My Little Man-Child

Joshua likes to shave with John.  John slathers shaving cream on Joshua's face, caps his razor, and 'shaves.'  When he's done, Joshua runs to me, excited.  "Mommy, Mommy!!  Smell me!!"  I smell his soft, chubby cheeks.  Then he lifts his chin and I smell there, too.  "Did you shave?" I exclaim.  "You smell so handsome, just like Daddy."  He glows with pride.

Now Joshua has his own child-razor.  And he keeps those cheeks, and his chin...and his nose...smelling fresh and clean.

He takes this part of personal grooming very seriously.

KITCHEN: before & after

It's finally done.  And we are happy.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'd be remiss if I didn't make room for my new clock.  It was love at first sight:

The dining room got some love, too.

BEFORE: (not a recent picture, but if you try to envision all the trim-work painted white, it's close enough I think)

AFTER:

We owe BIG thanks to Derek, who did the majority of the work.  And to my parents who put down the floor and the backsplash.  It was a huge undertaking but so worth it. 

January the First. Happy New Year!

When I was a little girl, I used to take the calendar in my hands and flip through all the crisp, clean pages and wonder what the future held for all those blank squares that represented the days of another year.  A new year.  If I had known, I would have run to the nearest store for a journal and kept a pristine record of those moments....or maybe not, since I never managed to follow through with journal-keeping, even with the best of intentions.  Nonetheless, I deeply regret it.

Those years were full and beautiful and crazy and devastating and exciting.  My mundane life changed forever the year I turned 14 and as I whirled and twirled my way to 27, I encountered a life I could never have imagined.  Sometimes things I would never have dared to imagine...other things I wouldn't have wanted to imagine.  I've seen dreams become reality and reality sometimes become more than I could bear.

Life has been beautiful.  Even in the midst of pain.

The coming year intimidates me a more than any other.  I'm a little excited.  But mostly scared.  I'm not used to fearing change.  It's all new.  But I'm learning that it's when I'm fearful that I am forced to depend wholly on a strength that is not my own.

So...here's to a year of loving God more, learning to trust Him, embracing the changes, developing greater discipline while working towards my goals and never ceasing to learn.  Welcome 2012.