Sick again...

Lately I feel like I've been sick more than I've been healthy. This has been a hard winter. Yesterday I was throwing up again and it wasn't fun. My tummy is still jippy today so I'm not eating much but I'm feeling a lot better than I was. It seems like everyone I know has had more colds/flu/whatever this year than in years past. I'm SO ready for spring but we got another huge 5-inch snow storm last night!

I had a day off today because Ava's sick (throwing up too) and Becca is visiting with her grandparents. and so far I've used it very productively. First I caught up on my sleep, which was much needed and then I put the finishing touches on all our adoption paperwork and got that all printed and ready to go. Now I'm about to go start my Educational Psychology research project, which is due this coming Saturday. Who knows - I might even have some extra me-time later today! :)

It feels good to be getting things done!

Niece in Boots

Ava was adorable today - pretending to be all grown up and try on my boots! We had a lot of fun and she's at such an exciting stage right now. She's saying so many words and even beginning to make small phrases with her vocabulary. I love this girl so much and I am truly blessed to be able to share so much of my time with her.

Ava M., 14 months old

Scrapbooking Nerd

I had an opportunity to go away to a "crop around the clock" event in Ohio this weekend and not only did I go...I also had a great time! I fully acknowledge and accept my status as a top scrapbooking NERD, yep that's me! I completed 28 pages in less than two days, which is quite an accomplishment.

It was lots of fun and I also really enjoyed the time with my baby sister and one of my best pals, Molly. One of the coolest aspects of being a scrapbooking nerd is that I also get the benefit of companionship and great conversations while I'm doing something meaningful to me. Yay!!

Snow People are Cool!

Meet Sam, the snow person we built this week. This makes me happy!

Lunar Eclipse

Michael and I took pictures of the moon's eclipse tonight. This is the last one until 2010. Of course these photos are limited by the equipment we have but they're actually not bad considering. It's a neat looking moon and thanks to the bitter cold we're experiencing right now we had a beautifully clear sky in which to see it! When we came inside there was actually ice on my tripod and we were freezing! Our results were well worth the effort though and we had fun!!

The one below (with the tree branches) is my favorite, it was taken by Michael!

A Promise of Spring?

There comes a turning point every winter - when the world suddenly comes to life again and there is knowledge (or maybe just awareness) that spring will come. Even if winter invades again there is a subtle promise that spring will eventually prevail.




We had some interesting skies today after the rain. First ominous looking clouds then fluffy blue ones, and of course the rainbow was somewhere in there too.




The world seemed to magically come back to life - even the air smelled different, fresher and somehow more vibrant. Ice is melting, winter is retreating...my spirit responds and I feel like a kid again.








Even the dogs seem to have a different sense about them today, they know things have changed too. They know spring isn't too far off.

Peanut Butter Toast with Heart Centers...

Sometimes it's the little things that count. Today is Valentine's Day and this is the breakfast my sweetie made for me this morning. The picture is bad because it was taken with my cell phone with very minimal lighting (there's only so much that can be forgiven by photoshop) but Michael's gesture made my morning special and I figured it was blog worthy, bad photo and all. Simple gestures can go a long way...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Look How Cute...

...my hubby's the one in the top left corner. I would've chosen him then too, what a catch! :)

I Still Believe

Six-Word Memoirs

Photographer, student, caregiver, lover not mother

Hungry fed lost found barren beautiful

Hopeful hurting struggling succeeding loving longing

The top one is the one I posted and the others are just ideas. I heard about this on NPR on my way home and it's got my brain whirring! Check it, this is way cool:

Six Word Memoirs

Smith Magazine

My Six-Word Memoir Page