julia child

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."


"You'll never know everything about anything,  especially something you love."


"I discovered that when one follows the artist's eye one sees unexpected treasures in so many seemingly ordinary scenes."


"If you don't pick your audience, you're lost because you're not really talking to anybody."


"Everything in moderation... including moderation."

open quote cred

half birthday

We recently celebrated your half birthday, little one.  How can that be?  How are you through half a year already?  Well, I can tell you one thing.  It's been some of the best six months of our lives with you here.  You're so great.  Right now you are rolling all over the place.  I'm sure crawling all over the place is not far behind.  You are so sweet and you love the morning.  Most mornings you wake up cooing to yourself in your bed to let us know you're awake.  And when we finally do get you out of bed, you smile so big at us that we laugh and provide commentary for you.  It's as if you're saying "This is my best day!"  You've officially started eating.  Mostly just rice, but you'll try anything and everything we hand you.  You've gotten pretty good at letting us help you drink from a glass.  I joke that it may be because you're not aware of your baby state--and assume you're just like us with a few drawbacks (not walking for instance..)  You finally met most of mom's side of the family for New Years and you were so sweet and excited.  Especially to meet your cousin Mary who's just over a month older than you.  The most frequent comment we received about you was concerning your distinctive eyebrows and your obvious strength.  You're tall like you're Daddy.  You love to scream and make monster noises.  You are interested in just about everything.  And we love you.

forever and ever,

mom and dad

new year

communicate better.  communicate more.  eat whole real foods.  bake more.  cook more.  experiment more.  read.  fall into the scriptures.  keep a pen in hand when you read them.  find a schedule; make a routine.  then stick to it as closely as you are able.  put more heart into your callings.  respond quickly to promptings.  especially when it involves contacting others.  get out of the house.  get outside as often as you can.  help Peter to see the outdoors and try and inspire his own connection to being outside.   keep flowers in the house. doodle.  draw.  write.  collage.  worry less about what others think of you.  put more emphasis on what God thinks and what Ian thinks of you.  expand your comfort zone.  and do so by getting out of your comfort zone.  move.  exercise.  reach out.  try.  be.

photo cred.

captured

This.  Picture.

As soon as I took it I knew it would be one of those moments I was happy to have captured.  It makes my heart swell.  I think the same happened to Ian after he first saw it.  There is so much in Peter's face, looking up at his dad.  Looking up to his dad.  Already.

Ian and I celebrated five years of marriage this week.  I could do the usual post;  a picture of a younger us, on our wedding day.  But I thought this picture suited best for right now.  There's something I like to do that I call "edit," in my life.  I can't remember when it started.  But for a long time now, I'll look at a moment in my life and I'll think... what if my younger self could have seen this.  And I quickly "edit" a picture in my mind of what I would have thought had I seen this special moment in the past.  So for this anniversary post, I want to "edit" this moment into my question of what five years from when I was first married would look like.  If I could have seen this photo five years ago... no doubt I'd have a swollen heart then as well.

Because it would be evidence of my dreams continuing to come true.  It shows Ian and I safe and happy with a healthy, beautiful son.  Oh, how this picture would have comforted me!  There is so much to look forward to in it!

And the romantic in me must say: this picture reminds me that Ian has been the means by which all my dreams have come true so far.  And I have an inkling that that will only continue.  

I love you Ian Fyffe.  

Cheers to five years and on to eternity

o, christmas tree

I love our tradition of buying a tree in town for Christmas!  These little places are so friendly and always let me take their trimmings for extra decoration at home.  I think I'll make a wreath with them one of these years.  We were super excited to take Peter along this time around, recognizing that last time we got a tree he was just a special secret no one but us was aware of yet.  Too bad he slept through it.

But no matter.  It still counts.