organized nesting

My "nesting" period has definitely begun as we prepare to move out of one nest and make arrangements for moving into the Minnesota nest. Because I can't lift heavy things (splendid timing, I believe) I have created a system that should make this move as smooth as possible. Each box has a nametag on it telling which room, and often times which part of the room I want it to end up in, as well as a list of what is inside.

I know everyone labels their boxes when they move, but honest to goodness, the picture above just makes my heart happy. Something about the uniform nametags and the obvious contents written on each one... I am an organized girl, and I love a good system and this move is fulfilling both of those loves.

(This picture was taken a week ago. Believe me, this pile of boxes has grown and will continue to grow with more lovely-labeled boxes.)

good neighbor award

I found this on my counter when we returned from our week vacation in Minnesota. Joan is our neighbor lady who came by our place occasionally to play with our cat while we were gone, and she's the kind of lady who keeps you in mind even while she's at a garage sale. Now I've got the stuff to make more alphabet crayons! She also reads my blog. (Hi Joan!) Joan has served as my Nebraska mom and saying goodbye will be hard. She is also the one who gave our cat, Toonces, a new nickname. She said once, "Sometimes I can't remember his name so I just call him Tuna."

(here's the cat Toonces is named after.)

30 weeks!

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant and I feel like celebrating. Seems like a big milestone, a good landmark-type number and another week closer to baby.

I got to go to a baby shower yesterday for a girl at church and I realized that attending a baby shower when you are pregnant is similar to attending a wedding when you are engaged. I was so excited for every gift she opened, so interested in what was given and what it is used for, so happy for her and her baby girl.

While we were there a church friend started talking about Kelley Ryden. Kelley is a local Omaha photographer who specializes in newborns (thanks Stacy for the link!). Check out the picture above! I don't even get how this is possible...to have newborn arms support a newborn head?!! But apparently lots of babies can do it because she has lots of pictures (AMAZING pictures) on her site. Check out here site here and her blog here. Wowza.

***

Yesterday, Rory and I watched Father of the Bride 2, the one where Annie and her mom are both pregnant. At one point, Steve Martin is having all sorts of flash backs of his little girl throughout the years and realizing that she is now going to have her own little baby. Rory was looking at the screen and remarked, "this could be touching if it wasn't so cheesy." And then he looked over at me, a mess of crocodile tears, falling apart before his very eyes. I felt so busted and we laughed good and hard...and then my laughs turned back into tears. I ended up crying through the rest of the movie with Rory giggling and telling me repeatedly how he loves the pregnant Becca so much.

big balloons in the sky

We were driving to half-price books on Saturday night and found our hot air balloon friends again! There is a local group that goes out together and last year we were pretty good about following their schedule and watching them take off. But this was the first we spotted them this year.



It's a really calm and amazing thing to watch. I'm still not sure if I'd be game for going up in one...for some reason I can't quite get past the fact that you're basically swinging from a basket, suspended in the air by fire and hot air, dodging electrical wires. Rory said he'd go up though, and I suppose I would go if he would go...

We took this super-excited-cheesey picture and I find it quite fitting since lately I have been feeling rather balloon-like myself...

celebrity

I just emailed Ali Edwards a quick question regarding the type case picture display that I made. My pictures keep falling out, so I wondered what kind of adhesive she used to mount her pictures to the wooden frame.

She emailed me back within 60 seconds. And I about fell out of my chair. I admire her stuff so much, copy her projects so often (flattery, right?) and appreciate her spin on memory keeping.

A while back I emailed Cathy Zielske a question about where to order my Monthly album pages and when she replied I screamed and told Rory to "Get in here! You'll never believe who emailed me back!"

It's so funny how excited I got with both of these email replies. I know that in the greater world out there most people would say, "Ali who?" "And Cathy does what again?" But in the niche that I frequent, the niche that I love hanging out in, these women are huge and I really admire their work.

(I also think it's interesting to note that celebrities used to mainly be actors and rockstars...but now with blogs and youtube, celebrities can really pop up anywhere, as a tribe (thank you Seth Godin) can form around any particular interest or topic.)

I have seen many people meet my sister-in-law Sara. She's a singer and when fans get to meet her they often want to convey volumes of how her music has influenced their life, helped them through dark seasons and motivated them to take an active role in God's kingdom. And so often, when they finally get to the front of the line to tell Sara all of these things they end up tongue tied and awkward. (The funny thing is that when I was with Sara one time, we met Beth Moore, and I watched Sara herself become the one who was trying to convey years worth of learnings into one short conversation. And she was struggling to get the words out just like I had seen her fans struggle to get their words out while meeting her.)

It's so difficult, because at the core, I think we each want to say to these people: You have changed the way I see things and do things. I have been affected by your contribution to the world. I am inspired and now to want to contribute honest, thoughtful things too.

***

Anyway, these are just my thoughts while I'm trying to process the fact that my excited head is still screaming on repeat, "Ali Edwards replied to me! Ali Edwards replied to me!"

And speaking of inspiring people, remind me sometime to tell you about the time I met Leslie Nielsen at the Phoenix airport. That might be the end-all-be-all to starstruck interactions. :)