What I've been up to as of late...

I shared some personal thoughts on our family blog tonight.

For the rest of the update on current life events, I have been house sitting for my sister and her husband for the last couple weeks while they are out of the country enjoying a fantastic vacation and a wedding.  I brought my daughter with me, of course, and we are taking care of their 2 dogs and 2 cats.  It's been a WONDERFUL break from the heat that was already encompassing life in Phoenix.  I look at the forecast and compare Phoenix to Newport, Oregon frequently and smile as I set the heater here to 68 degrees.

The 2 dogs are beautiful black Russian terriers.  They require a lot of activity to keep them and me sane, and it has been a lot of fun to get out and go on hikes with them.  I throw Lola into her carrier on my back, and I am sure it's an interesting sight to see me hauling a baby and hanging onto the leashes attached to 2 big dogs.  I love when I can let them off leash...they wear each other out.  I really enjoy hiking along the coast on sunny days and in the wilderness on cloudy days.

In a couple weeks I will be back in Salt Lake City.  I really miss Utah.  It became my home.  After a visit there, I will head back to Phoenix and find a part-time job.  I am and am not looking forward to this. :)  I am looking forward to getting in a position to find an apartment or home to rent and to have our family together in our own little space.

Patrick is living in Salt Lake City right now, working diligently on getting some projects finished up in his shop and getting packed up to move his business to Phoenix.  It has taken longer than we expected, and it has been really hard to be apart for so long.  Long distance marriage is tough.  I miss our daily routine and sleeping so contently next to him.  We pray continually that things will go well for him and he will be able to join us as soon as possible.

I have been busy being a mom to the most amazing little girl in my world.  I can't believe she is 21 months old.  I see her legs getting longer and more lean, as well as her arms, and I just get a little sad that my baby is growing into a little child.  I love this stage we are in, though it exhausts me.  She is so alert and smart and has such a fun personality.  She's getting into her independent stage where anything I hand her is no good...she's got to get it for herself.  I make sure to breathe deeply and allow messes to happen for the sake of memories and her learning process being fulfilled.  Sometimes I want to just bite her cheeks, she's so cute!

I've also been crocheting a bit and keeping my creative juices flowing.  It's a nice outlet.  I made the beanie she's wearing in that last picture.  Not too shabby for my first beanie with flowers!

Anyway, life is stressful for sure.  But it is always so deliciously good.

Hello again!

Wow, I have really fallen off the blogging wagon! My mind has obviously been elsewhere for the last couple months, which has been a really good thing. I think I'm ready to get back into the blogging world now that My world is a lot more stable.

During my break, I did make a little bag/tote one day. The craft bug has been biting me pretty hard lately. Deciding what to do can be a challenge. Here's how the bag turned out:



I used fabric I had on hand for the bag and to line the support piece inside, and I used fabric I had pieced together previously for the strap. Not my favorite color scheme, but I just needed to make something.


Here's the inside. I cut out a piece of cardboard and covered it with fabric using a glue gun. Totally brought me back to my teenage years when I covered a lot of notebooks with batting and fabric and made all sorts of pretty notebooks. Perhaps that is when my love/infatuation with notebooks and binders began...


And here is the bottom of the bag. I used a plastic bag from Z Gallerie as the template, and it turned out pretty good. I think I'll use this bag to hold my current embroidery projects and embroidery supplies.



I also stitched a Jack-O-Lantern face on a fabric pumpkin that I stitched years and years ago and finally put stuffing in a few weeks ago. I still need to find a cute twig to put in as the stem, then pull and seal it shut. I unfortunately stitched the face too low, but it's cute to look at, anyway. (I'll try to remember to take a picture!)


My crafty efforts lately correspond with a quote I recently heard:

Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.

~Deanna Spillman

So, I'll take my imperfect crafts over no crafts at all. :)

Blossom

I can't remember the source of the picture. I found it last night, and I slept it out of my memory. Dang it!

Anyway, I love this quote, and I love the font used. I'm intrigued by quote tattoos. Their only down side is that it's pretty trendy to have a quote done; however, the actual quote tattooed probably varies quite a bit, so there is some sort of originality with this concept.

If I had a quote permanently placed on my body, what would it say???



One of my favorite tattoos I've ever seen was on a girl at my work. It was a big beautiful tree, using blues, greens, and yellows. It was so magnificent. It was in the same place as this quote tattoo pictured, but a little more towards her back. Anyway, I wanted to frame it...which would be pretty difficult to do...

BEFORE & AFTER

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of my new hair color and trim. I forgot to take an "after" picture at the salon, so I had to wait for a day when I wasn't too lazy to actually do my hair. I'll be honest, the ponytail and I have a sickly codependent relationship. :)

BEFORE (my hair was so greasy!!!)


AFTER (and on my way to work)

I think I'm going to grow out my bangs again. I've enjoyed having them, but I'm not sure if they are quite right for my roundish/squarish face. I like having longer hair, though...I'll keep that for a bit, although I did find a few pictures of me with shorter hair back in August or so in 2006, and good gravy, I was hot! :) My goal this summer is to change my eating habits into healthy habits and exercise consistently. I want to look and feel healthier, which definitely means slimmer!! I've seen blogs where there is a daily picture of what the person is wearing that day. It might be fun to do that for a couple reasons: 1. I'll have to get up and get dressed every day. :) Sadly, I need motivation to end my beauty sleep. 2. I could make a sweet slideshow of my body shrinking. That would make me feel really good to watch. 3. It would be good fun.

Well, onto something more productive...

Hello

This is a picture I like of me, taken in January. I'm diggin' the red lips lately.