kitchen towels - a beautiful thing

I love kitchen towels. Je t'aime kitchen towels. I heart kitchen towels. For the millions of ways to say it, I really do! 

Since this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I want to, it's kitchen towel day! I was just upstairs folding some laundry and ended up with a lovely stack of towels for my kitchen. Big Happy Sigh! I don't know why I like them so much. Okay, maybe I do. 

The kitchen is a part of every single day of my life. I like to eat, okay. But sometimes it gets a little mundane to be there. I'm sure you've never felt this way. 

Well, I do sometimes. But wait! I'll go to grab a towel and realize I threw it in the laundry last night and then I get to (note: GET to!) pull a new one out of the cupboard. Something pretty and clean and fresh and probably with some green in it, because I happen to like green a lot. 

Here's my little happy stack. 

Small disclaimer: please excuse the photos. BOTH my camera batteries were dead so I borrowed Lukes "beginner" camera (lol) and thus, beginner photos. Okay, maybe it's not a beginner camera. I just like mine WAY better. And know how to use it better.

Please notice the really bad photo of my towel label. This is from my absolute favorite kitchen towel on the planet. I only know one place in town to buy them and I only have one. But that is about to change. I have plans, big plans. To buy more. Possibly this week. 

I got it at The Greenhouse downtown and it's pretty much a towel bestie if there ever was one. I never have to iron it. Well, I don't really iron ANY of my towels (Puh-lease) but these ones don't wrinkle. And they are big and pretty and my favorite. In case you didn't notice yet. And it has texture... oh, sweet, sweet texture. 

And now that I realize I've been babbling about towels for more than two sentences, I'm going to stop. And pretend I didn't write about this topic at all. 

maternity jeans

First off, let me tell you that I was already a little bit skeptical of maternity jeans before I started my search for some. And this is based purely on my internet "research" or whatever you call it, and the pictures of what are available. 

So, yesterday I succumbed to the pressure of my growing belly and headed to the mall. I have zero jeans that fit me. My friend Romay lent me a pair to get me through until I bought some of my own, for which I will be eternally grateful. Nobody needs to see my pants with the zipper all the way down, begging to be worn by someone other than me. First stop of the day was Target. When I looked online, it seemed there might be some possibilities at Tarjay. Well, yes, if you live in any city OTHER than Bellingham, probably right. However, we only have like 5 racks of maternity clothes in the whole store. And about 3 pairs of jeans. I tried on every pair of maternity pants they had and all were SO awful, embarrassing actually. Being pregnant is supposed to be cute, not scary. 

I mean... really??

So I left the store quickly and made a dash for Motherhood Maternity. Now, they had a lot more to choose from in this store. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since all they sell is maternity duds. I asked for help right away and within about 3 minutes, I was in a change room with about 10 pairs of jeans and loads of hope for a good find. 

Well, funny thing about hope... it can dwindle pretty fast. To start with, they didn't have this pair, which I thought were pretty cute.

But I did try on these:

The elastic belly was great, except for the bunching at the back, which I KNOW will come in handy when the belly is much bigger but for now, not so much. And kinda short. And weird legs.

Also tried on these ones: 

Also too short. And funny legs. They made me feel ick. Dear Motherhood Maternity... please don't make me feel like that ever again. Thank-you. Amen.

 But right at the end, I found these. 

And I actually think the photo isn't nearly as SUPER RAD as the actual jeans. Okay, maybe an overstatement, but they aren't really so bad. They are longs too which made me feel very sorry for people who are actually really tall. Because I'm not. And I needed the longs. They were the only ones that looked even remotely good. But Wait!

THEN I tried on THESE!!!!! These, my friends, are my new besties for the next 6 months. Pure bliss...

Stretchy black leggings. VERRRRRYYY stretchy. Ha, just watch, I'll be wearing these 10 years from now, with the belly and everything. 

After paying for my clothes, I left the store, feeling relatively hopeful about clothing for the next six months. Then, as I was walking, I noticed a really great pair of jeans on someone ahead of me. And I knew my jeans would never be THAT great. 

Jeans envy, I tell you, it's an ugly thing. 

Commentary on Deeter

Last night we went to Lynden to a friends house for the weekly game night that they host. I love that they call it a family game night because their kids are actually in bed, wishing they were up and hanging out with us while we all play games. Awesome games. Let me make that very clear. You don't even know. 

So my friend J has these adorable little wiener puppies (aka dachshunds) that I was aching to see again since our last visit. They are now 8 weeks old, mama Ruby is done being their 24/7 mama and so Deeter (our little Chu/wiener) was allowed to come and play. Now, normally Deeter and Ruby are soul mates from the time their visit begins. They wrestle for hours and hours on the rug in the living room while we play totally NON nerdy games in the dining room. Well, Rubes is still getting over all that nursing and just plain hard work so she doesn't have a lot of steam right now. Very understandable. So I thought... that maybe Deets would play with the cute, squishy love puppies... one very fat little boy named Pretzel and a feisty girl named Dinah. 

Well, let me tell you. Deeter was TERRIFIED. And I don't mean just a little nervous. He spent a good portion of the night on the couch, looking down at those puppies and whining because he felt trapped on the couch, especially because of the lovely Dinah. She had a thing for him. And she was really quite aggressive in her affection towards him. Lots of running and chasing and wrestling every chance she could get her little paws near him. He didn't like it. I was embarrassed. He is not a dog. But then... what is he? If you come up with an answer, please let me know. There are a lot of unsettled,unanswered questions right now.

I mean... what is so scary about little loves like this?? (sorry for the ultra small photo)

Deeter used to be pretty small himself. But we did have a talk about about his behavior on the way home and I think it sunk in. 

Why Bachelor Parties?

This morning I got a call from my hubby to let me know he was alive and feeling just fine after his younger brother's bachelor party last night. Wedding countdown... 21 days. For some strange reason, getting married means you have to get together and act like total morons for at least one full day, if not two. Just to prove that you are mature enough to get married. 

But I must say, the party was really well planned. And lots of great torturous plans for the groom-to-be. And some of those ideas were mine. I mean, yes, I know how to act like a total moron but that's because I've been married for several years now. It kinda brings it out, I think. 

I guess bachelor parties have been happening for centuries and used to mean getting together for a dinner before the wedding. But according to the "all knowing" internet, that all changed in the '80's after a movie called 'bachelor party' came out and now we have the bachelor parties as we know them. Some are totally lame, in my very lowly, humble opinion but the really good ones are, well, good! 

When my husband had his party, part of the night included him, an adult diaper and a Walmart store. If only someone had taken a photo. And then a run through a carwash in the back of a truck, in that diaper. That's what I'm talking about! Or last night, little brother with a bright pink boa wrapped around his neck and a naked barbie in his hand that he was not allowed to put down the entire night without punishment... 20 pushups per misdemeanor. That was my idea! At least he could say there was a naked girl involved in his party without getting total scorn and a ring back from his bride-to-be. And because he's just not that kind of guy. Which I really like. 

I'm ramblin' now. But that's what I do. I ramble. And talk. And you know what? You're still reading this so I guess it can't be such a bad thing! But I AM running out of things to say for now. So that's it, that's all.

 And now I will laugh out loud because the groom-to-be fell on the sidewalk sometime during their little party last night. Notice the Barbie in his hand...

Just Peachy!

I canned with my mom today. Again! It seems either me or the baby LOVES peaches in any form right now. And I was worried that if I didn't can anymore, I would run out in November and poor Daddy would be stuck dealing with the aftermath. So we canned another 25 lbs today! My mouth is already watering! 

Life = busy. Or does it?

I read an interesting thought the other day about Americans that make me think for a second. Okay, for more than a second. It was a small commentary on how Americans are always trying to work less for the same or more wages. And I am not sure if it's because people just want to be less busy or don't want to work as much. Because working is not a bad thing. In fact, we were created to work. Even God worked for six days and then rested for one. Our bodies were meant to be worked and so were our minds. 

However, I think that work and being busy are two different things. We work to put a roof over our heads, to keep our homes clean, to create some kind of order from the chaos of life. And all of that takes time and makes us busy. But in the middle of it, I wonder if there is a way to be quiet and rested inside. I wonder if there is a way to be calm in the middle of life's storms. Well, I guess I already know the answer to this. There is. But it takes A LOT of work. Ha! There's that word again!

I wonder... if we could find rest despite what is happening around us, if work wouldn't feel like such a bad thing anymore?

Just a though. The end. Happy Tuesday! 

Clouds. A nerd's post.

I love clouds. I know that sound sick and awful, since I live in the Northwest where we see clouds for most of the year, but I'm not talking about just any clouds. I love clouds with texture and depth and color and all the wonderful things that clouds can do. One of my favorite things as a child was jumping on our trampoline, looking at the puffy cotton ball clouds on summery days. We don't get many of those kind. But every fall, just before we head into the gray, boring, flat clouds of winter, we get some pretty good ones just to ease us from sun into drizzle. For 8 months... 

Looking out the window this morning, I saw some pretty great ones and I had to take some pictures. Of course, my camera's battery was dead so I grabbed Luke's and hoped for the best. I love to see paintings of clouds too. I wish I could paint and then paint really good clouds. Delayne?? Teacher Delayne? Ahem. Excuse me. That just slipped out. 

Clouds also make me think of heaven. And heaven on earth. And potential. And all the wonderous things we haven't seen or heard or experienced yet. That's what these ones make me think about! 

Have a happy day! 

tarp city

For Labor Day weekend this year, we went camping at Deception Pass State Park. I reserved the spot back in January and I fully intend to do it again for next year. The spot I found was totally perfect and close to the bathrooms but not too close, if you know what I mean. 

The weather forecast said lots and lots of rain and possible thunder/lightning storms so we came prepared. Our friends Chris & Shereen came with us and we built the most awesome tarp city on the planet (well... for camping) ever! We WANTED it to rain. Luke packed enough firewood to keep us in business for the whole weekend and basically, we ate and played games non-stop for 3 days! And slept too. Maybe a few walks, you know, to add some balance to our very well balanced weekend! 

On Sunday, we had some visitors show up. Ben/Becca stopped by for the day and my brother Steve and his friend Rachael came to camp for one night. We played a very intense game of poker with $8 in the pot to win. Yes, big money. I didn't win. 

I think I'm just rambling a lot right now but here's the pictures Luke took of our trip. I didn't want to do anything other than nothing so I couldn't be bothered to bring my camera...

Setting up our beautiful campsite.

TARP CITY!!!! That's what we ended up calling it. I think it's appropriate! 

Hashbrown heaven! Hot breakfasts every morning!!!

This is Steve's creepy pancake cooking face.

Rachael, who brought her very cool, REAL film camera. Photo major at fancy school.

I don't think this should be dignified with an explanation...

And to top off my little reminiscence of our great weekend, I ran to grab something from the dining room and realized that my dog Deeter had emptied his little guts out on my floor twice. I just found out today that Ben fed him not one, but TWO hot dogs on Sunday. He had a hot dog hangover on Monday and wouldn't get out from the sleeping bag for nothin' or nobody.

The end. Pun intended.

Fall Happenings

As I write this post, I can hear the scream of an NFL crowd in the background. The Seahawks are playing their last post-season game before their regular season starts on September 13th. I know, just breathe, as Faith Hill says. I'm pretty excited! If you aren't, I'm sorry. Because at our house, the game will be on every week and the volume will be loud and we'll be eating really good food. And if you don't like football, you're not invited. So... how do you feel about football now?? 

Just a few happy things to mention other than the football season's start. One of my favorite bloggers just came out with her new cookbook. It's on pre-order and I fully intend to be on that list asap but I can't mention who it is because it's a great gift item! There is a peach crisp baking in the oven and Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream in the freezer! I cleaned out my closet and got rid of so many things, I am shocked. I have no laundry left to do. And I feel like myself for the first time in 3 months. 

I know, it's shocking... I actually felt like myself today, after MANY weeks of being so exhausted that I couldn't fathom doing anything besides the bare minimum. But I've been growing a very important person so it's okay! Here's the evidence thus far...

Stay tuned. This is bound to get much bigger!