1. We made these fantastic paleo stuffed peppers for dinner a couple days ago. They came highly recommended by a friend who is never wrong about food, and – surprise! – she was not wrong. They’re full of good flavors, and simple as can be.
2. I’ve been on a reading kick the past few weeks. My Shelfari account tells me I’m still behind on my goal of 75 books for the year, but that’s cool. I’m gaining on it fast. Thus far, I’ve read 12 books this year, and 8 of them were in the last month. See? Gaining on it. I always read like this (actually, I do most things like this). I go in spurts, until I burn out or become highly interested in something else for a while. It’s a strange system, but it works for me.
3. It’s been a slow week around here, which is nice, but it also means I don’t have a lot to tell you today. I’m thinking of changing the title of this weekly post to “Five on Friday”. Five seems doable to me each week.
4. We have big, exciting plans this weekend. We’re spending most of it with my extended family, and then Andy and I are going to see Jim Gaffigan perform. It will be our first time out sans kids since before Noah was born (unless you count that one time we went on a whirlwind grocery trip…which I don’t). So, yeah, exciting is a good word.
5. I’ve been listening to this song on repeat. It is beautiful in every way. At different times I’ve been unable to stop smiling at the beauty of its words, and unable to contain sobs at the same thing. Christa Wells has quickly become one of my favorite singer/songwriters.

Here are the lyrics:

Brother, he’s suffered like a tree taken down
Wept as he witnessed his dreams carved out
And how can a man just keep walking around
With his heart full of holes
But ooh, his bow is on the strings
And the tune resonates in the open space
To show us how emptiness sings

Glory to God, Glory to God!
In fullness of wisdom
He writes my story into his song
My life for the glory of God
Hmmm, hmmmm

Sister carries her loneliness
In a hidden hollow inside her chest
And sometimes all that she wants is an end
To the long, long night
But ooh, her bow is on the strings
And the tune resonates in the open space
To show us how emptiness sings

Glory to God, Glory to God!
In fullness of wisdom
He writes my story into his song
My life for the glory of God
Hmmm, hmmmm

I haven’t been asked yet to walk the hard roads
Still there’s a sense of deep loss in my soul
In the middle of a party, I’ll just want to go
Home
But ooh, my bow is on the strings
I’m beginning to learn where to find the words
To the song that emptiness sings

Ooh, bow is on the strings
Glory to God, Glory to God
This is how emptiness sings, oh
This is how emptiness sings
Hmmmm, hmmmm