chinohouse

[chinohouse]

Oronsay: A Quiet Corner of the Isle of Skye (and my favorite hike + swim day)

It’s been exactly 10 years since I first visited the Scottish Isle of Skye. We took the kids camping there for an autumn school holiday (also known as Tattie Holidays). It was the last year we still had four kids under our roof and I was determined to make the most of every family holiday we had together. We explored the Isle of Skye from top to bottom and east to west. We camped near the Cuillin…

[chinohouse]

A Letter to My Kids About Making Time For Creativity

A Letter to My Kids About Making Time For Creativity

A Letter To My Children About Making Time For Creativity

Dear Sweet Ones,

I want to tell you something about creativity.

To create is to reflect the image of God, the Creator.

To create anything is to participate in the divine purpose for which we were made.

I hope you will let those words sink deep into your soul.

Whenever we spend time in creation, I am in awe of all God’s great gifts in…

[chinohouse]

In The Pipeline: May

In The Pipeline: May

Hello friends,

We’ve had a mixture of blue skies and rainy days over the last couple of weeks here in Tübingen.

We had friends come to visit and they definitely experienced a bit of every kind of weather.

We even had a bit of snow.

We headed back to Castle Lichtenstein where we had a gorgeous birthday lunch at the Altes Forsthaus. If you ever go, I strongly recommend the Maltauschen!

It was…

[chinohouse]

Snapshots of Antigua, Guatemala

A photo essay of lovely #Antigua, where we stopped after our yoga retreat at Lake Atitlan.

It seems ages ago now I walked the smokey gray cobbled streets of Antigua with my boys.

We spent a couple of nights here after our week at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

The city noises were jarring after a week of hearing mostly just the wind or the occasional boat motor.

Antigua is loud and lively.

Bright and colorful.

And really old.

The town has been around since the 1500s, but it was…

[chinohouse]

In The Pipeline: April

Once a month I publish a few random bits of news and links. Here's April!

The boys went back to school this morning after two weeks of being at home.

It was the first long stretch of school holidays in several years where we opted not to travel.

Mary Polly came through on her way to Dresden.

We went on lots of day hikes.

We had new friends around most evenings.

So even though we were home, the time felt full. (Of course, there were also a lot of hours on computers and…

[chinohouse]

Snapshots of Walks in Germany in Spring

Snapshots of Walks in Germany in Spring

  The last few weeks in Tübingen, Germany have been so gorgeous that I am not going to complain about the fact that for some strange reason, it has been snowing here for the last two days.

I just hope the snow doesn’t freeze or destroy all the sweet blossoms that are popping out everywhere.

The boys have been on Easter break so we have had lots of extra days out walking in beautiful Baden-Württ…

[chinohouse]

Snapshots of Guatemala

Lake Atitlan Guatemala

Over a month ago (or maybe it was a lifetime ago), we flew to Guatemala to join Taido’s family for a week on Lake Atitlán and a few days in Antigua.

My mother-in-law has been raving about the beauty of this lake for years, so we were excited to leave winter in Northern Europe to meet her and Taido’s sister + boyfriend among the hammocks and papaya trees.

Getting to the…

[chinohouse]

In The Pipeline: March

News and Links from the my house to yours.

  Hello friends,

Since my last pipeline, I have been to Guatemala, had my mama (plus a few other Arkansans!) come to visit and watched the glorious arrival of spring in Germany!

It’s been a wonderful month of connecting face to face with people. Lots of eye contact and soul-nourishing talks across tables.

April will be quieter (for travel and visitors) but we have lots of spring walking planned…

[chinohouse]

A Book of Letters

In celebration of TEN YEARS of blogging, I wrote a little book!

Me in Crested Butte, Colorado in 2007, the year I started this blog.

Happy Ten Year Blog Anniversary to Me!

Ten years ago I started writing on the internet, and to celebrate that little milestone, I am releasing a little 60-page book of letters I wrote right here:

It’s called Letters from Alison.

I hope you enjoy it!

Blogging has been the most wonderful gift to me as a writer, an opportunity to…

[chinohouse]

A Letter to My 10 Year Old Son Upon The Election of Donald Trump To The Office of President

I wrote my son a letter the week after 45 was elected. I'm sharing it now because his being in office is worse than I ever imagined.

A Letter to My Ten Year Old Son Upon The Election of Donald Trump To The Office of President

I wrote this letter back in November and held onto it because I felt like it sounded a bit alarmist. I opened it again just a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised to discover that I’m not sure it’s alarmist enough. I’m sharing it now because I want all my children to understand my heart about the…

[chinohouse]

A Letter to White People (including Myself) + List of Resources For Getting Woke

A Letter to White People (including Myself) + List of Resources For Getting Woke

Dear White People (including myself),

As Black History Month wraps up, I want to make a plea that we all choose not be done with Black History for the year.

Current events are daily revealing how necessary it is that all Americans learn Black History all year long.

For how long?

For as long as it takes for us to unwrite the rules we wrote when our brothers and sisters were enslaved and we did…

[chinohouse]

In The Pipeline: February (Black History Month Edition!)

In The Pipeline: February (Black History Month Edition!)

Hello!

We’ve had a full month friends. I finished up my German class, went to Strasbourg, did lots of ghost blog/website writing AND my friend Sandra came back to visit!

We went on long walks in and around Tübingen and stayed up into the wee hours talking about everything under the sun. It was just delightful. Ben and Taido went skiing one day while she was here, so she and Simon and I went on…

[chinohouse]

Snapshots of Winter Walks in Germany

Y'all know I stay sane by walking in all the kinds of weather. Even winter.

Winter Germany Walking

Winter is finally letting up here in Germany, but we’ve had lots of snow and icy days since December.

There have been lots of frosty walks, and attempts to get our faces in the sun.

Although there were many days in January when there was no sun to be found.

Still, the snow can be so bright and beautiful.

I love how it crunches underneath my walking boots.

And how the…

[chinohouse]

Snapshots of Strasbourg, France

Y'all. We're only two hours away from this gorgeous town.

One of the advantages of where we live in Germany is that we are just a few hours from several other European countries.

So earlier this winter we headed to the closest French town west of us:

Strasbourg.

I’m surprised it took us this long to get to Strasbourg because we have a dear friend who is living there at the moment, and if you asked the boys in my family what they enjoyed most about our…

[chinohouse]

Walking and Eating in Venice

We LOVED getting to explore Venice on a food tour w/@WalksofItaly #takewalks

Walking and Eating in Venice with Walks of Italy

I think that you plan a trip to Venice because you’ve seen how gorgeous it is in pictures and in films. And when you go, the canals, bridges and alleys of Venice will totally fulfill your expectations by being as enchanting as you always imagined.

But another reason to go to Venice (or indeed to Italy) is to eat, so it is no surprise that one of…

[chinohouse]

Snapshots of Venice, Italy

Me to Taido in October:

Oh my goodness. Direct flights to Venice from Stuttgart are less than $20 right now! What do you think? Christmas in Italy. We could surprise the kids!

Taido: Let’s do it. 

(My husband is a man of few words.)

It’s funny how many of our trips have begun with an exchange like this actually. We have entirely too many flight alerts set up on various apps and websites.

But…

[chinohouse]

In The Pipeline: January Confessions, News and Links

Hey y'all. It's been a while but I'm back on the blog! >>> In The Pipeline

Two Saturdays ago, I was sitting in my kitchen listening to the Hamilton Mixed Tape and keeping an eye on a cake baking in the oven.

I had volunteered to bring dessert to church lunch the next day, borrowing two sheet pans from the church kitchen in order to bake my Grandmother’s chocolate cakefor new friends. Because wandering into an unfamiliar church kitchen and volunteering to bake dessert…