people

i say it again.
people.
it's a new year, and i have a new computer. one that isn't telling me all the things i can't do, taking forever loading programs, and droning about. this new one keeps telling me of all the things it can do and loads everything up (web and programs alike) so beautifully artistically. i almost shed tears. it's like new glasses for the eyes kind of fun. a new computer has shown me what i've been missing. small details that were missed before are appreciated again. what a joy!

enough material glowing reviews- it's a new year!

i just read one of my college buddies blogs (tessa, you're not really a college buddy, but since you married one- i'm totally calling you that), and she talked a bit about reflecting upon the new year. this prompted my post. for reals.

this past year was quite lovely, but also chaotic. we moved, my kids grew (which is so bittersweet!), and we met more people who have blessed our lives and made it more full. along with that i picked up some habits which i will hope remedy themselves this year in 2013. i'm putting a phone reminder to post in march- a quarter of the way through this year to tell of my progress.

my to do's of 2013:

- eat yummier food made at home (i do this, but i'd like to be more fun about it, and keep challenging our food preferences)
- earn some brown boots to wear with my fun dollar/mile run program (something i set up with my hubs to motivate me). i haven't worked out for almost 4 weeks now because i got sick, then we traveled and my in-laws tread broke so i didn't have exercise ability (and i only brought indoor workout clothes. whoops).
- finish a project monthly (three on the docket: 1. a painting. 2. the napkins i started months ago. 3. bathroom refresh)
- get on the photo memory making. i haven't printed anything since kid #3 was 9m. (he's 3 now. gasp!)
- adopt a more 'git 'er done' attitude. i've become a bit lazy in the evenings with my sweet ones wearing me out and i let myself chill every night. i'm done.

i'd be happy with that. if i achieve these, i will edit and update in 3m.

enjoy.
did you guys make any resolutions?

lifted up…

a song that i have truly been rocking out to in my head since this past sunday. downloaded a version from Antioch Wheaton (Community Church) off iTunes tonight and i'm totally loving it. check it out if you get a chance! (the whole cd has good songs on it, but some talking is on it as well- which brought the full cd down a notch in my book)

You’re my Strength

You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me

You are my hope
Hope like no other
Hope like no other
Reaches to me

In the fullness of Your grace
In the power of Your Name
You lift me up
You lift me up

Unfailing love
Stronger than mountains
Deeper than oceans
Reaches to me

Your love O Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness
Reaches to the skies

letters…

well, sent out some letters recently. one of them was a sympathy card and i didn't think that these stamps were really fitting for it. well, i actually don't think that they are really fitting for ANYTHING per-se, but i do think they are more appealing than the forever stamps.

do you like to write letters? i totally do. they are soooo much fun.

i won something!

seriously, i totally won something!!!!!! (an everyday 5x7 photo book) i can't believe it. :) i've been reading this blog since a few months before #1 was born. i've been selective about what i *enter* to get a prize, but i've never won. so shocked. what a fun blessing!

here's kellicrowe's blog. she's so much fun to read and loves jane austin (no joke), blogging, scrapping, photography, homeschooling and much more. i love to read it when i need a smile on my face.

(the pic is off her blog... hope you don't mind, kelli!)

expansion…

another picture of essentially our new ride

my little toyota corolla was not going to make it legal for me to drive with three children in the car with me. last week, the husband took the car to his parent's house to hopefully sell it. he put it in the driveway and the next day we had completed a transaction of sale. yes, it really was that fast. i love that his parents are willing to let us use their driveway since many cars drive past. it's the second vehicle we've sold on the drive, and maybe the 4th or 5th one that has been placed out there. (this one sold the fastest, though!)

i didn't have a car once the hubby got back from his business trip (thank goodness he could hitch a ride back home with a co-worker since the trip was for training and other people from his office needed to go) and although it wasn't bad, i had to be alert enough in the morning to consider my options for the day. usually, we're not that busy- but it was a bummer to want to pick up some needed groceries and be stuck at home without really a simple way to get them. i'm a flexible lady, so i would just say- nah, i don't need the car and then later kind of regret it.

this weekend, i had my ten year reunion from high school and we stayed at my parent's house. after the husband insisted we look at a vehicle on saturday — i begrudgingly went. 7 hours later we were driving home a van and then 30 minutes later we were off to the reunion. i'll write about that another time (if i remember).

so now, we are van owners. #1 is crazy about it and talks about it all the time. some things he is saying about it:
"ooooh! the ban doors are sliding closed. mmmmmm. click!"
"lets go in our new ban"
"please open my window"
"#2 likes the ban, too"
"ding, ding, ding! doors closing"
today we went to the farmer's market and on the way back to the van he said
"walking back to the new ban. then we go to the new house" (he's still kind of adjusting to the fact that we don't live two blocks away from both the farmer's market and the library... on those days- i am, too!)

i've decided that although we have a van, i am certain that i won't ever be a soccer mom. even if my kids play soccer. it's the personality, not the vehicle- right? (talk to me in about 10 years and we'll see if i was being silly today…)

my latest fav

from the mrs. meyer's clean day line-up. i had always kept away from the scent because i didn't really want to have the smell of baby powder in my house outside of the basic stuff that you *normally* put on babies. it reminds me of my first deodorant, and i simply can't do it. to my surprise this blossom scent is not even remotely like baby powder, but a honeysuckle scent. i looove the smell of honeysuckle! (*i really miss the honeysuckle nectar from bath and body works- it was fantabulous)
anyway- bought it at buy buy baby and have been enjoying it for about a week. splendid!

blast from the past (for me)

when i was younger, i was totally obsessed with press-on nails. i still think i have a couple boxes of them that have been *gently used* at my parents house (eeeew). yesterday, i was watching tv while plowing through some magazines, and saw a commercial for said nails for the first time since i was about 8 years old.

if the commercial running was anything like the one i saw yesterday when i was young, then i can totally see why i would be enthralled with this product. it revolved around people who had long nails that could do tons of things that you would want to do as you get older. the most specific thing that drew me in was the end of the commercial where the girl is dancing at a club (which when i was 8 it would have been pure innocent lust for that kind of environment).

unfortunately, on this side of my teens, i don't really buy into the commercial at all. first of all, EVERYONE in the commercial has their nails with french manicure press-ons. obviously, i'm not one to look like everyone else, so it is kind of unappealing these days. second of all, i've always had decent nails (even when i was 8) and have no trouble growing them. third, those things are not cool to take off your actual nails. it hurts. i don't like it. and the glue is weird. i already have kids who sometimes tug at my nails and it hurts a lot even if it is a gentle pull.

anyway- if having a french manicure is impractical for you because you can't keep your nails long, then here's the link to bring back the late 80's/early 90's in full force: kissusa

stinky

that is the best way to describe what our basement is like these days. stinky. while we were gone for the weekend there were heavy storms and the dam that my husband made to corral all the water into one space failed and the water went towards the carpet. as we are trying to dry everything out as fast as we can, it is reaaaally stinky. it smells kind of like… dirty trash. yep. that is what our entertainment room smells like. what a bummer, eh? anyway- here is a recent photo of the kids. if #1 actually cared about stinky things, i bet this is the face he'd make. fortunately for him, this is just a bad photo of him. he's still pretty cute, though. eh? #2 is patiently looking on because he is waiting for #1 to read the story to him (it's about big brothers, ha).

good trip this past weekend. one of the girls from the college bible study i led got married. whoa! what a great wedding. it was good to see people, but sometimes a wedding isn't the best venue for talking. oh well! i just wish i got to see them. i got a mention in their program for helping them with a logo monogram. i was surprised, but it was nice. great girl.

spring cleaning

well, i have been slowly waking up from the *just had a baby* fog and it is making me think about cleaning the house. think. i'm not a huge fan of cleaning, and my parents left the weekend after Easter and i realized that i haven't touched the floors or changed the downstairs bathroom towels since. note: i have a 17 month old kid who eats food on a carpeted floor. there is NO way that the floor is clean around the high chair since we've started encouraging eating his food with a spoon on his own. see below for a fairly accurate photo of his skills at this point (they are good, i'm gonna be honest- but for germ freaks like hubby and i- not good enough!).




anyway… this brings me back to the whole idea of cleaning. i was at the grocery a couple weeks back and discovered this fairly gentle on the earth brand of cleaners. i'm totally sold on it because i like the way that the design is on the bottle. the copy totally drew me in and honestly- who doesn't relate to stick figures? everyone can draw a stick figure (i seriously secretly am in love with them)! check out the site and let me know what you think. i bought the dish soap in lavender (whoa- a little bit strong for me, but i still like it) and the shower spray in geranium (i love, LOVE the scent- but after i re-read the packaging and saw that it said *make sure the shower is clean when you spray it* i started thinking, hunh- so this won't clean it? i think that it's just a freshen-up cleaner, which is fine by me b/c the scent rocks my world). again, check it out. i think that i might be replacing my products with this brand for a while as i slowly, slowly finish the harsh chemical stuff. yep.

although- bleach, you and i will always be friends. i learned that from my mother. we just might be visiting friends instead of best friends from here on out.

madonna, you had it right…

i am a material girl.

i've been aching to buy stuff lately for myself in the clothing area. it is difficult because i am not generally a patient person when it comes to ideas i have in my head. we went to an outlet center a couple weekends back, and it was all i could do to not buy a couple cute t's that would *hopefully* fit in the summer. now, the key thing is hopefully and that isn't a good thing. sooooo wait i will. i also want to exercise/eat better (sort of continue the upward trend started around new years) which might change a lot of things. we'll see. :)

have to get some serious work done.

tempted to take a nap (is 7:30 pm too late to do that?)

will get something done because work is a priority…

the little man might look like he's happy the snow is here, but trust me… i'm sure this feeling is fleeting.

good or bad?

that is the question that comes to mind with the latest lunch i fed the kid. here's the scenario. i give him some crackers, cheese bits, mango, and some *corn* puffs. he usually likes all of these things, but eats a bit of all of them and begins to push things around the try. during this time of him deliberating eating the food the Lord provided him, i had realized the rejection of cubed mango and decided to puree them with some blueberries i'll have left over after i make a recipe (bonus points to me for being resourceful, in my opinion!). i give a bit to the lil' man and wow! he loves it. i look at the stuff on the tray before him and i... and figure, hmm... it couldn't hurt (and the husband and i have joked about this several times).

here's the step-by-step!


step one: scoop all that was on tray into bowl used for mango/blueberry goodness.


step two: blend (i added some trusty yogurt to make it so it wouldn't be only grains).


step three: feed the kid the food. seriously- this is right after i fed him. now- he ate it all, wondered if there was more (?!) and i chuckled because i really thought he would look at me like i was nuts giving him this. he saw the whole process from his chair- and he's smart. i really think he doesn't like to chew his food. i am blessed with a non-chewing kid. hopefully the Lord will give me the patience to keep working with him and improving his eating skills. wow.

thank goodness for the magic bullet.

and yes, i plan on giving my kid some veggies *sometime* today. seriously. do not worry about the variety. this was a weird *we're running out of food* lunch attempt.

*sidenote* i broke the microwave (well, sort of). i wonder if the man will want a new one? i could care less, but a chipped turntable (glass, obviously) could be dangerous. that, and he's mentioned how he would like a new one, but aren't all microwaves pretty much the same?

no tag backs!

tagged by knittingma to a book-blog-thing. i am always trying to read something, which is crazy because the kiddo takes up a lot of day time, and freelance takes up a lot of the nap and night time. i'm reading two books right now, but one is totally sucking me in more than the other (sorry jane austen!). i rarely read books over and over again, but i have started a couple of books in the past two years thinking it was new to me and then realized after about 2-5 chapters that i have read it. i don't have time to re-read books i've read. the world has so many to offer!

ah, yes- the book i'm reading is "jane eyre" by charlotte brontë, i guess i should have mentioned that a bit earlier. i like this cover better than my cover (but my little man gets a kick of laughing at mine).

per tag request, i am to turn to page 161 of the book (i haven't read this far yet! ak!), and read the 5th sentence. Here we go:
"And will you consent to dispenses with a great many conventional forms and phrases, without thinking that the omission arises from insolence?"

i am curious about this sentence since i'm about 30 pages off from getting to this point, but i'm excited to read more about what is going on. my assumption is that jane is meeting the owner of the house, and is going to be having a discussion. will they fall in love? i have high doubts, but what i read last night made me think "you need a man, girl!"

as knittingma has done, i guess i'll also list some of my favorite books:

• A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
• Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
• To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
• The Chronicles of Narnia Series, by C.S. Lewis
• The Harry Potter Series, by J.K. Rowling
• Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
• Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden *edited to add in- great read*

the first three are books i read in high school and loved it because my teacher was amazing at teaching us about what the book was telling us on the surface and also digging deep. i kind of hated her for it, but it obviously worked because i remember loving these books and would love to be a part of something that would discuss books this way (or more like tell me all the foreshadowing and underlining concepts). i guess that is what book clubs are for, but i guess i will wait till i have a normal schedule before finding one of those (do normal schedules exist after kids? normal = one where you own it and decide what you're doing that evening).


i'm now supposed to tag five people. but i'm not really sure who reads this blog, so i'm going to pass. feel free to feel like i tagged you. obviously, i'm not competitive (except, i will tag someone if we're running around so i can take a break in the free-zone!)

suck that

about a week before baby #1 was born, we decided to buy a new vacuum because we HATED bagless vacuums. we loved the hoover we owned before and decided to bust out the bank money and buy one that is bagged. the carpet dust weapon of choice ended up being "Tempo Widepath Bagged Upright Vacuum" and it has been awesome. I don't vacuum a LOT, but i changed the bag for the FIRST time today. yeah. and i didn't have to vacuum up the area around the canister after pulling out the bag. so yes, shameless advertising for a vacuum- hasn't lost suction at ALL in this time (or at least that i have noticed) and we bought it from amazon.

buy one already if you have a bagless and really don't like it (i don't know if it works with super dog hair or someone who has OCD... but it TOTALLY works for us).

simple things...

ok- so i love how owen is playing with this shoe for SO long. it is precious. i think that he played with it for at least 10 minutes... i caught it at the tail end of excitement, but i think that you (the viewer) can still get the gist. isn't it crazy how a kiddo can be so excited about having something so simple? these shoes have been around for about 8 years. i'm about to throw them out because my knee has begun to hurt when i wear them. i'm trying to avoid it because they are my most favorite shoes... i've never had a pair of running shoes this long. just ask my mom. well- i did buy two of the exact same pairs one point in my life. those ones were *awesome* but that was two pairs, and they sure did NOT last 8 years. whoa.

now that my kid likes to play with them, should i keep them? that is the real question.


unfortunately, i think that the answer is… no.