Top 10 from 2011

2011 was a big year in Mommydom. I saw my little project take off from just family and friends peeking into our lives long distance, to several hundred visitors a day.

First, I want to say thank you. It means a lot that you appreciate my writing, crafts and recipes. Its encouragement and inspiration to keep doing what I love.

And drumroll, please...the top 10 moments in Mommydom from the past year:

10. Who would have thought a rant about a Friendly's restaurants closing would have touched a nerve, but it did.

9. Not setting New Year's Resolutions was a great way to end the year, and start a new one.

8. There are a lot of crazy Replacements fans out there, many of whom read my review of Color Me Obsessed, a really great documentary about one of the most important bands in the history of rock.

7. My welcome door sign was hugely popular too!

6.  People really loved the Candy Cane Manicure I posted in early December.

5. My tutorial on beaded necklaces was a huge hit too!

4. The Christmas party planner helped make a lot of holiday entertaining easier for folks

3. I am deeply moved at how a hissy fit ranting about living with autism went viral.

2. Thanks to Tater Tots and Jello, my New Years Eve party planner was a huge hit!

and the number one article in Mommydom was...

1. My Quinoa burritos and cilantro lime rice. It was even featured in our local newspaper in November.

Thanks again, all who make this sucessful. There are some great new things coming next year as well!

Happy 2012

Bells Will Be Ringing

We are counting down the hours and minutes to the end of this year. 2012 holds forth such promise and I am looking forward to the calendar turning the page.
It's been a roller coaster year for me. I started the year, recovering from major surgery, and have ended the year, recovering from major surgery.
In between, I've had a lot of growth in my life, and been on a journey of self discovery. I've learned who my true friends are (and that was quite surprising who they turned out to be). There's a saying that a true friend is the one that will be sitting next to you on the bus when the limo breaks down. The bus seats were filled with folks I least expected, who have been amazing cheerleaders, confidantes and friends. The sad thing is, a lot of folks I thought wouldve gone for the ride with me, chose instead to wait for a tow truck.
You really do know who to depend on when you're in that pit.
In between, i've had a wild ride. I've seen my little blog get bigger and bigger, going from something for family and friends to hundreds of visitors a day.
I've had dreams come true; I started a business, doing a labor of love. I am in the process of starting an Etsy shop. Most of all, I made two dreams a reality: I began an autism ministry at my church and I published a book.
I will be teaching vegan cooking classes at the Museum of Visual Materials the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6 pm. I was featured in a cover story in our local newspaper. Biggest accolade: being named woman of the year by a local magazine.
On the flipside, I have had some of the lowest lows. I had a hard time from healing from my last surgery so I had to have a follow up in November. I've had the aforementioned wake up call, causing me to re-evaluate things. I saw my tenure as PTO president end, and my phone stop ringing and the calendar opening. We've struggled with some of the challenges third grade puts on a kiddo with autism.
My dream of the prototypical family died as well. It's how you handle the valleys that make you appreciate the view from the mountain top.
Bells will be ringing, heralding a new year. Welcome 2012, welcome.

Lose Yourself

I will be the first to admit that I don’t usually listen to rap. In fact, I find Eminem’s music misogynistic and inciting violence against women. However, while I was driving to work this morning and trying to find something to listen to on the radio, the song came on. And I listened to the lyrics for the first time. It fits in perfectly with my whole follow your bliss thing.



Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity

To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment

Would you capture it or just let it slip?



I think I would seize the moment, the day and do everything I could to make my dreams come true. Oh wait, I already did that.

I am the mother to an amazing kiddo. He fills my heart and soul with delight, even when he’s naughty.

I live in my dream house.

I have a job I love, and another job that was the ministry I was born to do.

I had a book published

I am adding on my own business into the mix for 2012.

I will be teaching cooking classes at both the Museum of Visual Materials and the Community School.

I have basically achieved all the goals I have set for myself for my 40’s, and I am only 41.



The only one that is left is to look my best. For years, I have dieted and exercised my way thin and then regained all that I had lost so many times over. I thought that it meant that I had to be thin and sexy and all that. I thought it meant that I had to be model thin, to dress a certain way and look a certain way.

Then I had a photo shoot. If you don’t think an afternoon can change your life, it can.

The last time I felt so beautiful was on my wedding day, and it was more the glow of love than anything else. I wasn’t a size 2 (more like add a zero to it) but I wore the most gorgeous gown and veil, and loved my bouquet. It was the happiest day of my life before I became a mom (now that’s number one).

For my photo shoot for SHE magazine, the photographer, Erin told me I was really naturally beautiful. That made me more excited that than fact I was named woman of the year.



You better lose yourself in the music, the moment,

You own it, you better never let it go,

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow,

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo!





Despite all the accolades and wonderful things happening in my world, for a very long time, I have given a lot mental space to those who really don’t matter in my life. These are the folks that like to limit me and tell me who I am not and what I am not. I have let people who really don’t matter to me in my daily life have control over me. I can’t make you like me, or adore me or be my biggest fan. I can’t convince you that I am a great mom or cook or whatever. I have wasted so much time and energy in trying to make people happy that I forgot about making myself happy. It’s the fact that I have eaten to stuff the feelings of not being “good enough” because I wasn’t pretty in some people’s eyes, or this or that. I ate because I was mad at giving my power away and the only way I could process that anger was by stuffing it. I stuffed my anger by stuffing myself. I stuff myself because I wasn’t who I thought I should be rather than celebrating who I am.



So here I go it's my shot,

Feet fail me not cause maybe the only opportunity that I got!



Who I am got me woman of the year, not by trying to be someone else. Who I am has garnered me professional success. Who I am has given me the gift of wonderful friends who love and support me. Who I am has allowed me to share my talents with the world. Who I am is a wonderful, smart, gifted, funny woman. I may not be thin, or beautiful in a conventional, model sense, but I am beautiful on the inside, and that counts for more than anything else.



You can do anything you set your mind to, man

happy new year

Its a new year, 2010 has dawned. There is a bit of wistfullness I feel as one year ends another one begins. I don't have any big plans for today-just going grocery shopping because I need to get cake mix, frosting and raspberries for the cake for Horsey's birthday. I also want to take a little jaunt over to Hobby Lobby to get scrapbook paper.
I need to set up my 2010 albums. I have found that when I have things set up and ready to go, it makes it a lot easier to scrap as time goes on. It keeps me motivated, as well as guiding my photos and such. And since this year is going to rock completely I am planning:
January- New Year's Day, putting away Christmas, Epiphany, Daddy's birthday, Grammy & Aunt Karen visiting, snow, hopes for the new year
February-Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, trip to Washington Pavillion, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday
March-Spring, St. Patrick's day
April-Easter, spring
May-Mother's day, last day of school, field day, trip to Sertoma Butterfly house, my birthday
June-Father's day, summer
July-4th of July, summer
August-summer, back to school
September-Little Man's birthday, Puppy Dog's birthday, fall
October-fall, apples, halloween
November-anniversary, Thanksgiving
December-snow, Christmas, making the time capsule for 2011

I can get the little embellishments done and add some specialness to my pages. I can also keep up with my scrapping because I have a plan. Its amazing what happens when you have a framework to work with. I can also take advantage of sales, etc. because things will be FOCUSED.

I feel bad because I don't scrap as much as I used to. My sister's life was scrapped from birth until about 5 years ago, when I basically gave up-no pictures, no album. When she was in high school, I had asked for pictures to get emailed to me or whatver so I could make a special album for her, but I never got the pictures.
It sounds awful but this has also influenced my scrapping now. I don't scrap the Little Man as much because I have suffered from scrapper fatigue. I spent all this time scrapping other people's children that I don't have the energy or inspiration to scrap my own child. I have yet to finish my wedding album, but there is a lot of negative energy and emotions regarding that whole thing which I need to sort through before I can finish. The negative emotions are not related to my wedding (believe me it was the happiest day of my life next to becoming a mother) but the drama surrounding the wedding and how it seemed that there were a lot of people forgetting it was my day and not all about them. There are people who can't relinquish that spotlight even for a moment. But I digress....
The Little Man loves having his life scrapbooked and I need to oblige him. Also, its a great way of preserving our family history, and that is important to me.