Bubble an' Squeak

 Spring 2008 I started blogging in April of 2008. At the time blogging saved my life. I don't mean that dramatically. I mean it actually saved my life.  I started blogging because I hated my life and I hated myself and I really, really hated my marriage. It was during that time that I was really toying with how to escape my marriage. However for a lot of reasons, some of which we may discuss here at some point, I chose to stay. Staying was really only made possible by my mostly LDS friends (and non-LDS family) from high school who also blogged. I think it may have been an LDS trend among stay-at-home-moms at the time to have a blog. Their stories about their families and their love held me together and helped me make sense of the life I was trying to build. I wanted the life they had. They had loving husbands and the perfect houses with cute hand-crafted items; they cooked amazing meals and baked while loving their kids and being amazing mothers and women. Inspired by their de...

Less than twenty-four hours after I returned from camping, I packed these faces - plus Gabe and James into the car and we headed West. It has been more than two years since I have been in Flagstaff and it was a much needed visit to my roots and my family. I chose the hottest week of the summer to drive across New Mexico and hang out in Arizona. My family is not the 'hang out by the pool' sort of family. Rather they are the 'run as many miles as you can in scalding heat' kind of family. So we did. And we were super hot, but it was fun too. I have been knitting this scarf for my mom for a few months with yarn that her sister gave me years ago before she passed. I was happy to give my mom a bit of her sister back. Outside of roasting in the heat and running, we had to fuel all of these bodies. This means that we spent a great deal of time in grocery stores and Sam's Club. These are the rules, friends. Run a lot, you need food. And drinks. Not to be outdone by his siste...