Hey, Baby! It's Cold Outside!

B helping build a church in Belize 2011

Just over three years ago we were in Belize contemplating living in a third-world country.  That part of life seems so far away, especially on mornings like today when the reality of 3 degrees and snow and ice glare at me from the other side of the window.  

Now we are business owners where I am the one out of the house and B stays home to work.  Wow!  Things sure are different!

B plowing the drive with the new (to us) tractor last week

If we didn't have God, I'm not sure how we would have handled or that we could have handled the extreme swings in life over the last 6 years.  

Holiday Wrap Up

Brother-in-law and niece playing carols for us to sing along

karaoke on New Year's Eve 

H-man and I snuggled up

Almost the entire gang

Blurry picture of the brothers with Mom

Sweetness

Scratching his head...where did everyone go?

Ugly Baby

Okay all  you yarn crafters and quilters that I know and love, don't you feel a certain connection with projects when you are finished with them?  Seasoned crafters realize that at some point you have to find good homes with your completed craft because, lets face it, you really can only have so many afghans, quilts, baby booties for no babies, scarves, table runners, etc.  Sometimes we sell our creations and sometimes we get lucky and someone has a birthday, or Christmas, or graduation, or other gift-giving life event so that our "babies" have a good home.  On rare occasions, there are some items that are unique enough and someone gave you the perfect yarn and you plan on keeping that treasure all to yourself.  But, what happens when, like me, you've spent the better part of the summer through fall on this item in your free time and it looks like this?

I love the yarn.  The picture on the pattern makes this neck shawl look so cool.  I blocked it the way I was supposed to, but I think it looks like a clown bib.  Help!  I don't have a circus family member to give this to but I don't want to give it away and I can't think of anyone in their right mind who would pay money for it.

What do you do with your ugly babies?

Truvy's Trichology

After taking some business courses in high school and being impressed by Truvy and her salon in Steel Magnolias, I decided that I wanted to own and operate my own hair salon one day.  (I also decided that my daughter's name would be Shelby, but my cousin beat me to the punch.)  I graduated high school and enrolled in college with a concentration on Business Management.  

Life took some unexpected twists and turns and I ended up finishing one year of college while continuing to work at the hardware store job I'd started in high school.  I worked there until a few months after getting married.  The business "bug" never quite left me.  I excelled at the hardware store and was put in charge of placing the weekly orders, checking in the stock, making special orders for customers and overseeing the cleaning department and I was allowed to extend that department to include specialty orders and attentions and accounts for the new local factories in town.  

Once again, I made choices that focused my attentions elsewhere and further away from my dream of owning a place that felt like Truvy's.  Often I fantasized about going to Beauty School and becoming a stylist--or beautician as it was called when I was younger.  (Now they are "designers".)

Here I am at 40-something and I feel like God has brought me back to where I was supposed to have been had I made different choices at an earlier age--the right choices.  Now I have a salon.  Trichology Salon.  I am at work right now and I love hearing the chatter and giggles and seeing the TLC that my staff gives each guest that walks into our salon.  I may not have the name Truvy, but I sure am blessed to have her salon.  

Trichology Salon
Clay Terrace Mall
Carmel, IN

Transitions

Boys disassembling theater seats.

Moving.  Packing.  Cleaning.  Predicting what will be and fighting to keep things the same during the transition.  Add the hormonal swings of middle aged parents and teenagers mixed with late nights and a "regular" schedule and we have one heck of a volatile cocktail brewing.  I continually pray that we give much grace to one another during these days.

Most of us in the family are planners.  We have one free(er) spirit among us thankfully.  Thank you, H for the comedic relief!  When we have unpredictability or we have differing opinions, the stronger willed or more freaked out of us becomes the squeaky wheel and the rest of us are learning to bend before we break.  I suppose that I am glad that this lesson comes in this way.  Don't we all at some point in our lives have times when we can look back at some transitions that are difficult?  Either they happened more suddenly than expected, leaving us less time to adjust or they are not wanted and we fight them.  It's the people who lent support and worked alongside in the trenches that we hold dear.  My fellow workers are my family and I am so very grateful for their support both in emotion and elbow grease.  I am glad that we can bend together.

Journey

Mr. H and I went to Journey concert as his birthday present

Life is just one big journey, right?  Just when I think I can get comfortable, things change.  Last year about this time, I felt the Lord telling me there was going to be change.  I asked if it was church, house, or job and never really got an answer.  Well, over the last year, we have had our church close its doors, and we've become members of a new church --which we LOVE.  We are buying a new house and moving this month.  B has taken on a consulting job, which isn't great, but is meeting some needs, but we are now looking into purchasing a new business (this is in the very early stages, but looks promising).  I think sometimes that our changes and adventures come in the Texas-big variety.  I'm not complaining, but could use some encouraging words...and maybe a maid.

B fixing some drywall before listing our house

Adding curb appeal with some large pots and hibiscus (cat not included)

Cotillion 2014

Our homeschool group's Cotillion was held the first weekend in May.  I finally have some better photos to post.  This was Mr. H's first Cotillion.  If you look closely, he is actually smiling and having a good time.  Enjoy!

First year with a green screen and added background later.  Is it just me, or do I look
like I could be one of Miss Peregrin's children all grown?  You decide.

Mr. H is smiling!

Mr. C in the Grand March

Miss K (front center) and Grandma and Grandpa W (Gma blue suit and Gpa behind)
helped serve.

Mr. H, back row left.  Mr. C, back row second from right

We did dance, this was a break.