Life at a "Swell's" pace

Yay! It's the weekend! I am so looking forward to being able to step outside and enjoy the yard here at the Hiatt House. I can't wait to share what we've been up to lately and how we've been coming along with the yard and gardens. I hope you'll be just as pleased with it as we are. Pictures soon! So with that said, here are the things that made this week awesome!

1. This Quote

Source
As the steps to becoming more minimal happen here with us, I've decided to post something about being more minimal and letting go of clutter become an every Monday post on my Twitter. If you don't follow me on Twitter, be sure to start now, so you can see all of the great posts on minimal living, especially on Mondays.

2. This Book Selection for May

Don't forget to check back at the beginning of each month to see what the new selection is. The selection for May is "the first forty days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother" by Heng Ou.

3. This Church Lighting

The First United Methodist Church was all light up one evening when we drove through. I couldn't resist stopping and taking a picture of the stained glass on the front.

4. This Turkey

The wild turkeys around Lebanon are quite famous.

5. This Seating Area

Build Lebanon Trails has put in this seating area near the Mark Slough Trail near our home. It's a nice break when we ride our bikes for several miles at a time around the trails. It makes for a good lunch/snack spot when we go for walks, too.

Extras:

Do you save you book's dust jackets?
The great Mary Oliver.
Photography is amazing!
Looking into a new mattress? We are and this one at Reading my Tea Leaves looks nice.
What a great concept!
Interesting.
Porch love.
Wish these came in glass instead of plastic.
Tree Pod camping.
Homemade Snicker's Bar. That could be dangerous.

What happened this time last year?

Hey! Thanks for reading South North South every week. I appreciate it a lot! So this week we had a bit of a hiccup with the working in the yard and got a nice thunder storm, with real thunder, roll through the Valley. It was a nice way to fall asleep. A lot of people in the Valley freak out over thunderstorms. With being from the south, I've been in some pretty crazy thunder and lightning storms and what the Willamette Valley gets is like a tea party compared to those. Anyway, the thunder and lightning show took us out of the house to eat dinner. We grabbed a quick bite and headed to the top of Washburn Heights near Brownsville, Oregon to watch the light show and it was beautiful! With The Mr. working all weekend The Bean and I have some time on our hands to get some much needed things done. I've been following some new boards on Pinterest about living more minimal and have some great plans for us today, tomorrow, and the rest of the week to get things down to a minimum here at the Hiatt House. I would really like to have everything settled before we move from here. I can't wait to share our changes. Onward with the home searches, but meanwhile, here are the things that made this week great!

1. This Little Fairy

I had completely forgotten I had placed this fairies in my front flowerbed until I started pulling out weeds and there she was. I am not into fairies, but I really like this one because she's standing on a mushroom. My mother-in-law got this for me one Christmas. I think she fits perfectly with the other decor around the yard.

2. These Surprise Boxes

With my mom being busy getting her cafe up and running in Crystal Springs, Arkansas, she hasn't had the time to get things together to mail to us for Christmas, Valentine's, and Easter. I secretly like that she lingers with sending a care package, especially for the holidays, because it makes the holidays last a long time for us. These boxes came unexpectedly and we loved it! The best part, we got t-shirts from my dad's business (Mike's Heating and Air Conditioning), and now my mom's (Crystal Springs Mercantile and Cafe)!

3. This Flowers

The first tree reminds me of the movie Alice in Wonderland where the army men are painting the roses red on the trees. The second is a plant called Bleeding Heart and I think it is one of the most interesting ornamental plants to ever grow.

4. This House

We pass by this house on our bike rides and there's just something about it that makes my mind wonder about its complete history. I have had a thought on maybe bringing in some history of towns into the blog. Maybe soon.

5. This View