Edie Wadsworth

Project Graduation

May 18, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 27 Comments

Want to know what I did this weekend?

I did what I do best. I redecorranged—that’s a technical term for ‘redecorating by rearranging what you already have’.

I gave this room a makeover a few years ago for my daughter Caiti and we have both loved it so! It has such a relaxing, artsy, vintage ambiance.

The burlap bedskirts, silver-patina walls, and mirrors create an atmosphere that begs you to strum the guitar and curl your hair. Caiti recently moved into the guest room (which has less ambiance but a t.v. and a very comfortable bed) so I cleaned and redecorranged this room today in anticipation of the arrival of my sister and her daughter Hope. They will be coming on Friday for Taylor’s graduation and a post graduation pajama party—and to stabilize my ever-deteriorating/emotionally unstable self. I also added the window mistreatments today which are just linen fabric hung with alligator clips.

All I need now are a few small love gifts for our ‘guests’ and 3 more clones of myself—so that I have a chance at finishing the enormous ‘to-do’ list that currently bewilders my sensibilities. For now, I breathe deep and enjoy this lovely little bedroom.

And I hear you whispering about the oil painting that’s leaning against the bed. I like it there. Just leanin’……just taking a break from the hard, busy world. My sister will have no patience for such nonsense. She’ll offer to hang it for me. She’s one of those people who’d you’d definitely pick first if you were gonna be stranded on a desert island. She just has good sense and knows how to use all manner of power tools and even hung bead board in mother’s bathroom by herself. I’m sure she could start a fire with a piece of flint and a rock. Yeah, she’ll want to hang that picture and then offer to install an outdoor lighting system before she heads home. But I digress. What do you think? Hang it or lean it?

Post-edit: I’m joining Kelly’s children’s room tour with this ‘teen’ room. Click here for more fabulous decorating ideas!

Friday Hikes

May 15, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 18 Comments

Today, I’m joining Melissa from The Inspired Room as we celebrate and cherish the beauty, right where we are and right where we live. Click here for more weekend inspiration.

We live 5 minutes from a beautiful state park. For the past 2 or 3 months, we’ve taken the girls there every Friday afternoon for what we affectionately call our ‘Friday Hikes’. At the outset of this adventure, we secured some trail maps and began highlighting the trails as we hiked them, with the intention of eventually hiking them all.

They have come to cherish this routine. And so have we. Sometimes, they’re on a mission to go as fast as possible.

And sometimes they get sidetracked.

When we found this trail—that led to a beautiful rocky lake shore, we knew that it might not be our destiny to hike all the trails. This one is amazing.

We’ve decided that pretty soon, we’re gonna have to bring our swimsuits and a towel.

Oh, and the dogs……they are in heaven!

So, today when we ask the girls where we should hike, I have a feeling I know which trail they will choose. Their dad will name the trees and the birds. And we will learn together to see the divine hidden among the ordinary.

Wall of Frames

May 13, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 50 Comments

You can see my inspiration picture here. What I really wanted to do was hang ‘faux’ board and batten and paint the walls. But when Stevie said to me “Step away from the paint brush,” I figured I should listen. At least for now. So to jazz up, or ‘cottage’ up my living room, I embarked on a picture wall adventure. I did not buy any new frames for this project. I shopped the house and found a wealth of treasure in a box that I brought home from my medical practice two years ago. There was no shortage of frames and certainly no shortage of pictures in this house. Now, they’re all in one place.
I’d also like to find a fig tree or something similar to decorate the book stacks , but for now magnolia branches work perfect.

Maybe I should remind you of the ‘before’ picture. Obviously taken at Christmastime.

I wanted something ‘black’ on the wall, so I wrote my favorite passage of Eight Cousins on a little chalkboard and hung it as the anchor.

And since we’re running out of bookshelves, these stacks of books are the perfect solution.

Do you have a wall of fame?

3 things

May 12, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 9 Comments

1. In lieu of painting my living room (and risking vehement verbal outbursts from my family), I’ve been working on a wall of frames sorta like this:

I’ll show you later today. You’re gonna love it. I just know it.

2. Darcy, from Lifewithmy3boybarians and Graphically Designing, is tweaking my site for me as we speak. I told her this morning that I feel as if she’s here, at my house, helping me move my heavy living room furniture and I keep saying, “Can we just try it on this wall”, for the 47th time. She’s a wonderful mommy and talented writer and designer. Her recent post on her son ‘Trouble’ is an incredible story that should be read and shared.

3. My blog friend Jessica, who is back from a blogging sabbatical, sent me the link for this audio segment on ‘The Thomas Jefferson Education’. It’s a must listen. I’m starting it for the 2nd time this morning. Thank you Jess and I’m so happy you’re back.

Happy Mother’s Day

May 10, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 9 Comments

Steve and I want to wish our mothers a most blessed day. Thank you for how you have nurtured and nourished us. Thank you for the gift of life. You have ministered the grace of God to us in profound ways. We love you.

Enjoy this repost from last fall and have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

“I am so glad that you have come. I will pour out everything inside me so you may leave this table satisfied and fortified. Blessings on your eyes. Blessings on your children. Blessings on the ground beneath you. My heart is a ladle of sweet water, brimming over.”
Anita Diamant, The Red Tent

This is one of my favorite quotes……..from one of my all-time favorite books, The Red Tent. The book is work a of fiction about the life of Dinah…..the only daughter of Jacob. (taken from the account in Genesis). It’s a fantastic book and I highly recommend it. I have this quote printed on pretty paper, framed and sitting on my kitchen counter, right beside where I cook. It helps me—when I’m tired or stressed and trying to make food—-to remember how I feel about those who sit at my table everyday. It reminds me to not just go through the motions of cooking…..but to do it with joy and gladness so that I can truly ‘serve’ those I love……literally nurturing and sustaining them. And you know what? It makes the food taste better. I’m sure of it. Isn’t our attitude about things powerful like that?

I was listening to this yesterday on my favorite radio show, Issues Etc., and it helped me to see….for the first time ever…..that a wife really is a picture of the bride of Christ…..the Church. She is the means by which God gives birth to its members through the regeneration of baptism and the means by which He sustains and nourishes its members through the very body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s Supper. So my vocation of wife and mother is not trivial. And my uniqueness as the life-giving, life-sustaining source in this family is so important to God….. so important…..that he compared it to His Church….whom He loved enough to give His very life for.

Isn’t that what we as women have the freedom and privilege to do…..to “pour out everything inside us”? I feel a little like that about blogging. We share ourselves and our hearts with each other…..to nourish and sustain ourselves and those we love. Your blogs and your words are like that for me…..”sweet water, brimming over”. So, read the quote again……and be blessed today.

And cook that meatloaf with love, baby!

The Fall

May 8, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 3 Comments

I don’t know if I’ve ever told you about this place. A magical little sanctuary that Stevie labored countless months and years over. A quaint little cottage that he had built for us in the middle of beautiful mountainous country, with a spring fed pond he researched and designed and personally stocked with all kinds of fish and a water trampoline. Paradise. Or pretty close.

Someone decided to trample on our dreams. They came in and took nearly everything ‘but the kitchen sink’ and this little sign.

Our little slice of Eden went from this….

to this…..overnight. And ditto for every other room.

We made the hours’ drive in a somber state of disbelief. We spent the day sifting through broken glass and precious memories. I guess the parallels are endless, but this is what happens in Eden. Everytime. The dream is fleeting. Paradise eludes us. At least for now.

But there is something about suffering that brings joy. And my words will fail to communicate what happened in my heart yesterday. But God is faithful. His mercies are new every morning. Reaching in to give us hope, and life, and salvation.

I am His child.

And He has not left me alone.

He will restore Eden. In His time.

This song is dedicated to a man whose strength continually surprises me, whose love is redemptive and whose compassion for my ever present tears these days is heroic.

We will get through this. All of this. Together. And when I count my blessings, you are first in line.

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Thank you for all the kind thoughts and prayers I know you’re sending our way!