Like An Apple On A Tree

While taking engagement pictures for one of my dear sisters in law, I persuaded Mr Darling to pretty please take a picture or two of me for posterity and my blog...

Here we are in an apple orchard. It is fall and the trees are so heavy with apples!

And here is a picture of me standing up, so you can see Abby's little bump a bit better. I am glad Abby is healthy but she takes up so much space!

For the record, I am 6 months along and just at the end of my second trimester, which was hyped up to be the fun part. I may disagree with that, but I am still thrilled for the arrival of our little girl.

Does anyone have any recommendations for getting rid of heartburn?

A Very Merry UnBirthday

It is no longer Mr. Darling's birthday, but on September 9th we celebrated his 28th anniversary of joining everyone here on this big blue and green marble!

He is my very best friend! He is always helpful, cheerful, and fun to be around! I am so glad to celebrate how wonderful he is. Thank you, Kimber for the lovely little family get together. Thank you, Sweetheart, for always being there for me. I hope you had a happy birthday and you have a wonderful 28th year!

Thanks, Casey, for the photo! I stole it from you...hope that is OK!

Keep It In Your Pantry

This week we had an exciting change in our household. While many many many people claim that I am "nesting", I like to think I am improving, organizing, and preparing our home for a new addition who will take a fair amount of our time and make future projects a bit more difficult.

With that in mind and my frustration level near the breaking point, I subtly hinted to Mr. Darling to PRETTY PLEASE ask his cabinet guy to put in a pantry organizer. Mr Darling is an EXCELLENT listener and soon had plans in the works to improve this mess that had exploded onto the floor:

Where I couldn't find anything and had very little idea of what was actually in my pantry. The stacks frequently fell over and there simply wasn't room for everything.So for Labor Day, I emptied the pantry, cleaned the walls, taped, primed the walls and painted it a color called "perfect fit" which is a nice, bright yellow. The dingy, dirty yellow-orange is gone and replaced with a nice, light clean color!
Then, Mr. Darling had the new organizer installed Tuesday while I was at work. I got to come home to this lovely sight!!! Thank you, Mr. Darling!!!
Then, I spent Wednesday putting all of the food from the pantry, under the cabinets and the garage into my beautiful, organized, new pantry!!!
There is NOTHING on the floor, which is SO nice! And I can see what I have and actually get to it without knocking anything else over!!!
We plan to add some can roller shelves to the bottom and add maybe one or two more longer shelves just so I can add a few more things! Thank you thank you thank you, Sweet Husband of Mine! This is one of my most FAVORITE presents ever!!!

The Pursuit Of HappYness

On one of my *winter* breaks from college, I was very very sad. I had broken up with a boy nearly a year before and while I did not regret my decision, my heart had not healed. My intuitive mother knew I that something was wrong and one day brought me a very small book.

This aptly titled tome, "The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People", has made such a difference in my life. I reread it recently and thought maybe someone out there could use a little pick me up, too.

Each "secret" begins with a title, then a short explanation. Then, each secret has an anecdote and is then followed by the research that proves the anecdote correct. I love it. None of the topics takes up more than a page front and back so if you are busy busy busy, you can still fit in a little glance on your way to wherever it is you are going.

The book addresses keeping your values, living with morals, building relationships, simplifying your life and pretty much everything else regarding day to day lifestyles.

Some of my favorites that you might not think of:

#10: Limit Yourself To Thinking About One Subject As You Fall Asleep (25% greater happiness!!!)

#26: Root For The Home Team (Increases Happiness 4%..I KNOW this one works!)

#28: Every Relationship is Different (there is no difference in happiness levels between those whose support network is primarily friends and those whose support network is primarily family)

#40: Satisfaction is Relative

#44: Eat some fruit every day (11% higher likelihood of being happy)

#68: Do Things You Are Good At

#83: Enjoy The Ordinary

Anyway, If you are interested, this book is available from amazon.com for ONLY 16 cents! Seriously! If you would like to borrow mine, I will happily lend it out as well.