While we had the sewing machine out for the baby bedding, I figured I would work on a quick project that I have set aside since winter.
I have a handful of scarves that are an awkward length scarf-wise. I don’t get all fancy with my scarf tying, but the few ways I finagled these scarves they always looked awkward because they were too short.
So in the middle of this winter, I started using safety pins to make them infinity scarves. Doing so made them just perfect!
Grace is an apathetic model.
I had four scarves that I wanted to turn into infinity scarves. I just put the two ends together and sewed a straight line down the ends. It was a a little trickier than I had imagined to keep the fabric still for a straight line. I ended up having to use a lot of pins to keep them together so it wasn’t a complete zig-zag hem once I was done with it.
So there you have it. An easy upcycle to transform normal scarves into infinity scarves. Now these four scarves that I hardly ever wore will probably see a lot more than the inside of my closet.
Have you been doing any fun projects lately? Any ways to turn around a piece of clothing that may have otherwise been dead to you?
There are a lot of food fads out there, one being the new craze of Paleo.
If you do this, good for you. If it is helping you make better choices and be healthier, I am all for that.
But I will admit, I don’t get the actual practice of it.
And neither does my husband.
Here is his take on it:
As I understand paleo, it is eating food as it would be eaten in the Paleolithic era. That is berries from the ground and raw meat. Foraged food. You can’t make paleo brownies. Paleo people didn’t eat brownies. If the idea is that as long as it is made out of natural or raw ingredients, wouldn’t that mean that anything is paleo? Corn is from the ground. Corn makes high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup makes candy. Thereby jolly ranchers=paleo. Ok so I love the Paleo diet.
Since this first conversation, at almost every meal/snack, Tom denotes how what he is eating is actually ok according to the paleo theory. From chipotle, Now and Laters, to grilled cheese…it’s all paleo to him.
How far along: 27 weeks! This is the last week of the second trimester. Only 88 days to go to! (Approximately)
Sex of Baby W: Boy oh boy
Weight gain: I still haven’t gained any additional weight…
Size of Baby W: He should be about 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long. Or the size of a head of cauliflower.
Maternity clothes: This last week, the one pair of pants that I was still able to button failed me. I don’t really feel like I have gotten any bigger nor have I gained weight. However, with the realization that I cannot button those jeans anymore, I snagged a pair of maternity jeans from the consignment store for cheap!
Baby items: We are starting to accumulate more George things. This is getting real friends. We decided to register for a bed instead of make one. There was just too much going on for us to worry about that project. Plus with registering, we could look for a convertible bed that we can use long past baby stages. My mom is awesome and got that for us, and we have also had a few other items trickle in thanks to friends! We are super blessed. While my mom was here a couple weeks ago, she and I worked on all the bedding for George. Between her sewing expertise and my newbie skills, we managed to crank out some things out that I am really proud of. Once we put the crib up, I will definitely share pictures of the final products. They are so delightful!
Stretch marks: Nothing yet! Score for my belly!
Belly button in or out: Still in, but it is definitely working on flattening out.
Sleep: I have actually been sleeping fairly well, with only a few nights a week when I need to make a pee run. I have had to up the pillows around me, so it basically looks like I have a wall of cushioning around me while I sleep. It’s kind of sad because it alienates the dogs from snuggling with me. But, I can’t depend on them to stay still all night, so pillows it is.
Best moment the past few weeks: My mom visiting
Worst moment the past few weeks: I thought it was the glucose test on Monday to see about gestational diabetes. They had me fast for 13 hours (ugh I am a foodie!) and then stuck me in a room for 3 hours watching Rachael Ray cook delicious food. Torture. But the worst moment was definitely the next day when we had a scare that George may be arriving a lot earlier than we thought. After a trip to the hospital, everything checked out normal, so no one freak out on me. At the time however, I was terrified while we waited for all the tests and the observations they did on me and Baby G. It was way too early to be in a delivery room. He was just having a grand ol’ time playing around in there; he must be honing his Whitener pranking skills early. Oh, and they think I peed my pants and was just having normal cramps. Well isn’t that what every 29 year old woman wants to hear? (And for the record, I know they are medical professionals, but I am positive that was not pee!)
Miss anything: Being able to wear my favorite swim suits and feeling comfortable in them. I did buy a “mom” suit for the summer that I like, but it’s just not the same.
Cravings: Not really. I guess I am boring in this category…
Movement: Holy cow is he moving and grooving now. He rolls, kicks, punches, and everything in between. I felt him have hiccups the other day, which is adorable. I also think that he can hear music because I notice a difference when certain things are on.
Symptoms/how I am feeling: Besides the beginning of this week, I have been feeling pretty good. I am definitely feeling more tired though lately. I am trying to take advantage of energy when I have it. I also haven’t been able to wear my contacts all the time like I normally do. I have read in a few places that it is normal for your contacts to be dryer than normal during pregnancy. Then add allergy goodness to that=this girl in glasses more often than not. My emotions have been all over the place; pregnancy hormones are real people. I have been pretty snippy with Tom lately, and usually he calls me out on my BS, which unfortunately makes me flip emotions and sulk. I also cried over a spiral cut ham that was not cut to my liking. Like bent over the sink bawling…Dramatic much? Oh and there was a cheesecake that Tom ate in one sitting, that I didn’t get a piece of that made me shed some ugly tears. Seriously, why did you do that to your pregnant wife!? See emotions run rampant…
Looking forward to: Our baby showers and the weddings we will be attending in the next month. I can’t wait to see family and friends from all over!
Also, Tom and I are excited for our future of this. Undoubtedly with our child, there are some fun times ahead.
Today is our anniversary. It is hard to believe that it was only 3 years ago that I walked down the aisle towards the rest of my life.
Year 3 as with every year has had its good and bad moments.
We left off on our story last week with our first military ball.
Moving in together for realsies had its struggles. We were both used to having things a certain way after so long and then there are the added differences of life post-deployment and moving to a new state. I swore at times my husband resembled a caveman, but then again I wasn’t a perfect princess either with my nagging on where things belong. It was like we were recycling back to our first year of marriage.
The end of that summer I geared up for the beginning of a new school year at a new school. I felt like I was in a groove at work and was ready for the new challenges. I was continuing to job search for a full-time job because there did not seem to be any sign that they would be turning my part-time gig into something more permanent. I however, worked that semester trying to change their minds.
It was that fall that Tom started an intensive training schedule. He was out at a range or some training mission every other week it seemed.
In September, he had to undergo another surgery for a tumor that had grown on his hip.
Also in September, we made the plunge and added to our family by adopting Crosby. It has been a whirlwind with them since, but I couldn’t imagine not being a two dog family. I love my little pups, even with moments like this…
I ran my fourth half marathon for a family that we have had a great time getting to know in the past year. They inspire me greatly as Tom and I look to start our own family.
Tom and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time, and I would like to think that it went off really well. We had turkey for days…
This year is the first year in our ENTIRE relationship that we have been together for every single holiday for the ENTIRE year. Mind boggling that it took us seven years to do that. It was so great to have Christmas, birthdays, and everything in between with Tom.
Right after the new year, Tom was forced into a job change. We also had to come to grips that Tom would be deployed again. Some days I have accepted it, other days there is just anger and bitterness knowing that he is so close to peacing out from the military.
We had been actively trying to conceive for awhile, but after the new year thanks to some complications I was having hormone wise, we decided we would look into a fertility specialist just to make sure that everything was hunkydory on this journey. We also wanted to get everything checked out before Tom went on deployment while we had the time.
It was then that our life changed completely. We found out AT the fertility doctor that we were actually 8 weeks pregnant. You can read more about that story here. We are having a baby! We still get a kick out of telling that story.
Our lives have kind of been topsy-turvey since. Tom still has been doing training missions, and I have been working as much as I was allowed. We have crafted and DIYed our butts off this year. Check those specific tabs if you want to see what we have done in the last year! Some have been duds, but some have been the bombdiggity.
We then found out that we are having a boy, and we decided on the name George Lawson. We think the dogs know what is going on by some weird behavior we have been seeing, and we hope they are as excited as we are once George becomes their new playmate!
I participated in my 5th half marathon with my sister-in law. I was 19 weeks along at the time, and we successfully made it all 13.1 miles.
We have done some traveling over the past year. There have been countless trips to Missouri to see the famjams. We had a trip over Easter to see our friends in Indiana, and recently we took a trip to Iowa.
But mostly this year we have spent being homebodies enjoying being together. It was the first time we got to come home to each other every day. It was the first time that things seemed relatively normal, as normal as they can get being a military family that is. It was the first time that we didn’t have a countdown going until the next time we would see each other. So in our third year of marriage and seventh year together, we were still able to have a lot of firsts.
We have gone through every emotion possible between the two of us this past year. We both have been strung along and had discontent with how our careers were going. I had ups and downs of being a temporary employee (ups like I wrote here,here and here; downs like this) and being stuck in a never ending job search. Tom’s leadership has been less than stellar leading him down some paths he never wanted to go through during his Army career. For example, they forced him into a job he didn’t want and had him slotted for a deployment that he will need to reenlist for even though he has no intention of doing so, but they are sure he will. Hence him being on the list in the first place. You know stuff that we have no control over, but impacts our life dramatically. It was during these times that we have had to be each other’s rock and just keep keeping on. We learned to accept things and make new plans when necessary. We learned a lot about ways to support each other through this year, and it has been nice to do that in person. Special moments.
And then to learn that we are going to be parents. Words cannot describe the happiness and content we have experienced since hearing, “You knocked her up.”
It has been a year.
So much has happened, but yet at the same time very little in comparison to other years. Although, I think George kind of trumps everything as far as life changes. It is a little ironic that our first year of just us in one place, will also be our last with just us.
All I have to say for the last few years is, “High five Husband.”
Happy Anniversary to the man who has taught me so much about life, love, and happiness. To the man who can make me laugh even in my darkest moments. To the man who never ceases to amaze me with his courage and passion. To the man who is the best dog dad and soon-to-be-George dad. To the man who encourages me in all of my endeavors and has made so many sacrifices for our family. To the man who is always on board for crafty time and is the best handy man to have around. To the man who makes me prouder than I ever believed possible. To a man who has never doubted us for a second since we met.
Here is to many more great years to our add to our love story.
I recently finished this book as part of the weekly virtual women’s devotional I have with two of my friends. It’s pretty much a highlight of my week every week talking with these gals!
In Evolving in Monkey Town, Rachel Held Evans recounts her experiences growing up in Dayton, Tennessee, a town that epitomized Christian fundamentalism during the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. With fearless honesty, Evans describes how her faith survived her doubts and challenges readers to re-imagine Christianity in a postmodern context, where knowing all the answers isn’t as important as asking the questions.
This was a phenomenal book, and even better used as a discussion starter. I am kind of kicking myself that I bought the Kindle version and not the paper version because I wanted to write all over it and highlight like crazy! But I digress…
As a Christian, I have had my days of doubting the existence of God. My faith has had it’s own ebb and flow due to questions I had and events that occurred in my own life.
Unfortunately though, I feel that in the community of church goers (overall-not as individual people), it is not normal to vocalize these questions. So there were times that I didn’t feel like I could be a part of the Christian community because I had so many questions. I felt like an outcast in a society that should have been accepting and loving of all kind.
I have since grown into my own faith and understand that those questions are ok. With this self-acceptance I had to do a lot of searching for a community that I felt comfortable sharing. And there was A LOT of “church shopping” because of this journey. This was another sad reason for leaving Iowa because I found a church community that was encouraging but also challenging in a sense that I could grow in a healthy non-judgemental environment. It is sad to me that it is so hard to find a church community like this. I know that I am not a perfect Christian nor would I ever claim that this is possible. I have however found a good balance for me where I believe whole-heartedly in God and am able to grow each day in my walk with Him and not feel ashamed by questions that creep in.
The way that Rachel Evans described her journey was very similar to mine. I connected to her experiences on so many levels as if I had written the book myself. It was very refreshing to talk about the human struggles during life and how faith factors into it all. It was a realistic look at Christianity, the acceptance, and the evolution of yourself and society.
Our little trio had a lot of really thought-provoking discussions as we each looked at our our own situations and how our faith was infused into our relationships, jobs, political affiliations, life circumstances, etc.
I think there is a shift in our society about Christianity. Unfortunately, I do believe that many people (especially young people) drift away from Christianity and their spirituality because they are not allowed to have questions or spark up discussions that are against the words of the Bible. For example, I think we can all agree that slavery is wrong, and at some point we all had to put aside that the Bible talks about the governing rules of slavery and know that this is context from the times. Things have to evolve otherwise I would have been traded for goods in my marriage. Why can’t we have honest and open discussions about all faucets of the Bible and faith? It is in these discussions that people can share their experiences and feel valued. You learn through these debates and can grown more through understanding different view points.
Now don’t take that as I don’t believe in the Bible, because I very much do. It provides me guidance daily, and I find comfort in the Word. But I also believe that it is ok and healthy to ask questions or say, “How can this be?” or “I don’t understand where this is coming from.” I feel that through these questions you learn perspective and have a deeper understanding of what the Word is trying to say.
The thing that resonated with me most while going through this book is that in our society there is this over arching idea that there is one way that Christianity should look. However, one of my biggest questions is why is that? None of our lives or experiences are the same. We all look, feel, react differently. So wouldn’t it make sense for our faith to look a little different too? Sure we can share some ideals and practices, but how we ended up there is going to be totally different. None of us will see everything the same exact way.
It is what makes us unique.
And I finally have gotten to a point where I am ok with my faith being uniquely mine. There was a time that I felt like I needed to fit into this cookie cutter way of being a Christian, almost like being part of the popular crowd. I didn’t want to stick out and not be “normal.” But what we often forget is that Jesus was never considered normal. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with his thoughts on love and caring for others. Why do we insist now to put ourselves into a box to all be the same?
Which brings me to the cornerstone of my faith which is love and being as human as possible with all that we meet. It is only then that I feel we can actually have our faith be infectious and live on as I believe God would want.
But again, these are all my thoughts. I would love to hear yours.
This is a great read that will spark questions and make you go through a wave of emotions. Not only is the content great, which I usually see myself reading faster, but the chapters are fairly short anyway and are broken up nicely. It didn’t hurt that when she wrote this book, she was around my age, and a lot of the stories she used I had my own personal context of “where I was” in those moments. Especially with a topic so personal as faith, I like when an author makes me feel like we are at a coffee shop talking to each other, and that is exactly what she did. She infused a lot of humor into her personal anecdotes that keep you connected to her life story. It is never condescending, but always engaging and heartfelt in her process. She brings Christianity down to a personal level and encourages you to examine your own biases and how you arrived to where you are. I highly recommend it for any devotional group or for a personal read, although I do think having the group discussions was an added bonus for my personal reflections. I also don’t think you have to be a Christian to read it. She explores so many different topics and history lessons that I feel that anyone can read this and gain some take aways.
findingmyyellow.com 