miscellany monday

1. Andy and Mel's visit, Thanksgiving, and Teri's recent arrival leave me with so much to write about. To document. To capture before the moment passes. My mind is spinning with things I want to remember and read over years from now and smile because this last week was really incredible. Pictures and memories to come.

2. It snowed today. The first snow of the winter. Of course it was at 8am and melted by the time church was over, but it snowed. We put up our tree this afternoon and are officially getting decked out for the holidays. How to decorate the outside of our mid-century modern style home? I'm not sure quite yet.


3. My dear old friend Teri is here for a week. In high school we spent many days and nights driving around town, jumping on trampolines and watching Stand By Me and Lord of the Rings. Along with our other pal Rachel we pretty much spent all available time together. She is a kindred spirit at the deepest level and brings such joy. She is getting ready to adventure out to Cambodia in March. She is leaving all she knows and loves and is giving up her life to find it in Him. She's going with Cross World and will be disciplining and reaching out to trafficked victims in that country. She is incredible. We spent the afternoon watching and getting inspired my Gladys Aylward in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Does anyone remember that movie? I loved it growing up.

4. When Andy was here one of the many fun things we did was play with the Fat Booth app on the iphone. So funny. Maybe it's just us, but we had some good laughs. 

5. My dad made these hilarious Elf Yourself movies. We laughed for hours. Seriously. 

Happiness Project: episode 4

Yesterday Jack got up at 4am. 4-a-m. That is way too early to be awake. After 2 HOURS of trying to put him back to sleep he dozed off around 6 and slept until 8:30 (which is something he hasn't done since he was 4 months old.) We celebrated by getting McDonalds coffee and rushed to meet friends for our first off-roading adventure with the Land Cruisy.  The sky was overcast and the wind was strong, but it wasn't that cold. It was just perfect.
  







We took the trails carefully and Jack slept for most of the time (after waking up at 4am, I would too.) We stopped at our favorite look out and ate clementines and drank coffee (not the best mixture, citrus and bitter coffee, but ya know. We were being adventurous!)

 Later we (as in Keri and I) went to Goodwill with the kiddo. Pro? It was 50% off day. Con? Trying to maneuver around the madness that is Goodwill on 50% off day.

On Friday night John and I went to the Resort in Prescott where we saw our Gingerbread house display!

 

Since Jack has stopped nursing I've noticed this little boy introducing himself. He's always been a boy, obviously, but for the first year he seemed to be just a baby. He's gotten a little personality that is hilarious and so loving. Am I a bit bias? Of course. He recently started giving hugs and when he gets up from his nap he reaches to me and hugs my neck so tight. Oh, I'm a puddle of love every time.

 

Jack giving his precious hugs.

My most recent song obsession? Gwyneth Paltrow singing
 Forget You.


I'm not the hugest fan of Glee, but I do love this version. 
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I could literally listen to a favorite song all day for a week. Then...I'm looking for something new. Is that bad?

thankful

In 5 days Andy and Mel come for a visit.

Am I excited? That's an understatement. I don't really say stoked (which, according to urban dictionary means, is "to be completely and intensely enthusiastic, exhilarated, or excited about something." but if I did I would I'd say I'm pretty much that about seeing my brother. 

Because he and his wife life in Nashville we don't see them often, but when do some serious fun occurs.



Seriously fun things such as...


...We stay up late watching hilarious youtubes we've found over the months apart.
...Typically watch the lord of the ring's trilogy.
...See a movie of some kind. This year it will be Harry Potter 7. Oh, boy.
...laugh.
...eat lots of queso.
...play video games (though this is mostly between my sister and brother)
...and enjoy the quirky dynamics that are sibling relationships.

I can not wait.

I'm also thankful for friendships. For gingerbread house making. For pals who are willing to come and eat dinner, watch Elf and have an adult slumber party (kids included.) Friends who make late night Starbucks runs with you. And so, so very thankful for a man who loves me just the way I am.

 

Speaking of Starbucks, I am thankful they are selling a buy-a-holiday-drink-friend-gets-one-for-free deal for the next couple of days!



Oh, and I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for this wake-up face.

 

I'm so thankful Jesus is patient with me. That His love is so unconditional and lovely. That His grace covers all my sins. I pray for that kind of love for others, especially those that are so difficult for me to love. Especially those that drive me kind of up the wall sometimes. (am I the only one?) I love sermons like this. and I'm learning the difference between reaching out to someone because you love them and reaching out because you pity them. What are my motives and the intentions? Sometimes (ok, kind of often times) my predicaments are my own fault. I'm thankful Christ can show me how to love and speak truth in love, too.

 what are you thankful for?

check out other thankfuls here!

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

Today we celebrated my friend Keri's birthday. the Office style.

We were late (as usual) but came dressed and ready to party!
Keri and her husband love the Office. As in, they have 5 seasons. As in, she won the Office trivia game we were playing because she can quote almost every episode. She and I are kindred spirits and both have a strange love for a good movie quote. 

Which takes me back to a time when I was 17 and my best friends and I could/can quote the entire movie Stand By Me. With classic lines such as, "I don't shut up, I grow up and when I look at you, I throw up!" We re-watched our favorite film once a month and were known to break into quote any time or place (which could be quite annoying to people who didn't know what we were talking about.) Call it crazy, but it was and is probably one of my favorite things to do. It's just so much fun.

 

this is the best shot I could get of Jack in his outfit. I do realize it's in front of the toilet, but what's a girl to do? It's one of his favorite locations. What a face.

This is what we walked up to when we arrived at their house. So great.

We had ice cream cake (even though Meredith is allergic :) and watched episodes from season 1 while we caught up. True friends are rare to find and when you do it's a true bonus if they enjoy the same things as you do. 

We went as Jim and Pam and put a suit on Jack, taped World's Best Boss onto his snack trap and called him Michael Scott.

So thankful for the day.

the concert & the park

I could watch this a hundred times. The lyrics. The music. The soul. Love it. It reminds me so much of my dear friend Kate. A friend and I saw Mindy Gledhill (if you go to her website you also get a free download!) live last night. It was just fantastic. We took a spontaneous trip to Phoenix and spent the day cruising the city with our kids in tow. It was a lot harder than we thought. They had a blast though (I think) and Jack crashed at the concert right around 8pm. It was quite the adventure.

 

so fuzzy from swaying with jack in the ergo and yet such a cute set.

Today Fall was in full bloom. The leaves have fallen and I saw Jack run through them for the first time. I have so, so many fond memories of jumping into leaves, building forts in the leaves, playing in the (pumpkin) bags of leaves on the side of the road (not the safest/best idea, but it was a great hiding place during hide and seek.) I gotta be honest when I say that raking leaves was not my favorite activity. But that came later in life. A time when homework and paper routes won over a jump in the leaves.


This week has been a doozy. Colds have brought early bed times and groggy mornings. I feel like I've hardly seen Johnny. Between nights at church, bible study and last night's adventure we've hardly had a chance to really breath (and with our colds, we really haven't had much of a chance to breath.) Tonight there are plans to cozy up and watch some Parenthood, Office and drink some apple cider. 

check out other serene moments here

miscellany monday

Breastfeeding Jack has come to an end.

...And with it has brought 5am wake up calls 

and some serious missing of the sweet bond (more so me than Jack, I think) and the oxytocin that is released when feeding. It's been kind of a wild ride noticing the difference in when I was nursing to lately when I haven't been. I feel so different and am more often...sad. It's so strange. I'm thankful Jack weened on his own and he seems to be taking it very well, but I never ever expected that I would the one who kind of misses it. If anyone had asked me a year ago if I would continue to nurse this long I would probably have told you, "yeah, I just don't think I can do it for that long." I just didn't think I would be a mom who loves breastfeeding. I mean, in the beginning it was just an inexpensive, hassle-free way to take care of our boy.

But after figuring out how to nurse (by God's grace) + Jack's latch issues + cutting out dairy and soy to see if it would improve his bowel issues + realizing nursing on demand really is the best way to go + loving it= a hard thing to let go. I have a hard time letting most good things go and nursing is added to that list. Such sweet, precious time.

That being said, this 5am wake up call has both John and I in quirky moods. Arizona doesn't have a time change (pretty crazy, huh?) and so it seems while everyone else have turned their clocks back an hour and Arizona is supposed to stay the same, Jack just jumped on the band wagon. Didn't he get the memo? Also, my iphone thinks we live in a state that has daylight savings too and I can't seem to figure out how to fix it (ie, I haven't tried to figure out how to change it.) I'm just too tired?

Last night John and I spent most of the evening watching some SNL favs. Some of the best?

 

I may or may not be using SNL to replace the oxytocin I am missin' since I stopped breastfeeding. Either way, it had me laughing for hours.

Today the leaves are falling, the clouds are heavy and the wind is making the trees dance. I think a long walk is in order. Any walking-music recommendations? 

 

Thankful Thursday Top 10

(a little late, I know.)


It's Sunday morning and it's way too early to be awake, let alone to be writing this. But when Jack woke me up before the sun had even risen my heart was full of thankfulness and His rest (which is something I pray for daily...on my own I rarely wake up that way.) There's frost out on our dusty ground and the sun has illuminated the changing colors once again. My heart is full. What a day.


1. So very thankful we found a renter for our condo. After spending most of the day Thursday cleaning it we weren't sure how it would turn out, but by God's grace He provided. Having a condo + the economy = no fun. And I'm the type of person that likes to have fun a lot more than hard work. (While I'm being honest.)


2. The possibility of going to this concert this Thursday. Her voice truly is incredible. I could listen to her all day long. Plus, some dude did a cover of her song and it's nearly as beautiful. Have you ever heard a song that you listen to on repeat for a few days or so? I do that pretty regularly. I'm slightly obsessive.


3. Thankful for phone chats with an old, dear friend who lives too far away. She's getting ready to leave to be a missionary in Cambodia indefinitely. I choke up just thinking of her bravery and heart for Christ and His will for her life. She's coming in two weeks and I can't wait.


4. Two front teeth peaking through for my little man and lots of giggles and tickles. 


5. Girl's night/birthday fun with these girls. SO incredibly thankful for them.

6. Dinner and 30 Rock with friends last night. 

7. Hearing Jack say "ball" over and over. And watching him obsess over a balloon.

8. John's dreams and his drive. His discernment and time spent with Christ. To see God lay things on his heart and for him to run with it.

9. Making gingerbread houses and Monday night Bible study with the girls.

10. That today is Sunday AND potluck day.

check out other thankful thursday's at candra's!

It's The Great Pumpkin

our little Jack o lantern!

 

The funny thing about Halloween is, growing up my parents never really encouraged it. Sure, we trick or treated, had harvest parties, went on hay rides, all of that stuff, but we never really knew (or were allowed to) know what other kids did about Halloween. For instance, last night I was rummaging through old youtubes trying to find a decent Halloween movie to play for Jack each year. It was a difficult search. The best, by far, was the It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I think I will get that one to watch every year (even if my man thinks it's a little boring.)

The night was young when we arrived at Sue's. The streets in Prescott, however, were already bustling with kids (though mostly babies at this point.) We drank cider, ate candy corn (again? really?) and tortilla soup. It was heavenly. Jack was a Jack O Lantern (of course, what else would he be at the age of one?) And he joined his fellow comrades; the fairy, bee and dinosaur. I, ahem, ate more food than I should have and now feel a bit sick. We trick or treated for, oh, I'd say about a half hour before our arms were getting tired from holding Jack and our little pumpkin was beginning to look more like a deflated balloon. We returned to eat more (oh, bummer) and watch Jack play with his buddies.

Mattie's growing little baby bee!

The infamous tail. I love this little guy.

Yes, that guy DID dress as a giant lego!

As we were leaving I couldn't help but wish we did this every 
week. Except for maybe eating until you feel sick part...yeah, that part would only be saved for once a month.


Probably the highlight of my evening was after we had come home and the the sugar high was wearing off, Jack was fed and fast asleep I settled in to check some blogs and such. I hadn't heard from John in about an hour and figured he had fallen asleep (Sundays are long days for us) which was great. We had planned on watched Shutter Island (is that a good movie?) but I was okay with skipping it. All of the sudden, John stumbles out from our room in the exhausted stupor asking one word questions like "Jack? What time?" and so on so forth. After checking to make sure he was alright we had a good laugh and soon after went to bed. It was barely 10pm when we fell asleep on Halloween night. Welcome to parenthood, I guess.

check out other fall activities at beth's place!