Category Archives: Personal
January Glimpse
Well, yes. It’s the last day of February and I’m still thinking about January! Time has a way of speeding right along. Thankfully, February gave an extra day this year just so I could showcase a few happenings from the first month! As you know from this post, I’m a sucker for my new, free app, Instagram. It’s highly recommended in my book . . . er iPhone *ha, but a little addicting. So, use caution (if you’re a photo freak like me)! Anyway, I joined a photo-a-day thing where each day provides a subject to photograph and share (a few from January: breakfast, letter box, something I wore, makes me smile, favorite, sky, where you sleep, in your bag, morning, what you’re reading, water, something you made . . . okay, you get it). : ) So, I thought I’d share a few of them with you. Enjoy! . . . and be looking for a few more from this month soon (since of course I had to join in again for February’s photo-a-day)! : ) Happy Leap Year!
Burning the Midnight Oil
So I’m not actually “burning” anything, but it’s 12:21am and I’m oiling my cutting boards! Ready for all the cutting and chopping and dicing in store this week!
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Weekend Plans
Sitting together at Advance the Church: Marks of a Gospel Movement.
Samoa and Mocha Me Crazy Cupcakes at The Cupcake Shoppe.
Drinking coffee and reading decorating magazines at Barnes and Noble.
My husband and I are on a “business trip” this weekend . . . . That’s our story and we’re sticking to it!
Please share your weekend plans in the comment section! Hope they’re as nice as mine!
(Disclaimer: photos taken with my phone . . . and without Ondria’s expertise!)
Ramblings of a “Mama”
Well, I woke up this morning with 40 topics on my mind. Could be the result of minimal adult conversations during the day, or maybe just that I’m a girl. *wink – But, I decided to get blogging and see where it took me. Guess it’s just the week for ‘the mom in us’ to come out. Either way, it brought me back to that sweet little voice that follows me around all day, favorite word of course being “Mama”. On average, my guess is that it is said about a thousand times a day. But, that’s just an average estimate. Needless to say, listening to the carefree chatter of my almost two-year-old never gets old (until we’re on the 943rd “mama” of the day and it’s only noon!). Okay, those I live with, might correct that ‘never’ to ‘almost never . . . . sometimes . . . . often’ (just depending on the day . . . ;o) praying God would give me much more patience!). But, I do love watching him grow and learn, making up words and mastering others. We love trying to interpret things he says, and it’s rather funny. His jabberings have a way of sounding very close to real phrases and sentences that when ‘decoded’ (usually by his Uncle Travis) make us roll. He certainly has a way of bringing a room full of adults into eruptive laughter. What a ham . . . . wonder where he gets that from? Ahem, Da*cough*da. . . *wink, wink*
Speaking of, we were able to spend a whole day with “Dada” (second favorite word) yesterday. While it was void of our usual Monday Chick-fil-a lunch visit, we really had an enjoyable day together. [[ I can’t help but pause for a few and share my appreciation for my sweet hubby. I know it certainly doesn’t come out enough, but I truly do appreciate and love the man God has allowed me to borrow. ;o) He has been given much grace, most of which I believe he uses to live with a crazy, nut like me! With that grace, I pray the Lord would cultivate our love for Himself first and foremost so that we are able to pour that same love on each other. ]] So, part of yesterday’s evening activities involved a trip to the mall . . .
Have you ever taken a trip to the mall (speaking to you ladies here… men, this may be VERY normal for you!) where the only thing you were able to peruse was the tile on the floor? Sounds kind of preposterous, right? Well, this was my experience yesterday. And it is very beige . . . and boring (just in case you were wondering). So, this tile gazing really can only mean one thing (for a woman, anyway) . . . chasing a restless, on-the-go toddler. all. over. ;o) You see, the reason we were there in the first place was to revive my poor, overstuffed iPhone. I’m pretty sure our Apple tech guy would have dubbed me with the Official Crazed, Maniac Photo-a-holic award! It was really bad . . . as in after-my-storage-was-full-i-tricked-it-into-taking-more-and-more-and-more-photos bad. And don’t ask me how, because I do not recommend such activities. . . and neither does your phone or tech guy . . . or husband! I have become very fond of a free iPhone app called Instagram, which is basically a photo sharing community (so, in my defense, you could probably see a photographer going a little crazy, right?). Needless to say, this process turned into a two-hour event whereby I chased said toddler all over the mall and the hub took on the task of iPhone Revival 2012. haha. He was very kind to do so; however, at the end of the experience, I think we were both drained and very ready [number one] for some dinner (seeing as how we expected to eat around six and weren’t ready until eight! for the Jones’s that’s kind of a big deal.) and [number two] to crawl under the covers and just sleep! After this experience, I have come up with three recommendations for anyone thinking about or having recently purchased an iPhone: 1. know it’s limit, 2. utilize iCloud regularly and 3. get Instagram! It’s fun.
Well, I guess I am about done here; time to pick up my responsibilities as “Mama”. Be watching for some fun January happenings from Instagram in the next few days. ;o) Oh, and sorry for lack of photos here, you would think a post about the obsession would include some, but at this point, you all most likely understand why they are not present! . . . even though I really wanted to take a snap shot of the tile and the toddler. Now my phone is fresh and ready to snap, snap, snap! Wisely, of course. Hopefully the ramblings were follow-able. Happy Tuesday!
Happy Monday!
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Happy Monday, friends! Our day started yummy! How about you?
Our husbands are usually off on Monday mornings, so you’ll forgive us if we don’t stay
long to chat, right? we have sweet husbands and babies to love on and fun family
routines, like special breakfast treats and Chick-fil-a for lunch.
Reminded again this morning of the goodness of the Giver
who shares with us these precious men (Nate and Josh),
the men we are raising (Koen and Eli), and days of rest.
Meditating on His ever-lasting goodness, that does not change, even if and when these
gifts are taken from us, when His gifts do not seem so sweet, when His plans are not our
own. When life and beliefs collide, then “may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:20)
What are you thinking about this morning?
Does your family have any routines
for their day of rest?
We’d love hear about it in the comment section!
(Thankful too for you, our readers!)
This is One.
I have to say, it was a joy to read my sweet partner’s post yesterday! From where I stand, she can do all the talking and I’ll just stay behind the camera! I can’t wait to see what this next year holds. I am so thankful for Laura. She is such a faithful and generous friend. It has been an encouragement to watch her giving heart demonstrated toward her family over these past few months (and years), so I thought it only appropriate to share a peek of those dear ones she serves so graciously!
This is one. One sweet boy. One year old.
Can he be any more precious? Very fun, special session taken on a retreat in the Outer Banks late last fall. Can’t believe a year has gone by! Seems like just yesterday we were showering our friends in preparation for this little guy’s arrival and taking maternity photos! Time flies when you’re approaching one! (Check out this mister a year ago here.)
Ondria
Didn’t love the pine needles at first….
But, Mom makes everything better . . . and a little help from Dad’s jacket.
Breaking the Silence
I’m the silent partner. I got my place in the company name, but for the past 8 months that’s all I’ve done. Taken no part in management, unknown to customers, and leaving the responsibility of Orange Tree Hill entirely to Ondria. She has faithfully served me during these sometimes overwhelming life circumstances and I am so [publicly] thankful for her and her partnership in life, not just professionally, here today.
But it’s a new year and I’m ready for the new opportunities it will hold! Lots of “new” things today . . .
First of all, generous friends and fans of OTH, gave us (me!) a new KitchenAid Stand Mixer! Now that I have one, I have no idea how I baked in bulk for so many years without it! It’s professional grade, with a 6-quart mixing bowl, a giant 575-watt motor, and all-steel gears & transmission. This thing can handle up to 14 C of flour! [Obviously, I’m a geek when it comes to kitchen tools.] First thing I made with it? a triple batch of honey whole wheat rolls! A.maz.ing.
So, our OTH blog isn’t so new anymore, but writing publicly is definitely new for me. [I’m so nervous!] My (boring!) posts won’t have as many gorgeous pictures, but hopefully I’ll be sharing here periodically in 2012. Have any requests? Maybe some of our favorite recipes or some new cooking technique I learn!
Lastly, two new cupcake orders today! Sweet Lily had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting on her birthday wish list . . . and she was waiting for me at the door when I delivered them. Eager fans are the best part of OTH! Check out pictures of her beautiful party (and all the chocolate-covered mouths! haha)! A new client (thanks for the referral, Christina!) ordered our strawberries and cream cupcakes to share with friends at her weekly visit to the beauty parlor.
Because it’s the way I was fearfully and wonderfully made, I’ll probably still be more “silent” than the other partner :-), but I think I’ll celebrate breaking my silence with [another!] cupcake!
Laura
orangetreehill 