Addictions. The Good Kind. If there is one.

***disclaimer: this post may be one of the most random things I've ever written. proceed with caution.

Welcome to Bloggers Anonymous where I confess that I am addicted to reading, cross-stitching, blogging (writing and / or reading others' blogs), taking pictures, and napping for 30 minutes in the afternoon. So much so that if I miss any of these things during the day I feel very sad... and eat something I shouldn't. It's a dangerous game that I'm playing here.

...yeah right. Aren't I witty? Ha.

But really. I take naps VERY seriously. I like 20 to 30 minutes if I can swing it, but I'm happy with 15. The rest of the time I'm not napping and Hannalyn is, I read & cross-stitch. But we've had this conversation before so I won't repeat it. All I'll add is that I love Agatha Christie and I love Hercule Poirot and even though I have about 10 brand spankin' new books sitting on my table that I have never read before, once I finish the Poirot collection I'm on, I am rereading The Man in the Brown Suit. I think I've mentioned before that it is my favorite book ever and I read it every summer. Well. I'm reading it next because I haven't read it yet this summer, summer is almost over, and I love Agatha Christie too much to skip it. It's a quick read for me these days, though it's one of those books that when I read it again I find something I miss that puts me on the case even sooner. Yup. Nerdy & Proud.

Speaking of naps. This happened the other day:

Hannalyn didn't want to sit in her chair and so ate her dinner while sitting on my lap and then leaned back and fell asleep. It was adorable. Poor sweet sweaty baby.

Also, you've probably seen this picture, but first movie! We picked a good one. Minions was light enough that Hannalyn wasn't in the dark too much (which she doesn't like) and we had a good time. Though, to be honest, my favorite part was all of the kids around us laughing hysterically.

And in other naps - I have a sibling group of 3 that all come at the same time for their piano lessons. This little guy fell asleep waiting for his sister to finish. One minute he was playing with Hannalyn, the next he was asleep. Cutie.

So. Let's face it. I may or may not be "addicted" to a few things. Including playing the piano which I now do every day. It is so good for me. I haven't played this much since college. And so now the question is - what are you addicted to? Is it helping you? (Like reading good books and getting very important self-time) or hurting you? (like eating too much chocolate when I don't get a nap) and how can I make sure that I'm living my life to its fullest and being my happiest?

Good questions. ;) Answer - no clue. But life is good!
Happy Wednesday!

taking a break

And suddenly, somehow, it's been a week since my last post. Wow.

I confess - it has mostly to do with the fact that I picked up a new book and decided that I would like to finish my cross-stitching project before the summer is over. I've been working on it way too long. So instead of blogging during naptime and after Hannalyn goes to bed, I've been reading and cross-stitching. But that's ok. It was a week that sped by, and I loved taking the time to really focus on me. Blogging is for me, yes, but when I read I go completely into that other world (thank you, imagination) and cross-stitching makes the minutes fly. I could do it for hours at a time and not realize how much time had passed. I love it.

But now I'm taking the time to blog because I made a mistake on my cross-stitch and don't want to go back and fix it just yet, and I'm almost to the end of the book but want to make it last as long as possible because it is SO GOOD and I know what will happen at the end and I won't to put that off as long as possible.

So! Here is a quick update on our lives, and then I must go rejoin Hercule Poirot in catching the bad guys. ;)
Or get my baby out of bed if she decides to wake up today. Ha.

(Unfortunately, there are no pictures with this post. I hope it's not too boring for you.)

Daniel: Daniel has been busy this week hiring new crew members at the store. He held auditions on two separate days and saw about 15 people out of which we've hired 6. We had an orientation meeting that went amazingly well and then Daniel ran off immediately after to participate in the 24th of July parade. He rode that Cold Stone bike again and it was a huge hit. After working again that night, he went golfing early Saturday morning and played a "really great" game. Hoorah.

Nashelle: Nashelle is busy with her secret project. It's not really a secret, per se, but it's still in the development stages and so isn't going to say publicly just yet what it is. There is a meeting of like-minded individuals happening tomorrow that with hopefully give us the information we need to take the next big step and THEN you lovelies can get in the loop. We are thrilled. This is a really big deal and makes us feel like grown-ups doing grown-up things. It is something that we didn't think would happen for many more years, but since we seem to have the time and means now and we're taking the leap. Scary! and exciting.

Hannalyn: Hannalyn has always been a talker, but now she has let loose on the valve and does nothing but talk. It is hilarious and so cute. She uses her little babbling mixed in with words and is very serious about what she tells me. I keep trying to catch it on video, but she stops and just smiles at the camera when she sees it. She is too smart for me. I'm trying to be more sneaky. Hannalyn has also recently figured out blowing her nose ... and does it on EVERYTHING - my shirt, the couch, her dolls, her hands, and even sometimes against her cups. Yuck. But also cute in a gross boogery way.

Basically, we are happy. Life is good. We keep moving forward. We've got a really great thing happening in our little home that we love. We are looking forward to a few more day trips to the Wasatch Front over the next couple weeks before summer ends and making the most of every day together.

So, a Happy Tuesday to all. We love you.

Lynners

My Little Lyn is a morning person. If she isn't smiling and happy, she isn't really awake yet and more than willing to cuddle or go back to sleep after she's calmed down. What a lucky girl am I to wake up to that sweet face every morning? I'll tell you - the luckiest.

Hannalyn is silly. She loves this pillow - throws herself down on it and cuddles the stuffing out of it. She uses it to play peekaboo, to read books on, to roll across, and a dozen other darling activities. Except sleep on it. For some reason, pillow = playtime.

She doesn't like flowers. I had to basically force this little dandelion into her hand. And don't say she doesn't like it because she tried to eat it. I was amazed that she held it long enough to put it by her face. She will take anything from my hand - except flowers of any shape / size / variety.

 
Also, let the record show, Hannalyn does not like grass. We're working on it.

But Hannalyn DOES love playing and wrestling and looking at herself in the camera. All good things.

She also sleeps in her high chair (I've mentioned this before...)

And I just can't get enough of her cuteness when she naps. Love in bucket-fulls raining down on my head.

And curls! curls! curls! I'm twice-blessed to have a daughter with curls! Perfect ringletts. *sigh* So jealous.

Running

Hannalyn moves and moves and moves. It is sometimes a challenge to keep up with her. She pushes her lion and she gets going. It's so much fun to watch. She runs until she hits a wall, then she laughs, moves to the side, and backs it up. Then she runs again.

I'm sure there is some hidden life lesson in there about running until you hit a wall... No biggie.

On the flip side of things, THAT happened twice last week! Finishing up dinner, all of us sitting around chatting and all of a sudden it's just Daniel and I talking and we look over to see Hannalyn snoozing away in her chair. I guess we play hard during the day or something. It's so cute, even though it doesn't last very long because I make her wake up. I am too much in love with her bedtime right now to risk letting her take a second nap. 

Life is up and down again. This weekend went much too quickly as we made some decisions and took some initiative and Daniel worked a catering event. I am grateful that this week should slow back down. I think I'm really getting the hang of it. Of course, now that I've said that, I'll end up running off my feet all week. But hey. Life is life. And life is good.

Happy Monday.

Quiet

Our life is kind of quiet right now. There isn't a lot happening on the surface. We work, we play, we eat, we sleep, we laugh, we read, we walk, we talk. We keep to ourselves a little bit, enjoying this together time that we have. I'm sure it isn't going to last very long and I want to appreciate the quiet and stillness of life while I have it.

Life hasn't gone the way I expected it to (surprise surprise) and so we are making it up as we go, relying on the wisdom of God to guide us through. We are talking about plans for our future. We are thinking about how to best reach our goals. We are trying to understand the purpose of our life here on this earth. It has been hard to have quiet time in the midst of all this searching. It would be nice to have a distraction. Something to take my mind off of all the uncertainty and indecision. But I am grateful that in the quiet I can hear the voice of the Lord. He is very near to my family right now and I can feel Him in everything that we do. That makes me grateful and excited - clearly we are doing something right. I feel His hands lifting and strengthening me. Preparing me.

We have big plans for the future. Dreams. Hopes. Although they aren't coming true quite like we had originally planned, we are being shown that in God's plan everything is still going the way it should. We are aligning ourselves to His plan. We are putting our trust in Him. We are moving by faith, not by sight. We are taking risks and making plans and getting excited for the future even though it's not what we used to envision.

There are some Big Adventures up ahead. And we are ready for them.

oldies but goodies

These are pictures that have been sitting for a long time. Ones that I've loved and meant to share many times, but they don't warrant their own post. So here is a slightly larger post full of wonderful memories. I love these pictures. They say so much about our life.

a. holding hands. I wish she'd let me more often.

b. date night. that sun flare is the real deal.

c. bed head. enough said.

d. 18 months old

e. hahahaha.

f. i couldn't remember if I'd already posted this one or not. if I did, it's totally worth the second look - 

I LOVE that cheesy grin!

g. playing outside

h. awesome curls.

i. these were two of the first pictures I took on my new iPod toy

j. Hannalyn loves going on dates with Daddy.

k. oops. out of order.

l. oh well. just keep going. 

m. that piano is probably one of the very best gifts we've ever received.

n. I see this picture and I think "My little buttercup has the sweetest smile..."

(bonus points for naming the movie!)

o. thankfully when it is too quiet in the house I can usually find her quietly reading to herself.

p. I woke up one morning to find these two buds on the couch. heart emoji.

Well! That's all of the alphabet for today. Maybe I'll do another one of these soon and make it all the through. ... I'm mostly kidding. But kind of not. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday Adventuring

At 5 am Sunday, we loaded up ourselves and brother T in the car and drove to Orem. It was a beautiful drive - the sunrise behind us was gorgeous and the way the sun lit up the clouds in front of us was amazing.

Unfortunately, Hannalyn did not sleep as well as we had hoped. Less than half of our total 3-hour drive. This was one of the cutest moments of my entire life though. I giggled quietly to myself.

There was some ridiculously awesome fog across Strawberry. We had to slow down because it was impossible to see anything. This was after it had cleared away.

Church was amazing. Being there with so many family members brought the Spirit so strongly. I was beyond grateful to be there. It made me think of how Heaven will be - all of our family happy & together & singing praises to God. It was the most spiritual experience I've had in a long time and I was absolutely blown away. It was the greatest blessing to be there.

After church, we went to my grandparent's house to chat with family & friends until it was time to go. We all got pictures taken with grandma and grandpa. Following is what happened when I handed my ipod to my sister and told her to take pictures for me:

Actually there were about 100 pictures on my iPod. So I just picked these two. Lovely ladies.

A wonderful day. And Hannalyn slept the whole drive home. Yay! She was asleep by the time we hit state street. Ha.

I'm so grateful that we live close enough to family to make trips like this. It is easier & easier for us to do a day trip - this one was less than 12 hours out and back, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I love my family and am so grateful that we got to spend this time with them.

a few more pics from B&tB

Hannalyn & I took a LOT of selfies, especially at times when she was sad. This is just a very small selection. I love love love this girl so much. We are so blessed to have such a "chill" daughter. She is so patient and good and happy. I love her tremendously.

As a napkin (above), I got to be highlighted in the middle of 'Be Our Guest' doing a bunch of turns and leaps, plus doing a kickline with the other 5 fabulous ladies that were part of our group. It was so much fun to be a dancer in this show. I haven't been cast specifically to dance since I was in 9th grade. I've danced, but that hasn't been my big focus. It was such a thrill to get to do it again - and feel like I did it well! I did high kicks, the splits, all of it. This role really helped me to feel good about my body.

I also got to be a Wolf. It was SO HARD physically - we were down on the ground in a squat for about 3 minutes twice a night. It doesn't sound that hard, but we were moving around the entire stage while staying in that squat. I think every night I came off-stage more winded from being a wolf than doing the entire dance in Be Our Guest. It was a blast, though. My legs are super strong again, and I got to jump on the back of the Beast every night and take him down. Woot!

Though, to be honest, most people made fun of us for looking like Ewoks (one night we danced around of the golden knives pretending he was C3PO. hilarious). Even Zorro or rabid raccoons. Yeah... But on stage we were fierce so it's ok.

The unexpected joy of this show was being a Silly Girl. I got to be funny - something I've never done on stage before. And really, I think it was my favorite part. I loved working with my other two "Silly Sisters" and many people told us that we stole the show! (shhhh. don't tell the leads ;) ) It was great to not have to worry about being perfect every night. We just had fun and encouraged the audience to have fun with us.


In a way, I'm sad it's over. I don't miss having free evenings and going to bed at a normal time like a normal person. But I miss hanging out with the people that I spent time with. I was much better this year about interacting with my fellow cast-members and I think I made a few new friends. I'm grateful for the experience and that it turned out so good. God knew what He was doing. I know that with all my heart and soul. :)

Happy Friday!