Crafty Scraps Jackpot! (a crafty lady's dream come true)

It was like a dream come true... over a year ago a friend called to offer me some upholstery samples to use for craft and sewing projects.   I stored them away and forgot about them until a few months ago when another friend offered me another haul of upholstery samples.   They were added to the pile, and sat, all tossed this way and that, until recently when I dealt with that pile during my craft room clean-up.  

I finally went through all the samples, keeping about three quarters of them.  I can't believe how "wealthy" I feel!  I have scraps of every color under the sun!  Textures and patterns like you wouldn't believe!  Thin and flow-y, heavy and hefty, smooth and satin-y.  They're all mine!  It's truly the jackpot of scraps that sewers dream about.  Problem is... that's all I can do is dream.   Dream about what I'll do with them some day.   Dreaming and scheming are easier to fit into the busyness of life right now.  Actually sitting down to a project is a different story... one that may not be written for quite some time.  

For now, I've contented myself with sorting the stash and taking pictures of it.  I couldn't be surrounded by all that color and texture and color and not take lots of photos! Consider yourself lucky that I'm only giving you a glimpse of about half of them :)    

This is a tiny, tiny, random sampling of some of what I've got.  What would you do with a crafter's jackpot like this?  I have to start collecting my ideas for my future projects.  I've thought about some obvious things like patchwork throw pillows and tote bags, but also keep thinking there's got to be a way to make a gorgeous quiet book for a toddler out of these.  We shall see.  We shall see...

the pile before "cleaning" it up

all "cleaned up" and stored until it's project time

6 Reasons to Love (I mean REALLY LOVE) "Wild Kratts"

A few weeks ago, a couple mom friends and I were chatting and the conversation turned to the PBS television program Wild Kratts.  One of my friends said, "I think my daughter has a crush on the Kratt brothers."  "Hahaha, I think I have a crush on the Kratt brothers," I quickly confessed.  (I was in good company, and I knew my secret was safe with my friends ;) )

It all started last November... remember that November when the majority of the household was sick, and I was nearly at death's door, and Thanksgiving was cancelled??  Yeah.  That November.   I couldn't get off the couch, and the kids (who were a little less sick) needed to be contained, so... Netflix.  Netflix is a vital part of our Standard Illness Management Protocol.  The mind-numbing effect it has on the children allows the mom to be in the room, but not consciously supervising (or doing anything, for that matter) her offspring.  The mom can drift in and out of the restless sleep guaranteed by any over-the-counter cough syrup, and occasionally "care" for her children by saying, "just go to the next episode."  But you can only take so much of some shows until you begin to feel worse instead of reaping the benefits of rest and recuperation that Netflix is supposed to offer. I was so *sick* (haha.  get it??) of The Magic School Bus that I shrugged my shoulders and clicked on Wild Kratts.  And what a wild and wonderful ride it's been!

There's Wild Kratts on Netflix, on DVD's from the library, and on Amazon Prime streaming.  (I hear it's also on our local PBS stations, but we don't have a tv.)  With so many opportunities for watching, it didn't take too long for me to realize that there really was a lot of worthwhile stuff happening during the 25 minutes you get to spend with Martin, Chris, and the gang in each episode.  

So here it is... Six Reasons Why I Really, Really Love Wild Kratts...    

(1) The brothers are brothers.  They're bothers in real life.  They're brothers in the show.  They make a great co-star team.  They clearly love working together and enjoy each other's company, and I think their friendship - in both the live sequence scenes and the animation portions (in which they are the voices for themselves) - is the winning feature of the show.  I mean the show could be about any number of topics, like the change in yearly percentage of rainfall in Albuquerque due to the underpopulation of the Yukon Territory - but I would still let my kids watch it so that they could witness the Brothers Kratt being brothers.  Good, wholesome, crazy fun brotherhood.  They're encouraging and supportive of one another, they come to each other's rescue, their non-cheesy "team work" works because they acknowledge one another's strengths and unique abilities.  But they're brothers... so there's plenty of active and friendly competition, verbal sparring, taunting and daring, and they take their fair share of jabs at one another, but they're always good-natured and never disrespectful or disparaging.  In short, I love the model of life-long sibling friendship  that they model for my children.  

(2) My kids learn crazy amounts of awesome stuff about animals that are not typically featured in your run-of-the-mill "Kids' First Books/Shows About Animals."  This becomes very apparent in games like Charades.  The game card says "monkey" and the kid is acting out "monkey" but my five and three-year-old are guessing things like "proboscis monkey!" or "spider monkey!"   Or someone is acting out "bird" and the little kids are throwing out guesses like "bird of paradise!" "peregrine falcon!" "burrowing owl!"  My kids can give me very detailed information about the habits and habitats of honey badgers, thorny devil lizards, gila monsters, and frog fish.  Words like subnivean zone just roll off their tongues.  They are definitely getting their college Zoology 101 out of the way early, and that's fine with me :)

(3) "Creatures" imply a Creator.  The Wild Kratts are all about "creatures," and creatures, to me at least, imply a Creator.  The brothers and their gang obviously don't reference God, but when they refer animals they speak about creatures and the various ways in which they are designed.  (They do also mention adaptations and Mother Nature, but not exclusively.  I keep an ear out for these things... ;)  )  There might not be anything to it - it could just be the words the writers chose without thinking.  But for me, it's a selling point - nothing in the show is in conflict with our belief that God is the Creator and designer of creatures.  I'll take it.  

(4) There are intelligent STEM girls on the team.  The Kratt brothers couldn't do what they do without Koki and Aviva helping to power the Tortuga and engineer the guys' Creature Power Suits.  It's refreshing to have active and engaging gals modeling math, science, and technological know-how to support the guys in their adventures and missions.  They're intelligent, inquisitive, and adventuresome.  They're dedicated, faithful, and delightful.  They're not squeamish, they aren't silly or flirty or flighty.  Sound like a list you want to use to describe your daughters?  Yeah, me too.  These girls got it :)  
(5) The villains are so ridiculous they're hysterical. Donita Donata, the fashion designer hoping to find her next show-stopping design in nature (not inspired by nature, but made from nature) -  she cracks me up.  As does her henchman, Dabio.  And somehow Zach Varmitech - a goatee-d tech geek who's afraid of animals but wants to harness their power and use them as workers in his various schemes and developments - is the funniest of all.  They're simple, text book kids' cartoon villains, but their ridiculousness adds a fun dimension to the show.  (They even have the stereotypical over-the-top evil villain laughs.)  (The third villain, Gourmande, hasn't really grown on me.  Sorry, bros :( )

(6) The show Wild Kratts inspires creativity in my kids like no other television show has.  (Well, Mighty Machines has inspired a lot as well, now that I think about it...)  My kids watch other "educational" cartoons, most notably The Magic School Bus, but they don't play Magic School Bus.  Even though my children may zone out a bit when they're staring at the computer screen, what they learn in Wild Kratts sticks and it energizes their non-screen play time.  They use their plastic animals, blocks, construction paper, and old paper towel cardboard tubes to build African savanna scenes on the coffee table.  They'll dress in all dark clothes (including dark hats and gloves), turn off all the lights in the house at night, and slink through the shadows like jaguars, after they remind Russ and I that "you can't see jaguars, but they can see you.)  (It's actually a little creepy for me.  I startle easily...)  Aaron has built the Kratt's Tortuga and Createrra vehicles numerous times out of Legos, each time more elaborate than the last.  And they're always drawing their favorite Wild Kratts animals, or detailed habitats, or Chris and Martin "on the job." 

I'm definitely one of those moms who frequently ponders the benefits of a screen-free life for her children, but we obviously don't live that way :)  Especially in the winter months, the kids often watch about 45 minutes of something "educational" on weekday afternoons because I just need a break.  But I stopped feeling guilty about it years ago, and when the screen time is Wild Kratts, I'm happy as a clam.  There's so much that I love about that show, and now you know why :) 

Thank you, Kratt Brothers, for creating quality children's programming.  It's fun, educational, and doesn't make this mom want to tear her hair out -- a rare and much appreciated combination.   As you can well imagine, you're pretty darn popular around here, and if we ever have any more sons you may realized just how grateful we are when we let the kids name them Martin and Chris ;)  Love, Theresa.  

How We Kept our Wedding Small, Thrifty, and Really Special (with some bonus FAQ's)

Russ and I have been married for 10 years this April, so I wrote a few posts on love and marriage.  Click here for the story on how we met... or don't if you're not into those types of things :)

Russ and I are both super practical people.  On top of that, we neither of us worry about convention too much, and we both tend to do things the way we want to even if it's not the way things are usually done.  Russ is thrifty.  I prefer to be unassuming.  And that's why we did our wedding the way we did...   small, thrifty, classy (I hope!) lovely, and faith-filled, but not tradition-bound

Though we had lived near each other for over three years (one of those, dating), I had moved back home and we were "long distance" from then until our wedding.  Russ was living in Ohio, working in West Virginia.  I was living with my parents and working in New York.  We got engaged one August weekend that I was down visiting him.  It was time to start planning...

I planned the wedding.  It was just practical, since we were getting married in my home town, and Russ was four hours away.  And it wasn't really important to either of us to have Russ involved in every detail.  He was involved in big things, like choosing the readings for the Mass, and... well, I can't think of anything else.  I planned it, and passed the info on to him :)   (He wasn't sitting around doing nothing -- Russ planned our honeymoon and found the place that would be our first apartment after the wedding!)

Our wedding was small.  It was very small.  It was a difficult decision but we decided to limit the reception guest list to our immediate family, grandparents, and two or three good friends each. The number of people at our reception dinner was under 25.  We invited about 40 people to the wedding Mass itself (it was a Friday evening) and then all 40 were also invited to a brunch at my parent's home the next morning.  So, the guest list was small... and the wedding party was small.  I had a maid of honor and Russ had a best man.  That was it.  And it was perfect. 

It was inexpensive.  We planned to pay for the wedding and reception ourselves and we weren't going to go into debt or blow through savings just to get married and have a party.  Our wedding would have to be something we could pay for out of pocket.  I don't remember the spec's, but it definitely came in under $3000 - and that included everything from the airplane ticket for our priest (who we knew from WV) to the gas in the rental car to get to the airport for our honeymoon.  One way we kept our expenditures small was by keeping the wedding small.   Obviously. 

Also, we did a lot of work ourselves and asked good friends to lend their talents.  The fact that so many of our friends and family contributed to our wedding made it infinitely  more special to both of us.  

I made our invitations and Mass "programs."  (there were only about 45 each, after all...)

My good friends who lived next door to us nearly our whole lives helped out also.  One of the neighbors worked at a florist - I bought the flowers, and she made my bouquet, three corsages, three boutonnieres, and two centerpieces for us as a gift.  

Similarly, her seamstress mother made my dress with a pattern and material that I bought on sale (of course!) as a gift. 

My mom and I made my veil.

I did my own makeup (just the same way I did my makeup every other day), another good friend did my hair, and I didn't have my nails done... though I'm pretty sure I used a nail brush on them that day :)  

One of Russ' good friends took pictures for us, and another of his friends played the organ for the Mass.  Not only did we save money, but we had a wedding that was strewn with generous gifts of time and talent from our family and friends.  And we loved that.

We were married in one of the most beautiful churches in Buffalo, St. Louis Roman Catholic Church on Main St.  (or maybe the official address is Edward St.??)  

It has the longest aisle of all the churches in the city, but I didn't walk down it.  It seemed a little ostentatious and quite frankly, ridiculous, to walk over a hundred feet to 40 people waiting for me in the first five pews.  So my mom and dad walked me out of the sacristy to give me away to Russ.  I think (hope!) we tried to focus the Mass on the Sacrament of Matrimony and less on pomp and circumstance.  

Like I said, it's a beautiful church so we didn't do any decorating... in the least.  We were married five days after Easter, so there were plenty of lovely flowers all over the altar - granted there was no color scheme and they were all wrapped in metallic foil wrappers, but somehow we managed not to care!<3!<3!   We saved on decorating! 

Russ bought a suit, tie, and shoes at a department store (probably J. C. Penney, but I don't remember for sure :) ) and he still wears it often.  I on the other hand, haven't had the opportunity to re-use my dress ;)  

Our reception was simple (but hopefully classy, and not dumpy??)  It was at a restaurant at the Lake Erie Basin Marina.  The room we were in overlooked the water!  There were just 25 of us - we all sat at one table for dinner.  There were no seating cards, or table numbers, or charts, or anything.  It was sit where you like and move when you want to :)  It was a buffet.  I don't even remember what was on the menu except one salad that had dried cranberries, goat cheese, and candied pecans.  I think I had several helpings of that salad!  There was no bar, but my dad worked for a liquor wholesale company at the time, and one of my parents' gifts to us was a couple cases of red and white Blackstone wine.  (get it?!?)  We also had a champagne toast.  My parents also generously paid for a four piece "band" (for lack of a better word) because there was no way I was going to have a DJ at my wedding.  (If the band couldn't have made it, I'd have just brought my CD player and a whole lot of Sinatra and Sam Cooke!)  Anyway, the band -- they were musicians I'd known my whole life since my dad had played in a dance band with them for years.  They felt more like guests than "the band."   We had an impromptu "first dance" so that everyone else could get out on the dance floor.  (I do regret a little that I don't remember what song it was...) 

There was no tossing of garters, bouquets, rice, or confetti, but there was a lot of "talent" happening, as over the half the guests sat in with the band - whether singing or on an instrument... because that's just the type of crowd it was :)  

that's my dad on the clarinet and my great aunt singing :)

One of my sisters made the cake as a gift.  It was taaaaaasty!  (And we did save the top to eat a year later.  We went with tradition and convention on that one...)  

The morning after the wedding, my family was very generous with their time (and treasure ;) ) in preparing a lovely brunch for all the guests who had been at the wedding.  It was so delightful to be with everyone in my family's home, to converse and share with the wedding guests, to be casual and celebratory at the same time, to sip mimosas :)

And that was it. 

If anyone was unhappy with our small and simple wedding decisions, they didn't say so.  (Except, I do recall Russ' best friend and best man encouraging me to walk down the aisle so that Russ would have the experience of seeing his bride that way, but I just couldn't do it...)   We made our decisions to suit our budget and our personal preferences, while at the same time, trying to offer courtesy and honor to the guests who were with us as well as those who weren't guests.  (I admit, sometimes it was tricky.)  

Looking back, there is nothing that I would change.  Our wedding was a little different, but it was so "us."  I think it was the best start to our life together as the married Russ and Theresa.  Since the small and simple wedding was so reflective of who we were (and still are), it felt like our married life flowed very naturally from that "beginning."  

How about you?  Did you do anything at your wedding that was "different" that you loved and wouldn't change?  

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FAQ'a about our wedding 

(some of them are actual questions people have asked... some are things I imagine people have asked me :)  )

Why did you get married on April Fool's Day?  We were married on Friday, April 1, 2005.  No joke.  We chose that day because it was the first available day after Easter that year.  In general, the Church does not permit weddings (or baptisms) during Lent, so as soon as Lent was over, we got hitched :)

Did you really wear a watch at your wedding?  Yes I did.  I wear a watch every day, so it never occurred to me that that might be weird when I put it on that morning.  I didn't even think twice about it until a friend mentioned it after the Mass.  Like I said, the wedding was really just us being us and us not trying to be not us...  hm.

Did your maid of honor really wear a black dress?  Yes.  My made of honor was one of my lovely sisters.  I told her she could wear anything she wanted and she chose (fabulously, I might add) to wear the dress that our mom wore for her own stateside wedding reception!  (She and my dad had their own unconventional wedding in Paris <3 )

Do you have any regrets at all about the wedding or reception?  I do.  My grandfather died 13 months after our wedding and month before his first great grandchild was born.  I wish that I had danced with him more at the reception and that I had a photo of him and me (and maybe Russ) from the wedding.  He and his wife were a really special part of our dating story, as they lived only 2 hours from Steubenville and we visited them often.  He was an avid Star Trek fan and he never had to twist Russ' arm to "watch an episode" with him :)  My grandfather was retired military, a retired police office, and a retired instructor from the Ohio Police Officers Training Academy --  When I first brought Russ to their house, my Grandpa ran Russ' Texas license plates and had some of his law enforcement contacts do a background check on this guy hanging out with his granddaughter.  Russ checked out, and he and my grandfather had a lovely friendship for the next two years!  After his cancer diagnosis that fall, my grandpa was give less than a year to live, so he was one of the first people we told when we were expecting again (this would have been Aaron - after we had had one miscarriage).  Equally special, we spent our first anniversary with him and his wife (my mom was there also) and shared our saved wedding cake-top with them!  That was the last time I saw him.  

Here's a picture of Russ, my grandfather, and me about 5 months before he died.  We are standing next to his Star Trek ornament Christmas tree <3  

Weather in Buffalo is pretty unpredictable in April.  Was the weather good for your wedding?  Our wedding day was cool-ish, warm-ish and sunny.  

The next morning, the morning of the brunch, Russ and I woke up to a strange grating sound outside our hotel window.  It was a snow plow!  It snowed that day and the next, and some of our guests were actually stranded on the Interstate while trying to get home on the 2nd.  (Incidentally, that was the April 2nd that John Paul II died.  We were so pre-occupied with wedding and honeymoon stuff, I don't think we heard about it until we returned from our trip.)

Where did you go on your honeymoon?  We went to Hawaii.  That was a budget affair too.  Like I said, we don't do debt.  Russ had frequent flier miles that got us to the islands and back for free!  Just so you don't think I'm a total stick in the mud, I biked down a volcano there.  I stood at the top, looked into the crater, then got on a bike and zoomed down :)  My sons think that's pretty awesome stuff.  

Is there anything you wish was different about your honeymoon?  Yes, but that's another post for another time :)  

Anything else you're dying to know??  I can't even believe I've written this much.  This post is over <3  

How We Met (In Honor of our Ten Year Anniversary)

Do people actually read these "How We Met" stories?  I confess I've only read a few here and there, and I only sometimes enjoy them.  Our story is suuuuper not exciting and it's only worth writing about because it's ours.  I've avoided writing one until now, but it seemed like the thing to this month to celebrate our ten year anniversary.  (Also, I promised some friends that I was going to work at putting my husband "first" this week, and they're going to be holding me accountable.  So I'm calling this part of my promise... reflecting on our "beginnings" and appreciating how far we've come!)  

So here you have it -- my version of how we met.  And I gave Russ the opportunity to preview it and comment... His comments are in blue. (He's so sweet!)

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How We Met... an Uncomplicated, Fairly Ordinary Love Story

It was my senior year at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.  I was a Resident Assistant on campus and was about to graduate with my Bachelor's degree in history and French.  I wanted to continue studying history, and I was pretty good at the Residence Life gig, so I managed to get a job as a Residence Director at Franciscan and a fabulous scholarship to Duquesne University, 45 minutes away in Pittsburgh, PA.     

I worked at one university and commuted to study at another for a year.  May, 2001 rolled around and it was time to hire new RDs to replace those that were leaving.  Since I was a current member of the Residence Life staff I was on the panel that interviewed the potential candidates. - this is where it gets good -  I was sitting in my supervisors' office minutes before an interview.  She mentioned the candidate's name and I thought the man's name sounded familiar.  

"Wasn't there an article about him in a recent Franciscan Way magazine?"  I asked.  We dug it out and there he was on the cover - Russ Blackstone (if only I could find it to show you...). - You just want confirmation from others that my hair was too long! (it truly was)  - He needed a hair cut (in my humble opinion, but I hear some ladies like the long and wavy locks look...) and was wearing a sweater that he had probably borrowed from Dr. Huxtable back in 1983 and had forgotten to give back... - really, was that necessary? -

I have since come to know (and mostly appreciate) that Russ wears clothes until they fall to pieces, so a surprising percentage of his wardrobe is still from the Huxtable era ;)

I honestly couldn't tell you what it was, but the interview with Russ left me totally underwhelmed.  - She still doesn't understand me :( - He wasn't wearing the sweater, but nonetheless, he didn't impress me.  He just didn't seem right for the job.  After the interview was over and my supervisor asked for our thoughts on the candidate, I was fairly vocal about how I felt.  "Don't hire him."  

She hired him.

And she put me in charge of training and mentoring him through his first year on the job.  - Lucky gal! -

Yep.

I wouldn't say I warmed up to Russ immediately, but at least after spending some time with him, I let go of my negativity toward him, and became more... indifferent.  - goodness, where is the love? -

I can recall a shopping trip we made to WalMart together to stock up on things for our dorms before the school year began.   On our way back out to his car, Russ "rode" the shopping cart down the hill of the parking lot to his car.  It clearly wasn't to be foolish or get weird attention; it was just because it was fun and he wanted to do it and have fun.  That's the kind of person Russ is.  I remember thinking, that's sort of fun and cute, but I would never do that.  And I don't. - We are talking one serious chick here (emphasis on serious)... -  I recall that cart ride as one of the first times I got a glimpse of who Russ truly was :)  

We worked well together and only clashed occasionally - like when I thought one of his residents should have received a severe penalty for something he did in my hall and Russ disagreed and took care of the situation in his own, less severe way.  I was angry. (Wow!  That about sums up our parenting differences when it comes to discipline around here.  Hmm... I never saw that correlation before...) - I'm telling you, our kids are lucky to have me :) -  But we mostly got along.  

And we started hanging out more with mutual friends.  Trips to the movies, games of ultimate frisbee (back when I used to run.) - yeah, and me.  Darn, I miss those running, frisbee days! -  Russ was an RD for two years and during his last summer there, renovations began on my hall, so I was forced to move over to a temporary apartment in his hall.  We hung out more - watched movies, had dinner, played ping pong.  (I should insert here that Russ is annoyingly good at every sport, and the fact that he "put up with me" and my very poor abilities playing any sport at all, was very charitable on his part :)  - Not charity, my love.  I had ulterior motives, ha, ha... -

Early in the summer, I had tickets for a Great Big Sea show in Buffalo.  (That was before they were playing big stages in the States, and this show was in a little Irish bar.)  I had no one to go with me, and I was looking for an excuse to spend more time with Russ, so I invited him to drive home with me - we'd get to go the show and check out Niagara Falls, which he had never seen.  He said yes :)  - I love adventures, but I was also very interested in meeting Theresa's family.  I was not disappointed.  They were close and loving and fun. -

I honestly don't remember too much about that trip, except that it was enjoyable.  And that Russ fell asleep in the Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory cafeteria.  I thought that was weird as I was just sitting there across from him, not sleeping. - wow, don't remember that.  Sounds kind of rude.  Sorry, babe! - I think we also may have gone horseback riding...

I was really falling for Russ, but was confused about whether to pursue it or not because he had recently accepted a job in Nicaragua.  I wasn't very experienced in the ways of love, but even my inexperience told me that it probably wasn't the best idea to start a relationship with someone who'd be moving to a third world country in a month.  In Confession, I admitted an "overwhelming distraction" even during prayer.  The object of my distraction?  A guy I'll never be with.  The priest encouraged me to pray that the Holy Spirit take the distraction from me so that I could refocus on prayer and let Russ go.  I prayed.  And I really believed I let him go.  And then... - I love this part... -

We had already been on a few hiking and camping trips with friends that summer.  On one particular trip to Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills State Park, OH, there were five or six of us.  We had pitched our tents in a walk-in site, which meant that we had to walk quite a ways out to our cars if we needed anything.  On the first night, Russ offered to walk with me out to my car to get something I had forgotten. - once again, ulterior motives. Wait a minute.  Theresa did you really forget something or were you setting me up? -  We stayed out for a while, laying back on the hood of the car looking at stars and searching for satellites.  In a perfectly awkward moment, Russ said something that confessed his interest in me, and I said something equally clumsy that admitted it was reciprocated.  I don't remember much more of the conversation except the end when I started to think he was going to kiss me and I used evasive maneuvers to make sure that didn't happen.  Too much too soon :) - no need to explain, my love.  I was willing to let you play hard to get.. for a little while :) -

Later in the summer we did kiss, and we went out on our first date - P.F. Changs.  We didn't really go on "dates" a lot because we had known each other for two years already and already hung out so much that there was hardly the need for dates to "get to know each other."  If we happened to go out to dinner together, it didn't feel very different than when we had gone out to dinner together before we were dating.  (Does that sound weird?   We're not very romantic people.  At all.)  

Despite the kiss and the growing affection, I was still very hesitant.  Nicaragua still loomed.  One day, while relaxing on a park bench, Russ told me was going to back out of the job he had accepted to make our relationship a priority.  I freaked out. - she hid it well.  I remember discussing the pros and cons with her but never realized the red flags I had caused. -  I was excited that he wasn't leaving, but I was angry that he was backing out of an important commitment.   The words "warning," "not reliable," "not responsible," kept flashing in big red lights in my head.   But we stayed together and kept "dating."

The rest of the romance was pretty typical.  I think.  Russ left his RD job and took a position in Wheeling, WV in counseling.  He lived nearby while I stayed at the University for another year.  We had one significant break up where we didn't see or talk to each other for two months or so.  - we proved the adage absence makes the heart grow fonder! - The first time we saw each other again (dinner at a Chinese buffet) even though we still weren't officially back together, I knew he was the person I was going to marry.  (cheesy,  but true :) - we were both so comfortable with each other, conversation was so easy.  After that dinner I think I knew engagement was the next step too! -

Once we were back together, that was that.  We both knew we were heading toward marriage.  I felt like it was time to convince my family that Russ was wonderful.  I think my parents were a little wary at first, especially since he is so much older than me, and honestly because he's not the type of guy I/they ever thought I'd end up with :) - let's all be grateful she found a man who rides shopping carts in parking lots.  But I need her serious as much as she needs my fun. -  I could be wrong, but I think a turning point for my parents might have been a day when I called them and during the phone conversation I had Russ and his best friend sing a completely ridiculous song to them over the phone.  Russ is an avid barbershop quartet singer, and that is my family's kind of weird.  Good weird.  (If you don't know about good weird guys, look into it.  They make the best husbands. Everyone will tell you so :) )  

So that's that.  Or at least, that was the beginning of it all.  I can't tell you how it ends, but I can tell you the middle of the story involves a bunch of kids, a dented minivan, another near-relocation to Nicaragua, and a two story house in the city with a swing set, a tiny garden, and a bathtub faucet that's dripped for years.  Russ contributes the fun and spontaneity and I temper it with my serious, plan-ahead self.  It works.  It's been ten years, and I can happily stay we're still living a life full of love.  There's lots of that here too.  :) - And lots more to come.  I guarantee it! -  

Happiness. Lately. March 2015 (vol 10)

first off - Welcome new Facebook followers :)  Please believe me when I say that very soon I will start blogging real content again, so don't go away!  I really will be back with posts other than random tidbits.  Pinky swear.   But seriously.  Welcome!  

You know how I don't blog much lately, right?  My plan was to take a break during March so that I could jump back in on April 1st with a bang, but on April 1st I spent the early part of the morning at the pediatrician with three kids, and then the later part of the morning and the early part of the afternoon at the ER with a dehydrated, ear-infected, miserable baby boy.  That afternoon I took a nap.  And that evening I thought it was best not to blog because it was Russ' and my 10th anniversary, so instead of blogging, I did romantic things with Russ, like eat Red Robbin takeout on the living room floor and chat about how crazy and wonderful life is.  

That crazy, wonderful life?  Yeah - we were living it hard core last night with Russ cleaning up one vomit-y bed around midnight and me getting a vomit-y baby out of his crib around 5am.  We have had some version of illness in the house for over two weeks now.  I'm soooo over it.  But, apparently the germ hasn't gotten the message.  I'm really praying that it's all over by Easter Sunday.  A girl can hope and pray, right?

So here, I am.  But it's not with the "It's April and I'm back!" bang that I had planned.  It's just a brief little photo doc on the past few weeks so that when I look back through my archives I can remember more than just the illness of March 2015.   

(As you shall see, even though it was the middle of Lent, we ended up having a lot of special desserts this month...)

We had our last fires of the season (even if it gets cold enough in April - which it probably will! - we're out of fire wood for the season.)  And we burned our scented pine cones from Christmas.  It was pretty!

I turned 36 and made this decadent cake...

I also got a new phone for my birthday which has increased the quality of my mobile phone photos by a factor of 127.  So, if you're not already following me on Instagram that's good, because you were spared all the grainy photos.  Now's the time to follow me so you can witness my transformation into a world class iPhone photographer (or something like that...)  Won't you join me at https://instagram.com/ordinarylovely/ ?

Most of the snow melted.

Russ bought us a shamrock plant and I made some cookies and we celebrated St. Patrick's Day :)

Russ also bought a sprig of lilies, but then he was out of town for St. Joseph's Day, so we prayed for him, but he sadly didn't get to pray and feast with us.  My mom joined us though!  (She had to bring me the heavy cream for the cream puffs, because the cream in my fridge was solidified... obviously, it had been in there longer than I realized...)  These were the best cream puffs I've ever made.  I was sorry Russ had to miss it :(

St. Joseph's (cookie) tools :)

 Then we celebrated Clare's birthday, even though some were a little under the weather and some were a lot under the weather.

Everyone was way too sick on the first day of spring for our traditional "Welcome Spring" cake, so we had it a week or so later after Russ was home and while my sister in law was here visiting from Australia!  

We've been playing a lot of games lately, which usually translate into lots of family fun...

And in other notable March news, since Russ was gone and lots of kids were sick at the time of a crucial library due date - I now owe the public library even more than I did back when I wrote this post.  I'm a blocked user.  I'm now a repeat offender.  You officially follow a blog run by a good-for-nothing shirker of library responsibilities.  

There was a lot of other lovely and smile-worthy things that happened during March, but this is all I can come up with for now.  

I hope you have a blessed Triduum and a very happy and holy Easter!