Christmas Eve 2010

As I am preparing for Christmas Eve dinner for family and friends, there's alot of sorting going on. We are spending Christmas in Shreveport this year and everyone will be coming for dinner after church. As I set the tables and shine silver, I have piles set aside for things that will go to OMESA for next Christmas. My emotions are close to the surface as I find myself using some of my beautiful wedding gifts for the first time. It's hard to believe that these beautiful gifts have been wrapped and stored all this time. For many years we didn't have the money to entertain and when we did it was picnic style because that is what works best with kids and dogs. Now after 32 years I am using some of my grandmother's hand crocheted linens, my mother's crystal that she was given at her wedding and gifts that people gave us over the years.

A friend of ours lost his wife early in their marriage ( early is after 30 years) and they were not able to live out their life into the Golden Years. After she died, he found drawers of things from night gowns to china, all of which she was saving for that special day. Why do we pospone living when life is right before us? I am guilty, yes, I pospone because my Mom and Dad posponed living. Then my Dad unexpectedly died and never took the trips he wanted to take with mom, never wore his fine suits or ties, kept his finest material things in boxes with the tags still on them. Yes, I am guilty. I want to leave everything for our children too. However today I realize that I have been postponing and it is time to use what God has provided. Reminds me of the scripture about the men who were given money. One used all his, one made more with what he was given and one buried his for a rainy day. I don't think the Good Lord was too happy with the one who buried his nor was he happy with the one that spent it all foolishly. It's a good idea to assess ourselves and try to see those blind spots in ourselves. The hole has much buried and it's time to dig it up and use it for God's glory.

Yes, I will take many beautiful things to OMESA but in the meantime, I will use, give, multiply what God has provided and isn't really mine at all.

There are great lessons for me this Christmas Eve 2010, lessons that life doesn't end at the grave, that love is eternal, that God loves me just as I am ( this pitiful person that tries to be perfect at times), and that the Holy Spirit, God my Father and his SON, whose birthday we celebrate are with me NOW. Life is just as it is supposed to be. JOY TO THE WORLD!

Christmas 2010

Yesterday, workers continued to work into the early evening because this is the last day before Jim closes the job site for 2010. It's officially the Christmas Holiday! There were 22 men working to get their work complete, particularly the insulation folks from Foam One. This is necessary because soon after the first of the year, we will warm the house and keep the temperatures cozy for the anitque floors to go down.

It was a windy day, so windy that the port-a-potty turn 180 degrees and several temporary doors blew down. It was 22 degrees in the early morning but with the sun shining, it made for a beautiful day. It is the kind of day that you build a fire in the firepit, brew a warm toddy or some hot chocolate, rock in an 'ol rocker and remember the blessings of this year. I suspect we will be doing this at O'Mesa next year at this time.

Today, it is one week until Christmas and I am in Shreveport where we will be having our Christmas Eve celebrations this year. I am preparing for a large dinner, wrapping presents, baking, delivering gifts, decorating the front windows with lights, sending cards, all the while listening to a symphony of Christmas music. At the same time, I am puppy sitting Trey and Gus for William and Jorie and little Frtiz is happy as can be having some "friends" to play. All this preparing for the celebration we will have in honor of our Savior. "Behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel." As I pray: Lord, Prepare us to celebrate with fitting honor the coming feast of our redemption. Let our hearts be humbled by your offering to save us from our sins, sending your son for us to know and let us truly be grateful for all you provide, not letting a day go by without recognizing the sacrifice you made for us, that we may have eternal life, always in love. Amen

"Honey. it's cold outside" Christmas 2010

Today it was 20 degrees at O'mesa and expected to be cold through Christmas. This has not stopped the sub contractors from attending to their chores. Some days it is like a swarm of bees with masons, electricians, plumbers, roofers, rainwater and gutter servicemen and more, all working simultaneously to take part in this creation. We are only 12 days until Christmas so it's a mad rush to complete all the work inorder that everyone take 2 weeks off for Christmas.

We are giving Jim Donaldson 2 weeks off to be with his family for the holidays, a well-deserved vacation for this hard-working chap. He leaves his family in Wimberly and stays at O'Mesa most nights during the week, in an old Katrina trailer we bought for the construction site. He eats frozen dinners most meals and never complains. Many of the other sub contractors are heading South to Mexico to be with their families. They work all year long to save enough money to go "home". Amazing how the holidays invites folks back to their roots. Somehow it isn't the holidays without being in that 'ol familier place surrounded by the sights, smell and sounds of Christmas past. My own mind drifts off to Christmas in Stowe, Pennsylvania.

As children, Tina and I had either new ice skates, a new sled or at the least a new pair of boots or gloves for the winter season. Ice would form on the "alley" where there was a low spot and we would skate in our back yard. About a block from the house there was a large enough hill for us to sled, which was so much fun. Somehow I never minded the cold back then and looked forward to the first snow storm, building snowmen, shoveling the sidewalks for a path, wiping the snow from the windshield of the car and layering in all our woolen clothing, some that still smelled of moth balls. O'Mesa will never have this much snow and ice but it does get brisk in Fredericksburg in the winter. Today was one of those days.

As for the sights, smells and sounds of Christmas, it wouldn't be Christmas without Dad's Christmas Fruit Bread Stollen and Mom's Greek Pastries. This year Bill wants us to bake our favorite family foods. His is his grandmother, Mae O'Brien's "nut cakes" with raisens soaked in bourbon. Mine is my Dad's bread. Next week we will spend a day making these traditional foods for our children and hope one or more of them will enjoy keeping these foods on their holiday table as well. These are the blessings of Christmas: a warm home, family to share, foods to enjoy and gifts from our Savior. I can smell that bread baking already!

Advent ...A time of waiting

Titus 2:12-12 Let our lives be honest and holy in the present age, as we wait for the happiness to come when our great God reveals himself in glory.

My prayer today: Father, may our communion teach us to love heaven. May its promise and hope guide our way on earth. And as always, we ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN

Today, my heart is full and unsure how to express itself. Several words continue to present themselves: WAITING, HONEST, HOPE, COMMUNION. HOLY....

Waiting ....just waiting...waiting to see what this "home built on rock" will be like

Honest....staying true to the Christ-like values as each decision is made

Hope....for all of us as we wait in joyful hope

Communion...with friends and family as they gather in your name

Holy.... in keeping with our love for Christ that this home remains a sanctuary for all

...and so in keeping with my love for Christ, I am thankful for the opportunity to build this home, waiting to see what forms as it is truly a work in progress, staying honest to the vision, hoping for a beautiful, holy place where folks gather in love and in His name always.

As I pass through the gates, I leave myself at the base and drive to the hilltop with a peaceful heart.

Meet Amy Slaughter

We have a wonderful team of professionals helping me on this project including Cary Kipp of Kipp Flores Architectural Design Services, Slaughter House Design Services, Jim Donaldson, Superviser of Construction and ME, General Contractor...image that! Amy of Slaughter House Design is a blessing to me because a project of this size needs many eyes, ears, hands and feet. I couldn't possibly be in Fredericksburg night and day for 2 years while this home was being built, so Amy is my designer on the ground! She works with Cary, Jim and all the sub-contractors to be sure the overall design of the house completes my vision. She is one of the few ASID Interior Designers living in Fredericksburg so when Jim needs a question answered quickly, he calls Amy.

Now let me explain how wonderful this relationship is: she thinks like I do! We will be looking at soapstone, for instance, and after looking at many pieces of stone, we will both agree on the one we like best. In fact, it has become a game of sorts. I will not tell her my first choice until she tells me and it's ALWAYS the same...kinda spooky!...Naturally I think her taste is impeccable! Smiling...

The other wonderful gift of Amy is her sketches. She prefers to draw every detail herself. Cary did many basic sketches but Amy did all the interior wood cabinets, fireplaces, shelving, bath and kitchen design and even the iron work and door schedules. We worked together on lighting design, plumbing fixtures, hardware, placement of art and furniture, floor transitions and appliances. Unless you have built a home, it is hard to believe all that goes into this project and more importantly, the coordination of all that is selected so it indeed looks like the home I have invisioned.

So what is that "look" we are trying to achieve? I want a home that reflects all members of our family: warm, inviting, open, comfortable, casual and loving. ( that is, the family ideal, right?) The style is Hill Country Hacienda with a " dirt kicking", beer drinking, "boots on the coffee table" attitude. and DOGS ARE WELCOME!

...so this is what we have started inorder to make this Hacienda look like an old, warm structure with loving bones: We searched high and low and all over Canada and the USA for antique Pendleton blankets. Each casita has at least one we used to pull colors and develop a theme for the space. Remember we are trying to keep the naive American influence of this region in mind so the symbols, style and colors reflect this. We collected old gates from El Paso, Mexico and the Southwest for the privacy doors on the toilets. All the interior doors come from a source in El Paso who has helped us find antique wooden doors from all over the world. This will be our biggest challenge! Our poor trim carpender will have an individual door schedule for each interior door because they are all different! We also started collecting antique rugs from all over the world. These will be mixed with skins and hides for a colorful Hill Country look.

The Stone

Jose' Ramirez is our stone mason who has years of experience and a crew of jolly Mexicans. Today they were working on the west side of the house with their native music blasting and singing and swaying as they lay each piece of stone. Most do not speak English but smile with a twinkle in their eyes when you say "Gracias". Their clothes are soiled from the mortar and they have little to eat in their lunch boxes but they are as happy as can be! There is much to learn from these giving men. So many thoughts come to my mind when I peer into their sparkling eyes: something about freedom to work, pride in their work, humble attitudes, joyfilled hearts and their spirit of sacrifice for their families.

Jose' works his crews on some of the most beautiful homes in Texas. His crew are artisans who work long hours in the heat, cold and wind. They are building the container, the vessel of love by which everything else fits. I watch each of them work as they study each stone, chip it into the size and shape they want to use, turn it to get just the right color , stand back and see how this stone will look next to the one they just placed and continue to play in the rocks. God blessed their hands and their creative hearts.

This type of stone, the color, the lay, color of mortar and type of stone lay all contribute to the style of stone I wanted for this home. We spent hours driving around old Fredericksburg looking at the original structures to get ideas for this type of stone. I wanted a color that had more texture with greys, beige, brown, rust and white. I didn't want it to be dark as the stone used at Boot Ranch and also because we were using tobacco colored old wood as a contrast. With this in mind, Jose' created many sample boards for me to look at with various stone sizes, different mortar color and even the way the mortar is smeared between the stone makes a difference in its appearance. This lay is called "rumble" and is considered the old lay used by the pioneers. They found whatever stone was available on their property and "threw it up" quickly so they would have a place for their families to live. There is an art to the way it is laid and these men got it perfectly beautiful.

The Comanche Indians

Tonight is Halloween and a beautiful night it is! If I were dressing in a costume this year to "trick or treat", I think I would have to be an American Indian. Indian women were amazing and unlike the way they have been portrayed, they were very important in marriage and family. In Fredericksburg and the surrounding area there were many different Indian tribes. The one that was most feared was the Comanche Tribe. Above you will see a picture of several Comanche wives and their children. Check out their clothes, blankets and trim work on the fabric. This has been the inspiration for the fabrics and interior design for this house along with many other photos collected from the Smithsonian Museum. After much research, the European and German Pioneers, the American Indians, the Hill Country landscape and the influence of our Southern Spanish Neighbors all contributed to the inspiration for this home design.

A " Hot Chocolate" Roof

Chocolate...that is the color of our new roof. Here you can see the roofers laying the first sheets of metal. It is a hot day in the Hill Country! The roof was selected for it's durability, ease with rain water collection and design. Many of the old pioneer homes had metal roofs ( or tin, or whatever they could find). I selected the color so it would blend into the environment and those near and far could not detect it easily. The color reminds me of a wonderful story about "Hot Chocolate". An old professor asked his students to come by his home for an afternoon cup of hot chocolate. They could ask questions of him and visit about many things, not just school topics. He asked each to select a coffee mug from the cabinet. His collection of cups came from all over the world, his travels near and far, some old, some new, some big, some small, some ornate, some plain. He watched each student select a mug for their hot chocolate and then gathered them around the hearth to visit. One young student asked the professor with all his wisdom what he found to be his most important learning in life. The professor said " Life is like Hot Chocolate. You see, I watched each of you take time to select just the perfect mug. Most of you picked the tallest, most beautiful, ornate, fancy, expensive or biggest cup. But there are plenty of cups that are plain, chipped, old with cracks or broken handles. The truth is the mug you selected still holds the same sweet, smooth, yummy hot chocolate. We work our whole lives to find the best, most perfect container for our hot chocolate but it doesn't need any special mug to be enjoyed. Life is right before you, it's not owned by anyone, it can be seen, felt, heard and touched by anyone at anytime. It doesn't need a fancy container to taste it. Don't work so hard to find the perfect mug and miss the time enjoying, savoring the chocolate. So here's to the sweetness of chocolate." CHEERS!

NIGHT SKY OVER THE HILL COUNTRY

Amazing...this is the sky at night just after the sun sets. The sky stays this beautiful blue and pink for 30 minutes as the clouds change formation. This night there was a moon sliver hanging off to the side and a rain storm to the east. The sky was changing so fast and then totally slipped into darkness. It reminded me of a book I had read years ago called " Chasing Daylight". My thoughts drift to TIME and how little we have here on earth , how little we have together and how we are a BLINK. My prayer this evening: thank you, Lord, for the gift of time, for my awareness that you are the reason we exist, for the sunset, night sky, the darkness and the stillness where so much is revealed. Help me to use my remaining time to model your love. Amen

Neighbors and Friends

Today as I was driving on Eckert Road towards O'Mesa, I passed our closest neighbors. Mr Cow was acturally on the road.
Fritz and I shared a turkey sandwitch with the windows down, the sun coming through the sunroof and not a care in the world. It is a beautiful Fall day when the wild flowers are their brightest. The sky is a beautiful powder blue backdrop for hawks that soar in the gentle wind. Up ahead I can see our road cut into the side of the hilltop. It's 20 minute ride from town yet everthing is untouched, natural, primitive, fresh. If I didn't have my cell phone, I would think this is Heaven.

Ministers Working as Builders

Meet Jim Donaldson and Mike Childs! Jim is the Supervisor on this project ( stripped shirt) and very much in charge and Mike happened to stop by to check out the house before he starts weather proofing and laying tile. Both are ministers and both have many other skills. Their names should be Jack, that is, Jack of all trades! I keep finding out more of Jim's talents and skills as we move along on this project.

Both of these men are ministers. Here they are in the building business. How does one go from building lives and hearts for God to building a physical form? It's as though we act out what is going on in our inner world and that we symbolically put form around what our soul desires.

Maybe this house on the hill is a way for each of us to reconcile some inner desires.

WOW...the view is AMAZING

It is fun to watch people's faces when they see the view as they walk through the front doors. Yesterday we had a few folks out to sit on the back patio and visit. Nita Braddock commented that this view of Enchanted Rock was the best Hill Country view she had ever seen. She was so precious as she kept staring in the distance in awe.

"Nature was a mirror of the soul for St. Francis of Assisi

a mirror for himself and a mirror for God. All his mirroring affected a complete change of consciousness in how he saw reality. When Fracis was a young man, he just loved to party. One night he left the party and looked at the stars above Assisi. He stood there for a long time, and he was in awe of what he saw. He said, " If these are the creatures, what must the Creator be like?"

The outer world began to name the inner experience and the nature of God for Francis. It all became a two way mirror through which he could see God and also see his deepest soul."

Father Richard Rohr's adaptation from In the Footsteps of Francis

The last few nights have been exceptionally beautiful. The full moon hung over the east with Jupiter as it's companion. Then as the sky grew darker the stars began to pop out from every direction and it was breath-taking. Bill, Fritz and I stayed out til midnight, in silence. My heart was so full it could burst as I prayed to myself a St. Francis Prayer:

Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console: to be understood as to understand: to be loved as to love: for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. AMEN

A FULL MOON, Jupiter and Brilliant Stars

When I see a full moon, my Dad comes to mine. Funny, I have had him on my mind and heart alot lately. I guess it's because if he were alive, he would have enjoyed watching us build this home. He would have had lots of suggestions about ways to save costs and ideas on how to build this home SECURELY. I never would admit it but I am just like him. I am so sorry I didn't take more time to just be with him. When a loved ones dies, regrets are part of the loss. I continue to realize my regrets and today I wish I had listened closer to him and to his point of view. He really had alot to say but never really said much to anyone except my mom ( Ya Ya).

The Moon, Jupiter and the Stars are brilliant in the sky and what better place to view them then over O'Mesa. I pray for my Dad and think about how much I have learned about life, love, death and dying because of him. I pray his soul is at peace, that he forgives me and all of us here on earth who may have intentionally or unintentionally hurt him. I pray for him to be with me in my life and in my death along with my Savior Jesus Christ, his mother Saint Mary, and all the Angel and Saints.

Seasons Change

We are moving into my favorite time of the year. Now the night air is cooler and the first signs of Autumn are beginning to appear. The acorns are falling, leaves are changing colors of gold, orange, purple, brown and red. It is harvest time here and in many places all over the world.
My thoughts take me back to the time we traveled to Switerland with the Gutmann's. Harvest celebrations with favorite wild game foods, fall vegtables and root plants prepared in traditional style were featured in all the restaurants. The Swiss understand the sacredness of this time and preparations are made for a long, cold and sometimes rentlentless winter.

In Fredericksburg, farmers pray for rain so there might be another cutting of hay, water for the fall vegetable planting and so the streams are flowing for the fly fishermen. O'Mesa sits above a wonderful fly fishing stream, stocked with trout and other native fish. I dream about the walk out the front gate and down to the stream for an afternoon of fishing. It may be that I take a picnic but in either case, I will think about my Dad, ( Papou, Nick) along the way. He loved to fish and never really took much time to enjoy his hobby. One of the great lessons I learned through his dying and his death, enjoy and live each day as though it may be your last for someday it will be.

Today, completing O'Mesa seems very far into the future. I hope my children and grandchildren will enjoy this home and really use it for time to enjoy God's precious good earth. I dream that interested family members will take their fishing poles and head out for an outing. I dream about long still, calm days, peaceful in every way, resting in God and all he provides. I dream about my family loving each other without judgement, without expectation. Is this possible? I pray that our family break the chains of bondage and the family tree is healed of generational wounds. I pray for peace and that this home brings individuals and families together in love.

Next month I will be preparing myself for the Healing of the Family Tree Mass. It is very common for humans to continue what they consciously or unconsciously learned and repeat mistakes, problems, habits, ways to handle stress, wounds, hurts, behaviors and patterns from generation to generation. Today, I begin preparations for the healing and for a way that this O'BRIEN/MORRIS family live in harmony. I image a sign on the O'Mesa back door: GONE FISHING!

Beams, Beams and more Beams

Wow, all of a sudden it starts looking like a house!

This week we fed lunch to the framing crew and their boss, Steve Mathies. We wanted to show our appreciation for their long hot days of labor. Steve and his specialty framer, David, worked to install beautiful antique beams throughout the house. Most of the antique wood is cyprus, oak and long leaf pine and comes from all over Canada and USA. We selected the supplier out of Forth Worth and Amy and Jim made several trips to hand select the beams after finding this awesome source. The beams are handsome and the color is beautiful. We will preserve them to their natural color with a stain color called Natural Light. The barnwood under the patios and between the beams is varied in color and will remain natural. It came from a different supplier out of San Marcos and was also hand selected.

This week was the first week for problem solving. We have had several problems to arise which we expected but worked through each with a good result. One was the exterior doors were never ordered as we were told and the expected delivery date now is late October. We also had to make a choice who to use for Sound and Lighting after reviewing 2 bids. We then walked the house with the frame crew and realized several architectural oversights that we corrected. We are also changing our previous decision about our wood floor and researching if we can use the antique wood throughout the house. Building is not without problems but we have a wonderful team that is communicating, patient and thoughtful This is a blessing in and of itself.

Now the frame crew, Amy, Jim and everyone involved will take a holiday break for Labor Day and we will see everyone back on Tuesday, rested! In the meantime the beams look so good and make me BEAM all over!

It Looks BIG

It looks bigger than the plans! Today I look at this photo and think ... Oh my! I just wanted something simple! At this time of life, I want to have less, simplify, give things away, downsize. OH MY! I pray that this decision to build in these economic times ends up being a good decision. You see, there are different philosophies about money and security. I am from the old school. SAVE for you may need your money for a rainy day. This is in my DNA. My father was a saver and he taught me to watch every penny ( back when a penny had some value). So I learned to make 3 meals out of one chicken.

However, there are those who think about money in a diffierent way. They would rather risk their money either for more or to use it for an asset that provides pleasure. They think of money as a tool to be used instead of hoarding it.

Our economic times are very different now than when I was alittle girl. In those days, you saved, paid for everything in full with cash and delayed gratification. I am trying to understand that the old way may not be the best way for today and to find a balance. Today, with low interest rates, uncertainty in the job market, housing failures, banks closing, and a long standing bear market, why would anyone build a home?

So, here's why. Knowing my DNA, this is stretching me. And so I ask, would I rather have money in a bank account? That is, realizing the bank could fail, it collects no interest to speak of and it provides no pleasure as I watch the money and stock market falls. Why not put it in a physical asset that we can enjoy for a time? You see, no one knows the day or the hour that we will leave this earth therefore I want to keep my attention on what is most important to me: God and Family. So at the moment, it makes sense to give my time and attention to build a gathering place for my family to pray and play together. I pray that this home be valued by my family and used to relax and retreat from daily stress, to feel God's presence as they feel the wind, sun and rains, feel love and support as their individual families grow and gather to spend time together. AND, if by chance, this home is not something our children want to keep in the future, I believe it will be an asset that could provide each of them with money to live/build their own dream.

In short, I am not attached to this home for any reason accept that it be a sacred, comfortable, loving, gathering place for us for as long as my family wants it to be. In the meantime, it beats losing money in the stock market...smiling!

My Name Day

Now some of you are probably wondering what is a "name day". In the Greek Orthodox faith tradition, it is the special day which honors the Saint of whom you are named. Today, August 15th, we honor St. Mary. It is the day the Greek Orthodox's say that our blessed Mother fell asleep: Assumption Day.

Now, to diverge a moment to tell you how I was named. Once again, in the Greek Orthodox faith tradition, a baby is named by their Godmother, a very important relationship in a baby's life. My Godmother wanted me to be named after her: Mary. However, when I was still in the hospital with my mother, my Godmother's sister, SOPHIA, came to see me. When she asked my name, my mother told her "Mary". She smiled and said " she should be named, Maria. It is more beautiful and fits her well". So SOPHIA named me MARIA....smiling.

Hence, the importance of names. O'Mesa is our name for the beautiful property we were blessed to find in the middle of Willow City. Naturally, there's a story behind the way we found our beautiful home site, however today I want to share with you how O'Mesa was named. We were trying to come up with a name that was easy and yet represented our family property well. Many folks got involved trying to come up with names and ideas. We kept saying we are going to the "Mesa". Bill L'Heiux from Toronto was visiting with his wife, Janet, and we kept saying we want to show you the "Mesa". He blurted out "We are going to the O'Brien's Mesa, O'Mesa". We all laughed and said we like that, Bill! It just rolled off his tongue with ease and we all agreed it was a good name for this unique property. It is simple and fits like a fine leather glove. And so it was named O'MESA.

Isn't it interesting that when you try to be creative or problem solve, it doesn't seem to happen easily? BUT when you relax and just let things happen, that some of the best ideas and solutions seem to form. "Let Go, Let God". Hmmm...I am finally learning to get out of HIS way!

The August Heat

The summer heat in Fredericksburg finally reached 100 degrees and my thoughts drift to the workers who wear wet towels around their necks and no shirts as they frame our home. I sit in the grove of trees with my cool drink as I listen to their conversations, country music, jokes, stories and tall tales. One worker's wife is having a baby this weekend. Another worries that the bank is not open when he gets off and he needs some money for groceries this evening.

Here I sit remembering the years that I too worked to serve others. The years I worked in a factory in order to make enough money to attend The University of North Carolina. The years I rode my bicycle to professors homes so that I might clean for their wives or ride my bike in the dark to my night job where I cocktail waitressed til the middle of the morning and rode home by the moonlight. How is it I am a lady of privledge today? I so understand the minds and hearts of these laborers. My parents labored in factories all their life to give my sister and me the simple bare necssities. One worker will come for a glass of cold water and graciously address me...with respect and courtesy. I address him the same way for I am deeply grateful that he amoung others is working to build us a dream home. There are times I don't understand how I got to this place in time, that is , short of a miracle. Do I believe there is a God? Like Carl Jung, " I don't believe there's a God, I know there's a God".

and so, today is a hot summer day in August. My mind and heart are as clear as the sky. The native birds pester each other and fight for water at the few watering holes available and I am in heartfelt gratitude for everything....everything good and not so good that is...thinking "in everything we are to be grateful". And so today is one of those good days. One of those days that I have the time to see what is before me, time to contemplate the experience, time to just BE. Tomorrow is another day....

Off to the Races!

After several years of planning, it looks like we are going to build this legacy home! However, before I share with you the photos of our awesome slab and the framing that is underway, I want to fill you in on some of the interesting research and ideas that went into the design of this authentic Hill Country home. When Cary Kipp, Kipp Flores Architect, asked me to describe what I had in my minds eye ( ie what I thought the elevation and style would be) I kept saying an Argentine Hunting Lodge but with a Hill Country, Hacienda look. Then I chuckled and said " I have never been to Argentina and I couldn't tell you what a Hill Country Hacienda looks like but let's see what you come up with after I describe it in alittle more detail.

I see a Hacienda style home that has a Hill Country, Texas look verus a Spanish/Mexican look. I want to incorporate the ideas of the Sunday Houses ( casitas) for each of our children, have it look like it's 100 years old, timeless, classic and will be classic and timeless in 100 years from now. I never want anyone to say, "this home was built in 2010" because of the materials or style we choose today. It needs to be relaxed, casual, comfortable just like it is when you live in the country. Yet, a bit more sophisticated then primitive and true to the materials and colors of this region and the landscape.

I like the idea of using natural materials and local artisans particulary those who pride themselves in the "grass roots" style that is authentic to the Hill Country. One of my observations while living in Fredericksburg is that some people are building homes that are beautiful and the style could be seen in San Antonio, Aspen, Ashville and other wonderful places. I wanted this home to be as authentic to Fredericksburg as a new home could be including rain water collection, standing seam roof, native stone, antique wood floors, 150 year old doors, antique hardware, flat ceilings, Sunday Houses, cedar stay fencing, gas lighting, wind mills, cisterns and then naturally couple it with magnificant views, wildlife, wild flowers and native grass, catus and a sky so big, you know God is looking at you through the stars at night.

OMESA

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Blessing OMESA

Fritz, my mini dachshund and side kick, left out early this morning to bless OMESA as planned. The wind was blowing, sun peaking through the the random clouds and Enchanted Rock was a brillant pink. Because of my busy-ness, I have not opened my daily devotional in weeks but I decided today I would pray and read from God's Calling as I bless OMESA with holy water. Without much thought, I opened to June 12 and here's what I saw: House on a ROCK! Synchronistic ...yes! A wonderful way the spirit of goodness nudges us in validation and support.

"He that heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them is like unto a man who built his house upon a rock, and the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the house and it fell not, for it was founded upon a ROCK"

The secure, steadfast, immovable life of My disciples, THE ROCK HOME, is not built at a wish, in a moment, but is laid stone by stone, foundation, walls, roof, by the acts of obedience, the daily following out of My wishes, the loving doing of My Will. ( God's Calling, page 123).

Greek Proverb

...plant a tree, write a book, have a son and BUILD A HOME....note I said HOME...so this will not be just any house, or just any project...this is a lesson in life, love and holiness...as I learn much about myself, others and God during this journey. You see, I have planted a tree ( beautiful white and pink dogwood at our Gilbert Place home), wrote a metaphorical book which is complex and difficult to understand by some, had a son with a little help from my husband ...and now the ground is prepared for a sacred structure. A HOME....A HOME that mirrors the interior castle of all who live there or visit...A HOME that becomes a beacon of light from the Mesa ridge and examplifies the fruits of the spirit....... ..........( Galatians 5:22-23) A HOME of love, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, joy, faithfulness,patience,and self-control. Is this possible?

I plan to bless the site in the morning with holy water and prayer as I ask God to bless the journey to completion as well as the result..... a sacred HOME on sacred GROUND. Please pray with me that this rock HOME be an example of holiness for all who enter the gates .... pray that the artisans and all those who use their creativity, minds and their hands be safe and blessed as they contribute their talents. It's with gratitude that I pray ...