Category: personal

  • november goals

    I thought that today I could share cute photos of our Halloween adventure, but remember how Meredith is two? Yeah, the evening was a little rough. I barely got any pictures at all and let’s not talk about how hard that is for me to let go of. Moving on, and instead let’s talk about monthly goals.

    First a recap of October’s goals:

    1. Make a fall garland: did it, and shared it.

    2. Go thrifting: did it, only found a few small things but it was fun.

    3. VBS: did it and didn’t miss a single week.

    4. Choose blanket colors: did it, and my mom purchased the yarn & started crocheting!

    5. One craft just for fun: did it, but it didn’t turn out quite as good as I planned so I didn’t blog about it.

    On to November!

    november goals

    Holiday minibook: I want to get all my supplies in one place and the minibook put together before December so it’s easy for me to just add photos and extras as I go.

    Photo a day: I’ve been slacking on taking photos so I decided to do a photo a day challenge. I love the “from where I stand” photos so that’s what I’m going to do, starting with day one as you can see above. I’ll post them all to Instagram and hopefully it will get me thinking creatively regarding pictures again.

    Day in the life: At the beginning of the year I intended to do this once a month but it only happened twice before I got pregnant and since then I haven’t picked it back up. I want to do it again this month and evaluate how often to repeat it.

    Dresser situation: We need to play musical dressers around here. We need a new one for our bedroom so that we can move our current one into the guest room and use it to store extra baby stuff. So part of this goal is also to reorganize the toddler and baby clothes I have to make space for baby boy’s things.

    Bedroom: A few nagging tasks need to be done in the bedroom, putting up the curtain rods and installing new outlets. This isn’t hard to do, and I have all the supplies, but it is kind of tedious and annoying.

    And that’s all. Once again there is nothing life changing here but mostly fun stuff as I get back into the habit of monthly goals.

  • currently

    view

    pleased that I took the time to do a 3+ mile hike with a friend on Saturday.

    dreaming of doing family hikes all over Texas starting with some in this book.

    craving these bars that Erin posted about on Instagram…so much that I bought all the supplies to make them.

    obsessed with the sampler patterns by Little House Needleworks.

    planning to make my own holiday minibook this year.

    brainstorming more breakfast ideas.

    perfecting my Christmas and new baby wish lists.

    searching for the perfect thrifted dresser.

    realizing that I only have three more months of pregnancy (if I’m lucky) and I have hardly done a single thing to prepare.

    cherishing every baby kick.

    wondering when I’ll find time to do the 1-hour glucose tolerance test that I’m supposed to “drop by” for.

    listening to this audiobook on my commute, which is perfect for October.

    looking forward to our hill country getaway happening in two weeks.

    missing a few of my best friends.

    enjoying new and deepening friendships I’ve found through church.

    needing to find a time for daily devotions again.

    feeling happy.

  • quick takes

    I don’t know how “quick” this will be today as I seem to have a lot on my mind but here we go. (Check out more quick takes here.)

    one

    This week has been super busy and work has been tough and I know this is true because I have been almost completely absent on social media, and also I have been eating horribly. I mean I don’t usually eat great  but this week has been particularly bad. I guess I’m okay for breakfast and lunch, but then I’ve been snacking so much in the afternoons and dinner has just been fast food  or nothing (mostly because of time constraints and lack of planning). Anyway, I feel gross and this weekend I am definitely getting back to meal planning.

    two

    Can someone explain to me how my baby turned into a real child with actual opinions? She doesn’t want to wear that shirt, she wants to wear the shirt with the “balls” (polka dots). She doesn’t want to put on her “boops” (boots) until we get to school. She doesn’t want to wear her “jackee” (jacket), she wants to hold it. She wants to color sitting on the ground, not at the table. She does NOT want you to even THINK about brushing her hair. And no no no – don’t look at her while she’s dancing, why would you do that?

    Also, here is a new favorite pastime, “feeding” the dogs:

    feeding dogs

    Usually the food ends up all over the living room. It’s a tradeoff on whether or not I’ll let her do this. I can’t stand the mess, but sometimes it’s worth it to get a few minutes of quiet time.

    three

    So I am still thinking about and making plans for the Christmas holidays even though it’s not even Halloween yet. Right now my thinking and planning is revolving around what format I want to do my December mini album. I did this for the first time last year following Ali Edwards‘ daily templates, and I loved the finished product but I did not like doing daily updates. This year I know for sure that I want to do a minibook but just fill it as I go, but I can’t decide whether I want to stick with a 4×6 chipboard album that I put together myself (like last year) or whether I want to try something like the Studio Calico handbook that is kind of like a mini Project Life. I’m just not sure if that will be overkill, but it might be easier to keep up with.

    four

    Speaking of Halloween, last weekend I was in a kids’ consignment store picking up some shoes for Meredith and I saw a ladybug costume and it took me about 5 seconds to snatch it. It’s a size 3T and I haven’t tried it on her yet, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem and I know it’s going to be super cute.

    five

    Stocking update (the left is what I’ve done, the right is what it should eventually look like):

    stocking progress

    All of Santa is done! Well, except for his floating left mitten. Right now I’m focusing on getting all the rest of the pieces embroidered and sequined and then I’m going to put them on in order. It’s going really well and I think it will be done in time.

    six

    I am slowly working my way through the Game of Thrones series (I know it’s not really called that, but that’s what everyone thinks of it as, and I can’t keep the rest of the names straight). It’s taking me forever because it’s super long and I read other books in between. Anyway, right now I’m in book 3 which is most people’s favorite and it’s really good, but I sure wish my favorite characters would quit being killed off.

    seven

    I am just so glad it’s Friday. This morning I had a new tube of mascara, I stopped at Starbucks for breakfast to treat myself, and I listened to an entire Nickel Creek album on my way to work which was so nice. Tomorrow morning I’m going on a hike with the ladies at church and then hopefully having a nice quiet weekend after that full of family time and crafting.

  • quick takes

    Linking up!

    one

    The internet is a pretty cool place sometimes. Someone who had just bought the midnight edition of Project Life emailed me about doing a trade for some of the seafoam cards that I have, and I just got her package in the mail yesterday. So now I don’t have to buy the whole midnight edition and I can work those cards into my spreads! Pretty excited.

    two

    This week I had to place an order for a book I want to give to a friend (and none of my local bookstores had it) so I thought it only made sense to order one more thing to get the free shipping…right? So this was a total impulse buy:

    liberty cross stitch
    but it’s one I don’t regret in the least. As much as I am interested in all types of crafts, I think needlework and specifically cross stitch is going to remain my favorite and probably what I focus on. I want to do my part to keep the modern stitching trend alive and pass it down to the next generation. :)

    three

    Last night David and I had an appointment to go to right after work so we arranged for his mom to pick Meredith up from daycare. We didn’t make it to get her and bring her home until around 7:45pm and I thought she might be fussy and needy for us but instead she was mad that we were there. All she wanted was for Mimi to hold her and read her books and when we had to leave she cried huge tears and was calling out Mimi’s name for half the car ride home until she exhausted herself. So basically I’m worrying less and less about leaving her the weekend of our anniversary trip in November because it seems she’ll be just fine.

    four

    So this baby in my belly: I have no idea what to name him. I know I have a few months to go but it’s still worrying me because I haven’t come across a single name that really calls to me. There are a couple of common, traditional names that I like but when I think of using them on our baby they don’t sit right. And there are some less common names that I like but I can’t really picture using them. I just don’t know.

    five

    Sadly we are about out of hand-me-downs for Meredith and she has exactly one pair of pants that fit her. The rest are all shorts or capri-length leggings, and as we are finally getting some cooler temperatures I should probably outfit her a bit more appropriately. Similarly, she only has one pair of shoes that fit and they are sandals. So this weekend we’re going to hit a couple of consignment stores and I’m actually pretty excited about it because I hardly ever shop for Meredith because I’m cheap frugal but it’s so much fun.

    six

    Also this weekend I want to go thrifting specifically to look for a bedroom dresser, organize the buffet cabinets, attempt a fall garland, do a Project Life spread, and switch out the electrical outlets in our bedroom. I also have book club and a jewelry-selling party to go to so I hope I wake up with a lot of energy and a well-behaved child.

  • around here // rainy weekend

    leaves

    us at pumpkin patch

    pumpkin patch m

    pumpkin patch pig

    pumpkin patch pony

    pumpkin patch pretzel

    books

    raincoats

    mall

    craft room

    stocking

    nightstand

    candle

    Sorry for the picture overload today but it was a good weekend. We went with all of David’s family to a local pumpkin patch first thing Saturday morning before the rain hit, and even though it was hot and muggy (I mean, it’s the middle of October so why wouldn’t it be?) the kids had such a good time. The highlight was riding ponies and the petting zoo. Super cute.

    Then it turned rainy and miracle of miracles, Meredith was in a good mood the entire weekend, took decent naps on both days, and even entertained herself for a lot longer than usual. I was able to actually do some crafting while she was awake! I made a lot of progress on my niece’s stocking, cleaned and organized the house a bit, and made a start on some fall decorating. David also took Meredith to the store a couple of times so I hardly had to leave the house. We even got a date night in and saw the movie Gravity which was really good (but stressful, and emotional).

    Yesterday afternoon as I was cozied up in the recliner in the craft room doing some embroidery, listening to the rain fall while Meredith napped, I thought of the Kurt Vonnegut quote: “I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’” My inclination was to turn over in my mind all the things I needed to do, or to double task by listening to a podcast or audiobook, but instead I decided to just sit there and listen to the rain and think, I am happy.