If You Want To Know Why, I Will Gladly Tell You

I have always cared too much what other people think of me. All growing up I worried whether I would fit in with my school mates…would I know what movies they were quoting, or popular songs they were singing? Would my clothes be trendy yet mild enough to fit in? What if I didn’t get their jokes (that definitely happened a lot), and what if I wasn’t up to date on all the current fads (even more likely to occur)?

But you know what? I’m starting to not care anymore. As my life moves along I am shifting my energy into more constructive areas. There is this new desire within me to share with others the things I believe.

I am really no expert on anything. I’ve tackled industrial design in college, had a little art shop on etsy, worked/am working at photography. I have kids, I have a husband, we play guitar together, I’m starting to coupon, I try to run an organized and happy home. I’ve visited 6 countries in Europe, seen furniture I helped design become manufactured, and worked for an incredible furniture designer. But none of this matters. I could be the coolest girl of all time, or the universe’s biggest nerd; I could have mountains of money, or live in a shack. The only thing that ends up having any significance is whether I am happy. And here is the thing: I AM happy.

It’s not to my credit that I feel this way. After all I’ve done wrong I don’t deserve much. But that’s the thing about life. Don’t we get so much more than we deserve? If we put our focus into positive things like helping others, feeling and expressing gratitude for what we have, and loving ourselves and the people around us…don’t all these things invite good into our lives? How and why? <-- font=""> Super deep question that I could write about for a looong time. All I’m going to say now is: I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe that they love me. I believe that if they love me, they definitely love you, and they are the ultimate source of happiness.

The following quote illustrates perfectly the way I’m beginning to feel about how I express my own beliefs (in all areas not just the fact that I am Christian):

“I’ve come to feel that I should not worry about whether somebody thinks I’m a Christian or not, that all I have to worry about is whether I am.

And if they want to know why I am glad to talk to them about it. But I don’t spend any time at all now worrying about whether somebody thinks Mormons are Christians.”

-Dallin H. Oaks, Conversationsmormonchannel.org

So if you want to know why I am the way that I am, and why I believe what I do, then follow along! I’ve got so much I want to share.

Because We Don't Want To Lose Our Memories

When Mike and I first got to California we celebrated the 4th of July, and I mentioned that I was pretty sure this was the first 4th that he didn't have to work since we've been married. We thought long and hard, then remembered a time that we were driving around Long Beach for one reason or another, until we finally went down to the beach and watched people set off fireworks. Because we were so baffled as to when (or possibly even if) those events had occurred, we decided it was time to start documenting better.

SO with that long introduction, I am here to say that on July 4, 2013, our family (including Mike), was in California. We went to a yummy brunch courtesy of our church, swam, and ended the night with a fun block party and fireworks in the neighbor's backyard.

One of the other exciting events lately includes my sister getting engaged to this awesome guy (ok so I haven't met him in the flesh, but read his blog and then try to disagree). Their wedding will be December 28th and we are all so excited.  

Amelie has become a little speed demon, crawling around the EVERYWHERE and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING.

She loves to babble and even says a few words intentionally: more (muh), mama, dada, baba, nana (for grandma), hi, bye (bah). She waves hello and goodbye, and dances with her arms whenever she hears music or a beat. Everything goes straight into her mouth. She loves to PLAY and she prefers to eat food with textures or finger food.

Evelyn is our little creative prodigy...

She's constantly drawing on her magna-doodle, making sculptures out of pipe cleaners, painting, making necklaces, decorating rocks etc. She made up an awesome dance that I should post on here if I can figure out how. It is called, "Mean, Nice" and it's her pretending to push someone (mean) and then dance all sweetly (nice). Here is some of her work from the last few weeks:

Abstract Jack-o-Lantern

Bear dressed as a pumpkin for Halloween

Funny man holding banana under the crescent moon

SO much detail!

Dinosaur Eating French Fries

A mosquito and E doing her pirate wink.

A girl in a dress with layers. She draws people facing the other way when she is in a hurry, hence all the heads with just hair facing us.

A Little Art by my E

Of course, I had to add my own touch by inverting her work :)

8 months today

It would definitely be great to blog often. I could keep a journal of our lives, through photo and text, and it's quite therapeutic. However, there are a lot of things that I'd love to do often: go thrifting, exercise, dates with M, keep the house clean and find time to be creative. But with two little girlies that just ain't gonna happen :) <---- really I'm not sad about this. Raising these two cuties has been the best experience I could ask for. Life really is about personal growth. And the emotional, physical and mental growth that occur from being a mother is extremely refining.

Little A is already 8 months old. How could that be? Time is FLYING and we really are having so much fun. That girl can get around; she crawls all over the place and tries to get into any little nook. She is currently getting her top two teeth which has made nursing impossible. Yep, she refuses to nurse so I'm trying to pump and keep up (we'll see how long that lasts). She was loving all her baby fruits and veggies but lately all she wants is milk and puffs or rice cookies. I think she's ready to eat whatever we are, well mentally she's ready but probably not too capable. When she takes baths she LOVES to chew on a washcloth. She's been practicing pulling up on me and crawling all over my legs. Her and E are so cute together and I can already see how much she looks up to her big sister. Her personality is very determined, she goes after what she wants until she gets it. That causes a little trouble for her momma, but I like to see her true nature. She's also a very happy girl who loves to bounce when you hold her up and play all those cute baby games like pat-a-cake and red wagon. We sure love having her around.

Update: she says aah-duh when she's done eating and babbles all the time. She rolls away whenever I try to change her diaper.

Eating Tips for E

I am putting these here as a reminder to myself. My little E is the pickiest eater of all time, and I'm ready for a change. Those bags under her eyes aren't going anywhere until she starts eating better. All the tips below were taken from the enormously helpful website of nutrition expert Ellyn Satter. Definitely going to be revisiting that one.

Oh and the design of this has absolutely nothing to do with nutrition. It's a blend of simple illustrator work and a mextures image (I'm way into these mextures right now). Check them out if you're interested in free, high-resolution super galactic looking images.

You, Little Baby

Tiny hands and fingers
Raised eyebrows, wide eyes
Bubbling over with joy and excitement

Wiggling arms and kicking legs
Lack of coordination
But trying so hard

Pride in little accomplishments
Smiling even when frowns creep in
Love personified

Wintertime in California

I have been dreading the day that I'd leave California to go back to Texas, and it's hard to believe that day is here. The past four weeks have been so wonderful. I guess, looking back, I got to do everything I had hoped (except more dates and more thrifting, both of which I can't get enough). I hung out with about half of my "salad club" girls and their growing families, saw my favorite friends (didn't get enough of them either), spent time with my cousins and all the Garfield's (which included grandpa's memorial and a day at Disneyland), had a fun Christmas, went to downtown Fullerton, did a photo shoot, was in two photo shoots, ate cafe rio with more awesome friends, watched my girls LOVE their family to pieces, and enjoyed watching them get spoiled (and being very spoiled myself). Alright, it was an incredible and eventful vacation.

After doing this little recap I realize that I have no reason to be sad and no regrets. All that I'm left with is gratitude. I need to get myself back to Texas where I can be with my own little family and continue to develop friendships with the great people I've met. I am so blessed to be able to experience all I have in the last four weeks, and even more so because I can fly back here any time. Here's to Christmas vacation 2013!