1 of 30 books

I recently made a 30 before 30 list on my blog. One of the things on my blog was to read 30 books, which is a huge deal for me. I love reading, I just don't make it a priority to find time to do it. I have no idea if I'll make it to my list of 30 books in the next 4 years, but I figured I'd better start now.. If my calculations are right, I can be successful at this task, if I can read at least one book a month. ( and finish early) Sounds, easy, right? ... We'll see. I might need your encouragement along the way.

The first book I'm starting with is called "Under Wildwood" by Colin Meloy, of the Decemberists. It's a children's novel. "Under Wildwood" is actually the sequal to "Wildwood", which I read earlier in the year. (the most recent book I read) That's why I wanted to start off my list with "Under Wildwood". 

I love the illustrations in this book as well. Our Library had "Under Wildwood" on CD, so you better believe I take advantage of that as well. Let's get real, there's no way I could actually READ 30 books in 4 years. Not without the help of audio books. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I love the illustrations so much, though, that I find myself going back after listening to a few chapters to see the art from the book, and if I find myself an extra hour or so, here and there, I can pick up the book and actually read. It's not cheating because I made up the rules. :) See? 

I've really enjoyed reading this book. I love being swept away to magical places, where foxes and pigs and owls stand upright and speak, and there's always an adventure taking place. Wildwood is actually located right outside of Portland, Oregon.. I don't know if you knew that. ;) If you haven't read this duo, you really need to put it on your list. I don't want to give too much away, since I'm talking about the sequel here, and not the first book... 

While you're reading, check out my list of books to read... Have you read any of them, or particularly recommend anything for my next read? I've got some variety in there so I want to keep them pretty well mixed. 

Insta-birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I've been trying to document via Instagram without overloading it, so some of these may be a bit of a repeat for any of you that follow me there, but I did try to go easy, so some are stolen photos from friends' instagrams. Let me tell you about my day!


Sunday, we went to celebrate my birthday with my family. (Which, if you don't know me, this is my favorite thing to do) Any reason for celebration and we get together for a cookout. Yesterday was the best, just getting to spend it with all the people I love and care about most. We played volleyball, and basketball, and shuffleboard. We ate, we teased, we loved. We ate cake. It was a pretty perfect day.

1. My sweet momma playing volleyball with Fern. <<<>>> 2. An innocent family game of volleyball including Fern.

For those of you who don't know, T's car is seriously jacked up. I don't like for him to drive it ever, at all, but we still have it in case of emergency. We're in the process of finding more reliable transportation, but until then, we stick to sharing my car. Which unfortunately for me, means that Fern and I are stuck at home all week during the day while he's at work. Today was a special treat, because T insisted on risking his life so that I could have the car for my birthday, which was a birthday blessing in itself. I took Fern to panera bread (She's a big fan of the strawberry parfait) and then we spent the rest of the morning at the Library until naptime. This girl was hilariously entertaining all day.

1.I love our Library, so much. It has the neatest kids center. 2. I wish you could see how incredibly crossed her eyes are.

After using our mobile afternoon to run some much needed errands, and a second nap for the day, T came home from work. Earlier last week he had asked if he could take me out to birthday dinner while his mom watched Fern for us. He wanted to take me to a little place in the Paseo called Sauced before dinner, he said, because the weather was so nice. We could sit out on the patio and have a glass of wine before dinner. You don't have to ask me twice. Little did I know that this little sneak had gone behind my back texting and sending messages to all of my friends! As we walked around the corner, they all yelled "SURPRISE!!!" and sang me happy birthday! I never suspected a thing! I still can't believe it.

1.Fern being super cute with gma. 2. Meanwhile, my friends are scaring the pants off of me. Apparently this is my surprised face. I should work on that.

We ended up staying at Sauced to eat and celebrate with all of our friends from every circle. My sisters were even there! Work friends, My oldest friends, my friends I've made through my relationship with Tristan. (They were his friends first, but I claim them too, now.) My maid of honor, Tristan's brother, and his wife. ... I mean.. gosh. I never would've imagined everybody all there at one place together like that. It was so great! We ate pizza, and talked, and had wine (of course) There were PRESENTS! .... man. I'm such a lucky girl.

1. Showing off my fancy earrings that Marek (pictured) and Casey got me. 2. Some of my oldest most dear friends. <3

We ended the beautiful evening by heading to Whiskey Cake, a new restaurant around here that is MY NEW FAVE. It had been where we planned to have dinner, but after the night we had, we just finished up there with a specialty cocktail and [obviously] a piece of the whiskey cake.. mind blowing.My cocktail was called "Tracy's garden". It was made with New amsterdam gin, cucumber, local basil and lime. So tasty.  Unfortunately It was late, and the lighting was poor, so I didn't get many photos. Which is very sad, because this place is charming. I guarantee we'll go back again, though. If you're a local Okie, you've just gotta go check it out. They use all local farmers for their food and drinks. They grow their own herbs, and there's a couch to lounge on around every corner.

ahh. The end to a perfect birthday.

also. In case you didn't notice ( and you probably didn't), but, a sweet sweet friend of mine bought me a legitimate url for my blogsite. I feel so official now. What a great birthday gift! Thank you sweet Tillie!
What a blessing, and huge surprise! Showering me with gifts all the way across the sea.

engagement.

I love engagement photos I decided. I've partaken in a few photo shoots in my time, and I have to say, I'm not into them. I can't pose for anything. I am awkward. I panic. I think too much. The second that camera is aiming at me, My body automatically rejects it and does the most embarrassing response it can think of, as if to reject the inevitable. I was not looking forward to engagement pictures. Somehow, be it the great guidance of the ever sweet Hibben Photography, or that I was with T and he was calm and collected as always, somehow, someway they turned out pretty fantastic. I'm now a fan of engagement shoots. Here are a few of my favorites.

 

He's so cute. 

I'm gonna marry him. 

Brickyard Buffalo

Hi friends! I'm letting you all in on a little secret a little early.. since we're blog friends, and all.This Thursday, June 20th, my storm cloud mobile will be on Brickyard Buffalo for 40% off! That's big savings people. There are only 20 available for this price, so if you want to get in on these big savings, you should rush right over, first thing. It makes a lovely baby shower gift. Spread the word! :)

Even if you're not in the market for a baby mobile, you should really check out Brickyard Buffalo. They have the sweetest items on sale. They have great stuff for mom, and baby... and sister, and friend, etc etc. Always at a discounted price. Subscribe to their emails and you can get weekly updates on what's new in the shop. (and there's always something new)

<<<>>> This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. <<<>>>

also-
Google Friend Connect will soon be no more, so for those of you following via GFC, you should hop on over to Bloglovin'. It's much more organized, and well worth your time. You can follow me there by clicking the button to the left. 

50 years

We usually get together for every big holiday and have a big cookout together. This year, instead of gathering on Father's Day, we got together the day before. Not to celebrate Father's Day, but to celebrate these two: My Grandma and Grandpa. We celebrated 50 years of marriage this weekend. What a blessing.

 These two have set so many examples for our family over the years, one being their example of commitment in marriage. Not to mention, grace, love, happiness... The list goes on. 

My grandmas laugh will forever be etched in my heart. Her gardening skills are something I aspire to. I remember being a bratty pre-teen and blowing up at her over nothing, probably, because I can't remember what it was. I remember how she responded with patience and a calm voice. I remember my fumes melting away and at that very moment she had instilled this desire to be more like her. She taught me so much growing up. She let me talk to her about anything and I found myself seeking out her wisdom very often. 

My grandfather, a retired head of security, and before that, undercover narcotics policeman, apparently melted his stone cold facade after grandchildren came along. His animated stories and ridiculous ongoing vendetta with AT&T and the phones he'll never know how to work, have us grand kids visiting his shop constantly. Always a project to work on, but never too busy to take a break to teach us a chord or two of a Johnny Cash song on guitar. This man is always available to us. Whether its to pull our new boyfriends' car out of the snow, or to dig out a new volleyball court for the backyard, or to pack up all of our belongings on his trailer and move us to a new house.... Again, and again, and again. 

As kids, our summers and spring breaks were filled with camping trips to the lake, Dollywood, or up the east coast to see war memorials. These two bravely packed up all the grand kids, swallowing their pride and eating meal after meal at McDonald's... Listening for hours to Ray Stevens cassette tapes. On repeat. 

They've been setting an example together of what I want my family to look like, all of my life. I never even realized it until I started building this family of my own. I'm so thankful for their presence in our lives. Together they've taught me about life together, family, love, patience, humor, the love of The Lord, and so much more. My picture of a full life would be so different without them. 

Happy Anniversary to my grandparents. Truly the best couple I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. 

Learning to count with Mr. Darcy and the like...

I've been collecting these sweet BabyLit color and counting primers by Jennifer Adams for a while now, and I think it's safe to say I'm obsessed.. I hope Fern loves them as much as I do. What better way to learn your colors and how to count than with some of the literary classics? (not to mention the art throughout is adorable.) I hope Fern realizes what a cool mom I am. ;)

  

"I have as much soul as you- and full as much heart." -Jane Eyre 

"Pride and Prejudice"

I can't wait to add "Moby Dick" , "Sense and Sensibility", and "Wuthering Heights" to our collection! 

Neat and Tidy.

As my Myers-Briggs test concludes, I am an INFJ. Part of my profile says "INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk."

Spot on. I need lists to survive. I live off of a daily budget. All of my affairs are in order, and I have a journal type book dedicated to every part of my life. ie: budget, calendar, customers, wedding, etc etc.  It goes on and on. My bedroom on the other hand is a complete mess. Not dirty... just messy. My desktop... same. So I did some "spring cleaning" today and it feels so fresh, I just wanted to post it. 

before

after

Impressive, yes? My new desktop image is by Christina of Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe.  You can download it for free here. She also offers desktop calendars that are too cute. 

Thanks Christina for inspiring my big cleanup! It was (obviously) so needed!

june favorite find// Father's Day Edition

I'm changing up some things with my favorites segment. Instead of featuring one shoppe, I want to feature my favorite finds in etsy for the month. I just really want to share all of my favorites. I have too many to just do one a month. 

Since Father's Day is this month, I wanted to share some of my favorite Father's Day Finds from Etsy:

1. Father's Day Card by Ginger Pdesigns 2. Fox Ties by Scatterbrain Ties
3.Monogramed Hankie by Miniature Rhino 4. Skinny Tie Clip by Bird of Virtue
5.Wooden Sunglasses by Tumbleweeds Handcraft 6. "My Moon My Man" Tee by Blackbird Tees

Happy Father's Day!

Celebrations.

I just wanted to document something from Fern's birthday party. I know I've posted a sappy entry about her turning one, and then the last post was one year photos, but I haven't documented the party yet. Terribly sorry if this is a Fern birthday overload, but I just gotta.

The day before her party was a terrible day, weather-wise. (more) Tornadoes, and insane flooding. I just knew her party would be off. Despite the day before, a flooded basement at our party host's house, and my most pessimistic predictions, it was an amazing day. It was so beautiful out! The sun was shining, It was a gorgeous high 70-something degrees outside. It was perfect. 

All of our friends and family came, including grandparents who don't remember our names, grandparents who insist on taking back roads all the way to the city, and sweet friends who traveled all the way from Arkansas. 

We had a splash pad for the little ones, which was a huge hit with little Judah. I made treats and had a fancy little setup and we just entertained each other with good old fashioned mingling. Fern had a mountain of presents, which everyone wanted to see us open. Fern abandoned us for the splash pad and we had to awkwardly open all of her little tikes presents by ourselves in front of our mass crowd of guests..  like I said...awkward. 

It was such a good day. So many memories. I was actually so busy being mom that I didn't take one single picture! Can you believe it??! Mom fail. Last week I contacted everybody and got a pretty great compilation of photos from them to share with you. I'm so lucky to have so many people surrounding us who love her as much as they do. She's one lucky girl. We're one lucky family.

Hibben Photography// Fern's one year photoshoot.

I'd love to show off a few of the photos we got from Hibben Photography for Fern's 1 year photoshoot. I can't believe how big my baby is.

I got to look at the collection of these photos on Mothers Day and it really tugged at my heartstrings. I'm one big sentimental ball of emotion. Somebody hand me a hankie.

One Fantastic Year.

Do you know what a hard thing to do is? A hard thing to do is to start writing about all the joy and happy moments you've had in the past year; the first year of your baby's life. How do you start to express all the feelings you've felt in the past year in one measly blog post? I have no idea. Just start writing I suppose.

I can remember when we found out we were having a baby. October 2011. We hadn't planned on her, to say the least. In fact, we were at a point in our relationship where we were really looking closely and examining what our future was suppose to look like. I found out in the tiny bathroom of my Edmond apartment I was living in to pursue a degree, which I hadn't actually gone through with. I cried when I saw that it was positive. I may have cursed some too. I wasn't afraid of a baby, and it was never a question of keeping her. I just didn't know what I would do. I was terrified. How would I take care of this baby? How would I afford her? What would people say? What would my mother say? We weren't married yet. I had just dropped out of college. I worked part time. My (now fiance) was still in school, and working part time at starbucks. We had no savings. no future. no plan. I needed a plan. 

I remember Tristan's first reaction, as I told him through blubbery tears. Calm and collected, as he always is, Smiling widely and simply saying "awesome!". ... what? I remember thinking.. "I'm already a terrible mother!" He hugged me as I cried to him "What are we going to do?".. He told me "We're going to have a baby.".. and the rest is history. 

I remember my pregnancy being long. I remember telling people in the beginning, just waiting to hear the shame in their voices, but it never came. I remember this sweet baby being celebrated from the beginning of her very existence. I remember gathering together with our family and friends to find out the gender. I remember baby showers, sooo many baby showers. This sweet baby girl has always been the most loved child I've ever known... 

...and then she was born, and the love poured out ten fold. 

Somehow, I always felt like something was missing before Fern was born. I never knew what I wanted to do, or who I was, completely. I tried finding my identity in so many things. A piece of the puzzle was always missing. Being a mother has taught me everything about myself, and I'm still learning every day. She's truly completed me. 

She has this joy that overflows from her expressive eyes and smile, and she just radiates this love. From a very young age, it seemed that her mission in life was to make people smile. I'm talking, 3 months old, this girl would do anything to get a giggle out of you. Apart from her insane love for food, and dancing, that's still a number one priority for her. She is goofy, and I love that. She is sweet, and I love that. She is ornery like her father, and I LOVE THAT. She takes her time when she's exploring, she's careful and methodical. She's determined, and most of the time, she's on her own agenda. She has these eyes. These eyes that everybody comments on every time we go anywhere. She's beautiful. She's smart. She loves cuddling with her bunny and she gets so excited when any of the dogs pay attention to her. She is crazy about her dad. Those two could play together for hours and if all I ever did was watch them, my life would be so full. 

This past year of her life has been the absolute best year of mine. I ache to see her baby pictures and remember when she was small, but I'm SO excited to watch her grow and discover new things, and become the person God has designed her to be. 

Lord, let her love hard. Guide us in teaching her sympathy, empathy, trust, and honor. Shape her heart, and use her gifts, and personality. Use her stubbornness to never give up. Use her sweet heart and courage to love people, and stand up for people who aren't being loved. Use her determination to take her places, and give her life fullness. Bless her with the ability to reason and feel, and not take people for granted. Give her boldness to communicate. Give her trials in her life that won't break her, but bless her with other perspectives. Give her trials that will shape her into a more loving and gracious person. Give her a heart for mission. If her heart continues to crave exploration, protect her as she travels. Bless the man she marries with a compassionate heart, and a lot of patience. Let her be exactly who you've designed her to be, and teach us how to plant and grow that in her. .... oh, and please be with her as her beauty grows. I pray that she learns not to use it for evil. It'll be easy for her to do. Those eyes. gah.