Morning, y'all!
How are you doing? Are you well?
Things have gotten crazier and the world is shutting down. The news is still scary and the numbers are still rising. It's time to come home and slow down. It's time to settle ourselves and gather in. It's time for simple pleasures and ordinary joys to become mainstays. It's time for beauty to take over, for light to permeate the darkness, for simplicity to be cherished once again.
Our day-to-day hasn't changed all that much, to be honest. We're homebodies, to begin with. I'm an extreme introvert who honestly practices social distancing on a regular day, so this whole staying home and avoiding people isn't anything new for me. My heart is at home and I find great pleasure and delight in domesticity. I find tremendous beauty in a life centered around home and hearth, so I know there are ample treasures to be found there. For some, though, this seems to be a newfound discovery and for others, it is extremely challenging. If there is anything good that comes from this whole worldwide crisis situation, I hope that people's hearts are turned back towards their families and that lives are recentered around the home once again. After all, this was how it was a century ago...and in the grand scheme of things, that wasn't all that long ago.
With all that said, even though I am an introvert who doesn't really like being around big crowds or people who aren't "my people" too much, and even though I know the beauty of home and the treasures of simple, ordinary days, the news is still loud and powerful. My anxiety is high and my nerves are frazzled. My mind is full and overflowing with all sorts of fears and thoughts. As I mentioned in my post last week, I've decided to purposefully set those things aside and fill my soul with goodness. And that's exactly what I want to share with you all today...
This slowness and home-centered time is a time for creating beauty, magic and delight right where we are. It's possible, friends. And you have the power within you to do just that. I'm spending this time of filling myself with goodness by trying new recipes (I made hamburger buns for the first time over the weekend), reading new books, watching favorite shows and movies, listening to good music and trying to get out in nature as much as possible and as the weather allows. Spring showers have begun and are getting more regular. We're also changing our clothes out for the season and putting out seasonal decor. I'm also wanting to write more and share blog posts a bit more frequently. I'm practicing photography and cleaning and tidying. These simple things bring a peaceful rhythm to the everyday and when stress is high and nerves are tense, it is our rhythms and rituals that bring us peace and calm.
Last night I sat for a bit and complied a LONG list of all my family's favorite TV shows, movies and books. These are all our most favorites. It's quite the smorgasbord, as the choices are all over the place and pretty random. We like a variety of genres so that is well reflected in the lists below. These are the picks that bring us delight and magic and beauty, and it is my hope that you will find a few to give a try for yourself. And, as always, if you have any to add, you are very welcome to share yours in a comment below.
May your find bright light shining through little windows in your everyday, ordinary moments. May you discover, or rediscover, the treasures of home and hearth and the simplicity of domesticity. May you be inspired to create beauty, magic and delight in every nook and cranny of your life and home. May you be filled with peace and calm because of it!
Movies:
Julie and Julia
No Reservations
Sweet Home Alabama
Dear John
Leap Year
Under the Tuscan Sun
You've Got Mail
About Time
Father of the Bride (1 & 2)
Letters to Juliet
P.S. I Love You
How to Make an American Quilt
Anne of Green Gables
Little Women (1994 version; I haven't seen the new one yet)
The Sound of Music
Love Comes Softly series
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Prince and Me
Because of Winn Dixie
The Garage Sale Mystery series
Aurora Teagarden Mystery series
Chronicle Mysteries series
Harry Potter series
A Cinderella Story
Princess Diaries 1 & 2
The Parent Trap (with Lindsay Lohan)
The Chronicles of Narnia series
TV Series:
Downton Abbey
Call the Midwife
The Middle
Gilmore Girls
Road to Avonlea
Lark Rise to Candleford
7th Heaven
Home Improvement
Reba
H2O: Just Add Water
Wolfblood
Murder, She Wrote
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Walker, Texas Ranger
Heartland
Blue Bloods
The Great British Bake-Off
The Big Family Cooking Showdown
Little House on the Prairie
I Love Lucy
Andy Griffith
Leave it to Beaver
Dennis the Menace
Hazel
The Brady Bunch
The Waltons
Merlin
Little Women (BBC Edition)
Crash Landing on You (Korean-Drama)
The Third Charm (Korean-Drama)
When the Weather is Fine (Korean-Drama)
Cinderella and the Four Knights (Korean-Drama)
Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo (Japanese-Drama)
Books:
Prince Edward Island Dreams series by Liz Johnson
A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay
There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
*Hope Harbor series by Irene Hannon
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*Tales from Ivy Hill series by Julie Klassen
Just Let Go by Courtney Walsh
The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel
A Tapestry of Secrets by Sarah Loudin Thomas
Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
The Mitford Years series by Jan Karon
Miss Read books
*The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series by Susan Wittig Albert
*Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura Childs
*Elm Creek Quilt series by Jennifer Chiaverini
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
Janette Oke books
Colleen Coble books
Close to You by Kara Isaac
Can't Help Falling by Kara Isaac
The Father Christmas series by Robin Jones Gunn
The Grace of Enough by Haley Stewart
The Lifegiving Home by Sally and Sarah Clarkson
The Lifegiving Table by Sally Clarkson
Handmade by Melissa Norris
The Made from Scratch Home by Melissa Norris
Theology of Home
*Elizabeth Goudge books
*Carla Laureano books
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson
Dreaming with God by Sarah Beth Marr
Whispers and Wildflowers by Sarah Beth Marr
Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson
Recapturing the Wonder by Mike Cosper
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
Roots and Sky by Christie Purifoy
*Placemaker by Christie Purifoy
*My Life in France by Julia Child
*The Awakening of Miss Prim
*First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
*On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lucy Stone Mystery series by Leslie Meier
Hannah Swensen Mystery series by Joanne Fluke
*Yours Truly, Thomas by Rachel Fordham
*Far Side of the Sea by Kate Breslin
*More than Words Can Say by Karen Witemeyer
*The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels
*Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
*Ember Falls by S.D. Smith
*The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
Amish books by Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter
*Heidi
*Alice in Wonderland
*The Secret Garden
*Matilda
(All books marked with the star * are ones that I have on my TBR list, so they aren't necessarily recommendations yet but are rather ones that I am either currently reading or am planning to read soon. I included them because they are similar to other books on my list and to share what's on my book pile at the moment. All the others are recommended either by my mom, sister or me.)
Little Women (1994 version; I haven't seen the new one yet)
The Sound of Music
Love Comes Softly series
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Prince and Me
Because of Winn Dixie
The Garage Sale Mystery series
Aurora Teagarden Mystery series
Chronicle Mysteries series
Harry Potter series
A Cinderella Story
Princess Diaries 1 & 2
The Parent Trap (with Lindsay Lohan)
The Chronicles of Narnia series
TV Series:
Downton Abbey
Call the Midwife
The Middle
Gilmore Girls
Road to Avonlea
Lark Rise to Candleford
7th Heaven
Home Improvement
Reba
H2O: Just Add Water
Wolfblood
Murder, She Wrote
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Walker, Texas Ranger
Heartland
Blue Bloods
The Great British Bake-Off
The Big Family Cooking Showdown
Little House on the Prairie
I Love Lucy
Andy Griffith
Leave it to Beaver
Dennis the Menace
Hazel
The Brady Bunch
The Waltons
Merlin
Little Women (BBC Edition)
Crash Landing on You (Korean-Drama)
The Third Charm (Korean-Drama)
When the Weather is Fine (Korean-Drama)
Cinderella and the Four Knights (Korean-Drama)
Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo (Japanese-Drama)
Books:
Prince Edward Island Dreams series by Liz Johnson
A Portrait of Emily Price by Katherine Reay
There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
*Hope Harbor series by Irene Hannon
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*Tales from Ivy Hill series by Julie Klassen
Just Let Go by Courtney Walsh
The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel
A Tapestry of Secrets by Sarah Loudin Thomas
Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
The Mitford Years series by Jan Karon
Miss Read books
*The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series by Susan Wittig Albert
*Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura Childs
*Elm Creek Quilt series by Jennifer Chiaverini
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
Janette Oke books
Colleen Coble books
Close to You by Kara Isaac
Can't Help Falling by Kara Isaac
The Father Christmas series by Robin Jones Gunn
The Grace of Enough by Haley Stewart
The Lifegiving Home by Sally and Sarah Clarkson
The Lifegiving Table by Sally Clarkson
Handmade by Melissa Norris
The Made from Scratch Home by Melissa Norris
Theology of Home
*Elizabeth Goudge books
*Carla Laureano books
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson
Dreaming with God by Sarah Beth Marr
Whispers and Wildflowers by Sarah Beth Marr
Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson
Recapturing the Wonder by Mike Cosper
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
Roots and Sky by Christie Purifoy
*Placemaker by Christie Purifoy
*My Life in France by Julia Child
*The Awakening of Miss Prim
*First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
*On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lucy Stone Mystery series by Leslie Meier
Hannah Swensen Mystery series by Joanne Fluke
*Yours Truly, Thomas by Rachel Fordham
*Far Side of the Sea by Kate Breslin
*More than Words Can Say by Karen Witemeyer
*The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels
*Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
*Ember Falls by S.D. Smith
*The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
Amish books by Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter
*Heidi
*Alice in Wonderland
*The Secret Garden
*Matilda
(All books marked with the star * are ones that I have on my TBR list, so they aren't necessarily recommendations yet but are rather ones that I am either currently reading or am planning to read soon. I included them because they are similar to other books on my list and to share what's on my book pile at the moment. All the others are recommended either by my mom, sister or me.)
Bless you, dear friends! And peace be with you, as always ♥
Stay well. And savour the richness of home and family! Find the abundance in slowness, hiddenness and quietness...it's there and it's overflowing!
(If you have any questions about anything I shared here, or want any specific information, please don't hesitate to ask. Also, if you have any specific topics you would like to see in a post, be sure to send me a message!)