Home

Oh, our home.

A little wild and more than a little loud,

where 7am mornings are like the perfect storm and perfect can only be used to describe the chaos.

Where cuddles are abundant and abundant forgiveness our saving grace,

where quiet evenings are cherished and bedtime prayers are followed by pillow talk of highs and lows

even over days just spent at home.

Home pillow is from CoverLove; it's a new FAVORITE shop for some of the sweetest home decor as well as newlywed and nursery gifts!

Two winners are being chosen at random over at Life: by the Frenchs Photography's Facebook page to win personalized home pillows. The giveaway only lasts for two days so check it out here! 

Marriage

We gathered around a beautiful woman last night,

chatted and munched,

toasted and gifted,

and shared wise words for a lasting love.

 Lovely and gracious and glowing and ready,

she's about to embark on this crazy thing called marriage in just mere days now;

 

she's found her man and loves him well.

They've seen much already and face the future hand in hand. 

I've written about this before here,
but
seven years down, working on eight in, 

and with many heroic women I know trail-blazing more years than combined I can number,

I'm realizing just how miraculous this commitment has to be to last;

It just doesn't plain make sense otherwise 

to fully embrace and deeply love,
to successfully partner-up beside

 such imperfection embodied 

for much longer than,

well,

really an hour. 

Tops.

Swept away romance?

Heart-stopping passion?

Giggles and flirting and kisses and fun?

Oh that's blissful,

but like the sand it slips away so quickly,

whether through unforeseen difficulty or life's unfair blows or simply the laborious daily grind

and 

our human hands are left turned upwards

humbled,

prayerful,

receiving the same cleansing forgiveness, 

all-encompassing grace,

that washes over

and seeps right back into

this crazy, amazing, devastating, glorious, tricky, wonderful, passionate, beautiful, rewarding

miracle

called marriage.

Simple

In our society of flashing and dashing,

simple joys are some of the rarest gems.

I've been working hard to slow down these days,

teaching my children to soak in the beauty,

thankfulness for even the smallest gifts,

engaging more deeply,

explaining more throughly,

working alongside rather than around my children.

My little four year-old girl is getting less little by the day

and there's just so much I want her to learn at home. 

It's not easy to 

pass up just going to prioritize present living,
looking for chances to model the peace I so long to impart.
There will be plenty of years of schedules and activities and busyness,
and not many more of the learning and growing simply at home.
And one way I've been trying lately around here was found here

We're trying to make some room to live a simpler life despite our complex culture;

it's not an easy task.

But we're trying

and

believing

the simple endeavors bring the most glorious joys.

Sharing

Life is such a lovely thing shared.

Shoulder brushing,

joy mingling,

secret stirring.

So when you find something good,

my thought is,

spread it 'round. 

Like this.

I read it (almost) daily. Short, simple, straight forward truths. 

And I've had a few more questions about this post and what we do around here.

I've just been following the six steps. 

One little mr. is on step one, and one little miss on step five.

One last thing to share? 

A brand new type of session over on my photography Facebook page...

Check it out.

(Shared pics are from Instagram this time. 

Find me at allisoncorrin)

Berries

I don't even know how long I've wanted to revisit this place.

Last year I loaded up the kiddos, packed up the car and made the trek out

only to realize it was closed.

So this year, 

I was extra determined. 

Never mind that I believe it was the hottest day of the year.

It's the kind of place where the dirt billows from the gravel roads and the sweet hay aroma renews the spirit within the first few moments of arrival.

So, sunscreen slathered and sweat soaked,

grubby fingers plucked

and plopped straight past puckered lips.

We didn't last too long in the rows,

just enough to capture the sweet moments 

and memorize the firsts

before the most favorite event,

the picnic.

But before we left,
rounding up our dollars,

(and after a few in particular mustering up their courage)

we finale-ed the morning with a train ride

that couldn't have gotten more down-home.

You woulda thought it was a death-defying roller coaster listening to the squeals that commenced.

And so, the day amidst the berries?

Totally sweet.