a thousand beautiful things

thoughts.

alissa — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:21:16 +0000

I’m so lucky. I know I am. For 2 1/2 years now I’ve been able to stay home everyday and raise my daughter. Which is what I’ve always thought was best and wanted to do. I’ve seen every new thing she’s done. Every old thing. I’ve been there for all her milestones and funny moments and bad behavior. Because I don’t work I get to take Liv to all kinds of places. We get to explore and be outdoors and be together. It’s really good. But not working means were living on just keli’s income. Which is better now than it has ever been, but we’re still limited. In no way could we afford to rent our own place. We’re lucky we’re able to live with his family. And while I’m very glad we have a place to live and very glad I can raise my daughter full time, there are downsides to being 26 and not living on my own. Not everyone may understand it, but for a lot of people (me included), thrifting, making crafts, decorating your home, even just rearranging your living areas are things that make us happy. I think it could even be described as a hobby. So yes, I’m lucky I get to go out and explore and be in nature and be with my daughter (some of my all time FAVORITE things), I am missing out on something that brings me a lot of happiness. I always worry that feeling this way makes me appear ungrateful for the home I do have(I’m not, i really appreciate it) or really petty. I know there are much bigger things that I could be worrying about, besides not having my own space. But regardless of how I may appear to others, I think really it’s ok for me to have a little bit of longing for what I’m missing . It helps me want to push for more in the future, which I think is healthy and important. i know these memories will last longer than any thing or place we have anyway. I guess this is just me venting. Reassuring myself that it’s ok to want more. It doesn’t mean I’m not happy with what I have. It doesn’t mean I’m not grateful. How could I not be, when I get to do all this fun stuff?

happy valentines day to me!

alissa — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 07:18:55 +0000

so about a week and a half ago i was skimming through the longs ad (something i never do) and saw that they had the instax mini on sale…a really good sale. i told keli about it and he said we could get it! so we did. and then i came right home and ordered film off amazon cause it was way cheaper there. well yesterday the film arrived. eep! all i got for him for valentines day was some rolo’s. (i made dynamite) so this was a pretty awesome gift in return :]

i’ve only taken a few pictures so far, but i like it. the view finder is way off to the right of the camera so for close up shots you kinda gotta take that into account or your picture comes out framed a lot differently than you’d want. and i have to play with the settings a little to learn what works best. so yay! instax!

he’eia and wetlands day

alissa — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:21:55 +0000

i was all set to start blogging about all the valentines stuff we’ve been doing this month but then i got an email from my mom with the pictures she took the day we went to he’eia (her pigtails!) and wetlands day so im going to blog those first. hopefully i’ll still get around the the valentines post tonight or tomorrow.

love you, film.

alissa — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:52:36 +0000

last time i bought and used a disposable camera was super fun so on january first i bought 2 more. i took one picture a day, every day in january, and then just used up the rest of the pictures whenever i felt like it. i guess while being developed some of the pictures didnt turn out because when i picked them up today i was definitely missing a few prints. sad face. i think they should have printed them and given them to me even if they looked crappy, right? i got a bunch of cute ones though. liv even took a self portrait :] these are my favorite of the prints i got back today. oh and longs is running a sale right now, instax mini’s for only $50! i definitely bought one today, then ordered film from amazon as soon as we got home. i cant wait!

the mom walk challenge : week 1

alissa — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:50:03 +0000

mandy at she breathes deeply is doing a mom walk challenge to encourage us to get out and go, but also to go inside and think. it seems like a good idea so i thought i’d join in. we’ll see how long i keep it up. this weeks blog topic is

why are you joining the mom walk challenge? what are you goals for this challenge?

i’m joining because it definitely cant hurt to get out and be active as much as possible, and for the most part, liv likes it too (she doesnt always love being in her stroller). she and i both really love nature so its a fun way to see a bunch of different things. my goal is to walk at least 5 days a week, even if its just a short distance.

caterpillars! and a good day :]

alissa — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:02:10 +0000

Last week keli’s mom brought home a couple caterpillars from work…they’re pretty fun. I found a crown flower tree while on a walk the other day so weve gone a few times to pick more leaves (and caterpillars too). The biggest guy is starting to form his chrysalis today and another one is close behind today has just been a really good day all around. Liv did dump out my coffee this morning, and then two cups of water, but I got to shower and Keli went with us to the grocery store where Liv was on her best behavior. Thank god. We had some lunch then went on the cutest walk ever for caterpillar leaves. Do you see the pigtails?! Liv has been wearing them all day. Amazing.

We ate some chocolate cake (apparently liv thinks cake = birthdays because she kept singing happy birthday to me) played with play dough, and Liv went a little crazy with her paints. No idea why she’s wearing a diaper…but she went ahead and painted it green. Along with her whole easel.

Around 4 i called my mom and convinced her to go with liv and i to he’eia…again :] as soon as we got back in the car to come home liv said ‘we had fun!’ because she didnt nap today, she fell asleep at 7:30, and it only took like 5 minutes. so good.

Hey

alissa — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:37:35 +0000

I’m kind of over blogging at the moment. I’m not even really as interested in reading blogs as I used to be. Idk what’s up. Things have been pretty good though. Liv is still definitely my sweet and sour girl. She is so awesome, but can be so…trying. We’ve been keeping busy with crafts and exploring and just hanging out in our backyard. Liv really loves nature, maybe as much as I do I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, and a lot of them end up on instagram and twitter. Uploading and organizing and editing and posting….it’s a lot of work. I know Im a broken record, ive said this all before. I’m sure at some point I’ll be back to regularly blogging but for now….we’ll see.

oh, he’eia

alissa — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:26:25 +0000

i will forever be posting pictures of our adventures here.

bunny love

alissa — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:41:50 +0000

i think i know what livs first real pet is going to be.

we started watching kipper again and there are rabbits on a few episodes. they hop around on big hill and theres even a cloud bunny. so now liv is all into rabbits apparently. ‘but i really want one…’ i explained to her that pets are a lot of work and also they take up space..you need room for a cage, etc but she quickly informed me that no, ‘rabbits live in holes in the ground! in the grass.’ very true.i remembered grammy had this stuffed rabbit thing that used to hop, so i brought it outside with us. LOVE. recently i’ve been talking with her about money, i think because she got $10 for christmas so we were discussing how she could spend it. she bought a pack of band aids and a new cup and bowl. and then keli has a gift card for the mall, and i asked her what she thinks he should buy with it. ‘flowers!’ anyway, after we played with the rabbit for awhile keli came home and asked what we wanted to do. liv said she wanted to go to the mall. i explained that we dont really need anything and also i didnt have money to spend. so of course keli gave her some money (he really wanted to go to the mall too) which she ran over to me. ‘what are we gonna buy with this money, liv?’ ‘pet rabbit!’ :]

(were gonna wait till shes like 5)

recent cuteness

alissa — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:11:06 +0000

before i upload all the new pictures i have and write down the stories that go with them, i have to post some of the backlog. i have to.

babygirl can cut

and take pictures

shes (KNOCK ON WOOD) getting better at sleeping

we’ve been playing in ‘the shady spot’ a lot

and going to the river

she bought bandaids with her christmas money

and she and rachel danced around in footie pajamas