podcastios

So I love podcasts.  I love them way more than listening to music.  My phone is LOADED up with them.  I listen to them as much as humanly possible but it's usually when I'm doing the dishes or cooking.  They make me look forward to those times.  So, I thought I'd do a little roundup of my favorites.  If you have any that you like, do share.  I'm always looking for a new show because like watching old shows on Netflix, I get addicted and then listen to like 100 episodes and then go through withdrawals.   1.  Joy the Baker - Oh my gosh.  I just LOVE this podcast.  Joy from Joy the Baker and Tracy from Shutterbean chat about all things.  They do talk a bit about cooking but mostly you just feel like you are hanging out with two of your friends chatting it up.  They are soo hilarious....I may have made Matt come into the kitchen and listen to bits and pieces a time or two...or like every time.  I'm pretty sure we'd all be BFFs in person.   2. This American Life - I've been listening to this one forever and I still thoroughly enjoy it.  I am so excited every Monday morning when it magically appears on my phone.  Matt listens to it too so we always talk about it and get way too invested in the stories.  Basically, it's a super well produced story telling radio program.  Sometime the stories come from headline news and sometimes they are super small.  Either way, they are incredibly well written and always give a new, untold perspective.   3. Simple Mom - I found this one through Joy the Baker.  Tsh from Simple Mom hosts this podcast and has a regular line up of co-hosts.  They discuss mostly parenting and mom issues but much of it is about simplifying, giving yourself grace, and general parenting encouragement.  I really enjoy this podcast and bring a lot of it into my everyday life.  It's perfect for when I'm frazzled from a long day with the little guy. 4. Paperclipping Roundtable - This is the podcast that got me addicted to podcasts!  Noell is the host and every week she has different guests from the memory keeping/scrapbooking/craft industry.  They discuss everything from scrapbook techniques to how to tell a deeper story.  It's a lot of fun to listen to and helps me think about story telling more.   5. The Kitchen Hour - I discovered this podcast recently and got through all of the episodes really quickly - there are only 10 and I'm hoping Meagin Francis continues to make more.  She made this podcast for people to listen to while they are in the kitchen getting dinner ready - as a way to make that time more fun.  She mostly talks about mothering but also discusses being on a budget, cooking tips, etc. I also listen to anything from NPR, We're About To Be Friends, and Adventures in Arting.   Do you have any podcasts you'd suggest???

kiddie car wash

Last summer, Matt made this wonderful kiddie car wash for Jonathan's first birthday.  The other kids LOVED it but he was a little apprehensive.  

We quickly learned that the first birthday party is a little more for the parents and less for the one year old.  He would've been just as happy (or maybe more) playing with his toys by himself at that point. 

So after the party, we stashed the carwash in a friend's garage because we were in a condo with minimal storage.  Fast forward a year, we are now in a house with a garage of our own and the carwash was returned to us (thanks for keeping it so long, Beth and Ed!!).  

It was a hot morning and we decided to bust it out.  

Look at that face!!!  I'd say he is a little more interested this year!  He had sooo much ... as did Matt and I.  And he had to bring ah - ah (the monkey) along for the ride.  

Here's a pretty good shot of the whole thing.  We don't have the sponges this year but honestly, with the little tykes truck, it's not as necessary.  It comes apart into two parts for easy, flat storage.  

 If you're interested in making one of your own, Matt claims it was pretty simple. Here is a tutorial from Lowe's that spells it out pretty clearly.  If you have any questions, let me know!  

I linked up to Making the World Cuter and Keeping it Simple.

you're not forgotten

So if you know me at all, you know about my current obsession with Shauna Niequist.  I know I am not alone in this.  I see people everywhere doing little book/food clubs for her newest book, Bread & Wine,  and can I just say I'm super jealous!  I want to be in such a club!  
Anyway, I digress... so she is just amazing.  She has a way of putting into words exactly how I am feeling and I swear she speaks right to my heart.  In Bread and Wine, she has a chapter called Enough.  The chapter is kinda a combination of two blog posts part one here and part two here.  At the end of the chapter, she says, "I'm practicing believing that God knows more than I know, that he sees what I can't, that he's weaving a future I can't even imagine from where I sit this morning."   It's the practicing believing part that hits me.  It's not that she already believes this and it's just second nature to her.  It is that she is practicing believing.  
Oh this is so where I am at.  My head knows that God has a plan, that he loves me more than I can ever understand, and that in knowing this I can rest secure.  But really?  Actually resting secure??  That is what is hard for me.  It's hard when the shit hits the fan and life is harder than you expected.  It's hard when you expect to be feeling better but you're still struggling.  It's hard when all around you the world is moving forward but you're still grieving.  It's just hard.  And yes, I have many a good day in there and then wham!  I'm back to a place of deep sadness.  
But it's the practicing part that still hits me.  I've had to say God's promises out loud to remind me that they are true.  I've had to voice them over and over into the air so that I hear them.  
Jesus loves me.
Jesus sees me.
Jesus hasn't forgotten about me.  
And it's true.  And this practicing believing these truths, promises that in my gut I know are true, it's the practicing that is making all of the difference.  It's the physically clothing myself with these truths that are making them real.
So I say to you:
Jesus loves you.
Jesus sees you.
Jesus hasn't forgotten about you.  

thoughts on missing the baby stage

There are all different types of moms.  Moms that LOVE the baby stage, the toddler stage, the kid stage, and I've even heard the teenage stage is wonderful although I'm terrified of it.  There are moms that love being pregnant and moms that hate it and I know that so much of this has to do with experience.  Some of my friends have the unfortunate situation of being so sick their entire pregnancy that it's hard to celebrate.  I had many food aversions and felt yucky the first trimester but all in all, I loved being pregnant.  
While I've loved every stage so far and wouldn't make Jonathan a baby again, a part of me misses those days.  My favorite moment is when J heard my voice and looked at me for the fist time.  Pure bliss.  It's an amazing connection right out of the gate... I miss snuggling with him and holding him close for hours on end.  My heart literally aches to have him all bundled up on my chest.  My arms feel empty because I want to hold him all day long.  

My JJ is seriously the sweetest boy ever.  He has an amazing heart, tells me "I love you" all of the time, loves to get kisses for his booboos, has more energy and life than I knew possible, loves to give kisses (tiss!!) and hugs, and is the happiest person I know (or maybe tied with Matt).  

And while I would never trade this wonderful bundle of personality for anything, oh how I long to hold a baby in my arms.  Maybe that's why I rock him extra long at night, sing as many rounds of "moon moon" as I can, give him as many kisses as he'll let me, and cuddle as much as possible.  
And as this has been spinning around in my head for awhile, I read this post by The Tiny Twig and it resonated so deep in my soul.  I'm a creator.  I love the creation of a new life and discovering that life.  I love the anticipation and meeting a new person.  And I'm reminded that this discovery process is just beginning.  I have an entire lifetime left of discovering who my boy is and loving the socks off of him.  I'm pretty darn excited about that.  

30th birthday celebration revealed

Ok, y'all.  This is going to be photo heavy.  But I'm not going to apologize because I've gotta do this birthday celebration justice!
So apparently Matt had a planning session with my friends back in March.  Yes, March.  How great is he for having a planning session and how great are my friends for wanting to be involved and help plan a fun celebration for me?  I'm one lucky lady.  So this is how the weekend went:
Awhile back I got a couple of amazing handmade invitations in the mail to reserve Friday June 7th and Saturday June 8th.  No details were given just a reservation.  I was soooo excited already!  

Didn't they do an amazing job?!

So I was picked up after lunch on Friday and we headed off to..... THE PARKER in Palm Springs!!! You. Guys.  This place is soooo fabulous.  It was all designed by Jonathan Adler and is sooo funky and fun.  I had been dropping some major hints to Matt for awhile and he definitely picked up on them.  Friday and Saturday were filled with swimming, a yummy dinner, drinks poolside, a couple of Starbucks trips, and best of all, great chats with my girls.  Man, I feel so lucky to have such great friends and such a loving husband who planned all of this for us.

So I knew that something was going down on Saturday night and when we were on our way home, the girls said they wanted to go get drinks first.  We stopped by The Raymond and when we walked in, my parents were sitting there! So my parents live in Atlanta and I had no idea they were coming out!  It was one of those weird moments where I almost didn't recognize them because I was so surprised.  My friends left and I had a couple hours to hang out with just my parents.  It was great to be able to see them... I was missing them on my birthday so this was perfect.  Once again, so blessed to have such wonderful parents who would fly out for the weekend even though I'd be gone for half of it!  Love them.

So we pull up to my house and....Matt threw a surprise party for me in the backyard!  He DID AN AMAZING JOB.  There is an Abney saying, "Go big or go home" and he took it to heart.  The driveway was lined with balloons that were strung with baker's twine.  This man has been listening to me!  He knows my love for baker's twine and disdain (maybe a little strong) for balloon ribbon.  He had a whole color scheme that I've been into - gold, coral, minty blue....it was gorgeous.  He created this beautiful chalkboard with pictures of me and a place for people to leave me a note.  When I saw it I thought surely one of my friends helped him with it.  Nope!  He did it all on his own.

Still in awe when I see it.  

We had YUMMY tacos.  Here's the station Matt set up for all of the taco fixings:

Sprinkles cupcakes:

 Moscow Mules:

 The gorgeous set up:

I don't have a great picture of the flowers but here is one taken the next day:

Aren't they gorgeous?!!  Matt had a plan for the colors and flowers he wanted and then my mom went with him to the flower mart and helped him with the execution.

I am seriously in awe of my sweet husband.  The weekend he planned, the party he created, all of the details were so me.  Sweetie - I love you more than words can say and still feel so loved and special from my birthday weekend.  Mom and Dad - thank you for flying all of the way out to see me and help with the party!  I feel so honored.  My friends - thank you for an amazing weekend away and for celebrating me! I'm so lucky to have such great friends.  Andy & Kala - thanks for watching my boy so Matt could pull this off!  And to everyone who helped me celebrate - thank you for being a part of my life! I'm so blessed.  Love y'all.  

thirty

Thirty.  I'm thirty.  This birthday was hard and wonderful all at the same time.  I've been learning that is how life is.  Sure, there are seasons that are characterized more by sorrow or more by joy but it seems like more often than not, they are all mixed together.
Have you ever heard of Shauna Niequist?  She is a fabulous author and her book Bittersweet is pretty much exactly where I'm at.  Have you ever read a book and thought that it was written just for you?  Yeah, that's how I feel about this book.  She sums up much more eloquently than I'm able that in the tough times, you can find pieces of joy and in happiness, suffering and pain still exists.  I can sometimes be a little black and white and this concept has been revolutionary for me.  Life is sorrow and joy all mixed together and God uses both times to teach us, love us, and draw us nearer to him.  
But back to my 30th.... it fell right in the middle of a tough time but was seriously exactly what I needed.  I needed to say goodbye to my 20's and start afresh.  I needed to get out of my head and space and be around family and friends and celebrate.  I'm going to share much more about all that happened over the last couple of weeks because really, it deserves a couple posts on its own.  I'll just say I have an amazing husband who celebrates me, loves me, takes care of me, and spoils me rotten.  I have a wonderful family and incredible friends who take care of me and love me.  So thankful for them.  So blessed.  
You might notice that I'm speaking a little more from the heart and not just sharing my latest crafting pics.  You can expect more of that here.  As I approached my birthday, that is something that I kept thinking about over and over again.  I feel ready to be more open and honest and share more freely what's going on in my life...both the good and bad.  So thank you for reading.       

hello there

Who doesn't love gold, grey, and minty blue??  I sure am in love with the combination.  Here is a newish design I created.  It's inspiring some changes in my shop.....

Have a happy Monday, y'all!
** I linked this post up to Sew Chatty's Made with Love link party.