Graduation: A toast to the always-already unknown

Okay, I have clearly been neglecting this blog! I guess mandatory writing and reading will do that to you...This past week we celebrated completing our MAs - 2 years of sweat, blood, and tears and now we are finally done. Graduation is, like so many other celebrations, a worthwhile yet incredibly inadequate ritual - it is a celebration of so much that it cannot capture. With graduation too come the inevitable goodbyes and new beginnings - fresh wounds and fresh starts. And so we begin again on a new path, not knowing exactly what waits around the next bend. It's funny how in my 20s I was sure in my 30s I would have it all figured out. Perhaps the me of my 20s would be disappointed to know that this is not the case, but the me of my 30s is thrilled it isn't! How boring would life be I had it all figured out? Life is worth living precisely because we will never have it all figured out - that's what makes life, well, life. Five years post-Bluffton, my life is nothing like I expected it to be - it's even better :) So, I guess I would say to all graduates at whatever stage in life, let's continue to chase new adventures and new lessons wherever we find them! Here is a toast to life, to learning, to never having it all figured out!

My love affair with the Library

On today's list of things to do was a much needed trip to the Library. With its delightful smell of books and coffee, Zimmerman Library is one of my favorite spots on campus. There is something unspeakably comforting and exciting about ambling through the maze of book shelves, knowing that each volume holds some yet to discover bit of knowledge! My love affair with books began at an early age, perhaps even at birth. My mom named me after the author Laura Ingalls Wilder and read to me until I was able to read for myself. Books held adventures that otherwise were out of reach for me as a child,and now as an adult they feed my appetite for learning. Each trip to the library is like shopping without spending any money and knowing that the words in the books I take home with me from the library will stay with me for a lifetime - now that's consumption I can support :)

Wendell Berry and Spring Blessings

"Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone."
— Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry is good for the soul. All the windows in our tiny apartment are open to let in the temperate evening breeze. It was a gorgeous sun-filled day in Albuquerque. I have gotten my early spring it seems. Tonight's evening walk to the park showed us new spring leaves on nearly all of the trees and the flowers are in full bloom. I love the new life of spring. Winter is a relief from the heat, but the warmth is always welcome again after a few months rest. Spring is full of new discoveries - new blooms and buds that I did not see the day before. I think maybe we see the world through different eyes in the spring because we are looking for new life, for the joy of a world reborn. Life is good, God is good. Blessings of spring discoveries.

Lent it be an early springtime!!

I am guilty of blog neglect. This seems to happen when I find myself invested in reading and writing during the semester. These days I am knee-deep in discourses on colonial Latin America and human rights. There are days my eyes ache from the strain of reading, but in general I still find myself wanting to know more. Most likely by my next blog I will need some cute reading glasses :)
I am anticipating lent with enthusiasm this spring. There is something about lent that I truly enjoy. This year my goal is to call a random friend every week who I haven't talked to lately. I learned this "positive action" lent from my friend Mel, who one lenten season accompanied me in learning the discipline of not using disposable cups for my coffee. The tradition lives on :)
Time springs forward very soon and that means more sunshine!!(Yes, I do get more than my fair share, but I'm okay with being greedy with the sunshine). I wish you all the warmth of light, the hope of blossoming new opportunities, and all the sweet reese's eggs your heart desires!!

Snow for a Day :)

Bright and early this morning (about 11 am for me :), after a yummy home brewed gingerbread latte, Allan and I decided it was time to venture beyond the balmy 50 degree weather of Albuquerque into the snowy Sandia peak. Now, from the second floor of our apartment complex, Sandia peak appears to have a lovely, light dusting of holiday glitter rather than a 28 inch layer of hard core snow, which is exactly what we found, along with a strong, bitterly cold wind that was enough to remind me why I don't live in Ohio anymore. After "hiking" (eg: Laura getting stuck in snow drifts and falling over)for a couple of hours I had my much needed White Christmas fix and was happy for the short drive back to more mild temperature and cloud moderated sunshine! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!! Much love and many blessings!! ~ Laura

It's a chilly evening in Albuquerque! It seems winter is finally upon us just in time for the Christmas season. I love the holidays - the excitement, the celebration of a year about to be complete. Looking back over the past year, I am amazed at how many changes have taken place in my life - moving, grad school, new friends, marriage - it has been a year of goodness and a year of transition to new and exciting things!
Now that winter break is here and time is a little more abundant, we've got the tree decorated, made Christmas cookies, and begun the endless Christmas movie marathons! We also decided to take advantage of break to do a cheap-o trip to Taos and Old Town. Here are some of the pictures from those adventures along with an advent prayer that I dearly love!

An Advent Prayer for Peace

“I Have Come to Bring You Peace”

I have come to bring you peace.

Not the peace of the season, for it is too fleeting,

Not the peace of the carol, for it is too nostalgic,

Not the peace of the greeting card, for it is too slick,

Not the peace of the crib, for it is too wistful.

Rather, I have come to bring you peace,

Peace of the ordinary, the daily, the homely,

Peace for the worker, the driver, the student,

Peace in the office, the kitchen, the farm.

I have come to bring you peace,

The peace of accepting your self as I fashioned you,

The peace of knowing yourself as I know you,

The peace of loving yourself as I love you,

The peace of being yourself as I am who I am.

I have come to bring you peace,

The peace that warms you at the completion of a task,

The peace that invades you at the close of the day,

The peace that sustains you at the beginning of the day,

The peace that reinforces you when you are reconciled with one another,

The peace that touches you when your family is in order.

Without peace, my coming is unfulfilled.

Without peace, my birth is forgettable.

Without peace, Christmas is a contradiction.

I have come to bring you peace.

Pumpkin goodness

So fall is officially here, although the hot Albuquerque weather would have you think otherwise! But the fact is undeniable and even the warm days here are getting shorter and the nights chillier. The leaves are starting to turn yellow and the chilies are roasting! Indeed it is autumn...my favorite season!! And nothing better to get myself in the mood for it than a home made pumpkin spice latte and what I like to call pumpkin spice whoopie pies (the actual recipe calls them something else, but that's irrelevant to me)! I am passing the photos (of how they turned out for me) and the recipes along for these tasty fall treats!! Happy autumn everyone :)

Pumpkin Spice Latte
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/beverage/diy-pumpkin-spice-latte-096277


Pumpkin Creme Pies (AKA, Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/holidays/pumpkin-creme-pies/