffee to enjoy as I do my shopping - just like mom would.

I remember one day we went down the isle the Hersey's dark cocoa powder lives. As she grabbed one from the shelf she told me, 'This is something that I squeeze into the budget because I know that Papi really loves his cocoa, and it is a way I know that I can show him I love him.'

So sometimes when I am shopping and I make my way down the isle that the jam and fruit preserves live, I remember this wonderful practical way of loving my husband! Instead of the store brand, I grab Bonne Maman Raspberry preserves because I know Nathaniel really enjoys having some on his toast in the morning.

We may skip having something else in the house that week - but it is absolutely worth the squeeze!