Not-So Happy Pinning

Am I the only one who feels completely overwhelmed every time I get on Pinterest? I usually click on over to the site with the idea that I am going to quickly search for something in particular. {Today is was....actually, I don't even remember now -I never made it that far. Ha!} Anyway, the page opens up with everything my fellow pinners have pinned recently. I start scrolling and clicking and browsing. And before I know it my mind is filled with recipes I have to make, DIY projects I need to get started on ASAP, and pictures of beautiful homes I will probably never live in. Now my house isn't decorated good enough. My dinners aren't healthy enough. I need to go buy a bottle of OPI nail polish and change my workout routine. My freezer isn't filled with a months worth of meals ready to throw in the Crockpot. And for goodness sake, fall is here and I haven't made a hand print of my baby and turned it into a turkey. Am I the only one who feels this way? I have to limit how often I get on the site because before I know it I have spent Mason's entire nap time glued to a computer screen looking at pictures that only make me anxious. 

{I have, like so many of you, made some very time consuming fun Pinterest projects that I am quite proud of -like the one below. I won't even tell you how long it took me to make 58 fabric rose thingys to put around that mirror.}

Sorry, Brad, I haven't been too happy pinning.

Seeking Joy

It has been 15 months since my baby was born and close to 13 months since I have been unemployed. It has taken me about that long to realize those are both really big life changing events. In the beginning, the fun of playing with my new little baby was entertaining, and even though I missed work I liked the allure of being home all day to be a "homemaker". Anyway, at the end of last year  I realized that being at home all. day. long. with a baby had put me in a rut. So I made some New Year's Resolutions. All of these wonderful things I wanted to do with my time. Truth be told... I've only kept up on one of them (I am determined to stick through Mason's "365 Day Project"  -well, actually "366 day project" since this is a leap year) I wanted to do so much with my time that I think I got overwhelmed when I still wasn't doing anything with my time. 

I've started thinking, "There must be something wrong with me! Why don't I LOVE being a mom everyday? Why don't I LOVE staying home all day with my baby? I should LOVE that I don't have to go to work and juggle kids and work!" Because I wasn't loving it, I began to HATE it. Who want's to hate their job? Then I realized I am just another mom. I don't deal with anything more overwhelming than the next mom. Over the past month or so I have had some great conversations with friends. Just listening to some of their day-to-day experiences with their kids {or life in general} made me realize I am normal! I came across this sweet blog about finding joy in motherhood. She wrote in one blog entry about mothers who feel "stuck in a rut". I feel like it was written for me! And that made me realize that I am not alone, that there is NOTHING abnormal about me. I just need to change my perspective and seek more joy.

Now, please don't start worrying about me. Really, I am just fine. It has just taken me 13 months to learn how to have more joy in my new job of motherhood.

My Day Off

A girlfriend of mine and I spent last Saturday in St George -The WHOLE ENTIRE day. We left at 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back until 9:00 that night. It was the first full day I have spent away from Mason since his birth.  It was the most wonderful, relaxing day I have spent since before I had Mason and I enjoyed every minute of it. I need more days like this. (Being a mother is hard.)

My friend and I went to the temple, got some lunch, and spent the rest of the day shopping. I found a few fun things at Tai Pan and a really cute purse at T-J-Maxx (I brought it home and Ryan called it a bowling bag -it's a little large). 

Oh, and we stopped for some Nielsens Frozen Custard.Yum.

Early Mother's Day Gift

Mother's Day is still a couple week away but the present that I picked out Ryan got for me came yesterday. 

It is a Bosch mixer and a wheat grinder. Now I can make de-lish homemade bread. I have been wanting these for a really long time. My mom always made homemade whole wheat bread growing up. It tastes so much better than the grocery store bread. For a while I started buying my bread at Great Harvest but that stuff is 5 bucks a loaf!! I did the math and the amount of money I would spend on bread purchased at Great Harvest I will have these two appliances paid off in a year and a half. And these puppies last FOREVER. My mom bought her mixer and wheat grinder 25 years ago and they are still running strong. I tried making bread in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but it just doesn't do the job like the Bosch. I made my first batch yesterday {with the help of my mom... actually I watched while she did most of the work} and this is what I got...

...two loafs of golden, whole-wheat goodness! I never thought I would be this excited for kitchen appliances. :)

Hunger Games

 

I just finished the first book a few days ago {I was a little late jumping on board}. I actually listened to it on my iPod -it was all the library had available. I started it having absolutely no idea what it was about. It was really weird at first and it took me a while to accept how their world is different from ours. But, I loved it! My sister just saw the movie without reading the book and she said she didn't like it. I wonder if I would have felt the same way. {Maybe it is kind of like Twilight -you can't appreciate the movie unless you read the book??} Anyway, I loved the story and can't wait to see the movie and read the next two books.

What Is This?

This {not so} little guy was hanging out on our screen door for a day or two. Any idea what it is? Maybe a moth of some kind? Its eyes were HUGE -and kind of creepy. They reminded me of owl eyes. 

Jen, I thought of you {again} when I took the picture!!

9 Months

My little buddy is 9 months today. He learned how to say "da-da" yesterday -the sound, not the name. Although Ryan is convinced he is really saying "Dada". It is really cute when he says it. Since it is a new sound he keeps saying it over and over again. Mason can...

...scoot backwards

...go from his stomach to a sitting position

...play the yelling game {I yell, then he yells and we go back and forth}

...feed himself small pieces of food