Susan's Blog

the most wonderful time of the year

quietinfluence — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:40:37 +0000

i love this time of year!

i know some of you will gasp in horror at this, but i am already listening to christmas music. i have stayed up late looking at blogs for homemade gift ideas for christmas…for several nights in a row. tonight i printed out some things for my holiday journal. can’t quite find the time to print that one picture i need for monday, but boy do i have time to print 26 pages for the old holiday journal.

i know that i am not alone in this. stores have already started putting out christmas decorations. (it’s like jen from the cakewrecks blog said “you know once you start seeing christmas lights out at target that halloween is right around the corner”.)

i forgot that i had a blog

quietinfluence — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:57:55 +0000

oops…it has been a while since i posted. i actually forgot that i had a blog

i took this picture at the taylor ranch in asheville, north carolina. it is so beautiful there ~ the kind of place where you could sit all day thinking, praying, writing, singing.

inspiration (essentials formation)

quietinfluence — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:17:53 +0000

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt

i am in the second week of my online spiritual formation class. (i love it!) this week, dan wilt (our teacher) reminded us that inspiration is an often neglected, but important, aspect of our spiritual formation. our inspiration gives us energy & fills up our emotional tanks. he also encouraged us to build inspiration into our daily, weekly, monthly & yearly calendar.

i realize that i usually wait for inspiration to hit me, but i want to start planning to put myself in situations where i am inspired (& realize that it is a necessity, not a bonus). so i am trying to figure out what inspires, renews, encourages & moves me. what kinds of things do i do that when i do them, i feel God’s pleasure. i have a short list: old photographs (especially of friends & family), going to conferences, being in nyc.

i would love to hear from you in the comments (& maybe get some fresh ideas of inspiration). so i will ask you what dan asked us: “what moves you, inspires you, renews you & encourages you?”

ps~ today is my spiritual birthday (march 16, 1986)

(above photo from the cleveland art museum)

the elemental life

quietinfluence — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:02:18 +0000

tomorrow i am starting an online course entitled “essentials in spiritual formation”. i am super excited about it. (click here for a description). you might be seeing some of my blog homework here soon. (it’s been a long time since i have done homework ).

i hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.

mrs. townsend

quietinfluence — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:30:17 +0000

mrs. townsend was my next door neighbor for the first 5 years of my life. she would pick flowers from her garden & give to me. she also let me help her clean out her freezer one day: she put socks on my hands to keep them from getting cold. i also remember that she liked to watch “little house on the prairie” & “magnum p.i.”. yay for the surrogate grandmas in our lives!!!

recipes!!!

quietinfluence — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:30:30 +0000

this fine work of artistry: the humor (yelling with a smile) & the high fashion grey chef uniform was drawn by me in 3rd grade. each of us in our reading group wrote out a recipe, decorated our own book cover & our teacher copied the recipes using a mimeograph machine (with beautiful purple ink) & we put together a book. fast forward 20 years to 2005 & i would be putting together a recipe book of favorite recipes from my family (with someone else drawing the book cover this time). 5 years later, i’m writing a blog & requesting that you would post one of your favorite recipes in the comment section. i love to look at recipes & try new ones (even though i can’t remember the last time i actually cooked a meal…hehe). i think this will be fun!!!

here is a recipe from my family favorites recipe book (2005):

Peanut Butter Balls by Lois Acree (my grandma)

½ pound graham crackers crushed, or 1 cup crumbs

2 sticks butter, melted

1 box confectioner’s sugar

12 oz. jar smooth peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ small cake paraffin wax

6 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine crumbs, sugar, butter, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well. Form into balls. Melt chocolate and wax together in top of double boiler. Dip balls and lay on waxed paper to cool.

sticker collections

quietinfluence — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:38:22 +0000

i have loved stickers for as long as i can remember. this is a copy of my glow in the dark page of my sticker book from elementary school. it’s funny to me that as an adult i use stickers almost everyday: craft projects & rewards for students. at my studio at work, i have mini file folders with smelly stickers, glow in the dark stickers, big stickers & regular stickers. practice your piano songs 10 times? get stickers. play or sing your song well? get smelly stickers or big stickers. memorize notes, identify flashcards in less than a minute or just do anything amazing? get a glow in the dark sticker.

did any of you have sticker collections as a kid? did you organize your sticker book in anyway? i would love to hear from you!!!

just a thought…

quietinfluence — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:27:37 +0000

“you’re missing out” ~ the lie that has been the beginning of many of my sins…same lie Eve heard in the garden of eden. being single, wanting children, desiring more things/money, living far from dear friends & family, leaving comfortable places for more uncomfortable ones. wow. it’s the core belief that causes tons of trouble. maybe the truth “God has me here & it’s exactly where i need/want to be” would lead to peace & life.

snow!!!

quietinfluence — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:07:20 +0000

i love the quietness of snow…and the excuse to stay home all day!

what is your favorite thing about snow days?

life decisions made in 4th grade

quietinfluence — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:05:58 +0000

i was thinking about how i made 2 very important decisions that have influenced my life greatly. the first one was when i decided to become a christian & the second was when i decided to start taking piano lessons. the surprising part about these two decisions? i was only 9 years old when i made them. it’s mind boggling to think that my current job (piano teacher) would have not even been an option…& trying to ponder life without Christ is even harder to imagine!

do you have any life decisions that you made when you were young?