by

The Long and the Short of It

26323_10100161810592641_1833106273_n

That was me in 2013, which was the last time I donated my hair.

599567_10100161811016791_777551500_n

I have donated my hair I think 4 times now since high school. It might be 5, but I can’t remember.

I go through cycles of growing it out to donate and then whacking it off. There are times though that I get frustrated with that “in between” phase and whack it off before I can donate it. Grad school made me impatient with it so I kept it short for those two years. Two years of growth lost…

Usually it takes me about two years of growing to get to the point of donations, hence the reason I get impatient.

Right now I am in that itching phase of doing something drastic with it. I hate the middle part. I love the way I look with short hair, and I love having long hair. This middle business is stupid.

1910304_506954986551_911_n

And I have never dyed my hair. I am too in love with my natural color, so that is not a solution to my bored dilemma.

I am glad to report though that I am past the dreaded shoulder phase. I really hate the phase that is between being short and being past my shoulders. I have thickish hair so it seems almost afroey when it is before the shoulders but past actually being short. It just doesn’t want to lay flat so it does a flare on it’s on with wreckless abandon before getting to the shoulders. See above picture. And there is NOTHING to fix it. This girl can’t do layers so it has to all stay at the same length so afro carefree blob thing it is. Can I get a halleluiah for making it past that part?

1929712_12602527789_1163_n

I have had so many hair lengths over the years and ways of coping with the growing process.

Bangs…

197049_642603386071_5495186_n

Perm…

1909997_514174064461_7005_n\

10399209_525226630031_6888_n

Layers…(see bad idea)

222904_506954337851_2678_n

Braids…

215395_1004548516234_6328_n

Braids and bangs…

392436_894063448091_502373028_n

Curls and bangs, which is different from perm and bangs.

560357_888713704021_1681231526_n

And tons of headbands and hairclipys.

426842_10100668708245328_1198896992_n

So you can see that I have had a variety of lengths and ways of styling it.

580478_10100229212897881_3552105_n

941481_10100202542814941_180377433_n

But now I am in that phase that I am tired of it and am just annoyed with it.

I am annoyed that it gets caught in coats and shoulder bag handles.

It has become a handle for George to pull. And he pulls hard like he is holding on for dear life.

It takes so many minutes to dry. So many.

And there is hair EVERYWHERE. Seriously, I could donate what falls out of my head and have the same amount as the momentous cut. I find it on everything. I have at least one moment a day where I think, “how the heck did that get there?”

558768_993613863261_1738389083_n

I will say that as far as maintenance goes, I actually love having long hair more than short hair. I just have to remind myself that there are so many more possibilities to creating different looks with long hair. I love the versatility of it, but I just need to make myself do it. I love that I don’t have to actually wash/dry/straighten every day. For me with short hair I just have one option, so it is nice to have that flexibility. And when all else fails it can go in a braid or ponytail. Long hair don’t care. Short hair is drama and needs constant attention.

So we’ll see what happens when I get my hairs cut this weekend. I might get impulsey…

1930358_525196156101_8702_n

What are you thoughts on hair length? Have you ever grown yours out to donate?

by

And Just Like That

And just like that, I am a working mom.

10620442_10100630986230901_6734640682619079071_o

I am well into week two of being back on the working circuit. (Not that type of working girl, goodness.)

Last week was rough. It was my first full week at a job since the beginning of August. It was my first full week full time in about a year and half.

It was my first time leaving George for more than an hour at a time.

With a stranger.

Rough and exhausting.

But it was good at the same time. We really did have a great first week.

I was truly fortunate to find a sitter for George relatively easily. The timing just really worked out for us here. And to find in-home care was just awesome.

She is a woman who watches 4-5 kids depending on the day. She was about half the price of any daycare in the area. And her house is just over 5 minutes away from my office.

Win, win, win.

I met with the sitter for about an hour and watched her interact with the other kids. The two little girls fell in love with George right away. (Literally, one girl exclaimed within minutes of meeting him, “I just love Baby George, and I can’t wait till he is here all the time.”)

Let’s just say this woman is a Godsend. She really makes these kids her whole world. I knew practically instantly that George would be in good hands with her.

She is so kind and warm-hearted. Pretty much perfect.

This past week she put up Christmas decorations, and George now has a stocking of his very own there. (I don’t even know where our Christmas boxes are right now, let alone having bought anything for G-man.)

She is very patient with his acid reflux and need to be held all the time. Although the first two days I thought George liked her more than me because he didn’t poop or throw up on her at all. Then when he got home he would work out EVERYTHING he had saved up from the whole day all down my shirt. On day three though, he initiated her into the clean-up George’s functions club.

She handles my new mom questions like a pro when I pick him up each night to get a progress report.

Leaving him that first day was hard. I had to fight back tears as I left him in her arms. Luckily last week I was in training meetings for most of the day, so I could keep my mind off the fact that I wasn’t singing songs or attempting to like tummy time with him.

There is so much trust you have to have to leave your kid with anyone, let alone someone you have only had a ONE hour encounter with. You have to let go of a lot of control. One of the many lessons of parenthood…

Every morning, I am a little awkward dropping him off because I try to do it as quickly as possible so I don’t get myself in a tizzy by leaving him. Other times, I realize I am lingering and just staring at this sweet face…

1505004_10100622819072951_2287955552975464175_n

Move on and make some money Mom.

I feel really fortunate as well that my office is full of babies. My boss just had his first kid two weeks before I started. The other woman in the office has a two and four year old. They have been super supportive knowing what it’s like being a parent and working. This has made for an easy transition because they both understand. Plus, we are gushing over baby pictures practically every chance we get. And who doesn’t mind looking at baby pictures? We also win for the office with the least amount of sleep. How we are accomplishing anything is beyond me.

It is hard leaving him and knowing that I spend a good chunk of time without him now. But as some friends mentioned recently, he will be getting the best of me because I will be fulfilled with my job professionally. I know I am meant to be a mom and an educator. I know that having both will make me better at both. (And my job is AWESOME, but that is a discussion for another day.)

I have to remind myself that it is good for both of us. I truly cherish the time we get together because it is limited now more than before. Like this morning, I got a ready with 10 minutes to spare so I just snuggled him a little extra before bundling him in the car. George benefits by interacting with other kids, but also by seeing his mom and dad work and being excited about their careers. I hope that he will see Tom and I loving our jobs and be motivated in his own career path to feel the way that we do. It is also good knowing that he has a community of people who are going to love and support him, and I don’t have to feel the pressure to be his whole and only world. (Even though selfishly at times, I want to be just that.)

This little man deserves the best, so his dad and I are doing what we can to make that for him.

2014-11-09 09.06.00

I don’t really have a lot of advice when trying to find childcare. We went totally off recommendations, so if you know someone in the area with kids I would start with their suggestions. The rest was a gut feeling. Sometimes you just know who you can trust and who you can’t.

While it is not easy leaving him in the care of someone else, it is getting easier as we adjust.

And you really can’t beat coming home to that face everyday!

by

Book Review: Medal of Honor

I received this book from Zenith Press as compensation for my review. All these thoughts are my own.

240x4009780760346242

image via

I was really excited to be contacted to review this book. Military history? Count me in.

The Medal of Honor is the highest award one in the military can receive. This book, The Medal of Honor:  A History of Service Above and Beyond, is a beautiful book depicting the medal’s story.

Each chapter is about a different war time period in our country’s history. They have gorgeous photos, personal stories, and a detailed history on the medal.

I really enjoy it because it does put things in perspective of the time you are looking at and how the medal was perceived then. I really enjoy looking at it chronologically and how it has evolved. And I just love looking at the photos throughout too.

I wish that more of my history books were written and developed as this book was. History books get a bad rap for being dull and boring, but I think if more were displayed like this, we would think differently. (I am biased because I loved history so I didn’t find them all boring.)

I can definitely see this being a “coffee table” type of book that can be easily picked up and perused with very little time or you could spend a lot of time looking at it all and delving into the details.

You can find the book at Barnes and Noble and Amazon, or you can go here.

by

Another 35 Before 35 Update

Man October went fast. I did manage to knock some things off my list.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

  • Maybe I should stop finding new projects now, and wait until next year to do some more. I did a couple this month with the dinosaur hat and bearded beanie. I definitely have done my way through projects that are not straight lines this year.

2. Do a photography challenge

  • I am still on par with this. I have been experimenting a lot with different ways to set up backdrops without a proper studio. So some are not great as I figure out angles and work to manipulate light, but I am learning! I already showed some pics from his Halloween shoot, but here are some others of my challenge to get out the DSLR to capture George at least once a week.

1606434_10100603781399601_8842183674137011394_o 1978387_10100603816798661_3312420343452390958_o 10572085_10100609878261441_6520733395093159549_o

This was our attempt at a fall shoot. These are some of the very few pictures where he wasn’t throwing a fit or eating the blanket.

10633989_10100609882577791_4115644130173329293_o

3. Visit 5 cities I have never been to before (5/5)

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the KY/TN area

  • Well, this one I completely failed on since we made the move back to MO this past week. Maybe I will change it to explore the wineries of Missouri.

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • This is the first month that I didn’t complete this. I think I got 3 or 4 out. Whoops.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • I took some photos of some good friends of ours before I left Clarksville. I am hoping once we get settled here I will be able to really branch out here in Missouri. Here is one of my favorites.

Glinn Photography

7. Run at least 10 races (any distance) (1/10)

8. Go camping with Tom

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

10. See Tyrone Wells live as many times as possible

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

12. Water ski with my dad

13. Do a 5K with my mom

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

  • I really think I need to give up on this book. It is holding me down…

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

  • Anyone in mid-Missouri know a good place to do either of these?

17. Do one new recipe each month

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

19. Find a place to volunteer on a regular basis

20. Go hiking

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. Go to at least 20 “new to me” restaurants. (17/20)

  • I went to Five Points Pizza in Nashville with my best friend while she was visiting. They have great food!

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 3oth birthday party.

26. Explore Nashville while we live here

  • While I didn’t do as much as I would have liked, I did explore some during the year and a half I was there. I met up with a friend of mine before I left for coffee up by Vandy. It is always interesting to see a different university. Does taking George to a cardiac specialist in Nashville count as seeing more of Nashville?

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 20 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (2/10); Documentaries (7/20)

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

29. Do a personal devotional/bible study on my own

30. Be a mascot for an event

31. Go on our honeymoon (preferably somewhere tropical)

32. Host an annual NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship game party

33. Go on a mission trip

34. Be on a recreation volleyball team

35. Become a mom

Well I am not doing too bad at the monthly stuff, but I really need to work on the bigger items. Here’s to another month of trying.

by

Crocheted Bearded Beanie

As I said we had to go all out for George’s first holidays. So one Halloween costume was not enough. Plus my friends challenged me to make George the cutest Halloween baby, so I couldn’t let them down.

I have had this hat pinned on Pinterest for years, so it was great to finally have a baby to make it for.

10733765_10100618202230141_5034049788210178570_o

Here is the pattern that I used.

Again, newborns of the world are much larger than George apparently. I did the extra small sizing for both the beard and the hat. As you can see he is swimming in it. He is the only thing extra small here.

At least he can grow into it.

I just used left over yarn again since it doesn’t take very much. I have so much yarn so it is nice to find projects to use those left overs for.

The pattern is pretty easy to follow. So let’s cover more faces with this!

It was perfect for my lazy lumberjack.

10687137_10100618203617361_3596844807007271865_n