Welcome to Litsy!

#5JoysFriday!

The ginkgo trees at church have turned golden and I love seeing their leaves against the bright blue sky
My favorite roses in the garden are STILL blooming in December (welcome to Los Angeles!)
I went to a beautiful lunchtime Advent retreat on Tuesday
Daily joys: poetry & tea advent calendars, plus reading LMM‘s Christmas stories and Tolkien‘s Father Christmas letters
Christmas decorations! An annual tradition at my parents‘ house⤵️

#5JoysFriday!

1. I finished my ballot research as best I could and dropped off my ballot on Tuesday—and got text confirmation that it‘s been received & counted!
2. Cozy reading with comfy PJs, Jack-o-lantern quilt, cinnamon pumpkin candle, and cranberry cream tea
3. Developing some writing project ideas & sharing an excerpt at my writing group today
4. A Mary Oliver poem about joy shared by a friend (link in comments) ⤵️

#5JoysFriday!

🎶 New album today from Josh Ritter, one of my musical favorites
🙏🏼 Spiritual direction training
🎹 Contemplative piano service
🌌I live too far south to see the Aurora, but I‘ve been enjoying pics from others!
🌪️My niece weathered Hurricane Milton safely! Her birthday is today, and she & her friend decided not to cancel their reservations at Disney this week. 😳🫣 She‘s terrified of tornadoes. She slept through the hurricane 😂

#5JoysFriday!

A few joys from this week:
📚 Starting a new year of EfM on Monday
🍄 These corduroy mushrooms and tiny knitted pumpkins from Target
🐳 It‘s been cool enough in the mornings to have hot tea… in my adorable whale mug
🧦 Wearing my banned books socks for Banned Book Week
☕️ Meeting a dear friend for coffee this afternoon

#5JoysFriday!
1. Music! My husband had two concerts this week, one with his jazz combo and one with his big band—both so joyful!
2. Litsy! This week especially, it‘s been a much-needed respite from other social media, with politics and its related chaos
3. My husband: we celebrated the 11th anniversary of our engagement this week 💜💍
4. My loose leaf tea order arrived! ☕️😋
5. Roasted chicken for dinner last night (should have taken a picture!)

It‘s #5JoysFriday! A few things that brought me joy this week:
1. Sponsoring a friend‘s daughter for her school‘s Cow Chip Bingo fundraiser…which is exactly what it sounds like 🐄💩😂
2. My husband‘s piano service on Tuesday: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=507414335322377&id=100068063869927...
3. Book haul!
4. Our heat wave finally broke on Wednesday 🎉
5. My creative writing group starting up again after a summer break

#5JoysFriday!
🎶A trip to the Hollywood Bowl with my husband & one of my best friends, for the annual John Williams concert 💜
👩‍💻Several big job applications turned in this week (maybe relief rather than joy!)
🦆Adorable tiny ducklings at the park
🍊Months ago, we froze bags & bags of tangerine slices from our trees. These bring me joy on hot days!
📚My library summer reading prize! Tote bag, 3 ARCs, water bottle, book light, and hand sanitizer

July‘s #Roll100 picks look like an emotional roller coaster.

#5JoysFriday

1. A Quiet Day (retreat) at my church on Saturday
2. My husband‘s jazz combo on Sunday was 🔥 (unfortunately so was the weather so we had to move inside!)
3. Photos of Ely, Cambridgeshire from a photographer I follow (📷 Veronica in the Fens)
4. A great interview for the spiritual direction program I‘ve applied to
5. An encouraging and freeing meeting with my spiritual director

#5joysfriday

My carrots and radishes are sprouting!

I read a book in 4 days, haven't done that in a long time.

Am watching once upon a time

My new shampoo is working okay

New birds near my house

It‘s been a really busy week, but I have to get my #5JoysFriday post in before Friday is gone!

1. Visiting with family: my sister & 2 of her kids are in town (pictured: my sister with her sweet grandbaby—my grand-niece!)
2. Dinner and great conversation catching up with two long-time friends
3. A beautiful, rich time of spiritual direction training yesterday & today (pictured: larkspur seed pod from a nature reflection today)
⤵️

Started my seed trays
Nearly done weeding
Will be starting a new author soon
Am running book awards and #autumncomfortswap
Finding more time to feed my soul
#5joysfriday

#5JoysFriday
🙏🏼 I was on the waitlist for a spiritual direction course, and a spot opened up
🍎 Plans for an NYC trip with one of my best friends
🎹 My husband‘s piano service—much needed peace after a rough day
🍣 Sharing sushi after helping good friends pack for their upcoming move—bittersweet!
🎶 New album from Over the Rhine in my inbox today—a delightful surprise, since I preordered ages ago!
📚 Bonus: Library book haul!

📚A great IRL book club meeting on Sunday
💐Roses and larkspur from the garden
📚BookSpin Day!
👒Starting Vol. 1 of L.M. Montgomery‘s journals
🦘The news that this weekend my niece gets to help transport a baby wallaby from the Tampa Zoo back to the zoo where she works in Kentucky

#5JoysFriday
🎷My husband‘s jazz combo concert on Sunday: big turnout, gorgeous weather, fantastic music!
💍 My husband and I ordered rings for our 10th anniversary in March, and mine finally arrived
🍻 Had a great lunch with former coworkers on Wednesday
✍🏻 Made progress on a writing project, so I had something to share at writing group
🏕️ The #CampLitsy24 buzz is bringing me joy—can‘t wait for the reveal of the July/August titles!

What helped me thru the tough time of loss & suffering… ❤️‍🩹❤️

This book is an extended conversation between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. It is frankly a miracle that they had the time to put this together. It is also a miracle that the plane took off before the earthquake gripped the region. This book is a compendium of advice on how to be joyful.

Kimberly!!! Wow!!! Your wonderful package just arrived, and now my New Year will be brimming with much joy, magical adventures, hidden treasures, playful moments, cheerful thoughts and plenty of great reads! Thank you, thank you, my friend! 🤗❤️🎉📚💃🏻🎆🎁
@PurpleyPumpkin

"I prefer to go to hell, I can solve more problems and help more people there" - Dalai Lama

Read this book y'all.

Morning reading in the dark silence of my cozy old house, with the little thump of kitten feet, while rain hits the windows, brings me joy.
#WinterReadathonDailyChallenge #WinterReadathon
@DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

This girl gives me pure joy and I love this picture of her because it shows her personality perfectly.

#WinterReadathonDailyChallenge. #granddaughter #Presleybaby #myheart

7th December #WinterReadathonDailyChallenge #WinterReadathon

December 7th is National Joy Day, and National Letter Writing Day, so for today‘s daily challenge post a picture of something that brings you joy, or a book where the storyline involves letters in some way.

#ThinkPositiveBePositive @AlwaysBeenALoverOfBooks

#IndelibleMoments @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs
#Clarity

I love how they bring clarity to a complex and important idea.

#BookMoods @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs
#Positivity

Stressful week…Starting the wknd right with something uplifting 🌺🥰

I don‘t think I ever finished this book actually because of my lackluster impression of it :(

“The more time you spend thinking about yourself, the more suffering you will experience"- Dalai Lama.. I can not express how therapeutic this was for me, life changing and thought provoking. I can not recommend this enough.

I loved this book. Reading about the friendship and love between the
two, very different, spiritual leaders is heartwarming. I highly recommend this book.
Five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Started listening to the Audible version today.

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu died today and joined theChurch Triumphant. May he rest in the loving arms of his Savior. He spread hope and love and joy to so many. We will miss him, but his is a well earned rest.

This lovely book documents the 2015 reunion of longtime friends The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu and their hopeful, compassionate conversations about the nature of joy and how to practice inviting joy into our lives even when circumstances are difficult.🔸#octoberreads2021