Answer Me This: Hip hop socks and a 2 lb. chocolate bar

Before I show up fashionably late to the party at Kendra's today, I just need to say that I am so glad that Facebook hasn't taken down my baby bum photo (yet), since I hear that's happening around the net lately.  Maybe they were impressed with my spanglish? 

Ok, getting to the questions.  It's my first time! Thanks for hosting Kendra!


1. What’s something you've won and how did you win it?

I won a 2 lb. chocolate bar for being a top seller of chocolate for a junior high band fundraiser.  I'm pretty sure I sold an inordinate amount of chocolate covered almonds to my parents, but it didn't matter who you sold to soo...I won.  :)

I also played in many sports growing up - basketball, volleyball, softball, golf, tennis, and ran in track, so naturally I won many times doing that also.  :)  The main "win" I remember was being on an undefeated 4 x 100M relay team in junior high.

Now that I think about it, it sounds like junior high was quite the competetive peak for me. (??)

2. Do you save old greeting cards and letters, or throw them all away? Why?

I keep about 30% of these.  I have kept many notes and letters from my mom that she sends along with packages from back home in South Dakota.  She often has something funny to say or an update about somebody I know from back home, and always the weather update.  I think I'll like to look at these when I'm older.

I have also kept some thank-yous and affirmation notes that I received from household sisters in college, or from those I served with at Maggie's Place. 

I keep Christmas cards up until spring (much to the annoyance of my husband).  I then move them to a folder until next year, and then I throw them away.  I have no idea why I do this.

3. When you’re at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

I am almost always barefoot at home, except during the "winter" months (here in the desert) when I wear socks.  

These were a gift from Joel - my all-time favorite "around the house" socks, especially because they have those awesome grippers on the bottom.  And they make me smile when I read them of course.

4. Who’s the most famous person you have ever met? 

This was a hard question for me, basically because I have met very few famous people that I can recall.  I blame my husband for this, since he often works with famous people and usually doesn't tell me who they are until after the fact.  I guess he forgets our wedding vows on those days?  They definitely mention something about this.

Since I couldn't come up with one "big one", here is the short, not-overly-famous list:

-- At an Emerson Drive concert at the South Dakota State Fair when I was 18, the lead singer came down from the stage (we were near the front in the grass) and serenaded me and kissed me on the cheek during a song.  Not technically "meeting" but close? Better? Incredibly embarrassing?
-- I met Brenda Warner, Kurt Warner's (since-then retired football QB) wife and author twice at Maggie's Place related events

-- I met Matthew Kelly (author) at a book signing

-- I sat next to Bishop Olmsted at a Maggie's Place luncheon one time
-- I had plenty of face time with  Scott Hahn who was one of my professors at Franciscan University

Wow I need to take a break from all that excitement.

5. What has been your best work of art?

You may remember a certain craft book I got for my birthday a few months ago.  I guess the paper flowers I've made from the book would be my "favorite" work of art...they make me super happy whenever I see them around my house.

6.  What’s your strongest sense?

Well I thought I had a strong sense of smell before I read about Kendra's ant-smelling skills.  Now I'm feeling quite inferior so I'll tell you a weird related fact.

I have a mild version of this "sense" thing called synesthesia, which is defined by wikipedia as "a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway."  
Phenomenon is a strong word in my case, but here's an example - many people who have this see a specific color when they see letters and numbers - like, all a's are red and all b's are blue.

Mine is more what they call "spacial sequence" synesthesia where I see dates, especially months and years, in this physical world in my head.  I won't go into detail or you'll think I'm cray, but I thought that everyone saw dates and numbers like this until about a year ago when I heard Tsh Oxenreider talk about it on one of her podcast episodes.

I also have strong gender associations to certain inanimate objects (example: spoons are always girls, forks always boys...is that the weirdest thing you've ever heard?), which I think is part of the same thing.

On that strange note - have a great week friends! 

7 Quick Takes about books, sewing, gifts, and hair bows for sale...

Linking up with Jen for some Quick Takes!

1.
As you may remember, Joel got me an awesome Sewing Machine for my birthday!  I have been playing around with it here and there for the past few weeks and have successfully completed 3 projects. I have decided to bore you with the details.

a) I added button holes and buttons to close the opening to a duvet cover.  Not sure why the company thought it looked fine with it open, but, problem solved.
b) I made a pillow cover that I am a little too proud about, even though Joel asked me the other day: "So....what are these pillows for again?" They're pillows, Joel. 
c) I hemmed a cupboard skirt (I'm not sure if that's an official name?) that I have had up for 2 years to cover a bottom cupboard that doesn't have a door.  Of course nobody notices that it's hemmed, but I just know that it's hemmed. 

After crushing these beginner projects I'm about to give in to my beaming confidence and make Mia a dress. Enough of this kiddie pool swimming, I'm ready for the high dive!

2.
I've also been making more hair bows lately, for Mia and for gifts. Many people have told me I should sell them, so here we go: If you want a hair bow just shoot me an email! I'd love to make something for you, and have tons of different colors and kinds of fabric, elastics, hair clips, pins, etc.  Here are a few examples, and they cost $5 each.

I also wrote a tutorial about making fabric flower headbands - if you'd rather make one yourself here it is!

3.  Mia got a little blow-up pool for her birthday from my parents, and wow - she loves it.  I just wish it was big enough for me to play in it, and especially go down the slide.  Since it's been 108* out lately, water is definitely our friend.  We also have incredibly kind and generous neighbors who let us use their pool anytime.  I'm pretty sure Mia will grow up thinking it's normal to waltz over to your neighbor's back yard basically whenever you want.  We might have to clarify that at some point.

4.  Ok.  Does anyone else love reading books, but seldom actually reads? Or starts 5 books, all at the same time, and doesn't ever finish them?  That's usually been me.  Until recently.  It all started when I read Jen's Something Other Than God, and turned into a book-finishing-marathoner. I just realized how much I love reading, and how much more fulfilled I feel after having done so, as opposed to how I feel after watching TV.  Bleh.

So in the past 4 weeks I have read 2 books and finished another one I had started months ago.  You may think, wow, Kristin, what are you some kind of Awesome Reading Professional?  But listen people, this is a lot of non-internet-based reading for me.  And since I would recommend them highly, here's what they were:

1. #SOTG as noted above, awesome book
2. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman (much different than the Netflix version. MUCH. )
3. Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton, a gift given to me by a friend that I am SO grateful for.  It reminded me of The Last Lecture, in that it was just chock full of wisdom. I didn't agree with 100% of it, but I loved it all anyway.  I read on her blog that she's working on another book, and I will definitely be reading it.

I have also started Dad is Fat, by the funniest of the funny Jim Gaffigan, which was dropped off at my Little Free Library! I was literally about to buy the kindle version (that I read from an iPhone app: game changer), but it showed up in the library a few days later. I call that Amazingly Awesome.

Joel and I decided on a new "norm" to shut off the TV (most nights) for a 9-10pm reading hour.  Kind of like Happy Hour, but, no, wait, that's way different.

5. I ALSO want to find a few of these at the library this summer, especially the audio versions.  What a great list for a business-y dork like me.  

Summer reading is taken to a whole new level here in Phoenix, where we spend most June-August indoors gazing at Facebook pictures of our friends at backyard BBQs.   SO, instead of that, (ahem) I have set a goal for myself to read or listen to 10 books between now and August 31st. I'm typing it out loud so I will stick with it.  Hopefully this tactic works.  Stay tuned for the report!

6. My dear sister Maddy turned 20 a few weeks ago.  

This is her surprising me at the airport back in April for Mia's Baptism

I'm not sure if you all know how excited I get at every one of her birthdays, but it's exCITED.  I am just so ready for her to be an adult and for us to be able to be a new kind of "friends!"  Like real, peer-to-peer friends.  Being 9 years apart was fun and all when I was 9-15. But now we get to be adults together, forever, and age and life stages won't really be that big of a deal.  And next year I can buy her a cocktail! I just can't wait.  Happy Birthday Maddy!!!

7. As mentioned already, we are very blessed to have some awesome neighbors.  The family that lets us use their pool has a daughter who Mia just adores.  One day she asked if she could take a picture of Mia for a project at school.  Then, months later she gave me this:

Oh my heart. It is just the cutest thing in the world. I told her, in complete honesty, that I have very few things I would grab from my house if it were on fire, and this will now be added to that hypothetical list. 

People are awesome.  Let's be more awesome to each other.

Have a great weekend!

On the occasion of my 29th Birthday...

The month of May is great, isn't it?  Spring is in full boom, school lets out soon, Mother's Day is around the corner, and so many birthdays of friends and family members to celebrate, including my mother-in-law, my sister, my friend KM, Mia, and me! 

I would say my expectations for birthdays are mid-range...I don't expect the day to be perfect, or for it to be the best day out of all 365, or for me to not have to lift a finger all day (though that would be nice!), but I definitely  intend to have fun, eat food that I feel like eating, do things I feel like doing, and spend time with some of my favorite people.

And, once May 4th, 2014 started with me sleeping in until 7:10, 1-2 hours past my usual morning wake-ups with the ever eager-for-the-day-to-begin Mia, I knew it was going to be an exceptionally great birthday.  

I fed Mia and went straight for the presents.  I had asked Joel for this sewing machine, as I thought this would solidify my "stay-at-home-mom" status even better and more fun than, say, a "SAHM" self portrait tattoo.  

Or maybe something like this..

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html

Anyway, I digress. As I walked into the kitchen where my present was sitting and surprisingly well-wrapped in last-week's newspaper, I noticed not one but two gifts.  The big one was surely my Singer machine I had asked for, but what the heck was the other one??

Well, my husband proved himself an awesome gift-giver once again, and surprised me with a beautiful - I mean Beautiful - book about how to make paper flowers.  One of my Favorite Hobbies On The Planet.

Here is the book:

  

It has a forward written by Martha Stewart, so you know it's going to be good.  Isn't the cover even so beautiful??  Just looking at it makes me happy.

Anyway, the unexpectedness and perfectness of it were just too much...and I cried. Just a tiny little bit people! Not that much.  But enough to acknowledge.  Personal, thoughtful gifts...a rising love language for me most definitely.

Shortly after present-opening, we decided to go out for breakfast (one of my favorite "luxury" pastimes), and agreed on La Grande Orange.  On the way there, Joel suggested I text a friend of mine that I haven't seen or spoken with in practically a year, who I wasn't really sure about the status of our friendship.  I miss her and think about her often, and told Joel a while ago that once I start staying home and have more free-time I was going to make an effort to get back in touch with her.  He suggested I text her to see if we could stop by and say hi after breakfast like we had done many times in the past.

I hemmed and hawed, wondering if now was a good time, trying to come up with the right words to use, etc. etc.  As we pulled into the parking lot, I got the same feeling I get almost every year on my birthday.  It's an emotionally charged thought that Life is short, that there is no time to live with regrets, and to not put off things till "later."  Now is the time.  I pushed send on the text message and went inside.

Midway through the breakfast I received a warm text message from my friend saying that she would love to see us, but she is out of the state for a few days, and that we should plan something soon.  

I was feeling such relief and excitement to finally touch base, but the best was yet to come.

After returning home, putting Mia down for a nap, hanging around the house and reading my new favorite book on the couch for a few hours, I decided to check my email, which I rarely do on a Sunday. In my inbox was an email from my friend, sent an hour before I had texted her that morning, congratulating me on Mia's Baptism (she didn't realize it was my birthday).  So if you're doing the math right...we each separately decided to connect with one another, on the same exact day, after not speaking / seeing / texting one another for almost a year.

All I can say is that it renewed in me even more strongly, that life is too short to not do those things we know matter most.  Don't hold back.  Don't over-analyze.  Just do it! :)

Ok back to finish my all-important birthday summary.  After 5:00 Mass we threw in a frozen pizza, put Mia to bed, ate more than one chocolate-caramel-nut brownie, and settled in for a movie.  Even though the movie was t e r r i b l e  and we couldn't even finish it- it was so bad, it couldn't begin to detract from my awesome day.  I feel so blessed by my family and friends, and am excited for the year to come.

Amen.  
Or something.

PS. Anyone think that Facebook has made birthdays 10 times better than they already were?  Dear Facebook: you  can be really annoying sometimes, but on my birthday, I appreciate you.  The end.

7 Quick Takes: Life Update

Well, I decided to take a bit of a break..apparently.  But I'm back! To clear my head and try to cover the past month (or so), I decided to do some quick-ish takes.  {Linking up with Jen!}

1. 

Maggie's Place Christmas.  What can I say?  It was like every other year...crazy..awesome..ness.  Every year Maggie's Place provides gifts for all of the moms that have ever lived with us, and their families!  The last count I heard about a week before Christmas was around 480 people we were providing gifts for. 

Awesome, I know!

We spend the two weeks before our big party literally living the elf life...gathering gifts, sorting, distributing, wrapping, etc. etc.  It is so fun, so much work, and so worth it!

Here's Mia helping me wrap some gifts..

As my mom used to tell my sister when she was a messy, unhelpful toddler.."Just sit there and watch me...watching is helping!"

2. 
We flew to South Dakota to visit family, and it was an awesome trip!!  We got so much QT in with my family, the 8 days went by way too fast.

My favorite part of the trip was when my dad and Joel built a snowman for Mia.  It was such a beautiful day, and Mia loved the snow!  Here's my little snow angel:

And the Snowman himself:

She loves her Papa Joe -

And her Grandma Kathy. And of course - she LOVES her cousins!!  I see lots of girly play-time with these two in her future.

3. Mia has been waking up one extra time per night for the past 5 weeks, and I am so excited that it *seems* like this habit is on it's way out.  We tried numerous things, but in the end it seems like it was one of those milestone-stage-cusp things.  Becaauussee..

4. She has cut her first two teeth (the first one came on Christmas day!), and..

5. This week she reached two milestones: crawling AND pulling herself up to stand!  These are super exciting!  And of course mama must record every second of her life, even if it's grainy bedtime quality...

Go Mia!

6.  So three weeks ago I came back to Maggie's Place full-time. This has been both really great in many regards, and really hard.  I am so excited to be able to focus on my current projects at work and spend so much more time with my co-workers and friends!  But of course it comes at a cost...full-time daycare and less Mia time :( .  

Luckily I found a wonderful friend-of-a-friend who was willing to take Mia into her home with her 18-month old.  And I must say, Mia loves it so much!  She loves Zac, her new bff, and is such a social, happy kid, it hasn't effected her at all as far as I can tell.  

7. But, if going back to work full-time wasn't a big enough change, I decided to pull another 180 and put in my "3-month's notice." This means I plan on leaving my job at Maggie's Place at the end of March. (!!)

You're getting whip-lash, I know.  Back full-time, then leaving for good...uughhh it is all tugging at my heart strings in so many directions.  As most decisions like this, it is and will be bittersweet.

I don't have any major plans as for what I'll do next, but my brain has been going for about.... OH the past 4 years, on "what I want to do when I grow up" and all that.  I am sure I'll try a few things, fail at a few things, and learn a lot along the way.

So we'll see!  There's a lot to get done in the coming months, and that means I will be doing a little less blogging, but I promise to check in when I can, and of course will be updating my Instagram more frequently with random Mia happenings.

So Happy Friday everyone!  And as a full-time working mom, I can whole-heartedly say - Thank Goodness It's Friday!

7 Quick Takes: Halloween re-cap, Apple Muffins and more

Hello Friends!  It's been a while, I know.

But here I am, with some Quick Takes!  (Don't forget to join the rest of the party over at Jen's!)

1. 
Halloween Re-Cap. I know I know, I am like a month and a half late, but I just had to share.  

Don't mind my dirty mirror.
I figured this was the one and only year we could do something funny for Halloween instead of the princess / pink attire.  How cute is she.

If you missed it on Instagram, I let everyone know that 60 seconds after this photo she spit up allllllll over me. Like, had to change my clothes, all over me. 

Like, had to wash my face, all over me.

2.
On Wednesday Mia and I went over to our friends Sharon and Ava's house to celebrate Ava's first birthday!  It was a super cute party, themed "Oh the Places You Will Go!" We even had a little photo sesh (typical mommy group activity) that looked a little like this..

(Up up and away, get it?)
You can't really tell in this photo, but there were a few (unnamed) babies who were not so happy with their (unnamed) mothers.  

They'll love us later for it though. Or, (still) think we're crazy. Either one.  

3. 
I love baking in the fall and holiday season, and found a super easy Apple Muffin recipe from a cool blogger over at Wee Eats.  It even called for applesauce instead of all that slicing and dicing and peeling I was imagining.  I, for once in my life, had every single ingredient already in my pantry!  And I bet you will too.

I subbed out (because I am a subbing snob) about half the flour for oats and flax, and it still turned out awesome.  Now go check out Natalie's recipe!

4.
Speaking of sweets, you ever have those friends that peer pressure you into stuff?  Well at Ava's birthday party I got roped into a "sugar detox" that I had no intention of joining.  5 days with no sugar.  Why? I don't know.  I'm a people pleaser.

Glad I made these muffins!! :)  "Detox" starts Monday, sharp.

5. 
My husband came home from work the other day with a present.  A random, awesome, present.
Check'em out:

L-O-V-E them.  And yes, I bust out in a rap when I put them on. You would too.

6.
One more recipe link. I just can't get enough!

I made this recipe a few Sundays ago from RealSimple.com and am still thinking about it.  SOO good.  Beef stew, made in my crock pot.

Image from realsimple.com

I have never made beef stew before, and I must admit...I nailed it. So easy, so good.  I subbed (see quick take #4)  sweet potatoes for the regular ones, and again - so good.


7. 
I heard a news story out of Phoenix yesterday that made me take more seriously my hair cutting skillz.

A quick background- when Joel and I got married almost two years ago, we decided I would learn how to cut his hair to save money.  I am now quite the profesh, if I do say so myself.

Fast forward to the news story - in summary, a guy put on craigslist that he wanted to hire somebody to kill his grandfather (I know, terrrible right?), and for payment he would give him an ipad, an ipod, and a year's worth of free hair cuts. (!!!!)

On a lighter note, I had no idea hair cuts were so valuable!  I am now trying to come up with the perfect house-cleaning-lady barter system.

As long as she has the exact same hair cut as my husband, anyway. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Beet salad, please?

Today has started off pretty swell.  The evidence:

-- The 3-month-old slept in till 8:35! (obediently fulfilling my request from the night before)

-- I finally mopped the floor (hate Hate), which is inevitably followed by the declaration - "I am awesome" 

-- Mia and I Skyped with my parents who are celebrating their wedding anniversary today (Go Mom and Dad!)

-- My husband lined up a sitter and a restaurant for Date Night all.by.himself!  I love just showing up to date nights...feels like the early days or something.

-- I made an awesome lunch with surprise left-overs from the fridge.  I only say surprise because I had forgotten about them...silly me.

I thought it worth sharing because it was GOOD.

First, I remembered I had salad dressing leftover from last night..

My old cooking friend Martha gave me this recipe for a dressing, so I shook it up in an old olive jar I stole from our kitchen recycle bin a month ago.  It has been waiting for a life-after-death purpose ever since, and dare I say I found it.  

The picture makes it look huge, but it only holds about a cup and a half of dressing.

Then I found some grilled chicken, carrots, lettuce, feta, and some cooked beets from earlier this week, which brings me to a quick point about beets and taste buds that I feel called to share.

So, I used to HATE beets.  Beets and me..no bueno.  But then one night I found myself at a dinner party, politely eating a beet / goat cheese / spinach / balsamic vinaigrette salad.  It wasn't bad, and I was curious about the fact that it wasn't bad, so I kept trying that salad combo every now and again.  Little by little, I started really liking beets.  Now, you guessed it, we are Bffs.

This situation reminds me of an experiment I read once where a nutritionist wondered if there were "reallly" foods we didn't like, or if not liking them was just the result of us not eating them enough (it was a book about parenting and raising non-picky children).  

So he did an experiment on himself, and for a month ate foods he hated, over and over.  Apparently at the end of the month he was craving those foods he previously disliked, and confirmed for himself that all foods are just acquired tastes, and we can learn to like just about anything (within reason), it just takes repeated exposure to your taste buds.

A controversial topic among picky eaters, I am sure!  But I say - give those foods you don't like a chance! (or 10)!

  

I am a believer.

Happy Saturday!

AAANNND some pictures



My Dressss

Booty Shot

The Suit, minus the cleav..mom is this OK?

Fancy Shoes..



Oh and Ellie my Elephant.  Just a little gift from the love of my life, plus a source of pure enjoyment every time I prance past it in my heals during those commercial breaks.  Everyone should have a little project while they work on a Big Project that's just for fun.  Let's not get too serious people.