Oct 29, 2012

My Feelings Exactly.

     I love Pinterest, really I do. I  love being able to look up recipes based on the ingredients I have on hand.  I enjoy drooling over beautiful interior design.  I’ve found many handy tips and tricks for a newbie housewife like myself.  And I wish, reaaaalllly wish, I loved all the craft ideas.  Don’t worry, I pretend.  I pin ‘em. Sometimes even buy the supplies and attempt them. But this blog could easily be renamed The Un-Crafter.  I HATE doing them.  Do I hate it because I am bad at it or am I bad at crafts because  I hate it? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  I’ll never know.  I do know that I am trying to accept this fact about myself…and feel OKAY about it.  I wish I wanted to sew, I wish I could make people amazing presents,  I wish my children will do the neatest homemade activities. {Actually they probably will still be able to do that since my husband can out-craft me anyday!}  At the same time, I need to accept the fact that sometimes the stress of trying to be crafty for me is not worth any money saved.

Last year, under the watchful & helpful eye of my sister, I stitched the simplest of stockings for Marcus & I for our first Christmas.  I hoped I would fall in love with all things fabric and needles, but it didn’t happen. I did it though and felt like I needed a gold star.  Then alllll this fall, I’ve had this nagging guilt that I needed to make a matching one for my son. And I’ve been dreading it! I saved the pattern so I could make one for all our future kids. Nag, nag, nag, guilt, guilt, guilt.  Finally, it dawned on me. I could just buy him a stocking!  Oh, the freedom!  If I truly didn’t enjoy the process, why am I forcing myself to do something that just isn’t me?   So, if you don’t ever receive sweet handmade gifts from me, you’ll know why.  Although it would be cheaper to pay for my therapy if I did….

 

Just kidding, friends!

 

This picture, though… it sums up my feeling exactly.

 

A Quote, Edited.

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“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

I’d say George Eliot nailed it. Fall IS just that. Delicious. No season has my heart more.  If I were a bird though, I’d stay put.  How could I possibly experience the newness & nostalgia of Autumn if I didn’t wait for it and enjoy all the other seasons?  It is precisely the different seasons that make us appreciate the incoming one more!  No, Autumn… I wouldn’t follow you as you made your chilly and crisp way across the globe, but rather welcome and savor every second of your fleeting colors when you stop my way.

Oct 27, 2012

Babymoonin’ in Matthews County

     I had never been on a babymoon, and I had never been to a Bed & Breakfast but I HAD been to Matthews County so I knew I was in for a relaxing and beautiful time. Even despite the waddling {next time I’ll go before I am 9 months preggo} and the tissues {hello, fresh head cold} it truly was relaxing and beautiful. My only regret was that I didn’t get to try the Stand up Paddle boarding… They had put them away for the season..even though it was 80 degrees our first day there! My baby and balance are probably thankful, but I was looking forward to hopping on one.

 

     After we checked in at the beautiful Bed & Breakfast, we headed out for lunch and shopping  downtown. Which was all of two blocks. I love it! The old drugstore had been converted into a delicious diner where the fish tacos {for me!}, Reuben {for him} and ice cream did not disappoint. We walked in the couple of shops along the main road and gave some business to the adorable little baby consignment shop.

 

     Since we filled up on ice cream way too close to dinnertime, we headed back to the Inn to hang out on the dock and watch the sun go down. Marcus fished, I read, we snagged some DIY maternity photos. We headed back into town for dinner..the pretty much one open restaurant was hopping, complete with a hilarious & eclectic jam band. We ate outside since it was so nice but the bands music drifted our way, sounding pretty good! Except for the drunk man playing the recorder. Maybe it was just out-of-tune…

 

    We wrapped up the day with smores & evening prayer around the fire pit. So, so perfect.

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Of course, Bed & Breakfast’s are all about the breakfast & the next morning’s fare was incredible! The Inn at Tabb Creek has a pretty big garden..making for amazing, local, healthy, fresh food. We had a fruit salad, sausage & potato hash, egg & veggie quiche and some delicious lemon-berry muffins. Friends, it was SO good. I’m drooling just thinking about it. They had a huge assortment of tasty teas, which I happily sampled away through the morning {much too my squashed up bladder’s chagrin.  We spent the morning making friends with a sandy orange cat, swinging on the front porch swing and walking the grounds before we headed home.

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The pretty wood floor on the screened-in back porchOctober 2012 196    October 2012 206 October 2012 207    October 2012 218  October 2012 217October 2012 220

I’m laughing & pointing at the sign, but the sign is pointing right at me! I used the side door!

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Look what was hanging out on the side door :)

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Doing what he does

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Good-bye amazing place!

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On our way out of town we decided to stop at the blustery beach. On the way there we nearly hit a crab {crossing the road?}, a dog, an ENORMOUS deer, and a frog {also crossing the road?!} in that order. Sheesh!

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And after a scenic drive home, I crossed babymoon off my to-do list. Hooray! Then, I beat Marcus badly in Scrabble. Which is not very nice of me to mention, but it did wrap up things quite nicely for me :)

Oct 22, 2012

A log of {completely random} links & tidbits

Some of my recent favorites:

Throughout high school & college, the height of my babysitting years, Dora the Explorer was pretty big amongst the kiddo’s I sat. I had to sit through more than my fair share of ‘Swiper,  no swiping!’ So this hilarious  Dora the Explorer movie trailer made my day.

 

Pandas on a slide. Had your daily dose of adorable today?

 

Love this article…it sums up exactly where I’ll be in a few more weeks. The Days in Between

 

An incredible story of a heart changed. Get some tissues!

 

This is the song I sing to my baby boy all day long. He’s my sweetheart!

 

Where Marcus & I are headed for a quick babymoon this Thursday. We’ll be staying at this beautiful bed & breakfast! Is paddle boarding at 35 3/4 weeks permissible? I have impeccable balance, if I do say so myself.  A HUGE thank you to the Guinn family for this gift :)

 

Some Crofty tidbits of late..

 

Marcus has officially been employed with the Virginia Beach Fire Department for a year. He brought home his rookie report today, written by his captain. I don’t have a link to the raving report, but let’s just say it is definitely hanging up on the fridge :)

 

In less adorable news, I’ve been busily gathering items for my “birth kit,” items needed for my homebirth.  Nothing too exciting except on the kit list…if you don’t mention the two packages of large chux pads.  Well, I am aware birth is a bit of a messy process so I put on my big girl panties and headed to the  urinary incontinence aisle at the drug store. I quickly located the very medical looking underpads for beds and stuffed the big packages under my arm. The cashier made some awkward small talk with me as she rang up my purchase. Now, is it just me or will grocery/drug stores put anything in a bag? I mean, you buy a teeny tube of chapstick or some tic-tacs and they always put them in a plastic bag big enough for two gallons of milk. So why, in a completely bag-appropriate purchase, did the cashier ask me “Will you be wanting a bag for these?”

YES, LADY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! DOUBLE BAG IT! THEN THROW IT IN A BLACK TRASHBAG! I HAVE TO WALK ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PARKING LOT WITH THESE INCRIMINATING ITEMS! YES, I WANT A BAG!

Actually, I can be quite a pushover. So I assured her a bag wouldn’t be necessary and proudly marched my disposable underpads  across the parking lot. I’m so grown up!

Later that same day, I cried like a baby when my cream cheese icing didn’t come out right. Pregnancy is so sexy sometimes!

Oct 19, 2012

Ohio, in the fall

     It felt almost strange, to be at my grandparents and wearing something other than shorts and sundresses since pretty much all of our annual stays were in the summertime. It was pretty obvious that fall had arrived  on the drive up when we stopped at a rest stop in West Virginia and my yellow tank top was not cutting it. It was rainy and cold! Now, it wasn’t exactly cold in Ohio, in fact the afternoons warmed up perfectly, but the mornings and evening offered that brisk, crisp chilly air all fall-lovers crave.

 

      Despite the consistent rain that followed us for ten hours, and the annoying stops for leg-stretching & potty breaks, the drive was pretty uneventful. Marcus and I love taking car rides together so we just chatted & took in the beautiful scenery. I may even attribute the long car trip for the flip of my breechy baby! Or, at least that is what my midwives said could have prompted him to get in the proper position.

 

     I fully expected to take no less than 900 photographs on this trip. Instead, perhaps for once, I just focused on being more present in both what we were doing, and who we were with. I do wish I had snapped a picture of my cousin & I, or a picture on the screened-in porch with my grandparents but the camera just didn’t come out much. Normally we go to Ohio at the same time as my mom & dad, my sister & her kids, my younger siblings and our visits often coincide with some other cousins..but this time it was just Marcus & I.  We had no agenda.  We slept in, worked out a little, took walks in different parks, ate delicious food with both sets of grandparents, did a little shopping, visited the fancy-schmancy farmer’s market {SO jealous of theirs!}, ate Jeni’s most splendid ice cream, went to go see Kim at Kimerby’s Diamond Corner, hung out with my cousin Shannon and talked about our growing little boy. It was perfect.

 

Nanny & Angie’s hydrangeas

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My favorite street in the world, Ritamarie Dr.

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Marcus reading on Nanny’s front porch

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Going for walks at the Olentangy River Trail & McCoy Rd and documenting the baby bump {32.5 weeks} AND the beautiful colors

 

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A duck that thought it was a cow…

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I love all white ducks!

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Marcus’ Black & Tan Sunday with Stout soaked bundt cake. MMMMMMmmmm

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Saying goodbye to Nanny & Papa. Next time we see them, the baby boy will be on the outside!

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I love you, Columbus! See you in the summer :)

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