I Know

He’s one.  He’s really a for real one year old.  And there’s so much that’s happened to him… me… us… all of us, in the past year.  So now, I'ma blare my February 2011 playlist and reflect on what I know about Arden’s first year:

My baby boy’s just as sweet as can be and I will never remember all of the sweet moments and that makes me sad.  Because for every silently connected moment we’ve spent together, we’ve had at least half as many nothing-I’m-doing-is-working! moments.  And I know that we got through it and that I’m a more patient, kind person because of you.

I have stared for what seems like half-a-lifetime into his blue eyes and I know it’s not enough.



Smiling is my son’s forte and he’s a shameless flirt.  I know he will one day captivate someone’s heart the way he has mine.

If the Jeopardy category should ever be: 1. Late night infomercials in 2011, 2. Reruns of classic 80’s and early 90’s sitcoms or 3. Hoda and Kathy Lee segments from early 2011, I know I would sweep the entire category and get a round of applause.



One has been a privilege for me, for your Dad and big brother, for your family and all of our friends and I know that two will be even better.

January: A Month in Pictures

Please enjoy 31 random pictures (one for each day) from January. 
Please note that more care will be taken next month to not include weird, bad pictures of me... ahem, January 30th.

#7 Get a New Do'

When I was writing my 30 Before 30 list, this was the challenge I was most worried about.  All of my life, I heard that I had beautiful hair, it is curly and dark blonde, and in the summer, I get very blonde highlights that frame my face.  It has always been my signature feature.  So, like any good brand, I kept it going, only changing it to reflect the greatest of changes in my life.  And by that I mean, do you want it medium length or long.

Well, that's all over with now.  I did it.  I grew a pair and Googled the crap out of blonde and black hairstyles.  I told a few people and was met with mixed reactions.  Some bought in immediately while others skeptically agreed that it was a good idea.  However, I think everyone almost everyone agrees that my hair looks much better now and I couldn't agree more!

Don't Even Think About It

Recently, I had a really painful ear infection.  I was put on an antibiotic and gloriously, the pain subsided later that day.  But like a bad b-horror movie, the next morning, there was blood streaming out of my ear. 

I called an ENT and made an emergency appointment, even though I had already Googled my symptoms and diagnosed my perforated eardrum myself. 

When I arrived, the nurse took down my symptoms and I asked her if she knew what it was, she replied, "I'm just the nurse."  And so I was like, "Well, does it sound like a perforated ear drum?"  She says, "In order for the doctor to determine that he will need to stick a tube up your nose."  Tires screeching, horns blaring, arm across the passenger, whiplash terror immediately grips me up.  "A tube... up my nose?"  "Yes," she says, "the worst part is really the numbing medicine.  It tastes really bad."

Internally I'm thinking, Listen lady, no one and I mean no one, is sticking a tube up my nose.  Period.  So don't even think about it."  But outwardly, I'm all like deer in a Ford Bronco headlights, "Uhm, really?  Do I have to?  Is it going to hurt?"  "No.  It won't hurt."  20 seconds of spraying action later, my nose is dripping with novocaine and she leaves me all alone to stew in the room while the doctor takes his sweet ass time coming in.  So, naturally I start texting Megan:

Me: Holy shitballs Batman!  They are going to stick a tube up my nose!!
Megan: What????
Megan: I would need to be sedated!!
Me: I know, I'm freaking out!!
Me: My palms are sweating so bad, I can barely type.
Megan: Do you want me to come over there?
Me: No, I will be fine.
Megan: Why do they need to do it?
Me: Apparently, that's how they see the ear drum. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that you don't need to go in from the back door.  The front door works just as well.
Megan: That's what I was just thinking.  Yikes!! I feel terrible.  Are they going to numb your nose up?
Me: Yeah they already did.
Megan: Wait are you lying about this?

No, I wasn't lying about it.  One flexible camera tube up my nose and an officially diagnosed perforated eardrum later and I got my walkin' papers.  "You'll be fine.  Come back in two weeks."

And, in case you're wondering, here's what happened in stick figure illustration:

No, Not Really

This is my happy baby, doing his favorite thing- eating!  He loves to eat anything that I put in front of him; look at how he fakes me out...

He's all, "Want to share?" 

And I'm all, "Sure, that's way nice of you."

And he's all, "Nevermind!  I'ma eat this, but thanks for playin'!"



Neon Rainbow Trees

Brace yourself, 'cause this is ah-may-zing!  Have I said before that I spend waste more time on Pinterest than practically anywhere else on earth?  (And I do realize that Pinterest is not an actual place, but I spend so much time there, it should be.)  Yes?  Well let me say it again, I waste lots and lots of time there, but sometimes it's totally worth it.

While perusing, I stumbled upon another out-of-the-park find from Pinterest: Rainbows Eucalyptus trees or as I like to call them Neon Rainbow Trees.  At first, I thought it had been photoshopped (I got taken a few months back by the infamous Pinterest photoshopped lemon fiasco.  Yeah, you know why those lemons look so great after you shoot food coloring into the skin?  Because they've been photoshopped, that's why.), but after I did some highly scientific research Wikipedia-ed "rainbow eucalyptus" and saw that they were real, I was impressed.

And there's more where that came from.

Look at all of that neon goodness.  I mean come on, these trees are a fanny pack away from 1987, making them the most fierce trees in all the land.

Now, I'm 100% sure that there's a-far-too-advanced-for-me reason that the neon streaks occur, but let's Billy Madison that right now, "Chlorophyll, more like borophyl!". 'Cause this is the kinda Mother-Nature-can-trump-whatever-you-got kinda thing.  I show up to our throwdown with with my grow herbs in a plastic pot on my back porch challenge, and she smiles politely, shrugs her shoulders and goes, "Uhm... Rainbow Eucalyptus trees.  Just sayin'."

1000+ Words

These 13 pictures are my favorite series of pictures.

It makes me want to cry when I think about the simplicity and beauty of this moment.

And the movement from picture number 4 to picture number 5 gets me every time.

Every. Single. Time.

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