stop, for some of you reading this you may be shocked…stunned…what? ben? designer jeans? yes ive been a good influence on my husband’s style over the years. i now cannot credit his style to all my persuading…he finds things on his own and well, he looks good.

so continue. ben has to buy good, durable, designer jeans because otherwise he’d go through a pair of jeans in 2 months. he wears em’ out. if he buys designer, its usually GREAT quality and they last him a year. done.

well, these citizens started getting a hole in the butt after about a month of him purchasing them. people: this is the great thing about buying from a place like bloomingdales. they’re great about returns…and if something you buy from them isnt top quality they’ll refund you basically everything you paid for it. the customer service is phenomenal. they legitimately want you as the consumer and GUEST to be happy. we bought a dish set from bloomies about 2 years ago, and when we got home and unwrapped them we found that half of the plates were in millions of pieces. we called bloomies, and the next day someone had found the set we bought (which was on sale and supposedly the last set available), taken out all 60 pieces and individually bubble wrapped each one, put them back into the box, then delivered them out to our waiting vehicle. talk about customer service.

so ben took the jeans back….and they were going to refund him the entire purchase price onto his debit card….but he had forgotten it. bummer. so they put it all on a bloomingdales gift card. now dont you fret, ben wasnt jeanless. i’d found him not one but TWO pairs of brand new lucky jeans at goodwill. thank you palm beach county for your awesome goodwills.

so here we have this gift card…hmm…what to buy? what do we need? what have we been wanting for a while that we have put off  buying for literally years?

an espresso machine. ofcourse.

ben came home with this via venezia espresso machine last week and its been FABULOUS.

he makes his americanos. he makes me cappuccinos. i make an iced espresso latte. its yummy. its easy! there are three buttons! see for yourself below!

and of course, its sitting on our fabulous new kitchen addition…the old rickety cutting table. ben said last night, “look, its holding our favorite things in this world. yours, the kitchenade mixer, mine, the espresso machine.” so true, so true.

so if you live near me, if you’re craving a fab cappuccino, stop on by the hood house. i’ll whip something up for you. and yes, i can make decaf for evening visits. one word of warning: spandex. ive been wearing a lot of it around my home lately, in the form of gap leggings. which im not sure is wise, considering just how many of our friends live within a 2 minute walking distance of my front door. so if that is my attire when you show up, no apologies. you wanted cappuccino.

my little sister with her big heart has signed on to work  for the lutheran volunteer corps, dealing and working with developmentally disabled adults and working to get them involved in their communities ..and she has been picked to go to tacoma, washington. yes….washington the state…(not DC).

for a year.

incase you arent sure where that is, check it out here..

far huh. its pretty much the other side of the world. the antithesis of south florida. opposite ends of the universe…you get the idea.

not sure when she is able to come back or what exactly her year holds, shes been trying to spend as much time with family as possible..which is difficult when you live and work in Tennessee. last weekend she made it down to west palm…and we had a wonderful 6 hour visit. toooo short for sure, but we were so glad to see her.

its incredible the feeling you get when you see your family, your brothers and sisters, your parents, love on your child as much as YOU love them. to watch them form huge smiles and stoop down to kiss and talk with your little one, just like YOU do. it warms my heart. it causes incredible soaring feelings of joy in my soul. it makes me smile, makes me laugh…makes me cry!

it was so good, so therapeutic to see allison interacting and playing with josiah. in the pool, at the big tree, at lunch as she willingly shared her sweet potato fries with him…it was so good for my heart.

i took this as we were playing at the big tree. josiah had never been there before and oh. my. goodness did he love it…endless room to run and play and roam…grass for HIM, as far as the eye could see! he had such a blast and i now know his favorite spot in town!

love you al, cant wait to hear what washington has in store for your life.

at first, the darker one totally hooked me. then..once again, i put them both on the wall, and the lighter one is now calling to me.

Its called Coriander Seed and i think its going to be perfect. It matches our big rug and our pillows, and it pairs well with the sky blue color im going to use an an accent, as well as the material im covering on of our armchairs in.

Im so excited to get it up on the wall! hopefully in the next few weeks. stay tuned!

tomorrows pic of the week features my little josiah man….its cute, be sure to come back manana.

I’m not sure if pregnancy brought it on, or if i’ve reached an age where i truly am becoming my “parents daughter” in all ways including those of eating habits, but i cannot….simply CANNOT have water without a slice if lime in it.

At first i was just buying regular old limes. But they’re huge. And ive found out NOW, not as tasty as the…you guessed it, KEY LIME.

Ahh the key lime. Its perfect. Round. small. Easy to slice. Easy to squeeze. And did you know that Christopher Columbus is credited with bringing the Key lime to  Haiti, where it was then brought to Florida by Spanish settlers? God bless you Chris. Without these little treasures in my water, well you wont see me drinking any water. Seriously. It gives your H2O the perfect amount of taste…its SO refreshing! And water is so boring that i always feel a little special, a little better about myself when i treat my tall glass to some lime juice.

Now please, to try this…DO actually buy real key limes in your produce section. They come in a green mesh bag of 20 or so. DO NOT buy lime juice concentrate from the juice aisle. Eww and eww. triple eww. Go big or go home ladies..get the real thing.

So first up on the LLP post, Key limes! Delish!

Secondly, my love affair with and reality of living 30 seconds drive from target has caused me to love all things Archer Farms. Archer Farms is target’s organic line of food and groceries. They’re potato chips are divine. Their cereals wholesome and absolutely delectable. And their fruit strips…downright sinfully good.

I’m a big strawberry girl, especially with any type of fruit roll up or fruit snack. I tend to stick with what i know. But after testing the waters and trying out to blueberry one day, i was hooked. They really are NOT big enough. I could eat the whole PACKAGE of strips at one sitting if i didnt limit myself. Do yourself a favor! try this weeks 2nd LLP….Archer Farms Organic Fruit Strips from Target.

this morning i read in my utmost for his highest. my days always consist of living in the future. with finances and children and business worries, i feel like its irresponsible to NOT focus on the future.

but i am that person that cannot do that, AND live for today.

“What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” ( Mark 6:49 ). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.”

in my notes i wrote, “i want to live for today..and i want to plan for tomorrow. but how can i prepare for the days ahead without making it my focus? how can i think about tomorrow and plan for tomorrow and not WORRY about tomorrow? i want to bask in THIS moment.”

now, its a fine line ladies. it IS irresponsible to not plan for the future. God does not call us to be lazy. he calls us to be good stewards of our time and money…and in that comes planning and preparation. the difference between my thoughts and God’s thoughts is God calls me to do that, and then lay it down…push it aside. live in the NOW.

this picture is actually about a year and a half old. and i didnt even take it…ben did. its the backyard of the late Jerry Falwell’s home in Lynch-burg, VA. when i came across it while editing Kate & Garrett’s wedding, i remember becoming breathless for a second. for 2 reasons: 1) because i was in that yard for hours and hours, and NEVER NOTICED the beauty of it. i was too busy thinking about what was NEXT. and 2) because the simplicity of this picture and its beauty totally convicts me about my busy life.

seriously, take a minute to just stare at this. and today im living for today. i may screw up a billion times before my head hits the pillow, but i’ll come back to this and remember once again..

yes, you heard right. we have a 3 bedroom place, but ben and i cannot give up that guest bedroom…we have far too many visitors coming and going. and honestly, ive spoken to other moms who have put their little ones in the same room and they say its worked out well. darby wont go into the room until probably 2-3 months anyways (she’ll be in the bassinet in our room at first), so by the time she goes in there its my goal to get her and josiah on the same schedule. (please jesus hear my prayers…)

so having them in the same room, as a boy and a girl, means ive got to keep things neutral. and i already had a bit of a color palette going with josiahs old room…teal and black. (you all remember the room right??) see below..

so i have a billion black picture frames, a black dresser/changing table/and crib, and dresser knobs that are teal and white, with a little brass. so anything brown is OUT. here in lies my struggle.

i wanted to put a tree on the wall. yes, a tree. tree on one side and birdes/branch on the other. a little feminine a little masculine. but i couldnt do brown…or tan…because of all my black. and i cant do wall decals like i originally thought, because we have textured walls and im not sure it would stick.

so this is my idea..

gray walls. white tree. little pops of teal for leaves, and a few pops of plum purple for birdies.

found these on etsy, and this is what im mirroring my ideas off of.

i like the birds in this one, with the branch, for darbys side of the room. im thinking branch white, birds plum purple. (borrowed from SimpleShades on etsy)

i think this is the tree style i want. white tree, teal-ish leaves. (borrowed from NouWall on etsy)

and i definitely love this gray color. perfect. (borrowed from urbanwalls on etsy)

oh and, im going to try and get my brother to do my wall art! he’s a graphic designer and student, and as an artist is obviously a fantastic person to draw on my walls. ive asked him about it…but graham here are my final thoughts!

so what do you think ladies?

thats it for design tuesday…ofcourse, as this all comes together in oh…the next 8 weeks which is all i have left, i’ll be sure to post pics!

tomorrow is my pic of the week, stay tuned!

like this weeks LLP!! its custom photo mugs. i love them. you can get them for $9.99 at Target, which is totally reasonable. ive bought two for ben over the years and decorated them with photos from our crazy life. the first one is simply hilarious to look at, considering that it is pictures from a lifetime ago and we both look 12. literally. the second one is a bit more updated…i think it’s from 3-4 years ago…and now he keeps telling me he needs a new updated one with pics of jos in it. *sigh* i’ll get to it one day.

but todays new photo mug is for my bff tracy moses! her bday was last weekend..yes im aware that last weekend has passed but she understands as do probably most of you, that i can never get anything personal in the mail on time. so if she’s reading this..surprise tray! its coming asap.

first, these photo mugs are great because you can go to the website on the cup and download your own layout/style or background for the mug as well as upload your own photos. HOWEVER, they only give you layouts with an option of one, maybe two photos. im not down with this. im all about the photos, as you’ll see below. so i take matters into my own hands (shocking) and print pictures from my computer, cut to size, and adhere them to the blank layout paper included inside the outer rim of the mug. if i do it this way i can control exactly how it looks, as well as add stickers or colored paper or whatever the heck else i feel like! i like options people.

this is the mug as it comes…

here are the printouts from my computer..ready to be cut and placed on the insert!

and voila! finished product. cant wait to get it in the mail to her…

and for your entertainment portion..check out these gems. this is back when i was young…oh and skinny. ahhh to be skinny again.

so tomorrow’s rad mom interview guest is PHENOM. seriously, stay tuned. shes a dear friend, fellow blogger, master of design and shes cute to boot. dont miss it!

its sad when friends move. the schnacks, some friends of ours from church, are moving to a cool place though..austin texas! and to say goodbye, they totally GAVE ben and I this awesome piece..this awesome table. (as well as two ikea shelving units that we put in our bedroom…that post to come another week..)

at first i wasnt sure what to do with it. it was so cool i was at a loss. then ben made the genius suggestion that we use it as a sideboard/type kitchen cutting board/area table. it was perfect!

kitchens are hard to decorate, especially when you dont own your home. but ben and i’s idea is to gather and compile pictures that we’ve taken at weddings of the amazing food and the incredible cakes, and make a big collage of sorts of framed original art on that empty wall above this new fab table. i cant wait to get started on this…yet ANOTHER project!

so isnt the table fabulous? its so old and scratched up, i love it. thanks to the schnacks for giving it up to us! we will take good care of it, promise.

thats it for design tuesday…tomorrow is photo of the week, with some inspiration behind it. stay tuned…

you could tell they were prized possessions.

we were there to take pictures. i was in the middle of a senior shoot with Lara and we realized the artist behind the mural we were using as a backdrop was actually there, finishing up his incredible work of art. (if you live in west palm, go to the corner of clematis and quadrille and look west. its an incredible black and white wall of gorgeousness)

the artist didnt mind us being there, and the little one you’ll see below in a minute, well she explained to us what her daddy does and that all those faces on the wall were her. different beautiful black and white renditions of her, that her daddy painted.

Lara and I had set up a mic stand and mic…you see Lara goes to Kings Academy and sings…a lot. she loves to sing/perform/be in plays…be on stage. hence the mic stand.

i took some pictures of the little one, got a card from her daddy the artist and told him i’d email them to him. then she handed it to Lara.

a silly band, from her thin little wrists.

and not just any silly band, but a mic stand silly band.

the thing is, she didnt even look at it as she took it off her a wrist. its like jesus plucked it off, special…just for Lara.

Lara got really excited, then quiet, then said, “i’ll keep this forever”

and the little one ran away to her daddy.

folks, it truly is the small things in life…this little one impacted me in a way no one has in a while. what a servants heart. others-before-herself attitude. she loved those silly bands. to part with one, even, im sure was a big deal. how much does God bless us, how much do we TRULY have? an over abundance, truly.

if you’d like to check out her daddy, the artists work, here is his info…

Eduardo Mendieta

http://www.emc.yolasite.com

561.755.2316

]]> http://imaradmom.com/2010/07/13/tuesdays-design-entryway/ Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:27:07 +0000 imaradmom http://imaradmom.com/2010/07/13/tuesdays-design-entryway/ earlier this year i picked up a book SOLELY by looking at the cover. YES, im that girl. i do that. im not a huge reader, although i really try to be. readers seem to be much cooler people than non-readers and lets face it i want to look cool.

so anyways, domino: book of decorating is DA BOMB. im seriously in love with it and ive spent hours pouring over its pages and taking notes in my little notebook that was supposed to be just for design notes but has turned into-church notes-design notes-client notes-…..(yes im that girl too. i would love to have a little notebook for each one of these note taking environments..one day.)

the book takes you room by room and tells you amazing things; like what to put in that room and what not to, pieces of furniture that will work with different spaces, paint colors and design boards that appeal to the boho, the traditional, and the modern chic, things in your home you can keep/re-do & re-use/and things to trash. honestly, its the best design book ive come across. (and obviously i’ve looked at tons, only to pick the prettiest, most colorful one on the shelf.)

hello domino.

here is the table of contents…its brilliant i tell you. taking design room by room instead of overwhelmingly jumping from one project to another? genius.

and the first thing that i wanted to fix up is my entryway. here is where i stole the idea from..

it is FAR from finished. my ceilings are very high and these are honestly the longest drapes i could find. my plan is to hike that bar up and pick a single fabric that i love and that matches both drapes, and sow it around the bottom of them, making them floor to ceiling. wasnt my original idea, but i liked the thought of a few different colors, and you do what works..right? i just totally love the homey and luxurious feeling of walking into my front door with fabric draping me…i think it feels sort of like walking into a swanky hotel room. i like it.

i’m also going to be painting that wall a dramatic color, but i dont want it to be a dark color since my entryway is already a bit gloomy in the light department. plus, i’m looking at chandeliers from ikea to put up that will definitely brighten the area.

theres a whole other side to my entryway, but its embarrassing and im not ready to show it yet. in due time.

my other ideas for the space is art on the walls, and a higher table/sideboard than the one i currently have, so that i can place a cute anthro key tray (its actually not for keys or odds and ends from your pockets, but i think its perfect for it..i want it by my front door!), a few old stacked books, and a great lamp.

thats it for design tuesday, feel free to critique away. i in no way pretend to have any idea what im doing. oh and whoever wants to teach me how to sew those drapes, come on over. i’ll make you rice krispie treats.(amy paul if you are a sewer i need you the next time you’re in wpb!!!)

see you tomorrow for the pic of the week! its a good one.

personal thoughts, family thoughts, and business thoughts.

without further ado…..

personal~~~ this last year has been one of constant refinement for me. ever since i gave birth to jos and ben got sick i feel as though ive been in constant trials and challenges. somehow we made it through last fall, and i never saw myself as a strong woman until after we came out of it and i realized just what we had walked through. thinking about it that way, i feel like i have been pretty unselfish in my daily life for awhile; its hard to be selfish and follow through with selfishness when you’re a wife and a mom. so much demands your time and attention.

ive been realizing lately though, that thinking of myself as unselfish is precisely determining just how selfish i am; that its still selfishness if my attitude towards to situation is crap, even if my actions speak otherwise. there is a malice in my heart.

yesterday in church john talked on phillipians 2. (read this.). this chapter and these verses should be tattooed on my heart and on my body…everywhere. (mom dont worry, im not getting a tattoo.) i am a habitual complainer. i’ll still do the work, i’ll lay down my life for this cause or that person or this situation, but i’ll let you all know how hard it was for me. i have made myself a victim my entire life. and the truth is, im a victor.

because i have jesus. i have salvation. and though ive got this amazing gift, i have forever lacked the motivation to then put the transformation part to work. asking God to change my heart is useless if I continue to complain about my life….transformation is a two person job. God’s and mine.

so, this is a continuing journey folks…but i had to share because i know, especially as a mother, that i cannot be the only one who feels like i do everything for everyone else and myself last….and though that be the case, i am called to be a servant. basically, lets get over ourselves. moving on.

family~~~ ben shaved his head. (yes honey it was shaved!!!). i know i wrote about it this last week but here’s a picture so you all know i wasnt lying and i had legit reasons to break down and act like a child. (and this picture is with 4 days growth!!!)

shhhhhh. dont tell ben, but i think im over it. actually, this morning i decided that the exact length it is now is ok. its kinda hot. like i said dont tell ben, lest he get any more ridiculous ideas to drastically change his appearance while im still pregnant and overly emotional. (hi ben.)

we’ve been on this crazy clean the house and make it look liveable kick lately. ben spent a good 4 hours in the garage the other day. our garage is a disaster area. tomorrow i’ll post pics on design day of some things we’ve changed around the house, including, GASP…..our room, clean. seriously. CLEAN! I’ve now become a person that simply cannot do ANYTHING productive until my house and kitchen are clean. honestly, it drives me insane to sit at the computer knowing that there are dishes in the sink. this has become a good and bad thing, as you can imagine. however, ive totally mastered the art of cleaning as i go while i cook anything so theres very little mess afterwards…now if only i could teach this to ben….(hi ben.)

josiah, oh josiah. the light of my life. my daily comic relief. lately he’s been: becoming quite mischievous and sneaky but in a funny non-malicious way. i try not to laugh, really. also, he got his first pair of real walkin’ shoes on Saturday. i was feeling like quite the bad mom having him walk around every sunday at church with his fat bare feet. so we hit up sports authority and he got a snazzy pair of crocs. crocs you say? yes crocs. why crocs you say? well, when you’re calf runs right down to your toes and theres a large absence of an ankle, crocs are the only thing that fit your cute fat feet. and josiah has cute fat feet. the end.

and lastly, darby. this child doesnt kick or nudge, she punches and does somersaults. numerous times now she has surprised me and ive cried out in pain in public only to be looked at quite awkwardly…but other than these occasions shes doing well being my SUPER active belly urchin. I’m 30 weeks today. THIRTY. Lord Jesus help me prepare for her because she’s barely received a second thought in this household…ive done nothing for her arrival. and please Lord Jesus let me be able to pay for her OB prepay. amen and amen.

business~~~ oh summers as a photographer in florida. they are sometimes good and sometimes bad! im working on a few projects and new things for kallima photography that im excited about, but honestly when i have a bit of a break from weddings its hard to focus on the BIZ. filling my time with personal projects and random sessions here and there, as well as doing my darndest to blog my last 3 weddings!! they are gorgeous…up this week on the photography blog, Nickanie Wedding. for those of you who know, get excited and spread the word. its going to be a monster post and its unbelievably awesome. in other news, i’m building up the “senior shoots” part of kallima photography and i couldnt be happier. high school seniors are just fun, lets face it. got a session with a lovely girl named Lara tonight and its going to be awesome!

hope you enjoyed this mondays update on the hood life. PEACE.

1) to share about my life and inspire other moms who are rad just like me.

2) to establish some discipline and consistency in the daily routine of my crazy life.

3) eventually, i’d love to make a little mula from this here blog. very much in the future…

well i think i’ve accomplished half of number #1…i definitely share my life. i have girls tells me all the time that they feel like they know me through my facebook and my blogs and my photography….its super surreal and humbling, and i still dont quite understand my readership. the second half of #1 im not too sure about…that is the goal, but like i said last week, i’ve had quite a “year” and sometimes my selfishness and inability to see past myself and my “problems” has enabled me to influence others in a not-so-positive way. but thats a post for another day this week…

as for #2, thats what this post is for. i desire to be that mom blogger that blogs ahead of time, gather my ideas and inspiration and do my research AHEAD OF TIME…so i dont sit down every morning and go…”well, i feel pretty bleh today what could i possibly interest these girls with”…

so after a little thought, ive decided what i want to talk about most, and ive put it into 5 days a week.

mondays: hood life~~~i figure that mondays are a good time to fill everyone in on the “hood life”. what goes on here. our crazy life. jos and darby-in-the-womb updates. marriage talk. daily struggles and triumphs…you get the idea.

tuesdays: design~~~this is where i’ll post updates on new things we’ve done to the house, even if its as simple as moving a trash can. (seriously, moving the trash can to a different location will change your life.) i’ll also post links to whatever design ideas or pics im currently in love with, blogs ive been following that week, and whatever design ideas come out of this crazy brain of mine.

wednesdays: pic of the week~~~lets face it, whether we are stay at home moms or working mothers, hump day is hump day and most of us cant wait to make it to friday night! always good to have a little visual stimulation, and if there is one thing i always aim to do when taking pictures is inspire…so lets hope i dont disappoint.

thursdays: LLP’s (lifes little pleasures)~~~here i’ll talk about and clue you in on some of my favorite things. whether that be a blog, food, a celebrity, a band, a bible verse, a life tip, a great goodwill find….whatever! whatever it may be that i’m currently loving i’ll be sure to share it with you ladies first. holla!

fridays: convos w/the rad mom~~~this is something that may take some time for me to build up, but obviously my goal will be for a post up every friday from a fellow blogger or twitter’er or photographer that i’ll interview and ask random questions of. this day will surely be entertaining…

so thats the deal folks. im hoping all of you will have as much fun reading and keeping up with my blog as i’ll have writing and posting. and i have to say a heartfelt thanks to my regulars who keep stickin with me…those of you who read every day i post. since i started this blog in mid-April, ive had almost 7,500 hits. thank you ladies, and keep coming back.

P>S> the blog will also be under continued maintenance. i’ll be updating and expanding and changing the look as i have the time…so stay tuned!

i learned a quick lesson after picking up some $3 sample cans of the two colors i had picked online: they look nothing in real life like they do online…or even on the color palettes at the store!

here is a picture of the colors we chose, and decided that we hated both, ha!

the color we are looking for is lighter like the one on the left, but more olive-y, less neon-y. ick to neon. this is not 1985 and i am not in the saved by the bell cafeteria. ick to neon.

the only place i would place these colors is maybe on my fingernails….maybe.

so its on to take two. im going back to choose a light green that is more olive like our rug shown here, and less of a color that is going to pain my eyes.

I think I’m gonna stay home

Home life
Been holding out for a home life
My whole life

I want to see the end game
I want to learn her last name
Finish on a Friday
And sit in traffic on the highway
See, I refuse to believe
That my life’s gonna be
Just some string of incompletes
Never to lead me to anything remotely close to home life

Been holding out for a home life
My whole life

And I will go to my grave
With the life that I gave
Not just some melody line
On a radio wave
It dissipates
And soon evaporates
But home life doesn’t change

this has always been my favorite song from john mayer. growing up, i spent LOTS of time at home. i was home schooled until i went to college…YEP. never would have guessed it huh. im way too cool and normal to have been a stereotypical “home schooled kid”…well, i hide the i-was-such-a-dork-shame well. (now..i know some of you reading this were home schooled too. and you turned out ok. and, now some of you home school your own kids. and im sure they’ll be fine also. im just speaking from MY experience…and it was not a great one:) and i was a dork! home school moms, rock on. do it well. give it your all. you’re a better woman than i…)

back to home. like i said, i was there a lot. and at the time i didnt consider it a huge blessing…mostly because i was a brat and rebellious and didnt know how good i had it..but for lots of my life both of my parents were home too. my dads a pastor and worked from the basement. my mom was a stay at home mom for some time..even when she had to go back to work, we still had dad around. looking back now, i WISH i would have realized how fortunate i was to have a home as a safe place. i couldnt WAIT to leave home for college! and now, as i age and gain maturity or whatever you want to call it, i want to spend more and MORE and MORE time at home. home means family. home means your own coffee out of your own french press. home means your own bed. home means you can be yourself, laugh all you want, mess it up or clean it up, home means love.

another thing i continue to realize is that home is where your community is. ours happens to be here in west palm. we have so many people here that we love, so many people that love us. that pour into our lives, that counsel us and offer wisdom, that rejoice when we rejoice and mourn with us when we mourn. until moving to west palm, i’d never really had this. it makes me never want to leave….ever…

yesterday we had a little get together at our community’s pool for jos’ 1st bday. nothing big…just friends hanging out and celebrating jos. laughing as we watched him walk around everywhere like a “real person” as laurie says…(“as opposed to what, a fake person?” as pastor john says..), cried with laughter when we watched him devour his cupcake and smear it all over his face, neck, and into his hair….laughed as we studied his facial expressions and saw how much fun he has in the pool…

all of these people love him. these friends are home.

pastor john left jos a little gift amongst our things at some point last night…i opened it when we got home to find a card, and this.

he said he figured we could save it and give it to jos when he got baptized, which john “hoped [he'd] be able to do”.

God, where did you get these people? these people that sacrifice their lives for the sake of their friends? these people that give of their time, their resources, their money, their LIVES…for the love of another brother/sister in Christ? where did you find them…it doesnt matter i guess. im just so thankful to have them around. im thankful to call them home.

i love you jos.

tomorrow, he will be 1 year old.

i simply cannot believe it, seriously: in every sense of the word “believe”…i cannot believe it.

this has been an insane year for the hoods. jos was born. ben got sick and was in and out of the hospital and recovery from July to December. we moved twice in 3 months. January we found out we were having Darby. February our place was put up for short sale. we’ve already shot 16 weddings this year. last month we found out our place is no longer for sale and we get to stay and make it our home. and this month, josiah turns 1. such a blur of a year.

there were many things i decided that were going to be a part of jos’ 1st birthday. things needed to happen. and naturally, the start of a birthday week would typically begin at the beginning of the week aka MONDAY…but we were driving back from DC yesterday so the birthday week starts on Tuesday, today.

if i assigned certain things to certain days, id be disappointed because inevitably they wouldnt happen just as i had planned. so here, in no particular order, are the things that are a part of jos’ birthday week:

1. make his room the playroom – since he’s been able to crawl and now walk, the great room attached to our living area has been his play area. we’ve fenced it off and put up gates and his toys congregate on the bottom two shelves of my ikea bookcase, not to mention all over the floor. its worked well, we bought a huge carpet for that room so he can be safe and i have been working from the downstairs kitchen table (as well as my intern..poor emy…) so i can see jos and we can all be in the same area. the problem is, my office…which im working so hard to make into an office and redo, is UPSTAIRS. so my goal for his 1st birthday is to make his room his playroom, and here are the things that need to happen for THAT to happen!

a. deep clean his room – right now all he does is sleep in there so it needs some help

b. clean out his closet – it has become the “everything josiah has grown out of” dumping zone and its a disaster.

c. give ben some alone time to finish josiahs dresser that he started over a year ago – hey, like i said, its been an insane year   in this household. this way we can finally move the dresser upstairs and i can finally get these clothes out of these paper gap bags and out of my laundry room and into a DRESSER!

d. paint his room, EVENTUALLY – this wont happen this week, mainly because come September its going to be Josiah AND Darby’s room, so i have to come up with a game plan for making it work for both of them….think boy and girl neutral:) but this needs to happen soon…

e. clean out the white wooden toy chest thast in the garage and bring it up – its got a lid and im afraid jos might slam his fingers in it, so i also need to get some foam and cover it with some fabric..sew it up and attach it to the underside of the lid. i am not a sew-crafty person so we will see how this goes. i also need to get a gate to put at the door of his room.

f. TOYS- this is where i need some help. ive got to go to some garage sales this saturday morning, scour craigslist, and maybe just maybe, some of you ladies out there have some toys you’d like to get rid of. his bedroom needs to be the playroom, but he needs to have some toys down in the great room too that i can hide away in a trunk, for the times where i need to be downstairs and i need to see him. SO, is the newspaper the best place to find garage sales? AND, if you have any toys you’re wanting to get rid of, COMMENT BELOW. i will come pick them up and take them off of your hands…id LOVE to.

g. paint my office – this isnt a huge job since my office is the small landing at the top of our stairs, and im only painting two accent walls. but if im moving emy and i upstairs to work, it needs to be a great space and a finished space. the color is a light lemon yellow. bright and positive.

h. sand and paint my small office bookshelf – im going with an purple-eggplant color, and im excited about it.

i. sand and paint/stain emy’s office desk and get that giant inkjet printer off of it.

j.  we’ll end on J…for Josiah….- the last thing to finish my office is to hang the pictures of clients and weddings that ive ordered to decorate the big wall back behind my desk.

the week is also going to include cupcakes. jos’ first! and i think im going to feed him a special meal on his special day. any ideas, you moms out there, for a meal that a one year old can eat thats close to normal people food (i.e. that ben and i can have too) ??

AND, coolest of all…is that tomorrow, im not doing any photography or business work. i’m shoving everything i need to do in two days, into today…because tomorrow is jos’ bday. and he deserves my undivided attention for at least a day. this may include pool time, beach time, a walk to target, a trip to the park, some frozen yogurt, and play time on the carpet. (as well as naps…yes, naps.)

so its proves to be a busy week…but turning one means changes. it means transition. it means that tomorrow i’ll probably be a blubbering mess…filled with emotion and memories and thoughts of my amazing little man. im celebrating his life this week. im so thankful for him.

thanks to ben for this shot. this is our jos!!

her name is beverly. she is the hardest worker i know! she is also the most self-sacrificing person i know. she has 6 kids and gave birth to us ALL with no epidural. (shutup, i know) she is uber smart as her title of “nurse manager” suggests. she deals with dying people every day and for that deserves mucho respect. she will take care of everyone else before even giving a thought to herself. she cooks the best key lime pie and homeade cheesecake you’ll ever put in your mouth.

she is the best mom, and shes my mom. and today is her birthday:) June 10th, one day a while ago…(wouldnt sell you out mom!), my mom was born and the world became a much nicer place because of it.

a few things you may not know about her awesome name:

1. one of the meanings is meadow. yes, meadow. i love meadows, i dont know if ive every truly been in one living in florida my whole life…but i imagine that they are green and lush with lots of wildflowers and bunny rabbits. pretty cool that your name means meadow.

2. there is a Beverly Hospital in Massachusetts. Yep, and my mom is an ICU nurse turned Nurse Manager. works in a hospital…pretty cool.

3. Beverly Cleary is an author of some of my favorite books i read growing up. Ramona was the coolest book character ever!

so this post is in honor of my mom. love her so much. mom, i hope you didnt have to work a 14 hour day today…and i know dad and the boys showered you with lots of love and kisses and hugs…(right boys????)

please know you are loved, loved, loved…probably more than we let on. i’ll leave all of you with a picture of her with my sweet jos the week he was born….my most beautiful mom.

]]> http://imaradmom.com/2010/06/08/color-my-world/ Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:28:11 +0000 imaradmom http://imaradmom.com/2010/06/08/color-my-world/ so i worked on some pieces for my office the other day…nothing too special yet, but seriously, a little color goes such a long way.

spent some time on my back patio painting, it was nice. even nicer because today i found out that….our place is no longer up for sale. we can renew in december. i can now make my house my home. i can now paint. i can now spend time and put some love in it. i am beyond happy and im so thankful because Jesus just knew..i needed that this month.

so here are the beginnings of a little love and affection going into my office…

so here i am. redo-ing my office. and chances are i’ll have to move out of this place in december but i cant live like this until then.

these are the before shots. horrendously boring, yes.

i’ll be posting ideas and pics of what im doing along the way to make this my own space. and hey, im totally doing it on the cheap, so if anyone has any ideas, resources, etc….leave a comment!

i remember getting up around 7am…my mom with me, after she made it to bed around 5am i think. (she was up all night cooking for our wedding)

i remember odd things about the day… the smell of the mountain and the cigars the boys had…the wreaths swaying slightly on the chapel doors…the giant fan louder than a jet engine blowing in our hot reception…

our wedding was not high dollar. not fancy…in fact, looking back now ben and i both go…huh? what the heck were we thinking. we didnt have a lot of money to spend, only had about 75 guests..

but we had our family there. everything about the day was done by someone there. someone who stayed up late or sacrificed their time. we were happy. we were on top of a mountain, at a camp…(we met at a camp, theres your sentimental value). there was a dress, and a tux, some flowers and rings…all the makings of exactly what we needed; a wedding day.

we got married on june 5, 2004.

marriage is rewarding. its insanely hard. it has the ability to rock you, stir you, take you places you never thought youd go…

and now here we are. a dog. josiah. darby coming.

i love you.

**first 5 images courtesy of meggie velasco photography

so i’ve been devouring the june issue of Real Simple magazine. and after going through it ive made a decision to buy EVERY issue from here on out. this mag is amazing. DIY tips, amazing recipes, gorgeous imagery, thought provoking articles on real issues and real life, and super useful tidbits. Like this one; did you know that June 4th is National Doughnuts Day and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will be giving away FREE doughnuts all day long? HOLLA! as a 24 week pregnant lover of all things sweet, coming across this information made my WEEK.

back to the mag. near the back i came across the most yummy looking, amazingly simple 5 minute treat. and yesterday was a rough day around the hood house figuring budget and bills, so i thought, “superb night to stuff my face.” and it was so super worth it. i was in sugary sweet heaven.

Ice Cream w/ Cinnamon Crisps

10 mins, serves 4

1. in a skillet, melt 3 tbs of butter and 2tbs sugar in over medium heat.

2. add 4 thinly sliced, 6 inch flour tortillas and cook…stirring until crisp (3-5 mins)

3. remove and sprinkle with cinnamon

Divide 1 pint of vanilla ice cream among 4 bowls, top with chocolate sauce and the cinnamon sticks!

So simple, so delish.

now there is a word i think of every day, and a concept i still seem to successfully avoid.

and im not trying to avoid it. i really, really am trying to be content with life. with where i am, what im doing, what im carrying, how im feeling, who im surrounding myself with…

some days are mundane. i love it when people think that just because i travel a lot for work, that my life is somehow super glamorous. the travel parts are sometimes nice yes, but it involves time away from jos and travel is stressful. and you all know, as much as any of us love to get away, we long for home. home is where we are content…right?

home is where i want to be content.

i want to love the mundane days. get up, shower, feed josiah, start working, put josiah down for a nap, work some more, play time, feed jos, 2nd nap, work, feed jos, play time, cook dinner, bathe josiah, put josiah to bed, clean the house, work some more…maybe relax for a while…

i want to love these days, as much as sometimes in the middle of them i am just tired.

im reading this book that is a really challenging read. my church is going through it. and in my prayer time ive been asking to experience contentment in my daily life. things are changing around the hood household and i dont do well with the ‘c’ word. im praying that no matter what, im thankful for the roof over my head, im thankful that if i can pay my bills and still eat then im more blessed than a lot of people in this world.

and speaking of being blessed, i figured it was about time you all saw Darby.

ive always loved mustard and well, being pregnant makes me love it more. i decided yesterday that i wanted chicken with mustard. sounds kind of gross right? yes. so here’s what i did:

4 pieces of chicken (tenderloins)

3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

3 TBS olive oil

3 squirts of dijon mustard

a few shakes of natures seasoning

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

ok. i threw this all in a dressing shaker and mixed. i then poured it over my chicken and let it sit for an hour. then i cooked the chicken on medium/low heat for about 25 mins, letting it simmer in there with my yummy sauce. then i cut the chicken into chunks, right there in the pan (it was tender/juicy, pulled apart easy by this point) and then stirred it with the remaining sauce and let it cook for another 10 mins or so.

DONE. super yummy. and yea, i forgot to take a picture to let you know how it looks but trust me, if you love mustard you will love the flavor of this chicken.

i will however, show you this picture i took of jos the other day…with aunt Al’s help. i took it because its possible it may be published somewhere…wink wink i’ll keep you all in the loop it if happens.

today i want to be michelle duggar from TLC’s 19 kids and counting. (if you do not know who she is, or watch that show…you are missing out on some serious entertainment. the shock value alone will keep you occupied for hours)

i want to be her because she clearly couldnt give a hoot about her body. she clearly has AMAZING self-image. i mean, who could give birth naturally to 18 out of 19 children and feel no personal remorse about “the way i used to be..” – michelle duggar. thats who.

today i want to be her because the maternity pants i havent worn in a month are now tight and make me want to die.

i want to be her because yesterday i was so hungry i felt the need to eat every 2 hours.

i want to be her because im pretty sure im noticing tiny stretch marks already forming that i so conveniently missed out on with jos.

i want to be her so i dont care about the rude, sniveling and snooty people in publix that think its necessary to look inside and stare at the contents in my shopping cart. (how rude)

and lastly, though i love pictures of jos and me..usually…i want to be michelle duggar because this picture below makes me want to participate in a triathlon…TOMORROW.

Notice a resemblance?

its all, “oh you’re so tired”, “you dont get much sleep”, “you hole up in your house”….when in reality they should say, “whatever happens, whatever you feel like, remember you are not crazy. you have not lost your mind, you are not a terrible mother, and you will make it through this”.

since having josiah ive talked to few women about this, about what happened with me and in me…only because i knew this post was coming and here i am to share with all of you. THE TRUTH.

ive taken care of multitudes of babies in my lifetime. i mean, i have 5 brothers and sisters…im a pastors kid…i practically lived in the church nursery and had many many nannying and babysitting jobs in my life. its probably safe to say i was a permanent babysitter for most my life…at home, with my family:) but it doesnt matter whose baby you watched, whose baby you loved, how many diapers you changed…when you have your very own little person, one whom exited YOUR body..its different.

you’re terrified.

i remember distinctly the day my mom left to go back home after being in town for jos’ arrival. i cried the entire day. no exaggeration. i was so scared. i was scared of jos, scared of myself…scared id drop him, not feed him enough, not take care of him well, do something stupid, RUIN HIS LIFE.

i felt this way for weeks…a little over a month if i remember correctly. i finally called my older sister and begrudgingly asked her if i was going crazy. she laughed quietly and said, “no beka, we all go through it”.

such relief. i thought…if we ALL go through it, why dont women talk about it?

NO, we are not unhappy that we have a child.

NO, we dont wish that we could give them away.

NO, we dont want our OLD life back.

its this: its the magnitude of the realization that this perfect, sent from heaven above little angel…they depend solely on you for survival. this is not like taking care of a dog, ladies. yes babies need food and baths and sleep…but what they really need that only we can give them, well thats where this overwhelming sense of fear comes from.

unconditional love.

constant care and admiring attention.

perpetual hugs and kisses and snuggles.

unending patience.

and they need all of this from you when you’re tired. exhausted. when you think you’ve got NOTHING left to give anyone…

its heart-wrenching, motherhood. it hurts and its hard and makes you cry and it makes you think you’re crazy and for the love of God you’re NOT CUT OUT FOR THIS.

but luckily…its exactly what we are cut out for. we were made for it.

the bible says that eve became the mother of ALL the living. what an incredible GIFT…what an awesome blessing, among the fear and the insanity of being a mother, that only WE were given this gift.

ladies, in that time after jos was born where i felt completely alone…i just needed to know that i wasnt. so here i am, telling all of you who DID go through this….you’re normal. and all of you who WILL go through this, you’re normal. feel free to email me if you need someone to talk to…       (radmommahood[at]gmail[dot]com)

as i was rocking jos for nap today..and his eyes closed so much easier than they did when he was just born…his thoughts floating so much easier into dreamland than when he was just born, i remembered for a moment those 3am times. those nights and early mornings where i would beg him to sleep, and he would just stare up at me for hours like “what mom, i just wanna hang out..”….

and oh sweet jesus i missed those moments.

sometimes, i dont mind being crazy for the sake of being a mother.