home

I moved back in with my parents. For awhile. I don't really feel like writing about it right now.

What I did want to mention, however, is that my sister Caroline is ENGAGED! To a WONDERFUL man. I am absolutely in awe of Caroline and her fiancée. They are both so honest, caring, mature, and full of life and love. I know they are making measured and careful decisions about their future, which is very key when starting a life together. My hope is that they will always be honest with each other. Not the kind of oops-I-left-the-gate-open-and-the-dog-got-out honesty, but the bare-your-soul-ugly-truth kind of honesty. The kind that hurts feelings at first. The kind that causes anger, shame, and doubt at first. Without this level of honesty, a marriage rests on sinking sand.

But thats quite enough of that.

Its PARTY TIME!!! Here's to you Caroline and Brandon!! I am so thankful to be home with y'all celebrating in this season of love, new beginnings, and hope for the future.

AHHHHHH..... Life.

Life is good. I am not where I want to be right now. I don't have the perfect job and neither does my husband. I am not pregnant. I don't own a house or have a savings account to speak of . I am barely squeaking by each month paying my bills. But I know, in my heart, that life is good. God is good. And things can only get better. I think I have a hard year ahead of me. I know I am going to be making some tough decisions. But I know that I will be sustained through those decisions and hard times by a love that is greater than my understanding.

So I enjoy the struggle. It reminds me that I am alive. And life is so very good.

31

• Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors

• I am 31 years old
  

• January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar

• Proverbs 31: 30-31....
  ³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
  but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

  ³¹ Give her the reward she has earned,
  and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

• My progesterone level is 31 (!)

I really just wanted to talk about my progesterone level, but thought it wouldn't be so shocking if I lead you there through some seemingly innocuous factoids about the number 31.... did it work? Are you shocked? Well, to bad. I am SO PUMPED. Do you realize what this means? I, Aunt Fabulous, the "non-ovulator", have definitely ovulated. You can't help but ovulate if you have that much progesterone in your body. Most people are between a 10 and 20.... I am THIRTY ONE!!! For those of you who are still scratching your head, this is a pretty big deal. My hubs and I have been trying to conceive for almost 2 years now and, to be blunt, I'm tired of trying. I'm ready for results. However, I do feel torn about it. In order to get my body to do what it should be doing naturally, I had to take medication. I want to be a mother more than just about anything, and I'm quickly finding that I would go to any length to achieve motherhood- but somewhere in the back of my mind a little voice keeps saying, "if your body isn't doing it on its own, is it wise to force the issue?" If a person can't have a baby naturally, should they have one at all? This thought makes me very unpopular with myself. Of course I should have a baby, you insensitive schmo! I'm going to be an incredible-unbelievable-magical-mega-super-fantastical-MAMA! So why can't I just create the dang child? Why do I need medical assistance? Is the universe trying to tell me something? OR have we humans done such terrible things to our food and water and who knows what else, that we are causing an exaggerated number women to become infertile- many more than nature ever intended? Thats the answer I'm leaning towards. Because I do know so many women who have been struggling with infertility far longer than I. And these ladies are going to make tremendous mothers. And advances in medicine and technology are a blessing for all of us. I mean, hey, last month I was a 3 and today I'm a 31!! If thats not a miracle of modern science...... So lets raise a glass to clomid, ovulation, progesterone, and "relations", and say a little prayer that this time it works!

More Happy....

I'm also happy about today.

• Today I'm seasoning my new cast iron skillet
• I hung more curtains in my house, and some pictures
• I've got a new craft project! See....

Well, I can't seem to find my camera (not happy about that) so I can't post pics of my new project. Boo. I guess I'll have to post more pics of my cute house :)





And I'm happy cause I'm going to dinner and a movie on Thursday with a dear dear friend of mine who I haven't seen in quite awhile. There is so much to be happy about!

Happy about today....

• We got rain early this morning so that makes me happy.
  
• This is my sisters first day of school- she is a new kindergarten teacher and I am so proud/impressed/in awe of her amazing teacher-skills!
  
• Today is "canning day"- I get to learn how to make soup and then put it up for winter.
• Today marks the first day of the last week of my two week summer break. I'm happy to have one more week, but even happier that I'll be back in school :)
• Hazel and I are going to spend the morning swimming in the lake at Oak Mountain State park- it doesn't get much better than that!
• And finally, seeing pics of these little girls .........
  

Makes me so so happy!

Hello Again!

I know. Its been awhile. Lets just forget about it and move on.

I'm sitting on the couch next to my dog who just barfed up pieces of a corn cob. We haven't had corn in a week. I googled "Dog just barfed corn cob" and it seems this is a common event. Who knew? Corn cobs are actually very destructive to dog intestines. Again, who knew? Lets all say a collective prayer that Hazel got the cob out of her system cause a trip to the emergency room is just not in the budget this month!

So..... heres some pics of some of my favorite things.....



I admit it--- this is kinda a crap blog post. But its a start. I'll be writing again with more regularity..... I think :)

This is not going away any time soon.

First lemme just say that I'm a little disappointed in myself for waiting a whole month to post another entry. My life is still half packed away boxes. My brain is full of "to-do lists". My day follows a relentless rhythm: unpack, arrange, clean, repeat.

However. I did have a fabulous break last week. Went home and hung out with my fam- Daddy, Mama, all my sisters and my nieces. It was fabulous. Then we had a big wedding weekend for my cousin Sarah and her new husband, Jud- the entire fam was there! Aunts, Uncles, cousins, Grandmama- we all had our party pants on and OH MAN what a party it was!
Heres a few pics of my week.......

It's Wynnie-poo!!!!

Sisters and cousins rockin' the karoke!!

Don't really remember whats going on here, but I'm pretty sure it was fun.....

Now I'm back in bham and doing the unpacking dance once again. Its gonna be great tho. At least once its all done. And then I'm gonna have a rockin party!!!! You are all invited!! Wanna see my little house? Ok.



But what I really wanted to write about, whats been driving me totally crazy is this horrendous oil spill disaster. Oilpocalypse. Oilmageddon. This is whats not going away any time soon. Friends, this is SERIOUS. What are we going to do? I just can't stop thinking about it. I don't think enough people understand how devastating this is. We are poisoning the ocean. We are killing sea life. We are killing wetlands. Fishermen are going broke. The tourist industry is in the toilet. This is not going away. That thought makes me feel helpless. And I'm angry! I'm angry at British Petroleum, but I'm even angrier at myself and the American people as a whole. We continue to insist on driving gas guzzling cars, flying in airplanes, buying plastic products and refusing to recycle them, propping up this antiquated and unsustainable system. For so long we have refused to change our ways and now, my friends, we are going to pay for our ignorance, for our flippant attitudes, for our hubris. Tens of thousands of barrels of oil are spewing, into the ocean every day and BP has NO IDEA how to stop it. This is not going away. This is going to permanently change the landscape. Our beautiful beaches are going to be black, sticky, and smelly. Men and women will be out of work and our already high unemployment is going to surge even higher and for far longer than this government is prepared to sustain. And the wildlife... it just kills me. What are we going to do?

I hate to end on such a depressing note, but the reality is.... well.... our reality is not looking good. If there is any silver lining, I pray that this disaster drives home the fact that oil is unsustainable, destructive, and must be supplemented by alternate forms of energy. Its no longer the dream of hippies and people from Vermont. We have to make a change. Whos with me?

Just around the corner....

We're moving! I'M CRAZY! We're MOVING! I'm crazy! WE'RE MOVING AND I AM CRAZY!!!!!!

Yes, the insanity is upon us, but its not near at the level I've achieved in past moves. Maybe its because this is the 6th time I have moved in 7 years.... (shut UP! Have I actually move six times in seven years...... it appears I have. shut up.) Anyway. I am a pro at moving.

I can't wait to upload pics of our new cute house. We signed the lease today! And let me tell you it was so simple compared to what we have dealt with in the past. Trying to sign a lease in NYC requires two grand, a law degree, xanax and a can of silly string. Today we strolled into that office, signed our name there, there and there, initialed here and here.... and it was over. Took 15 minutes. Beautiful.

So thats just around the corner.... (literally! we are moving around the corner from our current house! Well maybe its more like walk 2 blocks and then turn around the corner, but still. What can I say? I love this neighborhood.)

And something else that is just around the corner......

This is my big debut as "event coordinator"! I have a friend who worked on the film and one day I was emailing her and thought, "i should organize a screening." So I went to my excellent friend Sally, who is also my pastor at East Lake UMC, and proposed the idea..... she was all for it..... so the ball started rolling and now here we are a week away from the event and I am simply AMAZED at what this has become. The movie is only the beginning! Its actually a kick-off event for a summer long book club! And then, WHO KNOWS......i have so many ideas.....

Because of this movie, I have had the pleasure of meeting some fabulous people here in Birmingham. People who care about the same things I do- community, healthy living, sustainability, family. And one thing I have learned about coordinating an event: no one can do it on their own. A coordinator is like a "people manager". You have to know people, you have to know how to get people excited about what you are trying to do, and you have to know when to ask for help. I can't wait till Thursday night when the movie starts rolling and I can stand back and just take it all in.....

So many good things are happening!

Aunt Fabulous.... are you there?

So it seems ever since I was laid off, my blogging has slacked significantly. I guess there are a few positive aspects to being chained to a computer all day long. What's funny is I feel just as busy as I did when I had a job... I have no problem filling up my day with "To-Dos"!

Allow me to fill you, the world wide interweb, in on what has been happening in Aunt Fab's life over the past few weeks....

1. We are moving! We have 2 options for cute little houses with fenced in backyards (Hazel is SO happy about that) and cheaper rent (The humans are SO happy about that). We have to make a decision in a few days and then.... let the packing begin!!!!

2. School is almost over and I have the month of May off before summer semester begins! YAY.

3. I am producing a movie event! With the help of some stellar individuals here in B'ham, I am producing a screening of FRESH by ana Sofia Joanes. The movie night is a kick-off event for a Book-Club/Discussion Group that I am also organizing. The Book Club will meet once a month for 6 months and we are starting it all off by reading a collection of articles and essays written by famous "food scholars" like Michael Pollan, and Wendell Berry. Its gonna be awesome.

4. Speaking of movies, we saw a screening of the movie "Lifted" last night. Clarke was Art Director on that film! It was a sweet little movie- no big blockbuster or anything- but it has a nice message and some great talent (Ruben Studdard, what WHAT!?!)

5. I've been busy creating.... wanna see?

Collage Art...

Headbands....

learning how to Appliqué...

Happy Thursday!

Spring!

Its here, its here! My favorite time of year! And not just because I have a spring birthday (yep, I turned 31 last week) but because spring means baby birds, green grass, daffodils, wisteria, warm winds, long days...and my birthday.

I took a few pictures of "spring" on my most recent walk with Hazel.....

This one reminds me of "praying hands".... itsn't it lovely? And I didn't really do any touch-ups on it besides warming it up a bit, the light was just that nice.

Happy Spring everyone!

Sally and her Blue Bird

Once upon a time.....






Sally B and I made a little bird puppet together and then had a sweet little photo shoot. Is she precious or what?

In which Aunt Fabulous pretends to be Martha Stewart

I have always wanted to work on a Martha Stewart Living photo shoot. Every recipe, every craft project, every story about organizing your closet contains pictures that are true works of art. The lighting, the color palette, the props- its all gorgeous.

So the other day I decided to make clay and document it "Martha Stewart Style"! Here's my attempt......

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of water
1.5 cups of salt
1 T of veggie oil
1 egg

Pour the flour, water, salt and oil in a bowl and mix it up!

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface

Start creating your shapes. If you want to make ornaments now is the time to punch your holes... Oh, and now is the time to preheat the oven to about 300

Lay out your creations on a greased cookie tin. Brush each with a little egg wash... I don't really know why, I think its something about being shiny or harder.... (I'm not Martha) Bake for about 30mins or until the are hard and very light brown.

Now you can decorate them any way you choose! I chose to paint mine, and to be perfectly honest, I had more fun setting up my photo shoot than actually painting the shapes. I wasn't terribly impressed with my final product- but I think the pictures look awesome!

So. There you have it- My first attempt at telling a story through photos.

Being unemployed has its perks.

FUNemployed

Aunt Fabulous has been laid off. That's right, world wide interweb, I am unemployed. Those two of you who read this blog regularly may be preparing yourselves for another tense and terrified post full of hand wringing and nail biting. Sorry to dissapoint, but thats not what I'm handing out today! Because I am not worried.......(does a double take).......huh? That's right and I'll say it again- I'M NOT WORRIED.

Wanna know why?

Me too.

I have no idea why I'm so comfortable right now. Yes, it was a let down to be laid off. Yes, it was a bad day to be Aunt Fabulous. But today? Today I feel good. Clarke says it's because I'm in the "honeymoon" stage of unemployment. That stage in which one rises with the sun, pens a healthy To-Do list, and prepares breakfast for the spouse. "Have a lovely day at work dear", she sings and, drawing her bathrobe snugly 'round her waist, pads back to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. Its all true- I'm am currently sipping coffee, watching the Today show, and deciding what needs doing and in what order.

A fabulous fact about Aunt Fabulous: I LOVE "to do" lists. I love doing things and checking them off- its SO satisfying! Today, for example, its only 8:00am and I have already crossed 3 things off my list (walk the dog, bathe the dog, blog).... only 5 more things to do and my list is complete!

But one can only bask so long in the after-glow of a completed To-Do list....why am I not concerned about being out of work? How we are going to pay our bills this month? I haven't a clue. We already have a little debt to deal with due to a hard winter and a ridiculous gas bill. (Thank you, Global Climate Change, for 55 nights of below freezing temps in ALABAMA. You owe me nine hundred dollars.) And the bills just keep rolling in! I open each one, look at the total and say, "Hi there, Birmingham Sewer and Water Bill! How badly do you want that $35.47?" But as I file the bill away in the "to pay pile" with all his other friends, there's no noticeable rise in my blood pressure, no sweaty palms, no sick feelings wash over me. What is wrong with me?

Well friends, I think I figured it out. I have faith. A calm certainty is settling around me. This is the right place and now is the right time. I am open to whatever God is preparing for me. I have faith. I have learned from past crises that worrying gets you nowhere, that what first appears to be a curse is usually a blessing, and that nothing is insurmountable when confronted with Faith, Hope, and LOVE.

So....... Today is a great day to be Aunt Fabulous. I'm gonna finish my breakfast now and then get crackin' on that To-Do list. Have a lovely day, Dears!!

I made this.

I made it for my sweet God-daughter Wynne. I think she really liked it.

Good Things to come.....

Just a little "post-lett" to say that soon and very soon I will post fabulous things on my blog.... My life is in fast forward right now but I'm hanging on and having fun! Here's a quick and dirty rundown of the fabulous-ness headed my way:
1. Weekend Retreat at my church
2. craft project for G-mama's Bday
3. Crafting with Carrie
4. St. Pattie's day/weekend with Hannah
5. Gmama's Bday celebration
6. My husband :)... not that he is "headed my way"... he's here already... but he is fabulous.

Hope whatever you are doing makes you happy!!

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

True Love Knows no Bounds

WARNING: if you are grossed out by rats or snakes, you will not want to click on this link.....

Carla and her Friend

However.

Don't make your mind up just yet- hear me out. The link takes you to Nina Katchadourian's website. She is an artist. She is quirky, intelligent, clever, likes maps, and- as many artists do- she sees the world differently than the average man and is generous enough to share her visions. I encourage you to visit her website. The story of Carla and her Friend is what first drew me in- its facinating and challenges the way I think about love, friendship, right and wrong.... and I also think its super cute. But then I also like rats and snakes. My other favorites are Renovated Mushroom and Sorted Books.

Enjoy! Happy Tuesday!

Celebrate your Family

I'm working on a gift for my grandmother- its kinda like a family tree, but not. I don't want to give away the surprise, so I'm not gonna talk about it anymore..... but..... in the course of researching this gift, I ran across some truly fabulous family trees!

Take a look.......

First is my all-time-favorite family tree from my Norman Rockwell book- remember the one I talked about during Thanksgiving? As a child I stared at this picture for hours. I used my finger to trace each branch of the tree, stopping at every couple, imagining their lives together, how they met, where they lived, how they died.... And it tickled me pink every time I made it all the way from the grubby pirate and his dark and mysterious Spanish lady up to the scrubbed and shiny red headed boy.

The next three are all from My Tree and me. Love the colors, love the lines, love the fresh take on the family tree idea..... love it all.

The next two are fabulous because they include pictures!
You can find this one here.

And you can find this one here. By the way, EVERYTHING in this gal's etsy shop is FABULOUS!!! (edit: oh man! I just found out that this print is sold out.... what a bummer. Well, it's still awesome and so is the artist.)

Now, this next piece is a non-traditional family tree. Here you just print the names of all the people in your life, or your child's life, or whoever this little creation is for- and attach those names to the balloons. What a creative way to tell someone," these are the people who lift you up, who make your life bright and cheery, who float around above your head and occasionally loose their helium and start to sink......" well, lets don't take it too literally. Isn't it SOOOOO CUTE? Find it here

Now for a little DIY.... I found these wall decals here , but you can find them all over your world wide interweb. I thought it might be fun to create your own wall art/family tree combo. You could purchase one of these trees (or paint one if you are so inclined) and then add the names of your family members by hand- you could paint them, or find a cool font and print them out.... ooh ooh! and then you could collect small frames and frame each name and "hang" them on the branches of the tree...... I love that idea. Feel free to steal it.

And finally..... click here for a super cute DIY family tree, directions and all. When you finish it should look a little something like this.....

Bye y'all!