Cherie Mask – Page 10

five and a half people in january

February 11, 2011 4 Comments

I've been debating on whether to keep going with Tara's six people project this year. I think I'm going to. It really was such a great way to document and reflect on what is happening in our lives. But I'd like to change it up somehow. I just haven't figured that part out yet.

Well, the six people didn't quite happen during the month of January. But it almost did. I was about to take a picture when a gentlemen walked by and asked if I wanted him to take it of all of us. In a split second, my mind recreated the scene from European Vacation and I said no thanks. How silly is that? What are the chances that the guy was going to take off with my camera? Oh well. I think I learned a lesson to just let people who are trying to be nice…be nice.

So, January.

2011 rolled in with not a whole lot of changes. I've never been great at the whole resolution thing. Last year I think I resolved to keep my bathroom counter clean. That lasted all of one week. One week! This year I resolved to not resolve. But by the end of January I started to feel stagnant. Like I do need to change something. To progress. Otherwise I'm just missing the point. I think my hesitation is that the things I need to change feel almost impossible. Impossible to do alone. But I am not alone.

The good news is that I've started on the path. More on that later.

In the middle of the month, we were able to take a quick weekend off to California. We hit up the usual spots again. Beach, Friends, Mickey. It never gets old. It feels a little bit like going home. Call me crazy but sometimes I like driving on the 405 or navigating through the spaghetti bowl freeways. Sometimes is the key word here. But I can't wait to go back and do it all again.

The rest of the month was filled with the regular routines plus coughs and colds. I'm ready to be done with runny noses over here. No, really. Please have mercy and let us be done. 🙂 Other than all that, it's been good. We're moving forward and it's all good.

home decor

home spurts

February 8, 2011 8 Comments

I've decided I go through home spurts. It feels somewhat like a growth spurt that comes on about every 6 months when I feel an itch to change my surroundings. It's a weird thing that happens. I start to obsess over design blogs and magazines and mood boards and thrift stores and craigslist…you see where I'm going here. Then I start to dream big things. And oh, the things I dream.

But after a few weeks, I usually come back to reality and realize that I really don't have the time or the means to do any of that at all. And the dream comes to a lonely end. But it's okay, because dreaming was half the fun anyhow.

So maybe about a year ago, I came across a space that brought on a serious home spurt. It was this one below found at Good Bones, Great Pieces. It became the big dream. I wanted it. All of it. White walls, that settee, the lamp (oh yellow splash that I love), and that chair? Sweet producer of HGTV, I wanted that chair.

And so it went, I started building this grand idea to bring all of this to my house. I poured over internet sites and scoured thrift stores and dreamed of that lovely yellow lamp in the sky. But as all good home spurts go, I knew that unless someone left a bucket of diamond rings on my doorstep, this baby wasn't going to happen. Unfortunately after the dream ended, that chair wouldn't leave me alone. So off to craigslist again I went. In search of it.

It didn't take too long before I saw it. It was brown and ugly, but the potential was there. It only took me a mere 8 months to actually finish it, but hallelujah, the chair is mine! I'm livin' the dream. sort of. 🙂

Uncategorized

Elvira and flaps

February 8, 2011 No Comments

A couple of months ago, I decided to go dark. Like as in hair.

Not that dark really but when you are used to staring in the mirror every day at the same mop and then suddenly the mop changes, you feel, well… a little strange.

The day after the big change, I went to church still feeling a little…strange. I could tell people were double taking me trying to figure out if I had a new nose or something. I sat on the pew chatting with a friend, talking about really serious stuff like hair. And I told her I felt like that one lady. Except I couldn’t remember her name. You know that one lady?

She looked at me like, “Nope. I don’t know that one lady.” So I laughed sheepishly and then church started.

After church was over, that one lady’s name came to me loud and clear. I ran to my computer and emailed my friend. And the conversation went something like this.

Me: Elvira. I look like Elvira. Minus the skanky dress and boobs.

Friend: You are hilarious! But, I must disagree…you have the boobs.

Me: Ha! After nursing four little lovelies, deflation came knocking on my door. I no longer call them boobs, but flaps.

So…here’s the said hair.

You didn’t really think I was going to show you the flaps, did you? 🙂

family photography

all things bright and happy

February 7, 2011 3 Comments

I'm definitely a sucker for all things bright and happy. If it has a little splash of yellow in it, sign me up!

I loved putting some images together from the past few years that do just that….make me happy.

our family

Worth a fist pump

February 4, 2011 2 Comments

Watching this happen in front of my eyes made me want to do a huge fist pump in the air.

Dallin asked Jeff to take him out surfing one afternoon. I have been secretly hoping this would happen one day but I never wanted to push him too soon for fear that it would backfire. When I overheard their conversation, I felt my lips curl into a smile. I grabbed the camera and followed them out so I could watch it unfold.

As life would have it, a mischevious 19-month-old kept me from actually seeing them out in the water. But when I saw Dallin coming back dripping wet with a huge grin on his face, I knew it had been a success.

Watching him do something hard and scary (and that would make me scream like a baby) is definitely worth a fist pump and maybe a little victory dance too.

Way to go, D. Way to go.

home movies

a california adventure

February 1, 2011 5 Comments

Nothing is better than a California adventure to chase away the January blues.
Even though I’m still shaky behind the camera, I’m in love with this short little home movie.
Love.

Music: Tim Myers, The Lucky Ones

love story

Learning to be carried

January 28, 2011 13 Comments

I had been sitting in that same reclining chair from sun up to sun down. Life seemed to be standing still yet everything was spinning around me. We had a newborn sleeping peacefully down the hall but nothing was how I had envisioned my first experience at motherhood. Blood clots can do that I guess.

It was late and time to go to bed. I dreaded sleep. It was long and painful and not really sleep at all. And the walk down the hall to the bedroom was even worse. That night, the pain seemed more than I could handle. It was beyond my capacity to even speak. As I stood to walk, I crumbled to the ground in tears. Through my sobs and labored breath, he lifted me slowly. I could tell it was hurting him to see me this way. His voice trembled as he asked what he could do. Still, I couldn't get the words out.

He hoisted my hands around his neck, gently scooped me into his arms, and carried me.

Me. The girl who despises being lifted or picked up in any shape or form. He knew that then and he still knows it now. But it was something I needed to learn early on in our relationship…if I am broken, He will carry me.

And he does.

family photography

sweet sweet baby

January 26, 2011 4 Comments

So happy to welcome this little baby Jake into the world! Mama had no easy go at getting him here, so I'm sure she is thrilled that he is now softly snuggled up in her arms. Just watching her look at him made that evident to me. It is amazing to feel the love that exists when a fresh new baby is in the room. It's an undeniable feeling of joy and peace.

I'm guessing it is this feeling of joy and peace that elicits the "baby hunger" pangs to come creeping in. I'll admit, sweet Jake might have brought a little of that my way. But seeing as how I'm now in starvation mode, a little appetizer now and then is as good as I'm going to get.

Thanks to you both for letting me share an afternoon with you. It doesn't get much sweeter than that.

our family

the face of a pirate

January 14, 2011 2 Comments

oh, but he's a cute pirate…looting his way through the house every day.

six people project

six people in december

January 12, 2011 5 Comments

December flew by. It always does. I always start the beginning of the month with the resolve to slow down and enjoy the season with all of its goodness. And then January shows up too soon, leaving me wondering when the "slow down" was actually going to happen. I should know by now that there is no such thing. Demember and slow don't even belong in the same sentence! So for next year I think I will forgo the whole slow idea and just put my fast pants on.

It was a wonderful Christmas though.

With the help of one of Santa's elves (idea via here), we had some great fun together as a family. Each night he left us a note and instructions for an activity the following day. We could hardly wait to see what he had planned for us. We made snowflakes, drank hot chocolate, watched movies, gave gifts, took the Polar Express (and barely made it on the train with no minutes to spare), ate treats, wrote notes and made some good memories. Our little elf had to stay on his toes to keep up but it was so worth it. I hope he comes again next year…if he's not too tired out.

This year we stayed home and enjoyed Christmas day with just our family. I loved it. It was fun to snuggle on the couch with Jeff and watch a movie while our children played in the other room for hours–building legos, riding scooters around the house, and having conversations with dolls. That is the kind of thing I cherish…listening to them play and laugh with each other. It felt simple and relaxing. No plans, just being together.

We all took turns this month nursing some sort of cough and cold. Mine lasted for a good four weeks but luckily it didn't manage to take me down. Jeff took a few hours off work here and there to spend with us during the time off school. I always love when he comes home early, even if it's only a half an hour. We took pizza to the park, watched a few more movies, and had lots of friends over to play. I lost Dallin for about an hour too (that's a story for another day).

We celebrated New Year's Eve a little differently this year. Instead of partying at night, we partied in the afternoon…Jeff and I that is. Who am I kidding though, I can't remember the last time I stayed up until midnight! We got a babysitter while we went out for a movie and lunch date then came home and rang in the new year with the kids (at 7pm). We all got in our pajamas, drank some martinellis, and Jeff made balloon hats for everyone. His balloons never get old around here. I love that obscure talent of his!

That night, we all piled on the couch for our last family picture of the year. I set the timer and ran over and tried to squish my cheeks on the couch. I didn't fit though as you can see!

Looking back over the past year, I am so glad that I participated in this project. As I've sat down each month to document it, I have thought a lot about the kind of life I'm living. I've thought a lot about how the things I am doing or not doing have an impact on everyone in our family. I've thought a lot about how I want our home to feel and how I can make it happen.

I'm so glad I can look back and see where we've been throughout the year 2010.

We've been together.