3 years+30 year mortgage+kid= Grown-Up

3 years ago today was the hottest day of the year that far, I was sweating and getting really nervous. I wasn’t nervous about getting married, I was nervous about the wedding not going as planned. It turned out to be a bigger affair than I had envisioned, but my wedding was wonderful (albeit long- 1 hr and 20 minutes) and meaningful and one of the best days of my life.

I have been so blessed to have a man like Ryan in my life. He was my friend for years before anything else came about, and he saw me through some really hard times, even hard times with exes. He saw me for who I was, raw and broken and hopeless, but he still loved me. He lived out the love and forgiveness that God offers to us in a real way that opened my eyes more than any sermon or book could have. He knew the real me and still loved me, still saw the woman I could become and without him I am sure I would be a million steps behind in that journey.

Our first year of marriage consisted of working at the same place, lots of BBQs and eating at Chili’s, finding a new church and living in a 700 square foot house. We had fun, but there were also those hard times that just come along with learning to live with someone else (and for me, living with a boy was a HUGE adjustment).

 The second year, we bought our first home in Yukon and had fun getting into debt and making it our own. I also got pregnant and we got rid of the 2 door Saturn and bought a sensible family car. I changed jobs and Ryan made his catering business official. It was kind of a stressful year just because of all the financial stuff, and planning for a baby. I knew I didn’t want to work after she was born, so we tried to plan for that.

The third year of marriage, we were blessed with a little baby girl and she changed our world forever. I quit my job, Ryan worked more and we stressed about money all the time. But she was worth it, every last generic piece of food we ate Aubrey has made us grow up, become better people and brough us closer together. I realized this year that Ryan and I are a team, and we make a good one! He is a wonderful daddy and Aubrey loves him. I went back to work after 7 months and this anniversary leaves us working our way out of debt, juggling family time with life in general, and trying to remember to cherish every minute of it.

Marriage is never easy, but its a wonderful thing and you can see why God saw it as the best option for families to function. Its hard work, its fun, its exhausting and frustrating, and very rewarding. And I can’t think of a person I would rather go through it with than my best friend.

I love you Ryan! Love, Kitty

It happened again!

Okay, seriously, Mr. Sonic-intercom-trainer, tell your carhops that when I order and then say “and that’s ALL I WANT, don’t want to add anything or make my drink bigger, thanks” I mean, “no, seriously, if you ask me if I want anything else go with that after I JUST told you I DON’T, I will scratch your eyes out!”. SO ANNOYING!!!

Let’s go green! Only, can I do it from indoors?

I have been bugging Ryan since mid-March about planting a garden this year. Last year it was severely neglected due to the little squirming baby we brought home in June, but I didn’t have time or energy to care. Now the squirmer is perfectly happy to sit in an exersaucer for a half hour and sleeps 11 hours straight, so it was time to get started on “yard of the month”.

Last Friday we went and bought all the plants and flowers and mulch that we would need. And with the price of food going up this summer, I got a couple of tomato, pepper and mint plants. I wanted to go all out and get enough to make a fresh salad everyday, but I have no clue what I am doing when it comes to gardening… so I started small. My next door neighbor is one of those guys that knows everything about everything and his entire back yard is practically a Whole Foods produce section, so I guess I could have asked him. But the squirmer, she is still only 11 months old. Maybe next year. I’m sure by then he will be selling ethanol to fuel our cars out of his garage.

Anyways, I was excited about the pretty flowers and plants until Ryan said, “Okay, first thing we have to do is rake up all this old mulch and pull the weeds out.” To steal a line from Dooce, Blink. Blink blink. Okayyyyy. Sure thing. I put on my cute new pink gardening gloves and got to work. Only, it really is work! Its hard and dirty and sweaty and itchy! Those are NOT a few of my favorite things. But after a couple of flowers had been planted and I could see it all coming together, I started to relax and enjoy the beautiful day and the sounds of the wind and the smell of the dirt. By the time our garden was done, I was mapping out the backyard’s transformation.

I think my newfound eco-friendliness has opened a lot of new doors for me. The other day I needed to go to Dollar General (a little store about 5 blocks from my house) and instead of hopping in the car, I strapped Aubrey into the stroller and walked. It provided some great time with Aubrey, exercise and a break from the ordinary. Finding little snippets of just being a mommy is rare, so its something I want to make an effort to do more often.

I have said this so many times, going green doesn’t have to be extreme. It doesn’t have to be expensive. In some cases, it can save you money. It is more of a change in lifestyle than going out and buying a hybrid car (even though I really, really want a Prius). Some easy suggestions to start changing your habits are:

• Turn off the lights if you aren’t using them
• Unplug an appliance when its not in use
• If you are in traffic, turn off the car. It emits less carbon if you stop and start the car than idling.
• Turn the thermostat up (or down in the winter) when you leave the house for the day
• Make your own household cleaners
• Take showers instead of baths
• Use re-usable shopping bags
• Recycle

These are just a few of my own suggestions, but you can click here and here and here for more! See? All that eco-knowledge, done right from the comfort of my office

I’ll never sit still again

Miss Cat has decided that crawling is FUN! SUPER! FUN! and she can GET! OVER THERE! QUICKLY! While it never fails to amaze me when she discovers something new about life (you forget that you had to learn how to do everyday things, like walking and putting a spoon to your mouth without getting sweet potato mush all in your hair), this particular feat has left me tired and a nervous wreck. Good for the calves, though.

 I used to worry that she would suffocate herself when I’d walk into her room in the morning and her head would be under her blankie. Until she’d hear me walk in and pull it down and giggle at me. Like, hello mommy, I have been waiting for you to come play peek-a-boo with me. Now I worry that she will stick her fingers in the oscilating fan (part of my “green” attempt to lower energy use and turn the AC up to 80 at night… not working out for my sweaty self) or that she will pull the entire wine rack/cookbook shelf over on herself. I watch Greys Anatomy, people, I know what bookshelves can do to unsuspecting toddlers just trying to get a drink to go with their pureed green beans.

Needless to say, life is never boring now. I felt like I was always running with something to do until I got home at the end of the day before, but now I spend my time at home juggling chores with making sure she doesn’t mistake the dog food for her organic maple teething biscuits. Ryan is a little more laid back about it than me, but she is his baby girl and if the dog so much as startles her, she is banished to the back yard to swelter for a good, oh, 6 minutes.

So its baby-proofing time, only, that baby-prooding stuff? Not cheap. So its a little at a time, and a lot of vigilance on our part. Yes, it makes life a little more trying, but at the same time, it is a wonderous thing to watch your baby become a person, and discover something new everyday. And you can’t put a price on that!

One of my new favorite things!

So I have come to learn that marketing and advertising works beautifully on me. I realize this. If a Braum’s commercial comes on with their sensual display of how a sundae is made with all that gooey chocolate, I MUST HAVE ONE IMMEDIATELY OR I SHALL DIE. I didn’t want an iphone til I saw what all you could do with the mini-computer and started saving for one. And don’t even get me started on what Target ads do to me around the holidays.

So when I was reading a magazine yesterday and saw an ad for a new AFFORDABLE (yes, they do exist) organic shampoo/conditioner, I found out where I could purchase said product here in OKC. I was dreading a trip to the mall but was pleased to learn that I could go right up to Target to buy it. Oh, Target. I know, I know. But I have not had shiny, pretty hair that got complimented on since I was in college, when I used Pantene. I used Pantene until my hairdresser freaked and said it was pretty much the worst thing I could do to my hair. But it made my hair so shiny, so smooth! I haven’t found something I love and stick with since then.

Until yesterday. Today I am sporting smooth, shiny, manageable hair (and its about to tornado outside so you know the humidity is up). I have fallen in love with Organix products- it smells great, its organic (better for the environment and my body) and its only about a dollar more than the evil Pantene. At $6 a bottle, I have to say thank-you, Marie Claire, for giving me my hair back.