Steady Mom

inside the cottage (kitchen)

I intended to show you the inside of our English cottage today, but only realized after uploading the photos that over 90% of them I took in the kitchen. There must be a message in that fact.

Perhaps it's a testament to the amount of time a mama spends in the kitchen, or to how much I love eating? Or maybe just a statement about how beautiful this room is--the type of space you want to hang out in. Though there are more comfortable places to sit throughout the house, I find myself writing and blogging in here the most.

Today I'm feeling thankful for the flexibility of the work I do--that I can come halfway across the world and still continue. That I can work in such an inspiring setting, surrounded by family. Most of all, thankful for work I do that I love--so that even when away from home I don't really want to take a complete break. Instead, I'll just boil some more water in the kettle on the stove, make another cup of tea, and get on with it.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." 
~Luciano Pavarotti

outside the cottage

Before we left the States, I got an email from a British reader. She said, "Bring a coat and plan inside activities. The weather has been wet and dreary for a month."

Sure enough, rain greeted us and was our off-and-on companion for the first few days here. I think this is good for the kids to experience. It's one thing to read a book about England that says, "It rains a lot." It's another thing to walk out your door and grab an umbrella...or to just get wet. But amazingly, the sun has smiled upon us for the past several days.

When we were searching for a home to rent during our time here, we had several criteria in mind. Ever since we found our miracle home in the country, I am a confirmed wish-list maker. So I made a list for what I hoped this place would be. Yet once again I'm reminded that even my imagination can't quite compete with the goodness that Someone Else can imagine for me and my loved ones.

(And that goes for you, too.)

“I am excessively fond of a cottage; there is always so much comfort, so much elegance about them. And I protest, if I had any money to spare, I should buy a little land and build one myself, within a short distance of London, where I might drive myself down at any time, and collect a few friends about me and be happy.
I advise everybody who is going to build, to build a cottage.”
~ Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

home...away from home

I anticipated a different style of blogging during our time overseas--more of a show-and-tell, I guess. Take a few pictures, add a few words, the end.

I didn't realize, though, just how many photos I would end up taking and how long it would take to upload, sort through, edit, and so on. (No doubt my more photographically-inclined blogging friends know this already!) And being away from home always makes routine parts of your day, which should be so simple, feel not quite so routine and simple.

But now we are home...away from home, that is. A few days ago we moved into this sweet cottage, which I am officially in love with. (It should probably be called a house, but I'll stick with cottage because it sounds more British and Jane-Austen-like.) This spot is our base camp, so to speak, for the majority of our time in the United Kingdom.

We even went out yesterday to buy tape, paper, crayons, and glue sticks--which means that our children are definitely getting comfortable here. After all, you can't really go far in life without a good glue stick by your side.

So many photos to share--meet me back here for a tour tomorrow?

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself."
~ Maya Angelou

family & food

the wedding wall (Steve & I there at the top)







traditional British breakfast

In our nearly 14 years of marriage, we've never lived close to extended family. Which is why it's been delicious (in many senses of the word) to spend our first few days in England with Steve's mum and dad.

There's no better place to recover from jetlag than a home with many hands to help, pass you hot cups of tea, and entertain a child or two (or three).

Thank you, Nana Julie and Granddad!

"The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you."
  ~Kendall Hailey, The Day I Became an Autodidact

the complicated simple life

We are in England now, but before we left I had the chance to write a guest post for my friend Tsh over at Simple Mom called "The road to simplicity is marked by complexity. But it's still worth it."

I'd love it if you'd head over there to take a peek and have a little read.

From my post:

"With all the talk about simplicity these days, you’d think that the route getting there would be, well, simple. But many find that with each step they take toward simplicity, they encounter temporary complications.

These complications sometimes feel so vast they make you want to quit before you’ve even started. Switching gears in life can be painful, and progress isn’t always initially visible.

I am a mother of three children, a homeschooler, a blogger and an author. Each day I spend the majority of my time on areas of my core values and priorities, crafting the life of my dreams. Yet getting here has required navigating through obstacles and complexities."

Head here to read the rest of the post and share your thoughts.