"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow."

Happy Official Fall!

I thought this would be a nice picture set to welcome Fall into 2010. As you can see Fall is in full swing here in Alaska, we are even waking up to frost on our windshields some mornings.  This is absolutely my most favorite time of year. I went to the store yesterday and bought some yummy "fall" candy to put out and pumpkin whoopie pies are definitely on the dessert menu sometime in the near future. YUM!

Yesterday seemed to be the worst day of my slump. This outfit reflects someone who just needed a day off to chill. The doctors appointments have gone from code yellow to code red. We found out that my husband has to go in for some pretty major skull/brain surgery soon. Nothing life threatening but it is still surgery on his skull nonetheless. He has had this bump on his head for as long as I can remember, it has gotten slightly larger through the years and so we decided it needed to come off. What better time to do it than with double coverage insurance right?!?  This double coverage thing seems to be more trouble than it's worth!!! I guess we bit off more than we could chew because what we thought would be a simple procedure done by a general surgeon has now turned into a neurosurgeon and reconstruction of his skull....lovely.
On a brighter note, I am loving this Tweeting, you guys crack me up! If we aren't friends yet...Why not?

WHAT:
Jeans: Seven for all Mankind
Shoes: Converse....thrifted
T-shirt: J-Crew
Cardi: Victoria's Secret
Scarf: Thrifted
Necklace: Target

WHERE:
Dinging about around the house, a few errands around town, to the airport to drop off a friend.

A successful person is a dreamer whom someone believed in. (unknown)

This is basically a reincarnation of this look, just different pieces. I was running SUPER-MEGA late for church Sunday morning and went to my closet and just started grabbing and dressing all at the same time. I ended up with this. These pictures are also a tad goofy but they can't all be satisfactory.

My fall season has been great and horrible all at the same time and all I can say for the great is strictly my choice of attitude and outlook. I have chosen to be upbeat about everyday. I have chosen to be thankful for all those around me and this life that I live. Other than that I have been pretty run-down. All of these doctor appointments have been kicking my butt. The emotional strain they pose as well as the physical time I have to put into them that limits the amount of time I spend getting my regular day to day obligations done. I have gotten behind, very very behind. Ugh... Not to mention my house seems to be going through the 10 year itch and in two months my vacuum has died, hot water heater boiler was out for two and a half weeks, (yes this means I had no heat OR hot water the entire time) and now my fridge has died. All things combined has pretty much zapped my creativity. I was thinking the other day, I wish I could just take a vitamin to replenish my creativity. Kinda like my iron or vitamin c. HAHA!

What to you all do to keep up the creativity?

Thanks for listening. I appreciate it.

WHAT:
Skress: ebay
Belt: thrifted
Sweater: Target
Necklace: Thrifted
Boots: J- Crew....ebay

WHERE:
Sunday morning church and the over to visit some friends.

What's this thing called Twitter?

I've been curious about tweets and twitter for awhile now... the bug finally caught me, or bird pecked me or pooped on my head..ok no that's gross...anyways you get the idea! HA! 

Come be my friend and show me what this is all about!  Can't wait to tweet with YOU!

In teaching others we teach ourselves. (Proverb)

I'm not sure how many of you have been to Alaska, probably not to many. Alaska is definitely not LA, Paris, or New York. Fashion is not an utmost priority, most Alaskans are jeans and sweatshirt type of people. I am the only mom who dresses remotely the way i do. My kids are pretty used to it and most of the fellow parents are too. I even get the occasional compliment such as , "you are so fashionable" or the "you always dress so cute" and the ever popular, " you can wear anything." I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy them, but every once in a while someone can't quite wrap their head around what I am wearing and they call my outfit......RETRO, GRANDMA, HIP- HOPISH  in their most smiley face and happiest voice...
Yes, this happened today.

WHAT:
Capri: Citizens of Humanity
Sweater: thrifted.....$1
tank: Old Navy
Shoes/hat : Target

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

So is everybody tired of seeing these boots? Sorry, I apologize. It's really to bad though because I am completely in love with them right now. I think I may have been having boot withdrawals worse than I thought over the summer. Every morning after reading all of you lovelies I go to my closet with every intention of wearing something else.  I try and I try to wear some other form of shoery, (not a word, I know) but they call to me in this alluring voice and I just can't help myself.

 In short... get used to them!

WHAT:
Sweater: Target
Blouse: Target
Boots: Frye.....thrifted...$24
Thigh Highs: Target
Shorts: Old Navy


WHERE:
Bible study (The Power of a Praying Wife, Stormie OMartian) first thing this morning, home for a few chores and then off to my oldest daughter's Cross Country meet. She did so awesome...***caution bragging mom moment*** She placed 55th out of probably 200 girls of which were 6th, 7th, and 8th graders running. My daughter is in 6th...you do the math....she kicked some serious older kid butt, and ended up 10th overall for 6th graders!!! I told you I was THAT mom!!! Last on the list is Open House for my other daughter. She is also gonna kick some butt later this month at her cross country meet!...:)

Tony the Tiger....

It's GRRRRRREEEEEAAAAATTTT!

as promised....my hubbie and his RAD cast....I love it and him...

''Come to the edge,'' He said. They said, ''We are afraid.'' ''Come to the edge,'' He said. They came. He pushed them... and they flew. Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918)

Argh...More doctor appointments. As mentioned previously I've been going to alot of doctor appointments lately. Today's was insanely LOOOOONG. I believe we were there for over three hours, and we ended up leaving with a Tony the Tiger cast, even though no broken bones are involved. Cast???.... I KNOW!!! My poor husband has been having pain in his wrist since an ugly snowmachine accident last spring. After many doctors later we found ourselves at a hand surgeon and he decided that my dear husband is just to active and we need to completely immobilize it for six weeks...major bummer! Oh well,  we can only hope and pray that it will be good to go for this upcoming race season.

 My husband is totally RAD and decided to have a sense of humor about the whole thing and begged the tech for a striped orange and black tiger cast...Nobody can resist my husbands charm ;) and his wish was granted. It is super cool, if I do say. I'll try to post a pic of his grrrrreaaaat cast later today.


WHAT:
Skress: Thrifted...$1
Boots: Thrifted....Frye...$24
Belt: ???
Jacket: Banana Republic....Thrifted


WHERE:
Anchorage, to an excruciatingly long doctor appointment for hubbie, followed by a dinner date with my handsome casted tiger man.

retail crush....

Last night I was bored and I fell head over heels absolutely in love with this......

modcloth

Oh my dear sweet red ruffly coat, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,..........

Then as if my heart could not get any more full I spotted these....

modcloth

Aren't they the most perfect companion to my sweet red ruffly coat?

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you" Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Fall is absolutely and completely in the air. I love everything about it, the colors, the smell, the dark evenings, and stars in the sky once again. (Here in AK we have so much daylight in the summer that it really only gets dusk at night.) I miss the stars.  The weather here continues to give us sunshine, we are not free from the briskness in the air though, I even woke to frost on my truck this morning. By evening I was freezing my tootsie off but I have to stretch my summer to the absolute max since ours is cut relatively short up here.

Life has been so busy these days and I am worried that this is just my life. With three kids and two of them in school that start and end at different times I feel as if I am running all the time! My housework is never caught up and dinners seem to barely make it to the table. I am need of some major reorganizing and reprioritizing I suppose. I have been thinking on life and the importance of keeping priorities straight lately. What are my priorities? What should they be? I know that God foremost and my husband, children, and family are at the top of my list. I strive each day to make sure these people know they are important and valued by me. This seems to add up to be so much of my day. I've been pondering about where friendships fit in my life. Friendship is hard. I am in the thick of raising kids and all that jazz but I need some interaction, some give and take, accountability, you know? The problem I am finding is that life is BUSY and friendships take time...lots of it. That is why I value and enjoy blogging so much. I appreciate the security in that whatever I am feeling or choose to write, you all are there, reading, and listening, interjecting advice or just a kind word. I appreciate you. Every blog I read I have some sort of kinship or connection with it's author, whether it being they are a mom, lover of vintage, having a bad day, completely inspired by the next girl, or incredibly in love with their other half. I connect with you all on one level or another. Thank You.

WHAT:
Shorts: Old Navy...clearance..$4
Sandals: Born...thrifted...$9
tank:  ?
Blouse...vintage...thrifted
owl ring: Target
Sunnies: borrowed from daughter...found underneath school bleachers :)


WHERE:
Errands around town and then over to the in-laws for dinner and to process and butcher our meat for the winter. (hubbie got a moose! YAY!)

"Life never becomes a habit to me. It's always a marvel." Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923)

Happy Monday!
How was every body's weekend?
Summer finally decided to happen here in Alaska. We had the most gorgeous weather this weekend, when you add the fall colors, you have magic!!! My weekends usually are not conducive to fashion. My family and I will usually be found in the mountains, on a river bank, or camped out on a sand bar. Most likely I am clad in my hiking boots, North Face jacket, some sort of hat to cover the mess on my head, and jeans...
I do however always have my camera with me and I wanted to share a few images from my weekend.

enjoy.

Are the colors not amazing?!!??

This was a real rainbow that "followed" us in our plane. It was a complete circle and absolutely breathtaking.

So majestic...don't you think?

And of course the obligatory self portrait...I love that guy!

Funny flub ups...

Yay! It's the weekend already my friends!!!

 Lately I have had some quirky photos roll across my screen at editing time... I love seeing everyone else's outtakes so I thought I'd share a few of mine. This is one of the many aspects of blogging I love. The fact that we are all real people who do funny things on a daily basis, not just models who look perfectly polished upon every page turn.

Enjoy.

Way to cool for words!.....I think NOT
Not to mention my belt is crooked and my 4 year old somehow buttoned my
cardigan without me knowing...?

Its a UFO!!!!!

The hazards of blogging...wet uneven stumps and wedge heels do not mix.
I did recover from this without cracking my tailbone but it was close. I did however
 get some great shots before I almost died...

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I am a one-legged wonder!!!

Have a Happy Friday!!!!