Happy Hiking

It was a beautiful day to hike the Lake Fayetteville trail.

 

I always take a picture

because after 6 hours of cooking, a picture definitely lasts longer.

*Charleigh ate two rolls and drank her sparkling grape juice and was full.

*I don't think Mattie smiled the entire meal. She is SO OVER smiling. Smiling isn't cool.

* Vin made a good effort at finishing off this drumstick but only managed about half of it.

* I am totally throwing out my jar of yeast. I think it must have gone bad because this is the second year in a row my rolls are what my family of origin recognizes as "ceiling-fan-worthy."

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I wish you a comfy couch, a full belly and a cozy afghan to keep you warm during your post-feast nap.































































*PS- this is the only day of the year that I accept this as a compliment from Robb.

Don't get too excited....

<<--------While I was making these, my sister birthed a whole new human being (I'm still waiting for pictures of my new niece, Adelaide Marlis born this morning, on
her Aunt Ashley's birthday!)










And here they are in their new home at the Heartwood Gallery...

Sometimes...

the stuff I find just blows me away.

These are rag dolls made in Sag Harbor, New York, in 1947. Aren't they just the sweetest things?

Dryer Lint, Baby

The Secret Life of an Etsy Photographer

Here's what most people see of my etsy pics. You don't usually get to see the mess ups and do-overs...


















I find myself wondering if my neighbors are hopelessly confused by my strange antics outside. Such as bringing a stool out on the front porch and then putting a globe on it and taking a picture of it. And then rolling up my sweatpants and pulling a pair of tights up to my knees so I can model shoes while simultaneously photographing them. Have you ever tried this? It looks crazy. And sometimes the camera falls over while you have it precariously tilted to capture your vintage blue suede pumps. Yep. If they are watching they are thinking, "That's one weird neighbor we got there."

They'll forget all about my weirdness when I bring them their Christmas cookie plate.

Grief

I have no formal plans this week. No events I must show my face to. There's not much to punctuate life this week. Except for the gigantic whir of my front loader in the spin cycle, the house is very quiet and like several 3 a.m.'s this week, I am left alone with my thoughts.

But instead of words, I simply see an image: me sitting down wearily on the floor before Jesus, resting my head slowly against his knee with a long, emptying sigh. I am still sad. We moved into a lovely home where we can have our friends visit us and I had a wonderful birthday and I adore my husband and children. I've band-aided myself with shopping and wine. I've carved out comfy little spots to sit and watch tv and snuggle. I've buried myself for hours in work. But when I am alone in the most singular place in my soul, I am still sad. And I know that nothing will really make that sadness go away. I function fairly normally on the outside, but underneath, there is a hollow place, a cavity that hurts when certain things touch it. I don't know how to talk to God and I haven't in a long, long time. What is there to say? So I just sit here quietly beside him. I am still very sad. And I know that He understands. Maybe someday I'll know what to say again. But for now, I just visit him without saying a word.

The Taming of the Shrew

Let Me Introduce The Apple

who didn't fall far from the tree....

Except my fifth grade play was never this awesome! She played Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew.

And she rocked it.

(As did the rest of the cast. I got to coach them and I was sooooooo proud of them!!!)

I am very grouchy.

Wanna know why?

The online newspaper no longer publishes the classifieds for free. You have to subscribe. Do you know what that means???? That means I have to ACTUALLY READ THE PAPER to see if there are any garage sales. No more simple click of "refresh" on my blog-reader. Pooh. Pooh on you Northwest Arkansas Times. You stink.

My Husband

is really a ROCK STAR among husbands. Let me count the ways:

On Friday, he lined up the baby sitter and supper for the kids, let me take my sweet time getting ready (and believe me, I took FOREVER) and took me out for dinner (and ice-cream) and a movie. My favorite restaurant here is called Noodles, and it a locally owned place. I signed up for their rewards cards last year, and they send out great coupons (to the tune of 10 dollars off) for your birthday and anniversary. I had the jalapeno lime parmesan crusted chicken on a bed of linguini with cream sauce. Oh. yeah.

And because I was in a very silly mood, I suggested we play the "Let's pretend we're on a first date" game. I haven't been on a first date in 16 years and it was darn good fun.

On Saturday, we luxuriously wasted the whole day just poking around....picked up a kid from a birthday party, dropped off flower pots, (got paid!), stopped at a couple of garage sales, came home and painted the powder room, while hubby cleaned the house and put out a beautiful, grown-up birthday party. While I got dressed he brought me a present...one of Anita's lovely twig necklaces from the Heartwood Gallery. Hannah and I have been eyeballing these for two years and he remembered. Like he does.
And then I got to see the cake. And I screamed. And squealed. And jumped up and down. And my kids thought I lost my mind. I kissed Robb while trying to squeal and jump up and down at the same time. Because every day, I read the wonderful blog, "Cake Wrecks: when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong." So he ordered me a purposeful CAKE WRECK (from Rick's Bakery, no less, so not only was it hilarious, it was like a tiny taste of the clouds in heaven)!

And then, everyone brought me presents even though Robb told them not to. And they are all just so...thoughtful and "me." I was just so very overwhelmed. It quite redeemed my last birthday party when I was 13 years old (which was so lousy I never had another party again.) I'm telling you, it would be worth it to turn 40 to have another party like that!

I'm a crazy-lucky girl. It might be Monday now and laundry must be done, but that guy will come home again tonight and be just as amazing as ever.

Mosaic Flower Pots: Check

SEVERAL weeks ago, the owner of the garden center called to ask me to make more mosaic flower pots. She provides me withe terracotta base and I make what seems good to me. Except this time, she wanted me to make a second black pot to match one I had made months ago and another extra large 4 season pot since the other one sold a while ago. With all that has gone on around here, I was really having a hard time getting into making these, but I finally forced myself to sit down and start on Wednesday afternoon. By Friday afternoon, I was able to grout them all, which is the part of the process when I slice my hands to ribbons. I must admit that this batch was harder to part with, especially the four season one, which was made of as much glass as china. But when I carried them into the shop, they all stopped and gasped...always a nice way to enter a room! I'm being sure to put these up on the blog mostly so that if I ever need to reference them again, I have a pictorial record!

And also, just a heads up that if you are interested in a mosaic for a Christmas gift, be sure to let me know. I can do custom work, and mosaics make great mom and mother-in-law gifts!

BEST.
BIRTHDAY.
EVER.

On Turning 35

I have been increasingly ambivalent about birthdays since turning 30. And turning 35 more so than ever, since you can just start rounding up to 40 now. I was pouting to Robb the other night that all the best things in my life are over. I was only about 34 percent serious....

But he said something that actually made a dent. (This is not always the case, I confess. He talks for a living and I am a "words are cheap" kind of girl...The irony isn't lost on us.)

He said, "You are better at 35 than you were at 25. Just like you were better at 25 than you were at 15." I had an instant flashback to being 25. A new mom with a terrible haircut and fresh stretch-marks. Completely lost. I had no idea who I was or how to invent myself. And 15...forget about it...maybe the worst year of my life. So 35 is kind of great actually. I'm comfortable in my own stretchy skin. I am comfortable wearing all my different hats. I have been a few places. I have something to say and I still have lots to learn. 35 is kind of powerful and awesome.

Giggle

Honest Scrap

My long time friend, Amy, included my blog in her list of 7 Honest blogs! That means I must inform you of yet another 10 honest things about me (can I reveal much more???)

ok...here goes.

1. I really HATE talking on the phone just to chat. I regularly initiate phone calls with one person: my Mom. Because she doesn't call people either!

2. I am currently stuck in neutral in life. I don't know if I want to have a baby and go back to having small kids or if I want to embrace having all my kids in school and start living my own life for the first time in 11 years. I suppose I will let you know when I figure it out.

3. I don't really start having clear thoughts until about 11 a.m. Maybe with DST, I'll start thinking around 10.

4. I regularly struggle with bouts of depression. I'm doing my best to ward it off this year.

5. I'm turning 35 (aka 40) on Saturday. There I said it.

6. I'm a jack of all trades and master of none.

7. I miss my brother in law, Kevin.

8. I regularly scheme up ideas to get my family to move to Arkansas with me.

9. I like my new house but I desperately miss my old neighbors.

10. I haven't been able to get back to work on Etsy since we moved and I'm worried I'll never get back into like I was before I had a whole big house to play in.

And now a word from our sponsor:
1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it. (Thank you Amy!)
2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself. (check)
3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

Ok, here -in no particular order- are 7 blogs I read regularly:

Jess's Sassy Pants. I have never met Jess and I don't remember how we found each other, other than God. But I consider her a wonderful blog friend who has encouraged me many, many times.

Jasmine's Rantings. Jas is my friend. She is authentically living and talking her way through a life that has never once been, for more than about 20 minutes at a time, the least bit easy. A fact she seems to be oblivious to while she just takes it all on and then calls me up and asks if she can do something for me.

Wendy's Chronicles. In short, Wendy gives me a picture of what the world can be like if you just don't take it all so darn seriously. She makes me laugh my head off. That's a gift.


Design is Mine: Isn't it Lovely is a design blog and it consistently gives me a little spark of inspiration. I just like it.


Into Vintage is a new blog I've been reading. I think she found me through etsy. She has just started blogging and I love the look of what she blogs and makes and buys.


Leap of Faith is Annie's blog. I can't believe I get to be friends with such a talented and versatile human being. One of these days, we are going to get ourselves into some wonderful trouble together. I can't wait.


Life with Kaishon is the blog of a girl I went to college with. Becky LOVES people. LOVES them. I am constantly amazed by the energy she puts into loving people, especially her fourth grade son, Kaish. If you start reading her blog and comment, she will seek you out and get to know you because, did I mention, she LOVES people.

And one more for a bonus, Stephanie was another friend from college. She and her family are Garcias to Chile
. With three adoptions under their belt, they are in the process of adopting two little ones from Haiti. Stephanie writes a fascinating blog about life in Chile and all that they are experiencing there.

I have 77 different feeds in my blog-reader, but these are some of my favorite ones. Consider yourselves notified and blog-on, friends. Blog on.