Month: September 2012

  • A jumble.

    More words brewing. For now, here’s a jumble of pictures from lately…

    Happy corner of my bathroom.

    The BEST cookies in the world.

    How to terrify Joe.

    My friend Beth  is visiting. I told her I didn’t want to pencil her in, I wanted to SHARPIE her in. She’s the ONLY thing on my calendar that month so far. Yay.

    We were on a sandwich kick for a while. Homemade bread (just white), avocado, tomato, onion…and not pictured was the turkey, provolone, and homemade pickles. Omnomnom.

    I drew this for my nephew JJ. It is his dad’s “lightning truck” (I think it is a Ford Lightning? which has since been sold). Anyway, I looked at a pic of it, and took special care in adding all the details, since I knew he would notice. I was pretty spot on.  But I did get some feedback from JJ… he wanted to know why one of the tires was squished. hahaha. Oh well, I tried.

    My new charger is finally here! Joe’s is turquoise. So, next time a charger frays to shreds there won’t be any confusion about where to place the blame. Actually, we’ll probably still blame the cats.

    And lastly, Joe auditioned for the church Christmas play. He did get a small part, but turns out the practices will conflict with his classes which are starting up in a couple weeks. Bummer!

  • Stickers on his guitar case.

    I noticed a new one the other day. haha

    I should do a whole post on all the stickers on his guitar and case. It’s like a scrapbook, and its got some pieces of history from our relationship. 

  • So long, summer.

    I’m a little backwards.  I struggle with feeling depressed more in the summertime when the sun is hot and oppressive. So when the temps drop and autumn starts to creep in, I feel like I come back alive. My head feels clearer, I’m happier. My soul exhales. 

    We drank so much iced coffee/tea this summer.  I’m looking forward to HOT beverages again!

     

    So long, summer. You can keep your 100 degree temps. 

  • Supportive Wife

    Joe was up for a raise back in July.  He’s in 5 year apprenticeship program at his job, and he had the opportunity to present his case and possibly skip ahead a year because of some previous experience he had related to his job.

     I don’t know if he punch danced or not (probably not) but they granted him his “year skip” and he got a little raise because of it! :)

     

  • Change.

    The weather is changing. My heart is changing. 

    Our apartment lease is up on Oct. 31st and we still haven’t packed a single box or found a rental house to move into.  I keep saying I don’t feel nervous about it, but I keep having recurring dreams that I am homeless. Logically, I know that is far from the truth.  There are plenty of places to pick from, we’re just holding out for something that feels special, like “home”. We want so many things in our first little house, but the #1 thing is to have a garage/workshop for Pioneer, because our living room is packed full of tools and worktables right now. It’s time to move on to bigger and better things. We’re going out all day Saturday and looking at a ton of places. 

    I’ve had so many amazing conversations lately.  It’s exhausting, but good.

    Here are some snippets from emails & texts with friends:

    “I am excellent at finding the silver lining in my day to day life. I look at life positively that way. I love pointing out the small joys that we often overlook. I also am confident in the security of my eternity. But everything else? A journey. A process. The nitty gritty. That’s the hardest part.”

    “Something I’ve learned about myself is that I have a tendency to hold in my emotions until I’m sure how something is going to turn out. I dont let myself “go there”. I don’t let myself feel joy or hope or sorrow or despair until I get to the end of whatever it is. Then the emotions comes flooding out. It’s unhealthy. My mom said I need to have more “maintenance cries” (cry a bit then move on) instead of holding it all in and then releasing the flood gates of emotions when they’re about to burst. Haha. I’m working on it.” 

    “If something turns out good, I don’t want to feel silly for worrying. If something turns out bad, I don’t want to feel silly for having hope. “

    “Is it possible to have hope for the future without also having to feel the pain that it might not happen? I have a feeling the two cant be separated and i think that’s why I tend to just distance myself from the whole idea of hopes and dreams. I’m working on changing that.”

    This isn’t just about finding a house. It’s about broken relationships that seem unfixable. It’s about wanting to grow our family. It’s about wanting to settle in one place for a while. It’s about wanting to do so much more with Pioneer.

    Joe told me the other day that lately he keeps having these mini epiphanies about his life, and it kind of makes him nervous because he feels like he’s being prepared for something big that’s coming around the corner. I was secretly feeling the same way. At least we’re in this together. We’re both changing and growing and stretching. I’m ready, but my voice and knees still shake a little at the prospect of the unknown.  I’m trying to let myself “go there” more often. To dream big. To hope. To not feel silly if plans change. To be okay with heartache because it means I was all in. 

  • Bull Riding Bro

    I thought I had lost these pics, but I just came across them! These were taken at 3-Crosses Arena. I think it was Andrew’s first time there for bull-riding. It was cold and rainy. I sat on the covered bleachers with dad, eating nachos and taking poor quality video with a cell phone. I was terrified every time someone got out there on a bull. Andrew loves it so much, and it makes me happy to see him following his passion. I had to get cheesy and pull up this photo of him wearing his first cowboy hat ever. He got it for Christmas.

    He’s the youngest, there are 10 years between us. I think he’s taller than me now, especially with his big ole cowboy hat and boots.  I’m going to miss him this year. 

  • Some of the men in my life….

    I like how Jeremiah’s halfway serious with his flexing.

    I like how Cactus Jack (the chihuahua) bails immediately.

    I like how Annie Oakley (the cairn terrier) is peeking under Joe’s armpit.

    I like how my dad’s wearing a polo on a ranch with a wagon in the background.

    I like how Joe has bedhead, an obnoxiously orange tshirt, and pajama pants on.

    I like how John cracks up at the end.

  • New Purple Glass

    Mom picked this up for my collection! It’s a vintage amethyst ‘Wheaton Ball and Claw Bitters’ glass bottle. It still has its cork. It’s about 3 inches tall.

  • A Trade

    A friend of mine was looking through my album of drawings on facebook.  She left a comment saying how much she liked this one, and I offered to send it to her. She agreed, but insisted on trading something for it.

     And that’s how I got this little jug of fresh tapped Vermont maple syrup from her family’s farm. Yes, please. I wish life operated on the trade and barter system sometimes. 

  • My (unusually clean) desk.

    Joe put our art show chalkboard up there and now I feel like this is an official office space. 

    I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge that there are no cats (as far as I can tell) photobombing this picture. This is unheard of.