The Graduate

Congrats, husband of mine!

Next stop: GMU 

left that plate clean

Our weekend is off to a great start. We indulged in a Hazelnut Chocolate Cake from Urth Cafe last night. It was divine. We've made it a goal to try a dessert there every weekend until we leave. We are not ashamed.

we're learning new tricks over here

We've had a busy week. Doing what exactly, i'm not sure. Probably a lot of the above.

Fashion Friday - Tricks of the Trade #1

I'm writing articles for hugpages now, so click HERE for Fashion Friday.

the phone should be ringing soon

shirt - baby gap thrifted [2.99], jeans - baby gap sale [3.99]

Baby Gap should be calling any minute for a booking.

M - to the - Other's Day

If you read Rockstar Diaries, I guess she and I had the same idea last Mother's Day. We both took a pregnancy test. I thought how phenomenal it would be if I found out I was actually pregnant on Mother's Day and I would walk around just glowing, secretly being a "mother." Well, I think I ended up crying because there was only 1 line instead of 2. I had to be patient and wait another 7 days to get my two lines. And a year later I have the most gorgeous 3 month old baby.

There is nothing in the world that can compare to being a mother. I love every drop and ounce this glorious job has to offer. I love her gummy smile, her shrieking coos, her energized kicks, her blue blue eyes, her peach fuzz hair and her small bum. I love watching her laugh at her dad, squeal when she sees me, her cheerful disposition. I love watching her fail to roll over time and time again - not because I delight in her failure but I marvel that she is always learning something new. 

I count all my many blessings every night, and give extra thanks above for my little Evy Rae.

guest mommy

I thought I'd kick off Mother's Day a bit early and introduce you all to this fabulous lady. Before I was a mother myself, I had high hopes for what was to come because of my cousin, Mari. Mari has such an awesome outlook on motherhood. Her blog is one of my favorites because of her honest yet witty approach. Her post about her birthing experience slayed me! I thought I would kindly offer you all some of her awesome-ness as a guest blogger.

***************************************************

So when Kendra asked me to guest post she included a few questions that I could consider when writing. I picked a couple that I thought suited me best.

“What has been your most embarrassing/humorous mom moment?”

Oh gosh. This JUST happened. To make an incredibly long story short, my 18-month-old son, Logan, threw up an amazing volume of airplane snacks and peanut butter all over me as we were boarding a plane. It was literally from my hair to my toes. This was supposed to be our second flight that day but, ahem, No.

I was not flying with a barfing baby.

Also, my clothes were disgusting. I was not flying with barfy clothes.

But then I had to because well, all my other clothes were on the plane. We spent the night in Salt Lake City, halfway home, hoping that Logan could work out the flu overnight.

It almost worked.

He waited to drench me with throw up again until we landed in Portland.

Tied for second place embarrassing moment: the time that Logan pooped all over me while I was nursing him at a mall and I had to walk around with poopy pants (why I didn’t just buy new pants, I don’t know); and the time my milk came in while I was at church and leaked through my shirt in front of the young women.

Aaaawkwaaaard….

“How do you find the time to still be yourself?”

This is a good question and I think a major part of becoming a mom is redefining yourself. You just can’t do everything you did before and still find balance and happiness.

So, when I discovered that I narrowed down the things I like to do, to just a few things that I need to do.

One: Social time. When I am alone with Logan all day long every day I go a little nuts. I become that woman who talks her husband’s ear off about the mundane happenings of the day when he gets home from work at night. There are only so many stories that a man can hear about boogers and poop, people!

So I now have a little group of friends who are my age with kids Logan’s age and we get together once a week for lunch and crafting. I think it has helped us all keep our sanity.

This brings me to number two: Making crap. Suddenly I love to craft all kinds of junk for my house, baby, and myself. I don’t know exactly where it came from but I’m embracing it as a new love and trying not to let it overtake my home.

Sadly this doesn’t leave much room for music, which is what I majored in but I’m holding on to hope that there is another time and season for more music for me.

“Is motherhood all you thought it would be?”

No.

It is more than I could have ever imagined.

I have found more frustration, difficulties, stress, guilt, and agony than ever in my life. Motherhood is hard and just as you conquer one stage in your child’s life, a new stage rears its ugly head.

And it never ends!!

But, I have also found more love, beauty, joy, laughter, adoration, and happiness than ever before. It is awesome. Just when you think your baby couldn’t get any cuter or more fun, they do.

Totally worth it.

***************************************************

You can get the day to day with Mari here.

he's exceptional too

I guess my last post glorified another man too much and husband was a tiny-weeny jealous. His response, "An exceptional man? I could be a Navy SEAL." This I know. Did you know he was enrolled in the Airforce ROTC before I came along and selfishly took away his flying wings because I wasn't strong enough to be a military wife? True stuff. But only an exceptional man could be this exceptional of a father to this smiley little girl:

Do you see that dimple in her right cheek?

Good, just wanted to make sure you saw it.

Thank you all for your book suggestions! I'm ready to tackle all of 'em!

a good read

I realize that 95% of my posts are about my baby, so to prove that there is more to me than worrying if my baby will ever nail down a sleep schedule, take to heart this book review.

I first heard an interview with Eric Greitens on my favorite radio station, NPR. Eric wrote a book entitled "The Heart and the Fist," where he shared his life memoir on his education at Duke and Oxford and his current life as a Navy Seal. I know, sounds kinda dull, right? But after hearing him talk about his travels over seas, his intense military training and his innate desire to be a humanitarian, I was astounded that one person could make such remarkable and genuine contributions to the world. I immediately went home and recommended the book for the library to add to its collection. I got the book at the beginning of the week and I haven't been able to put it down since.

Shoot, I wish I could adequately describe how exceptional this man is. From Iraq to Bosnia, Rwanda to Bolivia, Greitens describes his encounters with destitute places across the world - people who have suffered poverty, drug abuse, genocide, starvation, sexual assault, political upheavals and more. After touring the world and receiving his Ph.D as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, he turned down a job as a professor at Oxford and a job at a fortune 500 company to make a measely $27,000 starting salary as a Navy SEAL so he could change the world. He then takes the remaining two thirds of the book describing his grueling training and his life as an officer.

Before you know it, this book has you changing the way you view your own life. If there is a person who knows anything about self-worth and self-mastery, it's Greitens. He had me motivated to be a better person by page 3. His ability to learn from every situation he was placed it was incredible, and he took it to heart. Like when he learned to box, he had a coach named Earl. Here's what he says about him:

"God, in Earl's view, had invested every person with strength, and it was our duty to develop that strength. 'What did my father give me muscles for? What did he give you brains for? Now look here, I may not be the strongest man on the block, not the smartest man on the street, but I know that my Father didn't give me what I have for me to waste it.' The logic train went like this: every person had strength. Therefore, every person had a duty to develop their strength. Therefore, every person had the duty to use their strength in the service of God. Sometimes that meant skipping rope properly. Sometimes that meant helping a young kind lost in the world... You honored God by using your time wisely."


I'm a religious person and I've read countless scriptures that testify of the same truth to make use of the time God has given you, but just to have it put out there in such elementary yet honest terms felt refreshing. In no way do I perform at such a magnitude each day as a Navy SEAL. My time and energy is spent with things like paying parking tickets. But I'll tell you what - as I was getting lazy and putting off paying it for no reason, in all seriousness, my mind jumped to all the things Greiten did during his day and I thought "La-de-frickin-da, I'm going to pay this dang parking ticket today!" If there's anyone who is stopping me from living up to what I am able to be, it's me.

I should be a newspaper columnist after that long review! BUT, now that I am reaching the end of my wonderful journey with my Navy SEAL, I need something else for my little eyes to read. I'm kinda on this biography/memoir kick. Any good suggestions?