accomplishments.

if you haven't noticed i have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. well, i am getting pretty tired of using this blog as a podium for complaining. yes, there are awful days (and truth be told, this week has been pretty dang un-fun) but i have so much to be thankful fore.

and really, all i need is a good plan.

i do not function well in disorganization. and in my house were are currently suffering from of disorder called "clutter", have you heard of it? i hope no one has caught it from me.

as i said, i do not function well when there is a mess of clutter surrounding me.... well any mess in general.

so, in order to stop feeling so overwhelmed, i need to start tackling some of the major offenders in the house.

be prepared to gasp and awe (gasp over the disaster, awe over what i have done)

Fabric

before: fabric storage

After: fabric organized by color.

the process.
a place for started, yet unfinished projects

my favorite thing, a tub with bags of scraps, organized by color.

My Back Room

this is where laundry is done and food and fabric is stored.

Before: chaos.

After: organizational bliss.

fabric stacked oh so neatly.

The Hallway

Before: this hallway (our only hallway) is found between our 2 bedrooms, the bathroom is to the right. i thought it would be brilliant to bring in a shelf so we could have more space for stuff. seeing that i didn't decide what that stuff would be, it just came a place to set,throw, and dump "stuff".

After:

i designated a shelf for everything!

top shelf: games are on the top shelf, next to a green tote that is full of information and documents i need to keep handy.

next shelf down: all of my homeschooling books for the kids, in one handy place that i can get to regardless of who is napping.

next shelf down: all workbooks for homeschooling, plus all my planning and informational books for homeschooling. the beautiful little polka dot bag is where i can keeping everything i need for my devotions (Bible, journal, pen, and whatever devotional book i am reading)

down another shelf: 2 blue baskets (i need to get one more, i love you dollar tree) one basket if for clothes that aren't dirty, but just aren't put away yet. the other basket is for dirty clothes that are coming out of the bathroom (either pjs or clothes we've worn for the day). now i can move dirty clothes to the back, and clean back to the bedroom.

under the shelf: 3 green baskets: workout clothes. i usually work out when someone is napping, so i need to be able to access these items quickly, and without waking someone up. sam's stuff is down there as well!

needless to say, i am thrilled by all of this new organization. it has given me quite the boost that i need to tackle the long days ahead!

stay tuned: my sewing area is currently undergoing a face lift.

sorry for the long post. i am just so proud, i had to share all the pictures.

and sorry for complaining so much. not really what i wanted to do when i started this blog, and stay tuned for this little blog of mine to take a more consistently positive turn.

$5 Real Simple

yup!

i found this article in my google reader today, and was pleasantly surprised.

$5 for a magazine subscription? for a magazine that is $5 in the grocery stores? that's nicer than nice.

you can follow the above link to get your subscription, or just click here.

just so you know, i am not promoting this deal, nor am i getting anything for blogging about it.

i am just uber passionate about great deals, and i happen to love getting magazines in the mail (especially when i will flip through it glowing in the fantastic-ness of the price).

so if you like the magazine, get it. or it may make a nice gift for someone.

bff, i ordered it.... you don't need too... we can share.

my sewing apprentice.

a funny thing has been happening to me. it seems that when i sit at my sewing machine i suddenly have a lovely little lady crawling up from behind my chair, and easy feat to do when momma is leaning over to sew. if she can start a little sewing at this age, as opposed to me at 26, who knows what she will be able to do?

smo' good.

i dare you to not run out and make these right now. yummy.

this is just one of twenty-some Smore Cupcakes that i whipped up yesterday. and yes, they are as good as they look.

why Smore's Cupcakes? well, a year ago i was asked/volunteered to make these cupcakes for a wedding of two of my best friends from college. side note: this marriage happened because i was best friends with both of them, when they first dated i encouraged it, and when they broke up over and over again over 6 years i continued to push them back together.

i take full credit. however, as Shauna said last night, "yes it was you... and our love".

oh yeah. that too.

anyways, on july 12, 2008 they were married. i was a bridesmaid. and i made over 200 of these cupcakes. yup- 200. it was all the more impressive that they had to be made 2 days in advance, and travel 3 hours to the wedding spot, where they had to be kept chilled another day, and frosted the morning of the wedding (*** this frosting runs in the sun, in case you are wondering)

last night, these two extra special people drove 2 1/2 hours out of there way on their road trip vacation to come see (to quote Jimmy's facebook status) "hot Momma Mary, her three beautiful kids, and the old man she married"... which is an ongoing joke, Sam's 16 months older then me, but Jimmy just loves to tease.

i thought as a fun surprise i would remake the cupcakes (seeing that their anniversary is on Saturday, and traditionally you eat frozen wedding cake on that day) for them to enjoy.

everyone loved them (look at the picture again if you question this) and the four of us had a wonderful time reminiscing about our college days (we all went to Simpson College), laughing about old times, and dreaming about the future (Jimmy's wants babies now, i want them to move to Roseville-Lancaster is to far away!).

true old friends are the ones who you can not see for a year, then spend one evening with and not skip a beat.

love you guys.

struggles.

am i content? i tell ya, everything just seems to be over crowding my brain right now. a couple of times in the last few days i have felt like just throwing the towel in and giving up. we hear stories about how women will up and leave their families. and you think "how can do that?".

they're tired. emotionally exhausted to the point that they just become numb.

well, there's probably a tad more involved in that (including some form of selfishness that comes when you abandon your family) but still, i am starting to slowly see myself reaching a breaking point of sorts.

the sorts? feeling absolutely out of control. my home is in a constant state is disarray, my 3 year old just will not listen to me, my body is so hormonal out of whack as it attempts to figure out some sort of "cycle", my hopes and plans are gathering dust (along with the mess), and the sewing- there is just sewing everywhere.

and of course, i leave out the husband who i am trying to spend time with. the two babies who make me smile and scream. and the quiet devotional time i am desperate to get.

stay-at-home mom's truly deserve a tax stipend.

aren't they looking for ways to create more jobs? government sponsored apprentice positions... in the form of house-cleaning for stay-at-home moms?

so the above is one whole mess in itself. all that isn't getting done.

and then i look at my babies (all 3) and just feel frustrated (especially in this midnight hour as the oldest will not sleep). i spend half of my time looking at my new baby so sad that he is already getting so big, wondering why he isn't my little newborn... wondering how the other 2 have gotten so big so fast, why the tiny baby stage doesn't last longer.

and then i look at all of them, especially when they are making me work the hardest, and think "i am just looking forward to when they outgrow this, when this or this will be different".

why can i not be content with the age they are?

all of this complaining really comes down to one thing: my heart.

yes, i have a lot of balls i am trying to juggle. but i can do it. the Lord won't give me more than i can handle. it may feel that way, but i just need to readjust, reevaluate, and refocus what is important in my life (something Sam and i did tonight).

i need to find some sort of peace and basically accept what is my life right now. sometimes things are going to be out of my control and my plans are not going to be so smooth.

but its ok.

and as hard as every age is with my children, i will always miss the baby stage, and always hope for a fast outgrowing of the difficult times.

i have many lofty goals for tomorrow. so many projects in the works; sewing related, school related, etsy related, friend related, family related.

hmmmm.... perhaps part of the problem is biting off more than i can chew. not that i need to stop doing something, but perhaps remembering that i don't only have breakfast. there is lunch, dinner- and all the snacks i eat!

4 years.

beware.... a long and sappy post.
suddenly june came, and now july. and i realized, i have lived in this tiny town for 4 years now.

and then i realized, that last week, basically marked the 4 year anniversary of when i met my bff.

life had gotten out of control a little over 4 years ago. so one june day i moved to our little town. sam followed a few weeks later. i had a temporary summer job at a local high school's summer school. however, we were leaving with sam's parents and basically starting over as far as fiances were concerned (plus we were thinking of trying to have a baby) so i decided to try and find a second job. that lead me back to starbucks, where i had worked once before.

i filled out an app, and the almost reconsidered going back to interview. but i did, and i was hired.

how a simple thing like that could profoundly change my life... it is crazy.

i will never forget walking into starbucks and "seeing" my future bff for the first time (this sounds like a romance story... it isn't. i promise) sitting at a little table snacking on some pizza.

no, i don't usually notice everyone. but the manager was talking to her (she also worked at starbucks) asking her if she had any strange pregnancy cravings.

and i was instantly jealous. i sat there watching the pretty gal sitting there enjoying her pizza, talking about how she only had a craving for broccoli, and just being so jealous.

i had just had a miscarriage a few months before, and i so desperately wanted to be pregnant like she was.

well, i started working for starbucks, and one day before starting my shift i wandered back to our back room and there she sat eating her lunch, and she was so kind (i knew no one) and started talking to me.

we had talked about babies. and i confided to her (and she was the first and only person who ever knew this) that i thought i might be pregnant. who would thought a stranger would get so excited? well after 4 years, it all makes sense- she's baby crazy.

i was pregnant. and i began to enjoy every time i worked more and more, because it meant i got to see her! she was 3 months ahead of me, and we watched our bellies grow behind our starbucks aprons.

the one day, she asked if i wanted to do a women's Bible study with her. this was so huge for me. i was so new to the area, and had zero friends. and here, this sweet gal wanted to include me in something.

well, her pregnancy was ahead of mine, so she left starbucks before me.

and she had her sweet little girl and 3 months later i had my little boy.

we hadn't spent a ton of time together during the ends of our pregnancy. one of my biggest regrets was that i didn't head up to the hospital to see her little girl, it was a misunderstanding on my part- i thought she wanted privacy ( i was up for baby 2 a LOT!), but she was one of my only friends (heck, at the time one of my only friends) who came to see me at the hospital.

she helped when i struggled with nursing, and then one spring day, she showed up to hang out.

after we discovered that we both loved scrubs and lost, and that reading was our passion, and that we both were committed to homeschooling, we were literally like a match made in heaven.

and then came the sewing.

the reason for the picture on top? that was a burp cloth she gave me. and that burp cloth was what inspired me to learn how to sew.

and she held my hand through the whole process.

it actually took 2 years for me to tell her she was my bff (i figured she had many- she has 6 sister-in-laws) and i was so thrilled to learn that i was her bff!

at first we would overly apologize for EVERYTHING. constantly worried we would somehow offend the other. now we can be found sternly talking to each other's kids, knowing that its ok.

we've come a long way in the last 4 years.

i don't think a day goes by that we don't have find the time to either talk (on the phone) or chat on the computer. she's seen me at my worst, listened to every time i needed to vent, helped me through a hard time with sam, and will do anything for me or my kids.

as i reflect on the last 4 years, it still makes me laugh to think that this little town was only supposed to be the place where we started over, not where we would settle down and live.

but i am so glad that the Lord brought us here.

because this is where my bff was.

i love you bff! i am so happy that you are in my life.

i am most looking forward to more sewing, home-schooling, more children (hopefully), more trips, more stories, more food... everything!

basically, the forever part of bff.

i hope everyone is so blessed to have a friend as good to them, as you are to me!

apron creation.

so the angry chicken was having an apron contest ( she's already started the next one) and i thought it would be kinda fun to whip something (its not like i have a pile of unfinished sewing projects currently taking over every surface of my living/dining room).

i am so happy with the apron. although, if you enlarge the pictures you will see countless mistakes. so its not great, not sell-able... but it is definitely a wonderful starting ground!

the apron design was formulated in my brain. i love the flower pockets. and i loved using elastic thread in the neck strap (and in the body of the apron as well).

the colors are a tad wild, but that was part of the fun.

anyways. back to the disaster that is now my house (everything gets overlooked when i am sewing... i think sam thinks if i am busy sewing, he should be busy on the computer). suffice it to say, there are dishes, laundry, and toys that need my attention.

oh, and yes... the children.