Dreaming

If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone?  It's about my dream home.  But if I tell you, you have to promise not to go buy it out from under me!

First things first: I need to give you a little back-story.  Five years ago, when Steve and I had just moved back to Colorado Springs from Spain and were looking to buy a new home, my mom and I found a charming little housing community.  It's a co-housing community right in the middle of downtown Colorado Springs.  The houses all face inward, with a playground in the middle, a common building for guests to stay in, community events, optional shared dinners, and even a shared garden and workshop!  I thought it was awesome and was interested, but there weren't any openings we could afford; and to be honest, I wasn't so sure that kind of living would be a good fit.

Fast forward five years:  Today Steve went walking downtown with a friend and happened upon this community.  He loved it and wanted to show the kids and I, so for fun we ate lunch at a park downtown and then went for a walk to see this place he loved so much.  I was pretty excited when I saw that it was the same!

After doing some research, I can't get the idea out of my head!  One house (duplex) is for sale or for rent.  We can't afford to buy it, but we could afford to rent it!  It's larger than our current home with a fenced in backyard (and with the shared community outdoor space as well).  It has five bedrooms (one more than we currently have), four bathrooms (two more than we have!), is very close to Colorado College (where we work), and the community aspect really sounds amazing!  Steve, particularly, loves the thought of reaching out to our neighbors through this sort of community living.  Personally, I like the what the community has to offer for the family: campouts, crafts, game nights, holiday pot-lucks, and parent's night out!  It's like everything a church has to offer, but with a neighborhood community where we could bring glory to God's name and help others know him.

So there it is!  It would be a commitment to uproot our family from our current situation and to move to a different type of community.  It would be a lifestyle change for us, too.  Currently, we aren't always very social with our neighbors, just because we get busy with other things; but we've always loved the thought of building community with our neighbors.  I like to dream about it, but I just don't know how realistic it is.

What do you think? Would you enjoy living in this kind of community?

Fixing Up the Front Yard

Now that the kids are older they spend a lot more time out in the front yard than in the backyard.  They love to ride their bikes down the street, play in the sprinklers, play with the neighborhood kids, and, you know, paint the town red.

Meanwhile, we've had this very ugly unlandscaped area in the front of our house, which I hesitated to try to resolve because 1) anything living that I pay good money for is guaranteed to be dead very soon after it arrives at my house, and 2) I had "funner" things to spend my money on (like New York City and Broadmoor dining).

Recently, though, as travel and fancy food lose their appeal concurrent with my growing bun-in-the-oven, fixing up the house has become my new hobby.  So I tackled that notorious front area.

Ultimately, my goal is for it to look more finished and to have a place to sit in the front.  It's 7 feet by 15 feet in area.

Check it out.

Before...



After #1




After #2


It looks more "on purpose" now, but it's not finished.  I was thinking about getting something like this bistro set to place there (maybe add some color with flowers or even marbles on the table)?

Or a park bench? 

Maybe some stepping stones?

What do you think?  Assuming I have a black thumb (which I do), what should I do with all that space? 

A Picture of Motherhood

Photo Source: NJSPCA 

CCC Silent Auction

Last night was the Silent Auction fundraiser for our campus ministry.  Oh, man, it was a lot of work!

Here's a pic of all of us who worked on this auction.

You can see we all were a little loopy.  And I (the pregnant one on the right) was near-collapse.  But we survived!  And better than that, the auction went great!

This year I bid a little more enthusiastically than I had in the past, which was really fun.

I won a Sweet Treats Package:  a rhubarb pie and a chocolate box filled with chocolatey bars by Blue Eyed Girl Homemade, and a beautiful blue cake stand. 

(I already threw away the cute box the chocolate bars came in.  I'm anything if not a junkaphobe.")

I was also bidding very aggressively and hopefully on a handmade birdfeeder, made by my friend Terry, which perfectly matches my house, and a set of cards by another friend, Karen, paired with a gift certificate for Sweet Daphne Confections.  Lo and behold, just as time was nearly up, my mom sneaked (snuck?snook?) in there and upped the bid one last time.  Then she gave me them as a gift.  Thanks, Mom!  (And thanks, Terry and Karen!)

Thanks to all who came to our silent auction!  Through your generosity our ministry raised about $11,000 for student conference scholarships, campus outreaches, and all the other things that go into a successful, thriving campus movement!

(And thank you to all my friends who donated your awesome gifts and talents for our auction!)

Anti-Procrastination Day



Photo source: http://www.justabouttaxes.com/


Today I'm going to work on my taxes.  I'm trying to make a fun day out of it.  Teo and I are going to go over to Mom and Dad's house, use their computer, eat their food, maybe jump on their bed, put salt in their sugar jar.  (They won't be there.)

I used to like to do taxes.  It basically felt like getting "paid" $2,000 for a couple hours work.  Lately, though, I've been owing money on our taxes, so I procrastinated.

Wish me luck, and lots of deductions!

In Today's Strange, But Real, News

Things you should know that have been happening around the world:

A 75 year-old woman in the country of Georgia who was "fishing" for copper, accidentally cut some wires that crashed the internet in the entire country of Armenia.  She has been nicknamed the "Spade Hacker."  She could face up to three years in prison if charged and convicted.

(Read the story)

A German mother watched her two year-old ride off on a train without her.  She was unloading her things, including the child's stroller, when the doors to the train closed and the train left the station.  She heard her daughter cry out "Mama!"  She says "It was the worst moment of my life."  She begged authorities to stop the train, but they replied "We can't do that.  It must stay on schedule."  The mother was reunited with her daughter at another station.  The CEO has since apologized personally to the mother.

(Read the story) 

A prankster in Maryland took apparently took April Fool's a little too far.  Emergency authorities were called to Wal-Mart when a man was glued to a toilet seat.  The seat had to be removed at a nearby hospital. He suffered only minor injuries to his buttocks.

(Read the story)

A Kid Tip: Bland Cereal

I kind of fall on both sides of the equation when it comes to sugary cereals.  On one hand, my kids eat Lucky Charms almost every day.  (Seriously, who can blame them?)  But on the other hand, there's a trick I learned that helps them eat healthier cereal with less sugar.

When you eat a "healthy" (meaning, in this case, bland) cereal like plain Cheerios or Rice Crispies, do you add a teaspoon or more of sugar?  I always did.

But what about putting on a few shakes of sprinkles for kids instead?  My kids love to decorate their cereal with all the different colors available, and even if they overdo it, they end up with way less than a teaspoon of sugar.

  (Okay, college-aged readers, I know you don't have kids, but admit it, you want to try this, don't you?)

April Fool!!

I'm not much of a prankster.  I'm not a very good actress and I end up feeling so bad for the person I'm tricking that I can rarely follow through!

Last night I was speaking at a meeting of college students, and I was really tempted to try to pull a prank on them!  I'm pregnant and getting quite large, and I know most college students can't tell the difference between 5 months pregnant and 9 months pregnant.  I so badly wanted to double over and clutch my stomach and cry out in pain.  Think it would've worked?  I was afraid of giving Steve a very real heart attack, though, so I didn't do it.

How about you?  Do you like to pull pranks, especially on April Fools Day?  Do you like when you're the "victim?"

Photo: www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com

If you're looking for a prank to pull today, here are some cute, harmless ideas:

1. Tape magnets to the bottom of an empty coffee cup, and attach it to the top of your car. Laugh at all the people who frantically try to get your attention as you drive by.
2. Wait until your victim is in the kitchen. Come in and start filling a bucket with water (tell them you're washing the car or something). Only instead of actually filling the bucket, just pretend. Lift the bucket with both hands, acting like it's heavy and filled with water. Take a couple of steps in the victim's direction and suddenly "trip" and aim the bucket right toward them. They'll duck thinking they're getting splashed!
3. Has your victim been working on an important project on their computer? Carefully hide the document in a safe place, then create a fake document with the same name. Fill the document with gobbledy-gook or a funny story. At the bottom put "April Fool's!"
4. Buy some fake but realistic-looking flowers from a craft store and "plant" them in your victim's garden. They will be shocked to find they have a greener thumb than they thought!
5. Replace the lotion in your victim's lotion bottle with mayonnaise.
6. Take all the cereal in the house, remove the plastic bags from the boxes, and switch them around. When the victim tries to eat breakfast they will do a double-take when the wrong cereal pours out.
7. Put a note on your victim's car that says "Sorry about the dent. Call me so we can swap insurance information." Include a fake name and phone number. Be sure to hide nearby so you can watch them search in vain for the "dent."
   
   (Thanks, April Fool Zone, for the ideas!)

What's the best (or worst) prank anyone has ever played on you?  What's the best one you've pulled on someone else?

Screwtape Letters

 

“Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches… The search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where the Enemy wants him to be a pupil.”
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

Screwtape Letters is a fascinating look at the strategies Satan uses to keep Christians from being a threat to his mission.  It's written from the point of view of a fictional demon and his fictional demon-mentor as they write letters back and forth, discussing the best approach to take with a new Christian that they hope to render irrelevant.

Looking for something different to do today?  Screwtape Letters is playing today at the Pikes Peak Center, in Colorado Springs, at 4:00 pm.

Click here to find out more or to get tickets.

Even if you can't make the showing today, I highly recommend that you put your kids in front of a movie (if you have kids), grab a cup of coffee and one of my chocolate chip cookies, curl up on your favorite chair, and start reading this book, even if you already have.  I think I'll go do that.

Thanks, Julie, for sharing this quote on Facebook!

St. Paddy's Dublin Style

Do you ever wonder if they actually care about St. Patrick's Day in Ireland?  I guess they do!

This picture was taken from our friend's, Kelly and Kate's, apartment in Dublin, Ireland.  They live right downtown.  What a view!

Thank you, Len Carolan, for sharing this photo!

Why I Like Being in My 30s

When I turned thirty I freaked out a little bit.  Suddenly I couldn't say to the college students I worked with, "Yeah, I'm in my twenties just like you."  I don't think I ever did say that, but it was nice to know that I could.  Until I turned thirty.  I'd try not to tell them how old I was, but if I did, their faces would be shocked, as though they were thinking, "You're that old?!"  And I wondered if they were considering buying me bifocals or a walker or something.

But now that I've had a few years to think about it, I've come to realize that being in my thirties rocks!  The thirties are way better than the twenties.

Here's why the thirties are better:
1.) I'm healthier, fitter, and look nearly as good as when I was in my twenties. (Thank you, P90X!)

2.) I know what I'm good at, and I'm better at it now.

3.) I have cooler toys.

4.) I have more fun on the weekends.

4.) I have a bigger, better fan club.

So, if this is the thirties, I can't wait to see how my forties are going to pan out!

What My Blog Will NOT Be About

1) This blog will not be about gardening.

2) This blog will not be about how to have a spotless house.



3) This blog will not be about photography.

(But I reserve the right to talk about any of these as the mood strikes.)

Fashion Sense

Do you ever get dressed in the morning, and then on your way out the door (5 minutes later than you wanted to leave, of course), you realize you hate what you're wearing?  Or maybe you're just not "feelin' it?"  That happened to me today.

This is what I was wearing. (By the way, I am pregnant. You can really see the bump in this picture.)

I just wasn't feelin' it.  (Oh, and please forgive my terrible photography.  Maybe I'll get better with practice.  Maybe?)  Well, I didn't have time to change, so this is what I wore out today.  And it turns out I got some compliments.  So I guess sometimes it's good to do something different for a change.

On the other hand, this is much more my style.

Aaah, I'm more comfortable just looking at it!

But, that said, this is what I'm wearing the rest of the day.

When I'm spending the rest of the day on the couch due to partial bedrest, I go for function over fashion!

There's one other thing I've got to show you.  You might think I'm crazy, and if you do, I'll understand. 

A while ago I heard a talk on being a good (loving...perfect...imaginary) wife, and the woman said to wear the outfits your husband likes.  I realized that Steve compliments and seems to appreciate certain outfits, but that I rarely remember which ones, so I started a list.  Here it is.

On this paper, I make notes of outfits that people have complimented, or that I've really loved, so I can remember to wear them again., instead of defaulting to the same old, same old.

If you look really closely, you can see that the last outfit I've recorded is:

Bottom: grey leggings & denim mini (skirt)

Top: purple cami & blue AE long sleeved

Shoes: fuzzy boots or ...

Miscellaneous: lightweight blue scarf, black & blue earrings

Who: both (O=others, S=Steve, and both=well, you know)

So there you have it.  My OCD on display for everyone to see. 

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful; It's a lot of hard work!