Travel

We've been traveling a lot lately - and this is how Justice keeps busy :)

 

Christmas

Our trip to Michigan (obviously) started off with a drive...

We left our Nashville home at 4am to get a few hours in before Justice woke up.  It worked, but we didn't plan our gas stops very well.  

So she watched some Sesame Street on mama's phone :) 

Big Cousins

And little cousins

Justice's new rocking horse from Grandpa Craig

Seeing snow for the first time

Our visit with my high school girlfriends, and their little ones.  

Making fishy faces with Papa

Michigan is COLD! 

And this begins our drive back to Nashville.  We again left crazy early, and planned our stops better.  This time it was snowing, and probably 3 hours into our drive we couldn't see the road anymore.  So we stopped in a parking lot, slept for an hour, and then ate at Cracker Barrel.  The rest of our drive was long, but smooth sailing! 

Lunch at Panera

A Handmade Christmas

Way back when, Eric and I decided to make Christmas gifts this year.  We have always wanted to, and we love the home made gifts we see and receive, we've just never done it before.  Quitting my full-time job and replacing it with a very part-time job was just the motivation we needed!  

The adults in our lives got this assortment of goodies: pancake mix, granolas, and soaps.

And the children in our lives got super hero capes...

I didn't use a pattern, so this cape is a bit large for this little dude. 

But it made him run soooo fast! 

and a sock monkey.

There were a few store bought additions along the way due to time constraints, or me not owning a sewing machine yet.  Overall, we were happy with our gifts.  We hope to plan ahead a little better next year, and continue this new tradition.

We also received some phenomenal hand made gifts (along with traditional, also fabulous, store-bought gifts).
Like this:

 And this, created by Jeff from his recent deployment:

And this:

Hats off to creativity!

I should also mention we received an ice cream maker, and home made ice cream is oh so good! 

2012 in Review

What can I say about 2012?  A lot, actually.

I quit my job, moved to a new home/neighborhood, started a new job, stopped using shampoo (and lotion, and face wash, and a bunch of other harmful chemicals on my skin), got rid of (almost) all harmful chemicals/cleaners in the house, and in general tried to live life a little more simply.  We recycle and compost now, and can't really believe we went so long without recycling and composting. We were so wasteful (and probably still are in a whole bunch of other ways).

In the midst of these changes, we took a really expensive vacation to Hawaii.  I know, it doesn't really fit the bill.  But some really great friends moved to Hawaii in 2011 - and we saved our pennies (ok - Eric saved his pennies), and we used Christmas money (Eric's Christmas money), and all of our tax return, and we WENT!  We stayed with our friends for most of the trip, and ate their food, so about 90% of our expense was the airplane ticket.  It was wonderful!

Aside from our lovely, and very out-of-the-ordinary, vacation what I hope to remember about 2012 is Justice's first year of life.  It has been wonderful!  Or perhaps we're in such a sweet spot with her right now that I'm forgetting those first few months of sleepless survival-mode, but I'm okay with my memory forgetting the not-so-great :)

She has grown so much this year, and amazes us daily at her comprehension.  Of course, we think, believe, know she's adorable ;) She is so fun to watch, and play with.  We love to hear her giggle and squeal in delight.  Every day brings new blessings as her parents.  And so, 2012, thanks for allowing me to quit working full-time.  It's a decision I will never regret.

They Won't All Be This Way

Some days are just bad.  Not life-altering bad, but more of I'd like a re-do please, bad.  Today was that day.

I've had poop on me twice today.  One of them was my own kid, but the other was someone else's kid.  I suppose it comes with the territory, but I hate poop.  Just gross.  I feel the need to shower myself clean just talking about that part of my day.

I burned my mouth/tongue/teeth this morning.  I enjoy hot drinks.  I always order coffee "extra hot," as I become greatly bothered when I pay over $4.00 for a drink that's only lukewarm.  If I pay that much for a beverage, I'd like it to last more than 4 minutes.  Anyway, back to my story.  The mug I was drinking from this morning has a little air hole so when you are drinking from the mug, the liquid flows out nicely.  Well apparently my little air hole was plugged.  And I knew my tea would be hot (I poured boiling water in myself), but I was just going for a sip.  You know, the Is it still too hot to drink, or can I start sipping so it lasts a little longer sip.  And GUSH!  It came pouring into my mouth.  In a flash of WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY MOUTH?? I grabbed a used glass off the counter and starting gulping cold water. Oh, one other detail - I was at someone else's house.

I saved my tea so it could get nice and cool - as I have NEVER burned my mouth like this and I still can't eat or drink appropriately.  But I didn't want to waste the tea.  So as I was heading home, I placed my mug on top of the car so I could buckle Justice in the back seat (you see where this is going...).  Yeah, I forgot about it, and pulled away.  I heard it thump across my hood about the same time I saw tea streaming down my back window.  Lovely.  I stopped to pick it up off the side of the road... in pieces.  Perfect.  

I still chose to attend a playgroup this afternoon.  I mean, I tried to take a nap while Justice was napping (The world needed me to sleep a little longer), but I was awoken not once - but twice - by a co-worker.  If napping wasn't in the plans, then I would clean.  So I snuck quietly into Justice's room to lovingly place a warm blanket on her little toes.  And she sat STRAIGHT up.  Deep breath.  And off to playgroup :)

I had a little time at home before needing to leave for work.  Eric is gone tonight, (chef-of-the-home), so I peeled, chopped, sauteed, spiced - and poured it into the crock pot.  I knew I was pushing Justice's dinner time a bit (as I also had to go pick her up from the sitters... once again, something Eric usually does).  But soup would be ready as we walked through the door - can't get much easier than that, right?

Wrong.  I turned the crock pot on "warm" instead of ANY other setting that would have cooked my food.  So the squash was still hard, uncooked, and the whole pot is, well, warm.

I talked to Eric as I was driving home from work and he said, "I wish I could eat it with you."  And to that I say, "No worries, friend. You can.  It's slated to be done at 10."  

Finger Nails

My nails look like this right now:

Fridays are dubbed "Fun Friday" at the after-school ministry I work for.  During the week the kids work hard on homework, reading, and other enrichment activities.  Fun Friday is a reward for the week's efforts.  Volunteers teach classes like sewing, painting, football camp, percussion, duct tape art, guitar, music production, tennis, and nail painting.

Yesterday a young girl kindly asked, "Ms. Joy, will you come into our nail salon?"  And while I rarely sit down to enjoy a class, and never have colored nails, I thought why not?  Little did I know my nails would be 3 shades of brightness with polka-dots, but it's okay.  It's good.  Because yesterday the relationship between 4 young girls and myself was more important than the outcome of my nails.

I pray I will stop going, going, going.  That I will participate in relationship building opportunities. To sit, and simply be in the presence of those around me.

First Sewing Project

My beautiful mom gifted me with a sewing machine as an early birthday present :)

Or the real story... I showed her a pattern I wanted to try, asked for her help, and she loaded me and the baby into the car.  We returned with a sewing machine, set it up, and then she had to leave for the airport.  Yep, she stranded me.

And when I sat down to try a few days later, it got stuck.  Before I had even sewed ONE straight line, the machine was stuck.  My first thought, This is why I asked for help, Mom.  Was quickly followed by my second thought, I'm calling her right now! So I called my lovely mom on facetime, showed her the sewing machine and the parts I had removed, and she talked me through fixing it right on the phone.  Gotta love technology, and moms.

So a few sessions later, I actually do have my first project completed (except for one row of embroidery branch stitching - what is that, anyway?).  This was intended to be ready for Justice's 1st birthday.  While it wasn't finished (or even started) on her actual birthday, I still plan on calling it her 1st birthday gift.

I do truly hope that I come to love this sewing machine.  But one thing is certain, every time I sit down to use it, I'm sure to think of my mom and my grandma and all of the heartfelt gifts I have received.  I'm so excited to continue sewing for (and someday with) Justice.