wearing your baby

Not sure how far I've gotten on getting my life back, but I loved this post about Dad style.

Moving toward specifics, we see that wearing your baby might seem to be annoying because of its necessarily close association with so-called "babywearing." Can we see the difference here? One is simply a venerable form of infant-transport; the other is a cause or practice or movement involving the "babywearing community." Wearing your baby offers emotional benefits to you and the child; babywearing offers members of the fruitcake wing of the attachment-parenting movement an opportunity to get all righteous about those benefits. (Recall Maggie Gyllenhaal's stroller-shunning performance in Away We Go: "I love my babies. Why would I want to push them away from me?")

 From Do I Look Lame in This Baby Bjorn? by Troy Patterson on slate.com

I mean. Love this.

In my 6 months (exactly today) of parenthood, I have seen some CRAZY things. The obsession over babywearing is one. Oh but there are many. 

management

Camp War Eagle is over!

I started a to do list today titled Getting My Life Back. It's already crazy long, but full of lots of fun things. I need to get out birth announcements (forget the fact that Bramblett was 5 months yesterday), clean an organize many many things, get the budget back on track, learn some new computer skills, explore some long term work possibilities, focus on nutrition and exercise, make time for important people in my life, finish some books, start some books....the list goes on and on.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to get the most out of my life. This article about being a stay at home mom first got me thinking. There are certainly aspects of staying home and taking care of Bramblett that are appealing. But in reality, I don't think it's for me. For some of the reasons the author of the regret article outlined and others.

And while I'm hanging out in reality, I should probably go ahead and accept the fact that I can't have it all. However, I don't need it all. I do believe if I make the right choices, I can have everything that matters.

Which leads me to the concept of self-management. I've talked about this before with people that I have supervised in the context of work tasks, initiative, decision making, etc. Now it's time to turn that lens toward me.

There is so much I want and need out of life. If I don't start working toward it and focusing on what really matters, life will pass by and I will regret the time I wasted. This blog post has some great thoughts and ways to categorize an approach to self-management.

So, my plan for the next few weeks is to begin focusing on the right gauges. To remind myself that every choice matters. To stop throwing away time and money. To maintain hope and excitement instead of feeling stressed and overwhelmed. To keep it simple and take it one day at a time.

mornings

Not a morning person. Never have been. Seriously, don't talk to me.

Unless...

You are my absolutely adorable 15 week old son or his wonderful father who plays with him while I fix my hair.

As I have returned to work and adjusted to this new normal, mornings have become one of my favorites. After I feed Bramblett, I generally lay him down on my bed while I fix my hair. This puts him in close proximity so I can go back and forth between the hair dryer and stealing kisses and watch John play with him. We get the sweetest giggles and smiles during this time.

If you had told me even a month ago that this would be true I would have called you a liar. And, it has really changed my outlook on mornings. I'm in a much better mood when I get to work and am much more willing to talk to people before 8:30.

But just to be careful, unless you are my absolutely adorable 15 week old son or his wonderful father who plays with him while I fix my hair, I wouldn't chance it.

back in the saddle

Friday was my first day back at work from maternity leave. I will be part time for two weeks before the madness of summer. While I missed the boy, it definitely felt good to be in the office working toward a successful summer.

Then I returned today. This morning was rough. After lots of tears from both of us, I finally made it in. Luckily a sweet friend sent these over to me to welcome me back. And someone brought donuts to staff meeting. The day is looking up.

And soon I get to leave and go spend more time with my baby. Good times.

looking back

The other day I decided to take a walk down memory lane and read through my old posts. Fun times. There were some good ones. A few stood out...

Like this one where I planned to make some "art" as a headboard.

Or here where I committed to giving up some TV shows. I have given in and picked a few of those back up (ahem....bachelor......ahem).

So thankful for progress made on this issue but hopeful for more in the near future.

And these words about marriage. I feel them even more strongly now that John and I are responsible for a tiny human.

And the one where I say I'm not that into pinterest. Meanwhile....1,422 pins later...

I think I was planning on making a bunch of lists? I'm not sure...

Coming soon....looking forward.

resurrect

In the spirit of Easter, I think I may resurrect this space. I have so much added joy. Might as well celebrate it. We shall see how it goes.

Here is my first effort. Happy Easter!

marriage

I've been enjoying this song lately. Every time I hear it I am reminded of how much I love the husband and how lucky we are to live our life together. This is my favorite part of the song.

"I do" are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I've heard
Is a good place to begin

'Cause the only way to find your life
Is to lay your own life down
And I believe it's an easy price
For the life that we have found

And we're dancing in the minefields
We're sailing in the storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
When I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, till the end of all my days
When I forget my name, remind me

evernote

I've been using evernote lately to store my bookmarks and links. I think I'm in love with the way it is structured and I'm still learning new ways to use it.

Here is a screenshot of my inspiration links. These are anything from party themes, diy projects, clothes I love, colors I love, pictures that are pretty, etc. I love to just scroll through and find themes in the pictures that stand out to me. For example, I like pink.


And here are the recipes. I'm so visual when it comes to food. I hate following recipes that don't have pictures. It's so fun to look at this and pick something out based on how delicious it looks.


I also have a pinterest account, but for some reason I'm not getting in to it. Maybe when I have more time I can explore a little.

listening to {blue mother tupelo}

Blue Mother Tupelo is a duo I randomly found back in my myspace days. Last weekend I pseudo-randomly checked the schedule for 8th and Rail in Opelika and was ecstatic to see they were playing there the next night.

So I convinced the husband to go out two nights in a row to the same place, and on a Saturday night, so I could see them play. That's a little misleading. It wasn't really convincing...I just said "we're coming tomorrow night too!" and he said "sure".

They were so good live. Super fun and down to earth. There weren't many people there so we got to talk to them about Knoxville and even exchanged hugs at the end of the night (and I don't really hug so that's big).

This is my favorite song.



And from their new album I love Always Lookin' and The War. The piano on The War is great!

my new bag

So, I've been looking for a new bag for quite a while. I find I'm really hard to please in this department. I generally can't afford good quality leather and the fake stuff looks so cheap to me. Anything other material usually doesn't last very long. I always see bags I love walking around campus or the grocery or the airport. But I can never find them when I am looking.

So, I found this handmade beauty on etsy (from seller TaynaErnst)a few months ago and severely coveted it for a long time.
It got so bad that once when I looked it had sold and I sent the seller a panicked email asking if it was a one-time sell or something she made multiples of. She compassionately reassured me that she just posts the bag one at a time and makes a new one as it sells. Whew....:).

I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the bag as my birthday present to myself (with the help of the mother-in-law. Really, the purchase was an attempt to improve my relationship with God. I make a daily effort to avoid sin. Coveting is definitely a sin. So by purchasing the bag, I no longer coveted. I was reconciled. (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all appreciate a little theology stretch, no?).

Let me tell you. I am in love. I don't mean I love my bag. I mean I am in love. Sometimes I just sit and stare at it. I carried it today for the first time other than car to office. I felt like I was taking a new boyfriend to meet friends for the first time. Seriously. I'm in love.

Sorry for the bad pic. It doesn't do it justice.

back?

I've been thinking I might be ready to start getting back to the blog. I'm not sure why I felt so burdened with it back in the fall. It's not like I had a huge commitment to my thousands of readers (although the few I had were special, of course :)).

I think I was just on inspiration overload. Maybe since I've had a few months of inspiration to build up, I can think of some things to write about now.

Fun times ahead...

hmm...

This post about distraction is really hitting home for me. In some ways this is exactly how I have been feeling, and perhaps why I have not been such a good blogger as of late.

tag a friend

How creepy is this new facebook feature...

They put a random shaded, zoomed picture up in the corner and ask you to tag the tiny highlighted face...it creeps me out.

And by the way, Friend, if you read my blog, it's not you that's creepy...it's the feature.

satellite

So I was in a little fender bender a couple of weeks ago and my car has been in the shop. My rental has satellite radio and I am dreading the day that I have to give it back. Here are the songs that make me stop my station surfing and belt it out.


Jonah Smith - World Without Love

I tried to add the others with grooveshark but it is apparently struggling. And I can't find any normal youtube videos of them (no that the Jonah Smith video is normal...just sayin) so I will just list them here.

Pink - Glitter in the Air
Plain White T's - Rhythm of Love (acoustic version is great)
MercyMe - All of Creation

I have really random taste in music...

these days

I haven't been a good blogger.

But these are some things I'm loving right now:

{chill - specifically Tart with cocoa pebbles, coconut & blueberries}

{a bazillion students back on campus}

{freshly grated Parmesan cheese}

{Project Runway & Top Chef}

{fresh cherries}

{friends with a new baby!}

And these are some things I'm not loving right now:

{those dumb Bravo commercials with all of their "stars" around the pool}

{the heat - it's freakin' hot}

{no parking spots to be found}

book tables

I am loving these book tables I saw on Design*Sponge. I'm thinking I definitely want to do this!


'Cause I have so much free time now that Camp is over!!!

operation: get my life back

Camp War Eagle 2010 is over! Here are some shots from our banquets this weekend and some of my favorite people.


Now, it is time to get my life back. I have a long list of things to do. They are listed below, not necessarily in order of importance, but in the order I will be doing them.

1. Sleep.

2. Clean my office. It's overwhelming. And it it's a problem for me, then it's a problem.

3. Talk to John about something other than Camp War Eagle.

4. Get my hair done.

5. Spend some time with family and friends in Tennessee. I cannot wait.

6. Eat real food not prepared by Tiger Dining or Chic-Fil-A.

7. Get re-focused with diet and exercise. Which means making a reappearance at the gym.

8. Use my spa gift certificate I got from the Head Counselors.

9. Clean my house.

10. Finish some personal projects that I have been working on for a long time.

11. Get ready for the Fall semester.

12. Blog more.

I can't wait to do the first one...

flag day

I meant to post this on Flag Day, when it actually happened, but I forgot.

So, close your eyes and pretend it is Flag Day...

As I was driving to work this morning, the radio announced that it was Flag Day. Well, the radio didn't announce it so much as the morning radio personality did, but you get the idea. It struck me that I don't even really know what Flag Day is. I mean, I can make a guess based on context clues (as Mr. Pedigo used to say), but nothing for sure.

So, just in case you were also wondering, it commemorates the day that the US flag was adopted, on June 14, 1777. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson made a proclamation that officially put this day on the calendar. Well, he didn't put June 14 on the calendar...it was already there. He put Flag Day on the calendar.


It just so happened that I was running a bit late for work that day and parked in a meter spot that just so happened to be directly in front of the flag pole next to Samford Hall. As I got out of the car I noticed that the ROTC cadets were marching up to raise the flag for the day. For some reason it really captivated me. As far as they were concerned, no one was watching. They marched in a straight line up to the flag pole with their solemn faces and 90 degree turns. They did this out of requirement, out of duty and out of respect. I stood there for a few minutes watching and since that day have been thinking about the flag and what it means and patriotism in general.

I don't think I would label myself as patriotic. I definitely wouldn't label myself as unpatriotic. I don't wear red on 4th of July (or on a normal day - fiery coral maybe, but not red). I own no American Flag paraphernalia. And I don't want to put a boot in anyone's a$$ (thank you Toby Keith).

I consider myself to be a very objective person. So objectively, I can say that my country is not perfect. In general, I would say our flaws are arrogance and lack of perspective. Nothing is perfect, right?

But I can say that I'm proud to be an American (thank you Lee Greenwood). And I am thankful for the men and women who made/make it possible for me to live freely. The men and women who protect not only my rights as a citizen, but the human rights of people around the world. I am thankful for the soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines. I am thankful for the government officials who devote their lives. And I am thankful for the ordinary civilians who make bettering our world a priority.

I am thankful for the freedom to love my country while at the same time, wish for it to be better.

Now open your eyes.

It's not Flag Day anymore. It's July 4th.

For several years we celebrated the 4th with a cookout at my Uncle Sam's house. Yes, I have a real Uncle Sam - a retired Marine. We would have burgers and beans, volleyball and great conversation. Someone would yell "Whoa Nelly!" (inside joke). I miss my family today.

I am thankful to be part of this one nation under God. That's right Mrs. Brinkmann, there's no comma.

And I am hopeful for a future of liberty and justice for all.

lists

Stumbled across listography today after stumbling across this great list.

It's already sucked up too much of my time. I've created 4 lists so far, including a list of lists I want to make. Crazy?

I'm sure they will appear here sooner or later. First up will be things I want to do before I turn 31.

Why 31? Because 30 is too soon. No need to freak myself out.

And I need to make 31 more interesting. 30 is already a milestone in itself.

Good times.

new favorites

In my short time at Bonnaroo a couple of weeks ago I found a new favorite band.

They are great! Take a listen...