Currently

Reading ... in the Bible, 1 John. So encouraging!

In other books my most recent read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's a book I've kept hearing about for years already and I kept thinking I want to read it someday.  That "someday" happened to be this week. 

It wasn't quite what I expected, but I was enjoying it quite a bit. This evening LV and Steven went fishing, Sharon was grabbing some work after classes, and with the house empty and quiet I decided to settle in and read the remaining 25% of the book. I had heard from some of my reader friends how they had to cry when reading this book, but I was starting to think there must be something wrong with me because though I was touched multiple times, nothing was inducing tears ... until it was. I don't remember the last time I cried this much while reading a book.

I still haven't fully recovered. 

Our home library has only books we truly love, and I think I just found the next book I need to add to it.

Writing ... menu plans, lists, and some letters.

Watching ... Steven and I have been watching an episode of Storage Wars after lunch for the past week or so. 

Listening ... to the birds singing. We have quite a variety of birds that hang out in the trees around the house, and they sing most beautifully. I especially like listening to them in the mornings when their songs seem to be at their sweetest.

Baking ... most recently I made a Peanut Butter and Jelly Cheesecake on request for a birthday. It turned out fabulous. There's still a small piece in the refrigerator waiting to be enjoyed. Cheesecake isn't my favorite dessert, and I also never crave peanut butter in desserts, but somehow I still thought this is really good.

Cooking ... Eggplant Parmesan, Meatballs with an Orange Mustard Sauce, and a simple salad.

Feeling ... there's this sense of happy hopefulness. Like there's something good waiting just around the corner of life and I'm just waiting to see what it might be.

Disliking ... mud. I'm very thankful for all the rain we got, but mud is another story. Steven came in completely spattered in mud earlier today so some pre-rinsing of clothes needs to happen before I do the laundry.

Loving ... the beautiful spring weather we're having.

Playing ... today Steven and I played several rounds of Dutch Blitz. I used to dominate that game, but not any longer. I've come to the conclusion that he's better than me at every single game we have that's not strictly luck based.

Cleaning ... today I deep cleaned the refrigerator. I was going to clean one of the lazy susans as well, but oopsies, I finished reading that book instead.