celebrating sweet 16

My mom is a leap year baby, celebrating her 16th birthday today, and consequently we are celebrating accordingly -- all day. My sister came into town for this very occasion, and while today may not live up the hype of her 15th birthday celebration (when she turned 60), we are giving her exactly what she wants -- time with her family.

Happy Birthday Mom! I am continually grateful for your example in my life and that I belong to you. I love you dearly and hope you have the bestest 16th birthday!! And how could you not with me around... winkwink ;)

P.S. Megan says, "grandma is awesome! i love being with her."

everydayness | late january

Since the new year I've continued taking photos everyday -- after so many years of doing it it's no longer a goal, but a habit. This year though, I'm not just reaching for my canon when I see something I want to capture, I grab my iphone too. Suddenly my digital files are even more instant and I have a quicker easier way to share them so sitting in front of my computer screen editing just hasn't felt necessary, let alone appealing -- hence my lack of posts.

Today though, I finally made myself sit down and go through the rest of January -- February will have to wait for another day (it was just too much to do all at once).

here are a few that caught my attention.


I made something! The girls needed new towels and thanks to their nana they had to have a hood. It was a quick and easy two stitches. One to sew up the side of the hand towel and the second to sew the hand towel to the bath towel.


a game or two is almost always pulled out on sunday evenings.


grateful to see there were no screens involved :)


enjoying any bit of snow we can get.


she loves braiding my hair, particularly at night, right before bed.


with the warmer weather this winter I've been taking a lot more walks -- this time I was downtown.


lately I see more and more of her animals joining her for breakfast.

[36]5 days

[collection of iphone & canon 5d photos from my 35th year]

My world is far from perfect.
I'm tired most of the time.
There are relationships I long to mend.
I over think.
Sometimes what I say and what to do don't always meet up.
I'm insecure about a lot of things.

But

I have a husband who seeks to understand me, who will sacrifice his sleep to spend more time with me (love our late night chats), who makes me laugh at anytime, who loves me despite my flaws and irrationalities.

I have three beautiful daughters who work hard, who lavishes me with hugs and kisses, who light me up and keep me smiling, who have patience with me when I fall short.

I have lovely family and friends around me who i can look to and that inspire me.

I have a desire to be my best and am constantly working to improve.
I am not afraid to admit when I'm wrong.
I have a testimony of Jesus Christ.
I appreciate the "normal days" of life.
I let the details of my everyday help me see the joy and goodness all around me.
I am hopeful.

On this, my thirty-sixth year, I have plenty of room to improve, but I am exactly where I want to be -- I feel completely content and most blessed.
Bring on another 365 days. I can't wait!

xoxox

glist

today I'm grateful for...

the happy sounds in the background.
Adam keeping me sane during a very busy few days.
getting a moment to breathe today.
my purple camelbak that keeps me hydrated.
the smell of cookies in the air.
a good book to take my mind off the need tos.
when a stranger smiles back.
having a lot to look forward to.
55 degree february days.
my sister coming to town -- next week!
a freshly made bed.
finding little notes around the house like this.
late night talks.
a mostly-clean house.
finally seeing the top of my studio desk.
simplifying.

mornings

I remember so clearly when I use to look forward to nap time. Don't get me wrong, of course I enjoyed spending time with my little girls, but when that's what I did for the majority of my day getting a little time to think, read, or create was a welcome change. There was really nothing like a little quite time to rejuvenate my spirit.

How funny life is and how quickly parts of your day can go from incredibly full to unbearably quite. It was only a few years ago that I was at home with three little girls clinging to my every step to now being overwhelmed by the still quite that comes from a house full of empty.



The way my life has naturally evolved has given me a few new favorite hours. Naps are a thing of the past and now it's in the morning hours right before the girls head off to school that I savor. It is, I'd say, some of the busiest minutes of my day. Girls are scurrying about the house looking for last minute hats and gloves, homework, even lunches are getting thrown together, but then there is a peaceful moment where we all gather in the living room, say a prayer, read a few verses of scripture, and hugs and kisses are exchanged before sending them on their way.

I always watch them walk/run up the street as I say a silent prayer that they will be safe and have a wonderful day. Sometimes I will yell an I love you as they disappear around the corner, but regardless I'm always standing there waiting to wave when they turn back to say that finally goodbye.

As I walk inside the door and am faced with the stillness of our home, a stark contrast to the minutes before when the house was full of noise, I take a deep breath and move forward with my day.

There's not a whole lot I can do to slow down time, so I am most grateful for this very normal daily routine that greets me every morning.

12of12 | February

click here to enlarge

01. the morning light
02. Tess making breakfast for the two of us.
03. It was her favorite and mine, scrambled eggs.
04. Of course Bella was ready for church before anyone else and reading to pass the time.
05. A valentine mess in my studio -- really hoping my girls finished addressing their valentines while I attended my multiple meetings.
06. The rain we woke up to finally turning to snow.
07. As I ran to my car after church I couldn't help, but get covered by snowflakes.
08. Most of the day was a complete whiteout and I loved it.
09. Family dinner. Even though most of the day we were on different schedules at least we were all able to eat together.
10. Megan and I attended her friends Baptism.
11. Notes from the parenting class. Another excellent night.
12. I came home around 8:45pm and saw that she was still reading. I love that she has finally found a love for it.

I was actually really interested to see how this 12of12 would play out. I was gone most of the day visiting other wards, being in charge of a Baptism, and attending a parenting class. I was literally at my church building from 4:30pm-8:45pm. It was a busy day, a long night, and although I did not begrudge my duties I was disappointed I had little time to spend with my family. To me Sunday = family time. I am grateful however, for the time I did have and that the day was beautifully snowy.

I must say, I do love to document a day like this that is totally unexpected, but then again, I guess you could say they all are really, in there own way.

I hope it was a great Sunday for all of you, hopefully a little more relaxing than mine. :)

Happy Monday!!

12of12 reminder

12 february 2009

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the twelfth so get your battery charged and camera ready -- and by all means enjoy enjoy enjoy!

See you back here on Monday :)

Lately

Listening to a lot of talk about young womans and junior high around our home. I can't believe we are here, and yet here we are. I think I'm counting on Bella to help me navigate through this new stage that is quickly approaching.

Feeling my creative mojo slowly beginning to creep its way back in. I am welcoming it with open arms. Time to get busy.

Mapping out our year. We have some exciting things planned to look forward to in the months ahead.

Navigating through Adam's travel schedule. Hecontinues to be on the go amd am so very grateful he works so hard.

Finding time.

.
Seeing a lot more through my iphone than my canon these days. (photos from instagram)

Searching for new recipes online. My picky eaters are slowly abandoning their stance, which has left me feeling more inclined to try new foods. Made this the other night. It's not really new to me, but it is to them. Definitely hit the comfort food spot.

Reading instruments of darkness (a mystery) and to the rescue: the biography of thomas s monson.

Watching my girls enjoy sisterhood. They love to discuss together the events of their day, especially when there's interaction during school hours. At home, they are the best of friends creating a constant buzz of chatter in the basement. Oh sure some of that is arguments, I'm hoping though, it is teaching them how to deal with conflict.

Noticing how the light is slowly, but surely beginning to return in the evenings. I love when it begins to change back.

Grateful.

family dinner

There hasn't been a time in our life when one of us wasn't busy for some reason or another, but once we threw kids into the mix and their schedules, we knew making sure we had family time was crucial. So we have always made dinner time an important part of our day. Of course there are bound to be times when something comes up and we are unable to make it happen, but for the most part we have done our very best to plan everyone's schedules so we can all sit down at the dinner table and have that time together.



My favorite part of dinner time is you never really know where you'll end up once you get started. The conversations twist and turn and before you know it you're talking about the Pledge of Allegiance or what phenomenon means. Case in point: after Tess finished telling us all about the mountain men she's learning about in school Megan chimed in and completely changed the subject, "Dad tell us what your favorite thing is about us, each of us." He happily took on her challenge and then like magic, everyone took their turn -- not a grumble in the bunch.

It was quite interesting for me to hear everyone's responses, each description just as true as the next. Me, being the last, had tougher shoes to fill because I wasn't allowed to say what anyone else had said. I loved it and loved the collection of favorites we ended up with, but mostly I loved getting a better understanding of my girls and how they saw each other.

here's the list.

Dad
M- Smart and intelligent
T- let's you do things mom doesn't
B- spends time with me
G- listens and wants to understand

Mom
M- soft skin and sweet
T- helps me when i need it
B- teaches me how to be a mom
A- all we've shared in our 16+ years

Bella
M- smart
T- helpful
G- thoughtful
A- mature

Tess
M- adventurous
B- encouraging
G- tries hard and won't give up
A- compassionate

Megan
T- crazy
B- always willing to try new foods
G- love for life
A- original


I know this is precious time not all families are able to have whether one parent works or kids are involved in activities, so I am extremely grateful we have been able to pull it off thus far. It has been an invaluable part of our family life and I look forever to it each and every night.

Now if I could just incorporate some new recipes. I feel like I've been in the "recycling recipe mode" since Christmas.