The last two nights I’ve had the opportunity to spend my evenings out of the house. This is rare. Garth and I have pretty much given in to the fact that having a toddler that goes to bed at 7pm means that our evenings now consist of watching movies in bed with ice cream (ok, let’s be real, even before we had Jack, most of our nights were spent in this manner, we just had the option of staying out past 6pm). Garth took on all three nighttime rituals with jack (feeding, bathing, storytime) each evening so that I could go to a craft club meeting on monday night and a relief society meeting (that was actually a little shower for me and the ginger baby) on tuesday night.

I was driving to one of these events in the setting sun, in my little blue convertable, top down, radio up and singing along, when I thought to myself, “ahhhh….I feel like me again”. And then I marveled that I hadn’t even known that I was feeling like someone else. I guess it’s not someone else, it’s just that I play so many other roles, there’s not much time for the me part of me. I am a wife, a mother, a cooker of dinners, a teacher of sunday schools, a maker of bow ties and journals, and a list-maker that always wants to check one more thing off the list. Even this blog post was on my list.

I miss being a taker of walks to Balboa Park, a dressmaker, and a Sunday afternoon test chef. I miss being a neighbor to my girlfriends and family. I miss having a mind so full of hope that it spilled over into my heart. I miss the weightlessness of a mind not heavy with the kind of worry that only a mom can know. These things have fallen away (or have been left behind as I moved away) as my life ran tumbling forward.

To every thing there is a season. This is the season of not me. It is the season of this new little family that Garth and I have created and the new delights that brings. I am the one who waddles, the receiver of precious Jack kisses, the keeper of the heart of the rarest of men, and a wise and patient mother-in-the-making (it’ll take me my lifetime, I’m sure). I am also still a girl who sings her heart out in her little blue convertable while the sun is setting. It is all me- and it is my brilliant always-in-motion life. Now it’s time to go listen to my favorite song on this subject.

All you’ll be you are today. Chris Cornell

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I really didn’t plan on this happening.

My last set of bow ties ended up being all matchy-matchy. I think it’s because several months ago I organized all of my “turn into bow ties someday” clothing into colors and so they happened to all be next to one another when it was time to make more. However it happened, it makes me smile. They are all in the shop right this very minute in large enough quantities to outfit your entire chess club!

I’ve been trying to get my inventory up to 100 ties but can’t seem to get over that 40 mark. This is due to the fact that bow ties are being purchased and shipped all over the world though, so I can’t really complain. The plan was to get up to 100 bow ties and then work on some limited-edition bow ties that I’ve been excited about since winter- so I might just need to skip the 100-in-inventory goal and get to the good part, or I might never get to those awesome ties! Totally. Thanks for thinking that through with me.

Hope all ya’ll are staying cool and soaking in the summer.

xo
elle

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Trash has given us an appetite for art.
Pauline Kael

…and messes

I’m still not sure how all of our dishes coordinated with each other and the box in the recycle bin- it was some mad crazy coincidence.

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You are 16 months old today! You have grown so much since your first birthday- your hair is longer, your feet are bigger, your vocabulary has grown (up, down, please, more, go, dance, bath, eat, done, bye-bye, dada, mama, this, and motorcycle), and you are certainly more independent. You are way more little boy than baby, which is a great thing since you’ll be a big brother in a few short weeks.

We had such an awesome spring- we went to the beach (you love running into the waves), we made you eat tons of new foods (you tried the sand on your own), and we took a little trip to Biloxi, Mississippi where your Dad had laser eye surgery, and you took your first serious steps on your own (and fell and gushed blood from your mouth). We took lots of walks to the library and went to the park just about everyday to swing. We were trying to enjoy the nice weather before the crazy heat of summer locked us indoors.

You started walking at the same place that you were born, Naval Hosptial Pensacola. It was just a few days after your Dad had his surgery and you and I were in the waiting room while your Dad was having his eyes checked. You were pushing the stroller around and then just abandoned it and went right on your merry way down the dermatoligists wing. That was a few months ago and now I can’t hardly remember when you couldn’t walk. You’ve been contained by shut doors and baby gates, but I have the feeling that they are only temporary restrictions- you could get over that pesky gate if I wouldn’t stop you from climbing over it, and you could certainly open the doors if it weren’t for those old-fashioned glass doorknobs that are so darn hard to turn. You’ve learned to very politely knock when you come to a closed door and use this technique when you’d like to go outside, or when either Mom or Dad are taking a shower.

You have developed an amazingly robust laugh. You know that lounging around in Mom and Dad’s bed means “tickle time” and on more than one occassion have taken one of us by the hand and brought us to our bed for said activity. You will tell us to “go!” when we stop tickling you, which means that you would like more, and we are always more than happy to hear that sweet deep laugh and watch your face scrunch and grin.

Feeding you has been an adventure. Your reptoire is very limted: bread, applesauce, cheerios, trix, goldfish crackers, appleslices, milk, and juice. Oh, and dirt, sand, paper, bath water, rotten wood, and just about anything from the trash. We’ve resorted to feeding you smoothies to vary your diet- you’ll gobble those right up, no matter what we put inside. It’s usually a vanilla yogurt and apple juice mix with either green beans, peas, or corn blended in. You gobble that up. But whipped cream? no. Rasberries? no. Cheddar cheese? no. I’m telling you kid, you’re missing out on the best foods around.

You like to use utensils, no matter what you’re eating. This goes beyond simply the spoon or spork that we provide on your tray. You have quite masterfully used a business card, and a bowl still half-full of applesauce to consume your meals.

You have this thing for big people chairs. We have several around the house that you like to climb into and when it suddenly gets very quiet around the house I know that I can either find you sitting in my chair playing with my computer, or sitting in the chair in the linving room, waving at yourself in the mirror.

I didn’t think that this could happen, but you become more adorable by the day. You are amazingly sweet and thoughtful, but also unquenchably active and curious. I am reminded by you everyday what is important. Thank you so much little man for being who you are. The best is yet to come.

xo
mama

Tags:   jack5 Comments

ok, so I did tell myself that I really shouldn’t buy any more books to make into journals until I went through the ones that I had- but goodness me… how could I resist these guys?! Jack and I ventured out early this morning to hit up a huge charity yard sale at the fairgrounds and the vintage books were amazing. I wasn’t prepared to be buying books- I’m 8 months pregnant, arms already full of goodies to purchase, pushing an umbrella stroller (you know, the ones with NO storage space underneath?)- and somehow I walked out of there with about 30 books. It’s called pushing-and-pulling-a-box-crammed-full-of-books-to-the-front-of-the-sale-while-pushing-a-stroller. Or something- perhaps I’ll work out another title later, but I’m sure that it was hilarious to watch. One elderly lady asked me when the baby was due and when she found out it’s next month she exclaimed, “oh my! Should you be out and about?”

Of course I should. =) And, I’ll be at the Palafox Market tomorrow too. If you’re in Pensacola, FL, swing on by- I’m discounting a bunch of journals that have been around a while to give me some room for these new beauties. I can’t wait to cut them up.

gosh, I love my job.

xoxo
elle

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I am somewhat of a freak about documenting my life. I have been writing in a daily journal since I was 13. I kept a chewed gum collection in high school- each piece saved in a wrapper with the date and event written on the outside. In college I took an aternative media class and learned that there were people doing what I do and calling it art.

Some of my projects are as simple as taking a photo per day- some as complex as defining a specific task to be completed at a specific time each day. I’ve found it to be a way to capture my life in the most genuine form. Most people document thier lives in some way- photographs on happy days and scrapbooks of birthday cards- but I am interested in capturing all of my life- not just the happy times. I want to preserve even the mundane, because that is what the bulk of my life is made of. Needless to say I have photos into the six figures, video footage that would run months, and piles and piles of books and papers. Most of it has not been compiled or archived in any way-eeek!

This really is just a long rambling way for me to introduce what I wanted to share today. I have been working on these monster piles in my house of projects that I have carried with me through several moves and have not completed. This process of clearing the house and finally doing (as opposed to just shuffling around) has unearthed some really fun memories- and I just wanted to share a tiny collection of some of my july 14ths from the past.

My small sampling of July 14th’s past:

07-14-94 My 15 year old self likes this quote, “The work I do today must be important, I’m wasting a day of my life for it”. Notice the totally awesome spelling of waisting.

July 14, 1995. My 16 year old self is in Germany shopping, eating at McDonald’s, and going to her first (and last) discoteque.

July 14, 1997. I’m newly graduated-from-high-school and I’ve just purchased my first pager. My bff’s and I get portraits taken at SEARS at the mall. We thought that we were cute? Really?! Holy smokes we need makeovers!

14 july 04. In 2004 I took a photo of myself as I left the house each day- noting the time and where I was headed. Here I am on my way to work at good old Red Robin.

14 July 2006. Ending a crazy 3 day, 3000 mile journey roundtrip from Spokane, WA to San Diego, CA and back to do paperwork for my new teaching gig. I took a photo of each time I refueled- these were by far the worst pictures of the set- the first is mile 2738 at 5:30 in the morning in Lima, MT where I paid $2.949 per gallon. The second is in Missoula, Mt at 8:14 in the morning where I spent $27.74 for my tank of gas at mile 2966. When I got home I finished up a painting, took a shower, and attended a friends wedding. It was a loooong day.

14 July 2007. In 2007 I took a self portrait everyday and I wrote myself a to-do post-it the night before. I was getting ready for my own wedding (the budget, skirts, and costco trip) and photographing a wedding. I think that I missed my ten year high school reunion on this day. Did I blog? no.

14 July 2009. I photographed my breakfast for my entire 30th year, noting the time and location of each morning meal. Looks like it was almost 1pm when I had this meal of rasberry jam covered toast! And, we went to see the latest Harry Potter at the midnight screening, where both Jack and Garth fell asleep before the end of the movie. I love that my journal entry has a to-do list for the next day and the things listed as still things that are on my to-do lists a year later: make bow ties, update website, clean house.

There are gazillions more journal entries and photos- I won’t make you yawn by listing every year. There’s also a mountain of video footage that I just don’t have the time to format right now, but it’ll get done in the future. I know, you’re really wishing that I had the July 14th footage of me brushing my teeth, or serving tables, or whining about stupid boys. All in good time my friends. =)

So what am I doing this year? I am photographing myself as I come home each day this year, noting the time and place I was coming from- it’s been interesting so far. When I did the leaving the house series in 2004-ish it was perfect because in that time I graduated from college, got my first apartment in a new city (with awesome teaching job), and then traveled to lots of cool places- all documented in a simple photo per day. This coming home series is equally awesome as this year will see my bringing home a new baby, packing up and moving to hawaii, and many more things that’ll surprise us all, I’m sure.

Other random projects that are out and about to see:
Laura in mirrors. Just what it sounds like.
I drew on my church program during church for an entire year.
twentyfour. A day in the life of me, from 12am to 12 pm, filmed a little bit each day, in chronological order. (squished here into a few minutes). I think this was 2000- you can see me glued to the tv on September 11th.

Can you tell that I get all fired up about this? I love it. Lots of archiving and compiling to come- I bet it’ll take years though.

Better get to it.

Happy July 14th everyone!!!

elle

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We’ve got McGuires tonight, the market tomorrow, and grilling, lounging, fireworks, cart vendor french fries, and a no-work Monday to take in this weekend. Have a great and safe weekend everyone!

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good news came in today. lots of it. i’ll spill soon.

elle

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Golly I wish that I knew html and css and some general coding. It took me several hours each, 2 nights in a row, to update my header (I made that plaid in photoshop using this awesome tutorial) and tweak the widgets and tweak the widgets on my sidebar. I’m not even going to attampt to change the buttons that run along the top, right under the header- for they certainly require more coding experience than I have.

Anyways, howd’ya like the new look? Please let me know if you see anything that’s not loading or broken or just sucks in general- we have a pc that uses internet explorer and a mac that used firefox that I check it on, but I know lots of you use other browsers. Thanks friends!

It is a rainy (yet still sweltering) day here in Pensacola and Jack and I are going to be doing our very best to reduce some of the gigantic piles of stuff around this house before we are swallowed by them.

lots o’ love.
Laura

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