there is a way to convert your posts into blogger format (comments and everything) but every time i try it, it doesn’t work. so i’m just going to put up a link here to the other one.

it’s sad that all my posts can’t be all in one place, but i’m sure it will be alright :)

if you’d still like to follow along, here is my new home:

http://carriebjames.blogspot.com/

moments, tiny little moments and choices, like a handful of 

luminous, glowing pearls. And strung together, built upon 

one another, lined up through the days and the years, they 

make a life, a person. It takes so much time, and so much 

work, and those beads and moments are so small, and so 

much less fabulous and dramatic than the movies. 

But this is what I’m finding, in glimpses and flashes: 

this is it. This is it, in the best possible way. That thing 

I’m waiting for, that adventure, that movie-score-worthy 

experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily life 

ticking by on our streets and sidewalks, in our houses and 

apartments, in our beds and at our dinner tables, in our 

dreams and prayers and fights and secrets. This pedestrian 

life is the most precious thing any of us will ever experience. 

I believe that this way of living, this focus on the 

present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration 

not on the news headlines but on the flowers growing in your 

own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way 

of living has the potential to open up the heavens, to yield a 

glittering handful of diamonds where a second ago there was 

coal. This way of living and noticing and building and crafting 

can crack through the movie sets and soundtracks that keep 

us waiting for our own life stories to begin, and set us free 

to observe the lives we have been creating all along without 

even realizing it. 

I don’t want to wait anymore. I choose to believe 

that there is nothing more sacred or profound than this 

day. I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big 

moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered 

like tiny shards of gold. The big moments are the daily, tiny 

moments of courage and forgiveness and hope that we 

grab on to and extend to one another. That’s the drama of 

life, swirling all around us, and generally I don’t even see it, 

because I’m too busy waiting to become whatever it is I think 

I am about to become. The big moments are in every hour, 

every conversation, every meal, every meeting. 

The Heisman Trophy winner knows this. He knows that 

his big moment was not when they gave him the trophy. It 

was the thousand times he went to practice instead of going 

back to bed. It was the miles run on rainy days, the healthy 

meals when a burger sounded like heaven. That big moment 

represented and rested on a foundation of moments that 

had come before it. 

I believe that if we cultivate a true attention, a deep 

ability to see what has been there all along, we will find 

worlds within us and between us, dreams and stories and 

memories spilling over. The nuances and shades and secrets

and intimations of love and friendship and marriage and 

parenting are action-packed and multicolored, if you know 

where to look.

Today is your big moment. Moments, really. The life 

you’ve been waiting for is happening all around you. The 

scene unfolding right outside your window is worth more 

than the most beautiful painting, and the crackers and 

peanut butter that you’re having for lunch on the coffee table 

are as profound, in their own way, as the Last Supper. This 

is it. This is life in all its glory, swirling and unfolding around 

us, disguised as pedantic, pedestrian non-events. But pull 

off the mask and you will find your life, waiting to be made, 

chosen, woven, crafted. 

Your life, right now, today, is exploding with energy 

and power and detail and dimension, better than the best 

movie you have ever seen. You and your family and your 

friends and your house and your dinner table and your 

garage have all the makings of a life of epic proportions, a 

story for the ages. Because they all are. Every life is. 

You have stories worth telling, memories worth 

remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth 

feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of 

the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super 

and natural. 

You are more than dust and bones. 

You are spirit and power and image of God. 

And you have been given Today. “

-shauna niequist (on waiting)

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

Philippians 1:6 (message bible)

Feel it falling off like clothing
Taste it rolling on your tongue
See the lights above you glowing
Oh and breathe them deep into your lungs

It was always simple, not hidden hard
You’ve been pulling at the strings playing puppeteer for kings
And you’ve had enough

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer

So hold this feeling like a newborn
Of freedom surging through your veins
You have opened up a new door
So bring on the wind, fire and rain

It was always simple, not hidden hard
You’ve been played at a game called remembering your name
And you stuffed it up

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer

‘Cos you’ve been listening for answers
But the city screams and all your dreams go unheard

But the search ends here
Where the night is totally clear
And your heart is fierce
So now you finally know that you control where you go
You can steer
Year get out of the box and step into the clear
‘Cos now you finally know you can steer

the pioneer woman’s cinnamon rolls.

i made them.

it was my very first time to make any sort of homemade bread.

i spent almost 2 hours in wal-mart, so worried i would buy the wrong thing. and all my hard work would be for nothing.

i got home from the store. put on some comfy clothes. turned on the christmas lights,  put “it’s a wonderful life” in the dvd player. and got to work.

once i finished the first step, the first part of the cinnamon roll mixture had to cool for an hour. so since the weather was nice yesterday, and my ankle is still hurt so i can’t run :( i decided to take a christmas walk through neighborhoods with sparkly lights. an hour later i came back and prepared the dough some more.

D came over and helped me roll out the dough and put them in the pans. he was the perfect man for the job (thanks babe!).

then we put in friday night lights and let them bake.

this morning, i brought them to work. and now, i’m beaming :)

it’s my goal in life to be a good cook, a baker even. so when people started coming from the office kitchen with songs of my praise for the cinnamon rolls, i couldn’t contain the joy! so i had to blog about it.

i’ll make some more for any friends that would like to stop over for a winter treat, some coffee, and conversation :)

it is our apartment (mine and my beautiful, talented roommate emily). she is good at making a place feel like a place you want to be. her decorating skills are impressive.

and while it’s lovely and perfect for me in this time of my life, there will come a time i will get to decorate my home when i’m married. i read so many blogs that i’m constantly getting ideas for my future nest :)

my favorite place to find those ideas? www.flythroughourwindow.com

my most favorite idea of hers yet: using an antique door as a fireplace mantel. and you know what? before it was their mantel, it was their headboard above their bed. how creative! i’m going to incorporate that idea in my home someday.

until then, mine and emily’s little apartment is juuuuuust the ticket to happiness :) and so are our midnight catch-up chats we have about once a month (we’re busy girls!)

(i might start collecting more ideas on here so i don’t forget about them)

this was my 2009. i prayed that when i fell it love, it would be fast. and it was. it was fast. and tragic. and beautiful and everything i could have hoped it would be. and now that we’ve fallen in love, we continue to fall more in love every chance we get. and that is also beautiful.

i’ve never felt more secure than during this time i’ve been dating him. and i often dream of our lifetime together. no, it will not always be perfect, and neither will he, and i can for sure tell you i won’t be. but we will be perfect in our imperfection, and it will be magical.

so, just for fun, the most recent text messages from my man (i might have to set the scene for some of them):

• [we were about to decorate for christmas at work, so i sent him a text to tell him how excited i was, and he responded with the following] “babe i can’t even describe how cool that sounds. pour your heart into it :) i love love love when you are happy like that. enjoy :) send me a pic.”
• [he was having to plan a time to do an  internship at a hospital in nashville, ar. during christmas break. so he texted me to see what days i would be off of work, so he'd be sure to be in town while we're both off...brilliant! so i texted him and said i'd miss him, and he said...] “i know it baby. it will be no fun to be away. but that way we can spend your whole break together.”
• [i noticed one day after he left that the trash that needed to be taken out was gone, so i texted him to see if he took it out and he said...] “i did, i couldn’t bare the idea of you having to do that :)”
• [i was headed to silver dollar city to see my friends] “hey babe, let me know when you get there safe and sound. miss you already”
• [i made a christmas decoration for my apartment and sent him a picture of it through texting] “beautiful love :) can’t wait for you to decorate our home”
• [i helped him with some homework] “babe that makes me so happy and proud and grateful, most of all. i’ll have to take you on a date for this :)”
• [don't know what this one was about, but i like it] ” thank you babe, you are missed. cant wait for tomorrow. kisskisskiss”
• [i was sick and told him i was still in bed at about 3 pm] “stay there babe :) dream about me”
• “i love you too babe. you are quite amazing :)”
• “hey babe, playing soccer at 5. i’ll call you after. missing you.” (he misses me and plays soccer at the same time ;)
• “i love you my beautiful baby, always. sweet dreams :)”
• [i texted him because i missed him] ” i miss you a lot lot. i was just thinking about it.”
• “heading in to work, just wanted to wish you a good morning. i miss you, i love you! ready to hold you”

aaaaaaaand my all time favorite:

“you’re all a woman should be to a man and i’m so proud to be yours. always. i love you carriebeth!”

god sent him to me, and i LOVE him!