the one with easter 2012

 

happy easter! i celebrated with my parents who had just returned from their 24 hour drive home from visit my grandparents in florida and matt's family. we started the day at matt's grandma's church where she plays the organ. she is so sweet. she plays with her shoes off :) then we headed to my parents for a little bit before they needed to take a nap being wiped out from their travels! then finished with dinner at matt's grandma's house. i got my mom some of my favorite flowers that are currently in season ( pictured above ) called ranunculus. they are such unique flowers that curl and squiggle in their stems. i also wove a basket ( pictured above ) out of a paper bag. it wasn't easy and took quite a bit of time but it turned out pretty neat! matt and i also colored easter eggs... can you tell which ones each of us made? :)

the one with the zeeberdoodle

let's face it - pets make life better. and my parents dog zeebs is no exception. although there has been many times when i just want to wring his furry little neck for eating my sandwich off the counter or chewing up a pair of my fluffiest socks, he knows how to make me smile :) i've gotten to hang out with him this week dog sitting while my parents are in florida visiting my grandparents. we've gone on a walk or run everyday and i think he's in love with me. but that will quickly change when i have to take him to the kennel at the end of the week because i have to go back to columbus. but for now, we are best buds! he even let me take pictures of him with which doesn't happen often. he's totally camera shy... or something like that. really he just tries to bite my camera or phone when he hears the click of the photo. how could you not love this wacky bundle of fur?!?

the one with the keeper of lost causes

i just finished reading a mystery book by jussi adler-olsen, the keeper of lost causes. it was interesting and i picked it up from the library to read purely for the fact that the cover looks just like the girl with the dragon tattoo series, specifically the girl who played with fire. it is also a series but i don't think i'm in the mood to continue with the next. it's an interesting read but took me a while to get into it and once i did, the climax wasn't as exciting as i thought it would be. after this, i think i've had my fill of mysteries for a while. i'm thinking on to love stories next :)

 

the one with the madness of march

ahh the madness of march. yes this also includes march madness as well as the general madness of this particular march. first off, i would say march this year has been the warmest march in ohio imaginable. we've maxed out some days at a whopping 87 degrees. that's so not normal. but i've been trying to soak up the rays and get excited for spring. the trees are in full bloom and so delightfully dreamy. not to mention the fact that i am in love with columbus in warm weather. people practically live outside and i love it. all outdoor seating? filled. runners? everywhere!

the other week, matt and i took a little road trip to cincinnati with his parents and sister to see a new exhibit at the cincinnati museum center - union terminal. the exhibit was on a day in pompeii. while much of the exhibit was a disappointment to myself, the body casts at the end were worth it. after wandering around virtual pompeii videos and the 20 jugs, we finally made it to what i thought the entire exhibit would be filled with. for those who don't know about pompeii, they call it a city frozen in time. it was so startling to think of all of these people frozen in the exact spot where they suffocated on the volcanic ash. another interesting fact learned from this trip - they didn't have our modern day bleach so to keep their robes clean and bright, they washed them in urine. yuck!

i decided when i moved to columbus i wanted to volunteer somewhere since i would have a bit more free time not working in the studio every day. after exhausting all ideas i finally thought, ding ding ding - COSI! i will be volunteering occasionally in the littlekid space. yea, i totally get to hang out with kindergarteners and younger teaching them science, i'm pretty pumped :) matt and i had fun visiting the other day and remembering everything we loved about COSI as a kid.

i am sad to say that my sweet ohio bobcats are no longer in the ncaa tournament but they played their hearts out and made it all the way to the sweet 16 after loosing a tough battle to university of north carolina. but matt's ohio state buckeyes are still in it and fighting strong.

the one where i just want to make beautiful things...

i feel like this is the story of my life right now. with the down time i'm having before wedding season is in full swing, i want to do nothing but make things. anything. i want to make the most beautiful hand made cards that are both clever and cute. i want to paint with every color in the rainbow even though i've got nothing to paint. i want to repurpose old things and give them a new life. i want to bake scrumptious treats to share with everyone i meet. i want to take pictures of everything - people, buildings, food, my surroundings, my life. they may not be beautiful things to everyone or even to me but i will be creating something and that makes me feel good.

i want to do this all for me. for no one else. even if nobody cares.

the one with the digs & donts | february

i decided to start a new monthly "thing" where i talk about what i'm currently digging and what i'm don'ting. yes, i know that's not a word, and i'm okay with that :)

DIGS
- living in columbus. oh yea, forgot to mention that in a blog post. i moved here in january into an itty bitty studio apartment. anyways, there's SO much to do around here and i absolutely love it.
- downton abbey. it's a pbs show but it's fantastic. and it means every sunday night i get to plop down in front of the tv with matt and find out the latest gossip in downton. love it. watch it.
- asked to be one of erin's bridesmaids. i'm so excited for erin and to get to be a part of her special day. being able to enjoy a wedding will such a treat!


DONTS
- paying taxes. yes it's that time of year and being the first year having a business on my own - yea i don't wanna talk about it.
- money. why can't it grow on trees?
- busy schedules that aren't mine. this has been a big struggle and something matt and i are trying to work on everyday. he's busy while i'm not and i insist he drops everything and spends all waking moments with me :)

the one with the help

well i have finished another book on the best seller list, the help, and it did not disappoint. this book wasn't a book i would normally read but it was a very interesting and exciting book to read. i have yet to see the movie and i don't think i will or else it will ruin how lovely the book is written. below are some of my favorite quotes from the book...

• "i always order the banned booked from a black market dealer in california, figuring if the state of mississippi banned them, they must be good."

• "sorry if the fool who ever underestimates my mother."

• "she's wearing a tight red sweater and a red skirt and enough makeup to scare a hooker."

• "it seems like at some point you'd run out of awful."

• "that was the day my whole world went black. air looked black. sun looked black. i laud up in bed and stared at the black walls of my house... took three months before i even looked out the window, see the world still there. i was surprised to see the world didn't stop."

• "the day your child says she hates you, and every child will go through the phase, it kicks like a foot in the stomach."

• "you is kind. you is smart. you is important."