summer skin.

we've been experiencing a heatwave here in england. we're into the high twenties and hopefully staying for a while...

also of note - there's no air conditioning here. i mean none. large office buildings might be, but not mine. and definitely not our house. one can cope with a fan and open windows, (thank goodness for allergy medication!) but anyway you cut it, it's warm. so now, a completely frivolous post about summer make-up :)

i don't want to wear heavy foundation in the heat, and while i normally go for a powder (bare minerals, yes please!) it can be a bit tricky when droplets of perspiration wet your brow. in comes, the tinted moisturiser. i've been using this one for years, i love the coverage, and the dewy but not wet look it gives. keihl's ultra facial tinted moisturiser with SPF 15 is my summer go-to.

allergies and itchy, watery eyes can spell disaster for mascara. well unless it's blinc and it's amazing. it only comes off with warm water and slight pressure, so it also means an end to eye makeup remover!

personally, i look better with a little colour on my cheeks - something that suggests i have health and vitality, even when i'm not sleeping very well because it's so darn hot! clinique blushwear cream stick works very well with the tinted moisturiser and blends well in the heat. a slightly bronzy glow is preferred so i like shy blush.

and finally, don't forget those lips! staying with natural look i choose a pink lipstick from laura mercier - aptly named rose. but on days i want a little extra punch i take a cue from marvellous and go all out with a fuschia from mac.

this is my bare bones daily summer look - i don't really do much in the way of eye shadow or eyeliner in the summer - creases and smears just don't wear well - and i like the fresh faced look.

now let's just hope this fabulous weather continues and i'll be all set!

wednesday wanderings.

the sun has finally broken through! this momentous event deserves recognition. as someone said to me yesterday, all this weather tracking just tells us what we already know - this has been the wettest spring ever. and it really has, rain and rain and COLD. yesterday there was not one, not two, but THREE hail storms. not pretty, particularly seeing as i was caught in one as i dashed from bus stop to train station.

i read this blog post today and thought, yes, i should go for a walk. so instead of rushing to the gym for a lunch time workout, i strapped on my trainers and took to the streets. who knows if this weather will last - it would have been an injustice to mankind to bury myself in the basement of a building sweating it under florescent lights.

i popped in my headphones and listened to my bible readings for today. have you ever listened to scripture instead of read it? it's a completely different experience. i'm not sure i concentrate as well, i learn very well from reading - all those masters papers i suppose - but hearing the word changes it. makes me hook on phrases that i might miss otherwise. not a substitute - just a different manner of engaging with god.

so i wandered around, and remarked to myself how amazing it is that i work in the centre of iconic london. from the staff room window i can see st paul's, down the street is trafalgar square, next door is the royal courts of justice and over the bridge is the london eye. it's pretty spectacular and it's worth remembering. i'm sure it won't always be this way.

what a day for a walk. for the word.

let your steadfast love, o lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. psalm 33:22

for bebe.

we all know how much i love babies, and maybe more than that, i love making for babies. in the past couple of years i've made dozens of little items. there are a few good things about making for baby. it's fast, the wool is soft and the stuff is cute. i never look at a baby item and not swoon. well except for maybe weird things with monsters - what is it with monsters on baby items?

i digress. in a few weeks another of our clan will welcome their first babe. it's an exciting time. and while i pretty much make something for any baby i even hear of appearing on the scene, there are some babies who are just that little bit more special. they tend to fall into the category of 'family, or might as well be family we are just that tight' this babe is of the second order. and because i've not yet made a baby blanket that hasn't been well received (no pun intended) i thought i'd do it again. seeing as this wee-one is to be a summer child, we needed something a bit lighter and more airy. and because i actually did much of this while travelling last month, i opted to crochet instead of knit.

i worked off this pattern on purlbee.com - just sized it down to be about 22" x 26". i finished the edges with a single crochet edge. this was very simple, if not a little repetitive. the colour, well, i went with a grey because the gender is, as yet, unknown. i think the element of surprise is so much fun! and i'm all about neutrals anyway. the yarn is drops baby merino. it's my go-to for all baby projects, great feel to the yarn and fully washer and dryer friendly, which is so important with baby items.

we hope the wee-one will snuggle up with the blanket for years and years to come.

r-word.

i've spent most of my life interrupting conversations to let people know that using the 'r-word' isn't ok. i'd usually say 'don't say that in front of me please' or 'please don't use that word' and most often i'd get a 'what's it to you' in response. what's it to me?

i have a cousin with down syndrome.

i spent my university years working with special needs children.

i work with people who brilliant and have austism spectrum disorder - you probably do too.

i have friends with ADD.

what's it to me is that i'm not cool with friends and family and colleagues being made fun of. and really, you shouldn't be either.

this video, spells it out brilliantly. i love it. and i hope you'll share this. if you use the r-word, i hope you'll think about it twice next time before opening your mouth.

happy birthday my love.

a confusing title, i'd agree. i know you're thinking, but we saw pictures of le boy's birthday back in february, he turned forty, there was lamb. that's true. but today is arguably his more important birthday. it's the birthday i consider to be the one that gave me him. it's the birthday around which his entire world is centered. today is his spiritual birthday - i like to call it his 'jesus birthday'

twenty years ago today, my husband made a choice that changed his life forever. he chose to believe in christ. he answered the call of god on his life and decided to follow the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. 

source

i say that this is the birthday that gave him to me, because well, without our shared faith, we wouldn't be a couple. both of us felt strongly about dating and marrying another christian. i can't say for sure when i committed my life to jesus, but i did, somewhere between birth and now. for me it was a million little decisions, in my memory, i've never not believed. for le boy, a single moment after a childhood of exposure, an adult decision. so i believe that today is the celebration not only of my husband's redemption and rescue, but i also believe that today began the chain of events that led us here. and i'm so thankful. i'm blessed by a marriage that is rooted in christ, by a husband who devotes himself first to our god. and gives god all the glory.

tonight, we will celebrate, a jesus birthday this big doesn't happen every year. 

babe, i pray that you will be faithful like david, wise like solomon and sacrificial like christ. may you never turn from your saviour, may you walk in righteousness all your days, may you run and finish this race well. amen. 

*if you are interested in learning more about jesus alpha is a great place to start. 

may.

april was fantastic, but fast. and i kind of feel that despite a trip to florida, it kicked my butt. we were exhausted before we arrived. and we spent the best part of our time there lounging in front of the pool, reading. it was bliss. and so so needed. but once we got back, i never felt like i got april back in control. so it is, i suppose. i tried to wrest control in a last ditch effort on monday night. i thought, i'll roast a chicken, on a weeknight, and my husband will called me blessed. he did. it was fantastic, and yes, you can roast a chicken (a small one) on a weeknight and still eat at a reasonable hour. on tuesday, i woke up with searing pain down my neck, don't know what caused the neck strain, but i got a sick day for it.

i'm not feeling that may is off to the greatest start. what with the neck, and the weather here in london is beyond terrible, we're talking 8 degrees terrible, and rainy and grey - i can see my breath outside, it's just sad. and i'm praying that my tomato plants make it, if not, eh, i'll buy some more i guess.

but there were some highlights for april:

spiritual:

• memorised deuteronomy 14:2 & zephaniah 3:17 - i've been using redstamp to create prayer cards that act as my background for my phone. i LOVE them! 
• attended the hillsong women's conference - colour - such a fantastic time of teaching and worship and prayer. 

mental: 

• read a lot - a lot of books, and for this single reason, april was redeemed
• one day - david nicholls, i know, old and probably the last person on the planet to read it, it was absorbing and a great holiday read
• the grief of others - leah cohen, poignant and well written from a variety of characters points of view, absorbing and arresting, it's well worth the read 
• escape - carolyn jessop, this was on the bookshelves of our condo, it is a fascinating look inside the cult of the FLDS, and while being a quick read, you do desperately want to know the story. 
• a homemade life - molly wizenberg, fabulous. a memoir, about food, with recipes. hands down fantastic. i felt like i was eating on each page, and there are so many things i want to make from this!
• the tiger's wife - tea obreht, in a list of great reads it's hard to pick one that was greatest, but this might just eek through, if it weren't for what follows...
• crossing to safety - wallace stegner, i'm placing this alongside one of my other favourite novels on marriage - two-part invention by madeline l'engle. it might have been the most beautiful read of this year so far. i couldn't put it down, couldn't stop underlining, couldn't wait to pick it back up. it gave words to sentiments i have about my marriage, and gave me hope for what our marriage could become. it's an honest and achingly beautiful look at the inner workings of a long marriage, and all that entails. go read it now. 

creative: 

baby items have been made, and upon delivery to waiting parents will be produced for the blog, i've picked back up my cardigan, i keep meaning to buy blackout lining for curtains, i keep forgetting. 

physical: 

• not the greatest month from a physical fitness standpoint buti had a great appointment with the lead physio for my knee op though and all is progressing well - so that's good. 
• i turned 28 - and i guess given that i've seen how our bodies are not indestructible, i'm just happy that it's working, that it keeps working and that god-willing it will be that way for a long, long time. 

::intentions for may::

spiritual: keep memorising scripture, i'm finding it such a blessing to my walk. keep digging into the word. 

mental: for my birthday i got a kindle, hence the huge amount of reading last month - i'd like to keep this up, i'm a far happier person when i have my nose in a book. 

physical: my trainer has set me some goals for this month and given me a diet plan. i'm putting my foot down and getting serious about getting my pre-op body back. i know it's possible, it's a matter of discipline and will-power. 

creative: finish my cardigan, bake more (yes i realise this contradicts the previous goal)