A Cousin Get Together

My cousin, Carla, asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in taking her kids' pictures - of course! I was really excited and ended up talking to my cousin, Krista, to see if she would be interested in coming up to hang out as well as my two sisters Cassidie and Kayleen (Kimberly lives on the other side of the world - aka New Mexico). It ended up being such a nice visit - the kids got to play together, and we got a chance to "play together" as well.

Carla had her doubts on how difficult her kids would be in their photo shoot (I tend to hear this a lot from families :) they couldn't have been better.

So after a full lunch I took my first cousins once removed out and this is what resulted...

Granddaddy's Wisdom

I was very lucky to have not one, but two excellent granddaddy's who loved me very much and who fought for our country's freedom.

Probably about 12-14 years ago, when I wasn't even able to vote I was at my Granddaddy Mills' home and we were talking politics. He said something that day that I will never forget, something that has always struck me profoundly. He told me he had never lost a vote. As an ignorant youth I thought at first that he was amazingly intuitive that every single person he had ever voted for had won - incredible! Well, he was quick to set me straight (as I was exclaiming my glee on his voting record). He told me he has voted in every single election - and that sometimes his candidate did lose, but that his voice as a citizen of this great nation had always been heard.

That lesson I learned that day has set a pattern for my desire since being eligible to register to vote and allow my voice to be heard in every election. It's true that sometimes our desired elective official might not be the one who indeed clinches the victory, but our chance to let our voice to be heard by being allowed to vote is something I do not take lightly. I do not allow soothsayers to say, it doesn't really matter how you vote, the election is already decided - who are they to say that? They haven't heard my voice yet. As it is the eve of election day, and I am probably more haggard than ever by political ads, phone campaigns, my mailbox being stuffed full, and fully disgusted by the millions of dollars in mudslinging competitions, and I can't bear to watch any news coverage surrounding the impending election - but I will still make my way to my polling locale, stand in whatever line it takes with a fussy 15 month old to make sure I live up to my Granddaddys' legacy and let them know that I appreciate the fight they fought for me so that my voice can be heard.

I hope you don't lose your vote.

I've Been Tagged - I like this one :)

Melinda tagged me to:

1.) Go to your Pictures folder on your computer

2.) Go to your 4th folder

3.) Get your 4th picture

4.) Tag four people

Here's my photo:

I love bath shots - and I have a TON of them :)

I tag Kayleen, Cassidie, Kimberly and Carla!

Smoky Mountain Retreat

I love the great outdoors - my first date with Andrew was hiking on the Appalachian Trail up to Blood Mountain - oh, that's a story for another day :), but I really have enjoyed the many trips we have taken to the ancient mountains to our north.

For Columbus Day weekend, Andrew had vowed we would go out of town. Initially the plan was to go Rabun Beach by Tallulah Gorge and car camp (we did this a year ago with Scott and Cassidie and had a blast - it was so beautiful there!), however, the morning of, dear ole' dad - Andrew- got a little scaredy-cat taking a 14 month camping in a tent. I thought - what can two sleepless nights really hurt, right? So instead he made reservations at hotels in Cherokee and Asheville, NC.

Well, in Andrew's defense, our little Maddy is a little particular about her sleeping arrangements. She is able to easily go to sleep if: 1. she has her pacie 2. she's been well-fed 3. she has had her night-time routine of her stories and prayer and most importantly 4. She can't see (or hear) you. If those 4 components are in place, she sleeps like a champ, if not - oh man! So the first night we rearranged the furniture in our mini-suite so that her pack'n play was behind the couch in the little alcove - but she was nowhere near ready when we first set her down. She cried and cried and Andrew was about ready to throw in the towel and pack our stuff and head home. With a little coaxing on both of their parts, I was able to get them both calmed and our little stinker went right to peaceful sleep.

We traveled along the Blue Ridge Parkway - normally an incredible stretch of road from North Carolina to Virginia on moutainous roads, however, we were traveling along the "Smoky" portion which meant a lot of fog and seldom the great vistas I have seen here before. In Asheville we visited the Arboretum and drove to Mt. Pisgah to catch the sunset. We stopped at this old fire tower you hike up to, sadly, we didn't quite make the sunset, however, the experience of that fire tower is one I will not soon forget. I am not afraid of heights - I do make an exception for this tower that seemed like it was built a hundred years ago (it wasn't), while you climb the tower sways in the breeze definitely playing a number on your equilibrium. It was really incredible the views and foliage changing, and I was very, very, VERY happy to make it back on solid ground :)
It was a fun trip after all and thank goodness Madeleine cooperated because this momma had a blast.

Praying manthis about to jump (he's definitely not praying now!)

They don't call it the Smoky Mountains for nothing...




My first real attempt at macro shots...

Not a macro, but the coolest bonsai I've ever seen...

At the Arboretum nature walk...
The fire tower...

The Latest...

I love fabric. I especially love fun, new, fresh, funky fabrics. When I stumbled upon Sandi Henderson's blog and fabric lines, I fell in love (and just a funny side note, I found out she was LDS after reading her blog for about a month). She also does incredible children's patterns that I have an itching for, but can't bring myself to spring the $15.95 for (they just were released so hot off the press). The above picture is from her Ginger Blossom line. I have been wanting to redo Madeleine's room and nothing out there was really doing it for me - I knew I wanted a lot of different colors and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for until this. Unfortunately it's not so easy as waltzing down to your local Joann's to pick up - and most online places have it listed for $9/yard or more (as if!) so when I turned to my faithful Etsy, I was overjoyed! I was able to get some of the pieces above for $6.50/yard - quite the savings if you ask me. So now I am thrilled to get started on my next project.

Also - my Etsy business has gone pretty well - so far 7 sales in just 2 weeks - much better than I anticipated as a newcomer and that makes me HAPPY! I am a little surprised my red & black tutus have been my best sellers - who knew? The people I have done work for have been so incredibly nice, it is such a boost. I need to crank out some more samples to post.

Aside from my selling and shopping, since all my tutus are hand-tied I wanted to try my hand at a sewn one. I think it is beautiful, but much more like a princess skirt then a tutu - it still will be fun to do some pictures in. I also made Maddy these cute brown and pink polka-dot pants - I still need to attach the ruffle at the bottoms, but they are super cute! I love being able to make something that is unique.

Thanks Mom for being my lifelong sewing instructor and feeling the importance to teach me this skill as a child. I've really gotten such a kick out of sewing lately.

HoneysuckleDew

I have just opened my Etsy shop and have already had my first customer (yay!). Check out my new business blog www.honeysuckledew.blogspot.com for details and visit www.honeysuckledew.etsy.com to view my products for sale.

My quirky post...

I have been tagged to outline 6 of my quirks. I know I am a very quirky person, but just trying to think of 6 all together has taken me a few days. So here I go...

1. When I unload the dishwasher with the plastic bowls (which are in 4 different colors), I have to make sure the colors are separated - so no pink and pink, it must be pink, green, purple, and blue - or in whatever order so that it's no two of the same together. Weird? Definitely, but keep reading!
2. I talk to all the drivers around me - some say it could be road rage, I definitely would not say it is so harsh. I've been a LOT better with Madeleine with me - so now the drivers that don't do what I would like them to do are now referred to as "ding dongs" or "doofus".
3. I LOVE the mail, it is seriously an obsession, stemmed from being a little girl receiving my birthday cards from my aunt and grandparents at my birthday and fueled into overdrive while 2,000 miles away at college, I take that back, really crazy into the mail when I was waiting for my husband to return home from his mission. I think the mailman must have thought I was pyscho all the colorful mail going to and from my mailbox. The funny thing was growing up I had the most awesome mailman - Dennis, and when we moved into the house we are now in (across the street from the neighborhood I grew up in) we had the same mailman. He was fabulous - so friendly would always stop and talk and would never drive by without waving - I almost cried two years ago when he retired. I understand that evite is super simple and convenient, but there is nothing better than receiving an invitation in the mail.
4. I am slowly outgrowing this next quirk. When Madeleine was first born (and up until she was about a year), I was obsessed with keeping her clean - and from strangers touching her. I still cannot understand what would possess a stranger to come up and touch my baby's face/hands (YUCK!) I was definitely not afraid to tell well meaning strangers to keep their hands to themselves - a little zany, yes, but I credit my craziness with keeping my baby from having any illness in her first year. Now I try to tell myself that it is okay for her to be around a little bit of germs, I've actually read that it actually helps improve a developing immune system and in some instances can possibly help a child from developing food allergies or diabetes - we'll see. So I'm a work in progress on this one.
5. Everynight before I go to bed I HAVE to brush my teeth, wash my face, and say my night time prayer - I cannot sleep until my "routine" is complete!
6. Memories mean everything to me, I have a "memory box" that I've kept with ridiculous memorabilia since I was a small child. I have a hard time throwing away "memories" - like Andrew wanting to throw away our ski tags from this past winter's ski trip. He has helped me to be better on throwing more away, but it is still hard sometimes. That is why pictures are so important to me. Andrew's mom died when he was 10 and there are not a whole lot of pictures from when he was little - it makes me so sad! I know a lot of my friends are surprised sometimes by the things I remember, but it's just because they mean a lot to me and I don't like to forget. Scrapbooking has been a great outlet for this quirk, and I have especially enjoyed diving into the digital scrapbooking era.

So I hope you have gotten just a little bit of enjoyment from my quirks, and I hope your day is great!