Mama Bear

Proverbs 31 reminds us to
honor {our mother} for all that her hands have done
and last Sunday that's exactly what we did.

Instead of her cleaning the house and preparing a family meal for us,
we celebrated my mom with a quaint Sunday morning brunch at our house:
mimosas, a simple quiche, mini OB bagel sandwiches, fresh fruit,
chocolate covered strawberries and snickerdoodle cupcakes for dessert.

We gifted her a darling tea box
enjoyed a mother-daughter trip to Home Goods,
and snuggled as we shared in the morning together.

What a blessing to be my mother's daughter.
She's generous and kind, creative and hospitable,
discerning and wise.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.
I love you.

To Honor Her (and her)

My friend Tracy, said it so perfectly: "There is a specific time in a daughter's life when she realizes she wants to be a good woman. And there is a time right before that occasion when she realizes it is because of her mother and who she has been to her and what she has taught her to be."

This year, we had the pleasure of honoring two loving moms on Mother's Day.

Meet: Holly She's beautiful, insanely creative, and a loyal friend. She's hospitable, selfless, and overflowing with generosity. She has the gift of discernment.

Today, we showered her with love by taking her out to brunch at one of her favorite places on the beach: Jake's Del Mar. I made her an apron of her own and found a darling personalized stamp that is oh-so perfect for her (Unfortunately, the stamp won't be here until tomorrow... but I can't wait(!) to give it to her.)


Now Meet: Tina.
She's kind and gentle. She's full of love and support. And she's one fun lady to hang out with.

Today, we welcomed her and the rest of the family for dinner. We even had the special treat of having Gloria (Mike's mom) in town.
I made prosciutto-wrapped chicken with mozzarella and fresh basil, grilled asparagus, fresh berries and my own version of the classic Waldorf salad. We also enjoyed homemade lemon poppy seed scones and snickerdoodle cupcakes as we sipped coffee/tea and played a mean game of Mexican train.And of course, the ladies loved their Anthro tea cups. -- or "Apothecary" as Tina calls it ;-)It was the perfect day to celebrate two wonderful women in our lives!

It's OK to be Counting Sheep

I often read blog posts about people and their dreams.

"I'm so thankful my husband believes in my dreams, too."
"We spent hours discussing our goals and dreams."
"I'm living my dream and I couldn't be happier."

And it gets me thinking, almost daily: what is my dream?

Why aren't I discussing it, living it, and making sure my husband supports it? If I died today, what dream would I have for people to carry on in my honor?

I've come to the conclusion that: I don't have one.

I don't have that one big goal I've been working towards all my life. It's not like I've always wanted to be a teacher, nor have I always wanted to start my own business. As much as it'd be fun, I don't see myself up-routing and traveling the world.

And after months (and I mean months!) of pondering, I've decided that's okay.

I have smaller dreams.

And I think about those all the time. And my husband believes I can achieve them. And I'm starting to live them.

Sheep #1: Love God and Love Others
Sheep #2: Learn to Sew
Sheep #3: Craft for a Wedding
Sheep #4: Sell on Etsy
Sheep #5: Become a Better Wife
Sheep #6: Spend a Month Living Abroad
Sheep #7: Give Pitching Lessons Again
Sheep #8: Be a Stay-@-Home Mom for 2 Children
Sheep #9: Volunteer at a Youth Summer Camp for a Week
Sheep #10: Buy a House and Make it a Home (in San Diego)
Sheep #11: Climb Half Dome
Sheep #12: Take a Dance Class
Sheep #13: Lead a Group for Mom's
Sheep #14: Win an Award at Work
Sheep #15: Learn to Speak Italian

The Creative Learner

I've been thinking about babies a LOT lately.

It's funny how I never wanted to have anything to do with babies until I got married. Yeah, sure the whole process is a little miracle -blah blah blah- but they never really captured my heart. They're boring. They just eat, sleep and cry....
That's changed. Drastically.

Babies make my heart all warm and fuzzy now. So much so that I think about them quite often and relish in that warmth and fuzziness. (Clearly, I'm not a tired parent yet!) It's funny to see, though, how God is preparing my heart to be a mother (a long, long time from now, God willing). I feel like I'm getting more and more maternal every day. Okay fine, at least every month.

I'm excited to create a little being with Jeremiah. I know we're not the ones doing all the creating, but it's just so special to me that God allows us to not only glimpse His creativity, but also to become a part of the creation process.

As a creative being, I love to create. Cards. Crafts. Dinners. Decorations. Stories. I love love love creating. And I feel like becoming a mother is the ultimate in creating. How special.

Being married to someone makes you, well, related to them... but it's a silly kind of related. A lawful kind of related. I often wish Jeremiah and I could prick our fingers, rub our blood together blood-brothers style and become blood-related too. (Don't worry, we won't do that.) Because there's just something even more sacred about being physically related to someone. And to think that a child is the only little thing on the earth that is physically related to both of you knocks my socks off. It's just rad.

And at the same time, I think it's absolutely horrifying to think that the nurses just let you walk off with that precious little soul. Take it home. Then what? Then panic, I suppose. There's no test. No approval process. No required classes. New parents likely have NO clue on earth what they're doing. But you learn. After messing up a hundred times I imagine.