Cheese

Piper and I were playing out side the other morning, and I grabbed my camera for fun. Of course she had multiple scratches and scabs on her face, and her hair was disheveled to the max (what's new)! I told her to say "cheese," and to my surprise she actually said it and then continued to smile for me! WHAT? When did you learn this child? She is growing up way too fast for my liking...enjoy!

tears and stripes forever

OK, so the title is a LITTLE dramatic, but that is how I feel. I am posting about my stripes project to distract from the fact that I am doing lamaze exercises to avoid crying every 30 seconds. Deployment has officially began; details will be scant for security reasons. It is weird to come home to a quiet house and realize it will be that way for a bit. You notice weird things when the person you think about most is not around. For example: I found myself not road-raging home from work because I knew Ian wouldn't be there waiting when I got there...I hear it gets better. We are very proud that Ian is serving our country and is helping to protect us, even though we have to sacrifice our time together as a family. So, as to not cause an electrical shortage on the keyboard from tears, I will divert this post into a post about STRIPES.

We don't own the townhouse we are in, but it needed some help when we moved in. I have always wanted to try stripes on a wall and I originally was going to do them in Piper's bedroom. We decided to try them in the dining room instead, which we use more as an office/lounge/play area. It suits our needs. I am really happy with the results! As with ALL of my projects, they need some touching up, which will probably happen, UH, never.

I forgot to take a before of the stripes wall, but this is what it was before, a brickish-red (it's not quite as orange as it looks in the photo). No offense to the red-lovers out there, I am just not a fan. Unfortunately, the kitchen didn't get done before Ian left, so it will probably remain the same for a bit.

Completed stripes, and yes, I got rid of that hideous gold-plated disaster that is a light-fixture. I may or may not paint it black to match the kitchen and use it above the table...also note Ian's computer that looks like a transformer. Really makes the room, huh?

Still working on wall decorations, but this is it so far!

BIZ-Y

So, as you can tell from my utter and complete lack of blogging...we have been BUSY. I feel like the month of April was a whirlwind. We had multiple sets of family in town for two weeks in a row (something we hardly get and thoroughly enjoy!), Ian's 30th birthday, and we moved down the street. It was an easier move than usual, as it was literally next door: one building over, same unit. Our townhouse was under contract, so we had to get the heck out of dodge. I really like our neighborhood, it has everything we need, including a pool(uh, helllooo, ima be super preggo in about a month or two and a cold body of water will be vital to my survival during the heat that is a Las Vegas summer). So, as luck would have it, our neighbors were moving out, and I jumped on the open unit! We are mostly settled in, and this time, I get to paint! (stay tuned for our stripes project!)

As for the fun stuff...Ian turned 30 last month! He swears numbers don't matter and claims he will be a kid forever. I believe this as I hear a fart/poop joke at least 3 times a day and he is currently talking into his head phones as he plays some lame computer game. OH WELL...For this joyous occasion we were lucky enough to celebrate with some of our family! My sister and her family came from Colorado and Ian's brother Adam and his GF (or whatever) popped in from Kansas! It was a full house, but we managed! As is customary with every Knecht visit, we ate at In & Out multiple times!

A "fair" we went to. There was supposed to be funnel cakes, I'm still mad I didn't get a funnel cake.

Ian's 30th Birthday dinner with friends/fam!

The next week Ian's parents came in town from Kansas! His mom came out when Pipie was born, but it was a first for his dad! Luckily, it was a very relaxing visit, as we were fried from the previous visit! Did I mention that some insane, crazy, evil virus was attacking us all the while??! Yes, this thing spread like the plague. It was horrible. We all made the best of it and had a few good days where we were all mostly healthy. Having family in town reminds how much I miss Kansas. I miss having my friends and family close by, especially with our growing family!

All the activity took our minds off of our upcoming change. This month we face our first deployment. Being so busy kept us from dwelling on it, and now that it's less than a week away, reality is starting to set in...

We are proud of you Ian!

Triple Gasp

1.whhhaaa?- this is my second post in one week?
2. huh? -- i opened a cover to a book (you know, the paper kind) for the first time in over a year?
3. shwaat? -- this post will not be about piper?

Gasp, i know. Which one surprises you the most? To me, one stands out significantly...kind of like when my sister and I got lost in downtown ghetto-fied KC in a navy blue Ford Aerostar van. Needless to say, we were a bit out of place. If you haven’t guessed yet, it is gasp #2. If you know me at all, you know I LOVE books. Not only do I enjoy reading them, but I also love to collect them. My dream --one of my dreams-- is to one day have a study with walls lined in bookcases, filled with glorious leather-bound books! Maybe even a ladder with wheels that i can dance and frolick around on (are you picturing Belle from ‘Beauty and the Beast’ yet?).
There was a time in my life where I read a book a week, sometimes on top of all my assigned reading. On a summer trip to the lake, I was known to all the vacationers as the “Harry Potter girl.” I had my nose so far in that book I couldn’t tell where it began and I ended, or something like that. This was especially true when I moved to San Angelo,TX to be with Ian while he was in tech-school. In the beginning I knew NO ONE, so I filled my hours and days with reading. This was exactly opposite of what I was used to as I have been extremely blessed in my life to have an abundance of wonderful, caring, and close friends. Moving away from all those friends was strange and difficult albeit one of the best decisions I have ever made. It gave Ian and I the chance to grow our love (gross and sappy...) and I digress...
Books! Yes, I was talking about books. I am proud to say I have once again ignited my passion for reading. Although it is a repeat book, it has inspired me to remember myself. I have felt intellectually empty for sometime. Getting up, going to work, playing with Piper (my favorite part of the day), making dinner (ahem, lately this consists of cooking a frozen pizza or heating up green beans), and finishing up the night zombie-ing through Facebook while watching Netflix just isn’t cutting it. Instead of falling deeper into my darkening black abyss of a brain, I decided to simply flip a page. I’m starting with one of my favorite books, “Great Expectations,” by Charles Dickens. Honestly, I do not know why I love this book so. Perhaps it is the classic, unseemingly tragic, yet touching love present in this book. It could also be my affinity towards endearing underdogs who win your heart with their meekness (and I mean that without the negative connotations the word “meek” can often invoke). Whatever the reasons may be, this book makes me feel good. And so I will read it. Again. For the fourth time.

****WARNING: Please be advised that the movie with Gwenyth Paltrow and that guy who used to be in movies but has since been absent and whose name escapes me is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a substitute for the book. It may or may not be the worst adaptation of book-to-movie I have ever witnessed.****

And so I leave you, now go and BOOK IT. Maybe I’ll even send you a pin and a gold star every time you finish a book. I hope you know what comes after 10 gold stars...a personal pan pizza, covered in melty, delicious cheese! If that doesn’t make you want to read, you are weird.

my bent, but not broken, copy of "Great Expectations."

CAKE!

I have realized I have to be extremely focused and motivated to start a blog-post. And I mean that exactly, START a blog-post. I have started many posts in my --short-- blogging history, and then realized five hours later after returning to my computer that I never finished it. What is the solution...complete it, right? Nope. My solution is "click the red 'x' in the upper right corner and maybe do it another day." I should have known this when I began the task of blogging with my history of concentration issues.

Every time I began a paper in college, I had to first arrange my desk. Ahh, but first, I had to find THE perfect desk in the library. Then I organized all by books or research, found the "perfect" pen to take notes, and got my ruler out to make sure my computer was equal distance from all sides of the desk (o.k., that one was a stretch). O.C.D., you may ask? More like avoidance. Trying to do anything but dive into some research and concentrate on a paper that would never be done! Well, after all my weird pre-paper rituals, I would eventually begin that paper and read, research, and write like nobodies business and FINISH a damn good paper. So, now I will take that confidence into my blogging ventures and perhaps inspire some readers like I did all my professors...hahaha, right...

So now as my house is silent, (besides the Nickel Creek softly playing in the background-- if you haven't heard of them, please do so immediately.) I will begin a post of a huge monument, Piper's First Birthday!

Piper's 1st Birthday

I can not believe how fast a year goes by these days. I frankly can not tell you what we even did this past year. I do know one thing, we were able to enjoy it with the sweetest child ever made (partiality is one thing parents acquire and can use at will). Piper is so many things; loving, cuddly, friendly, independent, but also timid. She makes me smile constantly and sometimes I miss her when she takes naps. Do I ever wake her up, H-no. At the same time, I cherish nap times (so i can BLOG!, riight...). Anyways, back to Piper. We decided to celebrate her 1st birthday with a quaint bar-be-que in our "backyard." We live in a townhouse and our yard consists of rocks, but we made it work and enjoyed having many of our friends and family in attendance! I find that when in doubt, just make sure there is a lot of food to entertain people, it works on me!

rob and janet came all the way from kansas! (a cute little red-headed kid may have inspired them as well...)

happy birthday song! notice, piper's WTF face.

she was being very dainty with her cake...

so mommy stepped in and showed her how it's done.

result: cake fists.

re-blog

I have failed miserably at this whole blogging experience. I'm not sure if it didn't peak my interest or if it was my hesitance to post our family online. I mean, come on, what does our family have to share with this information over-loaded world we live in. It makes me think why I really wanted to start a blog in the first place. Was it for me, was it for others, was it to "stay in the game" with all the other moms out there? Well, what ever the case is, I know this blog will help to chronicle our family and our precious memories, something else I am horrible at....so here I go...

what better way to start re-blogging?

Piper's 1st Birthday! (coming soon)