New Home(s)

A lot has been happening over here in our household!  As you know, my family and I recently moved into a house further outside the city...out in the woods, in fact!

I don't have any pictures of the actual house, or the inside of the house, but here are a few pictures of us outside our new home. 

Willie got to mow the grass this week.  I've never seen him mow grass.  Maybe that's because we've never lived in a house before.

Doesn't he look happy? ;-)

Addie's also enjoying having a yard.  Before we moved here for real, we were over quite a bit visiting with our friends/landlords, and Addie and Loren would play out in the yard or in the drive way the whole time we visited.  For the first week and a half straight after we moved it rained ever day-no kidding.  Addie kept climbing up on the couch and pointing out the window saying "'side? 'side? Peeeeeeezze?!"  So since the weather has been nicer the last few days, we've spent time outside cleaning the garage, mowing grass (duh) and just letting her enjoy herself.

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Oh look, I do have a picture of the house!

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In other news, you'll notice my blog also has a new "home".  Not really.You can still find me in the same cyber-space, but I sure did some re-decorating!

I'm sure you've noticed the new name-Twenty Something.  I thought it was time to branch out from my "mommy blogger" label.  I love blogging about my family, but I want to write about more than diapers, milestones, and daily schedules (not that I'm saying that's all mommy bloggers write about. I "heart" mommy bloggers!).

Another thing you've probably noticed is my totally awesome (if I do say so myself) new design and header from The Frilly Cocunut.  She does great work, don't you think?  You should definitely head over to her blog and check out her portfolio.  She also re-did my Twitter profile with a matching background.

All of the old faves are still on my blog, just rearranged.  Hopefully my blog can start to look a bit more organized and be a bit easier to navigate with my new navigation bar up at the top of the page (above the header).  You'll see links for "home", "green living", "crafts", and "parenthood" so you can easily find the topic you want to read about literally with the click of a button.  I also now have a blog button! Feel free to grab it to show some love for me on your blog.  It's on the right hand side.  I'll be adding buttons to my blog now as well...erm...just as soon as I find the time! I promise!

So, I hope you enjoyed seeing my new home(s) tonight.  I look forward to hearing what you have to say on my new look!

Well, I probably won't do that again..

Happy Day-After-Easter, dear readers!

No. It's not a holiday, but I'm lame and missed the real holiday, so take it or leave it. ;-)

Currently, I'm sitting on the couch watching Addie play with her little doggie.  You know, the one that is part of her harness for hikes and air ports? She's petting it, and then gave it too kisses on the nose and started singing to it.  All without realizing I was sitting here watching her.  So stinkin' cute!!

Anyway...that's not the point of this post, but it just happened and was so totally adorable that I had to share.

On to my post:

I tried something new this week!  With living on a budget and being crafty, I thought "why go out and buy a stuffed bunny for the Easter basket??"  I found a few patterns a few weeks ago to try out some amigurumi (<---stuffed animals made from crochet) toys for Addie, and thought that Easter would be a perfect time to try 'em out!

Hmm....probably won't try that again.  I mean, in theory, this was a great idea. Addie loves yarn.  She loves anything crochet-related, really.  I mean, her lovey blanket is crochet and she can't get enough of it.  She hugs skeins of yarn while I work. She steals blankies from her friends if they are crochet or knit.  She even pretends to crochet with me!

So...yeah.  I figured she'd love an amigurumi Easter bunny.  I fear, though, that she has the same thoughts on this bunny as I do.  If you ask me...he looks pretty creepy!

Single Parents..

Today, I was listening to BJ Shay's show on our favorite station.  He had the author of "Men are Just Better" on his show and was taking callers.  Willie is telling me it was a repeat show but it was the first time I heard it so I'm blogging about it.

Now, I only heard the last caller, but something he said really struck a cord.

This caller was wondering what advice they would have for a woman trying to turn the tables. She wanted her boyfriend to be the main provider for their family because she felt it was important for a woman to be in the home.  Obviously,  I agree with that.  She went on to tell about her situation growing up with a single mom that was the "I can do it all" type, and that's why she has such a great paying job and the mentality of taking care of herself.

The advice, though, that is where I start to disagree.  BJ and the guest speaker told her that she is the way she is because her parents are divorced.  He went on to tell her that single parents destroy children...


Wait...what?!

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard him say that.  I've heard comments along those same lines on his show before, but nothing so blatantly against single parents.


I get his ideas in some aspects.  Should women intentionally get pregnant without a partner just because they want a baby and think they can do it all?  Probably not.  It's their decision of course, but maybe that's not the best scenario for the kids. I understand his point in that situation, but to say that all single mothers destroy kids, well, I actually lost a bit of respect for him there.

My mom was a single parent.  It wasn't her choice, not really.  She did instill different values in me and my sister than if she had stayed with my dad, but I certainly don't feel destroyed.  I'm very capable. I'm very functional. I don't feel that I need therapy.

As a matter of fact, I don't always feel like I can do it all.  I'll be the first to admit that I can't do something, or at least can't do it as well as Willie does.  This is the reason I haven't been on the Wii Fit since we moved.  I'm waiting on him to connect it all, since he does something fancy with all the cords and speakers and I just get lost back there!

So, do you think that single parents destroy their children? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Stream of Consciousness-A Catch Up

So, this post is basically going to be a bunch of rambling off the top of my head-just a forewarning!

I haven't truly blogged in what feels like ages.  As it turns out...starting a business is a lot of work!

So, here's an update on my life.

Business:

The past couple of months, I have been putting pretty much all of my energy into creating inventory, researching craft businesses, and networking as much as I could.  I have spent every waking minute doing this.  It really seems to be worth it though!  In the past two weeks, I have been featured on Etsy's front page twice now, and received  15 sales from it.

Needless to say, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind for me!  It's been fun though.

I also just applied for two Farmers Markets this week.  Tuesday I have a quality control meeting to show them my products and samples of a display-which means that tomorrow I get to play around with display ideas with Jess's help!  I'm pretty excited to see how it will all come together and to see what needs to be done in the coming months.  Both markets start in mid-May, so I've got about a month to finish up my inventory and get it where I want it. 

Personal:

In other news, Addie is getting so big!  She is parroting everything we say now, and seems to have real conversations with us (not that we can totally understand the conversations).  She's growing strong, finally climbing on everything.  She really seems to like the time we spend in our new house on occasion. 

Tomorrow morning we get to get up and go to the house and bring over all of our storage items to leave in the garage.  They said the house will be ready by Wednesday of next week and we can move in as soon as that happens! I'm pretty excited.  I'll have plenty of storage, a new work room (with a door),  a photo "studio" area that can stay in place in the garage, and so much more.

We're also planning our trip to Texas this summer.  We'll get to stay in the newly built family beach cabin for half of the trip.  I am already packing in my mind.  Swimsuits, sunscreen, sand toys, a pop-up tent, sun hats, baby sandals...eek! Did I mention I'm excited?

Blog:

You may have noticed my blog looking...blah for a few months now. Nothing but a boring header and some unorganized side bars.  Yuck.  Well, the thing is I was waiting to sign up for The Frilly Coconut's Design List!.  It appears I'm finally on her "working on" list, so it shouldn't be long now before I have a totally fabulous blog design to show off and hopefully get me out of this writing funk.  I'd love to start focusing on that more now that I'm in a routine.

So, there ya go, there's really not much new going on. At least, not as much as it feels like while being caught in the tornado of my life.  Maybe in a few days I'll blog about our recent snow-shoeing trip.  That was a lot of fun! I got some great pictures, too. Maybe this week I'll sort through those, too!

CUTEure Feature and a Give Away!

Hello, all! It's late tonight, but I have very exciting news!!



CUTEure was featured on the front page of Etsy today! How exciting? This earned me hundreds of views on my bunny booties and 30 hearts-which if you are familiar with Etsy-land you'll know that's a big deal!

I also have more exciting news for those of you eying my products but leary to buy.  I have agreed to enter CUTEure into a blog giveaway over at Giggling Kids. Please go check out her blog for a chance to win a $10 gift code to my shop!  Good luck!!

In other news...well there isn't much.  We are getting ready for a weekend get-away starting tomorrow!! We'll be spending the weekend in Bend, Or to hopefully go snow shoeing and spend some time with my aunt and uncle.  I really can't wait! Although...it won't be a vacation from "work" for me! Thanks to my feature (and just the plain cute-ness of the booties!) I have six pair to complete and get shipped out in time for Easter!

Farewell to a Dream..

For those of you who do not know (but may care), our family is moving.  Not too far away or anything, but we are moving.  We are going to pay the penalty charge at our apartment and move into a four-bedroom house.

Why are we doing this again? Two reasons. 

1) Ever since our flood, this apartment has had an...aroma...A musty, smelly, almost-moldy aroma.  We've spoken to the apartment manager about this and she claims they've checked twice before moving us back in and there is no mold or moisture in the walls or carpet.  Unfortunately for them, we found mold last week in the bathroom where the flood originated.  Sucks for them.  Sucks for us, too, for a number of reasons.  Despite the mold (it was a small amount-able to be cleaned up with harsh chemicals which I hate), our primary reason for wanting to leave is the smell.

2) We found a place!  Some great friends of ours-possibly our closest friends here in Washington-own a few rentals and one became available a little over a month ago!  It is a 4 bedroom house! With a yard!! 

I absolutely can't wait.  Then again...part of my heart is sinking...just a little bit.  I moved across the country to live in Seattle.  We couldn't afford the rent when we first moved here, so we agreed to live in the "suburbs" until Willie found a good job and started making money.  Little did we know that after a year in the area, he was going to make a huge career change that included another four years of schooling and training and climbing a whole new ladder. 

Like I said, I can't wait to move.  I'm excited to get into a house, especially being so close to such great friends.  That's not what this blog post is about though.  I need to get the negatives off my chest tonight.

This move-while best for our family for a number of reasons-will move us further from Seattle.  Maybe it sounds a little crazy to want this so badly, but I just feel like I've missed out on that experience.  We will now be moving another 30-or-so miles further from the city.  That makes a full 1-hour commute.

The pros are that we'll be in a smaller (safer) area, near the water, with a yard, near friends, with a built-in play mate for Addie, with a garden.

The cons are...we'll be further from Seattle.  I can't fight it anymore.  I dug my heals in long enough on this argument until I finally recently decided I can't fight it anymore.  It's better for our family. It's better for Willie. Closer to his job. 

I've known since this time last year that my fight was childish, irrational, and even a little selfish.

It's not worth it to fight it anymore. 

Girl's Got Style

I gotta say, Addie doesn't have much choice in what she wears daily yet, but she sure does have style! Hair style that is!

 

I styled her hair today by spritzing it and twirling it around my fingers a bit.  Wow. I knew she had curls but this is stinkin' adorable.  

I may have to start styling my 1-year-old's hair daily now that I've seen this!