The weekend

This past weekend was one of my favorite kinds, the ones where you just get to relax, have no real plans and everything is exactly what you want to be doing right then.


*We checked out the pool in our new neighborhood. I would say it was a win-lose outcome. Bird did not like the pool but enjoyed playing outside of it and laying in the sun with T. The "best" part was the comic flirting done by the teen girls with the lifeguard/pool watcher. Ah, to be young again.

*An early morning trek to Trader Joe's was made to pick up some challah bread for an epic french toast + bacon breakfast.

*Family photo/video shoot for Andrea's lovely Flair in her Hair. Me and Bird got to model and there are some pretty funny outtakes from the evening. I'm so excited to see the final product. We also got a couple good "family of 3" shots since we haven't had any good ones done since last summer.

*We visited and had dinner with my parents since my older brother is in town. It was so fun to see Bird run around their backyard, giggling and "playing soccer."

*Took a walk to get ice cream with my other older brother, T and Bird. Again, the youths were cracking me up with their antics. While we ate our Blizzards we watched some kids try to get their lacrosse sticks out of an evergreen tree they had been stuck in (?) and a gaggle of young girls run back and forth in front of side street traffic while their parents were not watching. I definitely got sassed by one of the girls when I mentioned that they might not want to be doing that. I'm officially old.

*A few orders for the shop got sent out and I got to work on some new pieces for the show I'm participating in come July!

bridal + mint chocolate chip - coming soon!

Routine

1030 am wake up | The little lady decided to sleep in today and that meant I got to as well. I could get used to this.

morning face

But I shouldn't.

I want to get into a more regimented routine around here. There is just so much to get done every day and I am the kind of person that works best with a schedule and routine.

Things I'm going to work on this next week:

*Formalizing a schedule for Bird's day, complete with wake up times (right now its when ever she gets up, we get up), nap time, meal times, dance parties and most importantly bedtime!

Her chair and favorite place to dance it out

*Working out a schedule to split my available work time between goose + trisser and papernstitch.

*Finding some me-time during the day to nap, read, workout, have a manicure, + connect with friends

Biz cards, G-sales, & Prayers

*Things are really ramping up around here in regards to moving. T and I cleaned out and set aside a TON tonight for our garage sale that starts tomorrow! We have a move date planned (2 weeks from tomorrow) and our list of things to do is getting smaller as the hours countdown to us not being homeowners (see #4). It really feels good to pare down our belongings again and let things go to people who can really use them.

*I was so excited about their arrival when they got here that I forgot to show off my new business cards! I ordered from UPrinting.com and their site was super easy to work with and the quality was just what I wanted. They are little 2"x2", glossy, double sided cuties that I'm amped to share.

*Speaking of amped to share, I have more big news...I received my first wholesale order for a Goose + Trisser product. This spring you'll be seeing my signature Yes, Michigan State Love hoop here. That means two things 1) I better get busy and 2) We're taking a trip to the Island this spring!

*Please pray that we get through the next couple weeks with work, packing, work, moving, work, taking care of Bird, play time, saying bye to good friends, recovering from last week and much more.
 

Happy weekend - where have I been?

This past week has been one of the busiest of the year so far.

I had a sick Bird and T, I had a couple friend dates, my women's small group meet up, and family life to enjoy and contend with.

The three things that kept me the busiest this week?

1. I've been blogging a bit over here at Papernstitch. Can I just say how excited I am for the chance to work with Brittni and so far we are off to a great start!

2. Creating this little lovely for a Michigan girl who is far from home.



Want one? check it out here



3. Playing with my one year old! I still can't believe it. Bird is one, check out this stunner:

Tomorrow we have Bird's first birthday shindig, so I'm off to order cake (yum!), finger foods, wrap presents, clean house, and hopefully nap a bit.

Happy weekend! Enjoy!

Monday

This is the start of my first "full" week of work. I will be working three days this week. I'm hoping that everything goes well with the hand-offs of the car and Bird.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet around here. More tomorrow.

Friday is for dating

Last night T and I went to see Star Trek with some of my new coworkers and grabbed dinner afterwards at the Texas Roadhouse!

I have to say that the movie was really good and I was not a Star Trek fan of any kind before. We saw it in an IMAX theater and the picture and sound were amazing. It had been a long time since I saw a movie in theaters and the experience was well worth the $14/each that we ponied up.

Dinner was good and we had some nice chats with my fellow staff and their sig. others that got dragged out as well. I didn't realize how much I had missed having "work friends" and being around people my own age at work over the past year.

Overall, the night was a success.

Another anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of me starting work with the church organization!

Yea to me!

In this economy every day on the job should be a blessing. Who knows what the future holds.

Friday, Friday!

I couldn't be more excited for this weekend.

Last night was a late night up celebrating Mrs. C's big accomplishment! Congrats again! It was awesome to hear you speak and to see others in your field praise you for your hard work. Also, she referenced what is slowly becoming one of my favorite bible chapters, Jeremiah 29!

Due to the late night, this evening will be filled with cleaning and napping and planning.

Planning for what you say? Well some surprises, some makeovers, and some finances.

The biggest thing I'm going to plan for is a makeover to my office at work. I'm excited cause I don't think I'm going to spend any money (mine or my org's) and I'll be able to unclutter and reorganize things to be more productive. I just have to get a good plan in my head first.

Also this weekend we'll be celebrating EO's big number 1 birthday with Mr. and Mrs. O, JO, and the O's family and friends!!! I have never been to a kid's party as an adult but I'm sure I can expect the same as an adult party, just with kids and better cake...and probably less profanity.

And if you are wondering where my "I second that..." is, well lets just say I wasn't inspired by much this week...perhaps you'll see more next week...

Enjoy your weekend, 'cause I know I will!

How to politely say no

This is something that I struggle with every day it seems.

Whether it be to an invitation out, volunteering for an event, or just doing something around the house, I have a tendency to be a pleaser and consequently to not say "No."

This situation arose at work, where I was invited to eat lunch that had been brought in. I had already brought my lunch to work, and though I thought it was a nice gesture, I explained that I brought food from home and would be eating that. A few minutes later had to reiterate that I would not be eating lunch with the group and instead would be having my own lunch, at lunch time, that I brought in.

The hard thing was saying no and not just caving in and eating something I didn't want to eat, with people I didn't want to eat with. On top of that, I have a bunch of work to get done for them that I'm sure they would rather have done instead.