because i'm into you, December

One of my favorite views in winter is tree branches brushing up against a hazy sky.

December always sneaks up on me. This year was no different. November kind of disappeared under my feet and I woke up one morning and realized it was a whole new month. I don't have a great history with December, and so I started the month with a new outlook and goal: woo her as much as possible. I honed in on advent, enrolled in a friend's eCourse and took some time off from always going-going-going. 

It worked well, because here we are at the end of the month and while I still am a little snarly because another advent came and went without our adoption moving anywhere, the month wasn't as bitter. 

For the first time in years, I'm not necessarily ready to kick down the door for 2014. 

I'm ready for a new year—and I have a lot of goals and hopes and dreams in store. But 2013, despite its heartache, was a good year. And as my friend Abby says, I'm still holding it up and shaking it because I know there's more waiting these next few days. 

books still reading ::  

>> Later this week, I'll be doing a separate post about my favorite books of 2013 <

remembered rapture, bell hooks

Jesus Feminist, Sarah Bessey

Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. 

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus and Sharpen Your Creative Mind, {edited by} Jocelyn K. Glei

for the love of poetry ::  

Holy Spirit, 
giving life to all life, 
moving all creatures, 
root of all things, 
washing them clean, 
wiping out their mistakes, 
healing their wounds, 
you are our true life, 
luminous, wonderful, 
awakening the heart
from its ancient sleep.

- Hildegard of Bingen

television ::  

In October, I watched the entirety of the first two seasons of Scandal. So December has me catching up with Olivia Pope via Hulu. Also? Brooklyn 99. 

Oh. And season 2 of American Horror Story is now on Netflix so....yeah. Despite its inherent creepiness, I think I am enjoying this season more than the first. 

music :: 

Beyonce. Because duh.

But when I wasn't listening to Beyonce? I was listening to this amazing advent playlist on spotify.

on beauty ::

I found Julep through a friend a few months ago and I'm so obsessed. It's a subscription for nail polish. Um, hello. And the colors are amazing + creative + stay on your fingers more than a few days. Especially with this color. It's called Jane, after the founder. I would like it on my fingers only all the time. 

everything else :: 

Mussels and St. Germain with my love on Christmas Eve. 

House concerts with the best of friends Watching my man do what he loves to do for other peopleReading five books in less than a weekBeginning the practice of spiritual directionWorking and wrestling through advent with our communityWalter MittySurprises in the mailboxA two-week vacation and sabbathFinding the art store in the middle of a massive clearance Embracing the difficulty and grief in saying "no" Wild MysticsActing out my last risk >> asking Girls' night lasting until the wee hours of the morning

What about you? What's made your December magnificent?  

:: Linking up with the amazing Leigh Kramer for her What I'm Into posts ::