Hiatus & Five Blogs

My apologies for the lack of content around here lately.  Although, to be candid, I’m not really sorry.  This computer has been the last place I’ve wanted to be, as we recently received news that my oldest sister passed away.  It’s been heart-wrenching, and despite all my pondering and experience of grief in the past, nothing could have prepared me for the shock and sadness that have been my companions this week.  I’ve been so grateful for the love and comfort we’ve received from so many friends near and far as we walk through this time of loss. Here’s a picture of us as kids, my oldest sister keeping me (on the right) from sliding off the hay bale.

I’m taking a little hiatus from blogging and taking comfort in extra time with my family and just adding a little space.  As I sign off for a bit, I’ll leave you with a few links I had prepared & planned to share a few weeks ago, but never got to post.

Be back soon,

Annie

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Here are a few of the many, many blogs I discovered during the Blogging Your Way class that Holly, from decor8, and Leslie, of A Creative Mint taught this Spring. I highly recommend the class to any aspiring bloggers.

The posts from Jules of Pancakes & French Fries is hysterical, useful, comforting, thought-provoking – depending on the day. Be sure to check out  The Bright Side Project, which she and the lovely Miss B collaborate on.

Oh, Alison.  Beets and Biscuits makes cooking from scratch look like so much fun!  Great recipes, great photos.  If you need inspiration to get in the kitchen…

At Good Measure, find a daily dose of inspiration, and then some!

Eva‘s beautiful photography inspires me to take more [better] pictures of my kids.  Beautiful.

Despite the fact that home and burlap and cute birds are dear to both of our hearts, Bonnie’s blog has a totally different approach to settling at home & exploring design.  Again, lots of great inspiration.

You’ll be seeing all these blogs on the blogroll soon!

Gold Star for Pier 1 Imports

I’ve never really been a huge fan of Pier 1 Imports. It’s not like I don’t have things from Pier 1 that I love. In fact, my mental tally of random Pier 1 things I own and love is almost, almost making me consider rewriting that last sentence. But when I walk into Pier 1, there’s just so much stuff, and I feel like so much of it is just reproductions of things that would be really cool if they were actually vintage wire egg baskets, or genuine candlesticks from Morocco.

So why, you ask, am I giving Pier 1 a big, fat gold star today? Well, let me tell you.

Numero Uno: This little ad landed on my table the other morning, smack dab in the middle of our self-quarantined week of the everything virus. My husband usually gets the mail at the end of his work day, and it’s my little treat to look over it at breakfast: hoping for a hand-written letter, contentedly settling for a fun flyer, or disdaining those purely junk-mail days. This week, Pier 1 gets big props from this average sized mama for featuring a model who looks like a real (albeit beautiful and voluptuous) person. Check her out! Her waist is not smaller than her neck! I’ve been pretty impressed with the big Dove campaign for Real Beauty, but, you’ve got to admit, there was a lot of hype about it: Look at us, we’re making a positive impact on young girl’s body image. Given the airbrushing and eating disorders that color our country, the hoopla was probably necessary. But Pier 1 takes it a step farther, in my opinion, showing us how far we’ve come, by featuring this lovely looking lady sans all the exhibition. The fact that it stuck out to me indicates that we (or maybe just I?) still have room to grow, but, still, way to go, Pier 1: Way. To. Go. And as if that wasn’t enough to earn a gold star…

Numero Deux: I was totally inspired by this table (as shown in the flyer here); it took everything in me not to whip out my paints and start distressing my table legs. As I’ve thought about our big move, I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate our basic Ikea table, that looks something like this into a more finished dining room in the new house. I’ve been thinking Pottery Barn Farmhouse style, and this look definitely farmhouses it up. I’m super excited to work on the distressed look.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even shop Pier 1 for a few chairs to match,you know, now that they’re on my good side and all, mass wire baskets notwithstanding.

The Everything Virus

This picture doesn’t really do justice to the mess and chaos in our house right now.  I snapped it last night, as I sat nursing Ellie, chuckling out loud at the mess. We’ve been hit with what I call the “everything virus.” Those of you from New York know the everything bagel: sesame seeds – check, poppy seeds – check, coarse salt -check, onion – check: it’s got it all.  I hate them.  Well, that’s pretty much how this virus works too, only substitute sesame seeds, salt and onion with fevers, croupy coughs, vomiting, and diarrhea (Can you write that on a blog?)

I was considering writing a Top 100 Things to Be Thankful For When Your Kids are Sick list, to keep myself from going down the path of utter self-pity, but I only got to #2 (the ripe avocado I had with lunch) before I had a total meltdown about a couple things I needed from the grocery store, and my inability to get them without dragging the kids out.  It wasn’t really the rice cereal, though.  It was the battle with the insurance carrier, and the stress of waiting to hear about the house, and the exhaustion that comes with sick kids.  The rice cereal was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.  So, I don’t have words enough to thank my dear, dear friend Jean Ellen rescued me (despite her busy day) with the rice cereal and Pedialyte (and threw in some chocolate dipped-chocolate chip cookies and a dinner to boot!)

So, today, I’m thankful for:

1. Jean Ellen – her act of kindness & the hope she instills in me by her example
2. modern medicine
3. running water
4. disposable diapers (I know, I know…)
5. those avocados
6. conversations with Laura
7. cuddles with Ellie
8. the warm(er) weather & open windows to get some fresh air
9. Ted not working tonight
10. both kids napping simultaneously

And that’ll have to do for today. Baby’s waking up.

Mamamama Mamamama

It happened.  Tonight.  She said my name.  Well, one of them.  Sweet little Ellie’s been working on her “m” for a week or two now, but tonight she looked at me and said “Mamamama” and then buried her face in my shoulder, her sweet, shy gesture, when I gushed over her in delight. She did it again and again, all throughout the night.

After I snuggled her to sleep, I stood in the kitchen, slicing mozzarella and chopping basil to freshen up the leftovers I was nuking in the microwave.  No one else was there, but I stood beaming ear to ear, thinking about the sound of her little voice saying my name.  On any given day, a lot of people say my name: friends, family members who know my childhood nicknames, the telemarketers who call our house, my husband, who knows how to melt my heart with the sweet names he calls me.

But there was something about this little voice, just now learning how to articulate the sounds produced by her very breath wafting over her little vocal chords, those same vocal chords that developed while she was growing inside my own body, and the fact that she used those first sounds to say my name.  And it hit me, as it usually does, like a ton of bricks. How must our Creator, God, feel when His children – those He made in His image, with a heart full of love and creative design, speak His name – on purpose, because He is the center of our lives, the source of our existence, the one who cares and provides for us daily.  And when Scripture says “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands,” could it mean that He has been whispering to us “Mamamama,” as I have to Ellie, longing to hear her say my name? And does His heart just break that some of those He’s created never speak his name at all?

I’m thankful for the quiet in my home tonight, and the opportunity to soak this all in, and to whisper, “Abba, Father,” knowing He delights in the sound of this little voice calling His name with all the love I have to muster.

On Doll Houses & Real Houses

I’ve only purchased a few items via Craigslist: my glider, our stroller, and this doll house.  We got it for Laura (and eventually Ellie) this Christmas, from the sweetest lady.  She lived well over an hour away, but met us minutes from our house during a snow storm.  She mailed us extra furniture she came across. It’s been a feast for Laura’s imagination, and she plays with it daily.  Along with these sweet wooden dolls, several other playmates inhabit the house: figurines, stuffed animals, anything that can squeeze through that little front door.

Little did I know, that night when I stayed up well past 4am re-wallpapering and sanding, that in a matter of weeks we would be looking for our first home, and eventually settle on one not unlike the little Victorian Laura’s playthings live in.  We’ve embarked on the, how shall I say,  adventure of purchasing a short sale, and this week we heard that things are moving in the right direction.  Still, I like to say we’re cautiously hopeful.

It can seem like a big deal, a house.  And in some ways it is.  I have moments of total meltdown where I wonder what we’re doing, and if this decision falls into line with the goals and dreams that have fueled our marriage, and my sense of identity. Thankfully, Ted’s usually able to keep his cool during these glorious rants, and we grow through the process. (I  like to think I do the same for him, too.)  So today, with all the unknowns and questions, I’m comforted by the companionship I have on the journey and I’m challenged to remember where my real identity and home is found.  And instantly I’m at home.

Summer, We Miss You.

Laura and I threw an all out, dress-up, fine-china, tea party to help us survive the winter blues and blizzard this weekend.  I let her pick everything: the tablecloth (a Kenyan print from Ted’s grandparents), the napkins (white lace), and the tea sets (one tin, one china, one stoneware) and the menu (apple slices, cheese, pretzels and tea). It was quite the event.  I forgot to snap any photos, but these little umbrellas are still hanging around.  They had been table decor, but after an impromptu game of hide and seek, they landed here.  Can you guess which one was Laura’s & which was mine? (Hint, they’re our favorite colors, respectively!)