worth it

it was worth the months of feeling nauseous 24/7
it was worth the pounding headaches and not being able to take any helpful meds
it was worth months of feeling bloated
it was worth the significant squishing of my organs
it was worth the stretching out of my skin
it was worth puking on the side of the highway
it was worth not going sledding or to cedar point
it was worth the unending fatigue
it was worth getting kicked in the ribs all day [and night] long
it was worth losing sleep because of the need to eat, pee, and move around
it was worth those crazy leg cramps
it was worth waddling
it was worth craving foods and feeling repulsed by them when they were available
it was worth living in a messy, cluttered, dusty house for awhile
it was worth being 2 weeks 'overdue'
it was worth weeks of braxton hicks contractions & hospitalization
it was worth having so many people up in my business "to check"
it was worth everything else that I have put out of my mind
and it will be worth it this time too

Mime On Me His Half Ink Ebay Bee

Mad Gab, anyone?

Truth: A Preview

OK, you want the truth about why this little corner of cyberspace has been getting neglected?

We are working on a new project. It has been time consuming, tiring, and hard work.

We don't think it will launch until May, but we'll reveal more details sooner than that.

We are very excited, and you should be too. This new project has gotten reactions such as:

DIY: Bridal Boutonnieres



Moments after their I-Do's!

I mentioned that we recently helped out a lot with my new sister-in-love's wedding. Michelle was extremely creative with her wedding decor and really wanted things a certain way that only she could see in her mind. We would be talking about certain things and you could tell that certain ideas that came up were just not at all what she was seeing. I loved that she had this vision because I certainly did not have that for my wedding! It did make it a little hard to help out, because I wanted her to love anything I helped with and sometimes it was hard to grasp her mental image. Even when I thought I knew what she wanted, I never could be sure!



She also planned on doing almost everything herself. This was awesome, but when it came down to the wire, there were certain projects that I just didn't think she'd have time for. I mean, if she was going to sleep before her wedding at all - which I highly recommend [sleep!]! So I stepped in [and recruited my mom for help] with a couple things I knew we could handle: floral arrangements. My mom and I, with some help from Michelle and a couple of her friends, created 7 bouquets, 11 boutonnieres, and 3 corsages!

Luckily, we had also made all our own bouquets at my own wedding, as well as all the floral centerpieces. So we definitely had some good experience to get started with those. We ordered boutonnieres and corsages though. Over the past 4 years, Josh and I have probably been to over 25 [I am NOT exaggerating. I am actually guessing low] weddings. So, I have seen and helped pin a fair share of boutonnieres.... I was glad for this vision and understanding. I really enjoyed creating the groomsmen's boutonnieres for this wedding. I actually thought it was the most fun wedding project I got to work on! And I think they came out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Many people were surprised to hear that I had done them the night before.

I was not as happy with the corsages, but I thought they turned out nice. I had a lot less vision for how to put them together and it was pushing 2am when I got those done.



Most of the finished boutonnieres



Studly Josh with his Boutonniere on



We bought flowers that Michelle liked at Costco and Trader Joe's



Finished Corsages

For the future, I would not really recommend a bride to be spending her time trying to figure this out right before her wedding. I would also maybe do a little more research on what types of flowers hold up and how to store them, because the hydrangeas wilted in the fridge. We put the first couple in the fridge because we thought that was how they were typically stored. I remade a few boutonnieres because I was not happy with the wilty look. I was also REALLY nervous about how they would hold up throughout the wedding day.

That said, they held up just fine, and I WOULD do this again! I thought it was a lot of fun and was pleased with how they turned out in the end. I also loved the flowers and colors that Michelle chose. We ended up buying 2 potted plants to cut from too, and I know she was really excited to have those in her new home as well.

A huge thank you to Michelle for trusting me with such a big, important, and noticeable part of your important day!

Some of these photos taken by Chuck & Betti Irsak

What we're up to

A couple weekends ago we worked hard to help pull off and celebrate the wedding of Josh's brother Jordan and his bride Michelle! All 3 of us were in the wedding [Merit was such a darling ring bearer] and it definitely consumed our weekend. We did stop in for another family birthday party on Sunday. Since we were all in the wedding, we do not have any pictures yet, but I cannot wait to share them! 

Yesterday, Josh ran the Columbus 1/2 Marathon and did an awesome job! I'll try to have him post about that soon. The day before, we were in Dayton for a friend's wedding. We got home just in time to get things ready for early morning race day. My parents and Josh's parents were all in town for the event!

Since I have been working during the weeks and so busy on the weekend, I have not fully recovered from my cold. I am not saying this to complain, but just saying it how it is. I chose to sacrifice the rest I needed some of those days, and I consider it worth it. I mean, how many times will my brother in law get married, and how many times can I see Josh in his first 1/2 marathon?! But at the end of the day, I'm still struggling. I am feeling significantly better today though, so I think I'm making a comeback! It's good timing too, because we're out of toilet paper, paper towels, dog food, and a handful of other things that I should pick up today.

I'll leave you with a little glimpse of what Merit's been up to lately.

while i've been sick

Obviously, I have not been blogging while I've been feeling ill. But, I have not lacked in reading [and living vicariously through] other blogs and looking for new blogs. Here's what I've been enjoying:

Passionate Homemaking: I haven't spent a lot of time over here, but I love the perspective of this mother. She loves mothering, and I always find that inspiring!

The Journey: Katie hasn't updated much lately, but her story is unbelievable. She has definitely helped to impact my world-view, my priorities, my faith, how I spend my money, etc. And I just found out her book is out too!

A Baker's Dozen: I don't follow this blog too closely, but I'm always drawn to checking in on this family of 16. She has several older adopted children, several biological children, and always has something interesting going on (as you can imagine). Her recent photos of her sons and berries melted my heart. I saw my husband and my children in those photos!

I also recently found Crappy Pictures and You Can't Call It "It" from A Baker's Dozen.

Of course, you should also check out my friends Candis and Jolie whose blogs I always look forward to reading!

Under the Dust

We're still here.... under the dust. Not only the cyber dust on this little blog, but the literal dust in all our house too. Not only have we been sick, we've been busy.

One or both of us have been out of town the past couple weekends, and we have another jam-packed wedding weekend ahead of us. Combine that with not feeling well, plus the basics of unpacking, cleaning, grocery, doing laundry, working full time, planning, repacking, and heading back out of town again in 4 days, and then doing it again and again.

I know, I know, no one wants to read a post full of excuses. And no one is going to come back to read post after post about how we haven't found time to post. It's kinda blog-lame, and I'm sorry.

So, here's a snapshot of other things we haven't been doing:

-the desk calendar is still turned to August. Although, it's been covered with stuff since then, so we haven't really noticed.
-all my houseplants are thirsty and drooping
-we slept between blankets for at least 4 days because we [first] didn't have any clean sheets and [the last 2 days] we were too tired to get the clean sheets from the basement and put them on by the time we remembered it needed to be done.
-the lawn hasn't been mowed in about 2 weeks
-we have been rewashing and reusing one sippy cup for over a week while the others sit waiting for attention in the sink
-let's not even start about the house cleaning...

I have been so thankful we use cloth diapers during this time! Some people might think these are the times when it would be easiest to use disposables for a while until things get back to normal. However, we have come so close to using up all the diapers, I'm not sure how that would work with disposables... I'm actually pretty sure there would be some sort of diaper panic/disaster added to that list. I guess it's different if it's a NEED, but I am so glad I don't need to leave the house to get more diapers, or worry about forgetting them or having enough.

Here are some happier things we've been up to:

We sold our Aveo for a Camry Wagon - this is still bittersweet for me, but a good move financially and spacially

Ok, this was more than 3 weeks ago, but it was a beautiful day at the park

Merit pet a fish for the first time - he loved them!

And he hung out with his Uncle Mike. Literally.

My wonderful husband got me flowers

Josh and Merit went for a hike while I was out of town. And supposedly did a lot of rough-housing

I had a great weekend celebrating my soon-to-be sister-in-law Michelle with her bridesmaids. She's marrying my brother-in-law this weekend and I am so excited for them!!

Photo cred: Claire Campbell/random lady