m.jane

4.10.12

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:33:00 +0000

this is what it means

to be held

how it feels

when the sacred is torn from your life

and you survive

this is what it is

to be loved

and to know

that the promise was when everything fell

we'd be held

natalie grant - held.

today marks 2 years since grandma annie took her last breath.

remembering.

hug your loved ones.

1.10.12

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

...things i didn't blog about in 2011...

part 3

see part 1 and part 2 here

chad and i went on our first husker road trip (together)to laramie, wyoming.

tickets were pretty hard to come by.

like, nebraska is allotted 3,000 tickets per road game and

20,000 nebraska fans requested tickets for this match up

in a stadium that holds 30,000.

i knew going into the weekend that we didn't have tickets.

we were just going to soak in the atmosphere and maybe try to snag some right before game time.

september 2011

instead, these two shady folks decided to surprise me.

i didn't know until about 30 minutes prior to kick off that we had game tickets.

it was a very sweet surprise.

i was almost in tears.

that pretty lady right there, is chad's aunt, and also my biggest blog fan!!

september 2011

daily battles getting this kid to eat.

unless he's at daycare, he'll eat whatever she puts on the plate.

so annoying.

september 2011

i have another nephew.

meet, mr. tate

october 2011

a trip to the pumpkin patch with grammy.

cash stood up in the corn pile and yelled, "better dance!"

and busted a move.

october 2011

more of that t.bug

yes, he's always that smiley.

and he's going to be a big brother in a few weeks!

october 2011

cousin love.

october 2011

cash's best friend, miss marley mae

my mom's dog.

october 2011

to be continued...

yes, you heard that right.

we're not even to halloween yet...

lordy!

1.7.12

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

...things i didn't blog about in 2011...

continued.

this is really quite frustrating to me.

why do i have all of these pictures

and no posts to go with them?

annoying.

i'm going to be better.

alright.

here we go again...

speed blogging round 2.

Photobucket">

i am the 4th generation of insurance agents in our agency.

my great grandfather opened the business close to 100 years ago.

my dad refinished grandpa willie's desk.

leaving in the cigarette burns

and hand carving of his name "bill" on the top.

my mom is now the proud owner in her new sewing shop.

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cashman turned 2 in june.

he's driving a big green tractor these days (from my parents).

he hasn't mastered the idea of having to steer the wheel.

he'd rather dance to the music on it's radio.

yes, it has a radio.

Photobucket">

more of sisters sorensen.

cutest.

i have these little treasures on my macbook that their parents don't even know about...

until now.

Photobucket">

fourth of july at the lake.

that kid loves the sand.

the water? not so much...

Photobucket">

long day in the sun on the fourth of july.

crashed on daddy.

until the fireworks started.

then he was ready to party.

Photobucket">

mira wild woman

love those missing teeth.

Photobucket">

miss jade

fresh out of the swimming pool.

feeding the animals with chad and grampy at

our first trip to the nebraska state fair.

now that is is within 30 minutes drive, it's a very attractive getaway.

anyone else think those petting zoos are gross?

a little baby pig born only 2 days old.

i'll leave it at that.

my caption ideas were just plain mean. :-)

maybe cash's favorite part of the day

the BID tractors! (he says bid instead of big)

grumpy would not buy this for him.

enough for now...

yes there is more to come.

to be continued...

again.

1.6.12

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:43:00 +0000

...things i didn't blog about in 2011...

this is a long list, folks.

it's taken me days to edit all these photos.

my new year's resolution...

blog more often.

blog when my photos are uninspiring.

for they are still a part of our life.

put them on here even if they are not perfect.

for our life is not perfect.

hold me to it.

so...

deep breath...

here we go.

cash is obsessed with binoculars.

he's always looking for deer and turkeys.

thank goodness he finally learned to open his eyes.

april 2011

a little incident with a marshmallow.

i did not have to use scissors, but it wasn't easy.

seriously, kid???

april 2011

this picture makes me sad now.

what a blessing it was to have chad's sister and family just down the street.

now they are so, so far away.

may 2011

hello, baby chubbs.

i hope you never lose those legs, miss jade.

may 2011

stick fights with grandpa mike.

boy stuff.

i don't know if i'll ever get it...

may 2011

the smore slam dunk.

father's day out at the farm.

june 2011

to be continued...

12.21.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:41:00 +0000

yesterday chad and i went to lincoln

and while we were in town we stopped to see

the memorial at the chi omega sorority house

in her honor.

it sits in a quiet little garden area

from what i understand,

it can be seen from the study room in the house.

am i right, chi o girls?

anne loved to read.

she also loved to buy and collect books.

i think we have yet to unearth all of the children's books

she purchased for her grandkids.

...her grandkids she would someday have

as she started buying these books long before her children were married.

they are stashed every where in the farm house.

we had intentions of walking across campus to see it

while we were in town on saturdays

for the husker games

it just never seemed to work out

i'm glad we waited.

we were able to enjoy the statue without being rushed

without the game day chaos

students are out of session and home for christmas break

so it was just chad and i and my camera

chad recently added some new ink to his arm.

the rosary is drawn to match the one she prayed on.

calla lilies were her favorite flower

and the yellow being her favorite color.

now, i'm not quite sure what she would have thought of the tattoo

but i do know that she would have loved this statue.

it's almost surreal to me to think that her honor is being memorialized at the university of nebraska

the school on my diploma

12.12.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:35:00 +0000

mr. cash has been on a roll lately.

an ornery little boy,

that cash has been.

i'm going to assume it has to do with his last molar coming in.

he seems to be a little more defiant when those teeth are breaking.

not to mention the whole hot buns issue that comes with them.

i'm going to assume that because then this streak of naughty will

subside after the tooth is in.

that it's not a new 2.5 year old personality trait.

please, lord, please.

he has had a couple days where he has refused to nap or go to sleep at night.

cash has always been a great sleeper, so it is very out of character

one night it took me almost an hour of putting him back into his room.

each time he would come out

arms in the air

and proudly say, "ta da!"

and then run back into his room.

the next afternoon he didn't want to nap.

i tried taking all the toys out of this room.

he didn't care.

so what's a desperate mom to do?

yes, i got out the pack n play and put him in it.

he hasn't figured out that he could crawl out if he tried.

he napped.

i win.

this morning he crawled in bed with me and our conversation went like this:

cash - "wake up mommy or you winkie donna fall off"

me - "yep. i better get up. i would hate for that to happen."

where does he get this stuff?

i think maybe i should watch dora a little closer.

12.1.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:46:00 +0000

this little guy's mommy finally shared these pictures

so now i can too.

isn't he sweet?

little lincoln at 4 weeks old.

my sister-in-law, miranda, asked me to take a few pictures of lincoln.

i had the day off one friday and chad was heading to lincoln for the weekend

so i thought it would be the perfect time for cash and i to meet the little babe.

so i packed up the yukon with a million props

and hit the road headed north.

cash and i drove 2 hours one way to see them.

as i was unloading the car, it hit me that i forgot my camera!!

yes.

the photographer forgot her camera.

idiot.

lincoln was a dream baby that afternoon.

sleep the whole time.

i know this because i held him for hours.

you're going to have to trust me on that one

because, well, you know...

i didn't have my camera to document.

turns out, we had older sister's 2nd birthday party the following weekend.

i had another opportunity.

because of the birthday party preparation,

we didn't have endless time to work with.

but we made do

and i got 3 photos.

we'll try again, mr. lincoln.

you know i'm going to have that lens in my face.

every

time

see

you

11.30.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:39:00 +0000

a few of my favorites (that didn't make the christmas card) from our little family photo day.

it was very last minute.

as in, outfits were thrown together within minutes.

someone showered.

someone didn't.

dirty hair curls better anyway.

right?

we did this during cash's nap time.

he was a wild man.

i love this picture of chad chasing him.

that's life with a 2 year old.

this little guy is such a mommy's boy.

i wouldn't change it for the world.

i melt.

the following weekend, i took pictures of my sister's family.

trying to take pictures of a 2 year old

and a 1 year old

together?

nearly impossible.

11.28.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:25:00 +0000

my first quilt**

i made this simple, scrappy quilt for a college friend of chad's first born baby.

could you follow that?

he was also a groomsman in our wedding.

a sweet little girl named landri.

how cute is that name?

you'll see in the image below how i stitched her name into the quilt.

i can't take all the credit.

my mom helped me with the quilting part.

she has a long arm quilting machine that made it a breeze.

she also stitched on the binding.

do i see quilting in my future?

not so much.

i did enjoy making it.

i loved the finished product.

and the satisfaction that it brought.

however, i need quicker results.

a quilter i am not.

i'll leave that to you, mom.

**i maybe shouldn't call this my first quilt. my first quilt was made when i was in grade school. my cousin, shannon, and i taped (yes, scotch taped) together pieces of scrap fabric, trim, and photographs of ourselves. it was not pretty, but beautiful in its own sense. i think my mom may still have this piece of art? somewhere??

11.25.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

cash dean - 2 years

mira mae - 2 years

lincoln daniel - 4 weeks

go big red.

11.19.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:51:00 +0000

my first 1z2z.designs show is in the books.

and i'm exhausted.

i went from zero inventory to show time

in three weeks.

it was held in a gorgeous venue.

a little coffee shop

in stromsburg.

i invited my high school friend to join me.

she also has a two year old.

a sweet little p 3 months younger than cash.

she gets to sew for girls.

all those fabulous dresses...she made.

check out her etsy shop here.

five years ago we would have laughed in your face if you told us

we would be married

with children

living (her)/working (me) in our hometown

and sewing!!!

it was interesting to me to see what sold

and what i brought home.

i'm doing another holiday open house on tuesday.

what's left will be listed in my etsy shop.

right now it's empty.

but check back...hopefully soon.

all of these ruffled key fobs?

came home with me.

every.single.one.

i guess people didn't get what they were??

oh well...

p.s. if you notice things look pretty wonky around here, i'm trying to diy a redesign of this little blog. this could get crazy.

11.10.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:35:00 +0000

anyone else think these two could be twins, maybe brother and sister?

despite their similar features and 4 month age difference,

their personalities could not be farther apart.

cash (the older of the two) is a softy.

a bit timid.

a careful observer.

he likes his space.

he likes to warm up to people a little while.

mira is an adventurer.

she's brave.

she wakes up ready to take on the day.

ready to play.

chad likes to describe them in relation to lighting.

[always construction analogies]

mira has an on/off switch.

she's awake or asleep.

cash runs more on a dimmer.

at their brightest, they both are wild, loud 2 year old cousins.

my wish is that you two will always be best friends.

for there is nothing better in this world than family.

cash and mira.

november 2011.

10.27.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

4 years.

today chad and i have been married 4 years.

i thought it would be fun to share how we met.

our little love story. ha.

i'm so not the cheesy, lovey dovey type.

two picture taken very early in our relationship. young pups.

we are both from small nebraska towns about 40 miles apart.

our high schools played sports against each other.

chad is 4 years older than me, so i knew of him in high school

but i was a nobody to him.

fast forward to my junior year of college.

we had a mutual friend who was getting deployed.

so, on a friday night in july 2005

we both attended his going away party.

neither of us can recall seeing each other there.

taken in las vegas a couple weeks after our engagement.

my dad tried very hard to get us into a chapel.

he wasn't going to get off that easy!

the next night i went to a wedding with a college friend.

he was not 21 yet and was being lame,

so i ditched him and went downtown lincoln to meet up with friends at the bars.

it was close to the end of the night.

a high school friend of mine introduced me to chad as his new roommate.

chad doesn't remember meeting me.

(if you ask chad about this part of the story, he says he remembers me but thought i was, "just some random." clearly not his future wife!!)

engagement photo.

taken by studio e.

excuse the poor quality. i had to do some scanning.

on the third consecutive night, we officially met.

chad and his roommates were having a barbecue.

his roommate/high school friend of mine invited me over.

i had just finished playing sand volleyball.

i was a sweaty, nasty, no makeup, smelly mess.

nasty, i tell ya.

chad introduced himself to me and said

"i don't think we've met before?"

um..yes, last night idiot.

not sure if that's exactly what i said, but knowing me, it probably wasn't far off.

we have talked pretty much every day from that point.

click here to see a very low resolution version of our wedding album.

have a listen to our first dance song:

we were engaged on november 14, 2006.

became homeowners on august 29, 2007.

married on october 27, 2007.

became parents on june 19, 2009.

our little family of three.

october 2009.

photo also taken by studio e.

happy anniversary, love.

10.26.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:10:00 +0000

deer caught in the headlights.

halloween 2011.

sorry about the creepy eyes. i do have eyeballs, i swear.

our "golf friends"

as i like to call them

had a halloween party last weekend.

for months, chad and i have been trying to come up with costume ideas.

his one request was he wanted to wear his stilts.

no he's not in the circus. they are for hanging drywall.

nothing too inspiring came to mind.

then i saw the headlights idea on pinterest

and knew my deer hunting dude would be game.

he made the helmet

i was in charge of the rest.

i heard a lot of "nice headlights" that night.

i guess those led lights stuck to my chest may have drawn some attention.

it happens.

10.19.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:47:00 +0000

can you get any more boy than arm farts?

we call them "toot kisses"

10.17.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

dead eye.

yes, he shoots his "pow pow" with his eyes closed.

we're working on technique.

10.5.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:58:00 +0000

my macbook has been in the shop.

she needed a little ram boost.

after 12 days and a "bad product shipment" later,

she's running like a brand new machine.

working on a pc after having a mac is

well...

annoying!!

i have several hundred pictures to sort through.

a husker weekend in wyoming.

family pictures.

a day at the pumpkin patch.

new craft projects.

for now, i'll leave you with this little outtake:

trying to take family pictures

with a 2 year old

who needs a nap is

well...

annoying!!

9.13.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:41:00 +0000

i hinted a few weeks ago that i would share some of the project i've been up to.

husband was kind enough to create a craft room for me.

---this was a big sacrifice---

you see, my new craft room = his old man cave.

husband owns a construction company and used to do paperwork in the basement.

he bought a new shop.

built himself a new office.

moved me into his old office.

and the angels sing.

i no longer craft on the kitchen table.

i'm not an organized/clean crafter.

this makes for a much happier marriage.

now, for a craftiness recap:

yarn wreath.

burlap and fabric scraps.

not sure if i'm totally loving it yet.

baby shower gift.

diapers and wipes case.

with some coordinating burp clothes.

and a little custom 1z.

baby's daddy works for a towing company.

i'm not sure if i enjoy making gifts

or wrapping them better.

inside this beauty was a glass etched pyrex set.

sorry, no picture of the etching.

*spoiler alert*

chances are, if you invite me to a bridal shower/wedding,

you're going to get this.

new wall hangings.

husband hung these.

...with a smile on this face.

HA!

this photo won third place in the local paper in the people division.

another one of my photos took second place.

i had it printed on metal.

amazing.

not hung yet.

i just don't know where i want it to hang.

i love the photo.

and the sorrow in cash's eyes as he stands in front of his grandma annie's tombstone.

i want our home to be filled with reminders of her life.

not necessarily do i want the constant reminder of her death.

i'm thinking of putting it in the hallway to cash's room.

thoughts?

new husker game day shirts.

iPhone photos:

9.8.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:30:00 +0000

sometimes pictures will capture all the words...

8.21.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 04:51:00 +0000

well hello, bloggie friends!

ok. that sounded stupid.

i've slowly pulled myself out of crop insurance

and into the real world again.

for months i've been drowning in maps

and numbers

and crops

and plant dates

and i'm happy to report that i'm done

...for now.

while i enjoy my career in the insurance business,

there are certain times of the year that it sucks the creativity out of me.

i had not been in my sewing room for about 6 months.

i hardly picked up my camera.

1z2z.designs may be back in business...soon.

i've picked up my camera.

i've even been shooting in full manual.

whoa.

i'm not quite where i want to be with my shots, but i took a huge jump.

a few pictures from the weekend:

all shot in manual. EEK!

i watched miss libby and taterbug.

it's so fun to watch them actually play together

and interact

and carry on a conversation

(mostly about storms and how marley doesn't like thunder?? i don't know.)

and give each other hugs.

so sweet.

7.11.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:35:00 +0000

a quick hello.

a little instagram love via the iPhone.

busy at work.

acreage reports up to my eyeballs.

(insurance lingo. crop crap time of year)

hope to get back to blogging soon.

until then...(if i ever make it out of this pile of pooh)

cool dude cash sends his love.

xoxo.

6.26.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:35:00 +0000

the post you've all been waiting for...

...right??

i must apologize for the cliff hanger.

the husband says it was mean.

that i must hurry up and post more pictures and details of "the ring"

his aunt sarah is waiting. :-)

yes, i guess it was kind of mean.

i was just too excited and didn't have time to follow up.

again, sorry folks.

a little bit about this beauty:

there are 92 diamonds signifying the 92 years the green bay packers have been in the league.

13 diamonds for the 13 world championships.

4 diamonds for the 4 super bowl wins.

the ring weighs a half a pound.

it's appraisal is equivalent to that of a very nice, large SUV.

it's incredible.

the significance of it is worth far more than its monetary value.

it is worth hours and hours of hard work.

weeks of traveling to games

years in the league.

the dream of any little boy come true.

when dave redding was in grade school, he was given the assignment to write down his three goals in life.

1) was to play football for his dad at north platte high school.

2) was to play football for the nebraska cornhuskers.

3) was to win a super bowl with the green bay packers.

he did all three.

his mom had saved this school project.

it took 26 years in the nfl to achieve the final goal.

his 26 years in the league were as the strength and conditioning coach for the browns, chiefs, redskins, chargers, and packers.

he was twice named the strength and conditioning coach of the year

and was inducted into the usa strength and conditioning coach hall of fame.

for more on his career, click here.

dave is not just some nfl football coach.

he's my dad's friend.

the entire redding family is like another family of mine.

years ago, my dad helped him build a cabin on the island.

as payment, my parents were able to attend this year's super bowl.

a completely out-of-this world experience.

my dad said it completed his bucket list.

being able to watch his friend win that game, brought tears to their eyes.

my dad recalls them all crying like babies as the confetti fell over the field.

not too many 2 year olds can say they have held a super bowl ring.

chad has always been a packers fan, so being able to experience his team at this level has been incredible for him too.

6.21.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:04:00 +0000

yes.

that is a super bowl ring on my finger.

you better believe it.

...more to come...

yeowza!!!

6.20.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:01:00 +0000

a perfect day in the life of mr.cash.

he calls his binoculars, "turkey glasses"

most of the time his eyes are closed as he looks through them.

my parents live on the river.

they have real wildlife literally in their back yard.

and on their porch.

and in my mom's flowers.

the below turkey picture was taken by my mom.

she was in her kitchen.

that turkey tom was in her flowers.

she has marley, her dog, trained to chase them away.

my dad wants to build cash a beach.

he has spent months clearing trees and brush along the river.

on this particular day, we* were hauling sand for the beach.

*by we, i mean i was helping? with a camera in my face? sure.

the little stick thrower.

because of this, little guy, you'll be picking sand out of your crack until you're 13.

our little family of three.

it was a beautiful day*

in a beautiful place.

with beautiful people**

*so...this may have been 3 weeks ago.

so...i may be slow getting photos edited.

better late than never, yo.

**me=not so beautiful.

no makeup.

bad hair hat day.

sorry for the scare. eek!

i've made a promise to be more intentional about being in front of the lens more.

6.19.11

noreply@blogger.com (michaela @ m.jane) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:15:00 +0000

mr. cash,

you are 2 years old today.

you have developed quite the little personality.

you are very animated

and a bit dramatic, at times.

you have an advanced vocabulary

you can say your ABC's

and can count to 15 (skipping 6,8, and 14).

you have an eye for finding "stool buses"

hearing "choo choo twains", "airpains", "motorcycles", and "darbage twucks".

there isn't a body of water that you do not want to throw a stick in.

there is usually a tractor in your hand.

you have a kind heart

and it makes you sad if a baby is crying.

you also tell every stranger you meet that

"daddy hid it in da water"

"daddy hid dolf tub in da water"

this does not make your dad happy.

(this golfing incident was supposed to be a secret)

you call every beverage other than milk, "grampie's juice"

you call yogurt, "whips"

and fruit snacks, "fruit dats"

you like to eat pizza at "butch's house" (the sit n bull)

you have went potty in the big potty one time.

you called grammie mj to tell her the big news.

she didn't answer, but it didn't stop you from yelling in the phone:

"hi, damny! i-i-i doe bid potty, damn-ma! bid potty!!"

i love being your mommy.

i love your big smile

and your silly faces.

i love that you yell, "tum here, mommy! wake up, mommy!" in the mornings.

xoxo,

mommy

and not forgetting the other reason why today is special:

happy father's day.

...to cash's two turkey hunting instructors.

(my dad and my baby's daddy)