so funny

I opened my present from Sara and Troy and Sara had sewn this amazing apron out of a table runner that she had received from Rory's grandma. The apron is adorable and even has a pocket for your cell phone. The apron is stunning, a true work of art and such an awesome gift.

We talked about this apron for a long time, stopped to take pictures, and admired all of the work that went into it. And then I opened my gift from Lisa and Kyle.

They too got me an apron. And it's gorgeous. But this one wasn't handmade and Lisa was hysterical to watch as this whole series of events unfolded. When we were admiring Sara's craftsmanship, she had sent Josie under the table to grab their gift and hide it. The card would be enough. But Josie came back from under the table defeated, "there are bars! I can't reach it!" I opened this second glorious apron and it was a funny moment in Groves gift giving.

Lisa is also an amazing seamstress, and actually I thought she had made hers as well because the fabrics and ribbons are all so crafty. I love them both and am so happy to be starting a pretty apron collection.

Here they both are...I plan on wearing them separately from here on out.

above and beyond...again.

Lisa brought these cookies to the birthday party. I just wrote about how she is always going the distance. Well, check out the surprise in these chocolate chip cookies. An entire oreo. Inside the cookie. Unbelievable. And so, so crazy good.

a birthday surprise

Two nights before we went to California we were to have supper with my folks to celebrate my birthday with the two of them. When we got to their house, they, and the Groves clan were each holding a mylar balloon and ready to celebrate. It was a great surprise that I had completely sniffed out. Honestly, I have overhyped my birthday so terribly much that the real surprise would be if there wasn't a surprise planned. Family and balloons was perfect.

I had read Rory the story I wrote about the mylar balloons from my 7th grade birthday a few weeks ago. When I was done reading it he said, "that first paragraph was so sweet. I wasn't ready for the rest to get to serious." I think this party, with all of beautiful, shining balloons was his way of trying to put the fun back in mylar for me.

california cousins

We got to see Rory's cousins Tim and Brittany when we were in San Francisco. Tim and I attended our first Groves Family Reunion together when we were both engaged to be married into the clan... I've always felt a special bond with him because of this fact :)

They are salt of the earth people and I wish we all lived closer!

my 30th birthday

Shannon pulled out all the stops for my 30th including 30 balloons to be delivered, a 90(!!) minute massage, supper at a French Bistro and gifts and goodies all day long. Every moment had been considered and I felt so loved.

green pastures

We spent my birthday weekend with our friends John and Shannon at their place just outside of San Francisco in Marin County. It is also their daughter Kate's birthday weekend. We were with Shannon two years ago when her water broke with Kate, and were together last year as well. And I was with Shannon the day she found out she was preggers with Kate. It is a joy to celebrate with Kate.

John and Shannon live in a really gorgeous part of the country. Everything was green, and gave us a welcome break from winter white. Rory spent much of his time walking around their place with the camera and took some glorious pictures.

blog logged

I'm behind on my blog. So backed up that I'm overwhelmed at all I want to cover. I told Rory I am blog logged and he thought that was clever. And then he told me to just break it all up into lots and lots of posts. So that's what I'm going to try to do...with the hopes that I can get things free flowing again.

I had to include this picture because seriously, how great is my haircut? It even looks nice when it's all wind blown and rained on. Let's hear it again for Kari, the girl at juut who gave me this mama-easy-hair-do.

next stop: san francisco

Dear Taylor,

Dear Taylor,
UPS Delivery just called and said they're parked outside of your apartment. I am assuming you are in unit 303, since this was the number listed by the call sheet in the entry way. Just thought I'd pass the message along. Hope you get your package.
Sincerely,
Becca

Stars and Dots, Limes and Balloons

I was thinking about one of my very best birthdays. I was in 7th grade and it was the year of the balloons. In middle school all of your friends would bring one Mylar helium balloon to school so that all day long you could parade the fact that it was your birthday. Being a great fan of my own birthday, I had made sure everyone knew my birthday was coming up. Also working to my advantage was the fact that I was friends with a lot of people from a lot of different social circles. When I showed up to school that morning the balloons kept coming and I ended up with a huge balloon bouquet- one of the biggest I had ever seen at Scott Highlands Middle School- and proudly walked them through the halls with me from class to class.

It was a big deal. I remember feeling loved and remembered and popular. I loved those balloons.

But a funny thing happened just three days later. That day it happened to be one of my dearest friends birthday. She was one of the most loyal friends I have ever had. Her birthday came and there were only three of us who brought her balloons. And all day long she had to bring those three sorry balloons with her to all of her classes.

I felt her embarrassment, and the whole day was uncomfortable.

Those balloons remind me a lot of the stars and dots the Wemmicks give each other in Max Lucado’s children’s book, “You are Special.” The good Wemmicks who can do tricks and use big words and make others laugh are given stars from the other Wemmicks. But the ones who don’t perform well are given dots because “everyone knows, they’re not really good Wemmicks.”

That year the veil was lifted in a pretty profound way for me as I watched my bedroom full of mylar balloons begin to droop. Somehow those balloons had become something so much more than balloons and I didn’t like it. It knew it wasn’t right.

I was like Amy in Little Women, fixated on her limes, “It’s nothing but limes now, for everyone is sucking them in their desks in schooltime, and trading them off for pencils, bead rings, paper dolls, or something else, at recess. If one girl likes another, she gives her a lime. If she’s mad with her, she eats one before her face, and doesn’t offer even a suck.” (chapter 7)

Isn’t it amazing how we seem to be able to pick such arbitrary objects to fixate our affections? God must go crazy sometimes trying to keep up with our ridiculous fads. Limes for Amy, balloons for Becca…and in the end it is all so silly. And sad. Makes me wonder what my current day “balloons” are…and makes me want to pop those idols real fast.

today's the day



I'm celebrating 30 years today. So crazy. And so good. I like where I'm at in life and don't feel too taken aback by such a number. I feel strongly that a woman is her most beautiful between 35 and 45, so the best is yet to come. This means I might be a wreck on my 45th birthday. But not on this one.
I've seen this done a lot on various blogs as a way to mark the year and to set goals for the 365 days ahead. So here is my list of 30 hopes in my 30th year.

(And, a tip from my mom: When you make a list, it is always important to write down a few things that you have already done that day so that you can cross things off the list to get your engines fired up. You'll notice a few of these are already done. Go me!)

1. New hair color and style
2. Host a Favorite Things party
3. Join the Y
4. Learn how to use the manual mode on our camera
5. Make a small quilt
6. Keep a prayer journal
7. Use my water colors
8. Join a creative arts club
9. Create a place where Bible can stay out all the time
10. Make modge podge art scenes
11. Collect frames for wall collages
12. Print pics, fill frames and hang on the wall
13. Paint the bedroom
14. Make this kind of bread15. Pick color scheme for wardrobe overhaul
16. Finish and print 2010 digi scrapbook pages
17. Make lemon ice and eat it with my sister
18. Get a consistent plan together for visiting Mount Olivet Home

19. Honor the Sabbath
20. Eat more veggies
21. Write and mail letters by hand
22. Introduce Ivar to Lake Superior
23. Make cupcakes with large decorating tip
24. Try a few new soup recipes
25. Find a monthly mom's group
26. Keep writing
27. Make a picture slide show for Grandma's party
28. Present my 'Passing on the Faith' workshop
29. Frequent the library
30. Grow fresh herbs

29 accomplishments in my 29th year

Tomorrow I turn 30. I'm excited. And I'm also reflective. I just went through my blog, pulling out 29 favorite accomplishments. They are, and in no particular order:

Grew a life inside of me
Attempted once-a-month-cooking
Put on 45 pounds, took off 35
Stopped talking on my cell phone while driving almost entirely
Hired 70 incredible college students for camp ministry
Enjoyed the bounty of a patio garden
Backed up my computer…on my own!
Realized the key to warm feet is thick socks
Survived labor and found an inner strength I never knew
Took thousands of pictures and actually printed some of them
Put together an adorable nursery
Made a rainbow cake and shared it with my sistah's
Realized I have journaled my entire life
Learned how to knead dough (sort of)
Organized a parade
Shared a hotel room with a stranger
Spoke at an adult retreat
Moved states
Read a new favorite: Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Received all sorts of mama and fatherly wisdom
Launched and failed "becca-anna's banana's"
Watched this video countless times
Scrapbooked on the computer
Baby-mooned on the North Shore
Celebrated 5 years of marriage
Rested
Discovered Trader Joes
Was celebrated and supported big time
Grew in love in ways I never knew possible

It was a good year, 29. Thanks for being so good to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another decade to report to.

a guest blog post

I recently ran into a life-long Mt. Carmel friend (best surprise ever) at Ikea in the candle and vase area. We wondered together if the candles were any good from Ikea, because the price was amazing. Well, Rene got to the bottom of this one for us and I thought I'd share her findings :)

Today she sent me an email with the subject line: "If I had a blog..." and her first line was, "...Today's entry would be this: (thought you might like to know)"

Take it away Rene!

LIGHT A CANDLE FROM IKEA

Last weekend I purchased an orange (melon-smelling) candle from IKEA for $1.99

Since I like candles and have tried a few different brands over the years, here is my review.

(show photo here - before burning)

I would give it an A+ for the price

a B for the 'clean melting down the sides' ability (but do think I can recycle the glass jar when done - IKEA suggests using it for their votives, of course they are trying to sell you more stuff)

an A- for the smell - it was good, but have you ever tried a Colonial Candle? YUM! (But you do pay for that wonderful smell!)

(another photo of half burnt candle)

So, I think these 3 grades average out to an A-. Go ahead, pick one up on your next trip to IKEA. It's well worth it for the price!

This is some helpful stuff. I do believe I will be zippin over to Ikea one of these days for some A- candles of my own.

Exponential Improvement

I have a friend who had a baby recently and I shared this story with her in an email as a bit of mama-encouragment that life will get a bit more "normal" with time...

Ivar got his four month shots today and I was in awe at my improved state of wellness since the last time we were there. I remember for his two week check up I could hardly make it to the check in counter. Rory was holding everything and I hobbled to the elevator slow as molasses. Then for the two month check up, Rory still held the carrier and diaper bag as I made my way to the elevator at his same pace. But I was exhausted that day. And so happy to have him there.

But today, Rory and I met at the clinic. I got there first and I carried Ivar and his many props in, took the stairs even, and couldn't believe the exponential improvement I have experienced since this little boy was born. I wouldn't have believed it at month one or even at month two, but it’s like my energy has doubled each month since having Ivar. I still need naps occasionally, and I still wonder what it might be like to get an uninterrupted night’s sleep in, but on the whole? Well, I actually think I’m going to make it!

the snowy day

We took Ivar out to play in the snow. It lasted for three minutes and consisted of a photoshoot and an attempt at a baby snow angel. It was a fun introduction and has me excited for the day we can build forts together. His little outfit reminds me of The Snowy Day. I might need to go and find the board book version of this favorite...

6:40 am

Dear 6:40,
What's up? Actually, I can tell you what's up. We are. Our whole family. And the truth is, 6:40, we don't need to be. But there is a little fella in our family who seems to want to greet you each day, and it's crimpin my style. He loves you though. Greets you with a smile and a happy disposition. I'm afraid I can't say the same.

I know this isn't a super early wake-up time for a lot of the world. But I also know that a lot of the world doesn't have to get up so often during the night and wrestle wiggly legs into a clean diaper and sit upright while a belly is filled.

So 6:40, let's just part ways and hang out in the pm. I'd be happy to appreciate you then.
Sincerely,
Becca