Monday, October 8, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
gratitude
One thing I learned today during general conference was this: make the decision now to be happy.
When we look back at our lives 5, 10, or even 15 years down the road, will we be happier because we suddenly have more things? A bigger house, better cars, nicer computers, bigger TVs, air conditioning, a dish washer, a washer and drier, and I could keep on going.
Today I was talking with Lewis about this. Sure, an air conditioner would be oh so heavenly. But would it really make me happier? Sure, it'd be refreshing, but then I'd probably complain about the electricity bill being much higher than it is here in our AC-less place.
A few weeks ago, Lena and I took a rather long walk. I walked past a house whose garage was open and both cars were parked out in the drive-way. The garage was full of stuff. Completely FULL! Stacked up against all the walls and laying all over the ground. And I kept thinking - Lewis and I have everything that we could need or want right now [besides the air conditioning... kidding] in our tiny, two bedroom, storage-less apartment. We're happy living on nothing [except love - come on, people]. And it got me thinking - I never want to just have stuff. Just because there's room to suddenly store it.
5, 10, or 15 years down the road, I want to look back at my life now and remember how truly happy we are. With very little. We don't have a lot of stuff.
- Two frying pans, two pots, two 9x13 casserole dishes, two cutting boards. And we could easily get by on only having one.
- Five tall glasses, 4 small glasses, 10 big plates, 8 small plates, and lots and lots of utensils. And we don't have a dish washer. What are we doing with 18 plates?! We do dishes after every meal! Crazy. See, we could still easily get by on much less.
After meditating this afternoon once conference was over, I started thinking about how grateful I am for all that I don't have.
I'm grateful for my AC-less, dish washer-less, and washer and drier-less apartment.
I'm grateful for the storage that we do not have, forcing us to sell and give away the things that we just don't have room for.
I'm grateful for the 1 square inch of counter space in my kitchen and the fact that I don't have a pantry but just have to stuff everything above the fridge.
I'm grateful for the sometimes long walk to the laundry mat (depending on how much I'm carrying) because it gets me out of the house when usually, I'm there all day with Lena.
On the other hand, I'm truly, truly grateful for the things I do have:
Our AC unit.
The few dishes we do have.
A working fridge.
A loving husband.
Laughs and smiles from the most adorable baby.
A stroller that lets me go on nice long walks with the tiny child who now takes up all my time.
Loving, sacrificing parents and parents-in-law.
Easy means of communication so we can talk to those parents and parents-in-law.
My blender so I can make the smoothies I crave daily.
Books that take up way too much room in our already tiny apartment.
The disney movies that Lewis thinks take up too much room. But I just love disney, so sorry, honey, they're not going anywhere :)
I could list a lot more things, but this post is already really long. When Lewis and I leave Utah and maybe have a bigger place, we're not going to know what to do with ourselves!
Actually, I've already planned what I'm doing with more counter space - I'm buying a kitchen aid.
But now I'm thinking about it again. I get along just fine with my hand mixers! So why buy a kitchen aid when I'm perfectly happy and content now? The kitchen aid won't make me happier. But it sure is convenient! Ok, sorry. Tangent over.
Thanks general conference for reminding me how happy I am in my tiny, little life with Lewis and Lena.
When we look back at our lives 5, 10, or even 15 years down the road, will we be happier because we suddenly have more things? A bigger house, better cars, nicer computers, bigger TVs, air conditioning, a dish washer, a washer and drier, and I could keep on going.
Today I was talking with Lewis about this. Sure, an air conditioner would be oh so heavenly. But would it really make me happier? Sure, it'd be refreshing, but then I'd probably complain about the electricity bill being much higher than it is here in our AC-less place.
A few weeks ago, Lena and I took a rather long walk. I walked past a house whose garage was open and both cars were parked out in the drive-way. The garage was full of stuff. Completely FULL! Stacked up against all the walls and laying all over the ground. And I kept thinking - Lewis and I have everything that we could need or want right now [besides the air conditioning... kidding] in our tiny, two bedroom, storage-less apartment. We're happy living on nothing [except love - come on, people]. And it got me thinking - I never want to just have stuff. Just because there's room to suddenly store it.
5, 10, or 15 years down the road, I want to look back at my life now and remember how truly happy we are. With very little. We don't have a lot of stuff.
- Two frying pans, two pots, two 9x13 casserole dishes, two cutting boards. And we could easily get by on only having one.
- Five tall glasses, 4 small glasses, 10 big plates, 8 small plates, and lots and lots of utensils. And we don't have a dish washer. What are we doing with 18 plates?! We do dishes after every meal! Crazy. See, we could still easily get by on much less.
After meditating this afternoon once conference was over, I started thinking about how grateful I am for all that I don't have.
I'm grateful for my AC-less, dish washer-less, and washer and drier-less apartment.
I'm grateful for the storage that we do not have, forcing us to sell and give away the things that we just don't have room for.
I'm grateful for the 1 square inch of counter space in my kitchen and the fact that I don't have a pantry but just have to stuff everything above the fridge.
I'm grateful for the sometimes long walk to the laundry mat (depending on how much I'm carrying) because it gets me out of the house when usually, I'm there all day with Lena.
On the other hand, I'm truly, truly grateful for the things I do have:
Our AC unit.
The few dishes we do have.
A working fridge.
A loving husband.
Laughs and smiles from the most adorable baby.
A stroller that lets me go on nice long walks with the tiny child who now takes up all my time.
Loving, sacrificing parents and parents-in-law.
Easy means of communication so we can talk to those parents and parents-in-law.
My blender so I can make the smoothies I crave daily.
Books that take up way too much room in our already tiny apartment.
The disney movies that Lewis thinks take up too much room. But I just love disney, so sorry, honey, they're not going anywhere :)
I could list a lot more things, but this post is already really long. When Lewis and I leave Utah and maybe have a bigger place, we're not going to know what to do with ourselves!
Actually, I've already planned what I'm doing with more counter space - I'm buying a kitchen aid.
But now I'm thinking about it again. I get along just fine with my hand mixers! So why buy a kitchen aid when I'm perfectly happy and content now? The kitchen aid won't make me happier. But it sure is convenient! Ok, sorry. Tangent over.
Thanks general conference for reminding me how happy I am in my tiny, little life with Lewis and Lena.
 |
| Sure love them. |
Friday, October 5, 2012
carrots
Somebody likes carrots.
Took her a few days to understand the whole eating thing, but now she seems to have the hang of it.
Took her a few days to understand the whole eating thing, but now she seems to have the hang of it.
It's so fun watching her learn new things. Now we're just waiting for her to figure out the bottle again. Prayers appreciated.
photo challenge day 4
High angle.
Still not a good photographer, I know. But it gave me more practice dealing with exposure. Sorry it's just a water bottle :)
Still not a good photographer, I know. But it gave me more practice dealing with exposure. Sorry it's just a water bottle :)
Thursday, October 4, 2012
in the picture
Today I read this article written by a mom who realized that she's not in any pictures with her children because she doesn't like looking at herself. How many of us are like that?
Trying to lose the baby weight.
Acne affected by hormones.
Nursing breasts [those who nurse know what I'm talking about]
Didn't have time to shower.
Didn't dry the hair and risk waking baby.
Crying baby made make-up time [nearly] impossible.
Only have 4 nursing tanks, so wear the same thing almost every day.
Wearing sweats and husband's baggy t-shirt.
Bags under the eyes because of lack of sleep.
Seeing where I'm going with this? Even those without kids live just as stressful of lives. Just in other ways. Days are still long and nights are still short. Weeks are too busy to find time to do laundry. With children or without, we still find reasons to not like the way we look.
When Lena grows up, will she have any pictures with me? Or do I shy away from the camera. This morning, my father-in-law was over and he wanted a picture of the family. I told him, "but I didn't get to do my hair today."
And then I realized: who cares?
When Lena is 5 years old, she needs to be able to see pictures of her with her mother. The real mother. The one who sometimes just has bad days and doesn't want to shower, get dressed, or do her hair and make-up. But she needs to know she's loved. And she needs to see it in those pictures, so she'll be able to see that she was loved as a little girl (probably too much. We love the crap out of this little thing).
So after reading the article, I took this.
Let's be honest, no one even looks at the parents anymore anyways. Lena's the center of attention in any and all pictures. A really cute center of attention.
Trying to lose the baby weight.
Acne affected by hormones.
Nursing breasts [those who nurse know what I'm talking about]
Didn't have time to shower.
Didn't dry the hair and risk waking baby.
Crying baby made make-up time [nearly] impossible.
Only have 4 nursing tanks, so wear the same thing almost every day.
Wearing sweats and husband's baggy t-shirt.
Bags under the eyes because of lack of sleep.
Seeing where I'm going with this? Even those without kids live just as stressful of lives. Just in other ways. Days are still long and nights are still short. Weeks are too busy to find time to do laundry. With children or without, we still find reasons to not like the way we look.
When Lena grows up, will she have any pictures with me? Or do I shy away from the camera. This morning, my father-in-law was over and he wanted a picture of the family. I told him, "but I didn't get to do my hair today."
And then I realized: who cares?
When Lena is 5 years old, she needs to be able to see pictures of her with her mother. The real mother. The one who sometimes just has bad days and doesn't want to shower, get dressed, or do her hair and make-up. But she needs to know she's loved. And she needs to see it in those pictures, so she'll be able to see that she was loved as a little girl (probably too much. We love the crap out of this little thing).
So after reading the article, I took this.
Let's be honest, no one even looks at the parents anymore anyways. Lena's the center of attention in any and all pictures. A really cute center of attention.
going private
This has been on my mind pretty frequently over the past few weeks and I've thought with the addition of our little beauty, it's time we made this blog private.
Leave your email in a comment if you want to still be able to read!
Leave your email in a comment if you want to still be able to read!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
photo challenge day 3
Your favorite place to be.
Home. With my family.
Sorry this picture isn't prettier, more artistic, or better than the walls outside my apartment.
When I told Lewis that's what today's topic was, he thought I'd take a picture of the couch. Really, Lewis? I promise I don't spend all my time on the couch. Lena and I do get up and move around. Honestly, it was a toss up between home and my bed. Because I sure do love to sleep.
During Lena's afternoon nap today, I spend almost the whole time trying to teach myself about changing the shutter speed on the camera. I took about a hundred pictures of the same spot in my apartment with different shutter speeds and ISO's. I think I'm starting to understand the shutter thing, but the whole ISO stuff really confuses me. I'm not very good at this whole camera thing, but I'm hoping this will help me to get better at the artistic shots that I so badly want to be good at.
We shall see.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
photo challenge day 2
What you wore today.
It's hard to remember to put it on since the last few months of pregnancy and the first few months of Lena's life I never wore it. So it's worth documenting when it's actually on.
 |
| my wedding ring |
It's hard to remember to put it on since the last few months of pregnancy and the first few months of Lena's life I never wore it. So it's worth documenting when it's actually on.
photo challenge day 1
You.
A picture of me being who I am now - a mother.
She doesn't look like she's having any fun at all, but she loves the mirror. She sees a cute little person staring back at her and is usually all smiles and laughs.
30 day photography challenge
For a long time now, I've had a desire to become a better photographer. I think there might be a talent for it hiding somewhere inside of me. In the past, I've looked up classes that I can attend where they teach you more about the art of photography. I've never signed up for any of them. But Lewis and I bought a fancy photography camera anyways. With the hopes that I'd be able to better my [limited] skills. Then, I was google-ing photography and found lots of 30 day photography challenges. I combined the ones I liked best to make my own personal 30 day photography challenge.
We'll see how this goes.
- you
- what you wore today
- favorite place to be
- high angle
- low angle
- silhouette
- something close up
- something from a distance
- black and white
- focusing on eyes
- street lights
- flowers
- landscape
- person you love
- shadows
- clouds
- something green
- fruit
- bad habit
- something blue
- long exposure
- incorporates motion
- technology
- something orange
- hands
- animal
- something pink
- sunset
- shoes
- faceless self portrait
We'll see how this goes.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Lena's favorite position
According to Lewis, this is Lena's favorite position. How he knows I have no idea. He says its her favorite because her legs are relaxed but she's sitting upright.
Could be true. After all, she looks like she's having a blast (note the sarcasm). Always miss curious and expressionless LeBe.
Could be true. After all, she looks like she's having a blast (note the sarcasm). Always miss curious and expressionless LeBe.
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