{This Moment #7}

A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savour, and remember.

Small Town Bike Adventure

((Adventure might be a bit of an exaggeration...))

Yesterday was a much needed "Me" day. I've been in quite a mood the past couple days. (Please give all sympathy to my dearest hubby. I don't know how he puts up with me sometimes. He's a saint.) Anyways, Luna went to daycare and I got to work catching up on some stuff I wanted to do.

One of the things I've been itching to do lately is go on a bike ride so this past weekend I had Mr. 246 tune up my bike. The weather has just been so awesome lately and I've been needing a mini "adventure." I packed up my basket (yes, my bike has a basket!) with some water, music, and my camera and I was off. Unfortunately, as soon as I went to take my first picture I realized my camera had no memory card in it. Silly me. So I apologize for all the cell phone pics. :)

Sometimes this town really bothers me. I grew up mostly on the border of Appalachia where you could go get lost in the woods if you wanted, or see civilization. This town, however, is all civilization. Oh wait...there's some woods the next town where you can pay $8 to walk in them for the afternoon. I'm not kidding. It's kind of desert area and a lot of farm land.

So, when I'm out and about I have to really look for the pretty bits..and zoom in. Lol.

It's not so bad in this area though...in two-ish hours I can be in the Sierras or on the beach. Or in an hour, I can be in the big city. I've really been craving some mountains or a wee bit of hiking near Tahoe. I think Luna's big enough to handle it now. At least for a little while.

If you ride a mile or two to the edge of town...

Past the wild streams of suburbia....

You'll eventually hit "country." Which isn't wild at all, because it's all farmland. I think it's pretty though, nonetheless. The orchards around the edges of town are my favorite. I love the straight rows and how they look at different angles. It amazes me how perfectly they position these trees. Far apart enough to let the trees grow but close enough to utilize the space. Genius. I always imagine setting up a long table and having an Alice In Wonderland type tea party in the orchards. How neat would that be?

A week or two ago this orchard was ALL white flowers. Almond blossoms, I think. Now it's all been replaced with wee little fuzzy nuts.

If I can steal away for another ride I think I will. It's so much fun to ride a bike. It's like you're flying and you get to go real fast. And music! It's been so long since I've put on some headphones and listened to music. Weird, huh?

Anyone else having some spring weather? What've you been doing to get out and about?

-Mrs. 246

Weekly Goals {Week 12}

I came across a blog* recently that had weekly goals posted and I really liked the idea. Starting this week I'm going to try it. So, each week on Monday I'm going to post my goals for the week in various areas and will reevaluate whether I've made my goals for the week or not.

When making official goals I'm notoriously bad for making a ton of goals at one time so even though I have eleven listed, believe me....that took some paring down on my part. Haha. Here we go..

THIS WEEK' S GOALS:

FAMILY/MOTHERHOOD/MARRIAGE
1. Have a drink and play a board game with Mr. 246 (Mini Date Night)
2. Take Luna to storytime on Tuesday
3. Make Luna two "Color" activities.

PERSONAL
4. Read the Oprah Magazine I've been holding onto. (Make fun of me if you must, but I always find it very relaxing, motivating, and resetting.)
5. Finish Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.

HEALTH
6. Walk at least 27 miles. (Tracking using my Fitbit!)
7. No fast food!
8. Make dinner myself at least twice. (Mr. 246 does most of the cooking.)
9. Go on two bike rides.

CRAFTING/HOBBY/INTERNET
10. Finish scarf.
11. Send out HPC prize packages.
12. Catch up on Project Life (finally!)
13. Start planning new banner.
14. Make 2 "Shapes" set for a friend


I'll check back in next Monday and we'll see how I did. How about everyone else? Does anyone else do weekly goal setting? How successful are you? What are your goals for this week?

-Mrs. 246

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I will be celebrating like a true Irishman by eating some corned beef and cabbage tonight and not making a big fuss about the holiday. But I may go leprechaun hunting. That sounds fun.



*(Please forgive me...I don't recall which blog. Oops.)

{This Moment #6}

A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savour, and remember.

Personalized Toddler Pillow!

Remember that pillow that Luna and I just had to get yesterday? Well, here it is!

Luna's had a pillow in her crib for some time now. It was just a random throw pillow that she liked but I was thinking about it a day or two ago...she's actually been using a pillow recently and that, to me, meant it was time she had her very first pillow. We tried a couple up but ultimately decided on a really nice travel pillow. It is the perfect size for her and she loves it. (No action shots - my model was not cooperating whatsoever. Haha.)

We got the pillow at Target but they didn't sell any travel sized pillow covers. Weird, right? So I consulted my fabric stash, got to work, and got a little carried away.... (With such an easy project, a pillowcase, it's way too easy to snazz it up.)

Here's the front:

And the back...

Zig zag! Always a favorite to make things fun...

I got a little carried away on zig-zaggin her name on as well. (At the end of this post you can find instructions on how to do the lettering/applique.)

Another final look...I just love it. And I love the left over fabrics I had lying around. The paisley is from the pictured giraffe I made when Luna was a wee little thing (or maybe before she was born, I can't remember). I thought they looked darling together.

 

Thanks for looking!

- Mrs. 246

___________________________________________

How to do the applique letters: 

• Use a product similar to HeatNBondDraw the letters backwards on the smooth side of the HeatNBond. (To do this I just made the text to the proper size on my computer, reversed them, then traced it, right from the computer screen. You could also hand draw them as well if you're good at drawing letters backwards!) 
• Iron the HeatNBond to your letter fabric (no steam!). 
• Cut out the letters.
•  Peel off the HeatNBond backing. 
• Place letters onto your fabric where you want and iron them on. (Again, no steam!) 
• Voila! Your letters are attached. 

You can either leave the letters plain at this point or sew around the edges to ensure that they will stay. Some HeatNBond type products say you don't have to do this but I've never tested it for durability. Plus, I like the way sewing over it looks.  Keep in mind there are different types of HeatNBond. The "Lite" version I linked to is sewable. If you're going to sew over it, make sure you're using the sewable kind otherwise your sewing machine will be quite upset with you.

Mom Friends

During our morning errands* today we stopped by the pet store. Every mom knows that going to the pet store is pretty much the equivalent of going to the zoo when you have a little one. They love it, it's free, it's easy. What's not to love?

I wasn't the only one with that idea today. While "meowing" at the kitties we met another mom and her little boy who is almost two. We tried to get the kids to talk to each other, Luna got protective over the stickers she had with her. I mentioned that Luna just started the whole "Mine!" business that toddlers seem to get into around this age.

We bonded over toddler-dom and again when I mentioned that we just adopted a pet rat, Harriet, about two weeks ago. She was thinking about getting a rat too! We talked for a good 15 minutes or so about how awesome rats are. (Harriet's already litter-box trained!) I think I may have even convinced her to get one for her little boy. Hooray for rats!

Okay, so what's the point of this whole story? We said our goodbyes and left in search of lunch and naptimes but I felt a bit sad afterward. I would have liked to make friends with that mom and her son. I could have had a decent person to have playdates and mom time with. Our children could have been friends!

How do you make "Mom Friends"? Do you ask for their phone number? Invite them somewhere? Awkwardly ask for their name so you can add them on Facebook? It's seriously as awkward as dating again. Maybe next time I'll be a bit more brave and just put myself out there.

What do you think? How do you guys make mom friends? Any good stories or input?

-Mrs. 246



*By morning errands, I really mean: Finding a silly reason to go to Target so we have a "purpose" for our morning. In today's case, it was really quite necessary that Luna get a new and proper pillow. It sounds more important when I say "errands" though, doesn't it?

Blogging Again!

 

 Hello there! Long time no blog, right? 

I've written this post about 20 times in my head over the past month or so. It's my explanation of where I've gone, why I left, and what I'm doing back.

My last entry was in November. Quite a long time ago. The holiday season was just starting and I got BUSY. I had just started a new job, I was up to my ears in Christmas crafting for gifts and I just couldn't keep up with life and a blog. Then, even when Christmas was over I still didn't come back and here's my confession: I am a hobby/interest addict who frantically runs around and then pouts because there just isn't enough time to do everything I want to do. 

Many times you'll see a blogger or may know someone who has a "thing." You know what I mean...they're a crocheter, she's super into homeschooling, he's really into diet and fitness, that blogger loves to contemplate life and take pretty pictures of their coffee with some homemade baked goods. That's not me. I don't have one "thing" I'm really into. I'm really into a bajillion different things and it makes for a difficult life sometimes (in a first world problem sort of way, of course). Haha. 

I found myself getting really upset about not having time to crochet because I really was into reading. Or not having time to be super mom making fun things for her child because I really wanted to scrapbook. Not having time to scrapbook because I really wanted to learn a new instrument/technique/craft/hobby. Not having time to work on making a fabulous garden because I'm diet tracking, and cooking, and attempting to exercise regularly. Not having time to exercise because I really want to sew Luna about 3 dresses - all in one day! And so on. (Oh, and throw on housekeeping and going to work in the mix.)

When I am interested in something I don't just want to learn a little bit and move on. I want to do it 100%. I will sit there and do it until I am good at it, all while daydreaming about 50 ways I can take (insert hobby here) to the next level. 

Where does this blog fit into all of this? Well, I missed blogging, but as I was (and still frequently) going through some sort of hobby/life/time crisis I kept myself away. It was one less time consuming thing to add to my super long list of things I'm doing.

So, I'm coming back as a trial run: Less pressure. Shorter posts. Aiming for 1 post a week. Don't feel the need to follow 100 different blogs and comment all the time to get traffic back here. Don't follow traffic stats. Don't let the blog consume more time then it needs to, just enjoy the process and make it part of my routine. (Step 2: Get a life routine. Lol.)

That being said....I'm VERY glad and excited to be back! Hope everyone is well! Now that the hardest re-introduction post is done, I'm gonna get to work on a life update post. Some moderate (and BIG) things have happened since we've last met. :)

-Mrs. 246