Happy Birthday and Other Thoughts

Evy Kate says, "Happy Birthday, Daddy!"

And I say, Happy Birthday, Kurt! My sweet husband is 29 today! Unfortunately, he is on call and has to be at the hospital all night tonight, so that's a huge bummer. But last night he opened his gifts, which was fun!



Here's what he got:
-A dress shirt from Express (weird, I know..but they fit him great!)
-2 casual shirts from American Eagle
-Sargent York on DVD (one of his favorite movies starring Gary Cooper)
-Gift certificate to Everyday Gourmet
-A print of a panorama shot of the football stadium at Ole Miss, his alma mater. Seriously, I am showing my true love here...if I had my way, I wouldn't have Ole Miss artwork in the house. I just have my reasons...haha! But he had pointed it out the last time we were at the mall and I couldn't help myself. I'm such a sucker when I know someone really likes something. So we'll eventually get it framed, and it will probably end up in the basement of our next house, where a lot of his art will go. Basements are often finished out in Missouri for an extra bonus/family room, so it's not like it'll be in some dark, grimy place :o) Or it can go in his office eventually.

Since Kurt has to work today, Evy and I picked up a piece of cookie cake at the mall and took it to him at the hospital. He came out to meet us at the car, and it was so good to see him mid-day! It had been kind of a rough day in the ICU, so I'm really glad that this is his last day of it--ever! Can you believe it?! As of tomorrow, he is a senior resident. Wow! I'm so, so proud of him. I am not belittling anyone who reads this blog, but just a note to those who have husbands in medicine or residency---you especially feel my joy about being in 4th year, right?! My dad called me today and said "Just think what will be happening a year from now!" We are so excited to move and begin the next chapter of life.

Speaking of that phrase, if I hear Jon and Kate say "new chapter" one more time I am going to SCREAM. Last night's episode was nothing more than TLC grasping at straws to keep this show going. The whole episode was just showing clips of PREVIOUS shows. Do we really need to look back at the last 10 years of the Gosselin's lives and be reminded YET AGAIN that they are a family in crisis? Seriously. I am just so sad, frustrated, and disappointed all at the same time. One thing I did pick up on: there are no Scripture index cards in the new house like there were before they moved. Very telling.

The Bachelorette. I have officially lost respect for Jillian. Um, it's quite clear why she is still single: she can't judge someone's character to save her life! Wes, or as BooMama calls him, "Snakey McCreeperson" (love it), is such a player. Everyone sees it but her. And as much as I love Jake, he is kind of a walking Hallmark card. He kind of sounds like he's reading from a teleprompter sometimes. But I still think he's too classy for Jillian. I'm not sure I even care who she ends up with anymore. That's all.

Tiffany just did a recent post about this, but when we were in Dallas visiting with my aunt and her family, she talked with me and my mom about our laundry detergents and some other things health-wise. She is a breast cancer survivor (3 years in recession so far!), and she was telling us about what her cancer team has been advising her to do to stay clear of cancer. Now, I will be the first one to say that I am a bit jaded about the huge GREEN movement, simply because it has turned into such a political agenda. I do believe in being good stewards of the earth and doing our part, but I'll be really honest, there are bigger moral issues at stake in my opinion. But I want to say that I've been thinking a lot about these things and I have become more aware of why it's important to be natural in some aspects. I don't want to be ignorant and let pride get in the way of doing what's best for me and my family. All that to say, here are the two main things she suggested:

Using natural laundry detergent, such as Mrs. Meyers Clean Day.

She uses the Basil scent, and it smelled great! Her cancer counselor said that over time, the chemicals in laundry detergent can seep into our skin. Obviously, there is still research being done, but I'm okay with spending a little extra just to be on the safe side. After we finish out our huge thing of Tide, we'll probably switch to Mrs. Meyers. I had heard of her products before, but seeing them being put to use was interesting and educational for me.

Eating organic meat.

Since breast cancer is an estrogen-based cancer, and animals can be given estrogen to boost growth and production, this can be a problem for those prone to estrogen-based cancers. My aunt suggested just to do organic meat and dairy if possible. Everything else is simply if you feel better about organic. There IS a price difference, but eventually I think it will be worth the investment for us.

I know that many people have been "natural" and "organic" for a long time, and awhile back I offended some people when I vented about environmental issues. Again, I do respect our earth and think we should be wise stewards. I just get frustrated because there are certain issues that I believe are of greater value, like protecting human lives. But I am willing to say that I am rethinking some things, and I hope that reflects my desire to always learn and admit when I am adjusting my thinking about certain things. :o)

Of course I have to end with pictures of my cutie pie. Recently I've snapped some shots of when I put her on the floor to change her after naptime. She's always in the cutest little mood!

I snapped this just a minute ago: napping in our crib!

Have a great day :o)

Trying This Again....

I'm trying to register with technorati, but it's taking a REALLY long time....so I'm trying again! Here we go!

Technorati

Crib Nap Update

Okay, this merits a post:

I put Evy down at 10:30 am for her morning nap, and ideally she would sleep until noon (hour and a half naps are the goal). After I went in and put her paci back in, I thought she would wake up again shortly and be done with naptime. It is now noon and she's still sound asleep! I'm so proud of her :o) I doubt the afternoon/evening naps will go this well, but I am encouraged that we can (hopefully) forgo the swing now for naps. I'd like to be able to use her swing to entertain her while she's awake, not just for sleeping. What a great start to the day!

Some Jolly Sprucing Up

I wanted to show you pictures of some updates to the house that I've done recently. I bought a few things while I was in Dallas that I just love.

First, this is a piece of art with a cross, heart, and crown. You can't really tell in the picture, but the texture is really great on this piece. This skinny one (the top picture) is actually for my sister for her apartment next year at college. I had ordered another one to have, and the store sent me a bigger one by mistake, but I love it, and I' I'll use in our house:



This is the round end table next to the sofa. I used to have a taller, skinnier lamp here, but the scale just wasn't right. So I bought a new lamp at Hobby Lobby, which is the perfect height and scale. I have a new scripture piece; it's the white rock on an easel and the verse says "From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another." John 1:16. I also got the little cherub in Dallas. The book you see is an extremely old copy of the complete works of Shakespeare. My grandfather gave this to me and Kurt. It belonged to their neighbor years ago who lived in a turn-of-the-century house. My mom used to go over and visit her all the time, and this book belonged to her. She even wrote in the front of it. The house was later destroyed by a fire after she passed away (such a sad thing), but we are so happy to have a piece of the history.


I added 3 silver letters to our entry table for our initials. I also added the tall vase-like thing on the left that used to be in the guest (and Kurt's) bathroom. I moved it in here because.....


...I put the skinny lamp that used to be in the living room here in the bathroom! It's a perfect size and shape.


Remember the vintage artwork I bought awhile ago? Well, here's how they look! Under the two pieces side by side is my new Emily Dickinson sign. I think it completes the way this wall looks!





And finally, here is my Robert Spooner "Jesus" piece. I put it right next to the front door, to mark our home, kind of like how the Hebrews/Jewish people did (and some still do). By the way, the cross piece, Emily Dickinson sign, and Jesus artwork, I put it all up by myself. Yes, with a hammer, nails, and the like. Kurt was on call and I got in the mood to put my new things up, and so I went to town. Nothing has fallen down yet, so that's a good sign :o)



Those are the updates! By the way, today is a big day...Evy took a daytime nap in her crib for the first time! She had been napping in her swing, but I decided to give it a go and see how she did today. She woke up about 45 minutes early, but I went in and put her paci back in and that bought me 20 more minutes. That's another big piece of news: she's a paci baby now! Can you believe it?! She only started taking it about 2 weeks ago, right before the Texas trip. I love it. I thought we would have nothing to soothe her with, but now we do. She loves the thing. Who knew?

Have a great day!

Sunday, Sunday...

Well, after being out of church for FOREVER due to MANY different things, we made it to church today! It was an accomplishment, let me tell you.

Kurt was on call last night and so he said he would text me this morning to let me know if he could meet us at church or not. I woke up at 5:30 or so to feed Evs and then forgot to set an alarm for church. I woke up and immediately looked at the clock in a panic (isn't that the worst feeling?), and it was 9:00 am. Yes, service starts at 9:30. I then checked my phone and saw that Kurt had texted "Will meet you at church at 9:30. May be a little late." Uh, me too, buddy.

However, I managed to tease my hair so it wasn't flat from being so dirty, applied makeup in literally 5 minutes (how, I still don't know), and then got Evy up, dressed, and fed. I was at church by 9:40, folks. I usually don't toot my own horn, but TOOT! TOOT!!!

I walked in to the preschool area to drop Evy off and ran into a staff member of our church who is precious. She takes one look at Evy and says, "She looks just like Mark Anderson!" ( my dad) and starts crying. Then she said "I just miss your family so much." Thankfully, it wasn't a true sobbing cry, but it was enough tears to make ME cry. Great.

Then I get to the service and our new pastor preached a great sermon. I was completely bummed out because I missed the patriotic song service to celebrate July 4th. Are you kidding me? Of all Sundays to be late. I'm NEVER late. EVER. Anyway, Kurt finally arrived (in scrubs, no less) and after the service we wanted to meet the new pastor officially. The second I told him that I am Mark Anderson's daughter, he said some of the nicest things about my father. They were very meaningful to me for reasons I won't go into here. Let's just say that he understands the life of a pastor's family and he understands certain things that I've gone through. It was really sweet, and really increased my respect for him (I already knew he was a terrific guy). So THAT almost got me emotional for the second time today, and it was only about 11:00 am at that point.

Brief sidenote: I never discuss the ins and outs of being a pastor's daughter on this blog because I have heard that a lot of church members read it (even though I don't have that many people that officially follow and even fewer who comment). I just don't feel comfortable baring my soul about certain issues regarding the church because I just don't want to go there. I am always mindful of the fine line between being transparent and telling too much. But briefly, I'll sum up my emotional experience pretaining to still attending the church my dad used to pastor: very difficult. I only say this because I never want to be accused of not having an honest, genuine blog. I'm not a perfect person, and my responses to things are not always happy happy. It's been very difficult for me to not have my family at my church anymore. There are things that we've dealt with the past several years that have been very challenging, and as a family, we served as each other's rocks. All of a sudden not having that is a very strange thing. However, I've learned a lot from it. All this to say, it meant a lot to hear from a couple of people today that they understand how hard this is, and that they still appreciate my parents' ministry. My parents are probably mad that I even wrote that (ha!), and they are the LAST people to want praise for anything, but I just needed it. God was so sweet to give me those encouraging words today, and I'm always learning to rely on Him and Him only. He is such a sweet, loving God!

Anyway, just wanted to sum up the day's events. It was good to be back at church, even though it's MUCH different with a baby (Kelly, you can relate!). I'll be posting some patriotic pictures of my cutie pie soon. We don't have any plans for the 4th, except just to BE TOGETHER, just the three of us. I really can't wait :o) Happy Sunday!

In registering for technorati.com (Kelly explains it here), I have to post this code. Thanks! So just ignore this post :o)

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A Happy Birthday & Revisiting Childhood

Today was such a good day! Kurt's birthday is on the 30th (he turns the big 2-9), but we have been celebrating early because he's on call on the actual day (bummer!). He opened one of his presents today (a gift certificate to a cooking store), and will open the rest closer to his birthday. Here were the events of the day:

-He got off work WAY earlier than usual (yay)!
-Opened one of his presents.
-We dropped Bitson off with a babysitter (more like a family of babysitters) and went on a FABULOUS date to see "Night at the Museum 2" and then ate at PF Chang's.
-Picked up Bitson and went strolling around an outdoor shopping center and visited Barnes and Noble. I felt like such an urban, chic family. Very rarely do I feel that way in Mississippi.

Here are the pictures! (I'll post about his other gifts once he opens them!)




As I mentioned before, we saw Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian. It was so good! We had just recently watched the first one, so it was fresh on our minds. I've decided that I have a thing for storylines where things come alive. Case and point: in keeping with my 101 in 1001 (see the menu bar at the top of my blog), I ordered 4 chapter books that I loved when I was younger. I adored the school library. So just to recapture that happiness, I hunted down 4 books and now they are happily in my possession! I'm currently re-reading Midnight in the Dollhouse.

I seriously loved the book so much, that when I was in elementary school in Missouri, I craved Library time each week so I could check it out again. It actually inspired me to beg my parents for a Victorian dollhouse, which I got for Christmas one year. I was featured in the newspaper about it, and I loved decorating that little house. I insisted that I had to have NICE miniature dolls; the kind at Hobby Lobby just didn't cut it. My mom surprised me for my birthday that year and had tracked down the perfect dolls---thanks, Mom! I haven't forgotten :o)

This led me to started remembering my childhood. I used to love drawing little "worlds" that would come into my imagination. Elves, fairies, etc. I would just draw their dwellings and such, because I loved to imagine that they existed. So you can imagine my complete happiness when I found this at Barnes and Noble tonight:

It's called "The Realm of the Never Fairies." Basically, it shows you the fairy world of Peter Pan's Neverland. Are you serious? This is my dream come true! The book shows you the entire world of fairies, including their dwellings, mannerisms, etc. I am seriously too excited. I didn't buy it, because we're trying to cut back on spending to some degree this month: we have to pay for the brand new air conditioning system we had to get last August. Boo. So I can't wait to buy this at some point and just imagine with Evy Kate that fairies are real :o)

By the way, even though we're in a spending freeze, I cheated and bought Evy Kate a Scripture lamb from Baby Be Blessed. It's PRECIOUS! Go see the lamb I got by clicking HERE.

One more thing that defined my childhood: American Girl. I was, and am, in love with all things American Girl. I remember coveting the Samantha doll, because I was obsessed with the turn-of-the-century, early 1900's era. And then, joy of joys, my parents bought me Samantha Parkington!

Once I had completely relished and learned everything about Samantha, I read the books of all the other dolls. My sister got Kirsten and Josefina (why she wanted Josefina, I have no idea. Alyssa--why?). Also, how she managed to get two dolls, I have no idea. Anyway, I love this company because they combine a little girl's love for dolls and history---so genius. I ordered the catalog recently just so I could reminisce. It's changed a bit, but the premise is still the same. I'm going to make sure Evy reads American Girl books and maybe even subscribes to the magazine. I remember one of my favorite birthday parties of all time was when I copied a party shown in American Girl Magazine: a flower party. We all had flower names (Iris, Violet, Rose, etc.) and I even wore a sunflower outfit (lucky for me, the sunflower motif was BIG in the early 90's). What wonderful memories.

All this is say, I am more and more excited everyday that God blessed me with a little girl. I can't wait to read her a million books, play with dolls, and become a child again. I know that if we're blessed with a little prince, I'll adore him and have so much fun, but as the song says, "thank heaven for little girls!" :o)

Kelly's Home Tour---Master Bedroom Edition

Welcome to our bedroom!

The big thing that I wanted to do in our bedroom was to make it feel like a hotel (on a BUDGET). As you can see, I had a blank canvas so to speak (that's putting it really nicely).



We have a huge palladian window (the kind that looks like a half circle on top), and I didn't want those paper-fan-looking blinds. So my MIL made floor-to-ceiling white drapes. They still let light in but I think that's what makes the biggest impact in the room--I love it! I knew I wanted a pewter/grayish room. The paint color is "Pewter Works" from Farrell-Calhoun. The white/black/gray thing just sort of happened. I always change my decorating, so I know it will all change over time!


I got the star mirror and the lamps from Pier 1. Yes, my side tables are red. I'm not a red person really, but they were such a good deal and I just told myself I'd paint them or something. I obviously haven't gotten around to it. I don't know what the future of these tables are...but they won't stay red. Everyone says to keep them the way they are, but I just don't like red when it comes to decorating---just my personal weird thing!

The bedding is from Bed, Bath, and Beyond....I can't remember the brand! My MIL found this cute fabric and made the bolster pillow. Fun fact: the silvery trim that she used was from my bridesmaids' dresses :o) Speaking of my wedding, here's our invitation framed:


Our office was converted into sweet baby Evy's room, so we had to move the computer into our room. It's convenient, so I can't complain, but what an eyesore. Well, definitely not the desktop wallpaper :o) Oh, notice my daily Sonic Cherry Limeade. I had to include it because one is always there.

And here's our TV. We don't use it very often. I'm sure we will when Kurt is actually home and we can get into bed at the same time to watch something. Maybe someday. The dresser has been in my family for a long time. It's from the 50s-60s I think? I painted it to go in our room, and it's honestly the worst paint job in the history of mankind. Seriously, I did a terrible job. I don't think I prepped it enough, and I spray-painted it...and I didn't use the right finish of paint, so now I can't dust it. It just collects dust but I can't wipe it off. Please learn from my mistake. When we move I am SO re-painting it.

This is an awesome antique corner chair that I got from my great-grandmother after she passed away. My MIL made a matching mini bolster pillow, and I got the seat cover at Marshall's (the others are on our dining room chairs). This is the corner right as you walk in the door of our room.
Another view of the corner. Yes, that's me in the picture. My photographer just printed this out and said he was going to use it for advertising, but then chose another picture of mine or something to that effect. So I have this picture of myself, and I'm NOT hanging it in the main, public part of the house. That's just so narcissistic. I couldn't look at myself all day. I have wedding pictures of us in the house, but not by ourselves. That's just weird. Eventually this will go in Kurt's office or something. The good thing is that this isn't hanging in an obvious place, because I would feel so vain and ridiculous.


I do need to thank my photographer...I'm sure I'll be glad to have this one day!
Thank you for stopping by! I'd love to meet you, so leave a comment and introduce yourself :o) Have a wonderful day!

By the way...here are my two favorite people in the master bedroom. These were taken 2-3 months ago, but why not? I adore them :o)

Texas Extravaganza

Okay, here they are! I totally understand if you don't want to look at all of these, but I want to have a record of the trip, and I know my family will look at them at least! These will show our time with Nan in Gonzales, spending time with the May family (my dad's sister) and my Dad's parents in the Fort Worth area, and my birthday. Among many things that I got---awesome makeup and jewelry from Nana and Poppy (they gave me gifts in Gonzales), a Willow tree figure of a mother and daughter from my dad's parents (Mimi and Dah), a decorative sign from the Mays that says "Dwell in Possibility--Emily Dickinson", books that I had been wanting from Kurt (as well as a certificate for a MASSAGE for our anniversary!!!!), a Sonic gift card and a piece of Robert Spooner bas relief art from my family that I had been WANTING really badly that simply says "Jesus." There's something about just seeing His name. What a great time!

This was our time at the Lancaster's to celebrate all the June birthdays and Father's Day. I got some fabulous body scrub and lotion from Sephora from Kurt's brother Kelly and his wife Jennifer (it smells like birthday cake!). The highlight was when I got a fabulous new Coach bag from the Lancasters---and just the day before, I had eyed the exact bag that I got in Dallas at the Coach store! Can you believe it!? It was also Kurt's first Father's Day. I got him an illustrated book of the lyrics to "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley (one of his favorites). The illustrations are of a daddy and his little girl doing different things together. So sweet!

And there you have it!