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tgif : week in the life edition

The high of my week was probably just the entire process of documenting a week in the life. It’s been much easier than I expected, and it has me very excited to put together a mini album. Two more days to go after today!

The low of my week was a very difficult night of parenting on Wednesday. Meredith had been so good all week until then, so I knew a meltdown was coming. Thankfully I had read a lot in Raising Your Spirited Child that day so I had more patience than usual and some new techniques to try. They weren’t all successful, but at least I kept my cool through most of it (which was all evening – 5 hours of intense parenting).

The best money I spent was $34.95 to order the week in the life kit (no album) from Ali Edwards. I have a pretty good idea of how I want to use it, and I love Ali’s design plan.

A podcast episode I loved was “Motherhood and Nutrition – Simple Steps To Eating Better – A Chat with Trina Holden” on Inspired to Action. I’m just getting into this podcast and loving it so far. Since this summer when I did whole30 I’ve been very focused on transforming the way we eat and there were a lot of practical tips in this episode.

My weekend plans include trick-or-treating in my brother-in-law’s neighborhood (so all the cousins can go together), and going on a double date tomorrow to attend The Addams Family Musical that my brother is directing. If you’re local, you should come! It’s free, and the productions are really well done. Other than that, we have no plans. So I’m pretty excited about that. :)

October 31, 2014
favorite coming-of-age books

Coming-of-age is more of a theme than a genre, I suppose, but I tend to really like books that can be categorized this way. Maybe it’s the nostalgia (I am very prone to it) or the fact that all humans share the adolescent experience so it usually resonates with me.

I think, also, that any good novel will have characters that change over time (usually when they encounter some sort of difficulty) and coming-of-age provides a perfect framework to make that happen.

I don’t know, do you think the term “coming of age” has any real meaning when it comes to books? Is it too broad?

Regardless, here are my favorite coming-of-age books at the moment:

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving – this is also still in my top five novels of all time.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith – slow, sweet, tender. Amazing characters.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides – flawless writing; completely drew me in to obsess about these strange but beautiful girls right along with the collective narrator.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – this is everyone’s favorite for a reason. Anytime I re-read it I’m blown away.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer – just the sweetest and most heartbreaking story ever.

Joyland by Stephen King – along with the excellent character development you get an interesting setting, element of mystery, and a satisfying ending.

What are your favorites? Any I need to add to my list?

October 30, 2014
project life 2014 : weeks 41 – 42

Here is my Project Life spread from October 6 -19. It has a hint of fall to it (even though we are still nearing 90 degrees daily, but let’s not go there).

I wanted to mark the season somehow, so I put a photo of our fall mantel right at the top center. The rest of the left-hand side is mostly updates on Liam. On the longer journaling card I wrote kind of an overview of the two weeks.

On the right-hand side are a few pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch, and a few everyday photos.

I have fun making my own filler cards when needed, but I usually end up doing something super simple like this, below. I think that’s how I want my Project Life spreads to stay, and then I’ll play around more with paper and embellishments on the minibooks I do.

(As far as minibooks, I want to keep doing one for each holiday season, as well as any eventual vacations we take. I’m also going to do one for week in the life, and probably special events like Liam’s first birthday.)

The photo of Liam sleeping while sucking his thumb is one of my all-time faves.

And that’s it! Sometimes this is my only hands-on creative outlet for weeks on end, and I love that I have it.

October 29, 2014
cross stitch #5 : autumn sampler

Well, I finished this autumn sampler from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery back when I was on maternity leave. My intention was to get it framed and then share it, but since it’s square I haven’t been able to find a cheap frame yet. (So far I can rarely bring myself to spend much on framing…I tend to repurpose thrift store finds.)

But since it’s autumn now and I worked so hard on it, I really wanted to display it! So this is my temporary fix for the season. And actually it’s hanging in our living room, but the walls there are green and don’t photograph well. So I moved it to our room for these pictures.

I had a lot of fun stitching this one. I want to note that the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery’s stuff is very cutesy (or “kawaii”) and that’s not really my style. I left the little faces off all the inanimate objects. The little people and animals are cute enough for me. :)

Which square is your favorite? I really like this little house; it reminds me of the house we lived in when my brothers were born, in Pennsylvania…

The falling leaves are pretty…

The cardinals remind me of my mom…

This little deer is adorable…

…but I think my favorite is the acorn. Acorns are symbolic to me, and have special meaning.

Thanks for letting me share! What are you working on these days?

October 28, 2014
around here : full weekend

Things I did this weekend:

>Chores & laundry

>Finished a Project Life spread

>6.2 mile run

>Attended a birthday party for one of Meredith’s old classmates

>Pushed through M’s meltdown during said birthday party

>Met a friend for coffee sans kids

>Took the kids to the park

>Finished reading Attachments

>Planned dinners for the week ahead

>Cooked chicken

>Went to church

>Drove across town & back for a Halloween party

>Attended book club

>Church family life group

>Crafts with Meredith

Things I didn’t do this weekend:

>Vacuum

>Any cleaning other than the bare minimum

>Make a homemade dessert to bring to life group

>Open the computer even once

>Have any time to myself

>Or with my husband

>Or see the rest of our family

>Eat paleo

I overbooked myself this past weekend. I knew it, I admitted it, I was annoyed with myself about it, but I had a plan and for once the plan worked and thanks to David’s help and support I was able to make it to all my commitments and enjoyed most of them. At the end of the weekend I was exhausted but pretty happy about how it went.

We’ve got a fairly normal week ahead of us. Liam is following up with the doctor for his 9-month “well check” today; it’s in quotes because his breathing still sounds bad to me, but I think his infections are gone, at least. Meredith woke up happy and independent today, so for that I am very grateful.

I decided to go ahead and attempt week in the life after all, even though I’m intimidated by it. I’m in full-on documentation mode now, and so far so good.

Here’s to a lovely week. :)

October 27, 2014