a little knitted rebellion

this year for christmas i did something new. it's not unusual for me to make all my gifts, but this year i knit them all. which, consequently, meant i spent all my free time from thanksgiving to christmas knitting. i barely got some of the gifts done in time so i didn't get any photos of the results, including the awesome {and red} convertible mittens i made for my mom. 

but, as it turns out, after wearing them to work one day, she discovered that they are against the strict dress-code. that's right, my parents work at the salvation army training college and, while they have the freedom to choose either a red or black scarf to match their black {strictly regulated} winter coats, that is the limit of their personal choices. {is my this-is-a-little-ridiculous tone coming through here?} so, upon my return home, i started on a new pair. exactly the same {except for a few tweaks i made to my first pattern} but in black.

  

and, according to my mother's wishes, i added this little surprise:

 bam!

i absolutely approve of this little addition and these really are much cuter than an all-red pair. {plus, red, yellow, and blue are the salvation army colors, so quite acceptable, i think}

 kinda wishing i could have kept these for myself, but i sent them off earlier this week so she wouldn't have to keep breaking the rules. who knows how long they will put up with her blatant disregard for the dress code!

highest highs & lowest lows

this week has been....something else. to say it's been a roller coaster ride just doesn't quite cover it. it's like the week that never ends.

it started with my mom's {major} surgery on tuesday morning, which went well. yay! 

high!

but then she had complications, and was back in the hospital for 20 hours. my dad sounded a step away from distraught, and with no family nearby him to be supportive and a mom in a "precarious" situation, my siblings and i were all freaking out. a lot.  

low.

but then she went home and things have been all clear ever since. 

high!

wednesday husband had his final all-day interview with teach for america. 

high!

but the interview was in lawrence {a couple hours away} and the night before our car broke down. disaster.  

low.

but then a dear friend came through with a car to borrow. she's amazing.  

high!

{and oh yeah, he nailed the interview}

double high!

so now it's the end of a long long week and everything has ended on a good note, but i'm still reeling from, well, everything. 

i'm looking forward to a calm weekend. 

a weekend of recovery. {especially for my mom}

laugher is the best medicine

i've been stressed, which is no secret. but one of the main stresses is my mom's recent breast cancer diagnosis {which is all i'll say about that}

so, true to my family's form, i dealt with the news with craft therapy and humor.

and then sent my mom a little package with this "tasteful and classy scarf", as i referred to it in the accompanying card.

a boobie scarf!
{knit by me}

she laughed so hard she cried. and it arrived just in time to relieve a little stress. and while it's been really hard to be so far away from her right now, i feel like i'm finally there, in spirit if not in body. 
we all need a boobie scarf now and then :)

freaky friday

at some point this weekend i realized that mom and i basically traded haircuts.

i got mine cut, and she let hers grow out.

mom, don't read this

mom, don't read this post.

seriously, just stop now.

and what is so terrible that i'm hiding from my mom? a sunburn. you might not see what's so bad about this, but you haven't seen my sunburn, and you don't know my mom. now i'm not saying she's crazy or anything, but she does have this whole {some might say obsessive} thing about sunblock, sun exposure, and skin cancer. and i don't need her worrying about me {or looking at me with those disappointed-but-still-judging eyes} you know what i'm talking about because every mom has them.

i went and did something stupid. i got a sunburn. a bad one. one like i've never had before. i thought i was too old {and wise?} to do something so stupid {because really, i know better, i was raised better} but it just so happens that the day i decide to break out my 2 piece is the day i forget sunblock and spend 3+ hours poolside.

bad news bears.

i have got one {angry} red belly.

day 1: uncomfortable

day 2: unbearable

day 3: not bad- until lunch when i got to reapply aloe and find my stomach covered in bubbles. blisters. like when you step out of the shower and have water droplets all over? it's like i forgot to dry off. horrible and mesmerising at the same time. i can't seem to look away.

and again i say, how did i let this happen?! i know better! i was raised better!

all i can think about is the summer my sister was a lifeguard and she got little bubbles all over her back, too. and i asked her what the heck they were and she gave me some nonchalant answer about it happening all the time, not being a big deal... to which i immediately freak out and yell at her about how bad it is, how she needs to wear sunblock...

oh how the mighty hath fallen.

my flowery weekend

what did you do for memorial day?

me? i went to visit my parents in omaha {for the last time before they move to chicago} and while the weekend was mostly filled with family time, movies, and just sitting around, we did make a trip out to lauritzen gardens. and it was gorgeous!

peek-a-boo toes!

me, mom and grandma grandma {as i always call her}

and when we took grandma back to her home, there were little ducks running around. they live in the pond right outside.

how cute are they?!

i hope you all had a weekend as beautiful as mine :)

violin fingers

this past weekend i went to omaha to visit my family and play a gig with my sister- dinner music for my mom's women's retreat {the last one she planned before she moves to chicago in june}

 {and yeah, sister and i decided to match and wear black and yellow. cause we're awesome and never too old to be matchy-matchy}

i know it looks like we're just making goofy faces, but we're really that {some might say overly} dramatic. 

but whatever, we have fun.

and what was supposed to be 1 hour of dinner music, turned into 2 {which was fine with me, because little sister and i don't get many opportunities to play to together anymore and we had plenty of music} and if you've never seen a violinists fingers after 2 straight hours of playing {and a 20 minute warm-up} let me show you:

can you see all the little black lines? it looks really weird, but it doesn't last long. it had already mostly worn off 20 minutes later, when i took the photo. the little indentations from the strings are already totally gone.

it somehow feels oddly satisfying- like i've been playing super hard {which i guess, technically, i was}

advice from my mom

today i'm guest posting over at auburn street. sarah has started an "advice from my mom" series that i'm so excited to be a part of! {cause i just love my momma}

so if you want to read advice from my mom {and sarah's too} then head over and check it out.

and if you want to contribute your own mom's advice, email sarah at helloauburnst@gmail.com

mom love!

today is a special day.

it's my mom's birthday!

{yep, she's gorgeous}

besides my hubby, she knows me better than anyone else on the planet. she is my life-long mentor and role-model. when i was a little girl, i thought that if i grew up to be half as smart as her then i'd be doing alright.

even though she's always been one of my best friends, it's really cool to see how our relationship has changed as i've gotten older. like we choose to be friends now, not just a we're-mother-and-daughter-so-we-have-to-like-it sort of thing.

and if you think i'm crafty- you should see her!

happy birthday, mom!

no freezer space? no problem!

"distribution time at the salvation army during christmas is a time of tremendous pressure and stress; there's not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that has to be done. the pressure isn't only on the officers, but the staff and the volunteers who are dedicated and committed to this whole process and to getting christmas food, goods, and toys out to families. as soon as the doors close on distribution day after a big distribution it's a complete sigh of relief and everybody is just absolutely drained. 

  {photo via veer}

one year we were at a corps where we had served just under 1000 families and we were absolutely exhausted. there were a few chickens leftover and we had packed everything in the freezer that we could, but there wasn't enough room, so we had a few chickens that we couldn't get in the freezer.  this was in a real cold climate and we had an emergency egress from the basement that had a vertical ladder that you could climb to get up to the street level. there was a little paved area right inside a door and then the ladder was there, and that was what we called the cold spot because there was a grate over the top and it was secure, but it was freezer cold all winter long. so we put the chickens out there because we knew they'd be safe and they would be totally frozen. and that worked out just fine. we were exhausted, we went home, we celebrated christmas with our families. when we went back to work we of course did all the clean up and then got back into our regular routine. 

and nobody remembered to retrieve those chickens when there was room in the freezer. 

and nobody remembered later than that. 

and nobody remembered later than that.

and in may we began to notice a *ahem* bad odor in the building. we finally traced its source to the downstairs area and then finally someone opened the door.

and we remebered those chickens."

{christmas story #3 from my mom. want more? story #1 story #2}

ding-dong ditch (christmas style)

here is the 2nd christmas story from my mom in my "christmas stories from mom" series {creatively titled, i know}

 read the first story, and a little bit about the whole thing here

 story #2

{dictated over the phone}

"a woman had picked up her things at the morning distribution, at her appointed time, and everything went the way it was supossed to, but she returned in the afternoon. she very apologetically asked if she could exchange the toys she got for one of her daughters for clothing instead. she was also apologetic because she had her 4-year-old daughter with her, and childern are not usually allowed at distributions for obvious reasons. but head start was over and she had nobody to watch her, so she had to come along. it was a bitterly cold day but the little girl only had on a see-through plastic raincoat for a coat. she had no hat or gloves, and her hands and face were bright red from the cold. the mother said that the other 2 girls had gotten clothing but she wanted to exchange the toys for clothing because they had been homeless and the other two girls had gotten some clothing and they needed that more than toys, so that's what she wanted to do. 

we agreed to do that, and while we were locating clothing of the right size, i had some other volunteers find a brand new coat, boots, hat and gloves for the little girl that was in the rain coat. so she left all bundled up and in warm new outer gear. the lady was extremely appreciative. 

after she left, i got a couple of our long-time and wonderful volunteers and we went through our toy shop, which was well supplied, and found the wishlist for all three of the girls and got them all of the toys they had asked for, and then lots more nice new clothing and just really did a christmas that they would never ever forget in their whole lives. we bagged them up in great giant bags and our volunteers took them that night to the family's house, put them on the porch, rang the doorbell and ran!"

this just puts a huge smile on my face :) and it reminds me of the importance of giving back to others this holiday season! i wish i could do more, i wish i did more, but i try my best to remember that every little thing counts and can make a difference in someone's life.

{photo via}

christmas stories from mom #1

 my mom has so many wonderfully funny and heartwarming christmas stories from my parents' work at the salvation army, and i personally can't resist a great story {especially from my mom} so i thought for the month of december i would ask her to be a guest blogger of sorts and tell me some of her favorites.

i hope you enjoy the stories as much as i do!

{dictated over the phone}:

 "well, this isn't a funny story but it's a heartwarming story i really love. 

we were doing adpot-a-family {donors provide their adopted family with all their food, gifts and clothing for christmas} for the first time in sioux city, iowa and we arranged for the donors to bring the purchases to the corps rather than take it to the homes of the people who'd signed up so that the families had privacy. so we were surprised when we got a phone call asking if a donor could deliver. it was the 85th air battalion. they requested a single mom with boys and we found a mother who had 4 boys. then they asked if they could deliver to their house and we explained that we couldn't do that because we wanted to retain the privacy of the family. but they asked if they could get permission to deliver any way. i was extremely reluctant to hear them out, however, they were persuasive. when i heard their argument we did change our minds because they delivered the christmas packages and food in a tank. and it was a christmas never to be forgotten by those boys when they came rolling in.

 the paper covered it. and the boys got to ride on the tank and got lots of attention from airmen who were so kind and had such a great idea. it was very impressive."

such a wonderful story. 
 my heart is quite warm now. yours too?

{photos via here and here}