About

Hi!  Thanks for visiting my little corner of the web.  I'm Sarah, a thirty-one-year-old living north of Boston.  I'm a freelance violinist and private violin teacher, a wife and a mama, a homemaker and a wanna-be-homesteader.

I'm married to a pianist and organist, Nathan, who can always make me laugh.



Together we managed to have the cutest baby in the world, our daughter Ellen Cecilia.  We call her Nell.  Giving birth to her was the hardest and most amazing thing I've ever done.

Not surprisingly, we love her to pieces.



Or, as I tell her every day: "I love you a hundred million billion!"



Then, just shy of two years later, we did it again: another Cutest Baby In The World, since the first one was now a toddler.  Marie Aurelia.

Or "Baby Ree," as she is often called around here.  From Nell's mouth, it comes out sounding more like "Baby Wee," which seems fitting.

Truth be told, I wouldn't mind keeping up a running replacement of babies around here every couple of years, but we'll have to see what God has in store for us.

I have undergraduate and master's degrees in violin performance.

I love music, and aside from my obvious love of classical music, I'm not ashamed to admit that I like listening to country from time to time.  I also have a marginally disturbing obsession with yodeling.

I like crafts, avocados, tart frozen yogurt, and books.  I hate Calvinism.  I have a love-hate, on-again-off-again, relationship with running and other forms of exercise.

I grew up in Northern California where the trees are awe-inspiring, the night sky is crystal clear and studded with more stars than you can imagine, and you can enjoy all four seasons properly without ever losing sight of the sun for more than a day or two.



My childhood hometown was a historic gold rush mining town:



And my childhood backyard was this beauty, where we kept dogs, cats, chickens, goats, and even a horse for a while.



These days I've been transplanted to Massachusetts, where the winters are long, the snow soon turns to gray, dingy sludge, and the stars aren't quite what I remember from my childhood home.



Still, this part of the country has its own charms, like winding split-rail fences, rock walls that have stood for a hundred years or more, enviable fall colors in the autumn months, and horses grazing in open fields alongside equestrians resplendent in their jodhpurs and riding boots.




Perhaps the long winters make us ever more grateful for the coming springs.






There are beaches aplenty, the waves surrounding quaint towns that perfectly express all the simplicity you'd expect of picturesque New England.

And of course there's Boston just a short drive away, a city you can't help loving despite its endless and confusing one-way streets, terrible drivers, and oft-unfriendly populace.





There are brownstones, yes, and green copper siding on apartment buildings here and there, but there are lofty cathedrals too, with {almost} all the splendor of Europe, right here in the U.S.




With my family in California, and Nathan's in Pennsylvania, there are certainly times when we wish we could be closer to those we love.  It's clear though, that for now we are meant to be here, here where we've both found work to do that seems to suit our respective interests and abilities.

Our adventures as homeowners began with a little historic district colonial house from 1852.  We spent two years in that house, keeping ourselves occupied with fix-it work -- something my husband is fortunately quite good at.





I do my share of work too, and can wield a paintbrush, a spackling knife, or a sanding screen when called upon.  I've chronicled our misadventures as fix-it-persons here on the blog from time to time.





We currently live in our second home, a brick house built in 1917 that needs lots of love and attention, while we're still maintaining our first home as a rental property.  It's a wild and crazy ride, complete with mice, squirrels, leaky roofs, oh, and that water bill we once got for $6,000.

We moved out of that first home of ours just when I was beginning to be pleased with all the work I had done in the yard and gardens, and I still find myself missing that yard, even with all its imperfections.

I'm only just beginning the gardening work here in our second home, but I have dreams of a presentable front yard, a cottage garden style flowerbed, and a vegetable garden filled with tomatoes and green beans and cucumbers.  Oh, and maybe a few strawberry plants.

I'm a vegetarian with an affinity for healthy food, while my husband prefers meat and simple carbs.  We both like grilling in the summertime, comfort food in the winter months, and fresh baked bread year round.  You'll find recipes and other talk of food here from time to time, with perhaps the occasional tale of what it's like to live in a household of constant mealtime compromises.

When my waking hours aren't consumed by keeping my daughter alive and happy, teaching violin lessons, and playing gigs, I enjoy do-it-yourself projects, crafting, upcycling, thrifting, and generally trying to create beauty however the urge strikes me.  I've also been known to throw a pretty decent party from time to time, if I do say so myself.

* * *

I sometimes find myself pondering theological uncertainties, but I know this: I want to please God with my life, and I want to be like Jesus, minus the facial hair.

I've proudly blogged since 2003 so that no thought of mine, however unimportant or irrelevant, should ever go unpublished.

{I should really go back and delete most of those early posts.}

Thanks for reading.  Thanks for commenting.  Thanks for sharing this adventure called life.