Good Fences

25 Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

We are at 25 weeks and going strong! I am happy to say that I have no complaints in this pregnancy. My little girl is kicking away and moving around so much. I absolutely love feeling her. Bryant finally was able to feel her little kick last week. He was so cute. His mouth just gaped open and he shouted that she just kicked him right in the hand!

My sisters got to see her move. They watched my stomach intently last weekend until it bounced. They didn't get to feel her move though.

I went to see the doctor last week and got a great report. I can't believe that we'll get to see her face in 15 weeks. It's unbelievable. I feel so blessed to be her mommy.

Spring Events

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Hello all! Want to know what I've been up to lately? Celebrating birthdays-that's what. Nearly all of my immediate family birthday celebrations occur in the spring, so virtually every other weekend is spent celebrating. We celebrated my birthday in March. There are no good pictures of that-thanks a lot husband.

Then we celebrated Dad's birthday a week later.

My sweet family. Thanks to Bryant for being our photographer.

Seriously, I'm the luckiest to have parents like these.

Last weekend we celebrated Leah's 21st birthday. I can't believe my baby sister is that old, but she is!

My sisters and my mom did Treetop adventures at Callaway Gardens to celebrate. Let me say; they are daring. I'm pretty glad I had the excuse of pregnancy to keep me out of the tops of trees obstacle course and zip line. It looked like loads of fun, but I'm pretty sure I would be terrified.

They are quite the daredevils! The course also included a dangling from the air ladder climb to a 75 foot platform that they zip lined off of. Crazy.Pants.

Later we celebrated with minicakes, ice cream, presents, and games.

I love these ladies!

The Beginning of a Nursery

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:26:00 +0000

I absolutely love home decor. Unfortunately, this leaves me in a constant state of domestic flux with tons of completely unfinished projects. Right now we are remodeling our kitchen in preparation for baby girl. I understand that she won't be born even needing to eat solid food, but we've wanted to redo our kitchen for the almost 6 years we've lived in our house. Nothing is more motivating than knowing that in a few months we will have more visitors than usual. So far we have had our cabinets painted and the walls have their first coat of new paint. Our new countertops should be installed in the next couple of weeks, and the rest of our appliances came today.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the nursery, except that once it is all done I can really get to work on creating a perfect little room. Last night I ordered her crib and changing table. You can see them here. I knew I wanted a white crib all along, and this style looks almost exactly like the one my mom used for all three of us. I also ordered some prints from this Etsy shop to hang on the walls. I want the room to have a vintage and whimsical feel to it. I want it to be vibrant and full of life for her. I want it to be perfect.

It's such a strange feeling planning for this little person I feel like I already know so well, but the truth is I have no idea who she is or will be. I don't know what she'll look like or what color hair she'll have. I don't know her talents or her troubles. I don't know her passions and joys, but I can't wait to find out. I can't wait to watch her grow into herself and find out who she is and what she likes. I just pray that we can lovingly guide her into who she will become.

For now I'll just spread out all of the tiny clothes I've bought for her and breathe them in and imagine her.

"Do you suppose she's a wildflower?" - Alice in Wonderland

The Bun

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:40:00 +0000

Yesterday, while trekking back to my classroom from the cafeteria, one of my AP students from last year saw me just in time to ask one of my favorite pregnancy questions yet.

"Would you mind telling me in layman's terms, how do I say this, how toasty is the bun?"

I burst into laughter at his carefully thought out and gentle way of trying to ask how far along I am.

On Being Quiet

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:00:00 +0000

For my close friends and family the idea that I'm "quiet" may seem a bit of a farce. They know I'm opinionated, creative, and quite capable of speaking my mind, but the reality is that I'm an introvert. When I have nothing to say out loud or contribute to conversation, I don't talk. That doesn't mean I'm not thinking or processing or planning in my head. It means that I don't want to share every detail of my thought process. Quite frankly, unless you are an introvert you probably wouldn't understand. I process information in my own way, and I need time and space to determine what it is I want to do with that info. I saw a link on Facebook to this Huffington Post article today, and I couldn't help but write a little bit about it. This may seem like a bit of a serious or moody post for me, but I sometimes feel a bit misunderstood by those who don't know me very well. There's no wrong or right to being introverted or extroverted, but it's important to understand what those different personality traits involve. If you know someone who is introverted, read the article and click through the qualities. I think the better we understand different personalities, the better we can all communicate.

Happy Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:57:00 +0000

We celebrated Easter in Tuscaloosa this year. It rained and rained and rained some more, so we didn't exactly get to take any Easter pics with nice springlike scenery in the background. Oh well!

It was wonderful to hear a really well thought out and inspirational sermon this morning. We shared a nice lunch with Bryant's immediate family-except his brother and wife. We missed extended family, too!

Bryant insisted on taking a belly shot. Here I am at nearly 22 weeks.

I can't wait to meet this little girl.

It won't be long before Bryant can feel her move. I tried to get him to feel her tonight, but she's stubborn and stopped moving as soon as he got his hand on my belly. He was really cute and excited at the prospect of feeling her. It's safe to say that we are both smitten already!

Baby Bagley is a ...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 02:12:00 +0000

GIRL!

Today was incredible. We got to see her. We got to give her a specific pronoun. She got a great report. She almost weighs a whole pound and the doctor said everything looks perfect.

I can think of nothing else.

Bryant said he would have to get the tea set out to start practicing. He also warned me that I better prepare myself not to be the favorite. She's daddy's little girl. I'm okay with that. Daughters and their dads have a very special relationship.

What a cute profile, huh? I think her body is either twisted toward the camera or away. That's why her leg looks like a turkey leg. She had her hands above her head again. She sleeps just like her mama. One hand was on her face and the other on top of her head. She did stretch her legs out. We got a great shot of what appears to be long legs. See she does have feet.

I definitely felt her move around this afternoon. I look forward every day to feeling her a little bit more.

We spent the afternoon oooing and ahhhing over adorable baby clothes, and I invested in a glider for the nursery. It's so hard to believe that in just 20 weeks we will meet our daughter, our little girl, our princess.

We feel so loved and blessed, and we know that this little girl will be the same.

Spring Break

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:21:00 +0000

At 3:05 on Friday one of the best weeks of the year started-- spring break. I can honestly say that I've never been so ready for a break. The last 9 weeks of school have been long and treacherous. To kick off the week my mom and sisters came up on Friday afternoon to celebrate and distract me from the current kitchen remodel taking place in my house (more on that later).

We had a great time as usual, and we mostly talked about Monday--the big ultrasound day. That's right. We will know the gender of baby Bagley in 24 hours. Thank goodness I made a first thing in the morning appointment. I can't imagine having to wait around all day! I'm also really excited to see the baby again in general. I want to know that it's healthy and growing just as it should.

Other pregnancy updates:

I'm ready to feel the baby move more. I can feel it some, but it's so slight and strange.

The baby seems to like music. It (pronoun to change soon) moves most when there is good music playing.

I feel pretty much normal with the addition of a baby belly. My food aversions are mostly gone, and I have very few physical complaints.

If one more person tells me how miserable I'm going to be all summer, I might lash out irrationally. Why would anyone think that is a nice or helpful thing to say? Yes, my baby is due in August. Wait, what? I live in Alabama and it's going to be hot? Shocking! Who knew? I guess I'll plan a trip to the arctic.

Thursday is my birthday. I can't imagine a better way to celebrate than spending time with my husband and family. This week will be filled with happiness, books, and relaxation!

Week 18

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 01:01:00 +0000

I can't believe we are already at week 18. In just two little weeks we will be halfway to meeting this baby, and we'll know the gender.

I haven't experienced too many changes in the last couple of weeks. I'm definitely wearing mostly maternity clothes, and I'm greeted at least 10 times a day by a student awkwardly grabbing at my stomach or shouting about how big my stomach is. My favorite student comment so far has been, "You look pregnant." My usual response is to stare at them and say, "I am."

I'm looking forward to feeling the baby move more. I'm feeling it a little in the evenings when I'm still and quiet. I've definitely been feeling something for the last week or so, but it's such an unexpected feeling that I keep second guessing it. I'm constantly in a psychological battle with myself over if I'm actually feeling something or if it's all in my head.

I'm not going to lie. The shopaholic in me is dying to buy some baby stuff. The next 12 days will have to go by before I can ~~recklessly purchase everything in the baby store~~ start making a few baby purchases. Even though finding out the gender and making purchases are exciting endeavors, I honestly want to see this baby on the ultrasound screen again. This time we get to record it. You can bet that I'll be watching it over and over until this baby is born.

The Big Reveal...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:14:00 +0000

Here he/she is!

My little nugget was just hanging out with his/her arms behind his/her head. I'd like to think he/she is preparing for a great reading pose in the future. It was so cute to see, and I sleep the same way. His/her little mouth moved up and down, and the ultrasound tech said she thought it had hiccups. She gave us her thoughts on the gender, but she couldn't be quite sure enough for the complete big reveal. Bryant and I are happy either way. We are just glad this little one is healthy and growing.

I can't believe in just a few months we will get to meet our child. That's crazy. I have a child. We have a child. Blows.My.Mind.

Hello World

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:38:00 +0000

Hello world!

Those words will take on quite a new meaning in just a few months.

I'm nearly 16 weeks along on this adventure and loving every minute of it. Okay, I didn't care for the nauseated minutes, but the rest has been great.

We are having an ultrasound tomorrow, and I hope, hope, hope to find out the gender of this little nugget!

Better quality photos to come in the near future- the self-portrait bathroom shot had to suffice for tonight.

I can't even begin to express how excited I am about this little baby. I'm basically consumed with thinking about him/her every minute of every day. Every little step so far has been thrilling--seeing the little "bean blob" on the screen, hearing the heartbeat for the first time--I can't even imagine the emotions all of the next firsts will bring.

Fall and Fa la la la la

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:59:00 +0000

I've been busy. I miss blogging. I can do it all, right? I'm going to try.

Though I have so many things to say, I have no words left in me right now. I think I'll fill you in on the last 4 months in pictures... mmmkay?

AP Terms...

Random:Cars with eyelashes?

This seems like really old news now.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with special family members!

Let the Christmas season begin...

Until next time...

Firsts

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, I kept reading tweets and statuses about friends sending their little ones on the first day of school. There were updates about happy tears, sad tears and mostly happy children excited to embark on this new journey of their lives.

It’s been a long time since I had my very first day of school. Don’t worry; I remember it.There were jelly shoes involved. I remember all the happy days of going to school, and I remember the days of tummy aches, bullies and insecurities. All of those days play in my mind like film negatives. Very small, slightly blurred snapshots of my life.

Not only did those stories make me think of my school days, but of the different role I play now. I sometimes think—and I think other teachers have this same disillusioned thought—that we are the zookeepers. We have to keep the students in bounds. We’re there to make the students do really hard stuff. They need to learn. They need to be quiet. They need to remember how to open their lockers.

We forget that they are people. They may be small or really tall, but they’re just little people. They have feelings—no matter how tough their outer shell. Yes, they need to learn responsibility and MLA format and how to open their lockers, but they also need to learn compassion, love, and how to help a neighbor. We’re there to teach them those qualities too. We might be the only example they see. We just don’t know.

It’s exciting to see those updates about very first days of school, but as high school teachers we need to remember that the 10th first day of school, the11th first day of school, and the 12th first day of school are still firsts. There are still things to learn. There are still mistakes to be made.There are still examples to be set. There are still relationships to build.

Start building.

Anecdote One

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:38:00 +0000

Today was the first day of school. It was the best first day of school I could have hoped for. I loved seeing my students from last year. They’re seniors now and clearly rule the school. I enjoyed meeting a whole new set of students—9th graders and 11th graders. I genuinely feel like it’s going to be a good year.

As most teachers do, I had my students fill out a survey about themselves so I could get to know them better. One of the questions I asked was, “how much time do you spend on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. ?”

One 9th grader raised his hand and asked, “What is Pinterest?”

I explained.

Then a classmate chimed in, “Oh yeah, my mom uses that.”

Ouch.

I’m officially old.

Today Is A New Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:30:00 +0000

I go back to school today. There’s still a week before the students show up, but this is a week full of anticipation, meetings, planning and organizing. It’s always bittersweet—the end of those long, lovely summer haze days. Then there is the smell of sharpened wooden pencils, the crisp paper to be copied, and the books—so many books waiting for someone to love them.

I’ve spent more time than I should admit in the past week dreading the early mornings and PB&Js every day. Then I saw this little Winnie the Pooh snippet. This day is good. This day means I have a job. This day means I have the chance to make a difference in many lives—not just a few. Those are opportunities that most people just don’t get. I’m lucky.

You’ll hear me grumble through this year. I will vent to other teachers. I will likely say a choice word or two on the way home from school. I’ll fall asleep grading papers and wake up far too early in the morning, and at the end of the year I’ll be able to look back and see that the year was not spent in vain. That the time was spent doing the best I could to contribute in the way I can. That’s okay with me, so today will be my favorite day all year.

Image source

Summer Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:01:00 +0000

People—I start back to school on Monday. That’s in 6 days. What did I do this summer? Where did the time go? Every summer I feel the same way—like I didn’t do enough. I wasted too much time, watched too much trash TV, didn’t complete enough projects. Basically the end of summer makes me feel like a complete failure. I know that’s ridiculous, but that feeling creeps in every year. What do I do when I feel this way? I make a list and eat chocolate, obviously.

June

I went to Disney World with the fam.

Those two are the best.

Bryant and I went to Kansas to celebrate the wedding of friends.

We celebrated our 6th year of marriage.

I hung out with the fam.

Dad takes s’mores very seriously.

Read:

The Happiness Project

The Year of Magical Thinking

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

July

We celebrated Bryant’s 30th birthday.

I painted our bedroom.

From:

To:

It’s so much better, right. Maybe I’ll take some non-iphone pics to share one day.

I spent a week in Tuscaloosa training for teaching AP classes.

I went to Hilton Head and Savannah with my mom and sisters.

My mom and sisters came up for a quick end of summer visit.

We did what we do best: shop for books and hide in the brush while waiting for a table at dinner.

Read:

The Prince of Frogtown

August

I know the month just started, but I wanted to list what I’ve done so far.

Thanks to E posting this tutorial I achieved my goal of making a quilt this summer!

I started a book club in my community.

Reading:

How to Teach like a Champion

The Devil in the White City.

I suppose I didn’t squander away the free time too much. It was a really great summer. I just want to do it all over again.

Bunheads

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Source: starkidfor3ver.tumblr.com via Ginny on Pinterest

There is a little known fact about me: I love ballet. I’m a sucker for it. The slippers, tights, and tutus just make me happy.

There is also a well know fact about me: I don’t dance. You won’t catch me doing the Cha Cha Slide at your wedding. I feel ridiculously silly. I envy all of you who bust a move on the dance floor, but I just can’t work up the nerve to do it.

Even though you won’t catch me under the disco ball, ballet has always held a warm fuzzy spot in my heart. I, like most young girls, enrolled in ballet class. I kept up with it on and off through junior high. I even spent a year or so en pointe. Then I became the most sarcastic cheerleader known to man—that’s a story for a different day. I loved the Angelina Ballerina books. Loved. Those. Books.

The point of this is that when I saw that ABC Family was airing a show called Bunheads this summer, I was excited. Then I discovered that the show was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, and I nearly died with joy. She created Gilmore Girls. I love Gilmore Girls. There are very few shows written with such quick wit, whimsy, drama, and interestingly developed characters. I have watched all of the episodes of Gilmore Girls more times than I should admit. They never get old. There is always something new to discover, and I love that. Bryant skulks around calling them the gabmore girls and pretends that he hates it, but he usually sits down and says, “Oh, is this the episode when….” Yep, caught. Deep down he knows it’s some good stuff.

Anyway, the show has not disappointed. Many actors from Gilmore Girls have reappeared as very different characters—which I like. The characters are developing as quirky and idiosyncratic. The writing is close to as quick as that in Gilmore Girls and the humor is never lacking.

Moral of the story:

I like ballet; I don’t dance at weddings (I do dance in the mirror when I brush my teeth); I love Gilmore Girls; I really like Bunheads; My husband secretly likes Gilmore Girls, and Angelina Ballerina will forever be my mouse hero.

I Party with Jay Gatsby

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:19:00 +0000

I’ve been eyeing goods via Pinterest with that catchphrase, and I love Gatsby.
Does this song remind anyone else of The Great Gatsby. I think it would be great to teach alongside the book.

Okay—enough teacher time. The point of this post is that I started a book club in my community. I’ve wanted to do this for a while. When I was in grad school, a bunch of us tried and failed, but we were in school. We had plenty to read and discuss with one another. I took a leap of faith this time and posted the idea on my neighborhood Facebook page and the response was positive. We had our first (small) meeting last night to decide on a book for the first month. I can’t wait.

(some books at my parents' house)

I’ve always been a reader. I seriously don’t remember a time without books or reading or stories. It just didn’t exist in my world. I don’t even remember learning to read. It just happened; I think. Growing up the house was always filled with books. They had a hard time keeping me from the books that I was too young to read. The first good murder mystery books I read were from sneaking into the bathroom to read whatever book Dad had left in there. I was a member of the Babysitter’s Club. I lived through the Civil War with Scarlett and Rhett. I traveled the world reading the mysterious romances of Victoria Holt. I discovered the existential crisis with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I was indignant alongside Guy Montag.

Lately I’ve had an issue with reading, I keep stopping mid book to read another book and then I don’t finish. I’ve never faced this problem before. I think I feel that my free time is so short that I am trying to cram too much in it. That issue and the idea of meeting new people in my community lead me to start this club. I’m really looking forward to sharing something I love so much with others who also love books.

It’s Like Molasses…

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Last week I got to take a trip with my mom and sisters to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I hadn’t been in 9 years! 9 years! There are very few things I can say I haven’t done in 9 years…That’s a long time. My family spent several New Year’s Eve celebrations and summer vacations in Hilton Head; that place holds so many memories.

It’s the place we survived Y2K (the resort provided us with a flashlight-just in case-that year). It’s the place as teenagers my sister and our friends watched MTV and sang Dave Matthew’s “When the World Ends” at the top of our lungs. It’s the place we giggled sliding down the slide in the pool. It’s the place Dad drove the mini van under the parking garage with the “walrus”(one of those hard storage bins that attaches to the top of cars) still on the van. It didn’t exactly fit. Oops. It’s the place we sat around a campfire singing “Do Your Ears Hang Low”, while I sat awkwardly with a mouthful of braces. It’s the place Dad taught us how to play pool and ping pong.

On the way home we had to spend a little time in Savannah. I love the history of old southern cities. The streets are steaming with stories to tell. We took a trolley tour and sweated nearly to death, but it was fun.

These two are the funniest people I know. It’s like an improv show every second of every day.

The childhood home of Flannery O’Connor-I freaked a little.

We had a great time and couldn’t stop reciting this scene from The Office.

Summer is quickly coming to an end, but I can't help but stop and think how thankful I am for all of the fun it has held for me this year. I've spent time with friends and family, traveled to new places and to old favorites. I've laughed a lot.

Fortune Forecast—Lucky Stars…

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 20:11:00 +0000

I kept a real pen and paper journal for most of my teenage years. Most nights before bed I would snuggle in my bed and write down the happenings of the day or week or month. I would like to say that I’ve found them all and read my eloquent teenage words that should have labeled me child prodigy. I can’t. A few weeks ago I found a couple of them at my parents’ house and brought them home with me. I read through them today. Most of the entries read like this, “OMG. Billy is mad at Susie because Susie went to the mall with me instead of to the movies with him, but she had gone to the movies with him like 7 times this month and to the mall with me only like 3 times this month. I wish I could drive. I wonder what we’re going to do this weekend. I’m bored.”

The trifles of my teenage hood are really disgusting and trite. There were no great revelations. The most it would seem I learned from my experiences in those years is based on internet searches from quotations about friendship and little poems about how friends are forever.

Then there are the entries that are surprisingly prophetic. The entry written on October 7, 2002 states, “ I’ve been accepted to The University of Alabama!…It is so exciting, but it’s kinda like WHOA! major reality check, I’m going to college! It’s like the first step to making my life happen! My dream right now is to graduate from Alabama…get my master’s degree…then maybe move closer to home like in Birmingham.”
It’s weird. It’s exactly what happened. Some of the details I left out here were incorrect, but the main thoughts actually happened. I suppose that means I made my dreams come true. They happened. It’s possible. I don’t mean to say that all of my dreams have come true by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s exciting to look back at my 17 year old dreams and see that they’ve come to fruition.

A few other funny insights in hindsight that I found tucked in that journal: I found a copy of Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall.” This blog is named after that poem. It’s funny to think that the last real journal I ever kept had a little key to a different kind of journal I would keep in the future. It’s like Doc Brown placed it there himself. Even though I hope I do more than record the details of each day, I guess I’m not as different now as I would like to think.

Pellet Guns, Axes, and Thread

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 02:42:00 +0000

When I was a kid, my parents would drop my sisters and me off at my grandmother’s house while they went out on dates. We called her Memaw. She lived in a small white house surrounded by trailers, woods, and a gravely road. My grandfather, whom I never knew, built that house. She kept a pellet gun beside her front door—for cats and squirrels. On the other side of the door was a gigantic deep freezer that I used to sit on and climb on to look in. She froze everything.

She had a screened in porch with a swing. She had a little pre-made red barn where she kept her prized lawn mower and tiny axes. We didn’t get to stay at her house quite as much after my parents came back to find their two small daughters holding tiny axes and hacking away at the fig trees in the front yard. The best fig preserves were made from those trees.

She had real wood floors and a room with a loose board. There were treasures underneath—marble bags, little tools, some small toys. That same room held her sewing machine. It was an old Singer built into a sewing table. It was metal and thick and heavy and real. I couldn’t lift it out of the table when I first wanted to learn. The table had the smallest drawers with wooden round knobs that held scissors and thread and zippers and ric rac. The closet in the room had an unpainted wood door. There was a shoe rack attached to the back that I’m certain was never full, but I remember thinking that those shoes were so special. They must have been fancy because she almost always wore white Keds.They were so valuable hanging there to be worn for important events. She had a few “suits” in that closet. She called all of her outfits “suits.” There was also a white garbage bag that we would drag out of that closet when we wanted to sew. It was full of fabric scraps of varied patterns and sizes. I can smell it—all closet heat wrapped in plastic like an antique store. She always let us pick our fabric and our projects. One day I blushed and my heart beat a little too fast and I asked her to sew me a bra. She did. She taught me to sew the clasps in the back and the elastic around the band. We mostly made doll clothes and pillows and bags.

Even though our projects were not huge, she always let me thread the machine. She taught me how to sew a straight line and clip the corners of a pillow so it would “turn out.” It was a thrill to get to run the foot pedal and hear the noise of the machine like a little train full of thread.

A few weeks ago my sister asked me to teach her how to sew. I knew I had big shoes to fill. I bought a new Singer after Memaw died. Even though I hadn’t used one in years, I didn’t want to forget. It was a piece of her I couldn’t lose. So my sister and I sat at the machine. She watched me wind the bobbin, thread the machine, and sew a few stitches. Then she took over like she had been born with a needle in her hand. We made some new pillow covers for our parents’ couches. Daddy kept walking through the room with a smile. He said he knew Memaw was smiling somewhere. She had to be.

I'm starting to feel the lazy days of summer creeping in.

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:06:00 +0000

It's nice.

It's the smell of watermelon, lightning bugs, naps, sweat, and feet in the pool. It's the joy of books, and blogs, and poetry. It's mouth-watering of grilled meats and gooey sweets. It's the dogs panting and wagging their tails; it's the haze that hangs over everything; it's the gypsy spirit dancing around in my brain.

Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:05:00 +0000

This weekend was another whirlwind of travel. Whew! I’m feeling like the blur again. After a couple of days of recuperating at home from my favorite trip to Disney, Bryant and I headed off to Kansas City, Missouri. Neither of us had ever been to Missouri or Kansas, so I guess we’ve checked those two off the list. Some friends of ours got married in Baldwin City, Kansas. They have one stop light and one motel and one pretty little chapel to get married in on Baker University’s campus. It was a simple, beautiful ceremony. I think the bride and groom had a great time and enjoyed spending the weekend with friends and family.
We spent Sunday in Kansas City exploring the barbeque (I didn’t notice a big difference from good ol’ Alabama barbeque, but whatever.), a great art museum, and some really cool architecture in the city. Monday was our 6th wedding anniversary, so we celebrated on Sunday as part of our trip. It was fun exploring a new place and new part of the country together. I have to say we were glad to be home and didn’t do much yesterday, but we had a great celebration weekend!

20 Items for You

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:50:00 +0000

There is a seriously great giveaway over at Living in Yellow! You have a chance to win ALL twenty items! Did you hear that? Twenty! Go enter now!

Freaks and Geeks

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 01:53:00 +0000

Last week I let my freak flag fly. I do it about once a year. Here’s the confession. I am a Disney freak. My mom, dad, and sisters are also Disney freaks. We spent last week in “The World.” There are a lot of people who don’t understand why we still go—we’re all adults. We’ve taken some serious verbal beatings over the years. You know what—it doesn’t matter. We love Walt. We love the Mouse. We love each other. This is where we go to relax and enjoy one week together every year. It’s a blast—don’t hate.

Those are my adorable parents. They’ve been married for almost 31 years, and they are the sweetest, most sarcastic, and beautifully happy people I know. I’m seriously thankful every day for them. My mom’s family started the Disney freak business, and these two solidified it. They started taking us when I was 4; I think. It has truly become the place we go to relax and breathe a little. It’s not about the rides, or the food, or the heat, or the crowds; It’s just about us.

Our favorite resort is Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. We’re really not all that rustic, but we love that place. It’s cozy and warm and smells good and is filled with adventurous music and life. There is literally water moving through the lobby.

Those are some happy faces.

Even if you’re rolling your eyes at my sappy “I love my family and my family loves Disney” talk, you can’t deny that that treat doesn’t look tempting. It’s Disney’s Beach Club resort’s Everything and the Kitchen Sink ice cream. We’re talking vanilla, strawberry, coffee, mint chocolate chip, and chocolate ice cream. We’re talking brownies, yellow cake, Oreos, bananas, chocolate syrup, peanut butter, caramel syrup and sprinkles. We’re talking an entire can of whipped cream. That’s right people. You can’t get this anywhere else. It’s genius and so much fun! You know you want one!

Hey, I know that guy! He showed up for the last few days of the trip. Guess what—he thinks we’re freaks, but look who’s wearing the Mickey t-shirt.

We might be freaks or geeks or just plain nuts, but you know what? I don’t care. I love it.