tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63902646423527782432024-03-16T11:51:46.198-07:00The Rhodes LogKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.comBlogger308125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-16424901590777119222019-10-15T08:28:00.000-07:002019-10-15T08:28:30.775-07:00State of the Rhodes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm gimped up today because I was trying to be a fun mom outside yesterday and pulled? tore? my hip flexor. Lesson learned. No more fun momming. Only boring momming from here on out.</div>
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But this is good, I'm telling myself because it's forcing me to really slow down. Like to a hobble. And if there's one thing that's become increasingly clear to me in my thirties: we are bad at slowing down.<br />
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This has served us well in some right because I really like what we've done. But between businesses and babies. We tired.<br />
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Jacob is juggling all the things and building our third AirB&B cabin.<br />
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We're really enjoying this business (you can catch our listings <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/37247447">HERE</a> and <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29004835?source_impression_id=p3_1571152093_sNeFTTw1I5j%2Bp0de">HERE</a>) which is good. When we started we knew we were excited to build stilted cabins, but we didn't know how we would feel about running a hospitality business. Turns out making money helping people relax and then reading reviews about how much they love what you've built is pretty awesome. So...come visit us!<br />
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People ask if Jacob builds the cabins himself, and the short answer is: yes. He can do all the things and it is amazing to me, but whenever I gush about it I think of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTcvmmOkqJI">this Portlandia skit</a>, and then I feel ridiculous. We try to hire subs as much as possible to make things go more quickly, but he pretty much does it all himself. So dreamy.<br />
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So Jacob's average day might look like chainsawing in a tree, then taking a work call up in a tree, then texting his wife about the four Cara Caras flying around, then texting his wife again asking if she's picked the tile for the cabin bathroom, then heading in for school pick-ups, then stopping by his brother's new juice bar in town to help install some shelves, then coming home to help navigate babies while we get dinner on.<br />
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My days are equally hustley except they look a lot more domestic. I'm doing my darndest to soak up the baby, smell the proverbial roses, and fish the literal paper out of her mouth.<br />
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Because (SURPRISE!) we had a baby! It's a nine month old!<br />
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Basil Gracie <span style="text-align: center;">is everywhere and into everything and delights us all the time. She's taking after her parents and doing all the things at once. Last week she had a bad cold, cut her first tooth, and started sleeping through the night. She's been crawling and pulling to standing for a few months now, so she's setting family records. She claps and is also doing this strange thigh-hitting thing which I think is her version of a wave.</span><br />
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She saves her biggest grins for her siblings, and we're all sappy in love with her.<br />
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Roman especially loves her which is good because man has that boy been a stinker recently.<br />
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He turned four and immediately started behaving like a three year old. I think the parenting experts call it "pushing limits." I tell him to come and he sprints the other way. I pick him up and he'll try to headbutt me. And his eyes get wild with dangerous excitement whenever he gets a chance to disobey. He's also been sassy. The other day he called me "dumb" and then insisted that he wasn't name-calling because he'd actually said "jumb." (-_-)<br />
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So Romie is Wreck-it-Ralphing limits right now with a side of teenage girl thrown in.<br />
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But then he'll do the sweetest thing that has ever been done in the world. Like ask me to button up his shirts so his "heart won't get cold." Or tell me he wants to spend the last five minutes before bed time hugging Basil.<br />
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Then I just want to snuggle right into his rock solid smooshy little boy body.<br />
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And so I hit publish for the first time in over a year on these little bits of nothing. Enjoy the flowers before the frost!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelRyCt9LsFk43HGb3FsxDauxTix_pKjyHEfzKsE9xLdWrtxkyf0es9GPxIfQMCAAC0LKi-w9_Rs-vAz0ULy2njPxas8OIJ8eOIP_GgEFO7RbpH0DDF4JOiL_u_431cNSkbBLM8xv6hIIf/s1600/IMG-1052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelRyCt9LsFk43HGb3FsxDauxTix_pKjyHEfzKsE9xLdWrtxkyf0es9GPxIfQMCAAC0LKi-w9_Rs-vAz0ULy2njPxas8OIJ8eOIP_GgEFO7RbpH0DDF4JOiL_u_431cNSkbBLM8xv6hIIf/s640/IMG-1052.JPG" width="640" /></a>Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-39649698629442779722018-05-03T12:31:00.003-07:002018-05-03T12:34:26.766-07:00Free Range Babies<div style="text-align: center;">
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I've been reading through my archives and it's been such a trip. I'm so glad to have this record, and so <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2018/04/old-school-update.html">in the spirit of my last post</a> I sit down dutifully to hammer out the recent weeks - and blank. Nothing. Nada.<br />
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What do we spend our time doing? What do I spend my time doing?<br />
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I walk around and close doors that children leave open - I do that a lot.<br />
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I walk around and look for the children that left the doors open - because I lose them a lot. We live on fifty acres and there are so many places to get lost: are they at the treehouse? are they at Jacob's cabin? Are they at the burn pile? The other burn pile? Are they at the fishing shack, the goat garden, or the bamboo forest?<br />
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I would save myself a lot of time and anxiety if I could just keep track of them in the first place, but they disappear so quickly. And then I call to see if they're with Jacob.<br />
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That conversation might go like this:<br />
ME: Do you have the kids?<br />
JACOB: No, but they're fine.<br />
ME: They can't be far because nobody has on shoes, Lucy June is in an oversized princess dress, and Roman is naked and carrying the cat.<br />
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Then I walk to my mom's to see if they're sneaking Lara bars from the pantry. Nope. Maybe they're in the shop playing restaurant and littering the concrete floor with lettuce? Nope. Turns out they rode their plastic toys to the mailbox and are returning empty handed because they already got the mail last time I lost them.<br />
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I'm grateful for all the wilderness at our fingertips, but a yard with a fence has its merits.<br />
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And tomorrow. We'll do it all again.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-86164067697122163692018-04-22T13:33:00.000-07:002018-04-23T05:39:28.320-07:00Old School UpdateBack in the good old days of blogging - before the advent of instagram swipe ups and curated streams and all the gizmos that have spiced up social media - I used to actually post.<br />
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I would just start typing my little online journal and scroll through my iPhone photos and try to be funny, and I would never think about reach, in fact I had no idea that was a thing.<br />
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And it was fun.<br />
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And reading those old posts is fun.<br />
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So here is my effort to get back into the friendly, rambling kind of blogging.<br />
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We've been working on the garden. We've planted onions, bush beans, carrots, beets, and tomatoes. About six carrots have come up, the bush beans and onions are spotty, the tomatoes look like this:<br />
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So basically, I'm just a black-thumbed sucker for punishment.<br />
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Jacob's vineyard is filling in, it is happening so quickly and is so fun to watch. We have a small peach tree with all kinds of baby fruit, a giant rosebush that is flourishing, probably because I haven't touched it, and an apricot tree with two whole apricots!!!<br />
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We got a tiny bit of rain yesterday that won't put a dent in our perpetual drought conditions. We always need rain and you can hear all the ranchers talking about it around town. Everybody's so thankful for the rain. How 'bout this rain? Sure needed the rain.<br />
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Our washing machine stopped spinning a couple weeks ago and I had to cart our laundry next door to my mom's - and I've never been so on top of laundry. Why is it that certain things get more doable when they're more difficult? Is this just a personality trait? It is completely true for me.<br />
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Our washing machine was old and a little too tricky for us to fix, so we debated buying a new fancypants washing machine. In the end we remembered my grandmother's old washing machine which has been sitting on the back driveway for the past eight months. (Between trenching projects, broken kid bikes, and appliances on the patio, our place is a stunner!) My grandmother's machine - which is older than me - still works like a charm, or it did as soon as we replaced the washer dogs in the agitator. #hopelessDIYers<br />
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Now every time I do laundry, the past and the present kiss, and I hear my grandmother's voice: DON'T OVERLOAD IT.<br />
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She was ornery.<br />
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Gosh, I miss her.<br />
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KIDS</div>
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Jakeboy is as industrious as ever, always doing, making, directing, wakes up at the crack of dawn and is asleep within seconds of his goodnight kiss. All in, all the time. He and his dad have been working on a "fishing shack" down by the creek and he's very into making desserts - which his siblings all love because he rarely strays from three primary ingredients: powdered sugar, cocoa, nutella.<br />
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Lucy June - true to her babyhood - just wants to be with people. She's sensitive to everyone around her and because of this she's become brilliant at hiding. She will hide and I literally can't find her - especially because I have to act like I'm not looking. She is so quiet and knows just where to disappear. I don't think she's fully aware of her superpower.<br />
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Romie is all delight. He's obsessed with skunks - which he pronounces "dunks." (Of course if you mimic him and say "dunk" he looks at you like you're some kind of idiot.) He's very tactile and will grab your bicep and smash his face against your skin. He hates to be left behind and always waits for stragglers. The other day he thanked me for folding and putting his clothes away - exuberantly, jumping up and down.<br />
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Awhile back I jumped <a href="https://www.beautycounter.com/katierhodes">on the Beautycounter train and loved it so much I recently became a consultant</a>. I NEVER thought I would do any kind of network marketing, but here I am selling Beautycounter and racking my brain about whether I've ever gone on any public rants about direct sales. :-/<br />
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I put a basket of fun products together, and I've been dropping it off at friends' houses giving them a big shpiel about how I want them to spa it up and not feel obligated to buy things. I mean this so wholeheartedly. I'm the kind of person who if I didn't buy anything in the basket, I would duck and cover whenever I saw that person in the grocery store. And in my town, you always see people in the grocery store.<br />
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But honestly...as nervous as I am about it, the process has been really delightful. I reach out to people because I think they might like the products, and then all of a sudden I'm texting someone and joking about launching mascara at them at the farmer's market and feeling...connected and excited to share products I really really like.<br />
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We've been working through some gross illness stuff - bad colds and coughs and impetigo. Delightful that. Now I'm wondering whether the impetigo was some kind of weird karma since it hit within days of me signing up to be a skincare consultant.<br />
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Do other people think thoughts like this?<br />
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Jacob is currently building a cabin on our property that we will rent out as a bed and breakfast. It's coming along well, if slowly, and we're in design decision mode.<br />
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Traditionally we just argue over every design decision and then end up disliking our compromise, but this time Jacob had a different idea for a compromise: I make all the design choices for this cabin. If we build a second cabin, <i>he </i>will make all the design decisions, so far...it's been an ok idea.<br />
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Our budget for this project is a little higher than normal, and because we want it to be nice for guests, it's proving to be more fun than our previous projects which needed to be cheap/durable for renters. I want it to feel fresh, modern, minimal, but also rural and quaint, maybe some southwestern vibes. I've really nailed this down.<br />
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So far the design process has looked like me clicking back and forth between Wayfair and West Elm and Chairish and then I'll see how beautiful it is outside and abandon it all to go pull thistles.<br />
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And last but not least - did you see that Madewell is 30% sale styles right now?? Which means <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/G4Qo">these jeans</a> are a steal. Of course Texas temps are skyrocketing soon so I'll be sitting tight and waiting for <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/G4Q7">these shorts</a> to go on sale.</div>
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Oh and one last last thing. The prickly pear is blooming.<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-55218988699375331932018-01-31T10:58:00.002-08:002018-01-31T11:13:07.889-08:00Overdue Update on the Country Life<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hello! I'll skip all the apologies for never blogging anymore and dive right into what life looked like here over the past few months.<br />
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Lucy June turned four in October and we gave her a kitten. We got the kitten from a shelter which was very strange for me. When I was growing up, cats or dogs would show up and we would beg our parents to let us keep them. Those animals would have lots of progeny that we would beg other parents to let their kids keep. But we got our kitten from a shelter because stray-ville seems less populated than it was in the 90s. Her tag said her name was "Tamale" - which is an awesome kitten name - so we kept it and call her Molly.<br />
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I am not a cat person. But I'm more of a cat person than I am a snake person, so the choice to bring a kitty into the clan was an easy one. Turns out, I love her. She purrs and purrs and does cute kitten-y things. Jacob was firm that she would be an outside cat, but then she started hurling herself against our bedroom at night and now we let her in sometimes.<br />
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The other day we found a mouse in the bottom of our trash can and so we put Molly in with the mouse and waited for her predatorial instincts to kick into gear. Nada. Twenty minutes later someone knocked over the trashcan and a terrified mouse scurried out, followed by an indifferent Molly.<br />
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At least she chases the chickens off the back porch.<br />
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And in chicken news: In December, I made the brilliant choice to raise three dozen meat chickens - our winters are mild enough that I figured it was as good a month as any. Then we had a string of some of the worst cold fronts since I was a kid. Keeping them alive was more challenging then I thought it would be, but they all survived. They're eight weeks old today and we plan to slaughter this weekend. So...come on over.<br />
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In September, Jacob built the kids a treehouse in a glorious old pecan that sits low in a water run-off into the creek. He didn't put a single hole in the tree which I find mostly admirable and slightly terrifying.<br />
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I sent the kids up there to color almost everyday before the weather got cold. It usually started well and ended with them dropping colored pencils through the gaps in the floorboards.<br />
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In November, the kids were playing in the treehouse - with a couple friends - and claimed they'd seen a coral snake. I didn't believe their story, but I grabbed a stick and started poking under the bush where they said it was. Jacob came out after me with a shovel and really started scraping at the leaf cover and...the kids weren't lying. It was remarkable how well that brightly colored snake had obscured itself. We looked at it for a long time after Jacob chopped it to bits. The first venomous snake I've ever seen out here.<br />
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So now we're going back to the cat shelter to pick out an Enchilada and maybe a Fajita - because no thank you.<br />
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In the early fall we were taking lots of evening walks around the property - Jacob cut a trail for us so it was manageable for the kids despite all the cactus and nettle and fire ants (#texasforever?) We'd pick wildflowers and look for tracks and listen for the squeaks of whistling ducks overhead. It was the best.<br />
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During one evening walk, the boys were down in the creek bottom when I heard some yelling and then up from the creek chugged this enormous pig. We're talking 400 pounds of black wild boar. It was exhilarating and terrifying and I pulled our two littlest towards me as the pig charged in and out of thickets in a wide ring around us and then out of sight.<br />
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We never had wild pigs here growing up - they can really overrun the place so nobody's happy about it - but my was it something to witness. The ground shook.<br />
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The pig story is already the stuff of legend. Romie mentioned it daily for weeks afterwards: The wild pig will not eat him. The wild pig can't come in our house because the wild pig don't has hands.<br />
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Jacob is trellising the vineyard this week and I will be doing some prep for our garden. My garden plan this year is to overcommit and MAYBE we'll get something more then okra.<br />
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So there you have it. And if you've hung in there for this entire post, then you should know about these <a href="http://amzn.to/2i7Y7Re">Quick Reference Nature Guides</a> (affiliate link) they routinely sell at grocery stores around here. A friend tipped me off and we love them. They're laminated and very sturdy, so the kids read them at breakfast and take them outside with us on walks. We have the bird, flower, butterfly, snakes, and track/scat guides. As soon as I see it at the grocery checkout I'll be nabbing the Central Texas Trees.<br />
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So that's my update. I'll try to check in sooner than later. You'll be wanting pictures of the chicken butchering.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-32028141241094532962017-09-18T14:00:00.000-07:002017-09-18T14:00:00.191-07:00Mom's Morning OutAs of two weeks ago our chickens are laying eggs - or at least three of them are laying eggs? maybe more?<br />
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After I spent two months checking the nesting boxes twice a day and underneath the tractor and the parked trailer and behind the crepe myrtles on one side of the house and the nandena on the other side of the house to no avail, Jacob found the first egg. Which he of course left there for a baby to find, because it just so happened to be our baby's birthday.<br />
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The freshly minted two year old came in mighty proud of himself and his "burday ugg. iss my burday ugg, mom!" and we promptly cracked it into his cupcake batter.<br />
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Worn out on his big day:<br />
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So the baby isn't so much of a baby anymore. He's two and he's in mother's day out two mornings a week along with his big sister and the big man's in Kindergarten,<br />
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Look at this coolio.<br />
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I feel like - in the course of a week - I graduated to a whole new phase of parenting - like I have one leg firmly out of the trenches. I don't know what to do with myself truly. I get to make annoying administrative phone calls in the calm of a morning instead of in stolen moments while locked in the bathroom hoping it doesn't sound too echoey on the other end. I don't have to overthink every single errand that needs to be run. I get to stop in at a coffee shop, stand patiently in line, and nestle in with my laptop...and blog!<br />
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So far I've loved it. I love the hectic mornings of making the lunches and watching people toddle into school with their backpacks. I've loved how they run to me when I pick them up. I love the alternate mornings of being home with just the little ones who are still content to simply dig in the garden and splash the watering can around. I've loved having a schedule that I have to work around, and times when I have to be out the door, and a reason to get out of my proverbial or literal yoga pants.<br />
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We'll see how long the high lasts. I've struggled with a weird narrative that I don't "deserve" to get breaks like this - even if I'm spending my "breaks" catching up on our business accounting, freelancing little jobs, or doing otherwise "worky" type things. I've become so accustomed to always feeling frazzled and behind on things and listening to my broken record of the "poor poor overworked overtired little mama." Now I drop little kids off and then get back into the empty van with sunglasses on and skinny jeans and ankle boots and I don't even know myself.<br />
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Having a schedule and seeing the week in chunks of time has really helped me find space. A few hours of personal space. Space in my week for laundry or for meal-planning or for reading a chapter book to the six year old during the opportune nap. <br />
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And more space in my heart for the same old shenanigans.<br />
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With that I must go. I'm at my town's beautiful old library which typically smells of equal parts musty books and children's story hour, but someone has put on some potent and vaguely peach-scented lotion which is my cue.<br />
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Happy day and happy week to you!<br />
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:)<br />
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-7023931515412154802017-09-14T05:12:00.002-07:002017-09-14T05:13:12.498-07:00Before and After: A Remodel Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Before:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqjBVo-WTuSY62RjILupuebtVZuuBy7P4Wd3jwTGAfwNEikXi8X99B4elsWPi7kIiimc2PGbfMZ15zAiDlozMERvAq97Zzz0efIzVtV71pgo2haBhyphenhyphenFOmcGRBn4tFJ7zl6P8zvzjEZ-AQ/s1600/hr3619018-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqjBVo-WTuSY62RjILupuebtVZuuBy7P4Wd3jwTGAfwNEikXi8X99B4elsWPi7kIiimc2PGbfMZ15zAiDlozMERvAq97Zzz0efIzVtV71pgo2haBhyphenhyphenFOmcGRBn4tFJ7zl6P8zvzjEZ-AQ/s640/hr3619018-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The house was listed as a "charming cottage" and it had been all but abandoned for two years. </div>
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After:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqx1m9i8yJaAeRC-7m7a9FgtuAbu3dSK6D5YOOtbQBTKkuxYxZj96rMVdo02F3MCiPDYcV83dBUEvfg64jQzr_K7jozBO3ujEJ8V4xty9WSQh7TmWFzTEaIx_phEiCPtyK2hdv2PtJXAfN/s1600/Sanford_House_-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqx1m9i8yJaAeRC-7m7a9FgtuAbu3dSK6D5YOOtbQBTKkuxYxZj96rMVdo02F3MCiPDYcV83dBUEvfg64jQzr_K7jozBO3ujEJ8V4xty9WSQh7TmWFzTEaIx_phEiCPtyK2hdv2PtJXAfN/s640/Sanford_House_-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Before:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8pwORdBNveaMLoMdl1LnbIOLw3zi3KFwsjMjHGmwyMSFjqiUZGXIp6zJjq_GlWs5JoUWgBXTU5lEBTEdY8cDUvWPuQkoG8jTjxqci2T1LHeRCOi6gLYuqKF7M0QtE6Sv5D5mt3_WOCpp/s1600/hr3619018-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8pwORdBNveaMLoMdl1LnbIOLw3zi3KFwsjMjHGmwyMSFjqiUZGXIp6zJjq_GlWs5JoUWgBXTU5lEBTEdY8cDUvWPuQkoG8jTjxqci2T1LHeRCOi6gLYuqKF7M0QtE6Sv5D5mt3_WOCpp/s640/hr3619018-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thankfully by the time we moved in the previous owners had removed all the stuff. <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2016/03/before-and-after-our-first-remodel.html">The last fixer upper we bought</a> was full of personal property that we had to deal with and it was such a time suck. You know that it's pretty much trash, but you don't want to accidentally throw away something super valuable. </div>
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After:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIZht2u-8Z-Sco2cvb1GH4cz1n3xkKbtXdL8ZW4v6NdCj_Uv0p15r64nk7HkJBc6vjTZX3Qc7d-DsMSGj919pZzt0H2xzOV-Y0ovdNhuSOJFLwKaBlX35mQvn0uatqXPPvQkK20DDI01J/s1600/Sanford_House_-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIZht2u-8Z-Sco2cvb1GH4cz1n3xkKbtXdL8ZW4v6NdCj_Uv0p15r64nk7HkJBc6vjTZX3Qc7d-DsMSGj919pZzt0H2xzOV-Y0ovdNhuSOJFLwKaBlX35mQvn0uatqXPPvQkK20DDI01J/s640/Sanford_House_-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Before:</div>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwsWXwXOhXIx-8I1_x3fctL_DxN40xOm7ChMPfLcVCdRYLJv3-5xWRH_1o0li7UfCl7_8Ini_ezcI-fB7TN697QDwS9MjD0Nn2f3L1Njd8bScLiZbNnm8TtVFGwPY_QsRBvJcfgde_xQJ/s1600/hr3619018-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwsWXwXOhXIx-8I1_x3fctL_DxN40xOm7ChMPfLcVCdRYLJv3-5xWRH_1o0li7UfCl7_8Ini_ezcI-fB7TN697QDwS9MjD0Nn2f3L1Njd8bScLiZbNnm8TtVFGwPY_QsRBvJcfgde_xQJ/s640/hr3619018-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We punched out this wall to widen the entry from the living room to the kitchen/dining room. </div>
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After:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoplGAu8zE0l0B2FW_G_QzQvB9DWJ74cRZ5IOpl1MKp_WUUnNZdFyyrgSMO_DUAMsn5Ypto-KnOdqyPNiqwKyWu72-uwjfb6cZqAry8rTsBpZIlIywEWj_ts8iuUOZ1vnnVCN_diHMwIbp/s1600/Sanford_House_-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoplGAu8zE0l0B2FW_G_QzQvB9DWJ74cRZ5IOpl1MKp_WUUnNZdFyyrgSMO_DUAMsn5Ypto-KnOdqyPNiqwKyWu72-uwjfb6cZqAry8rTsBpZIlIywEWj_ts8iuUOZ1vnnVCN_diHMwIbp/s640/Sanford_House_-6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Walking into the kitchen and turning right we have the nook:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgksd1l318K5zhRoxU0IQOe7Q0n2p4VDm7v3y5eH0XRz5wq8X8pTEVxL15awMAbOMmlhh3I0RKCF72aZxvSNgulY6pWYb57U4KZM_1kOswKAV6PCkbLeTnoxTedQWt05h14GofmzxZ3MIGg/s1600/Sanford_House_-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgksd1l318K5zhRoxU0IQOe7Q0n2p4VDm7v3y5eH0XRz5wq8X8pTEVxL15awMAbOMmlhh3I0RKCF72aZxvSNgulY6pWYb57U4KZM_1kOswKAV6PCkbLeTnoxTedQWt05h14GofmzxZ3MIGg/s640/Sanford_House_-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kitchen Before:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6-f9jDTgiqfFjUCK5Sfkve_c7zl2yWvVGpc1ZuObswCFUJDqhTXd3S09fwdQroLndAwGQiYeY62QTJybokV7Ig9tIlOe-5KGuKGfM_LfOpGbJhnJZPCvGk7oyPYijHaLHZWm1b6i5Ezm/s1600/hr3619018-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6-f9jDTgiqfFjUCK5Sfkve_c7zl2yWvVGpc1ZuObswCFUJDqhTXd3S09fwdQroLndAwGQiYeY62QTJybokV7Ig9tIlOe-5KGuKGfM_LfOpGbJhnJZPCvGk7oyPYijHaLHZWm1b6i5Ezm/s640/hr3619018-9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tyGQhgPKyFZVNhrQzzxEQqO4DaxAcHL3f-eadHn-ZzkAg-_bX08QifIlCjutqqb_OuC2LbesRcrNnaK8UWef-XpM_866bmWQhoA3GUCXpfpM4QtUT3QGYBhXLyKEJn_ZOhBqdbffmQ8U/s1600/hr3619018-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tyGQhgPKyFZVNhrQzzxEQqO4DaxAcHL3f-eadHn-ZzkAg-_bX08QifIlCjutqqb_OuC2LbesRcrNnaK8UWef-XpM_866bmWQhoA3GUCXpfpM4QtUT3QGYBhXLyKEJn_ZOhBqdbffmQ8U/s640/hr3619018-12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kitchen After:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQnl0vWxIIo-pix_nVAsbGdLIe8gvDVQC-YT3nsa9Z2RVQKL1PjNHJ4z91grQUtZF1awoS8GHiCgJdB-njr1sXo_hKHtMpYjm_6xIqXqCVb2ksgKOKmAqxCsNSFaBiaUdnw7pChhAXjc1/s1600/Sanford_House_-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQnl0vWxIIo-pix_nVAsbGdLIe8gvDVQC-YT3nsa9Z2RVQKL1PjNHJ4z91grQUtZF1awoS8GHiCgJdB-njr1sXo_hKHtMpYjm_6xIqXqCVb2ksgKOKmAqxCsNSFaBiaUdnw7pChhAXjc1/s640/Sanford_House_-17.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgIvFYGR8GzGkpGRAD20cRLfC8TOgOXv_PxGB-YpsvJR1H5DgeQIhxtFK6rpDGzDUI855byBCi6D9rmI_Xierm0z6hFi9152AbApwNWPn14O8qF9ztMpcerDwKCpSmtcZqwXQSRnIyjK7/s1600/Sanford_House_-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgIvFYGR8GzGkpGRAD20cRLfC8TOgOXv_PxGB-YpsvJR1H5DgeQIhxtFK6rpDGzDUI855byBCi6D9rmI_Xierm0z6hFi9152AbApwNWPn14O8qF9ztMpcerDwKCpSmtcZqwXQSRnIyjK7/s640/Sanford_House_-9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Dining before:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eFe4Uv-EfvX1x_sjFPYL3uYXqiMl6S92VqzoK0h70oo7JQDhkowKc6ZGe1RpPs4-pGc8SA77Z-VTlHtTdE0WZooYZmZY9MbrHj0hrzKw1GedNtifVs6gHgY-n20NbbdTgwtAVLJKptRU/s1600/hr3619018-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eFe4Uv-EfvX1x_sjFPYL3uYXqiMl6S92VqzoK0h70oo7JQDhkowKc6ZGe1RpPs4-pGc8SA77Z-VTlHtTdE0WZooYZmZY9MbrHj0hrzKw1GedNtifVs6gHgY-n20NbbdTgwtAVLJKptRU/s640/hr3619018-8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KJ-YU8-uEIgqXfSwg8yEDKr-cJordQawU7QTjIjQrxwrUB8rglkVfde00Uyf9XEJL9wU649juDbgV_f5lz5cydmxv9yQfdONJllhEmg7iJR6SdsXjDYQOtwkaX8F2cVsY0E-c9XTUmXr/s1600/hr3619018-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KJ-YU8-uEIgqXfSwg8yEDKr-cJordQawU7QTjIjQrxwrUB8rglkVfde00Uyf9XEJL9wU649juDbgV_f5lz5cydmxv9yQfdONJllhEmg7iJR6SdsXjDYQOtwkaX8F2cVsY0E-c9XTUmXr/s640/hr3619018-13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Dining After:</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGPfnA20J1qHk166Nm-PQrHP5zKWTvgGbYKLZ6-QJkitDgKxSziXgdLvqp7BR0nPWr4ecuq4SLqv9Q6h68jNqI3Cq-Za4BoNFKLAt0MiObLP5wnYRCcwaegBKL84O-8IAPD6XxY4jdyGQ/s1600/Sanford_House_-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGPfnA20J1qHk166Nm-PQrHP5zKWTvgGbYKLZ6-QJkitDgKxSziXgdLvqp7BR0nPWr4ecuq4SLqv9Q6h68jNqI3Cq-Za4BoNFKLAt0MiObLP5wnYRCcwaegBKL84O-8IAPD6XxY4jdyGQ/s640/Sanford_House_-20.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHQECeqFjXG5gI-FVRrhR04hU3tDwSmkjZlX5zW23VW7-Bjd2vaxqcBQpcx8zkFMpwa8GG2EIK4iNGhhW0XsgSMC6Xlm3RCcY4IsF9t7zh7nbUvTNTY0OPhS6M80aLyPdWLDzp0KLjIbN/s1600/Sanford_House_-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="1600" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHQECeqFjXG5gI-FVRrhR04hU3tDwSmkjZlX5zW23VW7-Bjd2vaxqcBQpcx8zkFMpwa8GG2EIK4iNGhhW0XsgSMC6Xlm3RCcY4IsF9t7zh7nbUvTNTY0OPhS6M80aLyPdWLDzp0KLjIbN/s640/Sanford_House_-19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kids room before:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhft6xUxc4k0-wrKKshhBRyZf-ymEOUQyrIS4qfZnJg1V1QUf3Eb0thSijZJK1WYhMpNqcPGyNv-10gIemG_Qdevx8UyiSXP4hl5DHQp7XaT6ZLCnpj08RKzlXjfJ1yrRa_I__o8Ou5WLJK/s1600/hr3619018-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhft6xUxc4k0-wrKKshhBRyZf-ymEOUQyrIS4qfZnJg1V1QUf3Eb0thSijZJK1WYhMpNqcPGyNv-10gIemG_Qdevx8UyiSXP4hl5DHQp7XaT6ZLCnpj08RKzlXjfJ1yrRa_I__o8Ou5WLJK/s640/hr3619018-10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
After:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJ2E18T7hdqRGscgaDyXFhnsQyNORXg6CXyk13OLnEIXP2SzGSNgOqUu5_Hl0MZZaNbsOIu7ujNGJ7EKcPRri8KpBmwqTZmMP-joaMEQRu13f5ZIFcACB_me8tcmXZGAbKJkm3xlDYLci/s1600/Sanford_House_-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJ2E18T7hdqRGscgaDyXFhnsQyNORXg6CXyk13OLnEIXP2SzGSNgOqUu5_Hl0MZZaNbsOIu7ujNGJ7EKcPRri8KpBmwqTZmMP-joaMEQRu13f5ZIFcACB_me8tcmXZGAbKJkm3xlDYLci/s640/Sanford_House_-30.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM32C0KrFV1qA5JRSsRkmUapndsabvVj6kZH8N5E30cQR24KvbfvN9dsj9933KZGqJQsK-iLhcCD9zMsO1wTlXgY8k669ULZ8Ypu5SS-R-UJThKhFYFqo4KJofJBfKKUOICDgVQ2I9MnWl/s1600/Sanford_House_-31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM32C0KrFV1qA5JRSsRkmUapndsabvVj6kZH8N5E30cQR24KvbfvN9dsj9933KZGqJQsK-iLhcCD9zMsO1wTlXgY8k669ULZ8Ypu5SS-R-UJThKhFYFqo4KJofJBfKKUOICDgVQ2I9MnWl/s640/Sanford_House_-31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Old Master bedroom before:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjId9eHTPuL45vNo2MQoc7iIDfhu4Fucb4IUIkdJM5S4f697lACLv_YDqEGZ1JBzrkazR6sEUWb0uxu_8dQF8mRwC18tMgitHGed9cmai5eLsYRjdXnQnLj_OSTrJhRgQbfGVB-Xl-NlMDW/s1600/hr3619018-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjId9eHTPuL45vNo2MQoc7iIDfhu4Fucb4IUIkdJM5S4f697lACLv_YDqEGZ1JBzrkazR6sEUWb0uxu_8dQF8mRwC18tMgitHGed9cmai5eLsYRjdXnQnLj_OSTrJhRgQbfGVB-Xl-NlMDW/s640/hr3619018-6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We punched out that back wall to end up with this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kUjn5GOGGzvNRwZF5vBN14A3cskZLw-JWA-UPfnuFs57R6JiHPEIPa2v0hOUF27SHw1WFmUEzIHtoNDbJJsKm0rPGlkvx4nek1JO_hb2MkAjsV54PiRuAosHLCXsdiSzTn_qGMj51g10/s1600/Sanford_House_-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kUjn5GOGGzvNRwZF5vBN14A3cskZLw-JWA-UPfnuFs57R6JiHPEIPa2v0hOUF27SHw1WFmUEzIHtoNDbJJsKm0rPGlkvx4nek1JO_hb2MkAjsV54PiRuAosHLCXsdiSzTn_qGMj51g10/s640/Sanford_House_-33.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeeJTJkcb68kLWyO8Zc7iuWrLNL_bsYoU9lyiBuq8DLaKkwVFwT_7ExMBkYvCPEdl7ZZlUdHLBv87wfMrimPl1sfGIbyPKM3bLoV1FWgobqakqHKOyFWtrEFZGyF1eIDJQVYh8X88CCP6/s1600/Sanford_House_-35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeeJTJkcb68kLWyO8Zc7iuWrLNL_bsYoU9lyiBuq8DLaKkwVFwT_7ExMBkYvCPEdl7ZZlUdHLBv87wfMrimPl1sfGIbyPKM3bLoV1FWgobqakqHKOyFWtrEFZGyF1eIDJQVYh8X88CCP6/s640/Sanford_House_-35.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
We took the third bedroom - which was too small to actually count as a bedroom - and expanded it into this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKURbtjBY954ciqOsqDOQe3lKrdGci9FFii4NyN_BRSPO9u3nrXX8D9cSTlCkWONhLe7G5BBHq2Qglh9nZVd7Edo2yxS6-MtBJX9tgQHCM7zvzJSYnIPS1UKCjAq6LnlbTCsqGoVCXyK5/s1600/Sanford_House_-38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuKURbtjBY954ciqOsqDOQe3lKrdGci9FFii4NyN_BRSPO9u3nrXX8D9cSTlCkWONhLe7G5BBHq2Qglh9nZVd7Edo2yxS6-MtBJX9tgQHCM7zvzJSYnIPS1UKCjAq6LnlbTCsqGoVCXyK5/s640/Sanford_House_-38.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizThsgQJNCRwFwXLCp5i0lxuBEGA8_cGslUI8kX3-MU-kjODnaevsS_AdLHYv63CwZqEKvTNxl3OgqXrqVt3f5qiJSoKkpFu_ZvC7R7HVSU1z4_pJeB6uZdACPk317nwPJ3b59drRS-F7v/s1600/Sanford_House_-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1119" data-original-width="1600" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizThsgQJNCRwFwXLCp5i0lxuBEGA8_cGslUI8kX3-MU-kjODnaevsS_AdLHYv63CwZqEKvTNxl3OgqXrqVt3f5qiJSoKkpFu_ZvC7R7HVSU1z4_pJeB6uZdACPk317nwPJ3b59drRS-F7v/s640/Sanford_House_-41.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
And added a master bath:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqM9ZaVnHxAJzyMiudYk1dEidRO23OwazdSvwhehh4glaXQeE2BdzQccVHmJIscqEU27E2Ebs-pirBeucfHk2ZZMde3m9gLJPGUK92SLUexediJIirrBQ1fDCs06e8JrLsfPHkkjcHRW-/s1600/Sanford_House_-42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqM9ZaVnHxAJzyMiudYk1dEidRO23OwazdSvwhehh4glaXQeE2BdzQccVHmJIscqEU27E2Ebs-pirBeucfHk2ZZMde3m9gLJPGUK92SLUexediJIirrBQ1fDCs06e8JrLsfPHkkjcHRW-/s640/Sanford_House_-42.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBgfYN2QWYkDTN2Jwk3lHfGu7kdMAfHXwncfafSJXqjYNkdyMz2H7-98b4yoOcVPSyKzNC9XbmJb-gsmySxW2c4CEtMNtdxeSo-jucR-qy1k32MUQeTNo00caiv9z6gtJ4EFHKrLQ5nXD/s1600/Sanford_House_-45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBgfYN2QWYkDTN2Jwk3lHfGu7kdMAfHXwncfafSJXqjYNkdyMz2H7-98b4yoOcVPSyKzNC9XbmJb-gsmySxW2c4CEtMNtdxeSo-jucR-qy1k32MUQeTNo00caiv9z6gtJ4EFHKrLQ5nXD/s640/Sanford_House_-45.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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Before:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihWUTZhzFx2w5Wijp-wKqnwdTw-39vlaBIybLoPLRg3Ur6VGFhZQA_eFdEPr1X0ghaTZW13X1ZKylpiOsgQC0oKw-JNbpq4W5JUEXj3_49AO4md2rWtDVen7wJRM6nUt2lH3lSfnCbXq4/s1600/IMG_0658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihWUTZhzFx2w5Wijp-wKqnwdTw-39vlaBIybLoPLRg3Ur6VGFhZQA_eFdEPr1X0ghaTZW13X1ZKylpiOsgQC0oKw-JNbpq4W5JUEXj3_49AO4md2rWtDVen7wJRM6nUt2lH3lSfnCbXq4/s640/IMG_0658.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Above is the side yard after we'd done a considerable amount of work on it. It had a deck that was rotted through and a "sauna" which had trees growing out of it. We got into so much poison ivy on the weekend of this picture.<br />
<br />
After:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie68ckcn7S62A1Bm9bFSANftSmhfhDg_Ufyv4tyU_-c9FBHq53oC_StZnry-NrfEPA4xWeKzHV7sBnpGFii2wUG3atye78KfyHb4d_hSDOPBoqgfMPV8UaaS6PwscrMJ-CLW4OdLRCDaMi/s1600/Sanford_House_-52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie68ckcn7S62A1Bm9bFSANftSmhfhDg_Ufyv4tyU_-c9FBHq53oC_StZnry-NrfEPA4xWeKzHV7sBnpGFii2wUG3atye78KfyHb4d_hSDOPBoqgfMPV8UaaS6PwscrMJ-CLW4OdLRCDaMi/s640/Sanford_House_-52.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So there you have the buttoned up version of what was a very grueling process. </div>
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We'd planned on selling the house, but after the hurricane we decided to rent it out to some flood victims, which I'm really happy to be able to do. </div>
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Even though the house survived Harvey with no damage, it was hit by looters who stole the appliances -and my banjo and Jacob's guitar - in the hurricane's aftermath. Looking at all these photos is bringing some sweetness back to the recent frustration of being robbed. I hope you've enjoyed them!</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-49052416995918672632017-07-20T18:00:00.000-07:002017-07-20T18:00:14.346-07:00Chickens, Books, Clothes<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4eR2lMu-hxx6kIgG3yRTN3CsaoMDLjvLP2X-q1R18VDy78zhQzMbiTOqV5bnlrQmbe9DdCGp0cnkoHBUCnBJ6jgC81nw4pwjRhjDd4IzsqqjR4MY81yvZ1CtGMZWP5YJdnLLD2j_PY6p/s1600/IMG_6306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4eR2lMu-hxx6kIgG3yRTN3CsaoMDLjvLP2X-q1R18VDy78zhQzMbiTOqV5bnlrQmbe9DdCGp0cnkoHBUCnBJ6jgC81nw4pwjRhjDd4IzsqqjR4MY81yvZ1CtGMZWP5YJdnLLD2j_PY6p/s640/IMG_6306.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KA2qLxKhuQJFdsBLfyh-msTQ7aR3UvGYS_Ut7RTIRdxgUtGabwAKuDsYobrGp-J0Nbq6iPrG40BjQMBBDM0YiMBNh7yhZQJI2aRbnNitonWy-NUSttyhX5T6bnvfvNtUtyuBUPn5EpJY/s1600/IMG_6388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KA2qLxKhuQJFdsBLfyh-msTQ7aR3UvGYS_Ut7RTIRdxgUtGabwAKuDsYobrGp-J0Nbq6iPrG40BjQMBBDM0YiMBNh7yhZQJI2aRbnNitonWy-NUSttyhX5T6bnvfvNtUtyuBUPn5EpJY/s640/IMG_6388.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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1)</div>
First off: we have chickens. Buff Orpingtons. They all look exactly the same, which will probably be a comfort when they start dying.<br />
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2)<br />
Jacob built me a cadillac of a coop that cost approximately three times more than we'd planned to spend. By the end we were both shaking our head at the ridiculousness of it, but I took comfort in the old economic wisdom: You can only have two out of the three: fast, quality, inexpensive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfNl8sardpBd5YA8bBooGDWxDymNxGd90dzmeblh7-g3tvfIwzqHf6f2857jIKVmTw5HhDCMzjk-LtavE025JCyinxZ-m-asZoakLtELgY5kGMuGcM3E0T44sUPXm_ffLD4foqAupvuq8/s1600/IMG_6389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfNl8sardpBd5YA8bBooGDWxDymNxGd90dzmeblh7-g3tvfIwzqHf6f2857jIKVmTw5HhDCMzjk-LtavE025JCyinxZ-m-asZoakLtELgY5kGMuGcM3E0T44sUPXm_ffLD4foqAupvuq8/s640/IMG_6389.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPFqLpsnL3xU1HLia1X-_IL7R6Hh2MymbAnMmKQZ_EUgMgLCb-wGX1x7jD17TfNkAk2ZSBuBBQWNKJKf1JHHGPyjgFzklLg4Xv1fD0jNegebBdiN5GImr6qsHMKL-1PCubY-ehmrVcxkDq/s1600/IMG_6392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPFqLpsnL3xU1HLia1X-_IL7R6Hh2MymbAnMmKQZ_EUgMgLCb-wGX1x7jD17TfNkAk2ZSBuBBQWNKJKf1JHHGPyjgFzklLg4Xv1fD0jNegebBdiN5GImr6qsHMKL-1PCubY-ehmrVcxkDq/s640/IMG_6392.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
So fast and quality it was, and now we have a coop. We just have to paint it. We're not sure if we should go really playful with the paint color or not. I'm inclined to paint it white, but we've painted a lot of things white in the last three years and maybe we should paint this...pink? Or barn red? Do a mural?<br />
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3)<br />
We got the chickens from a breeder out near Luckenbach.<br />
<br />
She had on thick rubber boots and the grisly edge of someone who lives alone in the hills with two donkeys and a bunch of poultry. She gave us the up down in our t-shirts and sandals and nordic offspring, but we were eager and we had cash, so she took us over to the chickens. In my memory she had a limp. But this is probably just a romantic exaggeration.<br />
<br />
She had the jankiest of coop/pen operations - and made us feel like even bigger yuppies with our board and batten beauty smelling of sawdust back home.<br />
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She hadn't wanted to box the chickens up for us in the morning since we couldn't come and get them till the afternoon, so we got to put the "fun" in "free range" as Jacob Sr and Jake Jr chased down a dozen hens in 100+ degrees.<br />
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The breeder complimented Jacob on his chicken wrangling and we left with a dozen chickens which turned into a baker's dozen by the time we got home because it is very hard to count identical chickens.<br />
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4)<br />
I've been wanting to homestead for so long, I cannot tell you how happy this all makes me. We have a bumper crop of okra, three hopeful watermelons, thirteen hens, and a rooster sired by "El Guapo" that the children quickly dubbed Mr. Guapito.<br />
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Dreams do come true.<br />
<br />
5)<br />
The kids are still acclimating to farm life. They visit the chickens in the morning. Then they ask to watch TV.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0cRLUP8o5oNgXRdONkApipZOyoCeP2OjcKYFxdT09sLH1ndLFdAhIuIaNKlQmxmPGTB7dZ5YxKEDSYxYSk5MZDmbFJ2Uf0Fi7swTcKKvmZHAf_Lb4mBX1krmAxJq6SikAbXLfD90T7y8/s1600/IMG_6390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0cRLUP8o5oNgXRdONkApipZOyoCeP2OjcKYFxdT09sLH1ndLFdAhIuIaNKlQmxmPGTB7dZ5YxKEDSYxYSk5MZDmbFJ2Uf0Fi7swTcKKvmZHAf_Lb4mBX1krmAxJq6SikAbXLfD90T7y8/s640/IMG_6390.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7MXdOmQn0V7PHWJXFbSUDLDs5s7QAhqyQvp1QoB1c9qPxip7v46ybNRqlIIqjObdlCqs_QrXg6kAwTZ6I_Y6cbQj3m2juyQ1yEdKm4VkM445jSbCxwIbwmTh5l8DcoWfMQzQekkwX_RZ/s1600/IMG_6391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7MXdOmQn0V7PHWJXFbSUDLDs5s7QAhqyQvp1QoB1c9qPxip7v46ybNRqlIIqjObdlCqs_QrXg6kAwTZ6I_Y6cbQj3m2juyQ1yEdKm4VkM445jSbCxwIbwmTh5l8DcoWfMQzQekkwX_RZ/s640/IMG_6391.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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- 6 -<br />
My book count is going up with the temperature, so here are some of the notables in case you need some recs. <a href="http://amzn.to/2td8Fmg">Sleeping Giants</a> - futuristic science fiction - a fun, quick read. It was written as a series of interviews which I ended up liking more than I expected. I finally read <a href="http://amzn.to/2vfByzr">A Man Called Ove</a> which fell pretty flat for me even though I quite like curmudgeons and aspire to be one someday. I did enjoy Morton's <a href="http://amzn.to/2tDQrcY">The Secret Keeper</a> - which was very engaging even if some of the plot points felt farfetched. Ann Patchett's <a href="http://amzn.to/2tDoKRq">State of Wonder</a> was delightful. I thought it ended too abruptly, but I found it mesmerizing in a very Bel Canto way.<br />
<br />
- 7 -<br />
I bought some new clothes recently. This is blogworthy because even though I don't blog much, I shop even less. 90% of my wardrobe is a rotation of three tank tops and one pair of shorts <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/cSHX">(these)</a>,<br />
because I'm lazy and stingy and indecisive. So consider this a cry for help.<br />
<br />
I bought something called a "ruffle top" from Madewell. (It has since sold out, but it was <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/cSHF">like this one</a>, just a little less...ruffly.) It was so cute online, but when I got it, my long torso struck again and my belly button waved the white flag.<br />
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I'm not anti-trend (hello homesteading!) but I also crashed when I tried the cold shoulder. I bought <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/cSI5">this top</a> after <a href="http://inhonorofdesign.com/2017/06/22-summer-capsule-wardrobe/">Anna inspired me with her capsule wardrobe</a>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXUEQqJEfvlSGhvW8NJWuqzTTGoXwXPe3BYSqyOkIZ142XRSUKw3kSQgsd82RsfQqkpGhjeb6wTBOqQLLH9g-ekb2V0_EpwH8DWjbwQCEo807-ZdmHvSsDxvfc75_l38JbEHPHW42qVJH/s1600/FullSizeRender+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="722" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXUEQqJEfvlSGhvW8NJWuqzTTGoXwXPe3BYSqyOkIZ142XRSUKw3kSQgsd82RsfQqkpGhjeb6wTBOqQLLH9g-ekb2V0_EpwH8DWjbwQCEo807-ZdmHvSsDxvfc75_l38JbEHPHW42qVJH/s640/FullSizeRender+14.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
And...no matter how I tugged or shifted, I couldn't get it to sit right, so back it went.<br />
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In the end, <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/cSJs">this swing top from LOFT</a> made the cut. It's about as bold as vanilla, but I love it. Also <a href="http://shopstyle.it/l/cSKn">these huaraches</a> which were the closest I could find to a pair I had when I was six and have thought about every summer since.<br />
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I still have some gift cards to get through, so maybe you'll get to hear even MORE about my shopping failures soon.<br />
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Have a super chill weekend!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hEDPS4lczmnxVh1_I2QIzUlq95sSFzK4PbonfmSEOTakkCC9kut92x8n2enYE50n7C67_A4XdepTkS3aq_7-6fipVglEXwpuwBEMWrCUObArpxeE6CSYE5c5-wMic4Vl7HK0fo4aamgc/s1600/IMG_6387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hEDPS4lczmnxVh1_I2QIzUlq95sSFzK4PbonfmSEOTakkCC9kut92x8n2enYE50n7C67_A4XdepTkS3aq_7-6fipVglEXwpuwBEMWrCUObArpxeE6CSYE5c5-wMic4Vl7HK0fo4aamgc/s640/IMG_6387.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-62451799320989292132017-06-20T09:50:00.001-07:002017-06-21T05:27:42.629-07:00Moved to the Country<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunyG3-traduIqE7dHKezl-2iY3aGXyyfqNzIzoWagTRLx9205vWDK5n72iql6JnSvwleSS92f3FgdvkmphRKM52_7dWo2s22qHdII5OsNF1Znsz7OZ5u2R5BYLUp5DL6kj-JfJbXF_dOg/s1600/IMG_6007+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunyG3-traduIqE7dHKezl-2iY3aGXyyfqNzIzoWagTRLx9205vWDK5n72iql6JnSvwleSS92f3FgdvkmphRKM52_7dWo2s22qHdII5OsNF1Znsz7OZ5u2R5BYLUp5DL6kj-JfJbXF_dOg/s640/IMG_6007+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
So we've moved to the country.<br />
<br />
The Texas Hill Country to be specific.<br />
<br />
We moved into the house that I grew up in. We'll buy ten acres from my parents and ultimately build on them, until then we'll live in my parents' old house and they'll shift to my grandmother's next door.<br />
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It's been a big transition. We still have one foot in Houston as Jacob gets our house ready to list there. Getting settled into my parents' old house has been a monster of a task. We're slowly moving in and they're slowly moving out. Most of our furniture is staging the house in Houston. So we have these expansive empty living spaces. My parents took their cat with them. She left behind a bunch of fleas which have been breakfasting on us for awhile. You should totally come visit!<br />
<br />
We're still running Jacob's business in Houston, but dreaming about what we might start here.<br />
<br />
Jake turned six less than a week after we moved. His last day as a five year old he spiked a little fever while we were at dinner and fell asleep in Jacob's arms.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zw7B1AlT-mh7g6uPIjlntJfkhhQky7xYoNQCzLL5ZHBObNKyxunYkoDeLphfLxqvZtD5QfVTUw50_FiasAYn3bJY9f3S2A3GSJsudY-k1qLz-sGkDVodZIkMMCuJpTuYuRHW94eAsIQQ/s1600/IMG_5944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zw7B1AlT-mh7g6uPIjlntJfkhhQky7xYoNQCzLL5ZHBObNKyxunYkoDeLphfLxqvZtD5QfVTUw50_FiasAYn3bJY9f3S2A3GSJsudY-k1qLz-sGkDVodZIkMMCuJpTuYuRHW94eAsIQQ/s640/IMG_5944.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The next day he was no longer five and was feeling fine so he built himself a Peter Pan out of duplos and I pulled out all the cake decorating stops:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cb2ghAS9P9SNUEnGQ-s_Bv_0HLH-BlGqxKg1WWS_C2akR8o8ooD6tMJCCfS4aTZwA-akA_ey6H7bcfoL-ZyZcWWSfJXrtw-6fsQeMy0g1O4cc7gh0BUyweyPNdHECM7UiVoDv9JnfGx_/s1600/FullSizeRender+12.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cb2ghAS9P9SNUEnGQ-s_Bv_0HLH-BlGqxKg1WWS_C2akR8o8ooD6tMJCCfS4aTZwA-akA_ey6H7bcfoL-ZyZcWWSfJXrtw-6fsQeMy0g1O4cc7gh0BUyweyPNdHECM7UiVoDv9JnfGx_/s640/FullSizeRender+12.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5uJOfcaY0pryXoWN2stSvEU_T3pev5hCOukNwqTZCiRcyIL61zzbICzBAgmM_Yh5Io2tN0l3w4jHJaTA7y6azE8Goz4Z7T1n_G_OCogxoV2r_pe7sSi30YdrYL_6rts3-DPhSJ2yIw2gX/s1600/FullSizeRender+11.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5uJOfcaY0pryXoWN2stSvEU_T3pev5hCOukNwqTZCiRcyIL61zzbICzBAgmM_Yh5Io2tN0l3w4jHJaTA7y6azE8Goz4Z7T1n_G_OCogxoV2r_pe7sSi30YdrYL_6rts3-DPhSJ2yIw2gX/s640/FullSizeRender+11.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKAe20W_ylXZ7qwlDqf1uUNEiBAcljPEwdoGDE7UWRI-dDiKE8niYWQ06p-a0L9R8RUohKy32toMERRzZQtAbNSLG9_sYuLwnbzc0qixU5Nfbvf31_cfeZsJkk4LdSVHwFPsf15J6Qg8J/s1600/FullSizeRender+13.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKAe20W_ylXZ7qwlDqf1uUNEiBAcljPEwdoGDE7UWRI-dDiKE8niYWQ06p-a0L9R8RUohKy32toMERRzZQtAbNSLG9_sYuLwnbzc0qixU5Nfbvf31_cfeZsJkk4LdSVHwFPsf15J6Qg8J/s1600/FullSizeRender+13.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKAe20W_ylXZ7qwlDqf1uUNEiBAcljPEwdoGDE7UWRI-dDiKE8niYWQ06p-a0L9R8RUohKy32toMERRzZQtAbNSLG9_sYuLwnbzc0qixU5Nfbvf31_cfeZsJkk4LdSVHwFPsf15J6Qg8J/s640/FullSizeRender+13.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Jacob and I turned eight a few days after that. We celebrated our anniversary at a fancy pants restaurant in town and Jacob struck up a conversation with a Swiss couple next to us and we talked with them for an hour and a half. It was dreamy. And we took no pictures.<br />
<br />
When we told Lucy June about our anniversary she looked us like we were crazy and said: "I didn't even know you guys were married!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAxP69wtyEv6cvcDeCjcO7PW_TpQ6U5Sp7VAGgz6TBoWTEQ8HstMkG_NC8rezZUuchi2CJZpySSHcBcTXf9uOEUTXaSQiaHCObMufeS-xJ2PMBcR-FDe0cnv7hbCv1opL_vErHuHGWU9f/s1600/IMG_6127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAxP69wtyEv6cvcDeCjcO7PW_TpQ6U5Sp7VAGgz6TBoWTEQ8HstMkG_NC8rezZUuchi2CJZpySSHcBcTXf9uOEUTXaSQiaHCObMufeS-xJ2PMBcR-FDe0cnv7hbCv1opL_vErHuHGWU9f/s640/IMG_6127.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The kids aren't used to the country. I'm teaching them about bull nettle and carpenter ants and scorpions and snakes. We have a little armadillo living in the front yard. They chase it. They complain about bugs and sweat and just want to swim in my parents' pool all the time. But they'll come around.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwc63iDlINT49dK5-uoC_f9GjkbezJLxFzrupd26jBMcMAd_aIvAOzwCaH_fcNShlFJXhhIKa9qiP3XFlWOXszrdQwEuyWT0u7ifULb5l5kzKpYUf7L_R9b3NwrCnZ6rQyXcW0CYvucesZ/s1600/IMG_6117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwc63iDlINT49dK5-uoC_f9GjkbezJLxFzrupd26jBMcMAd_aIvAOzwCaH_fcNShlFJXhhIKa9qiP3XFlWOXszrdQwEuyWT0u7ifULb5l5kzKpYUf7L_R9b3NwrCnZ6rQyXcW0CYvucesZ/s640/IMG_6117.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z-dRNoqeEm_BZt4j9Kd-67DE8kXpw6WBxtw2Ps8DMksOnPpvaMWluplVEdXFrZP81Hgov2NAZEV-ueZW-1i_4FurAY1RM73sLrnDG17ENSiObVSHMKiKMcsgV1vVT2oX8bVzJxk6JSbP/s1600/IMG_5858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z-dRNoqeEm_BZt4j9Kd-67DE8kXpw6WBxtw2Ps8DMksOnPpvaMWluplVEdXFrZP81Hgov2NAZEV-ueZW-1i_4FurAY1RM73sLrnDG17ENSiObVSHMKiKMcsgV1vVT2oX8bVzJxk6JSbP/s640/IMG_5858.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I've done my best to put in some semblance of a garden even though it's super late to be starting anything. So we'll see how my eight baby okra plants handle July.<br />
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I try to convince myself that we've done it. That we've made the move. But I still feel like we're floating. Hovering over a life we're about to start. And watching lots of sunsets and fireflies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlmznKz0aWfX421aMFjRxnp9nHeX1A1yVBwcpH6E1ZVA3k2mmeG_c_LcsDnFm6hucYpFaXqQRdlKLfWHbsIN4_IdmZLJnPy_iPMazhwbSznr8KYfjpx8JrmuT4fM3wpqE_n4nfbt0qZ1y/s1600/IMG_5939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlmznKz0aWfX421aMFjRxnp9nHeX1A1yVBwcpH6E1ZVA3k2mmeG_c_LcsDnFm6hucYpFaXqQRdlKLfWHbsIN4_IdmZLJnPy_iPMazhwbSznr8KYfjpx8JrmuT4fM3wpqE_n4nfbt0qZ1y/s640/IMG_5939.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-25297855557885928802017-03-14T13:47:00.001-07:002017-03-14T13:52:43.105-07:00We Almost Cut Down the Mulberry Tree<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNfRYxXHapuHknc-d78DMFHH4P3xPNt3V4DcGmIFzV8LcFSu3rhyphenhyphencIWrCoeulB9i1KpANRoYTGbS_V_5hRq5LQ1I1uKh0giFKOwZxsnaRkH21stP5EeEQp2WckVlE1RVHH0lSfpf3XP0A/s1600/IMG_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNfRYxXHapuHknc-d78DMFHH4P3xPNt3V4DcGmIFzV8LcFSu3rhyphenhyphencIWrCoeulB9i1KpANRoYTGbS_V_5hRq5LQ1I1uKh0giFKOwZxsnaRkH21stP5EeEQp2WckVlE1RVHH0lSfpf3XP0A/s640/IMG_0083.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
When we bought this house two years ago, the bushes and trees had all but consumed it. No one had touched them for years and they'd freely developed their green kingdoms for feral cats and precocious rats. One bush had been about the size of a dump truck and sprawled across half the front lawn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTofqdEYU2oN2QUe7L2CxOPrEe57NOcUyqSgEQBPBH7xBA0HhRu5lNTjHm0FK2F8vzuzd3FUPPWLSYhD9BWPc8KUtCVF1B2HpLBiC34kKesdO52zBQ1n8G_OZmtyi5LHBHnCXErNNCt5p_/s1600/FullSizeRender+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTofqdEYU2oN2QUe7L2CxOPrEe57NOcUyqSgEQBPBH7xBA0HhRu5lNTjHm0FK2F8vzuzd3FUPPWLSYhD9BWPc8KUtCVF1B2HpLBiC34kKesdO52zBQ1n8G_OZmtyi5LHBHnCXErNNCt5p_/s640/FullSizeRender+9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
My dad came to town and bought my husband a chainsaw. We began clearing. We would cut down one sapling and quickly expose another leggy monstrosity. Years without sufficient light and competing for resources had left the bushes and trees ugly and misshapen.<br />
<br />
We didn't want to cut down everything, but for every tree we cut down it was like we were taking the skirts off the rest of the trees and exposing a forest of gimpy legs. Many had grown at strange angles that made sense when they'd been avoiding a gluttonous bush, but now they jutted out with no purp<span style="text-align: center;">ose, Vs and Ps, like letters fallen out of their words, memories of the old lawn, incomprehensible pieces of a forgotten story.</span><br />
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So we kept cutting, and in one weekend the front yard became a forest of spikes and we met all of our neighbors. The men would slap Jacob on the back. We were liberating the street.<br />
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We left three small trees at the northwest corner of the house, and they stood there through the winter awaiting the second reaping. But come March we saw the mulberries. Like some offering of gratitude. Laden with the berries in their natural ombre of green to pink to black, the branches bowed to the ground .<br />
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The squirrels and the birds mostly had their way with the ripe berries before we could, but we heeded the tree's gesture.<br />
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And we didn't cut it down.<br />
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We went out last weekend to pick berries. They fall from the tree and hide like jewels in the St. Augustine, so we hunt for them.</div>
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We only met one neighbor. She told us to watch for cedar waxwings. They love mulberries, she said.</div>
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We love them too.</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-66814498037426795072017-03-11T13:25:00.000-08:002017-03-11T13:26:16.048-08:00Because you want to meet our only pet<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Caddy the Caterpillar</span></div>
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We got fennel from our farm share last week and one of the bulbs was rotting - I was really peeved until a little caterpillar climbed out of the bag. I've been wanting to raise some caterpillars with the kids for ages. So we adopted it and gave her all the fennel she could stuff herself with.<br />
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This morning she tucked herself in like this:<br />
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And six hours later she looks like this:<br />
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My expectations are hopelessly high for this science project. I'm sure I'm more excited than the kids.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Doers Make Mistakes</span></div>
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Jacob said this to me the other day. We were having an argument about something really trivial - like the disappearing lids of our kitchen storage containers. Yes. That was precisely it. Maturity be ours.<br />
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While we were arguing Jacob said: "Doers make mistakes."<br />
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I'm much more of a planner than a doer. I'm super critical - of myself more than anyone - and it's something I've really tried to work on recently. Whenever I find myself being too hard on myself, I whip this one out: Doers make mistakes.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Baking</span></div>
I'm baking bread every week.<br />
<br />
I haven't ruined a loaf yet, and my starter still seems happy and bubbly - which is good - because of the whole fear of failure thing. I've been waiting on <a href="http://amzn.to/2mdVEoO">this book</a> from the library for weeks. I decided all this baking has earned me some <a href="http://amzn.to/2nqU5Eh">proofing baskets</a>, so I bought some this morning. <a href="http://amzn.to/2nqU5Eh">Aren't they lovely?</a> - I wish I could just take a nap in one.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reading</span> </div>
I started reading <a href="http://amzn.to/2mNboT1">The Awakening of Miss Prim</a> - which has been on my list for ages...and it's not really grabbing me yet. I'll keep you posted.<br />
<br />
I'm still putting myself to sleep with <a href="http://amzn.to/2mxzuk4">Gilead</a>. It's still delightful.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bullet Journaling</span></div>
I started <a href="http://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/how-to-bullet-journal">bullet journaling</a> a few months ago. I was super late to this trend on purpose. It seemed a little self-indulgent. It's very much my style: doodling, paper products, felt tip pens, planning planning planning.<br />
<br />
But I finally just indulged, and I love it. I love being able to tailor the planner into whatever I need. I love having a centralized spot for any and all scribblings. My favorite pages:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sentence a Day Journal</span></div>
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I've been meaning to do this for awhile, and I never managed until I started bullet journaling. I tend to write a few sentences, choppy little things cataloging the days' noteworthy events.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidaZK1xlbXpgd89RL-XAVjHsjvaQxj1CUlHDeJVbBQpLOwQ76_ctprd5JdsT7wT8V31VP-GbIglrWxixdw1TRIHbkeQg1hS7qIKOrSM9jGeBOq9LCTJq-dv1Vv6yJCO9SinC9_Szok6l1/s1600/FullSizeRender+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidaZK1xlbXpgd89RL-XAVjHsjvaQxj1CUlHDeJVbBQpLOwQ76_ctprd5JdsT7wT8V31VP-GbIglrWxixdw1TRIHbkeQg1hS7qIKOrSM9jGeBOq9LCTJq-dv1Vv6yJCO9SinC9_Szok6l1/s640/FullSizeRender+6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
I've been doing it for two months - which is probably the longest that I've maintained a daily journal since I was in sixth grade.<br />
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Lowering the bar. That's how you get it done.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Habit Tracker</span></div>
<br />
I also keep a habit tracker page in the bullet journal. It's mostly just humbling to track how I'm doing with new habits, but it's also been really helpful to identify "linchpin habits" - the things that I do that have a trickle down effect.<br />
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Like waking up early. If I wake up early I get in my ab exercises, I spend time praying and writing, and I make time for a run before Jacob leaves. Sometimes those things still happen when I don't wake up early, but they almost always happen if I do.<br />
<br />
Or the reverse of that.<br />
<br />
Drinking. If I have any alcohol I will also end up eating late at night, watching TV, not getting enough sleep, not washing my face, etc.<br />
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So that's me. Just like the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. Except my hair is hopelessly flat.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Question For You</span></div>
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When you start some new project do you buy nice tools from the get go?</div>
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I'm definitely the type that feels like I need to earn the good tools. To prove that I deserve them. But good tools are bound to help at the beginning. So it's a bit of a Catch 22. </div>
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<a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-seven-things-working-in-our-homeschool-right-now/">Visit Kelly for more quick takes!</a></div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-50707115444614988392017-02-25T09:02:00.000-08:002017-02-25T09:09:46.347-08:00Quick Takes: Katie Talks Life Essentials or something<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulMSsdSPku3DsSImEfRLDe7v50UVCdLQ9QaF2Kx2eLRnOylfoJeaRtvHUxDRrWPYnn6G6FND2yM2OLIDnQVjXIdXKKeYVZE_GTrnp8e_5n_qC6D6VQuXNyK4XLOrG8MIibMUYkSLSyIt2/s1600/IMG_4867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulMSsdSPku3DsSImEfRLDe7v50UVCdLQ9QaF2Kx2eLRnOylfoJeaRtvHUxDRrWPYnn6G6FND2yM2OLIDnQVjXIdXKKeYVZE_GTrnp8e_5n_qC6D6VQuXNyK4XLOrG8MIibMUYkSLSyIt2/s640/IMG_4867.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I posted a picture of a cup of this tea on my instagram, but I can't stop talking about it so here we go again.<br />
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When I reached out for tea recs a few weeks ago, multiple people recommended this and I was so skeptical. I've tried so many kinds of turmeric tea and really disliked them. Nor am I a big ginger fan: I like it in savory cooking but really dislike it in sweets. Ginger and I also have a difficult relationship because of how much it's supposed to ease morning sickness symptoms and it helps me none with my five months of all day sickness. But I do really like Ginger Rogers, and as a seven year old I pretty much scoffed at anyone else who tried to dance with Fred.<br />
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As compatible as Ginger and Turmeric.<br />
<br />
I didn't love my first sip of the tea, but I knew we could warm up to each other. And twenty cups in I'm in love. It has this all around mouth feel that gets deeper the longer it brews and it doesn't get bitter.<br />
<br />
I let Jacob taste it and he said blankly: "Vata tea." Like it was something everyone in the world grew up drinking. But, Mr. Rhodes, <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2013/05/7-quick-takes_24.html">not everyone was raised by a hippy</a>.<br />
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Let's see if I can think of anything else to say about this tea. Yes! I can! But I won't! So you're welcome.<br />
<br />
And thank you to Jordan and Kate who first recommended this tea! I wouldn't be who I am today without it.<br />
<br />
~~~<br />
<br />
I've been baking sourdough recently. I got inspired by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/threelittlemaidsbaking/">this new friend</a> and she gave me some of her starter and sent me to this <a href="http://theperfectloaf.com/">sourdough blog</a>, and I was up and running, and I've had so much more baking success than I ever expected to have! I've seriously wanted this to be part of my routine <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2012/07/kitchening-old-school.html">since forever ago</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU893vxEa0iWQLzs0TN7BI8K5BRjBXqs_iXwYtM11D5g6KlfQ_eUBeRa4cHXPwMH0e4vGzIX19svsUNY5zsgu4WgQlss34ADEf4Zms4BcJlCZE3tmvymg1ppzya3PoJ7oU5_NYE9KDzlIL/s1600/IMG_4721+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU893vxEa0iWQLzs0TN7BI8K5BRjBXqs_iXwYtM11D5g6KlfQ_eUBeRa4cHXPwMH0e4vGzIX19svsUNY5zsgu4WgQlss34ADEf4Zms4BcJlCZE3tmvymg1ppzya3PoJ7oU5_NYE9KDzlIL/s640/IMG_4721+5.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kBZs0f68ryFXJf73dL8qYo_YduNdrPwG2C2_e_hMnOAsDHqAJxBIzqemzlgAB3GWNOFsMjYF2elyjrJ3MHYTk1_oSwoh2Uobh3xWvJT29tcy1j_aIpSOTHCxvCq1489vdZ30aNV9SQ-1/s1600/IMG_4652+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kBZs0f68ryFXJf73dL8qYo_YduNdrPwG2C2_e_hMnOAsDHqAJxBIzqemzlgAB3GWNOFsMjYF2elyjrJ3MHYTk1_oSwoh2Uobh3xWvJT29tcy1j_aIpSOTHCxvCq1489vdZ30aNV9SQ-1/s640/IMG_4652+5.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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My crust is really tough and my shaping efforts are pretty laughable and I'm still learning how to gauge when the dough is fully proofed. But I'm loving it. <a href="http://theperfectloaf.com/beginners-sourdough-bread/">This beginner loaf</a> has been consistently good - I also made some OK pizza dough and a decent sandwich loaf.<br />
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Yesterday I took some fresh bread to my neighbor who just had a baby. I put it in a brown paper bag and walked it over hand in hand with Lucy June who was hankering for a peek at some newborn toes. The late afternoon light was stunning, and I thought: *this* is life.<br />
<br />
~~~<br />
<br />
I finished <a href="http://amzn.to/2mc6pfh">Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird</a> this morning. I've been familiar with it for so long and read excerpts of it before, but I'd never read the whole thing. I can't recommend it enough if you like reading about writing. Which is one of my favorite things to read about so it's totally my cup of ginger turmeric tea.<br />
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~~~<br />
<br />
How many books do you read at a time?<br />
<br />
I read like five books at a time. I wonder if I would finish more books if I stuck to one, but I find myself craving different types of books at different times of day. Morning reading needs to be thoughtful. Naptime reading needs to be effortless. Evening reading needs to be gripping. In bed reading needs to be beautiful.<br />
<br />
Currently, my bedtime book is <a href="http://amzn.to/2ldqNs9">Gilead</a>. It's amazing. I read a couple pages and steep in the richness of it until I'm drowsy. I never want it to end.<br />
<br />
~~~<br />
<br />
Jacob and I went on a date last week (<a href="http://www.ritualhouston.com/">this restaurant</a> for you Htown peeps) to use a Christmas gift card. It was amazing. Like entire pigs hanging in the meat locker kind of cool...so maybe that's not your thing...but I loved it.<br />
<br />
Afterwards we went tipsy shopping at the Goodwill in the ritzy part of town. Tipsy thrifting on date night: highly recommend. I scored a couple Anthro dresses and barely used brand name shoes for the kids. I also giggled a ton because thrift stores can be so hilarious if you're two drinks in with somebody fun.<br />
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~~~<br />
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Ok. More secondhand clothes, because this is a fashion blog.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPqFU7i0SQmX0TxBsEgZ8TFGtdBr_Xv4PGxYZ3C3QMFZpf3rC6_vf0pfSm4NXcAeg9Rx4G9E26K-07pS7qtk0yKZP6GOm4KmMcrAeMsdpLTC9LEsr31BFB50t13RHkXjg3J-okDOO8NuR/s1600/C1732_DM0909_m.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPqFU7i0SQmX0TxBsEgZ8TFGtdBr_Xv4PGxYZ3C3QMFZpf3rC6_vf0pfSm4NXcAeg9Rx4G9E26K-07pS7qtk0yKZP6GOm4KmMcrAeMsdpLTC9LEsr31BFB50t13RHkXjg3J-okDOO8NuR/s320/C1732_DM0909_m.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
Last summer I used a two year old gift card and bought myself <a href="https://api.shopstyle.com/action/apiVisitRetailer?id=469687796&pid=uid100-38013990-58">these shorts from Madewell</a>. Full price! Because I am an adult. And I had a gift card.<br />
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Here they are on me!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tmSUCPRqgnWgylhsfzQ5YgQIto_cRSQo8YQqpHvggo4ORTZikGPBX9qaRU516D6tDBxr0GtOeByX-ZbOasXVlEVTjS_MYO-I30aQ9p3KcbzxmAcbYKq13872z46N7kXevuxL_HhKKCd4/s1600/IMG_4914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tmSUCPRqgnWgylhsfzQ5YgQIto_cRSQo8YQqpHvggo4ORTZikGPBX9qaRU516D6tDBxr0GtOeByX-ZbOasXVlEVTjS_MYO-I30aQ9p3KcbzxmAcbYKq13872z46N7kXevuxL_HhKKCd4/s640/IMG_4914.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Madewell models roll them up. I roll them down. Because enough white thigh is enough. It was everything I could do not to crop out my forehead wrinkles for this pic because #petty. But I didn't because #authenticity and they're a gift from my dad and I'm turning 32 next week so #embrace.<br />
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They have been such great shorts: they run laps around my Target shorts, which is good because I spent $75 on them. On shorts. Despite loving them, I wasn't sure I could throw down like that again.<br />
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Yesterday I remembered that I had a <a href="http://www.thredup.com/r/GKDXAG">ThredUp</a> credit from some clothes I sent in two years ago and voila! $90 Madewell denim shorts in my size for $26! Now I'm basking in the glow of buying (heavily discounted) quality.<br />
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Moral of the story: I have commendable shopping habits and you should try <a href="http://www.thredup.com/r/GKDXAG">ThredUp</a>. Just like everyone else already told you.<br />
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~~~<br />
<br />
Jacob and I have a standing argument about how to feed a baby. His mess tolerance is very low and prefers to sit down, play the spoon game, and scrape the mouth and chin with every bite.<br />
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I'm the opposite. I'd much rather eat my food with my own hands and let baby do the same and then deal with the fallout.<br />
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My way:<br />
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Jacob's way:<br />
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[NOT PICTURED]</div>
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[Because TEDIOUS AND BORING]</div>
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Visit <a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-writing-coop-good-books-and-five-years-later/">Kelly</a> for more takes and Happy Mardi Gras!</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-2177856665244530292017-02-03T14:45:00.001-08:002017-02-03T14:52:24.036-08:00Quick Takes: Afternoon Off and Hidden DoorsOn Wednesday Jacob finished all his work by noon and told me to take the afternoon off. I said I just wanted to hole up in our bedroom with a hot cup of something and my laptop, but he said the offer was only on the table if I left the house.<br />
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He was right of course. Our bedroom - though progressing - is still a construction project. And our children - though not my immediate responsibility - will always bang on the door if I'm on the other side. I was under orders not to do anything productive. I wasn't allowed to work on anything. So I went to a bookstore and I browsed. I picked up books and meandered. I told multiple sales people that I didn't need any help. Because I didn't. And nobody needed help from me.<br />
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Usually I take "me time" to work on administrative stuff for Jacob's business or to go on a stroller-less run or to just get stuff done. I can't remember the last time I wandered in a bookstore. It was glorious. I thought I would feel like I'd wasted that time, but instead I felt like a new person. Or maybe I just felt like my old person?<br />
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>><<</div>
<br />
I've been trying to embrace smaller chunks of time.<br />
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For the past month I've been running and doing yoga almost every day. I've always been a consistent jogger, but since baby number three came I was only managing one run a week, if that. So a couple months back, I just decided to go on twenty minute runs. It's worked like a charm. At this point in my life, it's so much easier to find 20 minutes 6 times a week than 40 minutes 3 times a week. I think this is pretty mental: it's a lot easier to commit to a 20 minute workout.<br />
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Recently I've been applying the idea to yoga. Whenever I saw a 20 minute window, I just click on over to <a href="http://www.doyogawithme.com/">this website</a>, set my filters to 0-20 or 20-40 minute workouts, and off we go.<br />
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>><<</div>
<br />
While wondering through the bookstore, I broke down and bought some books for the kids. I almost never buy kids' books because the library is so easy and so free. But that day I had some cash and I wanted to do something splurgey. I bought Jake <a href="http://amzn.to/2jM2cJg">this classic</a> which he loves. I wanted to buy Lucy June <a href="http://amzn.to/2l64q7D">Ladybug Girl</a> because it's much more my style of girl book, but she's in a big time unicorn phase and so I gave in and bought one called <a href="http://amzn.to/2kxRk6o">Uni the Unicorn</a>. The flower illustrations got me. Especially this page with all the dandelions.<br />
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>><<</div>
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I'm on the hunt for a hot beverage that is caffeine-free and doesn't need milk or sugar to make it palatable. I'm trying to teach myself to like herbal tea, but so far so bad. I'd love any tea recommendations or tips if you got'em!<br />
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>><<</div>
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This is exactly what Jacob and I look like when we watch TV:<br />
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Please admire all my well placed wall art... </div>
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>><<</div>
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Remodeling progress. Here's where we are with the master bedroom. (steps out the window are handy but temporary ;) Floors go in on the 13th. </div>
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Tile is done in the bathroom. It's the first time we've tiled all the way up a wall and I really like it.<br />
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Jacob is almost done building the vanity and I can't wait to show it to you!</div>
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Then finally there's this cuteness. We'll be taking out this wall soon to make this room three feet wider, so last week Jacob cut a hole in it last week to make spot for the kids:</div>
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Jake scurries in there every morning to look at books before the other kids wake up.<br />
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Go see <a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-a-treatment-has-arrived/">Kelly</a> and Happy Weekend. We're off to hide from the Super Bowl festivities which are happening up the road!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-46019991305689871502017-01-27T06:05:00.001-08:002017-01-27T06:05:43.497-08:007QT - Little Things and BIG ThingThrowing up a post this Friday morning! It's chilly here in Houston which puts me in SUCH a good mood. And my little sister is visiting this weekend (Right, Lil??) and my little brother who's been out of town all month is finally back and we're all having a pizza night tomorrow. So many good things big and little!<br />
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I read most of Gary Taube's new book <a href="http://amzn.to/2jZVZxv">The Case Against Sugar</a> this week, and I'm sufficiently terrified of sucrose, fructose, and all the other -ose's. The book was actually pretty dry - and I LOVE reading about health and wellness books and food histories - but it's a pretty compelling look at the story of sugar consumption and the rise in chronic disease. Whenever I feel my healthful eating resolve starting to teeter, I check out a book like this.<br />
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When Jacob saw me reading the book, he sat next to me with a bowl of ice cream.<br />
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The kids and I went to the park yesterday morning. It was 55 degrees and when we were getting back in the car Jake asked if he had frost on his face.<br />
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The remodel is still trucking along. I'll try to get a post up about it next week. I'm no longer sleeping in a total construction site...it feels more like...a garage.<br />
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The kids are troopers about it all:<br />
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The suckers were from before I read the Taubes book.<br />
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Jake really likes to shorten words. Yesterday he called his Uncle Michael "Mikes." He thinks it's extra cool. Often he'll shorten words and we won't even know what he means. Like the other day when he asked for these:<br />
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Jacob and I have been scrambling for a new show for both of us to watch. He has his kinds of shows (dry British or Australian humor) and I have mine (overdramatic period pieces), and we'll often find shows to watch together (Stranger Things, Poldark, The OA.) But we've been floundering for awhile to find a new one, so we picked up The Man in the High Castle. I didn't like the first half of season one but I'm really liking the second half.<br />
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I'm reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder's books with the kids. I love them all so much. Right now we're reading Farmer Boy. My favorite part is how much this nine year old boy thinks about food. At one point he was reflecting on how pretty his mother was and that she was never prettier than when she was carrying a ham to the kitchen table. #parentinggoals<br />
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A couple months ago we made butter tinted with carrot juice just like Ma Ingalls. I'm thinking next week we'll make Almanzo's favorite food: fried apples and onions.<br />
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(Disclaimer: I realize replicating Little House recipes sounds industrious. Let it be known that the only thing I'm really doing well is making it to the couch every night with <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2014/05/the-whirley-pop.html">a bowl of popcorn</a>.)<br />
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The other day I was asking Jacob how one even begins the process of finding a good therapist...and then literally two days later we got an e-mail from a good friend of ours from college who has written<a href="http://www.findyourtherapy.com/book/"> an ebook about how to find a great therapist</a>. You should definitely <a href="http://www.findyourtherapy.com/book/">check it out</a> or at least visit his <a href="http://findyourtherapy.com/">website</a> which has tons of information about therapy (cost, kinds, frequency, what to expect). This guy is basically the coolest, and I'm so excited for this initiative!<br />
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And now the BIG THING - which is NOT another baby. </div>
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We're gearing up to move to my hometown in rural Texas this summer. I. can't. wait.<br />
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We'll rent my parents' house while they relocate to my grandmother's old house, and then we'll start the slow process of buying ten acres from them and building a house on it. It feels like a dream, and I'm so excited about it. (But Jake told me he likes being a city kid because he gets to drive on highways -_-)<br />
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We'll buy ten acres of unimproved land except that it has an acre of high fencing around a vineyard of Black Spanish grapes.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez2sBgwJK6Hj4pqp8P4_c7gMXfqATeIpYd-D9U2FGfWxmirqSL8scZiOKE8cwbG3zytKNEVLPbZqlDx9V7dfq5WGjAL-T8yRzH31CxDxKpt_-v0kyg7T-BGlup2e5N6B4aIguNSS6dRua/s1600/IMG_3157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez2sBgwJK6Hj4pqp8P4_c7gMXfqATeIpYd-D9U2FGfWxmirqSL8scZiOKE8cwbG3zytKNEVLPbZqlDx9V7dfq5WGjAL-T8yRzH31CxDxKpt_-v0kyg7T-BGlup2e5N6B4aIguNSS6dRua/s640/IMG_3157.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
It has a creek!<br />
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And carpenter anthills the size of basketball courts!<br />
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It's basically a deer habitat and is totally overrun by wild mustang grapevines ten inches thick at the base, and we're totally in love.<br />
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We're thinking this for the backyard:<br />
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Then I'll be able to go seriously Ma Ingalls on everything. It's such an enormous dream come true to move home and read Wendell Berry and work the land and watch sunsets.<br />
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<a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/how-to-achieve-the-perfect-sahm-body/">Visit Kelly for more quick takes</a>! Happy Weekending!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-90968695776813222632017-01-18T08:34:00.001-08:002017-01-18T08:38:48.043-08:00What I'm Reading (and Quick Remodel Update)<div style="text-align: center;">
**chock full of affiliate links in case the almighty Google asks and threatens my $6/mo**<br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/2jk2FWI"><i>Everyone Brave is Forgiven</i></a> by Chris Cleave<br />
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Story about several young people in London as they figure out their way through the first years of WWII. Think star-crossed lovers and coming of age. It had an <a href="http://amzn.to/2irVNCq">Amor Towles</a> feel. It honestly fell a little flat for me. My expectations were probably too high because I was hoping for another <i>All the Light We Cannot See </i>and this novel didn't quite hit that level of heart-wrenching. It's the only Chris Cleave I've read, and I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences with him.<br />
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<i><a href="http://amzn.to/2jJiByI">When Breath Becomes Air</a></i> by Paul Kalanithi<br />
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I loved this book and highly recommend it. I first encountered Kalanithi when I read <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/opinion/sunday/how-long-have-i-got-left.html">his piece in the New York Times a couple of years ago</a>, and like most of the internet, I was struck by his story: a neurologist finishing residency diagnosed with an aggressive and rare lung cancer. <a href="http://amzn.to/2jJiByI">When Breath Becomes Air</a> is his memoir about dying, so it's heavy, but his writing is so good and so poignant.<br />
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<i><a href="http://amzn.to/2jiZTkU">168 Hours</a></i> by Laura Vanderkam<br />
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This is a book about how people spend their time/should spend their time. I liked it. She's got great statistics on how people spend their time today vs fifty years ago. After reading it, I decided to do some time tracking. This is pretty tricky for me because I'm someone who needs a lot of external motivation to maintain this type of practice. But in this instance, a disbelieving eyebrow raise from Jacob has been all the motivation I've needed to follow through, and I'm going on my second week of observing my time in 15 minute intervals.<br />
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I've LOVED time-tracking. I haven't analyzed my charts yet, but the time tracking itself has helped me spend my time so much more consciously.<br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/2jj89Bh"><i>Designing your Life</i></a> by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans<br />
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Ah. More self help! This book is about applying design concepts to "What should I do with my life" questions. It's very interactive and has you doing lots of exercises, some of which got me thinking creatively about some of the parts of my life that I want to change. It's one of the reasons I've been blogging more! It had been hard for me to justify spending time blogging, but this book helped me look at my emotional experiences without judgment. And turns out I LIKE blogging, and maybe I don't need another justification to do it.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2k40CXV"><br /></a>
<a href="http://amzn.to/2k40CXV"><i>Before We Visit the Goddess</i></a> by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni<br />
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A story about three generations of Indian women that spans decades and continents. I really liked this book: I liked the writing and the jumping around in time and the steady description of Indian food. But it also made me a little miserable...it seemed like every relationship was fueled by deception or resentment. I finished it one night late and crawled into bed with Jacob. I hugged him and was all "Ah love! Let us be true to one another!" and he was like "I was asleep."<br />
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Also: this is what my bedroom looks like today. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjFT0WdM7iMCexuZuotty8_lEtBwZtAgyR-yD4q0tmQmIJUzi8cjdLc20vLk0t8ie4mGMBL3eF9YrqXCRwxXirE5dhKpBqB0_UElV-F-HpBcNnzwjDpbx45IImQawI1PzCQ_rKEAvjEwk/s1600/bedroom+in+progress.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjFT0WdM7iMCexuZuotty8_lEtBwZtAgyR-yD4q0tmQmIJUzi8cjdLc20vLk0t8ie4mGMBL3eF9YrqXCRwxXirE5dhKpBqB0_UElV-F-HpBcNnzwjDpbx45IImQawI1PzCQ_rKEAvjEwk/s640/bedroom+in+progress.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We demo-ed (How do Chip and Joanna spell that, I wonder?) the old exterior wall the day before yesterday and now the room is twice as big and half as habitable. Never fear, the drywallers come tomorrow if we pass our final framing inspection today. #knockonwallstuds</div>
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Also the "we" here always means Jacob doing/managing everything and me in the background asking "Is that supposed to be that way??"</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-20701748533202208332017-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:002017-01-14T09:20:35.463-08:00Some Things that have been Working for MeSo...seems like I've been seeing a lot of people blogging about items/practices/hacks that are making a difference in their lives. I <i>always</i> read these types of posts. (I just typed "poasts.") Mostly because I'm a sucker for a good hack. Or at least reading about a good hack - I don't know how often I put new things into practice. But, know, that if you've got a title like: "5 Things That are Saving My Life Right Now", this lady will be clicking in a flash.<br />
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Despite how much I like to read posts like these, I don't tend to blog about them, but today that changes.<br />
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Here we go!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Rosewater and glycerin</span></b><br />
I'm gonna lead with my strong suit here, because the rest of these aren't very original and it has an affiliate link. So you're welcome. (And thank you.)<br />
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I first bought rosewater and glycerin (<a href="http://amzn.to/2jwwb8l">this one</a>) when I was trying to DIY some kind of face wash. I never made the face wash, but I use this as a quick moisturizer all the time. I spritz it on my face a lot, especially in the winter. Before make-up, after make-up, mixed with some emu oil if I'm extra dry. I spray it all over the kids after baths. And it literally smells like roses.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The sound machine app on my phone</span></b><br />
Baby is really good at sleeping through noise because he has lived in a construction project his whole life, but when they're literally reroofing over his little sleeping head, a sound machine app saves the day. We don't have any actual sound machines because I'm allergic to stuff. (I know it's annoying when people are all "I'm a helpless minimalist," but trust me, my aversion to buying new things annoys me more than you, and my husband more than both of us.)<br />
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Here's the real reason this is on the list: This method necessarily decommissions my phone during nap time. I've found that pressing my phone into lullaby service has been <i>really</i> good for me and any hopes I have to do something meaningful during naps. I use the <a href="http://www.ipnossoft.com/app/relax-melodies/">Relax Melodies app</a> by Ipnos. (A trio of river, rain, and wind, if you must know.)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">One on one outings with the kiddos</span></b><br />
In the past, if Jacob was home and I needed to run an errand, I ran and didn't look back. That blessed freedom from car seat buckles!! Carefree meandering through the grocery store! Picking up hold books at the library without ending up with some twaddle involving ninja pigs!! Bringing a kid along, when I could be <i>all by myself</i> would have sounded crazy. I don't think it even occurred to me for years.<br />
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So if you're still there, I get you. Cheers!<br />
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But recently in that situation, I've taken to bringing one of the big kids with me. It's delightful. At three and five they're both still pretty much excited to come no matter what we're doing. We chat. They pick the music in the car. I don't have to deal with the anxiety of having multiple children in public. I feel less like a ruthless cattle herder and more...like a mom holding a kid's hand.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFjv2GAcpSEbx_Gmt5qe6J1sv3zQC58jafvD10Cz-ikgwTRHNhz_XvV0uO-p0VExL3J5AW4OpdVjHuUAaim4P-fZNpeoDHjzAT63gpdjcfxdk8cnOKS9KV2wt6ensrSQj0CAw3KlX-pOQ/s1600/IMG_4153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFjv2GAcpSEbx_Gmt5qe6J1sv3zQC58jafvD10Cz-ikgwTRHNhz_XvV0uO-p0VExL3J5AW4OpdVjHuUAaim4P-fZNpeoDHjzAT63gpdjcfxdk8cnOKS9KV2wt6ensrSQj0CAw3KlX-pOQ/s640/IMG_4153.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Tea time and other things I like</span></b><br />
At the end of naps the kids and I have tea. Usually some kind of chai with honey and milk. They put a blanket down in their room, and I bring the tea in on a tray with some little cookies. Always the tray. Mutiny without the tray. It's a really sweet time.<br />
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This one started as part of a new year's resolution to do things with the kids that <i>I like doing</i>. Instead of waiting for the kids to ask me to do something I don't want to do, I ask them to do something with me that <i>I do want to do.</i> <i>Little House on the Prairie </i>before I get stuck under the weight of Mr. Scarry's pickle car. Uno before Chutes and Ladders. Etc.<br />
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<b>And in the kitchen...</b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Boiled potatoes</span></b><br />
I try to keep boiled potatoes in our fridge most of the time. I chop them up for a quick starch for the kids - who eat them with ketchup. Or I'll grate them and throw them in a pan with some brussels sprouts for me to eat with a soft boiled egg. Eh? Eh?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDSZSdZ9B5JvRq5feTLbmuq_MFp4NrcTsFPlnAo4plUw1xTmNaFg-RH2cRRAzgzfgTQyE9Oq4M_2tR21oyusxaaBjQD_V1HqsiT6pkW3CkLpI29LQ_blgwUxrEI52DYwgri7fpcKiBep_/s1600/IMG_4286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDSZSdZ9B5JvRq5feTLbmuq_MFp4NrcTsFPlnAo4plUw1xTmNaFg-RH2cRRAzgzfgTQyE9Oq4M_2tR21oyusxaaBjQD_V1HqsiT6pkW3CkLpI29LQ_blgwUxrEI52DYwgri7fpcKiBep_/s640/IMG_4286.JPG" width="640" /></a> </div>
<b>Roasted cauliflower</b><br />
We eat a lot of vegetables here because we're enslaved to our weekly farm share till the summer (<a href="http://plant-it-forward.org/">THIS ONE</a> if you're in the Houston area.) And the kids are pretty good sports about the mountains of okra and chard. But one veggie that never fails us is cauliflower. I've mashed it, riced it, tried it as a pizza crust replacement, and all the trends, but we always end up back here:<br />
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Chopped up and tossed in some lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and salt and roasted on 400 until the edges begin to caramelize.<br />
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I make it as an appetizer 2-3 nights a week and throw it at the hangry children when dinner's not quite ready, and they eat it like popcorn.<br />
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So there you go. Maybe one of these will save your life! Or probably not, but I'm touched that you're still here and that counts for something.<br />
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As I was writing this post, I kept thinking about all the things (<a href="http://amzn.to/2il6nyp">like this?</a>) that "would probably be saving my life, if I had them" so I'll be debuting those sometime before my birthday next month.<br />
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Ciao!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-59395240506797014642017-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:002017-01-14T09:20:15.093-08:00Back for a Hot Minute<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hjjL1KY-qoOL2f-6jvLolSI0k5mFStJRjp5VGQwp-cGem7JPv_tVB1rPW67tVZiOyc7KXJqw1i2vU0ojFscg24O1CZWcb4wpvL4CzGGCiHz96Ii2wVpZ82FOc4YhirRpSoLYnWRDRdIb/s1600/RAMSAY-3276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3hjjL1KY-qoOL2f-6jvLolSI0k5mFStJRjp5VGQwp-cGem7JPv_tVB1rPW67tVZiOyc7KXJqw1i2vU0ojFscg24O1CZWcb4wpvL4CzGGCiHz96Ii2wVpZ82FOc4YhirRpSoLYnWRDRdIb/s640/RAMSAY-3276.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Hello hello!</div>
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How about another doomed effort to wake the blog back up, eh? </div>
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December was tough because I had bronchitis that deteriorated into a walking pneumonia and one particularly unforgiving coughing fit broke one of my ribs(?). So...we were lacking a little holly jolly in the festive department for most of the month. </div>
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But before all that happened I managed to get some family photos taken by a <a href="http://www.clairepedregon.photography/">super talented and sweet friend</a>. The photoshoot was laughably difficult. Roman was unhappy unless we were letting him dig with a measuring spoon. Lucy June got wise to her power pretty quickly and stayed in tantrumville for most of the shoot. I was just praying for one - just please one - passable photo. Then when we got them back I was delighted. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JJKV2rslkPoH7WKok5fEkji69dbfEMRuHerLEbWRVGXhsfp4GU2Sm74E-ePyUB3FCN_r74FMus9TJ1HJwNy5YeiuJpsHlJfkzxtEURMXtRpbdik9snjLXGEIV211sEVM3wTmQg6jQNuu/s1600/RAMSAY-2743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JJKV2rslkPoH7WKok5fEkji69dbfEMRuHerLEbWRVGXhsfp4GU2Sm74E-ePyUB3FCN_r74FMus9TJ1HJwNy5YeiuJpsHlJfkzxtEURMXtRpbdik9snjLXGEIV211sEVM3wTmQg6jQNuu/s640/RAMSAY-2743.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-hZXoO2onZxJPR94tjlkSEZk2gBIf2JyAKHKWhxj1gG_37OUThpu6qhhAFSdsQT1gt1gkz74kqguLh3JLZDGaFy3uzyWpU7TX4dr1nVsrZJmb2xRIkznUf3HyvzFI9Xs1mSXmU4lCIE-/s1600/RAMSAY-2757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-hZXoO2onZxJPR94tjlkSEZk2gBIf2JyAKHKWhxj1gG_37OUThpu6qhhAFSdsQT1gt1gkz74kqguLh3JLZDGaFy3uzyWpU7TX4dr1nVsrZJmb2xRIkznUf3HyvzFI9Xs1mSXmU4lCIE-/s640/RAMSAY-2757.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you look closely you can read the hidden stories. (Mother who's been smiling too long has death grip on three year old while tickling her.) </div>
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Or not so hidden stories...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib_-fWk1Z8SMdC0d0mA6Edv1AjItpL-cTOV9i-chy2vW-nPgzCN9BHtr4qpbxlo7hwNU07TSbyM6Ccwb5pgID2o2J69CHtbHJpeFPC8VFgyyBbnQfLNaoPRCBvyHlBIHhKUSS_T5O6P1ra/s1600/RAMSAY-3309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib_-fWk1Z8SMdC0d0mA6Edv1AjItpL-cTOV9i-chy2vW-nPgzCN9BHtr4qpbxlo7hwNU07TSbyM6Ccwb5pgID2o2J69CHtbHJpeFPC8VFgyyBbnQfLNaoPRCBvyHlBIHhKUSS_T5O6P1ra/s640/RAMSAY-3309.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nothing like a magical photographer to make lemonade from your lemons. Or maybe a nice ginger lemon cocktail.</div>
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We are still deep into our house renovation. We redid the interior of the house last year and have recently begun adding some extra square footage and a master bathroom. We're basically turning a tiny 2/1 into a not quite so small 3/2. We'll probably finish everything up by late spring...which is precisely when we will move again. Because that is how we do. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EImK7S8nLKp3eNe18i5fxG4LV_v3-gr6fHeVU-BOXiyrFPP4RvgjFy0fr8nWh50VtDPmXqEZ8OPlAap4TpzegXGaRpsTrZv5y07NKYWnh6ml5-YFYgxeNrjBB9QMT5twxzvc-mn_JFI0/s1600/RAMSAY-2815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EImK7S8nLKp3eNe18i5fxG4LV_v3-gr6fHeVU-BOXiyrFPP4RvgjFy0fr8nWh50VtDPmXqEZ8OPlAap4TpzegXGaRpsTrZv5y07NKYWnh6ml5-YFYgxeNrjBB9QMT5twxzvc-mn_JFI0/s640/RAMSAY-2815.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Adding on has been lots more fun than the original remodel work because it's all been outside. When your husband has to routinely decommission your kitchen or your only bathroom to work on the sewer line it starts getting old fast.</div>
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Of course we did have to hack into a couple walls. So my brother-in-law's room currently looks like this: </div>
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He's a trooper. And he sleeps in the living room.</div>
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Back when Jacob and I lived in Los Angeles we would talk about renovating houses and got into the game a little over two years ago after moving to Houston. It's strange to say it, but I think that means that we're "living a dream." And not surprisingly that dream comes with layers of frustration and exhaustion, financial stress and decision fatigue, holey walls ands construction dust. I even find myself longing for some apartment living again. #grassisgreener #etcetc </div>
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I'm getting my legs under me as a mother of three...now that the baby is 16 months old. I know this because I've started some kitchen fermentation again. We're starting light with carrot sticks and some kefir water. I should have my first batch of soda done by the end of this week. I have a friend coming over tomorrow who's a sourdough queen, so it should be a nice brunch/inquisition. I still don't get dressed everyday, but there's nothing like some controlled spoilage on the counter to make me feel like a functioning human.</div>
<br />
Bye for now!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-45316241253054232532016-10-21T04:18:00.001-07:002017-01-14T09:18:53.647-08:007QT: Lucy Likes Cheese<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZP8FvcKkT6BU4PQEI1BZhaD6pSJ-b_ec8OOaGqhKfcIvXEoSD9hlqArFnnmUdFLGgNTiM0qbRDBY4ovhosYcDwKenWRRhuxvYOwupTX6FynK8fG9XT6dIyBF0APxOY3PPLVRS5cp2a2X/s1600/IMG_3738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZP8FvcKkT6BU4PQEI1BZhaD6pSJ-b_ec8OOaGqhKfcIvXEoSD9hlqArFnnmUdFLGgNTiM0qbRDBY4ovhosYcDwKenWRRhuxvYOwupTX6FynK8fG9XT6dIyBF0APxOY3PPLVRS5cp2a2X/s640/IMG_3738.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Our little girl turns three tomorrow, so here are some of her gems from the last year.<br />
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>> 1 <<</div>
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Lucy: Look at my mouf. <br />
Me: What's wrong with it?<br />
Lucy: There's nothing in it.<br />
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>> 2 <<</div>
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Lucy: I don't want chocolate chips in my muffin. I want them in my hand.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDXpN8CV_xU8eZpTMF0UiNG9AzOLYNKH2Y94igFcD-lqJmaY9PPbVGy5OyUNJ9HUnng1xVk3jqKSyMatVDt9AcbTLrR6vxcCGekyam2pWl0waOcJ5HvW8CRQdrsInU6dKPSisicPPLB9e/s1600/IMG_3739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDXpN8CV_xU8eZpTMF0UiNG9AzOLYNKH2Y94igFcD-lqJmaY9PPbVGy5OyUNJ9HUnng1xVk3jqKSyMatVDt9AcbTLrR6vxcCGekyam2pWl0waOcJ5HvW8CRQdrsInU6dKPSisicPPLB9e/s640/IMG_3739.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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>> 3 <<</div>
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Lucy: I don't like bears. They will eat me. They will put me in their mouf.<br />
<i>pauses </i><br />
And if they put me in their mouf, I can't put anyfing in my mouf.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgevy0FUKeeVaEgslG1HvEkALHTIpQO_z9LkHTbjiUU0Xi03Hr_yuSrM9s3MUa1JauHigB7Cj2a4WumRxEq2qxcDMRPndIQWyc7nk36wozULbY-fru8XDhtpIEcBojODKSP2kCq76GBqc3/s1600/IMG_3736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgevy0FUKeeVaEgslG1HvEkALHTIpQO_z9LkHTbjiUU0Xi03Hr_yuSrM9s3MUa1JauHigB7Cj2a4WumRxEq2qxcDMRPndIQWyc7nk36wozULbY-fru8XDhtpIEcBojODKSP2kCq76GBqc3/s640/IMG_3736.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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(She also routinely bites her fingers because they get in the way of her overzealous teeth. Is this normal?)<br />
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>> 4 <<</div>
<br />
While the boys are playing a raucous game of indoor soccer:<br />
Lucy (<i>yelling</i>): Who's ready to pway pwincesses??<br />
<i>waits. </i><br />
<i>yells louder.</i><br />
Who's ready to pway pwincesses???<br />
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>> 5 <<<br />
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<br />
While cramped together in the pack-n-play, in a game of Jake's devising:<br />
<br />
Jake: Officer LJ, begin the launch sequence!<br />
Lucy June: I'm Pwincess Leia!<br />
Jake: Officer LJ, begin the launch sequence!!!<br />
Lucy June: I'M PWINCESS LEIA!!!<br />
Jake: PRINCESS LEIA, BEGIN THE LAUNCH SEQUENCE!!<br />
Lucy June: OKAY!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXr4ef5bpvf4AEPoUqikW4KnJaxLQA7hW1xkYBY8vRcXLR94RkuQ1qrR4vgTi9NXQHdNSdjjkR0BYudecSKqW2pL-3AAUt-y8beOvt_Trp_Bxs17tKqAmXDYhyphenhyphenkdM18vMm9-3oTWs2Qg6/s1600/IMG_3737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXr4ef5bpvf4AEPoUqikW4KnJaxLQA7hW1xkYBY8vRcXLR94RkuQ1qrR4vgTi9NXQHdNSdjjkR0BYudecSKqW2pL-3AAUt-y8beOvt_Trp_Bxs17tKqAmXDYhyphenhyphenkdM18vMm9-3oTWs2Qg6/s640/IMG_3737.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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>> 6 <<<br />
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Lucy June: Hey little daddy!</div>
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Jacob: Call me big papa.</div>
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>> 7 <<</div>
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She's also started calling her big brother "Jakey" - no one else does this.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfv1WfKwRl2O06lrcMkNEs21Wp3qj-iDuf0HiXFtSLPJuFi7BLLEjQN5peJFN8C4Kefwrj0b2dAnRYS4owjTAjumC4AD5wSDIYuKs2kSraxH00BeenvETwvZxzKQFkBj4AbNV9fjmyavs/s1600/IMG_3740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfv1WfKwRl2O06lrcMkNEs21Wp3qj-iDuf0HiXFtSLPJuFi7BLLEjQN5peJFN8C4Kefwrj0b2dAnRYS4owjTAjumC4AD5wSDIYuKs2kSraxH00BeenvETwvZxzKQFkBj4AbNV9fjmyavs/s640/IMG_3740.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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>> 7.5 <<</div>
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Lucy June (<i>pretending to sleep)</i>: Honk shhhh honk shhhh</div>
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We love you LuzJune! Happy Birthday!</div>
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Go see <a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-dr-kellys-office-hours/">Kelly</a> for more takes!</div>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-38439968368421328632016-10-14T11:49:00.002-07:002017-01-14T09:21:36.922-08:007QT - Messes Minimalism Macrame<div style="text-align: left;">
Happy Friday!</div>
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I'm four days into a Whole 30 and...it's fine. Pretty boring really. I've been making our regular food but substituting out the best parts.<br />
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Last night we ate spaghetti squash carbonara and Jacob liked it as much as the regular one which boasts both ricotta and parmesan. The night before that we ate gumbo.<br />
<br />
We eat gumbo every week in the okra season. Every year I forget just how long the okra season is, and sometime in August after a couple months of gumbo I start saying: "This might be our last gumbo of the season!" And then I say that every week or so until... well at least until October!<br />
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>><<</div>
<br />
I've been knitting again. I started up again in August even though it was still super humid and hot and was until last week. For whatever reason this time the bug has taken less of a "scarf" tone and has got me ducking into Hobby Lobby to buy double pointed needles and cable stitch holders. And I'm probably doomed for failure or at least VERY SLOW progress, but whaddya do when you got the itch?<br />
<br />
I do love having a relatively contained craft project that I can pick up for a few minutes here and there when the kids are playing well together.<br />
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I just finished some fingerless gloves that took a very long time to complete and ended up...kinda bulky. Or maybe they just felt bulky for Houston in October where we've barely graduated out of swimsuits? Maybe I'll send them to <a href="http://fountainsofhome.blogspot.com/">Christy at Fountains of Snow</a>.<br />
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I also just finished a hat for a friend. Turns out it fits Roman. So...baby steps!</div>
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>><<</div>
<br />
I've also been dabbling in macrame. A friend asked if I could make her a wall hanging and my inner bohemian just lit right up. Unlike knitting, making wall hangings with ropes doesn't really lend itself to grabby baby hands, so I'm not sure how sustainable it is as a mom craft.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIufoiI6PJ01bNphfOjit6zepHYoL7n18xctCQhJGQ28TfgioSVSkifM3EWcLViwU7JLfx5NU25287OGPjwQKuRfyJKArqlcBqCwjK3G_h6eRWjnq8xSlWDcadEYhmldkMQxPUIlaP6eWi/s1600/IMG_3710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIufoiI6PJ01bNphfOjit6zepHYoL7n18xctCQhJGQ28TfgioSVSkifM3EWcLViwU7JLfx5NU25287OGPjwQKuRfyJKArqlcBqCwjK3G_h6eRWjnq8xSlWDcadEYhmldkMQxPUIlaP6eWi/s640/IMG_3710.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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>><<</div>
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I've been trying to teach Jake some knots. His self-taught knots are killing me especially when they involve tying to untangle the cords he's used to tie all of our stools and chairs together in a big clump in the middle of the dining room.<br />
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So slip knot! slip knot!<br />
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>><<</div>
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Are you cleaner or is your spouse/roommate?<br />
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Jacob has always been the orderly one in the relationship, and it's been an uphill climb for me over seven years of marriage to learn to stop throwing dirty clothes on the floor. We'd been married a year or so when I realized the messes in our house were *always* mine. I maybe would have noticed sooner if he'd ever complained about my messes, but he didn't. To my credit, if someone cleans the bathroom it's me. Jacob almost never cleans, and he hates picking up other people's messes, but otherwise he's super nice about his neatfreakishness.<br />
<br />
The other day as Jacob washed dinner dishes and I did the final sweep after the kids had gone to bed, I mused about how we do a much better job keeping our house looking alright than we used to - even before we had kids. It's mostly the need to tame the madness of three kids + avoid Houston roaches.<br />
<br />
I was feeling pretty darn good about it actually, so I asked Jacob how clean he would say our house was. He said: "Rarely clean and nominally orderly." Then I gave him crap because what the heck is "nominally orderly" - so he amended it to "Rarely clean and rarely orderly."<br />
<br />
I just started laughing. I would describe our house - the same house - as "tolerably clean and generally orderly." I wasn't even offended. I'm still not offended. I am mostly just relieved that my standards are as low as they are.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
>><<</div>
<br />
I've been reading (...listening to, because knitting) <a href="http://amzn.to/2eneARR">Kim John Payne's <i>Simplicity Parenting</i></a> recently and it's inspired me to get rid of more toys.<br />
<br />
We've run a pretty tight ship from the beginning when it comes to toys around here - mostly thanks to my mother and her willingness to adopt all the plastic, noisy, electronic or otherwise offensive toys that come our way - so I'm pretty much the choir when it comes to Payne's preaching. But every time I do a round of toy culling, the effect is 100% positive.<br />
<br />
We're down to Legos, Duplos, matchbox cars, a few baby toys, dress up clothes, a toy kitchen with toy cooking utensils, and a basket of scarves with string and clothespins. Playdough is tucked away in a closet as are a few puzzles and toys with too many pieces for unsupervised play. <br />
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Now that I list that all out it's actually sounding a little overstimulating, so I might have to go purge.<br />
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>><<</div>
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The biggest byproduct of toy minimalism is that when within five minutes of finishing breakfast all of our stools, cushions, blankets, and wooden spoons have been pressed into the service of the Resistance and its noble effort against the First Order, there aren't as many toys on the floor as there used to be. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMaCb6ytoKYxTLXSyfS3OtkLfYXRhPLLfyaR0XttvH1kWrPtAw-wxs8NSNVMqQ1-KUZmH6wHrxrQXpj6NMlwPFA5f9NfUd7pnZnplm-nwKqpez4lPYaSBLnwcnDROZNT1wdoCI74Jjgwq/s1600/IMG_3684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMaCb6ytoKYxTLXSyfS3OtkLfYXRhPLLfyaR0XttvH1kWrPtAw-wxs8NSNVMqQ1-KUZmH6wHrxrQXpj6NMlwPFA5f9NfUd7pnZnplm-nwKqpez4lPYaSBLnwcnDROZNT1wdoCI74Jjgwq/s640/IMG_3684.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Happy Weekend! And go see Kelly and the other quick takers!</div>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-42853301064942602092016-10-11T12:29:00.000-07:002016-10-11T12:29:25.213-07:00Whole 30 Here We Go!Kids sharing some non-Whole-30-friendly fare:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-MrUvW2RETbB2ceeiWXnhFp59n1O_tA-_jvFbYelbWC6uItzDTI8vNtLB6s3rtu-L8XwtNcqN8lZwiA6s_iFcIs9Ey44jp8Zlpp3zwiACrE1GOxHrVHlke4bYSwAM5cr5GvDjC9VhwBP/s1600/IMG_3694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-MrUvW2RETbB2ceeiWXnhFp59n1O_tA-_jvFbYelbWC6uItzDTI8vNtLB6s3rtu-L8XwtNcqN8lZwiA6s_iFcIs9Ey44jp8Zlpp3zwiACrE1GOxHrVHlke4bYSwAM5cr5GvDjC9VhwBP/s640/IMG_3694.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I'm starting a Whole 30 today.<br />
<br />
So many people I know online and at home are doing one, that I thought I should take advantage of the train and jump right on...one day late. My little brother's doing it. And I think I talked my little sister into it with a frantic text at 10 o'clock last night. So: moral support!<br />
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Last time when I did something like this I only committed to ten days and then took about ten days to mentally prepare for it. This time I'm trying the jump right in tactic. We'll see how it takes.<br />
<br />
So there. Now I've told you, which I hope will kick my external motivation into gear.<br />
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Coffee is the biggest hurdle for me when it comes to the Whole 30. I love coffee. And I love it my way, which involves milk or half and half or cream...or all three?<br />
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I get terrible headaches without coffee - which probably means I should get off caffeine altogether and drink chicken broth in the mornings or something - but I <i>love </i>me a cup of jo.<br />
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So depending on whether this morning's bulletproof coffee experiment takes, my Whole 30 may include a big fat half and half in my coffee exception.<br />
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And legumes. I'll also eat legumes. For all the paleolovers of the last decade trying to hate on legumes, I'm still pretty pro.<br />
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I'm also banking on fall being a relatively easy time to do a Whole 30 because of hard squashes and soup weather.<br />
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That's my blurb! I'd love any tips if you've got 'em!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-17605385144886160072016-08-22T11:57:00.001-07:002016-08-23T14:00:22.914-07:00Ro Baby Update<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvF04iYQpfGz2yCi6yI6R2F1ZN6ZWSZhmKBfoXmkAmemrJ8OUR4b_M8RFntome3qvZ7mHRKgpOEmHjWhiW2xJofyGQ6_2xPG_Mft6P4gklKiLW9SUDKcPuvueBcpPJlItFxrdLZ33y0Ut/s1600/IMG_3235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvF04iYQpfGz2yCi6yI6R2F1ZN6ZWSZhmKBfoXmkAmemrJ8OUR4b_M8RFntome3qvZ7mHRKgpOEmHjWhiW2xJofyGQ6_2xPG_Mft6P4gklKiLW9SUDKcPuvueBcpPJlItFxrdLZ33y0Ut/s640/IMG_3235.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Romie is almost one. We took him to the pediatrician yesterday for a 9mo (12mo?) visit and while we were there I dug up pics on the blog from <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2012/06/it-was-good-day-and-good-year.html">Jake's first birthday</a> and <a href="http://www.rhodeslog.com/2014/11/lucy-juney-turns-one.html">Lucy June's first birthday</a>. All the blog scrolling showed me just how much I'd forgotten about what J and L were like as babies. When I wrote stuff down, I was sure I would NEVER forget it...but I have...the blog confirms it.<br />
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So I thought I needed to do a post dedicated to the RoBird before I forget his entire babyhood.<br />
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I'm pretty sure he's a leftie, even though Jacob thinks I'm wrong.<br />
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He's still big. 97% across the board. Because he's been in 18-24mo clothes since he was six months old, clothes have never really fit him right. The soft-knits of babyhood have always worn more like sausage casings and pants always skew capri.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaC_ucisEinMhEgBP6iybe2bSLCT14Crg4CNHSOPqR3UqRDyuraP84GREENueSmYRUAIGBhk1bgxy5TlIHL8uEuloQWFCoOi7W_n_m4XkCeKI172kfS3sm1-DWNodHEhBrUzAxPq9YK9j6/s1600/hawaii2016-7303+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaC_ucisEinMhEgBP6iybe2bSLCT14Crg4CNHSOPqR3UqRDyuraP84GREENueSmYRUAIGBhk1bgxy5TlIHL8uEuloQWFCoOi7W_n_m4XkCeKI172kfS3sm1-DWNodHEhBrUzAxPq9YK9j6/s640/hawaii2016-7303+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
He took his first step at 10.5 months old. We were at the library for storytime and I was following him around as he crawled among the board books when he stood up and took a few steps. There they were: his VERY FIRST STEPS! And we were in a storytime full of toddlers, so nobody noticed or cared. Except for me! And I cared a lot! Such is parenthood.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybkDteNePm40vCMFrc4L9Xk4krQRMmt_ab1adRlwuzI-Qh8rMEFWVahDArXkiH3yhPvF9GhPtxq-SI2M6ANFbKSW3YOu_kK3jqhfcQWduR_uxuKugz-yty7ffX2diGObJshAtVtgYuzcd/s1600/hawaii2016-2-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybkDteNePm40vCMFrc4L9Xk4krQRMmt_ab1adRlwuzI-Qh8rMEFWVahDArXkiH3yhPvF9GhPtxq-SI2M6ANFbKSW3YOu_kK3jqhfcQWduR_uxuKugz-yty7ffX2diGObJshAtVtgYuzcd/s640/hawaii2016-2-9.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
This makes him our earliest walker. He's the most "physical" of any of the babies we've had yet. When he walks, he'll just start barreling forward until he falls down. He climbs up on and falls off of everything. I've even seen him trying to climb out of his crib. His favorite thing is to crawl all over people who are lying on the ground and smash his face on them, especially Jake. He has recently started pointing at stuff - which he does with his whole body, his arm shoots out straight and he cocks his head down so that his shoulder smushes against his cheek.<br />
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He doesn't have any words yet - a fact that I was 0% concerned about until the pediatrician recommended we start reading to him. At the time it sounded like such a lunacy, but the pendulum has swung and I'm already feeling guilty that he hasn't gotten any rounds in with <i>Goodnight Moon...</i> or any book for that matter.<i> </i><br />
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He's probably the best natured of any of our babies so far. He notices people. He's generally pretty chill. He loves being in the thick of it with his two older sibs and is quickly branding himself as the dumb jock sort.<br />
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Finally, I had the pediatrician take a look at his mouth issue and we got an official diagnosis: snaggletooth.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0MOkxhwv_0hExPBREY2XPVR6rUmvV33s7mJQ9NBKQRQv0rSECRAgvo5xCsbT5HFuWCevx1d2VQgFsPZyaNO9DyFLSm7K5-v8A5IOJOCsyHbEybJS6hho_lqH8WofRWh3ZiX5X78qseaQ/s1600/hawaii2016-7052+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0MOkxhwv_0hExPBREY2XPVR6rUmvV33s7mJQ9NBKQRQv0rSECRAgvo5xCsbT5HFuWCevx1d2VQgFsPZyaNO9DyFLSm7K5-v8A5IOJOCsyHbEybJS6hho_lqH8WofRWh3ZiX5X78qseaQ/s640/hawaii2016-7052+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
We'll probably take him to a pediatric dentist at some point once the tooth grows in a little bit, but for now...we'll just keep on loving him. Snaggletooth and all.<br />
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<a href="http://clairepedregon.photography/">Photo creds to my girl Claire</a></div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-84851354294583690682016-08-19T16:30:00.000-07:002017-01-14T09:23:35.699-08:007QT: Back on the Blog Bus with Old School Quick TakesAlright. The baby is asleep maybe for another half hour and the big kids are playing and I only have about eight things I want to get done before the baby wakes up...so blog for the first time in months it is!<br />
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We've been poking along with the remodel.<br />
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Yesterday we took out the ratty old fireplace that was a big black scar in the living room. Immediately after Jacob pushed it out, it started pouring rain. We felt PRETTY stupid because it's only rained every day this week and it's only supposed to rain every day for the next week, and there was no reason we needed to do the fireplace project right away. So...let's just say that got done more quickly than most things around here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19xWMYuPSpMl_krrbaR-8Wf4xmmfb6yBun6UiDmftZuWRG9Ey2_VBoAQuYen5og0XxhuDEOyItd90Qi8MHfpScK8jyYH9C_lE5Rux4_QEwcH3Z1bA_OzpFwKu4qyP12a4x0_XpuOQACF7/s1600/IMG_3203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19xWMYuPSpMl_krrbaR-8Wf4xmmfb6yBun6UiDmftZuWRG9Ey2_VBoAQuYen5og0XxhuDEOyItd90Qi8MHfpScK8jyYH9C_lE5Rux4_QEwcH3Z1bA_OzpFwKu4qyP12a4x0_XpuOQACF7/s640/IMG_3203.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
But now it's done and the rusty black metal box is gone! Don't mind the wall art - it's all out of wack because we used to have the TV where we now have...a skull. Trendy but also kind of a gnarly skull because we found it while tromping around my folks' place.<br />
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Remodeling with babies = barricades<br />
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Speaking of babies, ours is walking and therefore falling a lot. The other day he fell and hit his mouth and started bleeding where he's cutting a tooth. Ouch, right? He really wasn't bleeding very much, so we weren't concerned. I took a closer look at his mouth yesterday, and where there is supposed to be one tooth, it's like he has two teeth coming in?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWjnW0mpHGolrmmwyjFEG_n4eleHSaD_GYIm2evnd98JiLSFLW0jGQvkq2wh5HejtkVFBZCG3fN7iRjAvBv6UhyphenhyphenMX3grUk740gq67X7vZkdeH3-5ji20g31vaDyTDVI7WFrZJVCkph6Nm/s1600/IMG_3213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWjnW0mpHGolrmmwyjFEG_n4eleHSaD_GYIm2evnd98JiLSFLW0jGQvkq2wh5HejtkVFBZCG3fN7iRjAvBv6UhyphenhyphenMX3grUk740gq67X7vZkdeH3-5ji20g31vaDyTDVI7WFrZJVCkph6Nm/s640/IMG_3213.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Could he possibly have chipped the tooth? Or split it? Or is this its natural shape and maybe that's why a little face bonk made him bleed?<br />
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We have a pediatrician appointment Monday, so we should have answers soon...<br />
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Gretchen Rubin in Better than Before talks about how some people are stressed by the prospect of running out of something and other people are stressed by having too much. I think she uses the terms "abundance" vs "simplicity."<br />
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She says people who like simplicity will feel a little stressed when they buy a big bag of oatmeal, but a sense of relief when they've finished it all. People who like abundance will have the opposite experience.<br />
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I'm like 1000% the kind of person who prefers simplicity. Not that I'm some kind of Marie Kondo Master. My house isn't a paragon of elegant minimalism with the pristine fig tree in the corner of the living room. But emotionally speaking I find "abundance" stressful.<br />
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She also says people who prefer simplicity will even feel relieved when things break and have to get thrown away. Me to a T.<br />
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This is one of the reasons I love the library. Yesterday I renewed my library card and went on like a thirty book hold spree. It's all the fun of shopping without any of the stress of new things!<br />
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I had to renew my library card because we've been living in Houston for three whole years now. Three years! It feels shorter and it feels longer.<br />
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We're approaching our one year anniversary in this house which means we've stayed here longer than any other house in Houston, and we don't have plans to move until next summer! But that is another story...and maybe I'll even tell it to you now that I'm blogging again (ha!)<br />
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We went to Hawaii with a big group of dear friends and my whole family. The experience was too perfect for words, but thankfully my <a href="http://www.clairepedregon.photography/">very talented friend</a> took a lot of pictures. Here's a photo dump:<br />
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Happy Weekend! <a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-the-sadness-we-bring-to-a-diagnosis-should-not-become-our-childs/">Go see Kelly!</a></div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-47812874379470932452016-07-21T14:48:00.000-07:002016-07-21T14:49:08.884-07:00On Fear, Failure, and Self-Care<div style="text-align: center;">
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My thoughts on this are pretty muddled, but if I wait for them to clarify I won't hit publish on this post until 2017, and in the interest of not going even longer without a blog post here goes nothing.<br />
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I've always equated self-care with treating myself.<br />
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Perhaps I'm the only person in the world with this misconception and thus this little piece of writing is pointless, but maybe some of you are like me.</div>
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Maybe some of you say the words self-care and you conjure up images of tea lights illuminating a bathtub full of rose petals. Maybe you think a book in a comfy chair. Maybe wine and chocolate or my newest weakness Glutino Yogurt Pretzels. </div>
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I had a really hard time after my third baby was born. Really hard. He's ten months old now, and I'm mostly out of the proverbial woods, but I can still see them in my rearview, and sometimes they're closer than they appear. (#pun #set #spike) </div>
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I've learned that self-care is much better understood as: doing the hard but necessary things for myself. I'm talking things like going to the dentist or the dermatologist. Making my bed. Exercising. And on particularly hard days: eating.</div>
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Self-care is tricky for me because I'm largely externally motivated (<a href="http://amzn.to/1RWv9vz">Thank You, Gretchen</a>) - I do great when someone dangles the proverbial carrot, but not so great when I need to make a change <i>for myself</i>.<br />
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This is too bad. Really really too bad. I've thought a lot about what it means to be externally motivated, and I've found that at least for me it's closely linked to my fear of failure.<br />
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FAILURE is my self-elected word for 2016.<br />
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Halfway through the year and I'm no more comfortable with failure, but I'm committed to thinking about my failures as learning opportunities. (<a href="http://amzn.to/29ZcRia">Thank you, Carol.</a>)<br />
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For me, failure has a lot to do with how people perceive me. I HATE letting people down. This fear of letting people down has driven so many of my childhood and adult decisions. Only now am I beginning to let go of my people-pleasing obsession, because mama just can't anymore.<br />
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Here's the kicker: the only place that I've been OK with failure is when I let myself down. If I'm the only person affected by my failure, if I'm the only person I'm letting down, then nobody sees the failure and the failure doesn't count.<br />
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Because I don't count.<br />
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I tend to live a narrative that is simultaneously self-obsessed (<i>what must they think of me??</i>) and self-neglectful (<i>you're only letting yourself down and that's ok)</i>.<br />
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People talk about self-worth, and I always thought I had plenty of it, but the honest truth is that I don't always live like it. I thought I could confidently say the words "I am enough," (<a href="http://amzn.to/2addW77">Thank you, Brene</a>), but I don't live like I am enough.<br />
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So I've turned myself into a third person, and for the time being it seems to be working. I'm constantly repeating mantras. Things like:<br />
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You're a person too.<br />
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Someone needs to take care of your children's mother.<br />
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Don't confuse self-sacrifice with self-neglect.<br />
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I've been working on this. I've been taking time for myself: I'm making sure I get myself fed and showered. I'm making it a priority to exercise and hydrate. I'm getting up early. I'm even taking time to pursue meaningful hobbies - even when that means I have to pay or obligate someone to watch my kids.<br />
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I'm realizing just how hard self-care is.<br />
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I'm seeing the effects of taking better care of myself. It's not all roses, but I'm having glimpses. I'm having moments when I'm with my kids and I'm simply with them. I see how beautiful they are, and I just sit with that reality: I'm not itching to tackle eight things on my to do list or counting down the seconds till naps.<br />
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It feels good.</div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-30693839704616592632016-05-05T13:21:00.001-07:002017-01-14T09:22:04.483-08:00Detoxed - The Habits I Hope to KeepSo I did it. I "detoxed." My last post had me thinking about it, and now it's done.<br />
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Ten days of no sugar, dairy, grains, legumes, alcohol, caffeine (!!).<br />
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Ten days of early rising and nightly epsom salt baths. I oil pulled and did honey masks and dry brushed my skin and kept a gratitude journal. I never skipped my vitamins and got a lot of extra fiber. I've wanted to do something like this for a long time. The only other time I tried a protocol like this I lasted for about 18 hours before I crumpled onto the couch and Jacob force-fed me some toast.<br />
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It started out with a two day caffeine headache. And the morning of day three I was completely shaky and nauseated until Jacob made me my very elaborate smoothie and I got my blood sugar back up.<br />
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He refused to make it again and said something about wanting to support this "experience" but not wanting to be my sherpa. Fair enough.</div>
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After the awful Day 3, I upped my starchy vegetable intake and did better. After I got over the initial headaches and general aches, I just felt kinda normal. I don't know what I expected: maybe to bolt out of bed in the mornings and do jumping jacks to the bathroom or something?<br />
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But I felt good about myself - I was proud of myself - and I liked that.<br />
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Anyhooo. Here are some of the practices from the ten days that I want to keep up.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://wellnessmama.com/17951/coconut-oil-pulling/">Oil Pulling</a></span></b><br />
I've <a href="http://wellnessmama.com/17951/coconut-oil-pulling/">oil pulled </a>on and off throughout the years. My teeth tend to be sensitive, and they're noticeably less sensitive when I'm oil pulling. I've been doing intermittent oil-pulling for the past couple months, but on the detox I didn't miss a day. I would get up, get my spoonful of oil, and swish while I went about my morning routine. I just went to the dentist on Monday and wanna know something: NO CAVITIES. Every time I've gone do the dentist since having babies I've had between 2-4 new cavities. This time: none. I even had him double check the two teeth my last dentist said had cavities that I didn't have filled. Nada.<br />
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So maybe you're not a believer, in which case, please don't cramp my placebo.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1WLFC3c">Dry Skin Brushing</a></b></span><br />
I love dry skin brushing. <a href="http://amzn.to/1WLFC3c">(I use this brush.)</a> My skin feels so much softer when I'm doing it regularly. The naturophiles make a lot of claims about dry skin brushing - some even involving cellulite. I never believed this, but now that I've been doing it pretty regularly, I'm just gonna cross all my fingers and say...maybe?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1T3OnXf">Psyllium Husk</a></b></span><br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/1T3OnXf">Psyllium husk</a> is straight fiber. I purchased it in a powder form and for the whole ten days, I took an extra ~500mg throughout day mixed in water. It doesn't taste great, and downing a glass of gelatinous muck isn't fun, but...let's just say... on the southside it's great. I didn't have any complaints before, but now...I didn't know what I was missing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Omega 3 Daily</b></span><br />
My eyes have been dry in the morning for the last month or so, and my optometrist said Omega 3s. In the past I've only taken them while I'm pregnant, but the detox got me back on board, and it's already helping a lot. <a href="http://amzn.to/1rwRXNe">I take this one</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>More Nuts and Seeds in my Smoothies</b></span><br />
Traditionally, I only make smoothies in the summer and when I do they taste like milkshakes. I throw in some spinach and call it good even though it's a sugar bomb. During the detox I had a daily powerhouse of a smoothie with berries, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, flax, chia, hemp and avocado. We have a Vitamix which creamed everything right up, and I did find it carried me really well all morning.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Taking Baths the Right Way at the Right Time</b></span><br />
I'm not really a bath person. I find them kind of a hassle. But I got into the nightly bath during the detox. Not the bath part so much, but the things that surrounded it.<br />
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1) I would draw the bath for myself first, swish the epsom salts around, add a little essential oil. Then I would go change into a robe, and waltz into the bathroom like someone else had drawn me a bath and I could just slip in. Decadence is in the detail.<br />
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2) After the bath, I would put fresh pjs on and crawl into bed. I'm the type that wears the tank top I've had on all day instead of pajamas, and I pretty much always seems to have spit up or drool on me, so this whole being clean and having clean clothes and crawling into clean sheets was really awesome.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ditching my Phone at Night</b></span><br />
I've been meaning to get off screens at night for such a long time, and now I'm finally in the swing of it. While I'll still watch TV with Jacob, I've tried not to to read on screens at night. I have no idea if this is helping me sleep because I still have a baby that wakes up a lot, but I know it helps my heart. I do better if I don't lull myself to sleep with online articles and instead open up my:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Gratitude Journal</b></span><br />
I've started journaling. Good ole fashioned hand written journaling. Sometimes I'll write for awhile, but usually I'll just list a few things from the day that I am grateful for, then examination-of-conscience style, I'll jot down the things I wish I'd done better, and end with some positive self-talk as I remember what I did well. I'm pretty self-critical, so this last step is crucial for me.<br />
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There you have it, friends! Until next time!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-8092301576370199422016-04-11T12:49:00.000-07:002016-04-11T12:50:10.089-07:00Thinking about Detoxing<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The two littlest are working their way through Roseola. Roman was a pretty high maintenance little invalid, but Lucy June is sweeter than sweet. She lies on the couch and every once in a while lets out a melodramatic sigh and says: "I'm shick." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Jake was a baby, he was so rarely sick. Now that we have three littles, it feels like someone always has something: a runny nose, a rash, a cut we're making sure doesn't get infected. Weirdly, this malady-train has taught me about living in the moment. I want my kids to be well. I try to keep them healthy, but ultimately I can't control whether or not they get sick, so I have to let go. I also can't wait for the moment when everyone is simultaneously OK to finally relax because that moment may never come. I have to learn how to hold a beautiful Sunday evening in one hand and a feverish toddler in the other. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That said. All the little sickies have got me thinking about some kind of detox. </span></div>
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I'll (roughly) follow <a href="http://amzn.to/1SbUDf1">Mark Hyman's 10 Day Detox</a> which is a lot like the Whole 30, but only ten days and with lots of specifically detoxing foods. Hyman is the president of the Institute of Functional Medicine. I listened to a lecture of his about biological food addiction, and then I got his book from the library, and now I'm worried that I'm a little too dependent on high glycemic foods. His detox involves daily exercise and a powerhouse of a smoothie in the mornings and a lot of journaling and reflection and Epsom salt baths in the evening. It also discourages screens before bed. So it would have me commit to ten days of new routines that I might want to implement.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">People swear by by low-glycemic protocols, and I want to see how mine does on one. I'm starting to have those lovely complaints like brain fog and dry eyes and puffiness and junk in my throat in the mornings. I'm starting to feel <i>older</i>. And instead I want to feel me some <i>optimum wellness</i>. </span></div>
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I tend to turn my nose up at detoxes probably because I'm pretty bad at doing them. I'm really good at eating mostly healthfully: lots of veggies and salads and intentional this and that, but I'm terrible if I have to give up my coffee/cookie mornings and wine/chocolate evenings. Terrible. I can forgo the occasional kettle-cooked potato chip binge, ice cream, yogurt covered pretzels, strong margaritas, and big hamburgers, but if I mess with my coffee or my wine or their attendants, we're talking toddler levels of brain integration and mood management. Once I wrap my brain around that hurdle I'll be on my way.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So that's what I've been thinking about. Since yesterday anyway. I'm writing it here because - <a href="http://amzn.to/1VjrC20">as Gretchen Rubin has convinced me</a> - I'm one of those unfortunate people who needs external obligations to get stuff done. And since </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jacob has zero desire to ever ever do anything like this with me, you, little blog, get the job.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> No commitments yet, though. Still just planning. [And Jacob's somewhere laughing.]</span></div>
Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390264642352778243.post-62266175728916300692016-04-01T05:16:00.000-07:002016-04-07T12:06:47.396-07:00More JakeTalkEven though I posted some kiddo talk like five minutes ago, I just found these in my drafts, and had to share them before they got too dusty.<br />
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>> 1 <<</div>
Jake: How old are you?<br />
Me: 30<br />
Jake: But Papa's 30 and he's a lot bigger than you.<br />
<i>Pauses</i><br />
Jake: Is he 30 and a half?<br />
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>> 2 <<</div>
While the kids were playing with their uncle who fell down lifeless on the couch for ten long seconds:<br />
Jake: Oh shut, Lucy June. I think he's really dead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmazoBREdJ7rX4vOE5xrN4CJQ5v7DO8sMofSduInbHV2YJ85pjhK2kwz6N_xMQfNUQcDMAyqJVYagXFxBrplGfhyZ2x_FA_TMcWuW3URkzKEGBswsWIa3cLAjedcbQJNJHIiuqXfMbvB-t/s1600/IMG_1688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmazoBREdJ7rX4vOE5xrN4CJQ5v7DO8sMofSduInbHV2YJ85pjhK2kwz6N_xMQfNUQcDMAyqJVYagXFxBrplGfhyZ2x_FA_TMcWuW3URkzKEGBswsWIa3cLAjedcbQJNJHIiuqXfMbvB-t/s640/IMG_1688.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiGma5YsS2i-DLvhbJIRVeAdVuibB_vXAwcGBCaChDuYfgjcjCXSUev6HGKaqHPlf6-oGxaVm2zDBlMAyaDQTGIYeWG-wKH95eKPbt6h_t7x96bbNyZrYbiPtxJfJGUcHJ-r_XcpexLZR/s1600/IMG_1686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiGma5YsS2i-DLvhbJIRVeAdVuibB_vXAwcGBCaChDuYfgjcjCXSUev6HGKaqHPlf6-oGxaVm2zDBlMAyaDQTGIYeWG-wKH95eKPbt6h_t7x96bbNyZrYbiPtxJfJGUcHJ-r_XcpexLZR/s640/IMG_1686.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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>> 3 <<</div>
After biting his cheek:<br />
Jake: I accidentally ate myself. <br />
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>> 4 <<</div>
Overheard from the other room:<br />
Jake: OK, Lucy, this is gonna hurt a little bit.<br />
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>> 5 <<</div>
Jake: It's deleeeeeeeeeecious.<br />
Me: What's deleeecious?<br />
Jake: Deleeeecious is so so happy it's Mary tickling Jesus in your heart. <br />
(Hashtag catechesis)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rnZ34_x4Q43nacMyZc8CHS4ojG7c12rG_eg1v0UntfbE9wBGhhBkBVPk5AnAUyu8iRZ8n3XhQKiNoO6mMS1X8aXFLV8gNZK3KUFFMh-H8McZYT_z7naFnRSIGTiuei4Z90kwUG4ld3-G/s1600/IMG_1685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rnZ34_x4Q43nacMyZc8CHS4ojG7c12rG_eg1v0UntfbE9wBGhhBkBVPk5AnAUyu8iRZ8n3XhQKiNoO6mMS1X8aXFLV8gNZK3KUFFMh-H8McZYT_z7naFnRSIGTiuei4Z90kwUG4ld3-G/s640/IMG_1685.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtruNCBxj1ECCLU9c9zRN2GBJQxGPPK3I6ed8wsGfx3CnIzKCztjoj2FCCNL9w5ZylME-itCjxSmVuGWk5NkBIaetKHCA-1kbGuzFyJ8Mc4WFUCYyJspEyUf31xxkd-9VbKj-lniLlE-0/s1600/IMG_1687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtruNCBxj1ECCLU9c9zRN2GBJQxGPPK3I6ed8wsGfx3CnIzKCztjoj2FCCNL9w5ZylME-itCjxSmVuGWk5NkBIaetKHCA-1kbGuzFyJ8Mc4WFUCYyJspEyUf31xxkd-9VbKj-lniLlE-0/s640/IMG_1687.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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>> 6 <<</div>
After introducing him to his little brother, Roman John:<br />
Jake: (disappointed)...oh...I thought we were going to name him El Tio.<br />
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>> 7 <<</div>
Jake: The other day on Nana Suzie and Opie's porch, we heard a sound like a squeaky toy, so I went ta go see what it was. I said it was a snake, but Papa said snakes don't squeak. But it was a snake eating a frog whole. He was swallowing it. And there was another frog literally watching the scene while his brother got ate.<br />
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And that, my friends, is a true story. I can verify all of it except the family status of the frogs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJfokptk5xxTCtN4Kau7fNsiHzYCgLK8UZChBMCbVz023EFOGE3HI-3_RcqaKItu1ZCQOaM9pydMHv4oIqFPQ_DWDHQ_XbtQVRoXbAuto6kYaRvQTmUSPIGB7_gkhCuM60FYY30ZGKlxh/s1600/IMG_1684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJfokptk5xxTCtN4Kau7fNsiHzYCgLK8UZChBMCbVz023EFOGE3HI-3_RcqaKItu1ZCQOaM9pydMHv4oIqFPQ_DWDHQ_XbtQVRoXbAuto6kYaRvQTmUSPIGB7_gkhCuM60FYY30ZGKlxh/s640/IMG_1684.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Pics from <a href="http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/enchanted-rock">The Rock</a> where Jacob took little Jake camping and fed him bacon, chocolate, and marshmallows for breakfast.<br />
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(Jake: But mostly just chocolate and marshmallows)<br />
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Linking up with <a href="http://thisaintthelyceum.org/">Kelly</a> for ole times sake.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05936087432274701385noreply@blogger.com3