looking well in order to truly see

Yto Barrada, "Rue de la Liberte" Tangier Morocco

A few excerpts from a lovely book; Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire

Windows of the soul is a way of seeing that begins with respect. The way we show respect is to give it a second look, a look not of the eyes but of the heart.

The poet Rilke talks about his first exposure to the artwork of Cezanne, how he spent hours in front of his pictures, looking, listening, trying to understand them: " I remember the puzzlement and insecurity of one's first confrontation with his work, along with his name, which is just as new. And then for a long time nothing, and suddenly one has the right eyes."

"If we are to love our neighbors," says Frederick Buechner, "before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as with our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces."

It's almost 2am and I can't sleep so I'm blogging.. hmmmm... I can't be responsible for anything I type after 11pm (that's when I turn in to a pumpkin... so be very afraid)! 

Christmas is in a few days. 4 days. And I'm here in Amsterdam and it feels so normal. Allie and I decorated our apartment (some lights, a tiny tree, 4 special ornaments I brought from home), we're playing Christmas music 24/7, baking cookies.  I'm here and it's so different and I appreciate it, am blessed by it, and really find myself celebrating it. Around the city it's similar to Columbus in a few ways.... Christmas lights, a few brave carolers, parties, and a little shopping. The huge difference is that restraint is also present.. I'm trying to think of a different better word but it's not coming to me.  What I'm trying to say is that sanity has remained in the city despite Christmas time being here. Wow, I'm not used to that. The past few weeks I've felt so much peace and really been able to focus more. At home I was always slightly stressed around this time of year.. trying to cram everything in, all the shopping, the parties, the baking... all the same things that I'm doing here but without restraint. 

Is this even making sense?

Here are some things I love about Christmas time here... most people who believe in Jesus and celebrate the real Christmas don't even give gifts on the 25th, Christmas morning is a time to go to a special service at church and then return home for a nice dinner with family.  Gifts are given at Sinterklaas (Dec. 5th) and even then it's just one small gift. If you do give gifts on the 25th they are small, even the word for gift implies little gift = "cadeautje" .. the "je" at the end of a word sometimes means small or little. For some reason I just love it, it makes me warm and fuzzy inside... the smallness, the personal touch, the little thought... and when a gift is given it's almost a surprise, an unexpected little joy that you weren't expecting, weren't requiring but is kindly received. I feel more balanced here, the anxiety I usually feel is absent. I hope to be out of the country at this time of year for the rest of my life (except I'd like all my friends and family to be with me as well!) I can wish right? Ha ha! ... I pray that you all experience deep peace and joy in remembering Jesus' birth and the moment in history that changed the world and brought true hope when God became man.

Ok, all of this will be a lie in the morning when I wake up a mean person... so I better make myself sleep... love to you all.

december catch up

Gingerbread houses with the kids (and us). We created narrow dutch houses complete with tram tracks, dutch flags, bikes, and attic windows.

Our bitty Christmas tree. I love it. We had to prop it up with a Heineken crate so you could see it over the couch.

A great party on Friday! We invited neighbors, language school classmates, internet friends... Had a household of wonderful new friends! It was a blast hearing people's fascinating life stories! We crashed around 2am. So fun!

Reading stacks of Christmas cards from Joshua House. Thank you! We feel so loved!

Rachel and Allie trying to stay warm. It's been so cold here this week.

how we did it

Since I've received so many comments and questions about the nativity set (doesn't Lucas' sheep rock!), I thought I'd let you in on the fun so you too can create one with your family/friends. First I must give all the credit to my mother who's brilliant and would always succeed in making each Christmas full of special surprises. My brother, sister and I created our first nativity set at her direction. And she would always make the most amazing wise men! They usually had awesome turbans and caftans on while holding an ornate treasure box.

1. Use Sculpey clay (you can buy it at Michaels, JoAnnes or craft store.  Buy a variety of colors and with a knife cut each block into 4-6 smaller pieces so that no one has to fight for colors. Each kid/adult can have a little bit of each color. If there's still the chance for fighting then put a bit of each color in a zip lock bag and each kid has their color palette ready to go (you can tell how I was when it came to sharing clay!). For more info on this amazing clay, check out sculpey.com

2. Begin with Alumnium foil and scrunch it together into the shape you're creating. Form a head, neck, shoulders... and basic body. Then you can smooth out thin flat pieces of clay and attach it over the aluminum foil. This helps it bake quicker in the end and also saves clay. 

3. Let creativity reign! You're nativity set can be set in your family's cultural/racial context or in the context of the Bible. Have fun! Let each person really do what they want. As you can see our nativity was very different... Joseph is mexican and Mary is a gypsy, one of the wise men is a woman, on and on. Also, feel free to put out toothpicks and things to poke and add details with. 

4. When you're done, pop the pieces in the oven on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes at 275 degrees F or 130 degrees C. Let them cool for a few minutes and ta da.. you have your hand made one of a kind nativity set!

Enjoy! We had a great time sitting around and talking/laughing making a lovely mess together.

p.s. my beautiful book is up and running (things I happen upon in daily life/art/creativity)... feel free to stop over and check out the beauty!

bcbeautifulbook.blogspot.com

re-creating a holiday in holland

We went all out for out first Thanksgiving in Holland. In a few years we'll probably be eating chicken and cold potatoes but this year we did out grandmas and mothers and cousins and aunt Annes proud! I made pumpkin pie (I'm very proud of the one above), apple pie and of course my Nana's rolls. Amanda and John conquered the turkey, freshest one I've ever had. We think it was probably still alive a couple hours before they picked it up from the butcher. Allie made an awesome salad, Julia made cranberry sauce, casseroles, Rachel made the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten and Eric bought a slab of butter. What a fun day. We started in the morning with breakfast at Allie and my house. We also had art class! Since advent begins on Sunday and we don't have a nativity set brought from home, we made one! Everyone made a piece. Isn't it amazing! It was created out of sculptey clay and then baked in the oven. I love baby Jesus created by Rachel (Grayson little pointy hat was the inspiration!)

good job

Last night on the way back from Utrecht Vineyard (about an 1 hr or so trip) it started to snow! It had been spitting all day but it really committed right about 5pm (when we were on the train). It was so beautiful to watch the landscape fly by and think about winter, which always takes my mind to Christmas, traditions, childhood, fun, family, baking, snow angels... and on and on. It's fun to think about starting new traditions this year and keeping some old ones as well. I'm going to make sure to keep one very important one: making my mom's famous (to me!) cream cheese Christmas cookies. They're so addictive and because there is no sugar in the dough you get to pile on the sprinkles and candy for a wonderful sweet/slightly sour taste that wakes up your mouth! So good, I'm drooling just thinking about them! 

Today in class............(I definitely flaked out and took public transport... which really Brooke, if being tough means riding a bike in the freaking icy cold and being a baby means riding the tram... then what was I when I would jump in my warm dry car? Ha, the funny rules I make up for myself! Well at least no biking in the ice for me until I get my front wheel fixed. It's going to happen dad I promise. Soon. Really).........

 

So, anyway in class.. HURRAY!! Huge day. I got a writing assignment back and on the top in green writing it said "Goed teksten!"... which in effect means, good work! A compliment, wow! I was slightly skeptical since my page also had corrections all over it as well... but I was thrilled non the less! They're intense and very good at the poker face but today they slipped. Ha! I just had to share!

beauty

Saturday. Lovely day. Woke up late (after a movie with some friends last night from class) It was good to connect with them outside of class. I attempted to make gluten free (no wheat flour) pancakes this am. They were okay. One of my many dreams in life is to someday make GF food that tastes as good or better than the reg. thing. I have a long way to go. Everything looked beautiful on the table though. 

 I have a journal which I call my "beautiful book" and I paste things in there that inspire me/grab my attention (here's a picture of it). Since I'm becoming more digital and blog more than I journal on paper anymore.. I too will move my beautiful book to a blog. For now I'll post a couple things here. 

Mobile: Found it at a little fair trade shop. Gorgeous made out of recycled paper. It will probably be a gift for someone(act surprised if it's you!)

Clutter on a table: I love arial pictures of food/plates/action. So here's a picture of Allie preparing her pancake .

On a totally different not I'm off to a osu/michigan (our big rival) game (American football). It should be lots of fun. Even a few of our dutch friends who like A. football are coming! Go Buckeyes! (I don't think I've ever said that before... living in another country sure does strange things to you... making you connect back to your roots in unexpected ways. Hmm.

Oh and p.s. we had our first snow/hail/ slush/rain  here. Winter is really coming. Lovely. My favorite time of the year. I'm counting down the days till spring already. It's going to be a long winter on a bike covered in my poncho. Good thing I got rain boots when I was home. Now I just need water proof gloves.