music

Music has always been a huge part of my world and life. So much so, that I have started arranging music in my head for different ways that it effects me. "oh, I like this song, but only for a 'I'm bummed out and droopy' kind of day". I keep thinking that I need to start a notebook full of list titles to start listing these songs in, but it's one of those projects that isn't going to change the world, my house decor, or life if it doesn't happen. but, there are few that have gotten lengthy enough that I can think of them as complete lists. One of my favorites is my morning list. There is a great song by Chris Rice that I used to hear almost every day as I drove up the airport hill at 2:00AM to chuck UPS boxes, always woke me up! I think my morning list is the list closest to coming into being. After a child, I don't wake up like I used to, but mornings always seem to have such promise and joy. Then there is the music that I like to listen to while I cook, Latin, lounge club, worship, dance, anything that will make me swing my hips and sing into the stirring spoon (not while it's dripping, of course! I'd grab a dry one). I'm a dork I know, but some of mine and Judah's favorite times are when we are rockin' while mommy's making dinner. But, then there is a list that I didn't even realizing was starting to form. The list of music that inspires me to make music. HA! it may be songs that I am not even that fond of, but a certain chord progression, a few certain 'perfect' lyrics, an interesting different voice, that makes me think that for some reason, I CAN DO THAT, TOO! I have a friend who put together a 3-CD mix of songs of her. I cannot imagine how much time and thought went into that, but I admire it. I would be terrified to begin and even more terrified to claim some of the songs that are part of me! But, I am so grateful that they are. That I can relate music to my life, to happy and sad times, and redress my day in beautiful music. It is something that I hope to instill in my children, and since Judah plays drums on everything and anything (real drumsticks!), loves mommy's cheesy 5-octave keyboard and singing with it, loves his music and has starting to try to sing along (oh, so adorable), and has started playing air guitar, I think we have that process nicely started! This makes me want to get out all of the CDs that Dan just can't stand, but I secretly, LOVE!

clarification

I forgot one important note about my 'shoe' scrap page. There is only one pair of my own shoes on that page. I took the rest of the pics from the website where I was window shopping! don't I wish they were all mine and that I had taken those pictures. hehehehee

Allow me to introduce you

Here is one of the people that makes me cry every time I see her, but in an extremely good way! Cortney, used to be Shea, now Atchley, and I met when we worked together at Scheel's. Oh, my gosh I can still remember Cindy freaking out in the back freight room, and the towers of unopened boxes of products yet to be entered into the system! And Trevor always broke the rules, on everything! So, one day I invited her to church, or maybe Gen church (don't remember), and she came! And, kept coming. And, then, she got saved! I remember the pain that she went through with her ex (she can tell you that), and her sweet, amazing heart towards him through it all! She totally impressed me and still does. Now, she is the mommy of an adorable, little man who probably speaks better than me, and married to a Godly man who loves her, well, adores her! And, today, I found her blog, and guess what? I started crying! HA! imagine that!
Cortney, I love you so much, and am so blessed that God has brought you into my life, even though the times of togetherness are very far in between! Now I get to see more of your life, Fingerpaint queen!

Sassy Shoe Thursday (addendum)

I thought of shoes immediately when I saw the weekly challenge for two peas.
It says: "They are adorable or cute or funky. They make my day, style, & outfit. I like shopping for them, looking at them, buying them, but mostly wearing them. size 7 1/2 or 8. narrow. sandals, casual, heel, or flat. I love shoes. and so do my friends, you should see some of theirs!" enjoy
~you can see some of my other layouts here. and product info, too

Sassy Shoe Thursday

I'm in love with these ones. They are some of my new all-purpose sandals. I will wear them with shorts, with pants, with skirts, with dressy, with casual, with everything. Of course, they are a little grungy looking so I'll have to temper my wardrobe, so maybe not so much dressy!

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I'm kinda liking Vanessa Carlton. yeah, I know, a little behind the times. She's the type of artist/singer that inspires me to make music. I like those ones.

hand sanitizer

Sooo, I've never been the one to really get worried about germs. In fact, I'm the one that says, 'come here you grubby little street urchin, aren't you cute?! But, your nose is just running all over the place, let me wipe it for you. Oh, I don't have any tissue...well, I can wash my hands in that mud puddle over there." HA! yeah, that's pretty much a true account, too. I have always been more interested in life to worry about the things that could keep me from it. My only real problem with germy places is tables. If I lean on tables in restaurants, or desks, for too long, my elbows breakout. I know, I'm always a step aside from the norm! But, I read this article, and it got me thinking, and then I thought some more.....until I remembered where I was - Kosova, where the people throw their garbage in the river and then swim in it! So, I went back to my former conviction: If you think about it too much, you miss your opportunity to live! But, hand sanitizer is a super-handy invention!

MacKenzie River Pizza Co.

everything on the menu, every lovely bite, every interesting and sometimes scary tast combination, sounds dee-lish to me right now. And, since I have to dream about it without getting to fill the craving (I was almost in tears yesterday!), then you guys do, too! I can't bear this one alone. It's too heavy., and I'm not strong enough. Just visit here, and begin to think of the tasty pizzas that come hot and ymmy out of the oven: Thai Pie, Rustler, Bell Ranch, Madison, Good 'ol boy, every single one except the one with fish; or the delicious sammiches: M lazy 7, *new* grilled cheese, willow creek; oh, and don't forget the amazing salads, or the lodgepoles, or the cowboy nachos! (oh, my I think I might start having convulsions! there is a puddle of drool forming under my chair). If you live in a city that has a MacKenzie River Pizza Co. and you don't go there this week and take advantage of the fact that you are priviledged enough to go there, I will disown you. And, if you don't live near a MacKenzie River, and understand what a priviledge it is to live near one.....well, then you know how I feel!

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

one specially designed diamond engagement ring: $2300 (but appraised for way more!)
some minor disputes and arguments: counseling
one adorable, wonderful child and possibly others: countless millions
our first kiss on the morning of our seventh year of an unregrettable, fantastic marriage: PRICELESS!

Thirsty

I feel like I am dying of thirst, soulfully. I feel like my prayers wander into God's ears, but there is a huge vastness in between me and His answers. I feel disconnected to my life, and it doesn't seem like anything that I do makes a change. I still love to worship, I still pray under my breath as I'm working around the house, I still read my Bible as eratically and sporadically as I always have (always needed work in that area). I still believe in my amazing God, his grace and blessings in my life, and see him working, but I feel like I am watching from 'outside'. Weird. I am more convinced now of my faith in Him and what he does good in my life. I have been wanting to start studying women in warfare and applying it to spiritual warfare in a woman's (my) daily life, maybe that will jumpstart something, since I have a feeling that that is probably a big part of my current problem. And, we get to go to a conference at the end of May in Greece that should be awesome, both for me and Dan. better go get studying. Hey, elizabeth, do you have any source for 'women in warfare'? just curious.

little man

Little by little my little boy is growing up. more independent, more words, more big boy stuff, more messes. The other day Susie
(well, Andy) said that we don't have a baby boy now, we have a little boy, and it is true. Both happy and sad about that, too. He has never been a cuddle bum, but now, I am lucky if I can get him to stop long enough to give me a quick kiss and half hug. But, oh! how much I love him.
here's some pages I did of a recent mess he got into. And, you know what I let him. So what that it was the third pair of pants that he had gotten dirty that day, and it was his new H&M t-shirt. He is a little boy and needs to learn little boy things and have fun, even if mommy has to do laundry for the rest of her life.

Flashback Friday

This is three years ago, we took the kindergarten kids to the zoo, and they loved it. Even though it was freezing cold, eventhough half of them wet their pants, and even though it was a glorified collection of exotic chickens with a few huge dogs thrown in. They were just exhausted, as you can see, and some didn't make it home without a catnap (how fitting!). Don't you just love the horrible graininess this has. (I love my EOS!)
I like how blue my eyes are. I know, I'm awful.

New Favorite Day of the week

Okay, It's official. I love THURSDAYS. why? Because of shoes, because it is non-sensical way to celebrate who we are. And, so much fun, and tomorrow is Flashback Friday, too much fun for the end of the week!

Sassy Shoe Thursday

Hooray! It's finally here. My husband thinks I'm a nut. Yesterday I asked him, "do you know what tomorrow is?" - Blank stare, huge question mark almost became visible in the air above his head - "Sassy Shoe Thursday"!
Here's the rules:
any shoes go - if you like them, dislike them, or want them; which includes shoes that you don't have yet, and may never have
tell a little about why you like or dislike them, maybe a memory of when you wore them for eight hours walking through the streets of Paris, five months pregnant, and finally decided to just completely take them off and walked barefoot the last 1/2 mile to your hotel. Ooops! those ones dies a very noble death on that same trip so there will be no picture of them.

I love shoes because they can tell so much about a person, in general and for that moment, and they can make or break whatever it is you decide to wear with them.
Anyhow, there's the rules, and here's my shoes:

They were six dollars, skinny instead of bulky on my feet, and have green on them. Can I really say more? Except that they make me what to skip and run like a fleet-footed...thing. They go with denim, shorts, and skirts, and they are very light. They are also a little in need of cleaning!

Today is Wednesday

Just a note to mention that tomorrow I am starting 'sassy shoe thursday'. play along if you want or just look at my shoes in envy :P
Simply post a pic of any shoes that you: like, hate, or want (yes, shoes you don't own {yet} qualify) and tell a little about what you like or don't like about them.
if you don't have a lot of shoes, or you finally run out, go and raid a friend's closet. It's the beauty of shoes, even if they aren't yours they can still be cute, or sassy!
see you tomorrow

reassurance

I live in a place where the parenting rules that I grew up with and count as normal are very liberal and 'on the edge', or in other words, bad. My child runs around without five layers of clothes on (not an exaggeration), I allow him to try to figure out things on his own, I don't go running immediately to the doctor if he starts coughing, he doesn't like to be held, he eats regular food and lots of it. All of these things will sound normal, or at least somewhat, to Americans, but here, they are definitely not main-stream. So when it comes to things like asking for some encouragement or advice, I am stuck and very alone. How long do I let this fever go on for? Is there a growth spurt at 19 months that I don't know about or is my child just demon-posessed? Is it normal that my son eats more food than me and is only 18 pounds? And, that is only the tip of the iceburg, my friends. But, this last week, I e-mailed our pediatrician, and was hugely blessed and reassured that I am not a bad mommy, the warped (sometimes, I truly think so!) place where we live isn't an example of the way things have to be done, and my child will live and grow up to be an awesome boy! Thank you so much, Dr. Marron, for encouragement through advice and assurance that I can do this! Now, back to potty training...

And we begin...

Warm weather has finally come, which I am so excited about, but so did the part of the Kosovar calendar that I forgot - celebration days. Of course, everyone wants their special day to be on a day full of sunshine, but here, they take it to the extreme. And, since they make babies like crazy, the older ones are always getting married, and new ones are always being born. There's your two big celebrations : weddings, and births. There is also a day for when little boys get circumcised, but that is normally in conjunction with a wedding. So, I have to start dressing up, and not just a little bit. Each wedding is more like getting ready for the prom. But, I laugh, because so much of my own personal style has been affected by the things I have learned here. I love make-up, besides shoes, make-up is my other 'fetish', but in America, Montana especially, it is very easy, and acceptable to get stuck in a make-up rut. But, why in the world did God create all of these beautiful colors if not to have fun with them. I have grown tired and skeptical of the 'jezebel' curse that make-up has, and have decided that the heart (duh!) is what determines that attitude. so, I can proudly say that I am a painted woman! HA! This picture didn't show it very well, but I had pink and pale green eye shadow on, with violet eye liner. And, it looked awesome. And, glittery cheeks. I would rather not have to have a bee hive on my head, but even that part of the dressing up is fun!

hair cut

Well, we finally got around to cutting our son's hair. yes, we did it ourselves, and our methods are, shall we say, unorthodox. but, he shouldn't be mentally scarred from it should he? (It was Dan's idea to use the garbage bag around his neck). But, no matter the means, the end is that Judah no longer has a mop of hair that looks as though it is trying to conquer the world starting with his noggin. I'm not sure Judah even cares about it, but I am glad that it is cut.






he wouldn't stop crying. and I got a little frustrated with the client (Judah) and the coach (Dan) {I hadn't asked for a coach}, so Dan ended up doing the finishing work. but, isn't he a handsome fellow?

respect and dirty clothes

I think that it would be only be right to have a moment of silence. Since we arrived home from Germany, we have had amazing electricity. not 24/7, but most of the 24! So, I am simply assuming that someone has died. Everybody, let's pay some respect to the departed. Okay, and in other news, I ...what? That wasn't short. That was plenty of time. Yes, it was enough to show respect. I don't think that a full minute would be appropriate under the circumstances. It's not like they were my best friend....

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Today, I forgot the word for __________. yeah, the stuff that you wash your clothes with. soap for the clothes washing machine. not dishwashing soap. Oh, yeah!!! DETERGENT! I need to buy some when we go grocery shopping today.

Flashback Friday and posts

I forgot! I posted some new stuff, too! you can check it out here.
Plus, today is flashback Friday Woohoo! after being gone for three weeks (I know I have pretty much botched punctuation today), I almost forgot. This was me, in front of a tiny car. We see these a bunch over here, and I would love to have one one day. Of course, I would have to get a Chevy pick-up motor put into it, but still...

wonder

I think that I'm going to make this my new motto