this and that

this is what i've been up to...

the warm weather last weekend was such a tease! it only reminded me of how painfully desperate i was for blue skies. in the past months i have spent hours walking around my existing garden, staring out the window at the empty garden boxes, and wondering the aisles of home depot...planning my attack on the backyard. here is the official "before" picture

blah. that is how it looked....but after last weekend, and some extra hours this weekend, i will have a little update for you.

the command center for garden planning...blueberries, strawberries, and seeds waiting to be planted!

and in other news....

last thursday was my first day back to work. friends and family kept checking in and asking how i felt about it, and i would say, "oh fine"...but then weird things started happening...

first, i ran out of gas in north portland, the sad part was i had no idea i was even close to empty. luckily my sweet friend was with me and rescued us. then, well, i hit a car... a parked car

it was a taxi actually, and the driver was inside. as were the customers. so on second thought, i might not be as in ship shape as i thought i was with this whole returning-work-thing. this week, thankfully, has been a little less eventful...the mishaps being limited to putting two contacts in one eye without realizing it until i was getting ready to welcome first graders and couldnt see anything (justin had to bring my glasses to work, he hasnt let me leave the house without my glasses in hand since)...oh, and when i forgot my pump and had to turn around half way to school and go get it, making me so late that i literally entered the building as the bell was ringing to commence the day...other than that, smooth sailing. oh and what is the river in egypt called...oh, that's right, da-nile!

big talker

there are a handful of stories from my childhood that are told over and over. some of them i would love to lay to rest and never hear again...others make me laugh and chime in with my own details.

is your family like this? retelling the same stories over and over? 

on occasion i have been told i am quite the talker. and all i can say is, true! true! true! and with that said and admitted, this story usually follows...

i'm four maybe five, and papa and i are headed north on 1-5. its raining hard (if you are a family member, you already know where this is goin'). we are probably 3 hours into a 9 hour drive, and i have been talking-without breathing papa would say- the whole time. finally, in exasperation, papa bribes me with a quarter to sit quietly and not talk. deal. determined to be the best non-talker he has ever seen, i busy myself with looking in the glove box. i notice a yellow button and push it. nothing happens, i push it again. nothing. i close the glove box and stare out the window happy with myself that i have yet to whisper a word. "PISTOL!" (which means S*** in papa language). i turn to look at what he was staring at in the rear-view mirror. the trunk is wide open and flapping in the wind.  we pull over on the shoulder of the highway as cars zoom by. papa turns and gives me the eye. i smile at him, proud that i have yet to say a word...that quarter is so mine! he slams the door and walks in the pouring rain around back to shut the trunk, getting sprayed by the semis flying by. i would love to say the rest of the journey was quiet, but in truth i probably begged my quarter from him, and then kept right on blabbin'....

i cant remember now if he gave me that quarter. i don't remember the rest of the drive. but at least once a year this story is brought out and dusted off and retold with added flair. and we laugh. 

the other night addison was talking my ear off...it reminded me of her mom...but you couldnt pay me a million dollars to shush this child. she has got a lot to say....

listen here to what's on her mind. 

the ladies...

so last spring i started reading omnivores dilemma. you might have been aware of this because i posted a picture right over there...see it? to the right? well, even though the picture is still there i have read that book and many others since last spring, promise. but this book is worth talking about. you know what many friends have said when i bring up this book? "ohhh, i'm afraid to read that...i don't want to know" which is exactly what i said before i read it. the thing is, once you do read it, you'll want to change a lot about the way you eat. i did. i also would recommend watching the movie food inc. while you're at it. i'm not going to share everything i read, or why i think you should read it too...i simply am going to share some of the things that my family and i have been doing this past year to eat a little more consciously....

• we made a habit of visiting the farmers market
• we bought a half a cow (beef) and split it with family from a local farmer
• we grew our own vegetable garden
• we ate what's in season
• we are always working on reducing the amount of processed food we eat
• we tried to make "it" ourself...bread, ice cream, granola, fruit leather...

and the last thing, our newest  project....

our ladies

come over for fresh eggs in...oh, about four months



Bend!

if you know me at all, then i am sure you have heard me talk about my hometown. it is a point of pride, if you've been there, you know why. and even though i haven't lived there in almost ten years, i always catch myself saying, "i'm goin' home for the weekend" or something like that. 

now having two little gals to tag along with me on my visits makes it extra special. we visit places that are loaded with memories, we have q-time with cousins, and we soak up that vitamin d we've been missing! this time we got to celebrate evelyn may's first year, visit kari sue at her school, and drink lots of yummy coffee from backporch. here are some of my favorite moments from this last visit home....

 papa love

 happy girl, as usual

 nana's sandbox

 addison, life of the party

 i'm not sure what the park's real name is, but i've always known it as the boat park...cause there's a big boat in it. mackenzie thought the boat was a-mazing.

 kenze took this picture herself, i think it is awesome

peyton letting mackenzie know exactly what she thinks...love her!

 isn't that the best! seriously can't you just feel the love??

 our trip was mostly spent in costume, or dancing

 another little number. avery was real proud because she dressed mackenzie up herself...can you tell?

 view on my morning run

all tuckered out...

sometimes love hurts...

did you ever watch tiny toons? 

there was a character on there...elmyra

 

she was known for her deep love for animals, that actually looked more like animal abuse. her hugs were headlocks, her pats a slap, and her attempts to care for her animals always left someone hurt.

well, i have my own elmyra. her name is mackenzie. and she is in love, big time, with her little sister. she equally loves being the big sister. she likes to have addison watch her do her daily tasks (go potty, bathing, eating). and shouts ever so loudly, "see addison!"  or "see me addison, like this!"

that's not the problem though, that's pretty sweet. the problem is her desire to love on addison. teeth clenched, knuckles white, she gives addison daily...scratch that...hourly doses of elmyra-like affection. it leads to tears (addison, usually hurt or startled) and more tears (mackenzie, confused why sister isn't cooing and smiling at her hugs or fearing she's in trouble). 

i am happy to report, despite these moments of sisterly love,  addison is as happy as ever. 

smiling addie, notice war wound from morning hug

DIY hair-flowers-things

i was inspired by my gals' hair  

 addison, givin' j. bieber a run for his money

mackenzie is our curly girly

 

so i thought i'd give these hair-flower-things a shot. they turned out pretty cute, were incredibly easy, and took no time in all...like maybe ten minutes. a great accessory in a bind.

step one: choose your fabric

the flowers can truly be made from scraps...i have a bit of a love affair with fabric so i had plenty on hand to choose from.

step two: cut your circles

i found (by trial and error) that the flowers look best with at least 4 layers of fabric. it also pops when you use different textures. another lesson learned is to put the busiest/smallest print fabric as the first layer, so that the larger patterned prints aren't blocked...duh! (opposite of what i did below). play around with the different sizes you cut, they do not have to be perfect circles by any means. also, using different types of scissors adds some funk. i have a sweet vintage pair of shears from my great-grandma that did the trick

step three: sew circles together

with a simple stitch through the center you can attach all the circles, but i did a large stitch and then cinched it tight and it gave it a gathered/curled-in look.

step four: add buttons

again, i have inherited half of my sewing supplies, and with it, a bunch of fun buttons. i attached the desired button with a hot glue gun.

step five: attach to hair accessories

i picked up a collection of hair things from the dollar store. i attached them with the hot glue gun, positioned asymmetrical. i am still playing around with different size flowers for the bands, so bare with me on some of these pictures. little curly likes the big girl plastic hair bands, and bieber hair girl rocks the soft ones. 

finished product:

challenge

"are you crazy????"

that is a direct quote from my dear ol' mum when i explained to her what justin and i had just signed up for. and for the record, she did call back and promise to support all my efforts even if they are a bit loony. 

the decision in question is the deschutes dash. all my bend friends have probably heard about it. justin and i both have competed in it in the past, but this time i decided to take on a little more.i signed up for the duathlon...olympic distance. 

that means that i am going to be getting this postpartum booty movin'! a duathlon for this race entails a 3.1 mile run, followed by a 25 mile bike, finished with a 6.2 mile run. no sweat! errrr...

but this is one of my core truths, one of the things that defines my very being, i like me a challenge. seriously, i live for pushing myself, not just physically. i like to push the limits to see how much i can handle, which is funny because then there are other areas of my life that i refuse to take one step out of my comfort zone.

in truth, the reason why this is so rewarding and such a challenge is because this june marks the 7th anniversary of my L4, L5 bilateral fusion. at 20 i got four screws in my back. not only was that real painful, and a sluggish recovery, but i also had to face that there were just some things my body simply could no longer physically do. that's a hard pill to swallow at 20 when you have your whole life ahead of you. but this is a happy ending, because each time i cross a finish line, or meet a goal i've set, it is the sweetest gift. so stay tuned as i whine and complain and celebrate my way through this training time. (which i can't even start for another few weeks but still half of the battle is gettin' my mind ready, right?)