I Believe In Love

this is the thing about garage sales. i just don’t get them. i gather my stuff, for weeks in advance, signs are hung, the word gets posted on craigslist.

for two days, i sit in a friend’s driveway (besides the few hours when i’m babysitting my own children or sitting in urgent care), hoping that one of these people will stop, get out of their car, pick up my junk goods, and give me a dollar.

what’s become of me?

$51. i made less than minimum wage. and ended up donating the “like new :: red GE electric dryer, only $200!” to D.I. anyway.

good thing there was lots of good conversation.

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and so, we finish watching the harry potter series. i haven’t read the books. now i want to, but first i must clarify and sort and wrestle with the stories i’ve just watched. you know a film(s) is good when you can’t stop thinking about it days later. when you start making lists of questions and “what ifs” and have to stop and determine that it’s not part of your life. it’s not even real life. and then you have to get over the fact that it’s not real life.
jk rowling, you’re brilliant.

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I’m the girl who loves the holidays. I love everything about every day between Halloween and New Years. I love the decor, the food, the service, the music, the happiness, the food, the smells, the family, the parties, the food, I love it all. And I soaked it in this year- truly. I substantially scaled down my photography business starting on Nov. 1st and had everything wrapped up nice and pretty by the 1st week of December. I’m grateful for the work I did have because it paid for the vast majority of Christmas, but I was more than happy to settle down for a long Christmas nap (figuratively speaking, you know).

As we are not partiers, in really any sense of the word, New Year’s Eve has always just been low-key and quiet, but my heart was anything but quiet this past weekend. I’m normally the girl who has a list of 30 new goals each January 1st, nicely written out and categorized. This year, I had a bad experience with feelings of nervousness and fear for the upcoming year. Without going into detail, I will say that all I wanted to do was gather my little chicks under my wings and hibernate until 2013. After many sleepless hours, lots of pondering and prayer, and talking it out, I came to the conclusion that I need to stand up straight, live my life, be a better me, and count my blessings. My sweet friend, Jen, decided that instead of a list of goals for the new year, she would just choose a word to focus on for the year. I loved her idea, but didn’t plan on borrowing it necessarily. Through the past 5 days, however, one word keeps coming to my mind, and so I’ve decided to try her approach this year- focus on my word and apply it to all areas of my life.

My word is NOURISH.

-I’m in need of nourishment to my soul, and have enjoyed 9 days straight of reading scripture each day. I will strive to do that this year.
-I’m in need of nourishing my relationships- my marriage and my individual relationship with each of my children. Yes, my marriage is just fine thankyouverymuch, but a regularly scheduled date-night wouldn’t hurt any. It’s amazing how little we can converse with three little people running around. Talking is important. Nourishing my marriage is important.
And as for my children- all is well, except that I want to strengthen my bonds with each one of them individually. I want them to know I’m on their team– not just am I on their team, but I’m their head cheerleader. I want them to talk to me and trust me and know that I will always listen before I react. Nourishing those three little relationships is essential for me this year.
-I’m in need of nourishment to my body (always!). I thoroughly enjoyed all the junk over Christmas break, and am glad to report that all of my noshing ended up only setting me back by one pound. That gives me the motivation and determination I need to continue logging 3-4 runs a week and starting my weight lifting regimen again. One thing I’ll say for my exercise this fall is that it’s been constant, but rather hap-hazard. I’m excited to be back on a plan. An action plan, if you will. And as for all of that sugar, it’s finally all out of the house, meaning I can focus on my protein shakes and apples with peanut butter again.
-I’m in need of nourishing my mind. I have a (relatively small) list of about 10 books that I look forward to devouring this year. If I can get in more, great! If not, I will be happy having digested those ten.

And there you have it– my resolution for this year is to NOURISH myself an my relationships. I can already tell that in so doing, my earlier fears about this year will seem less scary and growth and love will take place.

So it is a happy New Year. It just took me a few days to realize it.

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Here’s a new attempt at keeping my blog somewhat current. I’ll be attempting this every month, and hopefully have a few posts in between!

1. Paco, the Portuguese Elf came to our doorstep on Dec. 1st and watched us carefully, reporting to Santa each night on our behavior. No one can touch Paco, or he’ll disappear. On Dec. 24th, we found him in the Lucky Charms box on the counter. We think he was picking out all of the marshmallows.
2. The weather is finally cool enough that I have to wear shoes. Sometimes.
3. Rowan and I took an afternoon during the holidays and had our toenails done… red with white dots (snow) and a star.
4. Rowan dressed herself. She does this often, but I don’t always capture the end product on film.
5. Elias got an award at school for Academic Achievement.
6. Molly the dog has taken to doing Puppy Yoga. I have no idea how this pose is physiologically possible, but she does it all the time. Crazy animal.
7. Maura & Elias enjoyed candycanes.
8. Maura’s first candycane. It ended with her screaming (literally) for more.
9. Rowan, dressed with fairy wings, sparkly shoes and the mandatory helmet, goes for a bike ride on a sunny December day.
10. My folks came to visit! The kids with my Dad.
11. Nonno gets a hug from Maura.
12. Nonno & Nonna with the three littles. I hate living so far apart.
13. Crazy hair day at school. And missing teeth.
14. Rowan the baker.
15. Homemade marshmallows (courtesy of Martha Stewart– thank you Marci for the tutorial!)
16. My folks gave Rowan my old cassette collection (minus the Bangles & Wilson Phillips… where did those go?) and an old RCA tape player. She is IN HEAVEN.
17. Elias makes a craft at his school’s Christmas party.
18. JT and I rock the ugly sweaters at the Ugly Sweater/White Elephant party. (The gift I ended up with is a brown t-shirt that says, “I pooped today.” with a little star on it.)
19. Watching the Smurfs on the projector. Lots of lovely, lazy evenings this month.
20. We surprised Elias and I took him to a matinee of Wicked on Hollywood Blvd. He loves the soundtrack and kept asking to see the movie. As there is no film of this production, we decided it was time to introduce him to the theater.
21. E & I inside the Pantages Theater.
22. The LA LDS Temple lights.
23. JT & Rowan on the train. We bundled up (yes, it was actually chilly one night!) and rode through a small light set-up. A fun new tradition.
24. Elias, Maura and I on the train with a creepy guy behind. I never saw him get on, I never saw him get off. The ghost of the small light set-up?? Hmmm.
25. Can you say, “leftovers”?
26. Santa brought Maura a rocking horse.
27. Santa brought JT a new bowtie.
28. I make pasta.
29. Maura and Peyton, 5 days apart in age, figure out a smartphone.
30. Elias plays the Wii (a gift from Santa)… we have yet to teach him how to play while sitting down.
31. Elias looses another tooth. Four current holes in his mouth, 2 more loose. Oy.
32. All the holiday fun finally makes Maura melt down.
33. It was too dark for the camera to focus, and yet it produced my favorite image of the month. Rowan and the Christmas tree.

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