Blue Bunny Inspiration

Hello. This, is my newest inspiration:
Her name is Lindsey Stirling and she amazes me for quite a few reasons.
Her violin abilities of course.  
She is very comfortable in her own skin,
Her quirkiness and she puts off happy vibes...



In elementary school I used to play viola but never I stuck to it or practiced. I told Jared about how I should have never let that go and he bought me a violin for Christmas! I've had it for five days or so and I can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is not much of an achievement but I am learning pretty fast. The worst thing about it is, I just want to play as fast as the video above and that well right now! This whole practicing thing is taking forever! (I say that five days into it. Hahaha)

She reminds me very much of my best friends Blue and Bunny. Blue moved down south and now lives a few plane rides from me. I think of her pretty much everyday. Bunny also moved and I know she will continue to move around in all her life. She has such a sweet, free spirit. Together we grew up into the adults we are today, not in the childhood sense, but as best friends.

My Maids of Honor

 

At a Halloween party back at my ol' studio a few years ago.

Picture 1. Blue and I at The Killers concert in Seattle. We look SO young!

Picture 2. Blue and I in Capital Hill at Red Light trying on all the costumes.

This picture was taken right before Bunny and I got my septum and her side nose piercings. Good times!

Blue showed me what it meant to have an open mind, and how to be true to yourself with out hurting others.

Bunny taught me what truly meant to be forgiven after being a total pain, which in turn taught me how important trust was. And like Lindsey Stirling, they both really have fun with who they are, spunky, a little crazy and true to themselves. Which is why I can't wait until I am really good at violin. Haha. I hope at some point all three of us are in the same state again for a bit, I would love to play them a song. : ) Thanks for the inspiration Blue and Bunny! I miss you both dearly.

The Goods!

Good things from this week!

My sister in law bought me these two finch salt and pepper shakers for Christmas. (I adore them!)

 Looking farther out the window, the weather has been awful lately.
 No snow in the forecast, just rain storms and gloom. 

But the gloom allowed me to take this pretty photo of our bare apple tree. 

I copied this idea from "Pinterest" and gave it to my little sister in law as a gift. 

I hope she will hang it in her cute bedroom.

We got these mushroom ornaments from my mom and brother in law... Possibly Jared's favorite gifts!

One of my favorite gifts was a simple teapot Jared's dad bought us. 

I have been looking for one for what seems like forever!

 And last but not least my new favorite scarf from my mother in law!

We really scored this Christmas. I am so thankful! 

I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday season as well!

As It Happened

'Twas the morning of Christmas, babies crawled through the house

But Maps was begging, please don't leave the house;

(Yes, Yes, I know... I should not have rhymed house with house 

but my only other options were mouse and grouse!  )

 

 

Then to my mom's we went, rainbows hung in the air.

Then next to our cousins, mushrooms everywhere.

Our family greeted with hugs, joy and smiles,

And visions of winning graham cracker contests,

Made the long trip all worth while.

Holidays are fun but in a way I am glad they are over. 

Things have been crazy around here, there and everywhere. 

It will be fun to get back to doing the things I want to do.

Excersize.

Practice violin.

Meditate.

Going back to a peaceful schedule will be really nice.

Drama Mama's!

Jared was playing one of is old childhood video games and as I was watching he told me "I avoid getting into fights, they slow you down while you're trying to play." I laughed and asked if he meant in Chrono Cross or the game of life.

My husband and I rarely ever disagree, on important things at least. (He likes eggnog. There are some things we simply can not agree on. Ew! Hehehe) But today like the rest of this month, both of our mothers have been pulling on our heart strings in attempt to be the mother to have us over for Christmas. I am sure this sounds familiar to many couples, and the woman is always thinking, "Why can't he just stick up to his mom?!". But then Jared asked me a valid point, why don't I stick up to my mom?

The easy solution is to swap every other year with the in-laws...right? I can't think of any other way to make it fair, can you? Seems easy enough but I am on married Christmas #2 and last Christmas one mother complained how unfair it was. Now on Christmas #2 the opposite mother is heart broken. So what do you do? How do you make both sides of the family happy? Is this even possible? All I know is I can not wait until we have our own little kids and we can just do Christmas at our own home most of the time. This time of the year is not supposed to be about stress, money or endless bickering, so let's not make it into that. All we want is to be with our family on Christmas without crushing half of the family members. It does not matter if one mother is buying everyone who comes to her house, tickets to Paris, a new car, and a life time supply of chocolates. (Well that might sway my opinion a little!)

His parents.

Her parents.

His parents.

Her parents.

I wish it was that easy.
....................................................
Men. Easy going, passive creatures that would do anything to avoid confrontation... especially when a bunch of ladies but 'em in the middle of it.


Ladies. Always putting men in the middle of things!

My New Violin and a Celebration Breakfast

We made a "fancy" breakfast this morning that was so awesome looking I just needed to show you!

 Christmas Mittens?!

 

Guess what was on our porch this morning!?

I am so excited to start playing again! I played shortly in the 5th and 6th grade, but I was only renting that instrument. It is so nice to have my own! It was a Christmas gift from Jared. He is the best!

Facing the Fats... I Mean Facts!

Last night I ate about half a jar of pickles. I kept heading back and forth and back and forth to the fridge.
Last night I noticed my face was the most broken out it had ever been.
Last night I took off my (usually) loose wedding ring since it felt too tight.

Either I am pregnant, (which is very unlikely, but we would be SO EXCITED!!! AHHH!!!...But that is another topic!) or I am in a vicious circle of ....

I am eating more because I am gaining weight.

I am gaining weight because I am eating more.

This is so hard to break! Because I've stretched my stomach since my body has gotten used to eating food anytime I want, now I feel hungry all the time! I exercised 2 nights ago and I forgot how good it felt! There is such a high I forgot about! I am going to restart drinking at LEAST 60 ounces of water daily, take my daily vitamins, work out every night before bed and eat smaller, healthier portions. I have not started losing any weight yet, and according to my Wii Fit, I have actually gained 10 pounds since summer! I made myself a promise that by Christmas I would lose X amount of pounds, but that is going to have to be extended until New Year UUUUGGGHH! No matter. I will keep trying, but during the holidays is SO hard! Going to go exercise now... Hopefully a more positive update coming soon! 

This week at our house...

 Jared was having a bad day this day, so I made him a "I Love You" banner made of ... precious paper.

 Maps, as usual..... Freakin' me out!

I hung up icicle tree ornaments outside. They were a gift from my mother in law. Aren't they beautiful? 

 This a crazy shot of MerDock. No other explanation needed. Hehe

 All of our summer and spring decorations are down... well, except these paper Japanese style lights. I did not want to part with them, plus we don't have any holiday lights outside. Just a TON inside!

 I took this photo as it was getting dark outside and used a flash. Pretty neat affect I thought! This would also be the holly tree I had been taking from to build holiday bouquets and such.

 This is our kitchen after Jared ever so gently said, "Maybe we should cut those outside?" Haha, no way! It is too chilly and dark! Plus I cleaned up right after...

We Made Enoki and Leek Fried Rice which was AWESOME

and totally random so I do not have a recipe to share, oops!

We finally got all of our holiday shopping done, and just 3 gifts short I ran out of 

wrapping paper... and used tinfoil. Wrong or not?

Just talkin' 'bout the weather

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. 

I live in such a beautiful place.