Our New Home

So we moved last weekend. And I am so, so happy with our new home. I am grateful that we found it, that we went with our gut instinct and held off on committing to the other house we were considering, and that we are now living here. I am grateful for our new back yard, complete with vegetable garden and a lawn for the kiddos. I am grateful for the huge increase in living space, including an entire room for which we have no furniture. I am grateful that Landon and I have been able to come to compromise on the new spaces and the way in which they will be used. I am grateful for my new, much larger kitchen and all the empty cupboard space. I am grateful to not be sharing any walls with people other than my own family. I am grateful for my garage and being able to park out of the hot Sacramento sun. I will soon be grateful for my garage and being able to park out of the winter rain. : ) I am grateful for the big soaking tub in the master bedroom where Landon loves to take baths (he's already taken 3 since Friday!). I am grateful for our "no kids allowed" room where I can craft without having to worry about getting everything out and then put everything away before the kids can get to it. I am grateful for our playroom and that Landon was able to convince me that using the space as a playroom was the right thing.
I'm so excited and so happy and so grateful for our new home!

A Good Man...

... is exactly what I have found in my husband. A good man. A great husband. An amazing father. Boy, am I lucky!
I am really good at taking photos regularly of my kids, but not as great at getting out the video camera. That one happens in bursts generally, and I am usually inspired by watching my great husband be an amazing father. The other day, Landon was playing with our kids. He was hiding under a blanket and letting them "find" him. He was also being a monster(?), roaring every time the kids discovered him again. They were clearly loving every minute of it. So I sneaked upstairs to get the camera and hid on the landing, capturing the play in (momentary) secret.
And while I like to think that capturing these moments on dvd is about preserving memories for my children, I'm going to be more honest with myself and you for a minute. It's really about me falling in love with my husband all over again. It's really me remembering why I held onto that man tenaciously through many growing pains, fights and separations. It's really me appreciating the heck out of this very good man I have the privilege of being married to.
Much to Landon's chagrin, I often find myself telling him how sexy I think he is while I am recording him and the kids. I know he's worried about the comments "messing up" these memories we're preserving for the kids, but really, I think it's important for our kids to know how much we love each other and how much we appreciate each other (bodies and all). My kids will understand, one day, that the physical aspect of a marriage is important too, and hopefully they will feel similarly attracted to their spouses.
And so today, I am grateful for a good man. A great man. An amazing, mind-bogglingly sexy man.

keeping perspective

Sometimes it feels like I'm caught in a storm, and there is water coming at me from all directions. I can't see where to go to get out of the rain. I feel lost, confused and a little scared. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by how small and insignificant I am. I feel entirely incapable of the tasks that lay ahead, waiting for me to figure out how to tackle them. Sometimes I feel like I've sat down to an elephant for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. 'Cause that elephant ain't gonna eat itself. And then I remember my mom telling me that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
Maybe I am unique in my tendency to feel overwhelmed by life. I like to believe that I'm not, but I guess I don't really know for sure. The fact of the matter is, though, I am often feeling overwhelmed. And when I feel overwhelmed by life, my tendency is not to go out and take on the day. My tendency is leaning more towards taking a nap. Mess around on the computer. Hide. And, as I already mentioned, those elephants just don't eat themselves. So it's important for me to keep perspective.
It's important for me to remember that I'm blessed. Lucky. In my marriage. In my children. In my family and friends. In my finances. In my place of residence. In my home country. In nearly every imaginable way, I am incredibly lucky to be who I am. And while there is much yet for me to learn, ways I need to grow, the only way to do it is one small step at a time.
Perhaps I'll never be the kind of person who is excited by challenges or motivated by obstacles, but I know I can finish an elephant if I take it one bite at a time.