Aww at your own story

Posting these pics reminds me of my friend, Kels. For years I have teased her when she "awwws" at her own stories. Usually it's about a really cute little kid or puppy, but the idea is the same. She explains how adorable something was that she saw, then quickly follows up with an "aww" like she just heard the story for first time herself. Cracks me up... :)

One of the reasons we started this blog was to keep people updated with our day to day happenings for friends / family that we don't live near. It started out mainly for parents. Now the Joella updates are more for Matt and whoever else feels like reading. Who are you by the way? Who actually reads this?

Anyway, I am going to "try" to be more consistent in posting family pics (mostly Joella). Instead of bombarding you with lots 3 days in a row and then not showing up for a month, I'll shoot for more like a weekly basis. We'll see how it goes. Feel free to comment and hold me accountable if you don't see any for awhile (or see too many for that matter.)

I found the Auto Correct button in Microsoft and apparently it does wonders for my lack of photography skills... Not perfect, but a step in the right direction I suppose. Some of these shots feature Becky's creations we picked out when she was in CF around Christmas time. She had lots of cute girly things. Although I'm not that "girly," Joella most definitely is. The last pic is a bit of a sneak preview of what Joella will look like when she is 4 years old. Oh, and Joella LOVES rocking chairs (especially her (Jane's) mini rocking chair at Papa & Nana's house).

Awww...

What motivates you?

I keep telling Matt that I'm not motivated to work for money. I almost resent it -- if I get paid, that means I HAVE to do it. If I don't get paid, I feel more like I GET to do it because I WANT to. That's the logic running in the back of my head. Who knows, maybe it's flawed. So technically I have my semi-ideal job. Everything I do is volunteer -- be it running the biz while Matt's deployed, taking care of Joella (when she's not getting spoiled by grandparents), my new gig at World's Window (shop there, I triple dog dare you!), etc. I get paid nothing but I assure you, I do a lot of WORK!!! It's just not the typical 9-5 (or 8 or whatever time you go in) job but that's a discussion for another post (no offense 9-5ers. I love you all. I especially love hearing about those of you who love your jobs which thankfully a lot of you that I know do)!

My mom passed this link onto me. I think it puts some words/visuals to the random thoughts floating in my head. Check it out. Sorry it's long. (I think anything over 3 or 4 minutes is long. It's 10-ish). At least try to stick it out until the "fricken innovation bonus" line. That part made me laugh out loud to myself.

The surprising truth about what motivates us

So? Thoughts? Are you working your ideal job? If not, what would it be? My ideal-ideal job would be finding/creating people's ideal jobs -- all that make this world a better place. Kind of like a little piece of Heaven on earth. Reminds me a little of "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." Sound familiar? :)

p.s. B&K and/or Calais -- sorry if I'm repeating something you've already posted. I know you tend to love these kinds of videos...

Gifts in Unexpected Packages

So, sometimes we get pleasant surprises in unexpected ways. Blessings, shall we call them? For example, let's take Joella.No, she wasn't a surprise in the sense that Matt and I were not expecting the double blue line on the pregnancy test. Still though, she was a SURPRISE. Meaning, Matt and I like to think of ourselves as fairly easy going. We thought for sure Joella would be the same. Easy peasey. Well, she's sweet.

very sweet.

but also SASSY!!!
(fyi -- Ash reminded me that I loved the word from one of her recent posts)

"Mini but mighty" I find myself explaining often. She is like an adult trapped in a very tiny petite body. It can barely hold all her personality and energy. I can just see her eyes glowing, trying to calculate how exactly she is going to use her dimple and big blue eyes to make it "okay" to test the waters and touch the hot fire place grate. Same thing if you remind her to sit before she makes a giant fearless leap off the stairs, or do anything that she "shouldn't" for that matter.

So, I complain, but really I love it. She is more than we ever expected and then some. In having her, I am learning a lot more about myself (specifically how I'm not as easy going as I once thought I was).

So what about you? What kind of pleasant surprises or unexpected blessings have you received that you really weren't prepared for but have embraced?

A post for dog lovers

I have been reading Don Miller's blog recently. I haven't read all of his books, but one of Matt and my favorite books is Blue Like Jazz. Check out the blog posts his dog "writes." Funny, sad, and true. I especially liked Lucy’s Blog Pt. 7 – How I Stay Fit Without Exercising. Maybe Kaeda will have to "blog" one of these days...

Recycling in CF

Ok, so those of you that I have seen lately might laugh at this post...

I kid you not - curbside recycling in Cedar Falls EXISTS! The funny part (to me at least) it is how I found out about it.

You already know that I love Fox River Socks. Well, a couple months ago I went to the annual fundraisers held by one of the local schools here. They sell lots of great socks at discounted prices. Don't quote me, but I think it's the "defects" or socks that don't quite pass quality control. Maybe there are others too. If you know, feel free to educate me/us.

Anyway, I went to the fundraiser and ran into an old high school friend (it's been so fun being back in CF catching up with people I haven't seen since moving away for Army life). Meanwhile my mom and Leslie were shopping, probably waiting on me. There were some other tables / displays there too with a joint raffle.

Thanks to my mom / Leslie, I unknowingly got signed up for the raffle and ended up winning a tiny little Scentsy travel tin. Don't get me wrong. I have a few Scentsy wickless candles and LOVE them. Thing is, it didn't seem nearly worth the 3-4 calls that the lady at the office had to make to finally get me in to collect my prize... I just hadn't made it a priority to drive out in the cold / get Joella bundled up, park, and make it there. Plus, I hate not knowing where I'm going and I didn't in this case. Go figure, right? I've lived here most of my life and still don't know how to get around town...

So long story longer, I finally got myself there and who was in the hallway? The guy that is just starting up a curbside recycling business here in CF. I could help myself when I overheard him talking about it and butted into the conversation.

There's no website yet, but it will be as simple as putting all recyclables into a container on your local garbage collection day. He does the rest. More details, pricing, etc. to follow sometime in the near future I hope (I really don't know much more than that!)

So, good thing I procrastinated, right? :) Oh, and I would NOT recommend "Simply Irresistible" as a Scentsy Scent. This darn travel tin is sitting right next to me and I can't stand it! Every time I get a whiff it makes me want to toss it in the nearest trash can, errr recycling bin.