I'm sorry.   Why do I feel like I'm always starting out my blog posts with an apology?  Oh I know, it's because I never post anymore, and I feel guilty about that.  But you know what, I feel a little lost these days. Like my priorities are a little screwed up and I'm not sure how to get them straight again.  (Curse you, pinterest, for stealing all my precious time!)  O.k. so it doesn't steal THAT much time.  And I shouldn't curse.  So, rewind, erase.

   In other news, am I the only one that feels like every chic, hip, trendy blogger out there in this wide, wonderful universe is Mormon? I mean seriously, is Mormon like the new "thing" to be?  Is it a trend, like knotting your belts and DIY crafts?  I guess I missed that train.  And frankly, it's kind of annoying me.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE the funny humorisms, and the interesting fashion tips, and the cute pictures and laddi-da-da, but the whole, "I really don't believe what you believe" guardrail that keeps flinging up in my face every time I read one of their blogs is raining on my parade.

  So what is a person to do?  Not read those blogs?  Approach them about it? Witness?  For some reason all of those options seem a little pathetic.  So I'm just left feeling slightly irked and strangely unique for being a blogger who's actually NOT a Mormon.

   In other news, we just got back from a LOVELY trip to Phoenix, and I would say that I am going to post pictures soon, but let's be honest, I have no idea when that will be, and I *gasp* haven't even taken Jocelyn's 9 month ones yet, so that would come first.

   I have a love/hate relationship with this blog.  It's a wonderful outlet for my thoughts and ideas 25% of the time, it's a way to show pictures to family and friends 25% of the time, and it's a fun hobby 25% of the time.  But the OTHER 25% of the time, it's a burr.  A nag.  An annoying little mosquito whine in my ear telling me I'm neglecting something.  I'm procrastinating.  Falling behind.  A little voice whispering, "Just give it up, you'll never have an awesome blog like those Mormon girls anyway.  You'll never get 92 flippin' comments over a picture and one lousy, sappy paragraph about how your husband likes nothing more than to fold your socks."  And I almost listen.  I mean honestly, my blog is something i would LOVE to invest in.  Develop.  Commit to.  Improve.  But there are other, huge needs in my life and one starts with an R, and one starts with a J.  And they come first, folks, period.

   And then there's the small matter of falling behind in my Bible study homework while I somehow found the time to write all this....that's jut not quite right either.  And so no, I don't feel like God is watching me with a to-do list I need to cross off before I can pursue my interests....  1. Make hubby's lunch.  2. Change baby's diaper.  3. Read Bible. Etc.etc.  It's not about that.  HOWEVER, it is about putting others before myself which was commanded by, oh I don't know, JESUS.  So I should probably do that.  And so, although blogging is something I love and it drives me a hair short of crazy-beans that my blog isn't even half of what I want it to be, I'm going to have to be OK with that for now.  Because I'm going to be getting some other things in order before I invest more time and energy into this thing.  If only I could get organized, then I'm SURE it would be do-able!

    If you actually faithfully read this thing, blessed be the extent of your patience! And I truly am sorry with how sporadically I post.  I treasure each and every comment, even if I don't always reply.  (Another thing I've dropped the ball on)  Really truly, feedback and traffic makes my day.  It just means something to know that the pictures, memories, thoughts and moments I share, actually reach someone.  This blog has been a journal, a photo album, and a sounding board, and I'm better because of it.  So don't give up on me just yet.  This just isn't it's time to shine.

Thanks.

    I am excited for this new season...chunky cable-knit sweaters, hats, scarves, crunchy leaves, pumpkin spice lattes...what's not to love?  With summer officially over, (well I guess I don't know when it is officially over, it just seems like it is with the first cold rainy day having arrived)  I will do a quick summer re-cap.  Mind you, it will be like the tip of the iceberg, but it will be a glimpse at least.

Summer of 2011 was....

• Birthday parties

•  Visitors

•  Bike rides

•  Baseball and softball games

   You know you are officially an adult when something like "crafting" gets you as excited as a new piece of clothing used to.  Maybe even more.  I am just loving it!  I'll have to post pictures of my recent crafts when I get around to downloading them, but for now, I will give you a sneak peek of the project I'm currently working on....


 That photo was found here, and I'm not making mine exactly like those, but you get the idea.  I am so excited!  I am constantly wishing I had more canvas storage bins, or baskets, or toy boxes, etc....and then I see the price tag on them in the store and promptly return them to the shelf.  After I pick my jaw up off the floor.  It's just too hard for me to pay that much for a container for all of my junk!  So when I spotted this tutorial to make snazzy canvas ones out of diaper boxes that you already have lying around the house, I got pretty excited.:)  I'll have to post pics when I'm done.

   

 

   I honestly have no clue what I am going to blog about, but I just can't take the guilt anymore.  The last update keeps staring me in the face as if it's saying, "You're such a lazy blogger.  Your blog is gathering dust worse than the windows you desperately need to wash.  And the car.  And the kitchen floor.  And you KNOW that's bad. Must. Post. An update. Now."  So, here I am.
  
   There's nothing worse than eating ice cream you don't really like.  I mean, really bad, freezer-burned low-quality fake-tasting ice cream.  All the while you're thinking, "The calories I am consuming on something I don't even like should be in the form of vegetables, NOT ice cream!" But you continue to eat it because it's cold and you're sweating in a little stuffy apartment that doesn't seem to get the memo at night that it's colder outside than it is inside, and it's time to cool down. 
  
  Jossie's latest adventure today was pooping all over her Grandma.  And I mean all over.  The poor dear.  I guess, poor both dears, because Jossie wouldn't have pooped all over if I had changed her diaper earlier, giving her a nice, dry diaper to poop in.  Instead, her diaper was all soaked, and the poo had no place to go but out. 

   In other news, I canned corn today.  Which is a weird term, because you really don't "can" anything.  We took it off the cob, cooked it, and froze it.  In any case, it feels really good to have that finished.

  I discovered today that Jocelyn is afraid of cats.  Over at my in-laws, they have the sweetest little black kitten, who really is a wonderful pet.  It's all sweet and purring and rub-up-on-your-leg type of friendly, and lets the children do all sorts of annoying things to it without getting rumpled.  Well, I put Joce down and here comes the kitten, and she just starts waving her arms and crying in a desperate sort of way, and so I scooped her up and comforted her, and then put her back down again.  The kitten started to approach again, and Joce started up her wailing.  It was the funniest thing, and there was a part of me that just wanted to do it over and over again to see her reaction, but that would be provoking your daughter to wrath, wouldn't it?    

   I have to go to bed now.  I really can hardly stay up past 10:30 these days without paying for it dearly the next morning.  I don't know if that means I'm old, a mom, or just plain lame, but it's what it is.

   And because I can't hardly allow myself to post without a single picture, here's one just for fun.

 There's just something about a fresh, clean Jocelyn all snuggled up in a towel that breaks my heart a little bit.  Every time.

...and we're, gonna get ma-a-a-arried.  

*At this time go ahead and scroll down to the bottom of the post and play the song right now.  Do it.  You know you want to.  It'll be fun.



   That was the song that was playing as the bride and her bridesmaids rode into the wedding site on white cloth-covered hay bales on a wagon pulled by a tractor.  Love it!  It was picturesque.  Which is a word that could be used to describe the whole wedding, for that matter.

   Barney and Nikki are two very unique, colorful personalities, and it was reflected by their one-of-a-kind, unforgettable wedding.  Located down by the creek on the family farm, it was filled with rustic details like burlap and twine, old window frames, antique furniture and hay bales.  They had lovely weather, great music, sweet vows, and good food.  It was a lovely time.

   Unfortunately, something was funky with my photography skills that night, and I'm quite disappointed in the pictures I got.  I couldn't seem to find a way to capture the right lighting, and everything was either bathed in that horrendous flash light, or blurry.  Ug.  But since I'm sure you'd be more annoyed at not seeing any than seeing my flops, I will humble myself and put some on here.