This HTML stuff is kinda hard...not going to lie. Maybe I should stop wasting time playing with my blog and study for my huge anatomy test (that is on Superbowl Sunday...re-gosh-darn-diculous).
But...many thanks to Marissa Sharbaugh who lent some incredible advice.
Being cooped up in the house for 3 days is wearing on my nerves, big time. However, I did get the kiddos back today and that makes me happy, happy, happy. Life is a little less boring with Nerf guns and Dora computer games. I missed my kiddos.
So, tell me what you think. Color scheme not so good? I'm thinking of changing it again...can't decide to what. Advice/comments/suggestions appreciated.
Oh, and I loathe this state right now. Just sayin.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
a crafty christmas
Every year I get some fabulously great idea about some craft I am going to complete...and usually the only "crafty" thing I accomplish are my Christmas cards, which do take about one bazillion hours, so I guess that counts.
But this year, I actually gave away as a gift something that I completely made with my hands. And I think that's pretty cool.
I'll let the pictures tell the story..
First, you're definitely going to need a crafting partner. Because crafts are messy and irritating at times, and sometimes, quite frankly, you just don't have enough fingers to hold the ribbon down while the glue dries and put the ribbon on at the same time. She should also always be prepared with a rolling pin and meat mallet.
I wish I was some cool blog author and could give you the actual recipie for what we did this day, but I can't. We're kinda "fly by the seat of our crafty little butts" kind of girls.
So here's what we used:
refined white sugar
florida raw crystallized sugar
brown sugar
olive oil
(did I mention olive oil?)
calendula and shea butter baby lotion
essential oils
the meat of the inside of a vanilla bean (I cannot lie....we are SO cool)
And we put all kinds of various proportions of the above stuff into my kickin new Kitchen-Aid and Sugar Srub we made. We took turns coming up with scents, while I wrestled with the containers trying to glue to stupid freaking ribbon on (it was really a tiresome process...better planning next time).
The scrub came out really neat...it made our hands feel like silk, but was also kinda the color of baby poo. Also something to think about next year. However, I gave mine to my friends at our annual Christmas tradition lunch, and one friend already told me how much she loved it, however she is also a really nice person, so we'll see...
We (really Britty) made mugs with cocoa and "smarshmellows" (as Carter would call them) and peppermint tea and lemon poppyseed bread for Britty to give to friends/family, whatnot...
I'd say this year far rocked out the year I tried to make sleeping pants for everyone. I am laughing out loud on my couch thinking about those ridiculous things. This is why I buy clothes. But this day, we didn't buy, we made. And not because we are extraordinarily poor, but because we wanted to give something that showed we cared. A labor of love, if you will.
And...if nothing else. It was a really freaking fun day.
and dum...dum...dum...da..dum...my favorite picture of the day...
But this year, I actually gave away as a gift something that I completely made with my hands. And I think that's pretty cool.
I'll let the pictures tell the story..
First, you're definitely going to need a crafting partner. Because crafts are messy and irritating at times, and sometimes, quite frankly, you just don't have enough fingers to hold the ribbon down while the glue dries and put the ribbon on at the same time. She should also always be prepared with a rolling pin and meat mallet.
I wish I was some cool blog author and could give you the actual recipie for what we did this day, but I can't. We're kinda "fly by the seat of our crafty little butts" kind of girls.
So here's what we used:
refined white sugar
florida raw crystallized sugar
brown sugar
olive oil
(did I mention olive oil?)
calendula and shea butter baby lotion
essential oils
the meat of the inside of a vanilla bean (I cannot lie....we are SO cool)
And we put all kinds of various proportions of the above stuff into my kickin new Kitchen-Aid and Sugar Srub we made. We took turns coming up with scents, while I wrestled with the containers trying to glue to stupid freaking ribbon on (it was really a tiresome process...better planning next time).
The scrub came out really neat...it made our hands feel like silk, but was also kinda the color of baby poo. Also something to think about next year. However, I gave mine to my friends at our annual Christmas tradition lunch, and one friend already told me how much she loved it, however she is also a really nice person, so we'll see...
We (really Britty) made mugs with cocoa and "smarshmellows" (as Carter would call them) and peppermint tea and lemon poppyseed bread for Britty to give to friends/family, whatnot...
I'd say this year far rocked out the year I tried to make sleeping pants for everyone. I am laughing out loud on my couch thinking about those ridiculous things. This is why I buy clothes. But this day, we didn't buy, we made. And not because we are extraordinarily poor, but because we wanted to give something that showed we cared. A labor of love, if you will.
And...if nothing else. It was a really freaking fun day.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
the toy I always wanted...
Bet you you didn't know you could be jealous of your five year old did you? Ohh...yes. My little girl received the gift I pined for in my childhood, but never got....the Easy Bake Oven. Oh, I cannot even describe the joy. However, far (far!) away from my childhood, I must say, really the thing is a piece of crap. Cooking with a lightbulb? What? But to my Katie, this was the REAL thing....and so I did my best to set up to make a cake just like I would.
Complete sidenote--I purposed in my heart a long time ago that I wanted to be the kind of mom that actually DID the things she promised. I've realized how quickly, the words "next time" or "tomorrow" pass my lips, and then get lost in the mundane daily activities. I want to stop saying "in a little while" or "go play with your toys."
So, despite the incredible annoying-ness that actually comes with said Easy Bake Oven...bake we did that night! And she had a blast. The cake tastes kind of like an old pancake, but to her it tasted like the finest cake in all the world. And thats what made me the most happy.
waiting...not so patiently :)
Complete sidenote--I purposed in my heart a long time ago that I wanted to be the kind of mom that actually DID the things she promised. I've realized how quickly, the words "next time" or "tomorrow" pass my lips, and then get lost in the mundane daily activities. I want to stop saying "in a little while" or "go play with your toys."
So, despite the incredible annoying-ness that actually comes with said Easy Bake Oven...bake we did that night! And she had a blast. The cake tastes kind of like an old pancake, but to her it tasted like the finest cake in all the world. And thats what made me the most happy.
waiting...not so patiently :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
this gives me hope.
A long time ago (though many days, it still feels like yesterday) my sister gave me a necklace of hers to wear during a very difficult time in my life. It was a simple necklace, a hammered circle of silver with four distinct letters engraved in the center....HOPE.
And it gave me hope. I wore it every day during my difficullt divorce and when the papers were signed, and agreements were finally made, I took it off, now tarnished and perhaps even worn smooth in places my fingers had unconsciously rubbed it, over and over again...and gave it back to her, during a time when she needed hope.
In the 30 (gasp! I admitted it!) years I have known her, she's given me a lot of hope, and a lot of grace.
And this picture, this picture gives me HOPE.
That it will all be worth it. That one day, I will wear a cap and gown again, and enter a whole new life.
Thank you for making me believe.
And it gave me hope. I wore it every day during my difficullt divorce and when the papers were signed, and agreements were finally made, I took it off, now tarnished and perhaps even worn smooth in places my fingers had unconsciously rubbed it, over and over again...and gave it back to her, during a time when she needed hope.
In the 30 (gasp! I admitted it!) years I have known her, she's given me a lot of hope, and a lot of grace.
And this picture, this picture gives me HOPE.
Thank you for making me believe.
Monday, January 24, 2011
.
I have realized that the past and future are real illusions,
that they exist in the present,
which is what there is
and all there is.
I'm going to need some time on this one.
And that's going to have to be okay.
Cause I'm just not sure
it should be this hard
to feel loved.
And that's going to have to be okay.
Cause I'm just not sure
it should be this hard
to feel loved.
Friday, January 21, 2011
who am I kidding?
I hate even clicking the link to my blog, somehow embarassed that it has gone neglected for far too long. I have piles of pictures, events galore to describe, retell, preserve for my (and my children's) memories.
But really, who am I kidding? Maybe someday I'll post some of those pictures, but for now I'm deciding no more back-blogging. (I also reserve the right to change my mind :)
Today, I'm tired. I'm tired of telling my 4 year old son that he can't talk so loud because mommy is listening to an online lecture about Human Physiology and she doesn't understand a single word she is listening to, and quite frankly, I am overwhelmed with guilt. I don't want to tell him to go play. I want to play with him. And that hurts my heart.
Eric went back to work, which is a really good, awesome thing for him, for me, for our family...but it leaves me in charge of the "homefront" and I have NO idea who thought that was a good idea. Anxiety has nestled into my life, placing itself squarely on my shoulders the moment I wake up, and curling around my mind at night. How will I ever do this?
What if I didn't make the right decision? What if I'm missing the best? The best moments KJ and Carter will ever have. I don't know how to answer that question right now....but I'm praying for some peace and some confidence that showing my kids what it means to say you are going to do something and then follow through will be worth something. That they will know what it means to work hard. But I really just want them to know that their momma loves them more than anything. And it's my fear that keeps me from embracing this.
I hate fear. In fact, I just want to turn it off. I know it can't stay gone forever...but maybe just for a little while. No fear, no anxiety, no tossing and turning, no second guessing.
I'll add it to the to-do list. For now, I'm listening to the Sound Transduction by the Inner Hair Cells (YUK) and watching my son play with his Thomas the Train Aqua-Doodle set. And I keep looking over, wishing life was simpler, and I could paint, too.
No more time for whining. Things to do, a person to become, children to raise. And the hope, that maybe, just maybe I'm not screwing it all up.
Okay...maybe just one picture... (or two)
I do NOT intend on being one of them
"when faith in myself was so strong that I believed I could move mountains"
(curlygirldesignsdotcom)
But really, who am I kidding? Maybe someday I'll post some of those pictures, but for now I'm deciding no more back-blogging. (I also reserve the right to change my mind :)
Today, I'm tired. I'm tired of telling my 4 year old son that he can't talk so loud because mommy is listening to an online lecture about Human Physiology and she doesn't understand a single word she is listening to, and quite frankly, I am overwhelmed with guilt. I don't want to tell him to go play. I want to play with him. And that hurts my heart.
Eric went back to work, which is a really good, awesome thing for him, for me, for our family...but it leaves me in charge of the "homefront" and I have NO idea who thought that was a good idea. Anxiety has nestled into my life, placing itself squarely on my shoulders the moment I wake up, and curling around my mind at night. How will I ever do this?
What if I didn't make the right decision? What if I'm missing the best? The best moments KJ and Carter will ever have. I don't know how to answer that question right now....but I'm praying for some peace and some confidence that showing my kids what it means to say you are going to do something and then follow through will be worth something. That they will know what it means to work hard. But I really just want them to know that their momma loves them more than anything. And it's my fear that keeps me from embracing this.
I hate fear. In fact, I just want to turn it off. I know it can't stay gone forever...but maybe just for a little while. No fear, no anxiety, no tossing and turning, no second guessing.
I'll add it to the to-do list. For now, I'm listening to the Sound Transduction by the Inner Hair Cells (YUK) and watching my son play with his Thomas the Train Aqua-Doodle set. And I keep looking over, wishing life was simpler, and I could paint, too.
No more time for whining. Things to do, a person to become, children to raise. And the hope, that maybe, just maybe I'm not screwing it all up.
Okay...maybe just one picture... (or two)
I do NOT intend on being one of them
"when faith in myself was so strong that I believed I could move mountains"
(curlygirldesignsdotcom)
you are by far
the BEST things
I've ever done.
the BEST things
I've ever done.