Where is the Flying Onion?!?

So I’ve been busy brainstorming for my new blog, which I’ll be jumping to quite soon.  It’s very exciting, I must say.  Sometimes, change is good.  (Like when the change is being inflicted on my blog, and so I therefore have all the control.  Mwahahahahaha).

But I have not been so lost in thought that I’ve missed a very important fact:  95% of you are dying to know where my sister is.  (The other 5% of you just haven’t discovered her blog yet and so therefore don’t realize that you’re subconsciously missing her).  😉

And so the question remains.  It haunts you.  Plagues you.  And fills my inbox and blog with questions of:  Where is Sarah from The Flying Onion?

I mean, there’s really no possibility that she’s still working on those apple-smothered pork chops that she last wrote about on March 1st.

The thing is that I can’t give you too much information, because she has so many exciting things going on in her life right now… that really it’s only fair that she be the one to share it.

So I can’t tell you that she and I recently took part in a cancer fundraiser for our cousin.  That we signed up for a 5k.  And that we’ll be walking in a Relay for Life in June.

I can’t tell you that she has a new, fuzzy friend in her life… and that his name is Humphrey… and that he has thick, white whiskers which make him look like a little, old man.  Because that would be too many details, for sure.  And I can’t tell you that she went from being unemployed to possibly juggling three jobs and that she might be working six days a week soon.  (I can tell you that Nate and I are thinking about asking her to support us).

Okay, fine, I’m just kidding about that last part.

Sooo, yeah, as you can see, there’s not really much I can tell you at this point.  I will say that she’s doing great, loving life, and she will be back to blogging soon.  She promised!

Miss Sarah’s blog posts?  Leave her a comment here and tell her how much you miss her.  🙂

Yellow Sunshine

While I was busy at work yesterday, Nate spent his day off stuck in the bathroom.

No, he wasn’t sick…  He was busy playing with tape and yellow paint.

We had yet to paint one wall in our house as of yesterday, and the white walls were beginning to make us go cross-eyed.  So Nate decided to surprise me; and when I came home from work, he was nearly finished painting a cheery coat of yellow paint on the downstairs bathroom walls.

It’s amazing how the little room went from drab to fab in just a matter of a few hours.  Well, maybe not fab quite yet…  But it’s showing major progress.

Even Stitchy was a bit excited…  Maybe..

The only frustrating part of the evening was that it turns out there’s no support beam behind the sink, so the light we bought for the bathroom is too heavy and won’t hang properly.

(It also doesn’t match the new mirror we bought, so that’s two strikes against it).  But, hey, minor set-backs, and we’ll get a new light soon!

Hopefully I’ll find us some curtains over the next couple of days and then something to hang on the empty space above the toilet… And — wow — we’ll actually be done a room!

Feels good, my friends.  Real good!  🙂

Subway, Dentures, and Me

I was recently fitted for a retainer that I’m supposed to wear at night, thanks to a dental exam that revealed I’m grinding my teeth in my sleep.

“Doesn’t your husband tell you that you grind your teeth?” the dentist asked, somewhat surprised that I hadn’t come in with concerns initiated by a husband who had to listen to my jaw grinding throughout the night.

I replied, “My husband could sleep through a fire alarm.  So, no, he never mentioned anything.  Next question.”

Now being fitted for a retainer isn’t the most glamorous procedure in the world.  It’s not like you’re stepping into a salon to be pampered and get your nails, hair, or face done.  Instead, you’re pushed into a chair that’s tilted just a bit too far back, stuffed with a soft clay that molds to your teeth before it’s removed, and then told to come back in a few weeks.  You know, your last few weeks of freedom.

And then, once you start wearing your shiny new contraption,  you get to sleep with your jaw halfway closed for the rest of your life and wake up talking like a fourteen-year-old who just got braces.  (Which is cute if you’re a fourteen-year-old who just got braces).

So, yeah, it’s really sexy, I guess is what I’m trying to say.  😉  I was even given a few packets of denture-cleaner to soak the retainer in once a month for cleaning purposes.  Those, I quickly stashed in my purse, feeling maybe a bit silly at having been given such an item.

Well, I was at Subway the other day with a friend…  (Nice transition, I know).  And as I reached into my purse to grab my wallet, I accidentally flung a packet of forgotten denture cleaner into the air and towards the guy standing in front of me.

I’m not sure what startled him more…  The fact that I was throwing things at him or the fact that I had denture cleaner in my purse.  Even my friend looked slightly shocked.  And then to top things off, I burst into laughter and pretty much rolled around on the floor in hysterics.  Which is when my friend took a few steps back and pretended to have come in alone.  😉

So, yeah… Moral of the story?  I’m not sure there is one…  But this was WAY too funny not to share.  🙂

Anything embarrassing, yet comical, happen to you lately?

Different is Okay

At the leadership training that I recently attended with a few people from my church, I was introduced to some pretty in-depth insights into what makes people tick.  We studied personality traits and characteristics in an effort to understand people better, rather than judge them for their differences.

It was really interesting to see how we’re all wired differently and how we all react according to our personalities.

For example…

Nate was listed as a type ‘C’ person.  He’s the type of guy who wants facts, data, charts, and organization.  He thinks scientifically.  I, on the other hand, was listed as a type ‘I’ person.  I like to talk, persuade, support, encourage, and come up with ideas.  I couldn’t care less about the cold, hard facts.

So if you were to give me and my hubby a topic, we’d come at it from two different perspectives.  Neither of us would be wrong.  We’d just be different.

If the subject of conversation was the Sun, Nate would want to know how big it was, what gas it’s made up of, how far away it is, and then he’d probably put a chart together to portray what he had learned.  Meanwhile, I would just want to talk about how pretty it was and talk about how warm it feels on my face.

I’m sure this sounds like a small breakthrough, but it’s actually quite huge.  Sometimes, I irritate Nate when I just don’t care about the nitty-gritty details.  And sometimes, I get annoyed that Nate keeps asking question after question after question.

But the fact of the matter is that we’re just built differently.  Not wrong.  Just different.

So last night at Bible study, when Nate started to ask about the history of the church and wanted to know everything about each denomination, I fought the urge to roll my eyes.  Just because certain details don’t always matter to me, it doesn’t mean they’re not important.

Because together, we compliment where the other lacks.  And together, we will write a pretty amazing poem about the sun and all it’s amazing qualities.  😉

Together, we’re better!  🙂

The Run

As a little girl, I always thought that a new pair of sneakers could make me run faster.  Ha! I was such a silly child.

It’s obviously the shoelaces.

My sister Sarah gave me a pair of hot pink shoelaces a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to lacing them into my sneakers.  And I totally ran faster.  I just know it.

Of course, faster for me means that I now ‘run’ at a Grandma Jone’s pace.  (No offense to any real Grandma Jones  out there who could probably kick my butt in a race).  Nate and I have just named my current speed after that, since I’m all about slow endurance as apposed to a speed-demon pace.

Pacing myself has become my life-line, as Nate found a great five-mile loop for us to run around a nearby campground and lake.  Between you and me, five miles is a bit much at this point in time, but I married a man version of Jillian Michaels.  (Not that he’s in killer shape yet either.  He’s just a machine when he works out and makes it look easy).

Ugh, don’t you hate people like that?

  Yeah, it’s a good thing he’s cute!

Anyway, back to our new, five-mile route….

It’s really great.

We do a lot of off-road running that’s surrounded by some beautiful pine trees and ponds.

  It’s also great for endurance.  If you feel as though you can’t run anymore and decide to walk instead, you’re instantly engulfed in a swarm of mosquitoes.  So it’s your choice: keep going or become dinner.

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Well, I pushed through the pain last night, and I ran the full five miles without stopping once. I also noticed that as I fell into a rhythm, my pace actually picked up, and I was able to keep up with Nate at the end.  So although it wasn’t easy, and although I wanted to crawl in agony at the end, I did it!  🙂

And I imagine the next run will only be easier.  As my sister would say, it’s all uphill from here… in a good way!

Yeah, you’re right, I should have bought new shoelaces months ago!

Does anyone else start off running really slow and then pick up pace as they get into a comfortable groove?  How do you find your perfect running pace?

Rainy Days

Yesterday I announced that I was going on strike.

It was rainy and cold outside.  We had no plans (for once).  And I had absolutely no desire to fight the sleepiness threatening to take over.

So immediately after church, I changed into a pair of comfy sweatpants and a sweater and informed Nate that I wasn’t even going to make dinner.  Naive girl that I am, I expected his shoulders to hunch in disappointment as he realized that he would have to go an evening without my amazing cooking skills.

Instead, his eyes widened as he asked, “Can we have KFC?”

Fried chicken.  It’s my husband’s first love.

Me?  I prefer little balls of fuzzy fur that snuggle under my chin and beg for kisses.  So I let Nate have his fried chicken, and we both ended up being very happy.

.(What can I say… Small things amuse us). 

So going on strike was just what I needed…  This morning, I feel like a brand new woman, raring to go despite the fact that it’s raining AND Monday.  Well, I’m mostly raring to go anyway.  😉

What I did on my weekend was…

Friday night was just what I needed…

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Getting all dressed up for a cousin’s wedding and just enjoying the evening out with my hubby was almost therapeutic, causing me to forget how crazy busy things have been and left me feeling excited about this upcoming year.

.Such good times!

There’s also something therapeutic about a long drive…

Just me and my thoughts as my little yellow car zips over windy roads and past beautiful New England scenery.  (If my dad is reading this, let me clarify that I was zipping along in accordance with the speed limit.  Mostly.). 

The leadership training I attended on Saturday morning with a few others from my church took me on a long drive to Sturbridge, but it was all back roads, farms, and fields.  So pretty.  It made me want to pull over and just breathe in the fresh air and have a picnic.  It made me feel happy and stress-free… So much so that Nate wondered why he hadn’t sent me on a long car-ride weeks ago.  😉

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It turned out to be such a beautiful day that when I was back home much later that afternoon, Nate, my sister, and I went on a walk around the lake.  It was an extremely serious, high-energy, focused walk; because we’re those kind of people.

You know, very little time to goof around.  We’re too busy pondering the great mysteries of life…

and talking business.

Hmmmm, I imagine that this weekend was a glimpse of what the rest of the summer will be like.  And all I can say is… I sure hope so!  🙂

I’m Back

Well, I think I’m finally nearing the end of my crazy-nonstop-hair pulling-go-go-go-busy schedule.  (And my husband and two cats all shout ‘amen’).

Apparently, I need to introduce a four letter word into my vocabulary and that’s ‘nooo’.  Okay, fine, that’s technically a two-letter word.  Sounds so much more dramatic when you hold the ‘o’ though, don’t you think?

Honestly, the majority of things that were booking my schedule were things that I couldn’t say no to.  Like baby showers for friends.  And leadership meetings at church.  And hosting Easter dinner.  And spending long days at the office.

I definitely had to let some things go, but please be assured that blogging isn’t the only thing I had to put down for awhile.  If you don’t believe me, just stop by my house and see the pretty pictures my husband drew in the dust on our coffee table.

I mean, you know that you haven’t been the best of home-makers when you start cleaning the house and your husband asks, “Who’s coming over?”

Major fail.

But it’s all coming to an end, and I can finally breathe again.  I have a wedding to attend tomorrow night and then a church leadership training on Saturday, but I think that’s pretty much it.  Things settle down to a much more comfortable pace.

And a fun pace!!  🙂  See last year, I woke up on the morning of my birthday (June 11th) and felt sick.  I thought it was just the flu, but it turned out to be much more and I ended up feeling nauseous for months.  It was a year of doctor’s appointments and tests and really I’ve just recovered from the crazy stomach issues.  (It actually was all due to a urinary tract infection that my doctor didn’t catch).

Now that I’m back to my usual healthy self, I’m able to look back on all the lessons I learned from the experience.  Mainly, I learned that  life is short so you have to embrace it and really live it!

And so, with another birthday on the way, I’ve been coming up with a ton of fun plans and life goals for this upcoming year.  (If last year’s theme was over-coming fear, which it really was in many ways, I want this year’s theme to be Just Live It!).  I’ll be jumping over to my new blog sometime in May, but — for now — I’ll try to update as much as possible.  No more disappearing, I promise!  🙂

Soooo, it’s been a LONG time!  What have you been up to???

I’m Still Here :)

Hello, my bloggy friends!

I wanted to write a quick post to let you all know that I’m still alive and kicking… and still doing well. 🙂

Life just got a bit busy as of late.  Okay, crazy busy.  Nate always says that I need to learn how to say ‘no’, and I suppose he’s right, as usual.  😉  I just need to get through these next couple of weeks and then things will slow down and adjust into a much more comfortable pace… just in time for warmer weather and all the fun things that come with it.  🙂

I have missed blogging and all you amazing readers and fellow bloggers, so you can be sure that I will be back.  And when I come back, I may have a surprise… in that I may or may not have a new blog address and name!  (I thought that a bit of change might be good for some added inspiration.  It’ll be very much of the same blogging you’re used to, but I wanted to give it a new look and maybe a more upbeat feel.  There also may be some blog video posts coming up, which I’m crazy excited about since I’ve yet to do that in my two years of blogging!  So I really can’t wait to share these new changes with you).

But until then, I hope all is well!  I miss you all and really appreciate those of you who have emailed me, checking in to make sure that everything is okay in theSimple Moment’shome.  You all ROCK!

‘See’ you soon,

Nicole  🙂

Spring has sprung… already?

Yawn… Stretch…

Well, that was a nice, blogger cat-nap.  I rather feel like Rip Van Winkle, as I went to ‘sleep’ in winter… and woke up to spring a mere two weeks later.

Under normal circumstances, New England would still have snow on the ground, but here we are in near seventy degree weather.  I’m already sporting sundresses (honestly quite glad to get rid of the bulky sweaters and jackets).

Highstreet is begging us to take out the BBQ…

…and Stitchy is making faces at robins.

Even the trees have been fooled into thinking that spring is officially here.

And all I can is, “Please, Spring.  Please don’t go away.  Please stay until it’s Summer’s turn to take over!”