Category: being me

thinking…

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Every few years, since my early 20’s, I decide to cut my hair short.

I think I was 22 the first time I cut it.

short hair 5

short hair 6

I kept it short for a bunch of years after that.

short hair 7{1999}

short hair 9{2000}

short hair 10{2000}

short hair 8{2003}

I think I started growing it long a year or two before we moved to Portland.

I grew it for a few years until the little guy was about 9 months old.

short hair 2

He kept pulling my hair, so I cut it short.

short hair 4{snuggling reece and oak during a thunderstorm}

short hair 3{gorge games 2008}

short hair 1{reece’s 1st birthday}

That lasted less than a year and I was ready to grow it long.

I’m five years into growing my hair long and other than some color, a few trims, and bangs a couple of years ago there hasn’t been much change.

I think I am ready for a change.

Ryan just laughs when I mention it to him because he knows that eventually I will want to grow it long again, but that’s the good thing about hair…it grows!

I’ve always loved Meg Ryan’s short hairstyles…

Meg Ryan Hairstyles Pictures

Meg Ryan Hairstyles Pictures

Meg Ryan Hairstyles Pictures

Meg Ryan Hairstyles Pictures

Meg Ryan Medium Shag Haircut

I’ve taken many of these photos into hairstylist when getting a new cut.

I also pinned this image twice within the last year or so…I really like this cut.

And, here are a few other hairstyles that are kind of what I am thinking of….

What do you think?

Should I do it?

Which cut do you like?

home is…thinking about changing it up.

 

shingles

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No.

Not the kind you put on a roof.

The kind I thought only “old” people get.

I have them.

They hurt.

They are ugly.

And, lucky me, they aren’t hidden under my shirt on my abdomen and back.

They are on my neck.

Like a big hickey!

I texted a photo to my parents last night and asked them if it reminded them of when they caught me in Safeway buying makeup to cover up a big hickey in high school.

Even my doctor told me it looked like a hickey.

I just hope it doesn’t spread all over my neck.

Then, it would just look gross.

Only time will tell.

I’m exhausted.

And, frustrated.

There’s a good chance my kids will end up with chicken pox, too.

Woo-hoo!

So, I’m just venting.

On the bright side…the weather is beautiful!

So, maybe I will blow up an air mattress and rest outside while the kiddos play tomorrow.

home is…there’s always a bright side.

self photo challenge

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Today I am linking up with The Paper Mama for her Self Photo Challenge…

Obsessing over…

why my calves and feet are aching constantly for the last two days. was it the shoes i wore? is it my lack of exercise? do i need more water? more magnesium? more potassium?

Working on…

getting art hung up on our walls. it’s only taken 4 years.

Thinking about…

how to get an my life organized. my house and life feel a bit scattered lately. at home i feel like ikea, toys r us, and michaels exploded all over. in my brain i feel like i want to do so many things and i just need to get it all organized on paper.

Anticipating…

Ryan coming home tomorrow and having a fun weekend with him and the kids.

Listening to…

my little guy tell me that he doesn’t feel well with Cat in the Hat in the background. (he just drank his “quiet time” hot chocolate)

Eating…

nothing right now. worked out and ate some almonds afterwards. drinking water.

Wishing…

for more time. but reminding myself to be thankful.

home is…following the lead of another Pacific Northwest blogger!

did i mention…?

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That I LOVE football!

Mostly, teams from Colorado.

Specifically, the Denver Broncos.

Did you watch the game yesterday?!

I was jumping up and down screaming at the end.

Scared my kids.

To be honest, I was in the bathroom during the first play of overtime. I could hear the announcers on the TV through the wall and knew I was missing something big, but I heard nothing from the little guy and Ryan who were right in front of the TV.

They weren’t watching.

They were doing something on the iPad.

Are you kidding me?!

Thank goodness for our DVR!

Ryan pressed rewind and I watched it all.

UN. BELIEVABLE.

You’d better believe that I have our Denver Bronco flag flying outside our house.

Here’s a little joke I read recently from friend (and fellow Bronco fan) on Facebook:

Tom Brady, after living a full life, died. When he got to heaven, God
was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded
Patriots flag in the window. “This house is yours for eternity Tom, said
God. “This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here.” Tom felt
special, indeed, and walked up to his house.

On his way up the porch, he noticed another house just around the
corner. It was a huge 3-story mansion with Orange and Blue sidewalks and
drive ways, a 50 foot tall flagpole with an enormous Broncos logo flag
waving, a swimming pool in shape of a horse, a Broncos logo in every
window, and a Tim Tebow jersey on the front door.

Tom looked at God and said “God, I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but I
have a question. I was an all-pro QB, I won 3 Super Bowls, and I even
went to the Hall of Fame.”

God said “So what’s your point Tom?”

“Well, why does Tim Tebow get a better house than me?”

God chuckled, and said “Tom, that’s not Tim’s house, it’s mine.”

I’m hoping for a better turn out than our last game against New England. One thing is for sure, this team is not lacking enthusiasm…

home is…a diehard Bronco fan.

fall list

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So, we had sooooo much fun with our summer list (which I promise to update evenutally) that I decided to come up with a fall list, too!

I absolutely love the fall season.

And, here is our FALL LIST…

OK, so there is a lot on this list that we will accomplish…it’s pretty short.

I will update you this week on how we did on our Summer List.

home is…my favorite season.

*linking up with The Idea Room…

backfire

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Have you ever said something to some one, trying to help them out, and all it does is make the situation worse?

Yeah.

I did that this morning.

Now my stomach is churning and I feel bad because I was just trying to make this person feel better, have less stress, and maybe have a better day than they might have had.

********

I have been thinking a lot lately.

A lot about how I communicate with people, or don’t communicate with people, or fail at communicating with people, and how it has affected relationships over the years.

I feel like I am really good at messing things up.

Not really sure how I can fix it.

Maybe you can help me once I figure out how to get my thoughts on paper…or in this case, keyboard and computer screen.

Or, maybe, I am imagining things?

Well, for now, I am off to get ready for Friday Playgroup…should be some good fun in the sun with the kiddos!

home is…sometimes things backfire.

pretty, but lonely

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My kids (husband) bought me a beautiful silk shirt from Anthropologie for Mother’s Day.

Really, it was beautiful.

I tried it on and really, really liked it, but I couldn’t think of a time when I would wear it.

Yeah, for the rare times that my husband and I get to go out, but for the most part it would just sit in my closet and look pretty.

Pretty, but lonely.

I don’t want my clothes to be lonely.

I want them to be loved.

Worn.

So, I got this dress from Boden instead.

Remember the flower wallpaper I mentioned in this post last Friday?

This dress reminds me of it.

I can still wear it out for a date night, but can also wear it with the kids or for a night out with my girl friends!

It will be loved.

Worn.

home is…finding a happy medium.

*btw, the formatting is all messed up on this post and i am not going to try to fix it. sorry!

pieces of me: november 2003

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It’s been a while since I wrote my last {pieces of me} post.

It all started here and then this happened.

By the end of October we had seen that our little jellybean had a heartbeat. It was very early, but there was a flicker. We planned to keep it quiet until Christmas. By that time my mom would be done with her double mastectomy surgery and we could give everybody some happy Christmas news (and be through the 1st trimester).

We went in for another ultrasound in early November.

This time there wasn’t a heartbeat.

It was hard to understand. We hadn’t planned for a baby, but the news was finally exciting given that we had recently received such scary news about my mom. Why was this happening, too?!

We weren’t going to have happy Christmas news to share. In fact, we didn’t share any of the news.

We figured sharing the news of our loss would not be a good idea given what my family was dealing with due to my moms cancer.

I chose to not have a D&C. It was physically and emotionally painful.

What I knew for sure was that the life that was taken away from us was the angel that would now look over my mom and make sure that she would stay with us.

home is…angels to look over us.

continued…

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I read my post from yesterday over and over again.

Not because it was fabulous writing, but I wanted to get it right. It would be awesome if the little guy remembered his first time skiing, but if not it is a story that I want to be able to tell him when he gets older, and I don’t want to leave anything out!

I’m not a descriptive storyteller. By that I mean, I use simple words to tell my stories. Sometimes its the same words over and over to describe things. I may write all the details, but I never was really good at being very descriptive (using adverbs and adjectives, right Fil?!).

I wanted to make the story come alive. It’s hard for me to do that. I guess that’s why I love blogging because I can add pictures to my stories. And you know what they say about pictures…it’s worth a thousand words, right?

I wish I could describe the feeling that I felt all day.

ALIVE.

That’s how I felt.

I was doing something that defines me.

Stephany.

And, I was doing it with the little guy.

As his mom.

I was a mom AND Stephany at the same time!

It was exhilarating!

A couple of other notes:

On Sunday night Ryan asked the little guy, “What was your favorite thing about going skiing with Mommy today?”

His answer was, “All of it.”

*******

Yesterday when I was writing the story the little guy asked what I was doing. I told him I was writing the story about our skiing adventure. Then I asked, “If you could write a story about our skiing adventure what would you say?”

His answer, “Who is the fast skier? I am!”

home is…feeling alive.