Category: writing about it all on my blog

eight years

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eight years ago this month i wrote my first post for this little blog of mine.

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reece and oak

while it wasn’t my first blog post ever, it was the first one that led to another, then another, and then a move to pretty consistent blogging.

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me and lorelai

i was pregnant with lorelai and reece was 20-months old. i had officially been a stay at home mom for a year, after going back to work for a bit and making the decision that i did not want my children to go to daycare…even if it meant giving up a job i absolutely loved.

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reece and oak

i’m so thankful that i am able to be here for my kids. they have both been sick with a nasty cold the last few weeks, and it is such a blessing to be able to not have to think twice about having them stay home with me.

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reece and odyssey

there are sacrifices that are made for me to stay home and there are things i miss out on when they stay home with me, but i wouldn’t change it. i wouldn’t change the memories that are being made and the life we are living.

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me, reece and lorelai (in my belly)

i am so thankful that i decided to write things down here in this space…so much of it would just be forgotten if i didn’t have the words to read and remind me…

“He says (and waves) hello and goodbye to everybody at Safeway, Target, Whole Foods, or wherever we may be. He is perplexed when he is pushed by another child while at OMSI. He loves his three dogs and two cats more than anything in the world. He gives lots of hugs and kisses. It melts my heart when I am sitting on the floor and he comes up and gives me a great big hug (and pats me on the back). He has a heart of gold.”

img_0144i’m going to go snuggle my not so little boy, who happens to be home with me today.

right now

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i’ve been in a blogging rut lately. i want to write, but just don’t know what to write about.

meg, over at WHATEVER, posted a list she found on pinterest with writing prompts.

i liked it and am borrowing it.

 

reading…you’re made for a god sized dream by holley gerth. {i just finished her book you’re already amazing}

playing…xbox. the kids, not me. when they are playing well together i love to listen to their conversations. 

watching…downton abbey. i record it and watch it when the kids are at school.

trying…to stay on top of the housework, but it’s hard. especially with a puppy who likes to get into the bathroom trash cans, the kids toys, and still isn’t fully potty trained.

cooking…homemade granola. you can find the recipe i use here.

eating…about to eat that granola in some greek yogurt with banana.

drinking…water. more water. trying to drink more water.

calling…i called my dad this morning to wish him a happy birthday!

texting…the last texts that i sent and received were about the NCAA national championship football game last night.

pinning…information about bullet journaling. i’m a list maker and a notebook carrier. you can learn more about it on my bullet journaling pinterest board.

tweeting…nothing. i have an account, but rarely use it…i just don’t have time for tweets and reading all of them.

crafting…an idea. nothing tangible…yet. a lot of “mind crafting” and list making.

doing…nothing with my hair. no dyeing. no drying. no straightening. no cutting.

going…to pick the little guy up from school after i eat my yogurt and granola.

loving…my nose piercing!

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hating…cleaning the litter box. always. but, i’m the only one who does it, so…

discovering…that my one little word for the year is LOVE.

enjoying…exercise. i have added some new classes and changed up my routine a bit and it feels good!

hoping…to learn to use my new camera. like, use it manually. i got the nikon d7000 for christmas and i am a bit {a lot} intimidated by it!

celebrating…well, i wish i was celebrating a denver broncos or oregon ducks win, but i’m not because they didn’t. so, just celebrating that we still have playoff football this weekend! i love football.

smelling…thieves essential oil being diffused through our new home diffuser. i just started using essential oils from young living and i LOVE them!

thanking…mother nature for a beautiful sunny january day in the pacific northwest. it’s cold {relatively speaking}, but it’s sunny.

considering…running a half marathon this year, but i don’t like running for more than an hour…that might be a problem.

finishing…putting the very last of the christmas decorations away. the shiny brites go up first and come down last. i am finally putting the wreaths that i made from them back in the attic.

starting…to feel a cold coming on…scratchy throat, runny nose. what do you use to fight off the cold or flu? oils? sleep? nyquil? any good home remedies? please share!

home is…sometimes using writing prompts.

i’m still here, are you?

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recurring dreams

First, I show up late to my final field hockey game after searching for my shin pads, mouthguard, and cleats. My teammates glare at me and my coach informs me that I can’t start because I haven’t been to practice in weeks. In fact, I probably won’t get a chance to play in the game at all. Then it ends.

Second, I remember, right before the final, that I signed up for a course and never attended the class. It’s too late to drop…and I just take an “F”.

Unfortunately, the second kind of happened to me in college.

You see, if I fall behind I get flustered up and {sometimes} figure that failing is better than doing something half-assed.

I’m not real good at talking to people about tough topics…I rarely, if ever, met a professor during office hours. Rather than suck it up, and go talk to my professor about what I might have missed, I would just keep missing classes.

By the time my senior year rolled around (and the reminder that my parents would only support me through four years of college) I finally got my act together and graduated. Definitely not with honors, but I graduated in four years with a degree.

stick with me

I’m getting somewhere with this.

That’s how I am feeling with my blog lately.

It’s been two weeks since Thanksgiving and I haven’t written about my parents visit. Well, I have written about it. I have an entire post written, but I haven’t gotten around to editing photos…and what would the post be without photos.

Here’s a gratuitous photo just for this post…

christmas card 2012 (1)

I am torn between the fact that part of this blog is to record events for my kids, myself, and my family and the other part that is for myself and for those of you who, without being my friends or family, have made the choice to read my blog.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE writing about my family, but sometimes I feel obligated to write about family visits and events when I would rather be writing about the awesome paint by number I found for $2.99 at Goodwill.

I feel like I dropped the ball on my Thanksgiving post, so I just stopped writing.

I didn’t finish my Thanksgiving post, so I also don’t write about my thrifting finds or Christmas preparations.

And, I beat myself up about it.

Blogging is something I love to do.

Writing about my family, design, crafts, and thrifting is something that makes me happy.

Things are still happening around here and I want to write about them.

Does this make sense?

I feel like I am rambling.

This is why I never went to talk to my teachers.

In the world of fight or flight…I tend to take flight.

Anyway, I’m going to get that Thanksgiving post up because there were some memories made.

Stay tuned…

home is…a good ramble and bad dreams.

until then…

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Hey y’all!

I’m here, but it’s just gonna be a day or two before I get back to regular posts.

Until then, go check out colton+ cadence and use “untilthen15” to save 15% on your order!

Also, if you are new to shopping with Etsy or have never heard about it, just go check it out!

Click on the link to colton+cadence and it will get you there….

From there, EXPLORE!

Do a search…

These are a few of my favorite things…

If it is vintage or handmade search for it on Etsy and support small business this holiday season!

And, you can easily sell on Etsy, too!

Mom and Dad, you can do it! What a fun way to retire…

home is…handmade.

so, yeah…

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It’s hot here in the Pacific Northwest.

While the rest of the country was in the sweltering heat we were enjoying perfect summer temps…not this week.

100 degrees today.

We are spending our time in the AC or in the pool.

{lazy}

Lazy summer mornings are the best.

In a little over 3 weeks they will be over for us.

School is starting and it will be bittersweet.

The little guy will be in school everyday.

Every.

Day.

I’m going to miss him.

Baby girl will be in school 1-2 days a week.

At least 3 days a week we will have girl time.

I’m thinking about getting her into some gymnastics and dance classes…she likes “girl” stuff.

I had big plans for this morning.

Clean the house.

Go to yoga.

It’s after 10 and we’re all still in PJ’s.

Lazy summer mornings are the best.

{more lake photos}

They are coming.

I promise.

{looking forward}

Between now and the first day of school we have some fun things to look forward to…

Nana and Bops are coming to visit…

Ryan’s 40th birthday…

Lorelai’s 3rd birthday…

And, lots to still do on our summer list!

So, yeah…there’s some random for you.

{one more}

Sunflowers are my favorite…bought some at Trader Joe’s yesterday!

home is…enjoying now.

{thrifting} a new adventure

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I’ve done my share of treasure hunting and antiquing, but thrifting is a new adventure.

I went last Saturday with the kids.

{these game pieces remind me of baby girl and the little guy}

And, again, this morning while we waited for it to warm up.

Here is what we found…

Not sure what I will do with these, but I picked them up anyway.

I have no idea who Edward L. Lawson is, but he crossed the Arctic Circle before I was born. I thought this was intriguing.

I have big plans for these embroidery hoops.

These guys are already working.

Storing art supplies for the kids.

These beauties are the MAIN reason that I took my first trip to Goodwill last Saturday. I found the white one today and the others on Saturday.

The little guy found this and I LOVE it! Obviously, handmade.

These games will go to good use, too. We have both of them already, but I love the look of these “vintage” ones.

I love the red and white theme here…great for the backyard movie night I would like to do this summer!

Last June, at the Farm Chicks Show, I contemplated over croquet mallets which were $4 a piece. I didn’t get them, but this made up for it…the whole set for $7.

We even had an amazing day to try out the croquet set in the backyard!

I am addicted, now.

To thrifting, not croquet.

Although, I could become addicted to croquet, too.

home is…a new adventure.

{batman room} piecing the puzzle together

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The little guy loves Batman.

Last year he received a huge plastic tub of matchbox cars from our next door neighbors. In it there were two Batmobiles, which quickly became his favorites. He took them everywhere…even slept with them at night.

I told him about Batman and soon his love for anything Batman grew.

He declared his 4th birthday a Batman birthday, has said he wants to be a Batmobile driver when he grows up, and wants to wear a Batman shirt or Batman colors (blue, grey, black and yellow) everyday!

So, I decided to grow his room up a bit from the “Go, dog. Go!” theme to a Batman theme.

I’ve collected Batman decor since last summer and slowly but surely have gotten some of it done.

It is still a work in progress, but close to being finished.

When it is done I will do a full room tour, but for now I wanted to show you the main piece of artwork and how it came to be.

I have loved all the Batman themed items that Pottery Barn has carried for the last year, but didn’t want to just put together a Pottery Barn Batman room.

About a month ago I took a quick trip to the mall by myself and found this at Pottery Barn Kids…

Source: potterybarnkids.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

I had an large empty frame from IKEA and some Mod Podge at home, and immediately knew what I was going to do.

{I apologize for the not so great quality of the photos..taken with my iPhone, at night, indoors}

I opened up the frame, took out the mat, and started piecing the puzzle together on the floor.

Once I was done piecing it together, I slipped the back of the frame under the mat and started painting on the Mod Podge with a foam brush.

I carried it to the dining room table to let it dry over night.

The next morning I did another coat of Mod Podge and let it dry.

Once it was completely dry I placed it in the frame.

It took the little guy some getting used to, so it did not immediately go up on his wall.

It is hanging up there now and I love how it looks.

The puzzle is 24″ x 36″, with about and 1-1/2″ of mat underneath and the black frame. It definitely makes a statement.

I will have a full room reveal soon.

Stay tuned…same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

home is…not just a Pottery Barn Batman room.

*linking up with…

Today's Creative Blog

happy leaping hump day!

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Or, is it happy humping leap day?!

I have to admit, I borrowed that from my longtime friend, Manny. I thought it was great when he posted it on his Facebook page.

So, what are you doing with your extra 24 hours?!

Same old, same old?

Me too.

Anyway, wanted to share a few random things that made me smile today…

Source: designsponge.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

Aren’t those flowers fabulous?! I mean, go big, or go home, right?! Thinking of what I could do with a couple of those…

Source: ideashomedesign.net via stephany @ on Pinterest

That slide…AWESOME! I would love to put a slide on the little guys bunk! I’ll have to think about that one a bit…

Source: megduerksen.typepad.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

Isn’t that house pillow adorable?! One of these days, when I have some mornings with no kids at home, I will sew more. Until then, I will collect ideas. This is one of them.

Source: houseandhome.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

This adult version of a reading nook. I LOVE it! Now, that’s how we could get some use out of our wall tent that has been folded up in the garage for 6 years!

Source: megduerksen.typepad.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

Meg’s non-dining room is so inspirational. Look at all those sewing machines set up for Craft Weekend! I would love to do this with our dining room…especially with the globe lights!

Source: flickr.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

I’ve been a bit obsessed with globes and maps lately. You’ll find out why in a future post. For now, you can see some of my inspiration on my maps & globes Pinterest board.

Source: etsy.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

And remember in when I was feeling like this? Well, now I am beginning to feel good about getting stuff done. Yay!

Well, that’s about it for now.

Go do something memorable during your extra 24 hours today! Even if it is just taking an extra 20 minutes for yourself.

home is…being thankful for more time.

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!