Simple Things

I wanted to say a word about the name of my blog, and why I chose it. When my family was living in Tremonton my dad got the CD "A Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns". He LOVED that CD, and we heard it a lot. One song on it was Simple Gifts, which I just learned with the help of good ol' wikipedia is an old Shaker hymn by Joseph Brackett written in 1848.

The lyrics of the song are:
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

For some reason of all the songs on the CD this one in particular stuck with me, and I've thought about that a lot over the years, simplicity being a gift. I am a mover and a goer, I love going places and filling my time with projects and people, but more and more I begin to feel the draw of the quiet places and times of just reflecting. Also with kids it is so easy for me to get caught up in all that needs to get done, and I forget to take time to enjoy the simple things that they find so much delight in.

So I guess the name reflects a goal I have in my life right now - to explore what "true simplicity" is, and just how you gain that.

Food this week

Here's what I'm cooking this week:
Monday - Refried Bean, Rice & Cheese Burritos
Tuesday - Oriental Cabbage Salad
Wednesday - 2-Cheese Veggies Pasta
Thursday - White Bean Chili
Friday - Lentil Dal and Rice

The cabbage salad, veggie pasta, and white bean chili are all new recipes, so I hope this week goes smoothly. I'm crazy trying 3 new recipes in a week, but I'm so tired of everything I've been making, so I wanted to try and mix things up a bit.

I started a 5:30 AM fitness "boot-camp" last week, and it's been hard but good. The hardest part is waking up sometimes. I did not realize how completely weak my abs are until I started this, well, how weak I am in general, but wow, my abs are feeling it, and there are several exercises that as they do them I just watch and can't believe I will ever be strong enough to do them.