Friday, August 26, 2011

Ten Things I'd Relive

Inspired by the trending hashtag on Twitter: #10thingsidrelive... I'm blogging.

1) May 6, 2006. - Our wedding day. Magical. Holy. Blessed. Dream-like. And SO STINKING FUN!

2) Senior Prom - I had the prettiest dress, a date that I was in love with, was the first couple to dance, and ended the night with a great breakfast with all of my high school friends. I remember sitting on the front porch with my mom the day after prom just crying and crying because I was so sad that High School was almost over.

3) William's Birthday - It's not everyday that you're granted a miracle. No placenta accreta! No hysterectomy! The chance to have more kids and a beautiful baby boy to boot!

4) February 28, 2005 - My first date wtih Andrew. The night that I knew for sure that I had met my husband.

5) 2nd Semester of Sophomore year at KU. Templin Hall shenanigans. First time rooming with Valerie. And silly (and exciting) little relationship with Mark. So ridiculously fun!

6) Thursday nights at Henry T's with all of my college besties.

7) Lake Geneva Honeymoon!

8) AHS awards night 1999 - probably the most accomplished I've felt in my life (next to Vince's natural birth at least). I sang my first solo "Walking after Midnight" at the choir concert and killed it... Then I got a ton of awards at the awards night ceremony. One night that it felt really great to be one of the smart kids in school.

9) Great Country Getaways 2003, 2005 and 2006. 03 was the first and it was hilariously fun! 05 melded college and HS friends and everyone thought Andrew was going to propose. 06 was the first Fall GCG, and the weather was magnificent.

10) The first time I took Andrew home to meet my parents. It was the weekend that it became very real to me that, though we had only been dating a month or so, this man really would be my husband some day. One specific memory was when I showed him the humble country Church that I wanted to get married in... And then we sat in the grass of the big hill next to my parents house and he told me we would get married there.


Man... That was fun!! And I want to read yours, so if you have a blog... Write them!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Fly, fly, fly away...

The passage of time is wigging me out.

Pretty much I blinked, and this little girl...


Became THIS little girl...

Our little Mia-Bear started Pre-K today. And she was so excited. And I shed a few tears.

So to honor this very special day, which I've heard is the beginning of an even-faster-moving life... I'm going to write my 10 favorite things/memories about my baby girl.

1) Her birth: Meeting that little gift that had been wriggling in my tummy for 9 months was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Watching Andrew become the Daddy he was built to be... learning how to be a mom to this precious baby... and just getting to know this beautiful little Wedding Gift from God was astonishing. Her name "Amelia Grace"... or Mia Grace... means "my gift" for a reason.
2) She shocks me with her smarts almost every day. A few months ago she came up to me and said, "Mom, a paliotraechus is a prehistoric frog." What?! Okay, smarty pants.
3) The songs she makes up. Much like her momma, she frequently burst out in song. This bodes well for my long-time dream of life as a musical!!
4) How she says "Hi Jesus!" whenever we pass a Church.
5) The way she loves on her baby brothers (especially the one who doesn't steal her toys...ahem, VINCE).
6) How when Andrew is being Andrew, she just looks at him and says, "Oh Daddy!!"
7) The way she reacts when Andrew and I are getting snappy with each other. She picks out the parent that is being most snappy, and says "Mommy... just calm down."
8) How she cries every time she has to say goodbye to someone that is special to her.
9) Her imagination. Two hours ago she abracadabra'd me into Cinderella and now that Andrew is home, she's informed him that he is Prince Charming, and we will be dancing tonight.
10) Her beauty: I can't stop looking at her even still. Her big blue eyes sparkle with every notion she has. She's the most gorgeous being I've ever seen in my life and I'm pretty sure I will never get bored of looking at her.

So here's to you Princess Mia... on your very first day of school.  Mommy loves you more deeply than you'll ever comprehend (at least until you're a momma too).  I'm so proud of the little lady you are growing to be.



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The decline of creativity

I read the beginning of an article the other day that said that social networking is causing a decline in creativity. It basically indicated that our brains NEED boredom and downtime in order to be creative. This makes lots of sense to me.

I had always sort of figured that my blogging days were over because I'm a mom and I don't have time. Or maybe because I'm a mom and I've nothing to write about. But it never occured to me that I stopped writing because my creativity had up and flown right out of my ears. And it has actually NOTHING to do with motherhood.... But everything to do with Facebook.

It's supremely easy for a girl like me (who finds everything about human interaction exceedingly fascinating) to get caught up in social networking. It's so thrilling to see the highs and lows of my friends and pseudo-friends as life comes at them each day. The joys of pregnancy or wedding announcements. The reactions to breakups and losses. The frequently coded statuses that always mean more than what they say, but that are too encrypted by the writer to be fully understood. These things are fun. They are fascinating. They are human.

And yet... They are zapping my Kristi-ness. My brother once told me that I was always filled with hair-brained ideas as a kid. Always wanting to redesign my room to look like a jungle. Or make a new dance routine for my amateur dance group. Or design a float to be in the town parade. Or orchestrate a garage haunted house for the younger trick or treaters. And that creativity spilled over into my blog as a young adult. But then it died a slow and painful death... Or at least suffered from a disease called Facebook.

The thing is... I cant really blame Facebook. I have to blame my excessive use of Facebook instead. Because the creativity that lays dormant does-every now and then-awake for a fun project. Lately it's been cooking. Right now in fact I'm attempting to make from roasted red pepper hummus from scratch. And last Halloween I loved every minute of brainstorming and creating Mia and Vince's cookie and milk costumes. And I miss creating things. I miss feeling that lightbulb ignite in my head and get me so excited that I've got to put it down on paper before I forget. Or the way a really good idea just eats away at me until I act on it.

So what I'm saying is this: Dear Facebook - You are fun. You keep me connected. And you keep me entertained. But you do NOT inspire me... And thus I need to take a small step away from our relationship. It's not you... It's me. Or it's actually the part of me that I've lost to you. I want me back. So over the next few months I plan to spend less time with you and more time with me. Even if that means unforesaking boredom. Because experiencing boredom means that creativity awaits. Huzzah! Take care, Kristi