Just Mixing it Up! Personal Style: Quiz

     After reading a decorating post in TheMommyhood I began to think about my own personal style. I know I've always been pretty eclectic and chameleon like, changing my taste and dressing to fit my mood. That said I do have some style staples. I love to wear pearls and old jewelry. I am drawn to things that are pink and soft. I like stripes. I prefer to wear clothing that accentuates my curves although flowy, sheer fabrics intice me. (They just seem to make me look bigger than I am) I love tea cups and saucers, vintage photos and magazines. I'm drawn more to distressed fabrics and wood than I am to copy and paste manufactured pieces, although by looking at my furniture you'd never know it. I love color in a room. I like dark blue with white trim. I like bright yellow and sap green. So, what is my style exactly? I went to Kaboose and took two fun quizes. A fun Decorating Style Quiz and a Fashion Style Quiz.
 After 10 questions about curtain choices, flooring, colors, and finishing touches it concluded that my decorating style is "Cottage Chic." At a close second was "Country French." Apparently, and I agree, that I am drawn to romantic, vintage inspired, and distressed pieces. It also stated that I like whitewash and at first I thought I didn't. I like rich colors and contrast. However looking at photos of whitewashed rooms, I found that I am actually very drawn to it. Plus, all of my dishes are white and they are in white cabinets. So apparently I'm not as in to color as I thought I was. Here are some "swatches" I found that go along with my style.




After the decorating quiz I went on to the fashion quiz. The "What Era Do You Belong To?" quiz asked me to choose between favorite accessories, shoes, and hair styles. It concluded that I'm a lady of the '30s. What?! I would have thought 50's or 60's. You know, more of a mid-century Betty Friedan than the Hell's House Bette Davis. However I'd be proud to be linked to them both politically of course. But that's another post. Anyhoo, the test concluded that I'm classic, feminine, and in touch with my glamorous side. I suppose it's right. I like horizontal stripes: classic. I adore pink: feminine. My go to lip color is red: glamorous. But I remind my self of the items in my closet that are the antithesis of this era. For example the black leather jacket or the zebra print button up. Oh, but wait. I'm pretty sure that I bought those because they were a trend and I may have worn each of them twice. Hmmmm..... My wardrobe really does reflect this sort of style.

Take the quizzes! What's your style?

My Little Changeling; Be My Baby a Little Longer

My Dear Little Jareth,

     To say "My how you've grown" would be an understatement. It's March and you are 17 months old. How can this be? We just brought you home, terrified and excited with what was to come. But so much has changed since then. Here you are walking and doing your best to talk. Here you are feeding yourself, dancing to music, watching your favorite shows, and experimenting with the potty. Your gummy grin has been replaced with pearly teeth and all those fat rolls are sloughing off. You are 25 lbs of tumbling energy, ready for anything. You are changing everyday.
     How did we get here, little monkey? You are not the same child I met in the hospital. When you first came home I was so worried over breast feeding and now you are sipping through a straw. Nine months ago I was worried you'd never begin to crawl and as I type this you are practically flying across the house throwing a ball. You say da-da, dog, hi, bye, ball, cheese, bed, no, "man," nana (for banana), juice, book, and a few other things. Sometimes you even say "mama," but not often. (I think that since I'm always around, you simply have no need to call my name) Your vocabulary is growing every day.
     So much has changed in our world since you came around and I don't mean since the day you were born. You were a person when we discovered that we were pregnant with you. But for a long time it was just daddy and I, although it's hard to imagine what was meaningful before you arrived. You changed our lives for the better and never think otherwise. We were happy before you, but now couldn't be happy without you. Soon, I will have to tell you the love story that brought you here. And now it seems youve always been here.
     You are going to continue to grow, but please don't grow too fast. This growing up business, I'm finding, is the most bittersweet part of life. You change everyday and it's the most wonderful and astonishing thing. But the bitter part is that I will never get this back. So please keep on changing, show me what you can do. Just don't grow to fast, be my baby a little longer.
  

I have...

watched the sun rise from the middle of the ocean

married a man that has prayed over me

played with orphans in a foreign country

gave birth to a son I was afraid I couldn't have

hunted for seashells in the early morning

danced in the rain while wearing a gown

lived through the loss of someone I loved dearly

people in my life that I would go to at the drop of a hat

people in my life that would come to me at the drop of a hat

been the first to graduate from college on both sides of my family

sang a solo, terrified

witnessed the love of a man and woman married over 50 years

seen two wrinkled hands hold one another as one life slipped away

written a children's story

taken up a hobby after years of thinking about it

snorkled caribbean water

watched a butterfly leave its cocoon

opened my heart to someone in need
 
raised my hands in surrender to God
 
to be continued.....

Rain, Rain Go Away: An Awful Week in Andersonland

     Just when your head's above water, it decides to pour. I mean this in the literal sense. Last week was one of the worst I've had in a long time. Flood and sickness reigned on high.
     Monday it came a monsoon here in Knoxville. We were under a tornado warning and a flood warning at the same time. I had both Jareth and Bella, the little girl I keep a few days a week. I rushed them downstairs after being told to "take cover" by the local news. They were a little off put by the thunder but went to playing immediately. Not an hour later I noticed a big wet spot in the floor near the play area. At first I thought one of the kids has spilled their sippy cups and went to clean it up. But after the second towel I was using was soaked and there was still a big wet spot I realized my basement was flooding. We had just gotten new furniture down there and re-decorated. Ugh. So, I put the kids in a pack n play and got to work moving as much furniture as I could into the garage. My dad came that evening and helped Jon pull up all the carpet and used a shop vac to clean up the standing water. We ran fans all night and all day Tuesday in an effort to dry the concrete as fast as we could.
     Tuesday morning, around 3:30 am, I was woken up by the rumbling of my tummy. I proceeded to vomit for the next 24 hours. I experienced the worst stomach cramps I've ever endured. I can only relate them to labor pain, and I'm not over dramatizing it. Jon came home for a long lunch and I almost had him take me to the ER. The pain lasted about an hour and then I was out. Jareth and I both napped (thank God) for four hours!
     Wednesday morning, around 4:00 am, Jonathan was awakened with the same rumbling in his tummy that I had experienced the day before. He had to call into work and was sick all day. But the worst part of it was when I was awakened around 7:00 am by Jareth's shrill cries. He was covered head to toe in vomit and diarrhea. Gagging, I took him straight to the bathroom and put him in the tub, clothes and all. Then I stripped him down, yelling for Jon to bring me a bag for his dirty clothes. He was given two baths and the tub was bleached. Jareth and Jon both were sick all day.
     Thursday, we all felt better so Jon went back to work and I took it upon myself to bleach my entire house. I washed all the bed clothes, wiped down all the walls and toys I could find. I mopped, cleaned the toilet, and sprayed Lysol absolutely everywhere. It started raining again that night and we were so nervous about the basement. I just knew I was going to wake up to more standing water.
     Friday, I was again awakened by Jareth bawling early in the morning. He was covered in vomit and diarrhea again. I wanted to cry. So, again, we went straight to the bathroom. I decided I should call the doctor because Jareth wouldn't eat or drink anything at all and he was just puny. Jareth and I spent the afternoon at the doctor's office. If you are a mom, you know how that goes. Later that day, Jareth was doing much better. He was finally eating and drinking and was in good spirit. When Jon got home we decided to tackle the basement issue. We went to Home Depot to look at flooring and talk to a specialist. I decided it would be a good idea to paint since the carpet was pulled up and the furniture was gone. Jon didn't really want to, but I was able to persuade him. We left with two gallons of paint and an appointment for someone to come measure the basement. Oh, and it started to rain again. Perfect.
     Saturday morning I began painting. Jareth was a doll and played upstairs while I painted downstairs. Don't worry, I checked on him often and he was totally fine the whole time. I did realize however that the "blue-grey" paint I had picked out was actually "purple-grey." A beautiful color but not exactly what we had in mind. Oh well, I'm not going back! When Jon got home and got over the fact that we had a slightly purple basement, we got half the room done.
     Sunday we finished painting and Jon put up new light fixture in the play area. We also made another trip to Home Depot for gutter tubing that will help keep water away from the house. (So far, so good)
     Monday the lady from Home Depot came and took a measurement of the basement for flooring. We got our quote for the carpet. It wasn't too bad, but it will have to go on the credit card. So much for being debt free. Oh, and Home Depot said that the carpet may take a week to come in and then we would be put on a "list."
Did I happen to mention it's a week later and it's STILL RAINING!? March is quickly becoming my least favorite month.