getting settled

wow! its been a crazy couple of weeks.

a few thoughts:

• i hate moving
• i love moving
• i am a slack blogger

we have most of our stuff moved into the new place. now the battle is to find a place for everything and convincing mailey that its ok to poop and pee in the backyard. she was out there 45 minutes last night and refused. i think she is feeling more and more comfortable in the house, but she has no clue the backyard is there for her pleasure. hopefully, friday we will be able to get the fence repaired and let her loose more. then saturday will be spent making the yard a little more homey for her and us. we are looking forward to getting the apartment completely cleaned out this weekend and bringing home the vacuum cleaner!

mailey being stubborn

husband is on week 2 of school. i think cramming a semester worth of info into 5 weeks is a little overwhelming. because of the stress, he has been pulling on his beard and says its getting on his nerves ... so i think he is shaving it today :( on the plus side, its been a while since ive seen his hansom face. i wonder if he will have a massive tan line leaving a temporary shrine to the hair that once was.

mother

www.christinehallphotography.com

my mom is loving, kind, honest, compassionate, nurturing and silly. she has taught her children to be these things as well. when i say "her children," i dont just mean my sister, brother and i ... she has literally raised a village. her values have been instilled in the children of fremont and beyond. its people like this woman, my mother, that make our tomorrow better.

my favorite thing about my mother is that her laughter is contagious. i can remember sitting in church as a little girl and dad giving me "the look" like im being too loud or silly. mom tried ... to give me "the look" but sometimes, instead, the entire pew would start to shake. you see, my mother laughs with her entire body, then she starts tearing up and can no longer speak. it makes my heart smile thinking about it :)

above is one of my favorite recent photos of my mother. it was taken at my wedding. a "pelican" or very large bird relieved himself and it landed on mom's head. she was so graceful about it ... and of course, could not stop laughing. below are a few other shots from the wedding. thanks to christine hall (my cuz) for capturing these moments.

i was reminded early today how precious mothers are and how blessed i am to be surrounded by strong women who teach me every day. i have the most amazing mother-in-law whom i love dearly. oh, and dont even get me started about my sister ... she is my freaking hero.

so to my mother and all the other motherly women in my life, with all my heart, thank you!

to be a better blogger

seriously, im horrible!

i dont believe in astrological signs and the zodic nonsense but sometimes i feel the gemini in me coming out. i often start something and fail to follow through. i get all excited about a new project or hobby and then it slowly trickles out of my bloodstream until i have past the point of no return.

well here i am! and i refuse to quit blogging. i will embrace life, continue to grow in my relationship with God and take photos. and i will document these accounts and more in my blog, period!

tonight, my brother and his gf are coming for a visit. we will head downtown to the first friday night art gallery walk. i WILL take my camera and have lots of good things to share with you.

for now i will tell you that the artist husband and i look forward to the most is linda ruth dickinson. i could literally stare at her paintings for months. its been a while since we have been, so i am giddy to see her new stuff.

here are 2 paintings i love from her website:

Front

Portion

stay tuned!

... to unwrap

i received my prize from flourish in the mail ... and it felt like my birthday.

because i was too impatient to take pics of the beautifully wrapped package and its contents, i will show you the pics that were posted on flourish.

Jessica's Description:

The package included a few of my favorite things:

1.Shoe clips from B. Poetic

2. DIY Magazine

3. Real Simple Magazine

4. Handmade chevron pillow made by yours truly {me}

5. FEED tote

6. Milk glass bowl (from Furbish)

7. J.Crew hairclips

8. Handmade bird (from Furbish)

9. MODAGE earrings

10. Liberty of London pad

to be a winner

i am so excited! i never win anything ... ever.

for the past week and a half i have been reading thru this blog i found, flourish. its loaded with do it yourself projects, vintage jewelry and fashion. now, im sure many who know me would not think i am into these things ... because of my usual appearance. but i do love beautiful things, even if i am too scared to incorporate them into my home and wardrobe. i long to have my own unique style, or just style would be nice. i am hoping to talk it out with my inner hippie, 50s house wife, grunge, "polka dot mom," preppy, glamour girl and see what we can come up with (no wonder im confused).

oh yeah, about me winning. so i commented to win her 100th post giveaway, and i won. i cant wait to get my box filled with all sorts of goodies {vintage finds, handmade items, packaging accessories, and little something special from MODAGE}.

to nest

husband and i have found a home to rent that we love! yes, it is quite a bit smaller than the apartment we are in now, but we could use a little downsizing. with all the space we have had over the past two years, we have accumulated quite a bit of stuff. we have been praying to find a place that includes our "needs" nothing else really. "needs" include a fenced back yard for mailey the pup, a safe neighborhood, affordable, and enough space where we can live comfortably with 1 toddler. and thats pretty much it. and oh how God provides :)


all i am waiting for now is a verbal agreement from the owner. she has a tendency to avoid saying "yes" or "no" and it confuses me. im thinking this is just her nature though. i am a woman of confirmations ... i give them (in order to make myself clear) and i ask for them (in order to get a clear answer). we are not actively looking for another place and we know if this place falls through, its not meant to be. she met us and gave us the lease agreement and rental application to sign ... she even told us when the deposit is due (not until move-in day). so why do i still feel like a cant get too excited. i was able to go a couple of weeks without telling everyone and now i can hold it no longer.

so heres for getting my hopes up, its official, IM EXCITED!

mailey dreaming of her new backyard.

michael & dana ... and aydan makes 3

yay! i finally get to post michael and dana's pics. they have a little one on the way and asked me to take some photos to help announce the gender and name to their family and friends. because it was a surprise, i had to wait, which im not very good at.

michael is my cousin and i love him dearly. we moved to raleigh together about 7 years ago. we have laughed and cried ... and laughed so hard i cried on several occasions. his happiness means so much to me, and when it comes to dana ... i dont think i could have picked a better one myself. these two are going to be such a great parenting team, im hoping to watch and learn :)

below, are my 6 favorite pictures from that day. i cant wait until dana's belly looks like its about to pop! i will have to bully her into letting me take more photos ... i need more practice and i love pregnant bellies.

michael and dana, i love you so much and cannot wait to meet aydan kerry hancock!!!