Wednesday, November 30, 2011

when i'm stuck in a rut






sometimes i feel so frustrated with life and how it will never slow down... no matter how tired i am... no matter how far behind i am... sigh. i know that realistically it doesn't even matter. i'm never really caught up anyway. but goodness. i think my problem right now is i've lost my motivation, you know, that feeling that there is a really good reason to do the same boring tasks over and over again every day with a smile on your face. yes... that motivation. i typically loose it from time to time... then i get really behind on everything... then all of a sudden my motivation comes back... HA! i think it's after dealing with being behind for a while and hating it, then suddenly i realize again why it is so important to do those same boring tasks each day... for my sanity... but of course taking a break from those tasks is also for my sanity... don't you think? matt always says that i lost my sanity a long time ago so i really shouldn't worry about it too much... hmmm... thanks matt.

do you want to know how i get out of a rut?

i have found a little pattern that seriously helps me. first i find some music that moves me... energizes me... really makes me feel something... feel alive i guess. i play that music a lot. then i read through old quotes... until i find a couple that really speak to me. i write those on my windows so that i can look at them all day every day. and finally... even though there are a million other tasks requiring my attention... i blow them all off and do something that i want to do just because i've been wanting to do it.

this combination of things works for me every single time. and i think today is the day. it's time to come out of this rut. thank you for letting me use you as a journal today. i hope it wasn't too boring. i promise next time i will share something christmas!

Friday, November 25, 2011

an unexpected thanksgiving






our typical thanksgiving is getting up early, getting everyone ready, driving over to the valley, and then house jumping until late into the evening from family party to family party. now... i actually do enjoy this... i love getting to see everybody. but i have always wondered what a quiet thanksgiving at home would be like. this year we had planned on our usual thanksgiving circus. that was until our littlest one came down with the flu the day before... and then the three well children decided to go ahead and travel over to the valley with their grandparents... and before we new it... we had a very quiet thanksgiving at home. all we did was take care of the little one and prepare our feast. simple. then the power went out again (wind storms, sheesh!) and i continued to prepare the food with high hopes that the power would come back on just in time (it's possible right?) and matt created an oven on top of our wood stove (have i mentioned how brilliant my husband is? so handy that man). now i was right and the power did come back on just in time... but we still cooked the sweet potatoes in matt's oven... just because... and they were cooked to perfection. it really was amazing. he made it out of old flashing from our house. now, in case anyone is worried about little ollie.... she is already back to her old self... so don't worry. and if your curious about this blog... i am planning to start posting at least once a week (hopefully twice) now that i have started figuring out matt's computer. hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

This crazy life

Well... My computer is out of service again and this time it's for good. I'm lucky though because lisa is letting me borrow her iPad. it's been so fun getting to experience this new adventure but goodness i am having quite the time trying to use it to update my blog! I have many adorable pictures that Rebecca took during her visit that I can not seem to post no matter how hard I try. And then there is that little problem of having to type on a computer screen.... Wow! I will probably just have to learn to use matts computer to post on here. At least now you know why I've been absent. Hope to post again soon with lots of great photos!

Friday, November 4, 2011

the end of october
















 the very last evening of october. halloween. we had a wonderful time. my sisters and soon to be brother in law made the trip over here to spend the evening with us. we all met up in nye beach and arrived to late for the scheduled "early" trick or treat and arrived to early for the traditional after dark trick or treating ...and so... we wandered the streets in a sort of limbo. until we stopped to draw with chalk on the walls of cafe mundo and the amazing sound of sweet reggae and warm lentil soup brought us inside. i must say that cafe mundo is my absolute favorite place to go in this entire coastal area. if you visit newport you really must check it out. it's located in nye beach "the heart of newport" directly across from nana's irish pub (another favorite of mine). anyway, after mundo we hit the streets and were sooo surprised at how things have changed since we were kids (i'm sure we are not the first or last to think this). when did everyone start going to only one neighborhood? on the oregon coast? i couldn't believe it... there was no one in nye beach! we walked a few blocks.... found three houses... and their bags were full of candy. the houses we went to hadn't seen a single trick or treater and gave mine all of their candy (ugh!). i was thinking more along the lines of visit ten houses and come away with ten pieces of candy.... definitely not three houses and twenty candies! we had a wonderful time though... i will be going to mundo for halloween again.. that was great. the kids looked so adorable in their costumes too! i'm sure you can probably tell what they were from the pictures but just in case you can't.... maiko was a skeleton.... layla was little red riding hood.... eislee was a ladybug.... and ollie was a pink bunny. people often thought i was carrying a stuffed animal around and not a baby :) so there it is... our halloween adventure. i suppose i have you all caught up to november now, huh?

many thanks to my amazing sister brittany for sharing all of the halloween photos above. didn't she do an outstanding job? i just love them! thanks a million britt!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

her big happy pumpkin






i'd say that the smile in that last picture looks a little forced, what do you think? this was the only pumpkin we managed to carve before halloween. maiko says he still wants to carve his though, so i suppose we will have jack o' lanterns for thanksgiving this year. layla got her special pumpkin when her class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch. maiko got to go with some friends to the same pumpkin patch to get his pumpkin. i find it pretty wild that two of my children went to the patch with out me this year. they are certainly growing up!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

i love the coach











i also love my adorable number seven and his sweet little sisters. i do believe soccer is going to become a regular biannual thing around here. matt really enjoys coaching and he is very good at it. i absolutely love it when they call him coach. it has been a great season. our last game is this coming saturday. then it's goodbye soccer... hello holidays... i can't wait!