Pape Tart

I was inspired by a friend to start blogging again.  I have no idea if anyone will read these or if I'll be writing them simply for myself... either way, I'm excited to start writing again.
As the title of this post implies, I want to write a bit about my greatest achievement... I am now  a mother.  

Here are 10 things I have learned since becoming a mom:
1. Love at first sight DOES exist.
2. What other people think doesn't matter as much as what your baby needs... changing a diaper, singing a song, pacing around, breastfeeding, etc... wherever you are, you do whatchya gotta do, regardless of who may be watching. 
3. Even a very little baby can sense when their mom is about to eat something... for some reason, they don't like this... they will do whatever they need to do to keep this from happening.  
4. Almost any food can be eaten with just one hand.
5. Newborns cry... a lot... sometimes for no reason.
6. It is perfectly acceptable (and sometimes necessary) to cry along with them.
7. All those things you say you'll never do when you're a parent... you will probably do them.
8. Any song can be a lullaby if you sing it slow enough.
9. Nothing breaks your heart like the sound of your baby crying. Just thinking about it while I type this, my eyes are filling with tears. 
10. There are 1,945,824,692 things that COULD harm your child... you will think about and probably worry over all of them on any given day.  (Seriously, what are the chances the bathtub will fall through the floor and land in the baby's nursery where she is currently napping??  I had that very thought this morning while taking a shower.)

Crossing over...

First of all, I'd like to thank Bryant for giving me the name for this blog... Here's a new challenge for all of you out there who read my blog... I'd like to name each blog entry throughout this creative process something to do with crosses... Bryant was kind enough to give me a few without me even having to ask... LOL.  If any of you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them...no matter how cheesy or cliche they sound, please still share.  And if I choose one of your suggestions to title a blog, I will send you either the project made or a picture of the project if gifting it isn't practical or possible (see the example below of a project that isn't possible to send).  Thanks!!
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Ok...so here's day two of the challenge: Use something that normally annoys/frustrates you.
So, here's a little back story... there are Boysenberries all over the sidewalks downtown.  No one bothers to clean them up, so they turn into mush from people walking over them and attract flies with the stink of rotten fruit.  This wouldn't really be a big deal for me since I don't live downtown.  However, the parking spot I use when I go visit Caleb sits under a Boysenberry tree.  I have cleaned off the spot before only to have it covered with berries again the next day.  I can't avoid walking through the berries when I get out of my car and have, on more than one occasion, been left with purple fruit stains on my feet.  Not to mention, if it's hot and I want to leave my car windows down, I will inevitably come back to a car filled with flies.  Needless to say, these berries drive me absolutely crazy.  Hence, the inspiration for today's project...

I simply took a stick and moved the berries around (between the smell and constantly having to swat flies away, it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be...LOL).  I didn't mean for the circle to end up around the cross, it just happened naturally as I trimmed the sides off.  I like that the cross isn't perfect...it's lopsided, the lines aren't clearly defined and the bottom is considerably wider than the top.  Normally something like this would be impossible for me to accept (something about being slightly O.C.D.).  I have learned that, in art, mistakes can actually make the art more appealing and 'perfect' in its own way.
Isn't this so true of people, too?  I like to think that I've got things pretty well under control in my life (it's ok, go ahead and laugh)... but my lines aren't always clearly defined, at times in my life it seems everything is out of proportion and the 'stink' of my failures can be overwhelming.  However, with just a little rearranging and looking at things from a different perspective, my life can be seen as a work of art.  How cool is that????
So, go ahead... try looking at your life from a different angle, or move things around just a bit and see what a beautiful work of art you are. 

My cross to bear...

So, while up north visiting my sister, Rachel, I found this delightful book at Michael's. 

 The author, Noah Scalin, took 365 days out of his life and made a skull-a-day using different methods... photography, spare pieces of old wrist watches, VHS videos strategically placed, even random food items.  I have decided to take on his challenge to "make something every day and change your life!"... sort of.  I can't guarantee that I will have the time/energy/resources to actually make something EVERY day, but I will sure try. 
He suggests deciding on a 'theme'...he chose skulls...I've chosen crosses.
 
So, here's my day one: Make something out of materials already within your reach.  I happen to be sitting at a table with a catalog on it (don't worry, Mom, it's not one of your Premier catalogs...LOL).  So, here's my first cross creation...

I rolled a piece of paper the long way for the tall part and ripped x's in the right spots, so when I rolled the second piece of paper the short way, I could "easily" push it right through.  It wasn't quite as easy as I first thought, but I'm pretty happy with the result (especially considering I don't have any sort of adhesive already within my reach). 
I'm pretty excited to learn how to create art with different materials/methods.  A bit scared, but excited.  I hope you'll stick with me on this journey and I hope it inspires some of you to 'make something every day and change your life!"

Joy-Bird...

So, I know it's a bit cheesy, but I am actually inspired by the dog that Caleb and I adopted the beginning of April.  Her name is Joy (I call her Joy-Bird, and - much to his chagrin - so does Caleb)... 

She is a beautiful pit bull/terrier mix.  Now, I must admit, I was a bit hesitant about adopting a pit bull.  You hear so many negative things about them and the only ones that I've ever met before have been less than pleasant.  But, as soon as Caleb saw her at the Humane Society, he fell in love... I wasn't far behind him.
 

You can't tell from this pic, but she has only three legs.  One of her back legs had to be amputated the end of last year (we don't know - or care to know - the details behind why).  What you can, sort of, tell is that she is smiling... she gives us this face when we give her a treat, scratch behind the ear that she can no longer reach because of the missing leg, even when we just walk through the door after being gone for a bit.  That's right, she loves us back... : ).

She was rescued by an Animal Control Officer out of somewhere, Indiana, where it is illegal to have pit bulls.  The officer, knowing she would be put to death if brought to the Humane Society down there, personally drove her (and her two brothers) up to the Humane Society of West Michigan.  We have no idea what the man was breeding the dogs for... fighting, selling, loving... it's really anybody's guess at this point.  What we do know, is that Joy is all about the loving.  She is one of the calmest, most affectionate dogs I have ever met.  

Many of you know that I am not a pet person... I have owned pets in the past and those experiences have led me to the conclusion that being a pet owner is not a natural thing for me.  However, Caleb was quite adamant that he wanted a dog.  So, I caved and couldn't be happier with my decision.  

While I haven't always been her biggest fan (the first morning we had her, I was alone at the apartment with her and ended up calling both Caleb and my mother in tears because I just couldn't get her to do anything except make messes all over the apartment).  Since then, Caleb has been great at training both Joy and myself at how to deal with each other and our little family is doing quite nicely.  

Joy has overcome a lot of things in her short life here on earth... almost being euthanized, moving from place to place, losing a leg and being passed on by other owners simply because she has pit bull blood in her.

How many times have we passed over someone or something simply because it wasn't 'perfect'?  How many times have we looked at a situation/relationship/job/ministry and not tried to make it work because it wasn't convenient?  How many times have we given up a task because it was just too hard?  How many times have we given up on something because we didn't want to put forth the extra effort?

How many time have we given up on ourselves because we lack something?  How many times have we let our 'missing leg' keep us from moving onward and upward?  How many times have we used excuses for not giving it our all...for not loving someone/something?  

How many times???

I am me

Wow... it's been a while since I've posted anything on here... sorry, it's been a tough/crazy/busy few weeks.  
I took this picture at Fredrick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.  Something about these plants catches my eye every time I see them.  They aren't the most beautiful plants that I've ever seen, they don't have their own display/description at the Gardens, in fact, I have no idea what they're called, but they remind me that everything is special in its own way.  
It's the same with people.  I may not be as creative as someone else, as witty or as calm and collected, but I am me.  I am not supposed to be like everyone else.  If we were all the same... with the same look, the same level of creativity, the same ability to 'keep the books', the same amount of energy, the same personality... the world would either be really boring or really out of control all the time.  Not my idea of a fulfilling life.  
I am not like everyone or anyone else.  But I'm not supposed to be.  I have often found myself comparing my looks/ability/thriftiness/waist line with others and always ending up discouraged and frustrated.  What is the point???  
God has made me in His image and loves me for me.  What more could a girl ask for???

homemade with love...

My older sister, Rachel, LOVES making things from scratch.  For this, along with many other things, I admire her.  
Most of her family's food is made from scratch and almost every gift she gives was made with her own two hands (or the hands of one or more of her five children).  I love spending time with her and mulling over creative ideas with her.  
Our baby sister recently got married and Rachel knit a beautiful green afghan for her and her husband.  Thus began the afghan wedding gift tradition.  The afghan is the inspiration for this blog post. 

This is a picture of the gift that Rachel is knitting for me and my fiancee, Caleb, for our wedding.  I can't wait to see the completed project and was blown away by the number of stitches involved and how much time and energy Rachel spends working on it.  
What inspires me even more than the generosity of putting her fingers to sleep numerous times a day on a project like this is that she does these things for other people.  She isn't slaving over these potential heirlooms for herself.  She works day and night, creating beautiful works of art, then turns around and passes them on.  
Because of this inspiration, I've decided to pay it forward.  This year, once a month, I will be making something from scratch and sending it on to someone I care about.  Be ye warned, because, while we may share a somewhat similar sense of humor and ability to make grandma rolls disappear in the blink of an eye, I do not share her natural ability to make beautiful/delicious/practical items from scratch.  I will give it my best shot and hope to inspire others along the way.  

New Photo Challenge..

So, I was inspired in a round-about way by my love to up my blog content a bit... I love to post crazy pics, but after talking to him about it realized that these pictures don't really add up to much... don't get me wrong, I am still close with my dad and still love remembering, with fondness, Captain Weiner, but there's got to be more to life than who I'd like to change places with for a day (I mean, at the risk of sounding a bit too much like Keith Urban, I got the one I love beside me, my troubles behind me, I'm alive and I'm free, who wouldn't wanna be me??)

So, with that motivation, I've decided to change my blog a bit... from now on I will be posting pictures that have inspired me in one way or another... some of these photos will be self-taken, some will be ones I've found elsewhere... either way, no more frivolous photos with little meaning to me... on that same note, this means that my blog may or may not have a new post each day, cuz let's face it, somedays it's hard to find anything inspirational around... I work with two wonderful, adorable children who inspire me almost daily, but have a problem posting pics of other people's kids online... something about pedophile predators... 

I'm starting this new blog with a picture of some flowers that, despite the harsh frigid winter days we've been having here in good ol' GR, managed to sprout up in the yard outside Caleb's apartment... and if that weren't inspiring enough, the love of my life picked some of these flowers, planted them in a pot and placed them on our end table for me... 

  We have no idea what kind of flowers they are, or what kind of plant they came off, but I think they're absolutely beautiful... 
So, when the days seem cold and dreary and you just can't wait for warmer brighter days, remember these flowers and be sure to shine no matter what the weather outside is doing... : )