We're Makin Progress Now

Take a look at all the colors we've finally settled on for the house. Green is living room (It's the middle one), orange is hallway, grey is our bedroom and teal is Hazel's room. Super excited to get these started (Dad's working on trim today) and see how different my house looks. We've lived with that mocha brown for so long, I can't imagine anything else. Picking out actual colors has been a challenge and a stretch for me. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to paint because it's a lot of work to redo it if you hate it. I tend to lean more toward the safer side of things. Dad always helps me step out though and do something fun and creative. I always end up liking it once it's up but it's a nail bitter till it gets there. I'm for some reason the most nervous about the green but know it will look amazing once it's done. I'm TOTALLY in love with the color for Hazel's room. I originally wanted to just stick with browns in there. Not get crazy but once I saw the orange in the hallway I knew something more fun was in order. So excited to see her room all put together. Still don't have bedding but that's my fault.

In other news. It's the day before Thanksgiving (In case you've been asleep for a long time or something). There are a total of five people (that's counting myself) on my floor at work today. I knew it would be like that but I'm always amazed how empty the parking lot is. I'm almost certain going home early is in my future. I tried to save some work to do today because I knew it would be just super dead. We'll see how long I actually have to stay.

Happy Turkey Day to everybody!

Things to Look Forward To...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unrulythings/2186340763/in/set-72157603720643491/

I miss my flat belly (I never realized how flat it was till it wasn't anymore. boo.) and cute jeans. Looking forward to holding my baby girl and seeing my feet again sometime soon. Well, not like it's next week or anything but soon in the grand scheme of life...

I'm also looking forward to a new fancy camera. It's all I really want for christmas, new year, valentines day, birthday, 8th year anniversary. Yeah, I figure it will be the last thing I get for awhile but it will be worth it because I can bring you amazing shots that only I can come up with. With Hazel on the way I feel more than ever like I need to document life each day. I've not done a great job of it so far but soon my job will change and I'll have more time to just think up new things/ways to photograph things. New fancy cameras help a lot too.

It's Almost Here!!!

I am so excited for Thanksgiving this year. I'm excited to see my family but also excited to eat. I mean this year, I won't have to worry if I want hat extra roll. I'll just eat with with butter and not worry about the calories because I can. I'm so excited. My friends and I have been talking about Thanksgiving food all morning. It's always interesting to me to hear what people's family signature dish is. Each family has one. I would say ours in the noodles. I miss getting up early with my Grandma Ann to roll out the noodles on her huge oval kitchen table. I can't wait to make memories like that with Hazel. It's hard though because you never know what things end up making a lasting memory in someones head. This year we're doing something different. We normally try and go to one family or the others for the day of but this year we're kind of going to both. First Dad's side for pre meal snack and hello. Then over to my Mom's hubbies family's house for the actual day of meal. Then leaving Friday around noon to drive down to John's family and lunch with them. I'll certainly get my fill of yummy food. I can't wait for my Mom's banana muffins, John's sisters stuffed mushrooms and Aunt Bev's sour cream mashed potatoes. Seriously, I'm drooling just thinking about all this food.

Infectious Giving

Giving always becomes a topic during the holidays. Most people think of giving either of presents to loved ones or tossing a few coins in the little red buckets as you enter the grocery store but I've been trying to think of this topic in a new way this season (and hopefully into the future). Infectious giving is what comes to mind. I'm not talking purely about monetary giving. I'm talking time, resources, food, sometimes it's just a smile for a stranger. I'm asking God to show me new ways I can give of myself each day for Him.

Our church is doing an amazing thing this year. They've set out to donate 10,000 pounds of food to local shelters and local families in need. That's a huge number and seems impossible to me alone but every week thousands of pounds of food get delivered by people around the northland that want to help out. It's been amazing. John and I filled up eight grocery bags for the cause this time. It feels so good to give stuff away. It's always nice to get stuff but it's far more rewarding to give it away. Not everyone has money or time to give away, that's understandable BUT if God has blessed you with something (time, money, a passion for a specific cause), use it. Give it away like it's on fire. God's blessed John and I in the area of money right now and I'm so thrilled to be able to buy food for needing families or to buy a new coat for a teenage girl who's family can't afford a new one. It helps me keep my life in perspective. Seriously, how many pairs of shoes do I really need? How many lip glosses can I really use at once? I often feel like we get caught up in the things we want and neglect to think about why God's given us the resources we have. I'm not suggesting we sell our homes, move into shacks and give all our personal belongings away. I think God wants us to enjoy our lives (Get new shoes, have cozy bed sheets, eat out sometimes) but I also think He calls us to be wise with our lives. Wise with our resources.

These are just random thoughts I've tried to put together to make full sentences. I know it possibly doesn't make a lot of sense at this point. I'm sure I'll continue to bring pieces of this puzzle out in the coming weeks. Below is an article I linked to from our pastor's blog. It's basically about infectious giving. Take a read...

http://inmed.us/news.asp

Nesting

To start with, I'm totally in love with these little rubber stamps from Target. I think I'm going to have to order these for fun projects in the future.

Yesterday I mentioned I cleaned my house and was kinda freaked about it. That feeling only compounded itself when I got home last night and realized all I had to do was make dinner. Even Hazel's (well Dad's temp room starting tomorrow) room is clean. John and I were marveling at how never in our marriage have we not had a junk room or at least corner. The only place left to tackle is my crafting desk. It's covered in, well crafting stuff. I don't really have enough storage for all that and I find myself wanting to get into other crafts now as well. One step at a time I guess.

Who Are You and What Have You Done With Naomi?

I started out today by getting up around six and cleaning my house. That's right, cleaning. Weird huh? Then I made breakfast. Like I actually cooked something for myself to eat before work. Equally strange. But, the really testament to how strange my behavior is today is that I just ordered a bunch of stuff from Lands End. LANDS END, PEOPLE. I've always thought of them as a place where preppy folks bought all their stuff. I've looked at their site briefly a few summers ago for a swim suit but that's the extend of my love for them. All that changed recently when I got a random catalog in the mail. I flipped through it out of boredom really because what is a pregnant lady going to buy from the preppy catalog? Well, apparently my taste has changed considerably. I found tons of things I was drooling over (mostly coats, hats, tote bags) and wasn't even ashamed of myself. Maybe it's the pregnant hormones talking but they have some great prices on some great stuff. Pretty much any basics you could need (t shirts, sleep pants, robes, house slippers, cardigans, winter stuff, tote bags, swimwear, winter boots, etc) they have it. I've grown into a fairly no frills basics girl and when winter rolls around each year I reach for anything that is going to be soft and keep me warm. This year in particular I have a mild obsessive love for fleece. No idea. Again, totally out of character for me but I can't get enough. I'm also in love with these puffy vest things. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I'm telling you all, the body snatchers have arrive and took me first...
BTW, The pics aren't the things I bought but if I didn't have a preggy belly I would. I got things like hat, scarf, gloves, house slippers, etc. I'm excited to get a puffy jacket and vest next year though AND wear real jeans again.

Not Much

Not much to say today from the Land of Naomi. Glad it's Friday. A cold weekend is a head but thankfully everything we are going to be doing will be inside. I'm planning to do a major clean/rearrange starting tonight. I guess I'm feeling that nesting feeling. I've been looking around the house and realizing we have so much stuff. So much stuff we don't ever use or really don't like. My plan is to keep the stuff we love and use. I will pack up any clothing I currently can't fit into but other than that, I plan to make a large haul to the goodwill. I'm excited to focus on one thing at a time till it's done. Not sure why.

In other news, Dad's coming to town. Next week my Dad's coming to KC to paint the entire inside of my house. Walls, trim, the works. It's in desperate need and I'm so excited!!! Excited to have him here for a unexpected visit AND excited to have fresh paint on the walls. Haven't decided on a color yet. I'm terrible at paint colors for some reason. He's REALLY good at it though and I'm hoping he can give me some help there.

Also, I've purchased some cute things recently that I haven't shared (nothing fabulous but little things make me happy these days). The coffee maker was an extremely awesome gift for our anniversary. Boy do I love it...

New canisters, new knee high stockings, some pretty flowers, some fuzzy yarn that is planned to be a cute bunny animal for my Hazel. Also, in the shot with my canisters, you can see a tiny orange bowl. That's actually a set of really cool tiny bowls/measuring cups that I'm totally in love with. I'm on an orange kick again.

5:00pm can't come soon enough today...

Weekend

The weekend has come and gone. Rather quickly I must admit. Saturday Gran and I braved the cold to do some furniture shopping. We ended up leaving with only a few kitchen items. Had dinner at one of our favorite places.

Lovely food and company. Woke up feeling yucky for our seventh anniversary. I think my sinus thing has either returned or was just hiding for a bit because it's back with a score to settle. I managed to drag myself out of bed for some quick errands and a lovely gift. Napped on the couch for a while and then realized I was gonna have to pull myself up and be awake for our dinner plans later that night. We ended up going to Lidia's Italian Kitchen. It's such a lovely place and the food is always good.

The restaurant itself is gorgeous and I'm always just in love with the decor every time we go. This is the huge stone fireplace near the entrance. The lighting is so dim in this place I couldn't get a great shot but you get the idea. So cool. Also, they have three of these amazing Dale Chihuly light fixtures down the middle that's I'm totally blow away by every time as well. What that guy can do with glass is amazing!

Montage to The Cuteness That Is John

Since we've been together SEVEN years this weekend, I thought it only fitting to do a mini montage to my husband. We've had many many funny times together.

Like this one for example...

This was before we tried to cross that water you see behind us. We of course got the thing stuck and the funniest story every told unfolded. All I will say is that it involved my mom standing in her underwear in the middle of that water trying to pull us out using her pants as a tow rope. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying just thinking about it.

Next, we have...

This funny shot is of John dressed up for my dad's pirate birthday party. That in itself isn't the funny part. They funny part came when we all came home late full of piss and vinegar. The boys decided to steal the target practice deer from the neighbor behind them to put on the back porch looking into the kitchen window of the other neighbor. I'm pretty sure they started WW3.

Then we have...

This was from my 25th birthday party. We had a huge bash at Gran's house with family and work folks. Tons of food and of course booze. I'm not sure if it was the mixing of the booze or the excitement of all the new people he's met that night but we found John a few hours later passed out hugging the toilet in my Grandma's bathroom with the towel bar ripped off the wall. He spent the night in there as he was completely against sleeping in an actual bed that night.

Last but certainly not least. The Darth Martin head gear. He used to wear this to play video games till I made him put it in the attic. I'm a mean and evil wife, I know.

I gotta say, he always manages to keep me laughin. Love his guts more than I can ever say.

New Cuteness For Me

New Corso Como brown mary jane heels. I've been looking forever for the perfect pair and here they are. Best of all, they were on sale!!!

Secondly, super cute white mini bird planter my mom sent me as a gift a few weeks ago. It's such a sweet piece and I think it will have to go in Hazel's room. By the way, the lighting in my house really sucks.

Finally Friday. We're having dinner tonight with some friends, I'm going out furniture shopping with my Gran tomorrow and then Sunday is our 7th wedding anniversary. Amazing that it's been seven years. We both always say it seems like we haven't been together all that long but that is seems like we've known each other our entire lives. I can't wait to share our special day together again this year and many more to come...

Not much going on with me today. The weekend was nice. Nice weather for sure. We saw the movie Eagle Eye Saturday night. LOVE Shia (the main actor) in just about everything he's done so far. It's an action-y movie per usual for me. I sometimes wonder why I'm not one of those deep, art movie type of people but I'm totally not. I want stories to play out and make sense and then at the end be done (and preferably a happy ending. I know that happy endings aren't always reality but I think they is enough sad in this world without having to make movies about it too). Anyway, good action for those of you, like me, that like action.

Also, the time change spent the entire weekend messing with my head. I'm finally getting around to liking the idea of it (not that I had much choice). I got up an hour early today and felt totally awake. I got a ton of little things done around the house before I had to leave for work. I felt like Wonder Woman!

Tonight John and I are going to try and tame the wild forest of leaves in our front year. We have to huge trees in the front and a ton of big-ish ones in the back. Our little old people neighbors are out in their yards every morning raking leaves and trying to make us feel bad. Hasn't worked so far but I am getting tired of every time I open the front door a gust of crunchies fly in. The cat loves it, I however have to sweep it up.

Hope everyone was able to get out and vote today. As I get older I see more and more the importance of it. I've heard horror stories today of people waiting in line for around 3 hours to make their mark. Crazy times.