Creating Meaning

June has been watching Dora The Explorer lately (we try to "shield" her as much as possible from an over abundance of television, but it's one show we don't mind). I was thinking about the show and realized that everyday life can also be an adventure.

We put this concept to the test. When June woke up this past Saturday, we simply said, "today we are going on an adventure." You could tell her eyes lit up with wonder and excitement about what the day would bring. Even though our activities were nothing out of the ordinary, we created a new lens for her to view the world. This new perspective paved the way for our family to feel like we were on an adventure and to enjoy each moment it had to offer.

Being married to a #7 (if you've never taken the Enneagram, I'd highly recommend it... I'm a #1) has challenged me to look at life in a different way. Life is unmanageable (as much as it pains me to say this being a #1). I can't control life. I can't control getting hurt, the chaos of society or the fact that my daughter will watch shows that I don't approve of.

So what can I do? I have the choice to create meaning. I can create adventures out of everyday activities. I can help widen my daughter's eyes to new possibilities. I can hold my hands open and be thankful for things I do have and let go of the things I can't control. I can surrender myself to a higher power.

Nine Years and Counting...

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. I feel like this year has been transformational for us. Not in the sense where there was one big "wow" moment that changed us. It was in the everyday moments and choices that shaped who we are becoming as a couple, as individuals and as a family. Here's a few of my favorite highlights...

• Started to take bi-yearly getaways (just the two of us) for reflection, goal setting and pure gluttony (movie watching, junk food eating, etc)
  
• Took risks to pursue our calling - Turned down more secure jobs and started MyOhai and Open Hand Initiative
• Lived in our means - Sold our 2004 Accord for a 2000 Volvo (yep, it's a wagon) and traded cable for a Netflix Roku Box (saved us $300/month)

• Discovering and living in our strengths - Took StrengthFinders and started meeting with Walter Sawatzky, an amazing life coach
  
• Developed a routine that works for us (Scott get June ready M-Th, I get her ready F-Su)
• Implementing "Family Night Outs" - This is June's first carousel ride

• Being committed to our community at Salford Mennonite Church. They have been a solid ground for us to grow. We appreciate and love them.

May you too take time to reflect, be thankful for what has shaped you, and be inspired to change in whatever ways you dream possible.

The Civil Wars

We just bought tickets to go see The Civil Wars in concert at World Cafe Live. We saw them play at the Tin Angel this past fall and loved every minute. Here is a recent performance of their new song featured on the Jay Leno show for your enjoyment.



Show is Feb 17! We'd love to see you there. Purchase tickets here.

A Budding Partnership

Scott and I recently started working with Kevin High Photography (KHP) for MyOhai. Well, let me rephrase that. We swapped services! Kevin took our family photos and we met with him and his wife, Kerry, to discuss the strategy for KHP. There is something satisfactory about finding strengths in yourself and others and utilizing those strengths to serve one another.

I found a lot of similarities between the High's and Scott & I. We are husband and wife teams that are working together to provide for our families, but not in a typical way. Our jobs are not 9-5, they aren't steady incomes and they don't provide benefits. To some, this is risky. However, to us, doing something you don't love is a greater risk. Life is too short.

Kevin has definitely found something he loves and something he is great at! The photo session we had with him was the most relaxing photo shoot I've ever been a part of. And, we have a 16 month old daughter which isn't an easy thing to photograph. Here are some of my favorites:

Acceptance

I woke up the other morning with a sense of acceptance. I am a working mom. For a long time, I have felt the need that I needed to pick between one or the other; investing my time mainly in my career or my daughter. Why not both? So, this blog will be dedicated to my everyday and extraordinary life events, as a mom and as a worker.

It's Been A While

Wow. I didn't realize how long it has really been since I blogged. It has been a LONG time. For my avid readers, I am still a "silent observer" on your blogs and haven't missed a thing! Let me take the time to catch you up.

I am in a period of discovery. Discovering being a wife, a mom, a friend and worker and me. I am also starting to discover faith again (we found this awesome church that we love, Salford Mennonite Church) which helps.

Lately, Scott and I have been going for mini hikes with June on the Perkeominville Trail. There is something about being with nature that is calming. We have never gone for a hike and come home stressed. Normally, we stop at the Double Dipper Deli for some Leiby's ice cream. It is AMAZING!! My favorite flavors are Almond Joy and Milky Way. I would post of picture of how cute June looks when Scott carries her in her thing, but I don't have any. Next time we go, I'll take a pic.

I'm trying to enjoy life more and not be so stressed out. Some things I'm doing to enjoy life are taking time to journal, getting more sleep, going in the hot tub more, taking time for myself throughout the week, not doing something if I don't feel like it (i.e. the dishes), having a no list day, identifying with the positive things about myself instead of the negative, exercising, going for walks, eating ice cream, being honest with my emotions and admitting I'm not perfect. I'm liking the progress so far! I really feel like I'm getting to enjoy life more.

June is almost crawling. I can't believe it. She is 8 months. Her is a pic for your enjoyment.



That is all for now. I don't want to bore you with too many updates. I will try to be better about writing.

June Updates

Okay, here is your typical mom post, but I had to do it. Here are the top ten things that make me smile when I think of June.

1. If you stick your tongue at her and make a noise, she will do it back.

2. She sometimes chokes while I'm feeding her breast milk and when she coughs, she farts at the same time.

3. She constantly eats her hand like it is the best tasting thing in the world.



4. She likes to be naked. Whenever she has her clothes off she laughs and smiles and absolutely LOVES it. As soon as you go to put her clothes back on, she starts to cry.

5. One of her many nick names is "Bam Bam" because she raises her legs and smacks them against the ground over and over and over again.

6. When she looked at Spike and finally discovered he was "different" and started laughing at him.

7. When she knows Scott is home, but he hasn't come over to her yet, it doesn't matter what she is doing, she stops and stares at him until he looks over at her and then she just smiles.



8. When I go to pick her up from her crib in the morning, she gives me this great big smile... there is nothing like it.

9. Right before she goes to bed at night, she gets really giddy. I tickle under her chin or her stomach and she lets out this deep belly laugh that just makes me laugh.

10. Whenever she is next to Tov (my friend Sarah's baby), they hold hands and poke at each other. It is SOOOOOOO cute!

In Scott's Absence

Some of you know, some of you may not know, that my husband has been in India since January 21st. It has been a week from today since he left and I'm looking forward to his return on Sunday morning. When you are alone in your house, you are left to think more than normal (or am I the only one that feels this way?). Here is what I discovered so far during Scott's absence...

• I miss him when he's gone
• It sucks not having someone to share your deep thoughts with
• I have awesome friends (someone has brought me meals every night while he has been away AND my friend Jess and my friend Bekah stayed overnight to help with June)
• I discovered more about myself... that I like to journal and exercise
• I feel guilty about taking time for myself (one of the things I discovered while journaling)
• I got A LOT done, like finally taking the air conditioner out of our bedroom window
• Being a "single parent" is exhausting!
• I love my new job at Lacher & Associates
• I uploaded pictures and videos of June on facebook
  

• Texting is not a substantial way to have a conversation
• June grows up everyday
• I'm grateful for my mom and Lois
• Even when it is just you, your house gets messy really quick!

My other obsession

So, while I'm confessing things, I will confess that I LOVE the "Ellen" show. I DVR it everyday and then watch it sometime when June needs to eat (sorry, I don't know if that is too much information for you or not). She literally makes me laugh every day. I wish I had that sort of humor. My humor is always sarcastic, which can be super funny at times and not so much at other times. I need to craft using my sarcastic humor at the appropriate time.

But, Ellen, she can just look at you and make you laugh. Here are things I like about the Ellen show (in no particular order).

- Ellen
- The way Tony laughs when Ellen shows a photoshopped picture of him (like this one)
- Andy and how he always wears obscenely short shorts
- Bad Paid for Photos
- Showcasing her audiences' talents
- Her various other segments like "Mystery Word" or "Word of Mystery" (Ellen thinks they are the same thing, but Andy insists they are not)
- How she brings out big burly guys to model the pink Breast Cancer awareness tank top
- How she gives things away on every show to her audience members
- How she twitters and makes people do ridiculous things. You can follow her by clicking here
- How she now joined "Birddi", the Spanish version of Twitter
- Jeannie
- How she has her guests do fun things like play games or dance like the following



- The fact that she dances at the beginning of every show and says "I send all my love right back at you"
- The 80's video dating guys



- How she calls people at random to surprises them
- How she gives money away via the cash clunker or the golddigger
- The the music she plays is pretty much always either pop or hip hop and makes me want to dance too
- How she reads the letters from her fans and somehow turns it into something funny
- The Shake Weight (no other explanation is needed if you have seen the show)
- The dunk tank for Breast Cancer awareness month

By now, you are thinking "this girl is crazy"! And, you may be right, but I had to give my other favorite show some props since I gave Glee its props on my last blog.

I would love to one day go to the Ellen Show. My friend, Bekah, is going to go the week of the "New Moon" premier when she will be in LA. She is going to go when Rob Pattinson is on the show. However, I am more jealous that she is going to the Ellen Show than the fact that she will see Rob Pattinson, and that says a lot from someone who loves the Twilight Series.

Moral of this blog, if you haven't watched the Ellen Show, do at least once and I guarantee you will be in a better mood after the show than you were before.

This is my confession

Many of you know me well, but if you don't know that I'm a fan of hip hop, then you don't really know me. I was reminded of this tonight while watching Glee. For those of you who haven't seen the show, it is about some high school peeps who start a glee club. Sounds cheesy, but SUPER entertaining. I absolutely love the show. Anyway, I love it even more because every week they somehow incorporate a hip hop song.

True story, while trying to get June out on "Operation Junebug Night" with a few of my friends, we were watching Glee. They started to sing "Take a Bow" from Rhianna and I of course starting singing along. All at once, my friends looked at me with shock. Not understanding I said, "you mean to tell me you never heard this song?" I knew then I was alone in my love for hip hop (because Jess Stevens wasn't there, if she was, she would have been singing too).

But tonight was the awesomist of them all. They sang what they called "mash ups" where they combine two songs into one. All I know is they somehow combined Ushers' "Confessions" and Beyonce's "Halo" with 80's pop songs.



It tugged on my heart strings because not only do I love hip hop, but also knew the 80's pop songs.

Thanks Glee for making me feel normal for liking hip hop and for making is so darn entertaining to watch.

June's First Outing in Philly

On Saturday, June took her first of many trips to Philly. Scott was doing an event at Greensgrow Farmers Market, so we went to visit him. When we were there, we ran into Ryan and Laura and ended up spending the rest of the day hanging out with them. We got two dozen free oysters from the farmers market and broiled them on the halfshell. Normally, I don't like oysters. But, these were AMAZING! We used champagne vinegar, shallots, parsley and butter. Otherwise known as yummy.

After that, we went to the "fall festival" in Philly. Which, ended up being like a frat, keg party on the streets. So, we just got some gelato an left. I had Thai Soy and Chocolate Banana. I love Capogiro.

It was a great day and June loved it. She slept so well that night, it was amazing. More outings to come!

Neglect

Dear Blog,

I have neglected you. Please accept this as my sincere apology for not paying any attention to you over the past couple of weeks. I mean, it wasn't like I had a baby or anything.



Even if I did, it is still no excuse for putting you off for so long. This is my vow to you and all of my blog readers (prob about 5 people), that I promise to post more and no longer neglect my blog duties. Soon, I will tell you all about June's birth, how tired I am, her first couple of weeks, how tired I am, how she poops all the time, and did I mention how tired I am?

Here is to mommy blogging instead of pregnancy blogging. Be prepared.

June's Room

I recently submitted some "nursery ideas" to Munchkin for mom bloggers. Here are my thoughts and some pics from June's room :)

Choose a feeling....
We wanted the nursery to have a peaceful/imaginative feel to it. So, we designed it based upon what we wanted people to feel when they walked into the nursery. A peaceful feeling normally comes through atmosphere or colors... so we choose light blue, white, grey, green and chocolate (I know, not a typical girl room). Our daughter's name is June Alice. June is my mom's middle name and Alice was my husband's grammy's name. We love Alice in Wonderland as well, and chose that as our imaginative theme with paintings on the wall. The idea was that there is another world beyond the walls of her room that peaks through and hopefully invokes curiosity. However, we purposefully painted scenes from Alice in Wonderland that went outside the circles in order to let her know it is okay to think beyond what you see. We left some circles blank so she can fill them in too!




Make it personal....
There are a lot of things in the room that make it personal to us, and hopefully to her. The first is a crewel that my belated great aunt stitched.



It symbolizes the importance of family. Another thing that symbolizes family, and also fun, is the table and chairs that are in her room. They were made from the last walnut tree on my grandparents' farm and used to be mine when I was little. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did. The little pink bear in her crib was given to her by her Mawma.



The rocker/glider was used for my two nieces. I love the sense of knowing that love was shared already in the rocker and will continue to be shared with June. The saying on the wall is a quote from Alice in Wonderland that can be applied to life. It says, "begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end. then stop."



Lastly, we love our friend, Sam's artwork. So, we hung our favorite painting of hers in the room and solicited her help with the paintings on the wall. She drew everything and I helped by filling in the pictures. So, there is a sense of a "community effort" to her room, and community is important to us.




Be creative and like it....
The last thing I would say is be creative in what you do and, ultimately, like it yourself. We have a more modern taste, but we were able to incorporate older things into the room to make it personal. Unlike a lot of people I know, we didn't want a lot of pink or purple in her room, so we didn't use it. Just go with things that you like. But, you have to be creative because It is hard to find things. Babies R Us and other baby stores don't have a lot of choices for things. I would just say look around. We went to Ikea for her furniture and she will be able to use it for a while, where some baby furniture only fits with the kid for several years. The crib we got at Target. The bedding is Dwell Studio, but we found it on eBay for 50% off. And, the mobile is handmade from Design Public.





We are excited for June to be in her nursery (she was due on 9/9, but is still enjoying being in my belly). Hope this is helpful for those that are thinking about their little one on the way.

Amusement

I haven't posted for a while, so I felt the need to post today. I had a doctor's apt yesterday and there was no change since last week. I had to admit, I was a little depressed. No change!! I have had contractions for several days and I thought for sure something would take place. So, now I'm just waiting.

In the waiting period, here are some funny things to amuse you about my pregnancy...

- I have a huge pillow that I sleep with that if you would ever see me you would think I look ridiculous
- I have craved fruit
- I get up about 4 times a night to pee
- I eat pretzels in my sleep by my bed
- My dreams are crazy
- I had no stretch marks until my 9 month (damn those stretch marks)
- My friends are fascinated with my boobs
- I have gained 32 pounds so far
- I can no longer see my feet
- I am type A and had everything ready for June at least 4 weeks ago
- I took labor and delivery classes with my husband that were kind of a joke. In fact, we fought on several occasions about whether or not to continue taking the classes
- I am nervous to breastfeed
- I got eczema on my scalp and had to use Head and Shoulders for a couple of months (I always thought that people who used that shampoo were somehow "dirty" people, like they could prevent themselves not having to use it... and here, it was the only thing that worked. I can no longer judge because I do not consider myself a "dirty" person)
- I have rubbed my belly with cocoa lotion since the day I found out I was pregnant and still got those stretch marks, so don't know if it helps or not
- I have loved not having my period for 9 months and am not looking forward to the after birth in regards to that realm
- I am excited and nervous all at the same time to be a mom

One month cooking

Today, my friend Sarah, Scott and myself cooked meals for a month. We started at 10am and ended at 2pm.

First, we prepped everything (mainly chopping all the ingredients).

Then, we assembled the recipes.

























Now, and now we don't have to cook for a whole month! I'm so excited. The recipes look so good and it was such a fun day. Although, Sarah and I (and I think Scott too) were tired by the end. This was evident in the fact that I took a two hour nap afterward :)

The best gelato ever...

So, last night Scott took me to the city for my birthday. We went to this great Thai/Laos restaurant in South Philly called Cafe de Laos. The apps were okay, but the entrees were great! I had a curry dish and Scott had Pad Thai. Of course I could only eat a little because my stomach is so flat at this point. But, I did leave room for dessert!!!

After taking a brief walk in Rittenhouse Square, we went to Capogiro Gelato Artisans. I had the Macadamian nut and Italian chocolate chip. It was so good. I think I could have eaten the whole stainless steal container out of it that they had it stored in. Highly recommend it.

Thanks Scott for such a fun date!

When I feel free

I was driving in the car today. I had my cool shades on, the windows down and was listening to "The Killers." Sometimes, when the weather is nice and I'm in my car listening to music, feeling the breeze, I feel a sense of freedom. Like somehow, in the short time while I'm driving, my troubles are forgotten and I'm in my own little world.

Forgetfulness

Did I ever tell you about the time I forgot my dad's birthday? My birthday is coming up on Friday and of course my dad would never forget something like that. But, me on the other hand, is a different story. This past year, my dad turned 60. You would think that I would remember such a grandiose occasion. However, the day came and went and I completely forgot. I woke up the next morning, turned off my alarm on my cell phone and saw the date. I repeated the date in my head thinking, what did I miss? Then, all of the sudden it dawned on me... I just forgot my dad's 60th birthday... oh shit.

I of course called immediately, apologized and tried to not feel like a complete loser daughter. I still feel awful to this day, but at least I can laugh about it now. Am I the only one that has ever done something this lame?

I am that pregnant woman

Last night on my way to my friend Bekah's house, I felt hungry. Which, at this stage of pregnancy is sort of rare since your stomach is squashed flat. When inquiring as to whether or not Bekah had any "snacks" at her house, the apples and cheese I got in response didn't quite cut the hunger urge (although, they were VERY yummy Bek). So, I stopped at WAWA on my way to her house.

When debating on what to get, I craved a doughnut (keep in mind it is about 9:00 at night). So, I was that pregnant woman. I walked into the WAWA and purchased my doughnut. I got stares from the teeny-boppers giving money to their of age friend to get them cigs and I even got a "you are only getting a doughnut?" from the cashier. I was the quintessential pregnant woman fitting into all the stereotypes. And, you know what... I didn't care. I paid for my prize and enjoyed my glazed doughnut with vanilla cream all the way to Bekah's house.

Who thought this was a good idea?

So, on Saturday, I went with my girlfriends out to eat at this new Mexican restaurant in Montgomeryville. If you are familiar with the area, which there is a good chance that you may not be, Montgomeryville does not have very good restaurants. It is like a tease. We think you may like this one, but oh, not very good. However, Salsas was good! Especially for a Mexican restaurant. I heard the margaritas weren't that great, but at least the food was good. So, Salsas... good idea. What followed... not so good idea.

We decided to go bowling. Now, normally I really like bowling. In fact, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was in a bowling league when I was little (sadly, I bowled better when I was 7 than when I was 27... I even used the fan thingy on the end of the ball return).

However bowling + 38 weeks pregnant = sore. Don't get me wrong, I had fun with my friends, but think I overdid myself a bit. I should have stopped at the first game, but felt the need to get more strikes. Somehow, it makes you feel good about yourself when you get a strike, like you accomplished something grand in a short amount of time with a fun pink shiny ball. When do you ever get that feeling besides bowling strikes?

So, I continued and paid for it later. How did I think it was a good idea?

For your amusement, here is me bowling at 38 weeks prego...