I am my mother.

I am my mother.

 

 

Isn't she beautiful?

I am my mother because I have slowly over the years adopted some of her traits.

Some good, some bad. Some silly.

 

 

 

I have developed a small obsession with cookbooks. Mostly because some of them are beautiful.

I have big plans to make everything inside of them and it is rare that that happens.

After my mom passed, I'm pretty confident that we found hundreds of cookbooks in boxes. Some we had never seen before.

 

I am my mother because every Saturday morning she would get up and clean the house. Not that I clean the house on Saturday mornings, because I don't. But  because I turn into a complete crab when I clean. I remember staying as far away from her on Saturday mornings as possible because it was quite possible that you were going to get yelled at for no particular reason other than you were in the house, and you were not cleaning and being a crab as well.

 

I Love artichokes. I will never forget the first time she introduced me to a REAL artichoke. She showed me how to eat it. just that tiny bit of artichoke made me a lover of that delicious vegetable forever.

 

 

I am my mother because my husband is my best friend. Her and my dad were pretty much inseparable. They fought like cats and dogs, but their love went way beyond the pettiness of the little un- important things in life. I watched her stay by his side when he first got sick and him by hers. Never leaving. I love Jason with that same kind of love. Its very intense.

 

 

 I get up every morning and do my hair and make-up. Why? Just because. I feel better. I would stand in the bathroom with her and ask her all about her make-up and her hair. I watched her put it on, studied how she did her hair, and I became that girl.

 

I am my mother because I am becoming obsessed with new lipstick. She had a shoebox FULL of lipstick colors! She didn't like to look like she wasn't wearing any, so she had bright colors. I used to love picking out lipstick with her because I always picked out the brightest colors and she usually liked them! I have recently found a love for lipstick. I never wore it before, but it is slowly becoming my new favorite makeup.:)

 

 

Its so funny to me that without even thinking about it, I am becoming my mother in some ways. I miss her so much and most of all I hope that Nora gets to see how her grandma lived and loved, through me living and loving the same way.

 

 

 



happy new year!

Happy New Year friends!
 I cannot tell you how much I have been looking forward to 2014. This is my year! There are no more houses to prepare to sell, no more stress of getting things done! Thanking God that everyone in my home has been healthy so far with the exception of Nora and I having a little cold. Starting this year off right. Jason accepted a new job at a different dealership. I realize that comes as a surprise to some of you! After all, isn't that why we moved in the first place? Well, yes and no. When we went and talked to his former boss last July, we were basically fed a load of BS. Between the pay situation, and the drive to and from home, it was too much. I was home with the kids for sometimes 14 hours a day. Every single day doing the same thing.... not really knowing many people and in a town I wasn't totally familiar with, it was very stressful. So, he got out and found himself a new job that he LOVES so far! And he is home more. Those of you that really know me, know that this guy is my best friend and never seeing or talking to your best friend sucks! In the end, it all worked out though. Also did a few tiny things to the house. After a un finished tift with out landlord, we decided to go ahead and paint! NO MORE LIME GREEN! We basically went back to the fabulous light blue that we loved so much in our other house. Painted the office grey, and added another desk so we can both have a little space. Him for bills, me for crafts! ha! Don't really have any good pictures quite yet since we aren't done with decorations. I promise I will post some pictures of the house as soon as I get a chance to get it together. Any who, I guess that is really all so far this year. So Ill leave you with that! I hope everyone is making the most of the new year! enjoy it! xo

 

This was right after we painted. Obviously this room isn't done! But I love the color.

Where the heart is.

Not every day can be a good day. Some times there are emotions that are incredibly sneaky! It can be anything! A book, a piece of clothing, a song on the radio. I can be having a fantastic day and then one second later I start to get angry...SO angry. I have this incredible urge to just plea with God to bring them back! My mind races to think that maybe I am dreaming.. yes,"just wake up" I tell myself, but I  don't. Then comes the realization that what is done, is done. It happened. Its over. This time of year can really bring out the crazies in me. If you have been through this, you understand. One second you are fine. In a moment, something can  happen that pulls you right back to that place you sometimes want to stew in for awhile. We forget to be thankful for a minute. Thankfully, It has become easier to pull myself out. To look at what I have been given and the result of all that has happened. I know I say it a lot lately, but God has been so good! Is that ever something we get tired of hearing? I hope not. I absolutely have days where I think "what are we doing here, I miss my family! " But I'm so happy we made this move. It has brought me to a new place in my life that I desperately needed. We are still making changes every day. I am still trying to figure out my normal! I can say with all honestly though that being home with my kids everyday is a blessing. They make me crazy but they also take me to a place of pure joy. I am complimented every single time we go out that I have a beautiful family. I just wish with incredible intensity that my mom and dad were here to see it. So, prayers to all of you this season who have a heavy heart and are missing a piece of it..xo

 

Happy Fall

I cant even begin to tell you how gorgeous the weather has been here. Not what I am used to at all! Normally I am getting out the coats and sweaters and the days of sundresses and flip flops are pretty much long gone. Here, not so much. I knew that living in the south it would be warmer, but I didn't realize that it would be  huge difference. I figured a few degrees. All week has been in the 70's and as I write this, its a fabulous 72 degrees and a slow and steady rain is coming down. I love it. I was also afraid that the trees would be much to look at when fall came around. To my surprise, they are also gorgeous. Of course they change WAY later here than they do back in STL. And its not all of them. Those huge live oaks are still just as green and gorgeous with their Spanish moss. I love it. You go to the Lowe's, and they still have all of their outdoor section open with all of their flowers still in full bloom. the farmers markets are still going on too. I was a bit nervous about leaving a real winter, but let me tell you, this is so much less depressing. I can actually get outside and let the kids go nuts. I'm just loving it here. No regrets.

lazy Sundays

I love Sundays! I love that we have found a fantastic church that is incredibly motivational and makes me want nothing more than to please God. A church that reminds me of the one we left. One that makes me want to be a better Christian. I am very thankful today for that!

Jason let the kids help him out a bit with the Nova today. Of course Noah was thrilled and always has a blast hanging out with his daddy talking cars. Nora just asked what everything was and told us that everything was pink. I just look at these two and cannot believe how big they are getting. Noah doesn't even look like a baby anymore. All of that is gone! I hate it so much and it tears me to pieces that my mom didn't get to watch that sweet face grow into a little boy. And Nora, I don't even know how that happened! She is hilarious and sweet and I want to freeze time more than anything. OK, I'm over my sappy mommy moment! ...Hope everyone has a fantastic week! xo

UPDATE!

Well, a little update on goal making. I feel like I did pretty good! I did not accomplish everything though. Running every night became a challenge because first of all it got cold! Also, Thursday I spent the entire afternoon walking around downtown Charleston which to me is a lot of walking! I did run three of the five nights I said I would..I guess that worked. Reading to my kids! DID it! OF course some of the books they handed me I may have slimmed down a bit after 10  minutes of them completely ignoring me. Made dinner every single night!! YAY! Pictures...not so much. Here is where that became an issue. Hospital bills started piling in. FUN. Got a bunch of room organized in the house though and I really think we are going to need to have  a garage sale. SO...a little extra Christmas money would be fantastic! Coming up with some new projects for the week! Desperately need to find a chair for the office, and found some adorable picture ideas! really enjoying the time at home with the kids and not feeling so incredibly overwhelmed with both work and family! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Setting Goals!

Spent my evening with Jason talking about goals! I will be the first to admit that I am no good at making goals. I tell myself that I am going to do something and that I will start off slow....and I never make it. I get bored. I want a challenge. I had a LOT of goals when we first moved here. The problem is that it really does take awhile to get settled and lord knows that I had no plans to make a zillion trips to the hospital! SO, needless to say not much has been accomplished! You tell yourself that when you move into this new fantastic place that you are going g to be organized and make dinner EVERY night and only eat healthy for now on. Not so much. First of all, the food down here is fantastic. I just want to keep trying new places! So, when the weekend rolls around, my idea of fun is not spending time in the kitchen. So there goes that goal! Anywho, that's beside the point. The point is, I need to make some things happen. SO, I have ONE goal this week. That goal is to achieve all the other goals I have made. HA! My plan is to tell myself that I am going to blog about how this gets done so that way I actually need to do it! Okay, so here is my list!

1. Go run every night during the week. This shouldn't be too hard. 20 minutes all to myself 5 days a week ..yes please!
2. make dinner every night during the week. This one will be a challenge because I'm lazy!
3. Get one room organized every two days. I say this because sometimes my kids make it a bit difficult to go through things...Two days should do it!
4. Read to my kids every single day for 20 minutes. I'm bad! It was so easy with Noah but now that there are two, I have become a slacker. This needs to happen!
5. print out my pictures! I have so many stashed on cards and the computer its crazy! I will buy an album and make it beautiful!

Well, there you have it! I pray that I can make these things happen in the next couple weeks. I hope to update tomorrow with good news! Until then, enjoy some pictures I got today with the coolest tiny camera in the world! xo