this and that from here and there

This post from The Rhodes Log.  Stay interesting and interested.  A pretty decent bit of advice if you had to boil marital advice down to a sentence, don't you think?  And a timely read, this idea of encouraging your spouse's passions even when it is inconvenient to you.  Just the other day we had a conversation about how important this was, the teamwork in marriage extending to supporting one another's individuality even when it is inconvenient or even when it is unfathomable.  {Because hypothetically, let's just say, I want to find a way to go for a run three times a week, and Nathan finds this mind-bogglingly pointless, and since we don't have a double jogging stroller, it would probably involve inconvenience on his part... or someone calling CPS on me.}  Anyway, I read this and got a refreshing slap in the face that I probably need to cheerlead more for his interests, too.

This post from Rage Against the Minivan.  I read it a while ago, then stumbled across it again and am still loving it.  It's so spot-on, and so needed in this strange world of virtual glimpses into the staged perfection of others.  Really, I think we risk losing not only a sense of the reality of life, of motherhood, of the beautiful messy chaos of it all; we also risk losing touch with our true selves, like everyone has chevron everywhere and antlers over their beds and mason jars galore and have we asked ourselves if it's really our taste?  Do you know what I mean?  (Nothing against chevron and antlers if that's your thing.)

This post from Mama Knows, Honeychild.  A great and humbling reminder about the great diversity of people that God uses as his hands and feet in this world.

And now for something completely different... if we were richer than we are, I would quite possibly buy Nell this totally perfect Janie and Jack swimsuit, even though the price is absurd and completely unjustifiable.  Or this one.  The cuteness of them.  I can hardly stand it.

Okay, done.  Any links you've enjoyed recently, or swimsuits you've oohed and aahed over?  Hit me with them.