Recommendations

Planting an amaryllis. This probably comes too late for this year, but ours is in full bloom and it's just gorgeous-- I will definitely get one again next fall. Actually, I'm going to try to keep this one alive for next year, as supposedly it's a perennial. We shall see.

Reading Calvin's Institutes one chapter at a time. That's one of my plans for the new year. So far so good. I love reading not only straight Scripture, but the meditations of godly men and women on that Scripture. The first section of the Institutes is incredibly rich, and I'm only a few chapters in. Calvin starts with how humans are barred from knowing God rightly because of their sin; in that state, then, we are completely dependent on the Lord Himself (through His Word and the help of the Holy Spirit) if we are to know God at all, let alone come into full fellowship with Him. It's a wondrous thing that we even have the Scriptures . . . this passage of the Institutes is definitely rekindling my love for the Word.

Drinking Swiss Vervaine Melange from Teavana. With a bit of raw honey. Delicious.

Using Goo Gone to remove pine sap from Christmas tree stands, labels from jars, and almost any gummy residue you can think of. I love it, and have found many more uses than I expected for it.

Corralling clutter . . . in baskets, on platters, in jars. My salt and pepper, butter, and garlic used to be independent little objects sliding about the kitchen counter. Now I have them all on a white ceramic plate. So I know exactly where they are, and it just looks nicer (like how a picture looks better in a frame). And even though my hairdryer, curling iron, and straightener still make a tangled mess, they are contained in a nice wooden crate rather than falling out of the cabinet when I open the door!

Experimenting with spices. It's really easy for me to get stuck in a rut, and just swapping out a few spices can completely change a dish. Dill in quiche? Paprika and allspice on baked chicken? Let's try. Nothing revolutionary, but tweaks like that make dinner different and interesting, and that is important to me.

Browsing Remodelista and Jamie Oliver's website. Er, maybe I shouldn't take my own advice on this quite so often . . .