cuteness overload: more oklahoma pictures

i just received these photos from my mom's camera that she took during our stay.

they all make me miss home. and family. and chickens.

going on a chicken hunt

          

 

             

 

love my momma.

a little lately

we have been busy bees over here lately.

i have been working on an abundance of projects simultaneously which never really amounts to much progress.

i joined the local nova modern quilters guild (jeremy thinks this is hilarious) and have made a new quilting friend.  i also discovered an adorable & new local quilting shop that is right up the road.  (he thinks this is less hilarious).  admittedly i am a major novice when it comes to quilting. who knew all the work that went into matching up various fabrics and patterns??  i am working on a quilt for a special couple-to-be and i unknowingly chose a quilt pattern that is going to make me regret passing notes to my friends all through geometry.  but here goes nothin'...

i know they will love it no matter what so that helps the anxiety. i am really excited about the color palette though!

concurrent project #2 is a new deployment shadowbox for jeremy.  i had originally created one of these to showcase some of his photos and medals from his deployment to iraq back in 07-08.  when he deployed to afghanistan and accrued four more medals (my guy!) as well as some really awesome patches we thought it was time for an update.  along with each deployment he returned with an american flag to signify his time overseas.  one flag was flown over the u.s. embassy in baghdad, iraq. the flag from afghanistan traveled all over the country with him, on convoys, planes, and helicopters: he always made sure he had space to carry his flag in his 72 hour bag.  considering the significance of all of his memorabilia he asked for me to create a cohesive display.

challenge accepted.

the background behind each flag is fabric cut from each of his uniforms while deployed in iraq and afghanistan.  i wish i could claim the genius behind the idea but he came up with that all on his own.  crafty.

some stellar iphone photos to show off the work

we took up running walk/jogging/wheezing. nora loves being outside.  i almost died.  it hurts my ego seeing how out of shape i am.  for the life of me, i still hate exercise.

in the midst of all of this i am cookin' up a storm in the kitchen.  chocolate cakes, cookies, peruvian chicken, and a whole lotta' salsa. (take THAT exercise!)  i can't get enough of gina's recipes from skinnytaste.com.  that gal keeps it real.  and she loves zucchini as much as i do.  

win.

this cake has been made twice in the past two weeks.  i think he likes it.

nora and i are headed to bethany beach with some other moms and babes this next week.  it will likely be a special kind of vacation with all of those kiddos running around.  we are still struggling with mid-night wake-ups so this could be interesting. (there is not enough coffee in the world). hopefully we can squeeze every last drop out of summer so we can jump feet first into fall.  i am so ready for apples and cinnamon and sweaters and boots, oh my!

when did she get so big??

i am loving this whole mom/tot phase we are in.  late nights and all.

xo,

j

belated one year old pictures

i am so so so in love with these pictures taken by Mariah of Olive Juice Photography down at the devon boathouse in downtown okc.

mariah and i were friends waaay back in high school and managed to pick up right where we left off during my last visit back to oklahoma.  she is such a sweet momma of two little girls and an amazingly talented photographer to boot!  we had fun catching up and trying to get nora to smile.  and- let me tell you, those smiles were few and far between on the evening of her shoot.

to top things off, nora got a nasty mosquito bite on her ear the night before, leaving the ear swollen and red. those nasty bugs love my sweet baby.  despite the shoot taking place after nora's bedtime and the nasty bug bite, mariah managed to capture some sweet smiles from the little bee.

i love them all.

look how swollen her ear is!  poor baby.

                        

    

       

                              

         

       

cracks me up.

       

i sometimes have moments where i can't believe that this is my little baby.  she is growing up so fast.

going home again

nora and i set off on a little weeklong adventure back to the great state of oklahoma.  i love getting to take her back home to visit with family and friends.  somehow, seeing how much they love her makes me love her even more.

i love living away from home.  i love the space i have to grow.  i love how the distance has forced me to adapt and develop traits that i am not sure i would ever have discovered had i stayed in oklahoma.  i appreciate my local friendships and work hard to maintain them.  that being said, it is hard to be away from family.  i hate that nora doesn't get to stay at her grandparent's house on any given night, just because.  i miss getting a call to meet my brothers for lunch down the street.  i am jealous of my sisters getting to have morning coffee with my mom.

these feelings make my trips back to oklahoma pretty powerful.  the intensity with which i dive into the trips often causes me to burn out on "quality bonding time" at about day three.  we managed to pack in a whole summer's worth of moments in one week's time... and survived.

we celebrated my mamaw honey's eighty-fifth birthday along with her recent move up to oklahoma from louisiana.  i can't tell you how much i loved getting to go visit her throughout the week.  it was a great celebration with aunts and uncles and tons of cousins.  there was even a cupcake pinata, which nora was absolutely terrified of.  we took advantage of the gathering of relatives and took some great (some awkward) family photos.

mamaw honey with my mom and stepdad and the kids

we are so fortunate to have a large amount of family that all live close together in oklahoma.  i love getting to pack in so much quality family time when we are home.  it can be taxing and difficult to coordinate schedules, but it is always worth it.

i have realized after living away from family for almost eight years that it is important to fill that tank up while you can.  i know that those moments are necessary to help me get through rough days.

so, that's what we did!  fill 'er up!

my sweet brothers

mamaw honey with the daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters

my sweet gigi with nora


i love that nora is getting to play with something that was a part of my childhood.  this wooden rocker duck was made for my older brother by my dad.  it made my heart smile to see her playing with it.

my brother's have excellent taste in women - my sister/friend desirae (L) and my soon to be sis-in-law juice (R)

we spent the rest of the week doing fun things like swimming, jumping on the trampoline, and chasing chickens.  you know, typical oklahoma stuff.

ladies who sun

 

 

determination

now, if i could just get this little lady back into her routine.  she has been waking up every night since we came home!


xo- jansen