Leaving On A Jet Plane

Meet my beautiful Rebecca Minkoff Steady Tote. Given to me by my husband as a push gift for having my daughter Amelia, it was always meant to be my carry on for a future trip to Barcelona.

Unfortunately, that has yet to come to pass. As of now it has flown with me only on "medical missions." Visiting my father when he had his mitral valve replacement, and today, heading towards my step-mother's lumpectomy. Both trips have been to Utah, and I have a feeling that this beautiful bag is feeling like it's not really living up to it's potential.

Someday though, my Steady will fulfill it's destiny and accompany me and Mixed Handbag to the celebrated shopping sites of Spain.

Until then, think good thoughts and stay tuned…I'm a real blogger writing in airports* and everything!

*Denver has free Wi-Fi which totally kicks Austin's $9.95 charge's ass.

It's Not Easy Being Green

I've finally allowed myself to start thinking about Amelia's room update. This weekend I bought four different green paint samples and I painted them on the wall for everyone to mull over this next week.

The paint colors aren't exactly true in the post photo, but I did paint them on three separate walls for good measure in the hopes that we can make a decision based on how they look in several different lights.

So far, my favorite is the lightest shade, at the bottom. But I'll let you know what the consensus is once we decide to get to work.

Dirty Little Secret

"A place for everything, and everything in it's place."

That's totally how I live my life and run my house. At this time, we don't have much by way of decor, but as you can see the house is spotless and minimal...just how I like it.

Living room.

Living room from the stairs.

Kitchen

Playroom
(the shelves haven't been put up yet, which is why her toys are a little scattered)

Amelia's Room

Asher's room

How is it possible? How can I have two kids and a husband who refuses to throw anything out and still maintain a minimalist household? Jealous? Want to know my secret? It's fantastic...and oh so creative. Well actually it's simply that we bought a house that has a walk-in closet in EVERY ROOM. So there you have it, my house looks fantastic but holds more than a few dirty little secrets.

Hall Closet

Guest Closet

Guest Closet

Guest Closet

Asher's Closet - Part 1

Asher's Closet - Part 2

Amelia's Closet

Amelia's Closet
(Elijah wanted to keep the air compressor here for

when we put up the beadboard in her room)

Clearing out the closet clutter is clearly on my "to-do" list this year. I'm already working on the playroom closet, which didn't make this list because it's almost completely cleaned out. I can't help but think that if all of this stuff has been sitting in boxes since we moved from Oklahoma, almost a year ago, do we really need any of it? Can't I just load all this stuff up and take it to Goodwill for them to sort out? It's tempting, but I'm afraid Elijah would never forgive me and a week after I took everything out Asher would be looking for that one picture I drew that has that guy with the swords on it fighting that other guy with two heads...from kindergarten...remember? Where is it? Where??? Ugh.

Say Say Say

I'm having trouble with Blogger's commenter, do-hicky, majig.

The trouble is I hate it.

I can't really reply to specific comments and it just doesn't seem to work as well, or as seamlessly as some of the other blogs I visit.

I tried Disqus but didn't really care for it. Maybe I just didn't know how to unleash all it's goodness and power.

Any ideas? I'm not sure I want to pay to get my blog moved to WordPress simply because of the comments...especially since I just paid for the renovation.

P.S. - I realize WordPress is free. By payment, I'm referring to getting my lovely new design up and over there. Plus, and this is not to be underestimated, I hate change.

She's Gonna Break Soon

I'm feeling "less than."

That's a common feeling for me these days. And I can't help but wonder what the hell is wrong with me anyway?

Maybe it's because I don't know exactly what I'm expecting this blog to be. I'm not sure what to focus on. Me? The kids? Our home? I'm an avid reader of some truly amazing blogs and they all seem to have more focus than I do. I can't help but think that it's some sort of reflection on me as a person. Like I'm too scattered and always all over the place. I can't focus and therefore THAT'S why I'm always feeling so out of whack. Like this blog has become a "mirror" of who I am as a person...too distracted by life to actually accomplish anything worthwhile.

Initially, I started to write because I LOVE to write. I wanted to put something meaningful out into the www universe and touch lives, inspire hope, or just give someone a laugh. More and more I feel like my entries are forced, like I'm trying to just get something out for a self inflicted deadline. I feel like I don't have the time to really elaborate on my thoughts or ideas, therefore I'm not writing so much as posting.

It's not that I don't have the opportunity to put my thoughts down. Right now, Amelia and Asher are hanging out together, watching Elmo in Grouchland for the second time today. Dinner is ready, I'm enjoying my first beer of the evening, waiting for Elijah to come home and take over. It's not like I don't have little pockets of time to write, I just don't know what to write about, or I just can't get focused enough to actually get something meaningful out. I keep a list on my phone, ideas for blogging, but I haven't "gotten around to" the good stuff yet, I guess. I don't know.

Maybe I'm just feeling a little defeated. Maybe this is just another self serving entry. I have gotten pretty good at those lately! I just feel confused, and a little like I haven't lived up to my potential.

Anyway, thanks for hanging in there...I am trying to get focused. Trying to get back on track. Hopefully, in the meantime, you're enjoying the "fluff."

Dirty Laundry

It's been great fun at our place this week! Can you guess which
appliance went bad last Thursday?

Can you imagine how my closet looked by this Wednesday?

Do you know what creative way I used to dry my children's
laundry during our coldest snap so far?

Yep, that's a space heater, placed in BOTH closets while the clothes hung to dry.

Do you know who my hero is??

Dryer was fixed last night and we've already gotten four loads through. It was, of course, a fuse that blew. Thank goodness Elijah is able to take things apart AND put them back together. I was all set to just buy a new one.

Best Year Yet

Here's a list of things, written to my 2010 self, that I believe will help make 2011 my best year yet. (The assignment called for 20 but I only made it to 17, that was overwhelming enough for me!)

1. Laugh more, especially at your family's lamest of jokes.
2. Say yes more often than no. Or at least consider saying yes. Or at least wait a few moments before immediately jumping to no.
   
3. Give people the benefit of the doubt; especially the people you love.
   
4. Clean your own house. Really. Seriously. Like, even the toilets. Something about pride of ownership blah, blah, blah...mostly it'll just save you money and help us make our 2011 financial goals.
   
5. Make time for dates with Elijah, at least once a month. Alone. Without the kids.
6. Do something for yourself. You deserve the occasional hair cut, caramel macchiato, pedicure, new outfit, etc.
7. Let it be. So Asher insists on wearing his clothes backwards on every self appointed "backwards Thursday" - let it be. So Amelia insists on watching Elmo in Grouchland on a seemingly continuous loop - let it be. So Elijah snores, making it impossible to sleep - put in your earplugs and let it be. None of these things are actually causing any lasting damage and you're spending far too much time snipping at your family for EVERY LITTLE THING. Just let it be.
8. Try for a little spontaneity. Start slowly. Take a different way home. Make a last minute decision to eat out, or just take the kids to the park. Joy comes from unlikely places so be available to be in some unlikely places every now and again.
9. Drive the shitbox, uh, Trooper. At least try to make it through the year. Don't saddle yourself with another expense, not when you have a perfectly good shitbox, uh, vehicle to drive.
   
10. Family vacation? Make it happen. No excuses. Take your wonderful family out together and make some memories dammit!
11. Reconnect. You have several relationships that need tending, relationships that are important, but have been neglected due to the chaos and commotion of the past year or so. Reconnect, it can only bring you more joy.
12. Be thankful, and teach your children how to be thankful as well. You could start with writing those overdue thank you notes from Christmas.
13. Enjoy your career. You love nursing; find a way to love your "job" as well. Focus on furthering your education.
    
14. Eat kinder. You've always talked about shopping at your local farmer's market. Well go do it. You have an amazing one close-by. Find your free-range chicken and organic eggs. You'll enjoy your family dinners more knowing your supporting your local farmers.
15. Allow silence. Especially during important conversations. Not everyone thinks as quickly as you do. Give people a chance to process their thoughts and emotions before continuing to barrage them with your vitriol. More often than not you're jumping to conclusions.
16. Enjoy your babies and keep them close. Allow yourself space but don't continuously keep them at a distance. Sit on the couch and watch more Phineas and Ferb, play squish face with Amelia, and try to find a way to enjoy the Wii. Get off of the computer, phone, etc and get on the floor with your kids.
17. Cook beautiful food. You have all these wonderful cookbooks so use them. Even if only once a month. Make a meal that makes you proud (and then brag about it on your blog!)

This post is written in response to a prompt from:

Anniversary

I never did post anything about our anniversary dinner. We finally found an actual, real live babysitter (courtesy of a dear friend), so we decided to try a new restaurant. We've only been out a handful of times since we moved to the area and so we're anxious to find our new "go-to" dinner date places. Elijah asked around at work and got a recommendation for Truluck's. It's more of a seafood place, but since Elijah loves seafood and I NEVER cook fish; I decided I'd give it a shot for his sake. I'm nice like that.

We had a such a good time. Aside from having three full kid free hours alone, the food was excellent. We started out with the chevre plate (try not to throw up in your mouth, Kathryn) and I'm telling you, I could have eaten only that and been completely satisfied with the meal. It really was that good. Our meals were delicious, the service was excellent, they even served us an special anniversary cupcake dessert.

I'm running out of ways to describe the superb-y-ness of the evening so I'll just stop here.

Nobody's Perfect

Would you believe me if I told you that I had turned water into wine?

Last night I decided there was no way I was eating my delicious homemade spaghetti and meatballs without a glass of wine; especially since the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of red wine. No way was I opening a bottle just to have it sit in the fridge for the rest of the month.

Plus, there's always a chance that I'll die of exhaustion tonight at work and I'd really rather to have died having had a glass of wine (or two) during a wonderfully satisfying meal.

Elijah was a good man and agreed to have a glass as well. You can consider our aqua-month over!

What Christmas Means to Me

It took me a little longer than I had anticipated to finish Stephen Nissenbaum's The Battle for Christmas. Partly because I decided to read it during December, and partly because it was a historical retelling of how Christmas has evolved over time. I found it fascinating but also a bit overwhelming in regards to the amount of information the author packed into each paragraph. It's the quintessential compilation of accounts, both personal and public, of how American's have celebrated Christmas over the past 200 years.

I was relieved that the author didn't get bogged down in trying to address various religious arguments; although he did discuss how our modern day Christmas has it's roots in the ancient Roman festival Saturnalia. Instead, he focused on describing how the celebration of Christmas has evolved over time from a public, carnival like celebration, to a private, domestic holiday. It was a relief to learn that ever since the advent of Santa parents have been worried about spoiling their children rotten and people have always longed to keep Christmas in the simpler, quieter way that they mistakenly imagined generations before them had been celebrating.

She Works Hard for the Money

(all images courtesy of Elijah Ogden)

Amelia gets more done on a Sunday morning in her pajamas then I do all week in mine!

Water You Doing New Year's Eve?

Be prepared, most of this week's posts are going to be about New Year's resolution-y things. Sort of mundane, I know, but look through the archives, most (read all) of my posts are pretty self-involved and mundane. I am writing this for me after all, I just let you read it.

I decided that I wanted to start this year off by drinking only water* during January. I got the idea from this post on Young House Love. The idea is a little buried at the bottom of the post, but it really stuck out for me. I figured after all the hard partying we do over the winter holidays, it's important to give the ol' liver and kidneys a rest. Plus it's super beneficial for our new and improved, petite sized, budget.

Elijah is a trooper and has decided to do this with me which is a relief as it's always easier to abstain if your better half isn't sucking down your portion of the liquor. This does mean that we'll be in the middle of our self imposed prohibition on his birthday, but we can make up for it on Valentine's Day.


*Coffee is mostly water so it made the cut, but aside from that there are no exceptions. Elijah tried to make the case for beer being mostly water as well, but that sort of defeats the entire purpose of the liver cleanse.

Bonnes Resolutions

Last year went really well. I feel like I came out (calm and collected) better than I went in (kicking and screaming). I'm finding peace and feel more centered every day. Elijah and I made an amazing life change and lately, I have been feeling as if it should be acknowledged. People don't just give two weeks notice, pack up their homes and move to another state. Well, maybe they do, but we don't. And if I have anything to say about it, we never will again! But all that aside, we did an amazing thing for ourselves and our family this year and I just want to take a moment to pat myself on the back. Ok - done, now on to the demands I will make on myself for this year!

As I said in my previous resolution post I fell short in the running department in 2010. It's sad because that's the one thing I do only for myself. Neglecting it may have led to some of my crazier moments, and I'm anxious to start back up. The schedule/plan is to run three days a week for the next six weeks and then run the half in this year's Austin Marathon. It's perfect because it's close, it's a new race and it's coming up pretty quickly. As long as I can build up my long run to at least nine miles, I'm good for 13.1. I'll then pick a fall race to train for and hope that the thrill from the first race helps me keep my momentum up throughout the year. That's the plan anyway.

My second resolutions is a rift on the 12 books a year resolution from 2010. I'd like to read 12 NPR recommended/reviewed books this year. I'm totally counting my current book The Battle for Christmas because I heard about it on NPR and didn't finish it or use it in last year's total. I've got a lot of ideas for future books and even know what I'll be starting when my current book is read. I'm excited about this one because I get to read books from authors I probably would have never considered had I not been trolling the NPR books site.

My final resolution of the year is to pay off a portion of my student loans. We don't have a lot of debt and we've really done well considering all the moving, selling and buying home expenses that we've had. I'd just like some extra wiggle room so I can quit driving the Trooper that I so lovingly refer to as "shitbox" and buy something a little nicer and more reliable.

So there you have it three resolutions for 2011. Here's to hoping this year is just as awesome, but in a more local way, as 2010 was!