The Pregnancy Diary

I always thought I'd be one of those ladies who document their pregnancy with weekly pictures tracking growth and symptoms, either standing in the same spot with the same shirt, or maybe holding the fruit coordinating with the size of the baby. But that just never happened. I think having 3 pregnancies that didn't reach their second trimesters kinda took the wind out of my sails so to speak. When we found out we were pregnant the first time, we staged a cute little picture to send to everyone as an announcement, only to have to give the bad news just a few days later. After that, people just received normal texts, and I think this last time I even forgot to tell a couple people who surely should have been on the list!

 With this pregnancy even after the weeks passed and the baby stayed safe, I was honestly too sick to worry about snapping a weekly picture. The business of morning sickness (which I'm sure everyone knows by now does not limit itself to the morning) is quite an experience, and hard to explain unless you've dealt with it yourself. I have a dear friend who is right in the midst of it's clutches right now, and she texted me recently and said please tell me this does end! While I haven't forgotten about it, looking back it's all kinda fuzzy and makes me feel like it couldn't have been so bad - so I guess the good news is the awful feelings do fade and aren't as vivid as you always feel like will be. In the beginning when I started to feel kinda yucky I almost welcomed the feeling, because it was a new symptom that I hadn't had with my other pregnancies, and it seemed like a good sign. BUT, after a week or so, I was ready to feel well again! My first 16-18 weeks were loooong days of throwing up, or not throwing up but feeling car sick all day, with zero energy, and eating about 1 bite every 2 minutes just to make sure that one wasn't the one that would send you running to the bathroom, which results in you feeling like you are eating all. day. long. just to sustain yourself. Thank God for a patient husband who would bring me a protein shake first thing, and then come home from work and ask what he could do for me. We also were so blessed with friends and family bringing us meals through out those weeks. Slowly the days came when I didn't have to hold my breath when I opened the fridge, when I felt up to going to the grocery store, when I didn't have to hide in the kitchen at church until my stomach settled down, and when I finally felt up to visiting with friends for an hour or two.

Back tracking a little to "beginning", right after finding out I was pregnant our midwife began drawing my blood weekly to closely track my Progesterone and HCG levels. She also had me begin taking Progesterone immediately. The second week of blood work showed that my Progesterone was borderline lower than it should be, so we upped the dose, and the weeks to follow it leveled out to mid-range, praise the Lord! Of course the ideal situation is your body functioning properly + not needing anything extra to sustain a healthy pregnancy, but I am so thankful that a dedicated midwife and 4 pills a day (and possibly some extra pukiness) were able to give me the aid I needed! Around 12 weeks we started cutting back on the dose, until eventually I wasn't taking any and my numbers still looked good. I am curious to see how future pregnancies compare, if this will be an issue I will always face, or if my system will straight itself out and rise to the challenge all on it's own. :)

Excluding the morning sickness weeks, I'd say pregnancy has gone well! I felt like I played the "pregnant or fat" game for quite awhile (I guess due to a long torso?) but there isn't any hiding it now! I usually have a nap when there is one available for the taking (but I did that pre-pregnant too ;)), I potty about 849382 times a day #imgoodathydrating, I can't paint my toenails anymore (but that's a recent thing), and heartburn is a vicious animal when I don't have calcium on hand (but I'm believing for a HAIRY baby!!). That may look like a list of complaints, but it's more facts, and those facts can be pretty easily dealt with when you think of the end result. You really do give up your body when you are pregnant, and some routines/comforts you may be used to. Summer activities this year have been different for me (read: I don't get to participate), ultimate frisbee at campfires, slip'n'slide dodge ball at the family reunion, even laying on my tummy to tan my back. Those things just aren't happenin. While I do looooove those sports and being active, I wouldn't change my situation for the world. I consider being pregnant and carrying our child a huge privilege. Plus, what's 9 months in the grand scheme of things? I'd be pretty selfish to not wanna set aside some of my silly desires for that short length of time. There's always next summer...plus I'll have a little tiny cheerleader then. :)

I'm sure it would have been better to have done a post by month, or even trimester, but since I'm nearing the end now I thought I'd just compile my (scattered) thoughts into one. In 5 short weeks this pregnancy will (most likely) be behind me, and all my focus will be on the sweetest tiny human and all the things he/she will be doing! I promise I'll do more than just one post about that in the future ;)

10 weeks

15 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

23 weeks

27 weeks

29 weeks

32 weeks

34 weeks

Mental Blogger

A few weeks ago a friend (and blogger) asked me if I had been blogging lately.  If you mean lately like December, than yea! Ha...no. I actually responded that I've been "mentally blogging", but that's about as far as it gets. Why it seems so hard to actually sit down and begin a post, I couldn't tell ya. But I've been in a slump that I'm trying to break!

The whole mental blogger thing is pretty legit though. As in, I find myself regularly drafting posts in my head. I think at this point it's hard to know where to start...do I go back and try to catch up on the last 7 months, or just dive in as if I just posted last week? I think I've hashed this out on the blog before after skipping a month or so. And unfortunately I still don't know the answer...shoot!

I guess we'll call this a slight re-cap. January 4th we found out we were pregnant. It explained my dependency on naps as of late, plus a couple other things. I would like to tell you that it was all tears of joy, bubbling excitement and the whole nine right from the beginning, but honestly that didn't come till a day or two later. My immediate reaction was FEAR. My track record for keeping babies was awful, and having just experienced the sting of death a couple months prior I didn't feel up to the task of facing another devastating disappointment. I remember it was a Sunday...and I was a bit of a mess at church just trying to keep it together but inside I was crying out to God to pleeeeease help me through this, and to take away the fear I was feeling. in the next 24 hours I just kept praying against fear and for strength to face whatever would happen, and of course well-being for the tiny life growing inside. It wasn't long until the fear subsided, and I felt peace about the situation. And extreme excitement, of course.

The next few months that followed included bloodwork every week to track my Progesterone & HCG levels, and morning sickness. Actually, all day sickness. The first little while of that was actually somewhat welcomed since it was a symptom I hadn't experienced with the other pregnancies, and so it felt positive...but you only enjoy that type of thing for a VERY short amount of time. Unfortunately I didn't escape that until week 16-18, I can't remember exactly. You'd think I would have had all the time in the world to blog during those loooooong days, but I really didn't do much but exist...or try to. :) I think it's hard to explain what it's really like unless you've experienced it.

Thankfully after I got over that, it's been really smooth sailing since! I'm sure the spring coming and then summer close on it's heels helped. We made a trip to NC to attend a precious wedding and visit family/friends, my mom visited us in June for a fun week of this&that, and we had a little Stoltzfus family weekend on the lake a few weeks ago.  On the horizon are two family reunions before baby comes, so time is just flying! These days I am trying to keep up with the mowing, hair clients, and naps. I just love a good nap. :)

We are about 7.5 weeks away from our due date...that really isn't long! It will be so surreal to have this little kicker with us "on the outside"...I can't wait. There are some things I'd like to get done around the house before that happens, but if not, it certainly won't be the end of the world. Our life isn't going to come to a screeching halt, it's only going to get sweeter!

Here's to hoping this becomes a regular occurrence now that I've jumped back in...I'm sure I will treasure these words/memories in years to come! So if future Patty can convince now Patty to just get with it, that would be great!

Now I'm gonna go YouTube how to clean a shower properly/efficiently, cause I need pointers!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

(Tiny Stoltzfus - 8 months inside)

When Heaven got closer

I blew the dust off my keyboard, awkwardly clicked on the "Blogger" tab that is no longer familiar, and here I am. I wish I could say "no news is good news", but that is not the case.  Not blogging seems to be the easy way out for me when times get tough (as I think I've mentioned before). My hiatus started when I was having trouble "choosing joy" and embracing the moment of life that I am/was currently in. As I mentioned in this post, writing seems to bring that discontentment/pain to life. But hind site is 20/20, so now I say maybe if I had persevered writing about it, wrestling the words and thoughts into being on paper, it would have shrunk them down to size and not taken long to get over. Although I am writing about this vaguely in past tense, its a continual journey, for me at least.

I hardly know what to say, I feel like a stranger here. With my blog content being all over the map when I actually do post, I don't even have a "norm" I can fall back into.

Christmas has come and gone, and the New Year is right on our heels.New York wasn't very kind to our Southern visitors that hoped for a white Christmas...I believe on and around Christmas the temperature was consistently upper 40s. I tried not to complain, as I know we will get thrown some awful cold weather before spring appears.  This Christmas was different than we would have expected 3 months ago, as we had to experience it without Michael (Brad's 22 year old brother) returning home for the holidays. Instead, just a couple months prior, he went home to Jesus, and got to experience Christmas in Heaven for the first time. As the tears stream down and the cursor blinks waiting for the keys to continue writing, I'm at such a loss for words. Not writing about this tragic event seems wrong, but I don't know how to go about it. I could give you facts about what happened in those last 5 weeks, but that won't convey the emotions that his family/friends feel when they think about him passing. I could try to explain to you what an exceptional young man for God that he was, but you wouldn't be able to truly understand unless you had actually met + spent time with Michael. If you had gotten a chance to do that, you would remember a guy that made friends so easily, who put 100% into such a variety of activities, who poured into the live's of children around him, and who had decided to take 2+ years of his life to allow Jesus to work through him and make a difference in the lives of many young boys while he was a chief at Fairplay Wilderness Camp.

Losing Michael was the first time I had experienced death so close. I had never (that I remember) attended a viewing or funeral. Even though I have nothing to compare it to, I imagine that his funeral will be the "best" I will ever attend. Although it was one of the hardest things I have experienced, saying an earthly goodbye to a friend/brother-in-law that I cared about so much, the message was full of hope. The verse that was displayed on the program was Job 14:7 "For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease." In my Bible I wrote "This portrays Michael's legacy so well. He has been "cut down", but the roots that he planted in Jesus but also in people and children are not dead...and the shoots will not cease. We miss him but his memory will always live on. Ev- thank you for taking relationships so seriously and pouring into all of our lives. We hurt so bad, but pain comes from love...and we love you so much." There are things about him that I hope to never forget, like his laugh, the way when he was figuring things out he would reason out loud even if it made no sense to anyone else, or just how he could always be counted on to just be MICHAEL.  One thought that is so hard for me is that I will have to try to convey to my future children how much their Uncle Ev would have loved them, and how much they would have loved him, instead of them experiencing it for themselves.  There are songs that will always make me think of him, and I wonder if I will ever listen to them without a tear falling. To be honest, I'm ok with that happening. Although it could be easy to feel "bad" for him and the things that he will "miss out on", ultimately he is right where he would want to be. I'm crying for myself, my husband, our family, friends, basically all of us left behind with this hole that was once filled with such a special person. Through this season I am SO thankful for salvation and the hope in Jesus. I don't know how people walk through death without it.

Heaven has never felt so close for me. It was always a place I've known of, and know that I plan to go there some day, and occasionally that thought could be exciting. But mostly, I was content with it being a future thing. It got a little more real after my miscarriages, knowing that my babies went to be in the arms of Jesus before I could give their sweet little cheeks even one kiss. But now, my brother LIVES there. I want to go! I want to visit him, I want him to show me around. I want to worship Jesus beside him. I know I will see him again one day, and in my mind's eye he'll have three little ones that never stray far from their uncle. Today, that day seems far away.

Winner Winner!

Phew that was a long 2 days! I was dying to know who would win. :) I guess if I was professional I would have used rafflecopter or whatever that is but I just wrote down all the names and had Beard pick one out of a bowl. Fiesta bowl to be exact, I guess that's a little fancier. :) Do you like how I am rambling on...drawing this out...is the suspense killing you??


SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSaaarah E.....COME ON DOWN! :D

Haha...I love that a curly-haired girl won. Think you will "benefit" from this prize girl? ;)

Anyways...thank you all for the kind words on the comments. A few people mentioned tutorials/fashion posts...I guess I will need to get over my fear/dislike of the inadequate pictures I put on here!

I thought to finish out this post I would post a couple of items that, if I were shopping (I'm not, or really really shouldn't be) would probably end up in my cart.

SOURCE

This skirt has been featured on BB a couple of times and I always think it looks lovely. I have a feeling if I would measure it, it probably wouldn't be as long on me as the models, plus maybe pleats wouldn't be great for my shape? But yea. 

SOURCE

This shirt looks so so comfy to me.And I love the semi-muted pattern. 

I don't know if you all are aware of websites like the two above, but you can "subscribe" to them, and they will send you their daily (I think) deals straight to your inbox.  I will warn you, it's a little dangerous. :) Sometimes I get tired of them cluttering up my email, but other times I love looking at what they have to offer. 

SOURCE

I've been eyeing these hats for awhile, my sister-in-law rocks them really well. I love the idea of hats, but I guess sometimes I feel like if I'm home so much I don't end up wearing them much? But anyways, this is fall-ish to me. :)

SOURCE

I love a good beanie. I actually only have one, and it's neff & awesome. I hope to add one (or two) to my closet this year. 

SOURCE

If I wasn't such a tall girl (GIANT, as I've been recently called) and if my husband and I didn't already see eye to eye (hehe) I would totally be a sneaker wedge girl. Not for that price, but a girl can dream. 

SOURCE

I'll end on a scarf. I don't know why, but I think these american flag vintage ones are pretty cool. Not sure if I'd actually wear one, but they are fun to look at. 

That is kind of the story of my life with scarves (some more than others), I always like how they look on other people and even in stores, and have ended up with quuuuite a few of my own. But I find I rarely wear them SO i challenged myself to wear one every day for a week. I'm going to try to wear a different one each day. So far I'm on day 2, and I've actually worn 3 because I had an outfit change yesterday. Wish me luck! 

Big 5-0

Hi...is anybody still there? If so, let me say how patient you are! So here it is...the big fifty post. I had noooooooo intentions of putting this post off for so long, And then it started to feel silly to even give something away that maybe noone wants. Urgh. I should have never let so much time pass. Buuut I dunno. I guess I just let other mind matters take over and they shoved all thoughts of blogging aside. And for that, I apologize.

Mmkay. So, the prize. aaaaaaaaaa JUMBO WAVER of course!!!!! (This is not a sponsered ad, even though I sure as heck wish it was as many as I have bought and given or convinced people to get!)

You can go from this....

To THIS! I know. It's exciting. :) 

First let me apologize for the not-so-great explanatory photos. It's actually really easy and I probably will over-explain it. 

Sometimes I use nothing in my hair and just go for it. If my roots are looking a little oily, I use some dry shampoo (bottle on the right, I don't particularly suggest this one, but it could be worse too) first. 

Again, only if I feel like putting time into it, I sometimes use some type of sea salt spray to help some with  the texture. It works perfectly fine with nothing added also. close at least one eye because more than likely you will mis-spray and get yourself. Not that I speak from experience or anything. 

Sometimes I section my hair and do every little piece. Sometimes I just start on the top layer and wave whatever shows. The picture below shows about what size section to use. 

 The important thing in waving is not to be tugging tight the hair from the root. I'm trying to point at the hair that is slack between the waver and the root. Now flash back to the 90s and the crimper you may have had. It works differently than a flat iron in the sense that you don't pull it down the hair, Instead you clamp and hold and then unclamp and move down. 

Keep the waver clamped for 4ish seconds and then un-clamp and move down so the top barrel will rest where the bottom barrel rested before.  Follow that? Clamp again. Also, I like to use my waver with the barrels on top, and the flat-er parts on the bottom. I suppose you could try both ways and find your preference. 

Again, remember not to pull on the hair as you clamp...that would un-do the wave you just created. Keep clamping and un-clamping until you run out of hair! 

And this should be the end result. Sometimes I spray a bit of hairspray throughout the waves, but I haven't totally decided if I think that helps or not. It took me a couple times of waving for my hands/arms to not feel ackward, but I promise it doesn't take long to get the hang of it.  In my opinion it's much easier than curling my hair, plus I love that it gets wavy to the root. 

  

 This is waved hair.  Gosh how I would love to have it natural like that!

 Also for you long-haired beauties...I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked when my hair was long also! It Alllmost made me not cut my hair. But not quite. :)

So yea. A waver is my give-away. I guess I should have explained that to anyone who might have missed OR actually forgotten since I talked about it so long ago. I decided on my 50th blog post I'd give something away. And I chose a jumbo waver. Depending on who wins, if it's someone that I don't think will...uh...benefit from a waver, I will change the prize. Sound fair? 

Ok...so to enter. Leave a comment, with your email if I may need that to get you your gift. Maybe you could comment suggestions on what you'd like to see differently on this little space (besides more regular posts...trust me I've got the self-criticism covered in that area). Or just say Hi. I'd probably count that as an entry too. :) This will be a chosen at random deal...so nothing like the "best answer wins". Although I wish I could do a virtual dance contest or something...

You have 48 hours. May the odds be ever in your favor. :) 

Oh and of course...thank you for reading. That's really what this give-away is all about...just a little way to show appreciation for joining me on this blogging journey. 

Is It Hard?

I've had some serious blogger's block ya'll. It's not that I didn't have topics to write about-some really good ones actually. It's just I couldn't make myself sit down and write them. I slowly got suspicious that I knew what was in the way.

I didn't want to "get in my own head".

Writing does that, it makes you sort out your thoughts/feelings enough to put the right words together.

I don't think it's uncommon for people (not saying unkind people, I'm talking friends and family) ask the question "Is it hard...". Is it hard for you to hear that so-and-so is pregnant? Is it hard to see so-and-so start dating? Is it hard to know that so-and-so has all of her grown children close by?

This post is just my own feelings, I'm not speaking for others (obviously). But to me, the answer to the pregnancy question is usually always No. Because No, I'm not sad to see my friends pregnant. To me, every single baby is such a huge miracle and I have no hard feelings against that. I love babies, so why wouldn't I want to have people close to me bring more into my life?

If you asked me "Is it hard to know that it will 9 months+ until you will have your own?" or "Is it hard to know that you can do some of your daily activities with ease because your little ones never made it full term?" or "Is it hard to go to yardsales knowing that you don't need any of the adorable baby clothes you see?" or "Is it hard feeling like you should volunteer for more because you have no reason not to?" or "Is it hard feeling un-justified to feeling like you need a nap in the middle of the day because you had no nightly feedings?" then it might be different. While I have no hard feelings against pregnant friends...I have times when I have hard feelings against daily life that under different circumstances would look so different for me right now.

When we go through tough things in life, I feel like good/bad days come in waves. Overall I've felt like God has given me a lot of un-explainable peace through my miscarriages. But I'm not going to say it's always easy. I find that when I go through a lower stage, I want little to nothing to do with blogging, journaling, or anything that would make me "go there". Instead, it's common for me to get suuuuper productive. Paint everything in sight, re-organize something, you get the idea. Not that those are bad ways to spend my time, they are just good distractions.

I guess I don't know what direction this post was suppose to go in exactly, I just know it's been on my heart to write for a couple of days. Maybe just to remind you to not be afraid to share your exciting news with a friend who you know has the same desires. Instead, use the reminder to pray for them where they are and stand with them in trusting God to work out the details of their story.

I will end by saying if any of you have asked me any of these questions, please do not feel bad, or that I am upset by them at all. I always felt like in the past they were hard questions to answer in a way that conveys my feelings truthfully, and now that I've figured that out I wanted to share.

Shop With Me!

I thought doing a typical WYBDW would be a bit repetitive. Let me give you a rundown. I've been painting this week.  Sick of hearing that yet? :) I had a couple of helpers (Thank goodness!!) Monday & Tuesday and we knocked out my Dad's dining room. It's so amazing what a little paint (or a lot, apparently that room is so huge!) will do!

Anyways. Lyndsi & I took a little trip to Rochester (haha...I laugh because trips to Rochester never seem to be little. What I mean is, time just gets sucked up and you can so easily spend the day there before you realize what happened!) We had some clothes to donate after our sale & thought it'd be fun to hit up one of our favorite Salvation Armys on a Wednesday, which for those of you that don't frequent them like I do are their "everything is half off except one tag color" days. Clearly it's preeeetttty awesome. We also made a couple other stops, and I thought Hey! I should let you guys "shop with me" today, as in show you my purchases! I would apologize for the picture quality but yeaaa, you know about that by now. :) Also, excuse any furry body parts that snuck into my pictures...it was easier to let it happen than avoid it.

Salvation Army 

 Jean vest. Of course the week after I make my own, I find a pretty awesome one at Salvo. I decided to still take it home, because the jacket-turned-vest one is a little big, I need to try to take that in. Sooo...I'm accidentally starting a jean vest collection I guess?

Yes. I'm a varsity lacrosse player. any other questions?

THIS FLANNEL SHIRT. I'm so excited about it. I maay have one very similar BUT it's pretty short on me. Here's a secret tip, fellow long-waisted girls. CHECK THE MEN'S SECTION & get a small. Game changer.  Longer sides, longer sleeves. Unlike the XXL or whatever you'd have to get in Hollister or Abercrombie (sad little side story, I had to ask Brad how to spell that word) to tryyyy to get the same fit. Anyways.  Expect to see it on a Patty near you. :) 

Ok. We don't even need to to get into my baby-shoe problem. The only excuse I have is, they were each less than $.50. 

Another great thing which I love. Lyndsi found this + offered it to me...cute little silhouettes in a gold frame...what more can you ask for? I see it in a future nursery!

Haha...I'm such an awesome photographer. I got a valance, 2 square-ish curtains & 2 long curtains. They are the RE target brand, and as neutral as the off-white is, I figured I'll use them for sure! I'm suuuuch a bad curtain shopper. I think I've done it only once. I just feel like they are so expensive, and I never really know what I want. So I end up just "making do", so most of my windows look a little cray. 

Playto's Closet

This is a shirt for Brad. He thinks I buy him clothes sometimes because otherwise I'd feel bad that I bought some for myself. There may be a tiny bit of truth to that, but mostly if I see some that I like and think looks nice, plus if it's for a steal, why wouldn't I get it for him?

THIS. Look how excited my toes are. and Tard's toes. Welcome winter coat 2014 to the family, closet. Again, I have trouble with girl coats sometimes being too short, so for the last few years my go-to winter coat has been a black one I got from Salvo...in the men's department. Are you catching on to my secret? :) I doubt I'll completely retire that one, but it's definitely seen better days. I wasn't totally sure how I felt about these long trech-type coats, but I realized it would fix my "too short" problem. Plus it's in army green, and has fun pockets. Also plus the sleeves were long enough! I actually had been looking at coats similar to this last winter at Forever21, but just couldn't make up my mind. I ended up with a couple jackets from there that I love (thanks to my boo) when Christmas rolled around. I thought this one was from there, but it's from H&M aka the store that we don't have anywhere near us. :/ So for now, she hangs in the closet waiting for her time to shine as the leaves change and our breath gets frosty! Sorry lovely coat, I hope those days are still a long way off!

Target

These are something new I thought I'd try. I have never done anything with fabric softener (which always smells so good!) but I have been using hand-made laundry detergent and it doesn't have much scent. I thought it'd be nice to give my nose something pleasant to sniff while I'm folding laundry.

Lip gloss...a little pigmented, I'm still not totally sure I like it. I put some on in the car after I got out there (try and tell me you don't do that...I won't believe you) but I had lipstick on already so it was hard to tell. I'm just not sure I'm a gloss person, it may be a little sticky for me. But I thought it'd be nice to have some subtle color. We'll see. Now on the right...Matte polish top coat! I had seen people use this here and there and have had it in my head on my wish list for quite a long time! There was a few different brands there, and (of course) I went with the cheapest, under $2 I think. I used it tonight (also of course) while working on this post...and it is pretty mega awesome!! If you aren't familiar with it, you use it over any color polish you have as the top coat, and it just cuts all the shine and gives it a different look. 

I haven't bought much eye shadow in the last 3 years or so because I got this mega huge pallet for Christmas (thanks again boo!) that I will probably never run out of. BUT its not very travel friendly. I have some weddings coming up where I am doing hair+makeup, plus with my own traveling, I thought this size would be nice. It also seems to have some really fun colors, kinda sultry shimmer. It'll be fun to play around with.

TJ MAXX

I'm sure I've mentioned before the plan of re-doing our bedroom. Actually, I think I'd call it "doing" our bedroom. Since it's never really been done. Anyways...an upgrade to our laundry basket would be necessary either way, since ours is ugly and pretty broken. I bought this one thinking I'll keep the receipt and not use it until I'm sure there isn't something better out there, but it's growing on me pretty quickly. 

Cosmo Prof

Texture powder. I've heard/seen a bit about this lately. It's not something I have experience with, but I think it's been around awhile. You would tap it on your roots for some volume, and I saw here what it can do to a braid so I thought it'd be worth trying out! I wasn't sure about how well the white powder would blend in with my dark hair, but it was true...I just "tapped" it in, and it disappeared! I'm eager to keep trying it and see what all it will do for me!

There were a few other items that I picked up and carried around for awhile...am I the only one that does that? Of course that happens at Salvo, cause you have to pile things in your cart and then go try them on. Buut at Target or places like that...it seems like I have a thing where I can't really decide if I want/need to get something, I think about it while I'm at the shelf looking for a long time, then if I do decide to grab it...it ain't over until it's purchased. Because quite often when it's time for checkout...I may shed myself of an item or two. It's weird, because it's not like I didn't think long and hard about them when I first grabbed them. So let's just say, everything that makes it home should feel grateful. :)

And that's the end! I did get some hair color & a surprise something that aren't pictured. And for those of you that are like "haha...I know that girl ain't go all the way there and didn't eat or drink"...I'm sorry, the Starbucks & Five Guys burger didn't get photographed. :) 

Happy Wednesday!

Ps. 1 more post to go until 50...are we excited??

A Couple Things

Hey readers heeeey!

Let's start off with a funny story.  Noone objects to those right? *scans the room for a raised hand..* Ok good.

Yesterday morning I had a little down time and I thought it'd be a good chance to blog. I opened my laptop aaaaand. the interenet wasn't connected.  It generally works really well, but when it doesn't I'm up the creek without a paddle unless Brad is home, cause he always fixes it. So I texted him and then painted my nails while waiting for a response. He gave me a couple options to try, so I tried those but still no luck. I texted him again, and finished my nails while waiting.

*SIDE RANT* Do you know what I do not love?? bad/yucky/crappy/faulty top coat. It's such a waste of time!! I took the time to paint my nails without smudging...who knows how long THAT takes, and when I go to put the top coat on it doesn't glide on smooth, instead I have to keep re-dipping to have enough which makes it weird, aaand it started to smear around my black, which i KNOW should have been dry enough! Urgh. Needless to say THAT polish is getting thrown away, and sooner than later I'll get a top coat worth my time! I know some people skip base/top coat (I skip base fairly regularly, buuut I think one thing that helps is for your color not to stain your nails, fyi...) but the top coat really does just kinda seal the deal and make them look shiney, IF it's doing its job.

Anyways. I obviously needed to get that off my chest. :)

So I was trying all of what he said, and he was trying to fix it remotely (he can forreal do that sometimes!) and my Dad came in from mowing the lawn and was like "I'm in big trouble!" I asked him what was wrong, and he said "I mowed over that cable outside and sliced part of it!" oopsie. No wonder I wasn't getting a signal, that was our internet cable. :) We have learned that Dad is a very ambitious mow-er, We have an in-ground dog fence that is just laid back in the pine trees that boarder two sides of our property, and he + his mower found that one day too, Brad was like "wow he really gets in there!" All is forgiven, but it's something I chuckle about. Nothing is safe in the great out doors when Carl is on his machine..dun dun dduuuuunnnn!

The last couple weeks have passed with me spending a lot of time with a paint brush in my hand, not that I mind that terribly, it's just time consuming.  Sorry I haven't posted 2-3 outfit posts a week like normal (laugh with me, ha ha ...) but when I'm painting I basically wear the same clothes. Every day. Don't judge, I hate it. BUT I get paint everywhere (hair included) on myself. I told someone my Indian name would be she-who-gets-paint-everywhere, shewho for short.

I really don't mind painting (except ceilings, I strong dislike ceilings) once I have everything that I need out and ready. I don't love wiping everything down, or having to paint around things. Basically I'm maybe a high maintence painter.  My dad's kitchen was my first project.

It's a pretty small kitchen, I'm standing in the doorway, there is the sink and cupboards to my left, and the wall on the right just so didn't make it in the picture. SO, I was painting around all those appliances. That's probably why I painted myself so much, I had no room to breath!

I snuck in a little painting at home - I bought a couple dressers on craig's list for our bedroom that I'm re-doing. (that will probably have it's own post) I also had been meaning to go to the Sherwin Williams store to get a swatch to have Ben Moore match (that store is much closer for me) and so I swung in there when I was in Geneva last week. Weirdly, the guy said that they didn't have the color I was after, but they could match it. I'm pretty confused by that because the girl I asked had given me the color and company. ANYWAYS, my timing was pretty good accidentally because this weekend Friday-Monday, SW is having a 40% off sale! I hear their paint is pretty top of the line, so I decided to just let them match my color and buy it from there. I was second-guessing my square footage calculations, so I was a little confused how much paint I would need. He told me a trick, you can buy gallons of un-tinted paint (like plain white) when they are having the sale, and either return them if you don't end up needing them, or bring them back in and have them tinted for free! SO I got 2 gallons tinted in my future bedroom color, and one gallon un-tinted. I doubt I'll just return it, but if I don't need it for the bedroom, I could have it tinted for another project. When he told me that, I said "Ok I'll have 27 gallons please" lol. It seriously was a good sale, I think they were about $23 a gallon or so?

So basically I can't wait to start painting my bedroom, I even have a helper lined up because I helped her paint her fence one day :).

But first....I have to do my dad's dining room next. Today Brad & I will go over there to take EVERYTHING OUT because I was not having a kitchen repeat, and I'll probably wipe down the walls. One thing I am not looking forward to, is that his dining room ceiling has trim all over it, that creates squares. Kinda like how you can see in the kitchen picture, but more. urgh.

Ok, enough about painting for now.

Last night Lyndsi + I put on our third ever Clothing Exchange. The concept is that we alert a bunch of girls that we are planning one, they got through their closets, and give us the clothes/shoes/purses/accessories they are willing to part with (not junky stuff, more stuff that you never wear, but hate to just donate, but feel better about knowing your friends might take it and wear it :]) a couple days before the actual event. Then Lyndsi and I sort it by type and size (like tanks, short sleeves, sweaters, dresses, jeans, etc) and make it easier to hunt through. Theeeen, the ladies come the evening of the event, bring a yummy snack, and get ready to re-vamp their closet, for freeee! I have a few pictures, mostly from the last time we did this. Secretly it looked a little more fancy that time anyways. ;)

We make little dressing rooms, and try to have as many mirrors down there as possible so people can check themselves out. :) Usually people are bustling around at the beginning and on the hunt, but towards the end people are chillin, talking, and just browsing a little more. Lets just be honest, when there are this many clothes laying around, whether you thiiink you are done, it's hard not to just keep skimming. This time when things had died down we decided to kinda do "show and tell" , and have people show what they picked. I thought that was pretty fun, because some things screamed that person's name, and other things were a little more branching out, but you feel more free to do that when there isn't a price tag! Lyndsi and I agreed that this girl's finds were SO her. & definitely said "Classy Chic", which she totally is. :) I also make it my mission to force things on people that I think would look awesome. Some people believe me, some people don't. You all can thank me later. ;) 

And now you are caught up! I'm looking forward to this evening, there is a Campfire #3 planned. These always including volleyball + ultimate frisbee, some yummy food, and good fellowship. Sign me up! (ooops, speaking of that, I better go RSVP!)

Oh, I almost forgot to mention something else! This is post #47 for me, & I had decided a while back that I was going to do a little give away on post #50. So it is approaching rapidly (or less rapidly, if I continue at the rate I've been going!) , stay tuned for that! :)

WYBDW

Welcome to another episode of What You Been Doin Wednesday! Not that you should be surprised, since I do this every week right? Riiiiiight. :)

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?
Let's see...A good bit of this and that. June was a busy busy month, and I know I've touched on a few activities. The most recent, and one of the most exciting was my best friend getting hitched this weekend! It was an outdoor event on the loveliest of days! It was probably the prettiest decor/location that I've ever seen, and the whole day was just so fun and stress-free to be a part of. Last night was also my 2nd softball game of the year...I had missed a couple so it felt good to be "back at 2nd base". :) Also, Brad's whole family came over for dinner after the game (something that I'm ashamed doesn't happen more than it does, but it's rather hard aligning all those schedules!) and it was delicious treats + time together. One of the brothers is heading out this weekend for the mission field for 2 whole years! I admire his heart for service there, but boy oh boy will he be missed here!

WHATS ON THE AGENDA?
I'm planning to begin painting at my Dad's house. He's been asking me to do this for a few weeks, and I finally have some time. I'll be happy to get it over with, because that will mean freedom to start some more painting projects here! :)

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?
July 4th! There is some out of town family that will be here, and there will be a cook-out & hang-out & all that fun stuff. :) Who doesn't love that? Thursday evening there will even be a concert on the lawn (err...in the barn?) at my in-laws from this family group. Definitely looking forward to that!

WHAT ARE YOU ENJOYING?
This weather. Seriously, sometimes I forget how much I love the summer. Actually...maybe I knew how much. But I'm just soaking up these hot days. Days like today (upper 80s) I'm not outside as much, but I still love knowing it's so hot and beautiful outside. :)

WHAT ARE YOU APPRECIATING?
My dad & his lawn mowing skills. :) He really stays on top of keeping the yard up, and I need to make sure to let him know I appreciate it. This week it got a little longer than usual because he left his mower at his house, and so yesterday I braved our old unusual mower (the brake doesn't work, and the hydro-something is weird, so basically you have to keep your hand on the throttle at all times or else you might randomly go speeding into the side of the building while trying to turn. NBD) and mowed about half, then handed it over to Dad and weed-eated (most of) the ditch. I now have 6 blisters to prove how often I (don't) do that. #humblesigh

WHAT CAN YOU LEAVE US WITH?
"Small things become great when done with LOVE."  So true. If we focus on who we are loving through our every day tasks, and be purposeful about that, it will probably make the load seem lighter anyways, and less like a boring chore.

I could get into what I'm disliking etc, but who wants to dwell on that stuff? Not me! I have walls to wash and trim to paint! Happy 4th! :)

Playing Dress-Up

So this post is mad late. But still fun cause it actually has pictures!  One Sunday afternoon I invited my sister-in-law Lyndsi over to "play". Basically, I planned to do her hair and make-up just for fun.  After we did that, I told her she should pick me out something to wear to church.  She hunted in my closet, and asked if she could give me a couple of options. Uh, yes of COURSE! Basically, she shopped my very own closet and picked three awesome combinations that I have never worn, all that I would wear! I told her maybe she should come over once a month and do that, so I'd never have to decide for myself. :]

I think these are some of the last photos of my long hair. I guess that's anotherrr thing I never really documented on this blog. Maybe another idea for the "future post" archives. If there is such a thing. 

Outfit #1 Chambray shirt/coral skirt/polka dot sweater/pin-striped shoes. I felt pretty classy in this.

Outfit #2 Pink ruffle shirt/black&white skirt/black tights/black kinda-weird shoes. Also a fun look. 

Outfit #3 Black flowy shirt with bling neck/fur vest/green pants/nude flats. This was my fav, I like how it was subtle but was a little edgey. 

And this was my stylist and photographer (with my not-profesh camera, I'll add) Lyndsi.  I snapped a few of her, and the 'do' I gave her. I love her black dress with leather detail paired with casual shoes.

Soo...watcha think.  More outfit posts in the future?