One Piece

I turned 32 last month. Of the few goals I set for myself this year, wearing a one piece swimsuit was at the top of the list. My 2 pieces aren't super skimpy, but I just felt like 32 was a good time to throw a one piece into the mix. I didn't want just any ol' suit though, I wanted something that was really cute and flirty, but not too revealing because I have to chase my kids at the beach. My goal was to be a bit more modest, but still look young and fresh.

So I shopped. Mostly online. Do you know how difficult it is to bathing suit shop online? Whoa, it's hard. Really, really hard. I found tons of cute suits, but the models' bodies aren't like mine. I'm as tall as most of the women in the photos, but nowhere near as thin and curve-less.

Through all of the shopping I realized that you almost need to be in better shape to wear a one piece suit than you do when you wear a bikini. Most of the suits I tried on had cutouts or plunging necklines and other features that required sitting up really straight, sucking my stomach in, and not bending over or moving at all. I need a suit that I can slouch in and let it all hang out, without letting it all hang out!

After trying on many duds, I finally found a keeper. Today was my first time wearing a one piece bathing suit since I was 12 and I gotta say, it was awesome! I felt so cute!! My suit stayed put during wave jumping, shell hunting, and sand castle building. I slouched to my heart's content and never once sucked anything in. It was glorious. I felt modest but not at all frumpy or like I was trying to hide a problem body part. I actually didn't feel self-conscious at all. 


I am so down with the one piece now, I ordered another one just a little bit ago. I can't believe I waited so long to make the switch, but I'm so glad I did. Here's to a summer of slouching and not sucking in!!

Spiders

Do you want to know a fun fact about California? It's overrun by spiders!! How awesome is that?!?!

It's actually not very awesome. There are spiders in our bushes, spiders in the railing on our porch, spiders in our grass, and spiders in our house. Webs cover the landscaping and porch corners. We clean them off, but California spiders are ambitious arachnids and re-web everything by morning. Awesome, right?!

The worst spiders of course, are the ones found in the house. I find them behind toilets, under furniture, on walls, in the bath towels, and on window sills. Most of them are harmless, but I have found several brown widows on our outdoor toys and 1 in our laundry room. Brown widows are poisonous, just like the black variety, so... EEK! 

We go through spells where there are more spiders in the house than not, but there are always spiders in the house. And that has me a bit on edge, as you can imagine. I'm always on the lookout for 8-legged terrorists. After 2.5 years of being surprised by them, I now walk into rooms scanning the walls, floorboards, and ceilings knowing they are there, waiting to be discovered.

And sometimes they are there. I am brave now and can make a weapon out of most anything. Shoes, books, toilet paper, trash cans, and the mail are some favorites! I don't enjoy killing, but these spiders are out of control. I'm just doing my part for population control. Plus, there is a huge spider problem outside of our house, so releasing them just contributes to that issue. Murder is the only way!

I wasn't always this lethal though. Some of these rascally spiders JUMP, so instead of quickly squashing them, I would scream, cry, call JD, call the neighbors, and call the police. The threat of a spider crawling on me is bad enough, but imagine one lunging off of the wall in my direction... you would become murderous too.

I've grown so accustomed to looking for spiders that I see them when they're not really there at all. A wad of thread on the floor in my sewing room? Spider legs. A discarded candy wrapper in the corner? Spider abdomen. Texture on the basement wall? Spider. Naturally, I go into full annihilate mode, for nothing. Basically, the spiders have made me crazy.

The pest control guy tells me there is no way to completely de-spider our house. We have a basement and spiders like cool, dark lower levels, so it's likely we will have unwanted housemates for all of our days here. Our best bet is to sweep away webs, kill the live ones, and make sure other bugs don't make it into our house. Other bugs = spider food. He says lots of Californians have spider problems in their houses, it's just a California thing.

Super awesome, right?!

Jesus Lives

Easter weekend was such a joyful time. It is my absolute favorite holiday and I love everything about this season. It warms my heart to know the name of Jesus is lifted high all over the world this weekend. He is risen and lives forevermore! Amen and amen!

Friday was spent shopping for new shoes, preparing Easter baskets, and crafting. I love teaching the girls about our faith and I take every opportunity to teach them about God. Penelope can tell you the Easter story like she is behind a pulpit. Watching my girls celebrate our risen Lord is the best.

Saturday was our neighborhood Easter party complete with egg hunt and petting zoo. It was freezing and windy with the scent of pony poop filling the air. I did not enjoy it. Thankfully we had church later that night. Church was awesome. It was a raucous party. The Saviour of the world conquering sin and death is no ordinary thing, you know! There ought to be some celebrating!

Saturday was also our 6 year anniversary. With all of the other festivities underway, we didn't have anything special planned. It was fine though, we smooched a lot and told the girls about our wedding day. I love being married to JD. He's a keeper.

Today we had Easter baskets, more egg hunting, and lunch/party with friends. We had a blast. We came home with full bellies and sunburns. Also, candy.

We had a blessed weekend! I hope you all did too. Happy Easter!! I hope with all my heart you know Jesus. He makes all the difference in the world.

This Year's Easter Dresses

I made the girls' Easter dresses again this year. I didn't really intend to, but my sister in law begged me to make this dress for my niece to wear, so I bought the pattern and fell in love with it. For awhile last month, I was a one woman dress making machine. I churned out 3 little heart cut-out dresses for my favorite little people. I couldn't be happier with the outcome!

The dresses were fairly simple to make. The pattern was very detailed and easy to understand. I was really proud of myself for making a successful garment after so many failures.

The girls love their dresses too. It's so rewarding to make something that they actually want to wear. We bought some new glitter shoes today to complete their outfits. They look lovely, dontcha think?!

Penelope says Happy Easter! And make sure to wear your panties under whatever you're wearing this weekend!

Full Heart

Hey hey hello! We just returned from a 2 week visit with our family in Tennessee. There are only a few reasons I will get on an airplane and new babies are at the top of the list.

That's Rosie, my little brother and sister in law's new baby girl. She's pretty much the most perfect baby ever to be born in a living room. Jenni had her at home on a Monday night. We flew in early on Tuesday and went straight to their house to smooch on our littlest family member. She's tiny and sweet. I love her.

Our visit was different from past trips because we split our time between my older brother's house, JD's parents, and my mom's house. It was great, although a bit of an emotional roller coaster when it was time to leave one house to go to the next. It felt like we had to say goodbye just when we got settled, but then the excitement of being welcomed somewhere new snuffed out the sadness. It was fun! And sad. Like I said, emotional roller coaster!

2 weeks was the perfect length of time to be away. We were busy every day visiting family, old friends, and former employers. JD mentioned after one long day visiting 3 different homes that this wasn't his idea of a relaxing vacation. I told him we can relax at home, we came to see everyone and if we don't triple up some days, we'd never get to everybody!

It was his first time back to Tennessee since we moved 2.5 years ago. He enjoyed seeing our old stomping ground, but we both agreed it no longer felt like home. As much as we hate being so far away from our loved ones, we really love Southern California and were excited to get back.

I'm thankful to have the time with our family the last 2 weeks. My kids loved playing with their older cousins and mothering their younger ones. We didn't get to see everyone as much as we hoped to, but that happens when you have a huge family and lots of friends. Plans are being made for lots of visitors coming our way this year. Until then, I have a heart full of memories and love to carry me until we see them all again.