Notes

-I woke up this morning and got fully ready for church, but had to lie down twice because of feeling sick. I ended up staying home and sleeping for 4 more hours (!!) while Kurt watched Evy. I want to get on top of this if it's anything, so we're not going to church tonight either. I feel better, but I just can't afford to get sick.

-I have a whole separate post coming on this later, but I did watch Miss America last night (while texting with my blog friend/friend in kind-of-real-life Lyndsie and my sister). Again, I have a lot of thoughts on this, but just wanted to give you a heads up it will be coming.

-I am SO EXCITED about the new Duggar special coming on tonight about Baby Josie Brooklyn! I literally can't wait, and Kurt is even letting me order takeout so I have something fun to eat while I watch. Also, this means that a new season of "19 Kids and Counting" will be kicking off on Tuesday. So. Excited. Seriously.

-Grammys are also on. I'm not big into a lot of current music, but I'll still record it to get the gist of what goes on. Also, I watch the red carpet because I like to see celebrities in their natural element (talking in interviews, etc.) instead of just seeing pictures in magazines. Did that make any sense? Or make me sound like a 12 year old?

-The mini-series adaptation of Emma on PBS (from Masterpiece Classics) is on tonight (the second installment of 3). I missed the first segment! UGGH! But I'm watching the last two and will Netflix the whole thing when it's available. I love this period of history, and Jane Austen is one of my favorites. So we'll see how this adaptation goes.

-Speaking of, Kurt watched Jane Eyre with me the other night (his first time to see it). My favorite adaptation is this one from 2006 (another Masterpiece Classics mini series):

Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson

It is AWESOME!

-Finally, I stumbled upon this post from Julia today at Hooked on Houses and almost cried. She featured the houses in the original "Parent Trap!" I immediately sent it to my Dad, because we LOVE the ranch house in that movie, and even sketched out the floorplan once (based on watching scenes over and over). Go take a look!

Happy Weekend :)

Evy and Modern Art

I'm sure you've seen the Bean sculpture in Chicago:


Basically, it entertains people for hours, because they can see their reflections in it.

We had a similar experience the other day here at home. Except it was a lamp, and it only occupied Evy for about 15 minutes. But still, we had fun!

"Hello, Kermit the Frog Here!"

A couple of days ago, Kurt and I decided to take Evy and go to the Mississippi Museum of Art here in town.


Neither of us had been, and we took some time to see the regular part of the museum, featuring art by Mississippians.

It was really interesting, and Evy seemed to enjoy herself. We gave her a bottle mid-way through, and she did great! Here are some scenes from the day:


One of the things I enjoyed seeing right as we walked in the door was a miniature exhibit of famous chairs. Random, I know, but I studied all about them in interior design classes and it was so interesting!
This is a model of an Eames lounge chair. It was designed and released in 1956. When I worked at the psychological office, one of my bosses had an Eames chair and he'd let me sit in it because I was starstruck. I know.

I was really impressed by the well-designed cafe' area, with modern seating and a restaurant by Viking. We had a snack and then looked at the main part of the museum.



The main reason we went to the MMA was to see a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian about Jim Henson:


Here are some scenes from the exhibit. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but these were featured online.

It was bright, fun, and even featured some actual puppets! These two were special to me because my sister and I used to watch the Muppet version of Cinderella called "Hey, Cinderella!"


I instantly recognized the King Muppet:


We met some Fraggles:



And this was big: We also saw the actual Kermit the Frog! It was so neat!



I was pretty starstruck when we saw Ernie and Bert:


Evy was a big fan (and so were we)!


When we got home, I made Evy a birthday banner (here's a peek)....


.....While I listened to old records.



It was a very cultural day, and we had a great time! There are a few more things in Jackson that we want to do before we move. We'll have to plan more days like this--it was so enjoyable :)

Manteling and Milestones

I've had my Christmas decorations down for awhile now. I just don't feel like my house looks as cheerful. I really try, though! The positive thing about taking the tree down was making more room for a toy corner. Seriously--we are very frugal when it comes to toys, etc., and we don't even have as much as most people, but toys take up room! So we just left the Christmas tree spot open and at night I gather them in that area. That way, when I'm up until very late hours for my alone/quiet/keep my sanity time, it's at least in a {relatively} straightened room. Here's my post-Christmas living room:


I always tend to change my mantel after the holidays. I shopped my house and this is what I came up with:

The only thing new was the cherub, which I bought in Dallas over Christmas ($7 in an after-Christmas sale!). This mantel would probably be titled, "Ashley loves crowns." Or "Renaissance-Styled Crowns and Cherubs." Yes, I like that title better.
Evy has been up to all sorts of things lately. Remember how Kurt mentioned that she's his little helper and buddy? Here's the proof:



We reached a milestone! Evy can now walk while pushing her baby stroller. {P.S. I think it's absolutely precious that little girl toys are geared toward nurturing and being a mommy. Just precious.}

She's now starting to even let go of things and balance while standing. It won't be long til we're walking!

Finally, Evy is really figuring out the world of food. Lately, I had a carton of Goldfish nearby, and she discovered that through that opening in the top of the carton, there are a TON of Goldfish just waiting to be eaten. Please watch this progression:

The Discovery:

"Mom, is this okay?"

Going for it.

This says it all.

Hope you're having a great week!

Recipe

I don't always share on this blog when I update the recipe blog, but this is such a yummy one! Go take a look at the Ritzy Butter Chicken recipe, and enjoy!

Featured and Recent Projects

My friend Christy is starting to feature her favorite blogs each Monday. I was so happy she wanted to feature mine! She just asked me a few questions. You can read them HERE.

See that button? I made it :) I figured out how to do buttons recently and that's been super fun. Here are some other recent projects:

Tiffany at Southern Sass

Suzanne at The Barnette Family

Lyndsie at A Love Worth Waiting For

Emily at Just To Keep In Touch

Danielle at To See His Glory Revealed

This is not something I do publicly or for a business; they are gifts for personal friends. But like I've mentioned before, I have a sidebar section (on the left) about good blog resources and tutorials. Those are great places to start!

Have a great Monday!

The World of Blogging

Ever since I started blogging in October of 2007, I've been amazed at how huge the blogging world has become. Yet, it's still kind of small. How is that possible?

On one hand, I'm stumbling on new blogs all the time that I can't believe I've been missing all this time. One thing leads to another, and I've found a whole network of blogs that I connect to, relate to, and get attached to.

Yet at the same time, I feel like there are a few blogs that keep all of the other bloggers connected, making the blog world seem rather small. I think you know which "big ones" I'm talking about. Chances are, every blog YOU read probably reads one of those.

Big yet small.

People who aren't in the blog world don't get it. I don't think that bloggers are still looked upon as nerdy per se (I don't think?), but if you're not in it, you just don't get it. It's a tribe. Like Avatar, if you will. (P.S.--AMAZING MOVIE.)

For instance, these statements would never make sense to someone who doesn't blog:

"Is my header cute enough? Does it attract enough attention without looking like I'm trying too hard?"

"What the heck is BlogHer?" or "Would BlogHer ads make my blog look fat?" (or something to that effect.)

Bloggers' drug of choice is comments.

"Am I way in the stone age if I don't have 3-columns?"

Who knew a little box with the word "Followers" above it would define someone's blog? (Admit it, it does, for better or worse.)

Finding a new blog background is a big highlight for your week.

"I had no idea that people from so many random places even care about what I'm saying."

"How can that person say all of the extreme, polarizing things they say and no one cares, yet when I say something a tiny bit opinionated, people freak out?" (Okay, maybe that's a personal one...)

Anyway, you understand what I'm saying. It's a world unto itself. I actually have a whole categorization for bloggers and what category most people fall into, but I won't get into it because it might be classified as labeling people. But I do have a thesis written in my head about it.

Did you know there was such a thing as blog etiquette? Oh yes. Sneaky Momma (a great resource!) wrote this about the world of blogging. What do you think of the post? Does music auto-playing on a blog scare you when you click on the blog? Does comment moderation irritate you? Do you expect someone to "reply comment" to you or email you to say hello if you're a new follower? SO INTERESTING! (For the record, I'm not taking off my music because I love it too much, I also won't take off comment moderation, and I would feel so terrible if people took it personally that I didn't reply-comment or email everyone. But I do go through all of your blogs and take a look every now and then!)

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality wrote a great post about balancing the blog world. It really does prove that pretty much every blogger has the same things pass through their mind. I don't care what level of blogging you're in, or if you're a "too cool" blogger (that's one of my categories, by the way), you've thought about at least one of the things she mentions. Again, for the record--I blog when Evy is asleep and there's nothing that majorly needs to be done in the house. I don't understand the concept of judging someone for how much they appear to blog, because for all you know, they could have drafts pre-written, or they have a special time set aside for blogging, etc. In the same vein as the post by Rhoda, I feel like as long as your home and family aren't taking a backseat because of blogging, it's fine. Only you can determine what your boundaries need to be. Just my thoughts!

Did you know there's a conference dedicated to blogging, from casual to professional? Everyone probably knew that except for me, but Blissdom is coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm kind of on the fence about this, because on one hand, I would love to listen to the speakers and hear people who relate to the blog world. On the other hand, I get nervous around strangers and I absolutely would die if I had to do an ice-breaker game. Or tell about my most interesting post (I don't even think I have one). Oh, and I would only go if Carrie and SD came with. So who knows? Apparently it's hard to get tickets? It would obviously be something for the future, not this go-around. Again, interesting.

Where do you fit into the blog world? What are your thoughts on "blog etiquette?" Isn't it crazy that we're kind of in a sub-universe?

:)

Sunday Kind of Love