On Our Way To Crazy

So. Blogging. I miss it.

I spent most of 2011 growing the cutest baby there has ever been. It was also my busiest and biggest year professionally. I decided about halfway through that I wasn’t going to feel bad about not keeping this thing up. I was writing, just not anything I wanted to share. So I kept up my good things lists and called it good.

I’d like to get back in the habit, though. I want to make a point to record what’s happening around here and what’s going on in my head. I’m already two months in to this mothering thing and I want to remember how it’s going. So far it’s a blur of waking up at all hours and Brothers and Sisters reruns and baby cheeks and coffee ice cream.

So we’ll see.

I am really excited about this year. Life with our little girl has been pretty amazing so far. She’s so awesome. Lots of fun things are on the horizon personally and professionally. I’m learning how to be a mom and a pastor at the same time. I’m trying to figure out how to still be me and not just be Campbell’s mom.

Does WordPress have an app? Can I blog from my phone at 3am? That might help me make this happen.

There were a few days in November, and then this happened.

Campbell Louise Manes, born November 6, 2011 at 1:18am
9 pounds, 21.5 inches
super awesome

So I could make a list, but they would all be the same. Hung out with Campbell. Took a nap, fed Campbell. Spent a lot of time looking at Campbell and talking about how awesome she is. Kissed Campbell’s fat little cheeks.

I have lots more to say about it all. Maybe one day I’ll actually post about it.

She totally rules.

Nov 1 – Ribs and brisket tacos with friends for Aaron’s birthday.
Nov 2 – We voted. None of our people won. Business as usual.
Nov 3 – Cried my freaking eyes out during Friday Night Lights.
Nov 4 – Interesting conversation in class about expectations.
Nov 5 – Fun (wine-y, crabcake-y) meeting of the Super Secret Women’s Committee before a great night of massages and beauty treatments at the women’s retreat and a staff sleepover.
Nov 6 – My team almost won the icebreaker game on retreat day two.
Nov 7 – BEAUTIFUL service at church. I cried both times.
Nov 8 – Great, honest discussion with youth parents about sex and dating.
Nov 9 – Had a super tough conversation in the morning, then saw Back to the Future at the movie theater in the evening. It helped.
Nov 10 – Coffee and crepes with a friend, chili and beer with friends. Great food and relationships day.
Nov 11 – Sickness tried to take me down but I beat it back with Gilmore Girls reruns and chai.
Nov 12 – Heard our friends play a great show in a fun little coffee shop.
Nov 13 – The kids cleaned a community center from top to bottom and then we ate pizza and watched Adventure Now.
Nov 14 – Football and naps.
Nov 15 – We had a really great responsive prayer and request time with the kids.
Nov 16 – Homemade pumpkin whoopie pies! So delicious.
Nov 17 – Dinner with old friends. Delicious enchiladas, excellent Scott Hamilton jokes.
Nov 18 – NYWC begins! Went to a seminar on sticky faith that blew my mind.
Nov 19 – Fun day with a new volunteer, David Crowder and Kara Powell.
Nov 20 – Chinese food and HARRY POTTER with Aaron.
Nov 21 – Learned about Bible storying and prayer exercises. Also, Tony Campolo. Also also, Jars of Clay. Also also also, old school youth group singalong. Grin again gang get greatly gung ho about Jesus.
Nov 22 – Great conversation about ministry with special needs kids.
Nov 23 – Lunch and Thanksgiving shopping trip with Aaron.
Nov 24 – Cleaning, pie baking, decorating, general relaxation and fun.
Nov 25 – Rock Em Sock Em table gifts, fun new friends, cheesy olive puffs, breakdancing babies.
Nov 26 – Rigged the family Christmas name draw in my favor.
Nov 27 – Dinner and a fun night with friends.
Nov 28 – Delicious lunch with some old friends who are new to our church.
Nov 29 – The youth group spent $1500 in half an hour on gift donations for the holidays. SO FUN.
Nov 30 – I managed to cram $1500 in gift donations into my car and get them delivered. SO FUN.

1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AARON!

I am so glad he’s my person. There’s not much I can think of that’s better than getting to live with my best friend, especially when he’s a guy who makes delicious pancakes and has excellent taste in jokes and appreciates the beauty of both Friday Night Lights and The Rachel Zoe Project.

2. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We don’t do the Halloween dress up thing so much around here. But this year some new friends invited us to a party and we decided to go. I went round and round with ideas, trying to find something funny and timely and not too difficult to assemble. The answer? Antoine Dodson.

3. HAPPY NABLOPOMO!

I’m trying it again, friends. One post every day for the month of November. So, you know, that should pretty much equal the total number of posts I’ve written so far this year. Wish me luck!

Remember way back when we had four whole months before thirty? And we had big plans for all the things we were going to get done in those four months? And we had no idea how INSANE life was about to get? Man. Those were good days.

So I’ve been thirty for a month and two days. I… did not get the list done. Not even close. So it has a new title and some redefined expectations. Let’s see how it goes.

30 Things to At Least Attempt To Do in the Year I Turn 30

1. Make fresh pasta from scratch.
2. Roast a whole chicken. – Oh. This is definitely happening. Bring it on, fall.
3. Run three miles.
4. Figure out how to curl my hair. – OK. Here’s the thing. I know how to get my hair to look like this. It takes a thousand hours and a gallon of hairspray, but I can do it. I have also figured out how to make it do a cool wave thing thanks to some how-to youtube videos. (Did you know about those? They exist. FOR EVERYTHING.) What I still do not know how to do is make my hair HOLD the curls I put into it, and I don’t know it that is going to happen. My hair starts out super curly at 9 and is stick straight by 4. I don’t know how to fix that.
5. Practice Meatless Mondays. – Ha! I tried to do this one, I really did. And I stuck to it for a few weeks. But I kept forgetting it was Monday! Seriously, I would finish a chicken salad at lunch and then realize it was Monday. Poor planning on my part.
6. Refinish a piece of furniture.
7. Create a photo/art collage wall in our dining room. – I bought frames! That’s it so far. Sorry, dining room.
8. Grow something edible. – Nope. Although I did water Susan’s plants for a week, and she has eaten from them. Does that count? It’s probably the best I’m gonna do this year.
9. Learn how to use my Diana camera. – I really want to do this one. Maybe the cooler weather will get me outside and practicing.
10. Submit two articles and/or bible studies to youth publications. – Ohhhh, y’all. The depths of my neuroses on this one could be a week’s worth of posts. I have a ton of ideas, but then I am completely overwhelmed by them, by my (lack of?) writing skills, by fear that no one will find what I think useful or interesting.
11. Make real brisket. – I REALLY want to do this. Good football food.
12. Go to the zoo. – It was too freaking hot this summer to go to the zoo. But I have a real day off and a coupon in my life now. Plus the zoo just got flamingos.
13. Line the back of my bookshelves in a cool paper. – This was a great idea in theory. It really was. I love the look of papered shelves. But I have two problems here. My shelves aren’t very tall, meaning there’s not a lot of space between the top of the book and the bottom of the next shelf. You wouldn’t see much paper. More importantly, though, my shelves are cheapos from IKEA and I’m afraid if I remove the backs the whole thing will fall apart. And we can’t have that.
14. Make an apple pie from scratch.
15. Make an appliqué t-shirt.
16. Go to a laser concert at the Adventure Science Center.
17. Read five classic novels I haven’t read before.

• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
• Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

18. Open an IRA. - This is a maybe for this year due to some unforeseen circumstances. I know I need to. I really do. But we also need to eat.
19. Go to a drive-in movie.
20. Learn to make sushi. – Let’s be honest. This is probably not going to happen.
21. Make baklava from scratch. – Aaron really loves this stuff. It would be wrong to skip it.
22. Write random notes to 30 people. – I am trying hard to make this one happen. I’ve done about ten. We’ll see.
23. Attend Rock and Roll Trivia Night at Mercy Lounge.
24. Spend a whole day outside with nothing but books and a notepad. – The upcoming swing of cooler days is just calling out for completing this task.
25. Pay for someone’s food in a drive thru.
26. Take a nap in a hammock. – Do any of you guys have a hammock?
27. Make a piece of jewelry for myself.
28. Put together our wedding album.
29. Attend an art crawl.
30. Go to the Bluebird Café.

So… thirteen completed, five removed from the list due to an excess of ambition, three at least slightly in progress, nine left to go. Will I do it? Who knows. I will keep you posted.

I could write you a super boring essay about all the reasons why I’ve been so bad at blogging. Busy, lots of life changes happening, new computer, abducted by aliens, blah blah blah. But instead, I will tell you a little story to illustrate the insanity that has been my brain lately.

I try to keep notes on my phone when I think of things to blog about… funny things that happen, books I’ve read, what’s going on in my life. But I am really bad at going back and looking at that list and actually writing about those things while they’re still fresh in my mind.

Case in point: I just found a note to myself. Apparently I had some really weird dreams one night and I wanted to share them with you, so I wrote down some key words to help me remember. Because my dreams are totally what you want to read about.

DREAMS I HAD:
1. camp wardrobe parking lot naked
2. wedding rain no groom pizza
3. mini pony little mexican wrestlers

I have a feeling, though, that these would be good ones. If only I could remember the stories.

Because I feel like the last few weeks (months? years?) have been crazy full of stress and frustration and heaviness, today we are going to talk about something fun. Shoes.

I love shoes. I know it’s a stereotypical girly thing to say, but it’s true. I love shopping, I love clothes, I love shoes. I just do. I can’t help it.

Lucky for me, I don’t have expensive taste. I mean, sure, if I could afford it I would buy nicer shoes. More real leather instead of plastic-y fake stuff. Some sturdier heels. Maybe something that doesn’t tear my feet up for the first few wears. Or all the wears.

So maybe you’ve got some extra cash on you. Maybe you really, really like me, and you want to buy me a present. Or maybe you’ve had a rough few weeks too and you need to buy something for yourself. Or just look at pretty pictures.

Flat? Ankle-strap? Peeptoe? So adorable.

I need another pair of flats like I need a hole in my head.

These are way too tall for me. But they are also $24. I am torn.

Turquoise suede! Are you kidding me with this?

I hate wearing t-straps and have absolutely no use for these in my life. And yet. I want.

Completely impractical. Completely awesome.

Are you watching Glee? I know people either love it or hate it. (Or don’t care about it either way.) (Which I guess is true about everything. So maybe not so interesting.) I love everything about it. I love the characters, I love the songs, I love Mr. Schuester. It makes me cry every week. EVERY WEEK. If Glee was a movie, it would be one of my all-time favorites.

We went to the flea market the day after Thanksgiving. The flea market is an amazing place. I got three vintage necklaces for $5, which was awesome, but our big find was actually a gift for our niece. This guys was selling old block letters from a printing press, do you know the kind I’m talking about? They are big wooden blocks with letters carved out of the tops, and the letters are backwards so you can print with them. Anyway, we spelled out her name (Olivia) with those letters and are going to glue them together to make a nameplate for her. Because her name is pretty symmetrical, only the L is backwards. I’m not gonna lie, it’s adorable.

I am pretty convinced that I could be an awesome furniture refinisher. A couple of weeks ago I made Aaron pull over on the side of the road so I could pick up an old desk that had a big FREE sign on it. I want to sand it down and paint it. We’ll see if it happens.

The problem is that I just want to buy a bunch of furniture. The flea market is a bad place for someone like me. If I had gone alone I would have come home with a trailer full of tables and lounge chairs and lamps that all just need ‘a bit of fixing up’. It’s a problem.

I love the prep days in advance of holidays. Making shopping lists, baking, planning parties, wrapping gifts. It’s almost a disappointment when the actual event rolls around.

Tonight we had care group. We got to go to a friend’s house, sit around with people we love, eat cookies and just hang out. And we didn’t have to do anything to make it happen. Letting go of being in charge of that group was the best decision we’ve made in a while.

The band makes a video every week to post on their website. They are really funny guys, so the videos tend to be pretty funny as well. But the one this week has a moment that made me SMOKER LAUGH. Like I was actually in pain after I saw it because it hurt my chest to laugh like I did. You can watch the video here, and pay particular attention right at the end. The guy who at around 2:40 says “I think I saw that” is the one who you see at 2:41. I realize that it might not be as funny if you don’t know them, but oh my gosh, I laughed so hard.

I am so glad there’s only one more day in November. I love writing, I really do. But I am tired of trying to put something together at midnight in order to keep it up. I am glad to be almost done. Thanks for reading.