Day 5

Day 5: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member

me on the left, Samantha on the right'

I do not have any blogger friends.  No one really reads this here blog.  So I decided to talk a little (a very little) about a dear friend of mine of who passed away this past Halloween. 

I have known this girl since first grade.  We were in Brownies together, her mom baby-sat me, we had classes all the way through high school together.  For a few years in our lives we were best friends.  As childhood friends do we went our separate ways.  Although in such a small town, our separate ways weren’t that really separate.  Just different.  When I left high school I wanted to leave high school behind and move on with my life because isn’t that what you are supposed to do?  Well five years later I joined facebook and quickly realized how much I missed some of my high school and childhood friends.  Sam had married her childhood sweetheart, a Marine, and started a beautiful family.  Sadly her younger brother passed away right before his senior year.  That event shook that family like no other.  That event shook our teeny tiny town.  This past October we were all anxiously awaiting the news that her new baby was here.  Last minute I knit some booties, for who we thought was going to be another little girl, and sent them down to her.  Unknown to me, she was beside herself telling her closest loved ones how she didn’t want to get excited but thought I was sending her something I had knit.  Quickly on facebook the day before Halloween her mom posted that they had welcomed a little baby boy!  How exciting this was because he was supposed to be a girl.  I sent her a message saying sorry that the booties were very feminine, but I had no idea.   Unfortunately (that word is the biggest understatement) the next day she passed away due to an air embolism that basically exploded in her heart.  She left behind a beautiful four year old girl and a one day old. 

This event has shocked our group of friends.  It is something I think about every day.  Something that is bringing me to tears as I type.  I miss her ranting on facebook.  I miss her enthusiasm for everyone, even those who have done her wrong.  I just plain miss her and I know it is nothing compared to what her family is going through.  So dear Sammy Sue, we miss you. 

 

 

Day 4

Day 4: Favorite quote and why

I actually do not have a favorite quote, but I figured I would share one that has resonated with me lately.

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“We read to know we are not alone.”  -C.S. Lewis

I am a huge avid reader.  Well, I used to be.  A seventeen month old running around kind of makes it hard to get into a book ya know?  Anyway, I was kind of a loner as a kid.  I had friends and they were good ones at that (most of my friends were/are readers too), but I much preferred the company of those in books.  No matter what was happening in my life or in the world it was easy to escape and enter a different world.  A world that almost always seemed better.  This quote is something I did a screenshot on in my phone.  If it is worthy of a screenshot, it is worthy to ponder on.

 

 

Day 3

Day 3: Things that make you uncomfortable

I decided with this blogging prompt that I would be honest.  Things normally one wouldn’t say.  So here goes.

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Seeing a person on a corner holding a sign saying ‘out of work’ ‘need money to feed my family’ etc., makes me extremely uncomfortable.  It is not that I don’t feel for them, trust me I do, but it is that I don’t know how to respond.  How to act.  Do I turn my eyes away and pretend they are not there?  Do I look them in the eye as we turn away from them on our path in our fairly nice vehicle?  I just simply don’t know what to do.  I don’t carry cash on me (who does these days really?) so even a dollar isn’t around to be given.  There are stories on shows like Dateline and 20/20 about those people that don’t really need anything but are out there taking what they can.  Seriously though, can those stories be true?  Here in the Midwest we don’t have the harshest of winters but they are harsh enough.  Would someone really be wanting to stand out in the bitter and occasionally snowy cold for hours on end hoping to get a few bucks for many hours?  I am ashamed to say that this makes me uncomfortable, but I truly don’t know how to respond in these situations.  May I ask, what do you do?

Day 2

Day 2: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic).
Ok, so I really don’t know a whole lot about anything.  At least that’s how I feel so I have decided to not do this writing prompt and share something else extremely exciting instead.  Seriously though, this simple prompt almost made me not do this challenge.  I am good at baking, pretty decent at knitting, not too shabby at sewing, a pretty decent student and mom, etc… but not good enough to share any of that so here is my something extremely exciting.  My husband’s birthday gift to me.  Meet my new baby:
 
Yeah I know,  It’s not a big beast, but it is the one I wanted.  It is just an entry level camera, but I have wanted a DSLR for such a long time that this makes me soooooooo happy.  You have no idea.  Really.  Like I mean you really have no idea.  Now, once school is over I plan on diving in!!!  Eek!  I absolutely cannot wait till the pictures I take of E, our adventures, and our life are prettier.  A yellow kind of pretty.  See what I did there?!  So till tomorrow…

Day 1

 

 

As a last minute decision I decided to join Jenni over at Story of my Life with her blog everyday in May.  As I decided I want this place here to be more simple for me and back to what my last blog was I figured back to basics blogging might be the way to go!!  So here goes.

Day 1: Story of my life in a paragraph

I am from a small town.  Like a two-stoplight town.  It was a HUGE deal when those golden arches made it finally into town!!  I grew up on a lake and now I know, looking back of course, how awesome that was.  Playing “kick the can” and “tag bag” was a normal evening on our dead-end children filled street.  I went straight from my momma’s house to my husbands and only moved a whopping 17 minutes and I quite like that!!!  I am a student that never seems to graduate and hopefully in a couple years I will be finished for a while (hopefully more on that soon!).  My awesome daughter came to us in December of 2011.  She has changed us, our lives, our relationship, and our future all for the better!

5 Things

1. I love to cook.  I hate the clean-up.

2. I never match my socks.  Which sometimes results in unnecessary excessive shopping for new socks.  Ahem.

3. I long to homestead.  I really want some chickens.  And some cows.  And some sheep.  And some….

4. I am a magazine hoarder… like to an extreme.  Even though I hardly ever go through back issues. I could probably write an entire post on this topic actually.

5. I have never been out of this country.  Sad but we at least have plans to make it into Canada sometime soon!

Now your turn!

Pride & Prejudice

 

    photos via here here here

Pride & Prejudice, was once just one of my favorite movies and now one of my favorite books.  This first installment of one of my new year’s resolutions is finished three-fourths of a month early with the second installment already finished.  Thank goodness too! Pride & Prejudice was just so darn good I can’t wait to get into another Austen book!  It was very slow going for me at the beginning.  Hard to wrap my brain around a different era of English we no longer hear and hard for me to understand.  Somewhere just over half way and under two-thirds, the book started to liven up for me and was easy to get through.  I loved it and can fully understand why it is a cult classic.  I am not great at giving book reviews so I will end it shortly.  I leave on this note: If you haven’t read Pride & Prejudice, please do.  If so, which Austen book should I read next?

On My Nails

1. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Sheer Envy 2. Essie Nail color in Mint Candy Apple 3. Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy in Galactic

I am not normally one to hand out any kind of beauty advice, but lately I have been working harder to improve my self-confidence and painting my fingernails has helped immensely. These three colors are my colors of choice lately. The first has been my go-to color as it is really subtle and when it eventually starts chipping it doesn’t show as much.  The second is a beautiful mint color, THE color of the season (one of the first times I have been on trend in a long time).  The third color I saw on an ad and knew I just had to have it and I love it.  When I wear it I can not stop looking at my nails, they are just so cool!  Anyhoo… These are my three nail shades for spring.  What’s yours?

A Year of Elizabeth, Part III

And just a few more.

 

A Year of Elizabeth, Part II

Because it would make one post just to long and she is just that cute, some more Elizabug pictures to enjoy!

 

 

 

 

A Year of Elizabeth, Part I

I know that in a week she will be fifteen months, but I thought I would put together some pictures of E’s first year.  As every parent says, it is so hard to believe that it has been over a year already!

      

  

  

The Great Gatsby

One of my new year resolutions, view here, was to reread The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I had read it for a project in high school, but wasn’t truly able to grasp why it was an American classic at the ripe old age of fifteen.  As I needed a slight break from Jane Austen, which I am loving but takes me awhile to read, I quickly devoured Gatsby.  I wanted to be able to share it with Eric but knowing he probably wouldn’t read it I planned on us to watch the movie.  You know the one… with one of the most beautiful men ever…

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Mr. Robert Redford.  This man is gorgeous and incomparable in every way.  He is one of only two men on my beautiful men pinterest board… but I digress. Seriously, I could go on and on about this man forever.  Unfortunately neither my library or two local video stores had this version in stock.  We don’t do the Netflix thing so we had to settle with the A&E version featuring Paul Rudd.  Although it was ok… it does not compare to the 1974 version.

I made a party night for our little family.  Homemade jalapeno poppers, stuffed mushroom caps, strawberries with chocolate to dip into and champagne (sparkling wine actually).  It was so much fun.  Next time I will have to take pictures.  I LOVED the book. Enjoyed the movie and we, yes myself and my husband, are anxiously awaiting the new Great Gatsby! 

 

 

 

photos via, via, via, via, via

One last picture to leave with, the original mansion that inspired the book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Competition Overload

We are so lucky to live in the era of the internet.  Information is at our fingertips in such a vast field of knowledge.  This quick access to information can be so beneficial, but it has its downside also.  The lives of others that seam so great and beautiful, glowing and special are put out there for others to see.  For a nosey person, such as myself, this can be wonderful.  I love to look at other people’s lives and see where they live, what they wear and what they do.  For a jealousy inclined person, such as myself, this can be horrible.  I look at other people’s lives and see where they live, what they wear, what they do and measure my life up to theirs. 

In the world of reality tv we are able to watch more affluent people than ourselves and compare what we believe to be their quality of life to our own.  They always looks perfect.  They are able to work out.  They drive such a nice car.  Did you see their house?  Oh, look at her rock!  To say that we never compare our lives to others is hypocrisy.  How, then, can we use this to fuel our fires to live our own lives to the best of our ability?

I have been struggling with this a lot.  Between Instagram and Pinterest, I “see” all of these flaws in my life.   I don’t measure up as a mom to others.  They take their children so many places.  Their kids eat such a variety of all organic foods.  My house is a dump compared to that persons.  The thoughts go on and on.  Just like all of the people I follow, we only put our “best” life forward.  I only show that spot of the floor that has no dog hair in it (two German Shepherd people, enough said.  Even though they are not in the entire house, it always shows up…)  I only show certain parts of my face or body so I don’t appear as heavy.  We all do it, and we all know we do it.  Now we just have to remember that others are doing it too.  They are only sharing the “better” “cleaned-up” parts of their lives as well.

Slowly, I have realized that I get to design my life to a certain extent.  All of the things I see others do or have is now starting to light a fire underneath my rearend.  For the first time, I am actually starting to study for my test days before rather than just the night before.  I am taking a little bit of time for myself each day to do two different devotionals.  I try to work out a little every day… still trying to get that on a routine though.  All of these little tweaks and changes has truly changed how my days are going and I love it!

Sledding

When your yard looks like this:

You take to the hills!

    

This was Elizabeth’s first time down the sledding hill.  She only went twice,once with each of us, but I can see the love for snow already building!