I promise, no fabric tote boxes were harmed during the making of this photo. She was trying to get in it, not smash it!
Peace,
Kelly
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Oh Billa...
How we love to watch you play. And dance. And splash. And um, whatever it is you're doing in this photo. I can't stop snickering when I see it.
I promise, no fabric tote boxes were harmed during the making of this photo. She was trying to get in it, not smash it!
Peace,
Kelly
I promise, no fabric tote boxes were harmed during the making of this photo. She was trying to get in it, not smash it!
Peace,
Kelly
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Harvest Time!
Our friends are away this week and before they left, they reminded me to check the garden. I stopped by a couple of days later and wowsa! Talk about a harvest!
I've been collecting serrano peppers for some time, so in addition to yet another harvest of serranos (I've probably harvested like 50 so far, no joke!) I was able to harvest some of my tomatoes:
Our black beans:
And more peppers:
I've also been able to harvest some green beans, which were mighty tasty and we've gotten one lonely warped looking bell pepper. The corn box produced some ears that we were able to eat at Michael and Hayden's joint birthday party, and we are currently on track for more tomatoes, more peppers, and soon, we'll have watermelons, carrots, onions, and potatoes! I can't wait!
Cheers,
Kelly
I've been collecting serrano peppers for some time, so in addition to yet another harvest of serranos (I've probably harvested like 50 so far, no joke!) I was able to harvest some of my tomatoes:
I'm growing two varieties...one is a cherry variety that produces orange and yellow 'maters, and the other is a grape variety that makes traditional red ones.
Our black beans:
Apparently, you let them dry in the husk so that when you hull them, they're already dried and preserved.
And more peppers:
The only bell pepper is in the background on the right...can you see it? Told you it was warped looking!
I've also been able to harvest some green beans, which were mighty tasty and we've gotten one lonely warped looking bell pepper. The corn box produced some ears that we were able to eat at Michael and Hayden's joint birthday party, and we are currently on track for more tomatoes, more peppers, and soon, we'll have watermelons, carrots, onions, and potatoes! I can't wait!
Cheers,
Kelly
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ramblings on Writing
I apologize in advance...this post takes a different tack than normal.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about my writing lately. If Billa's godmother Debi were to read this, she'd tell me I need to actually write, not think about it. But the truth is, I was writing. And then I stopped because life got in the way and yada yada yada. I've been trying to maintain my blogs, work my day job, raise my daughter, manage my household, build a baking business, and be a good wife/friend/daughter/sister, etc. It's a lot. So of course, those things that aren't necessary for survival have fallen by the wayside, like my writing. I admit, I've also been doing a lot of reading lately and playing Scramble on my iPod and trying to beat Final Fantasy XIII. I know, those things aren't exactly essential to survival, but they are for my sanity.
I've been thinking about writing lately, because I want it to become a bigger part of my life. It's always been something that I've been called to, something that has always given me joy, and something that definitely always challenged me. I get bored very quickly if I'm not challenged. I require constant stimulation and to be pushed beyond my boundaries. Some might call it masochism, others ADD. I don't really care. It's actually a part of me that I really like and love to embrace, for all of the irritations it presents me with. I look at it as my instincts urging me to grab life by the horns.
There are only 24 hours in every day, and unfortunately, I can't get more. I have to get sleep at some point, and I have to work to make an income. So that shoots down about 19 hours right there. Everything that I want to do has to be squeezed into roughly 5 hours every day along with everything else I have to do: cook dinner, spend time with my family and friends, clean the house, etc. So how can I fit in writing? I find a lot of frustrations with it because I am easily distracted once I'm on the computer either by news, blogs, the husband, or the daughter. And of course my family wants to spend time with me too. (I know, how dare they?) I have to carefully balance all these aspects of my life and poor little writing gets left by the wayside.
But not anymore. I've always wanted to be a published writer. I even went so far as to humiliate myself in front of my high school classmates in freshman English by boasting about how I would become a published writer at the age of 18 (oh, the things one does for their art!). I've been writing since I was a kid, I wrote all through school, and I have continued to write to this day. I feel confident that I am a decent writer, but I think I could be a great writer if I kept at it every day. And the only way I can do that is to keep at it and make it a constant part of my life.
I've been doing research the last few days on novel writing strategies and templates for developing plots and characters and structure. And the one thing I've learned from all of this research is that there is a whole world to writing and publishing that I never knew existed. Well, ok, I should give myself some credit. I knew it existed, but I didn't realize how complex it all was. There's query letters and writing conferences and genre types that you have to know. There's loglines, synopses, samples, previews and more. And the process itself! It's enough to make your head spin. I came to the realization that I have a lot to learn if I want to break into this industry and make my mark on the world as a writer.
I relish the challenge and I hope you will all bear with me as I work at developing my novels (yes, there is more than one rattling around in my head!) and hopefully soemday, get published. I'm hoping to have at least something published by the time I'm 35. Considering I still have 7 years until then, I think I handle it.
Cheers,
Kelly
I've been doing a lot of thinking about my writing lately. If Billa's godmother Debi were to read this, she'd tell me I need to actually write, not think about it. But the truth is, I was writing. And then I stopped because life got in the way and yada yada yada. I've been trying to maintain my blogs, work my day job, raise my daughter, manage my household, build a baking business, and be a good wife/friend/daughter/sister, etc. It's a lot. So of course, those things that aren't necessary for survival have fallen by the wayside, like my writing. I admit, I've also been doing a lot of reading lately and playing Scramble on my iPod and trying to beat Final Fantasy XIII. I know, those things aren't exactly essential to survival, but they are for my sanity.
I've been thinking about writing lately, because I want it to become a bigger part of my life. It's always been something that I've been called to, something that has always given me joy, and something that definitely always challenged me. I get bored very quickly if I'm not challenged. I require constant stimulation and to be pushed beyond my boundaries. Some might call it masochism, others ADD. I don't really care. It's actually a part of me that I really like and love to embrace, for all of the irritations it presents me with. I look at it as my instincts urging me to grab life by the horns.
There are only 24 hours in every day, and unfortunately, I can't get more. I have to get sleep at some point, and I have to work to make an income. So that shoots down about 19 hours right there. Everything that I want to do has to be squeezed into roughly 5 hours every day along with everything else I have to do: cook dinner, spend time with my family and friends, clean the house, etc. So how can I fit in writing? I find a lot of frustrations with it because I am easily distracted once I'm on the computer either by news, blogs, the husband, or the daughter. And of course my family wants to spend time with me too. (I know, how dare they?) I have to carefully balance all these aspects of my life and poor little writing gets left by the wayside.
But not anymore. I've always wanted to be a published writer. I even went so far as to humiliate myself in front of my high school classmates in freshman English by boasting about how I would become a published writer at the age of 18 (oh, the things one does for their art!). I've been writing since I was a kid, I wrote all through school, and I have continued to write to this day. I feel confident that I am a decent writer, but I think I could be a great writer if I kept at it every day. And the only way I can do that is to keep at it and make it a constant part of my life.
I've been doing research the last few days on novel writing strategies and templates for developing plots and characters and structure. And the one thing I've learned from all of this research is that there is a whole world to writing and publishing that I never knew existed. Well, ok, I should give myself some credit. I knew it existed, but I didn't realize how complex it all was. There's query letters and writing conferences and genre types that you have to know. There's loglines, synopses, samples, previews and more. And the process itself! It's enough to make your head spin. I came to the realization that I have a lot to learn if I want to break into this industry and make my mark on the world as a writer.
I relish the challenge and I hope you will all bear with me as I work at developing my novels (yes, there is more than one rattling around in my head!) and hopefully soemday, get published. I'm hoping to have at least something published by the time I'm 35. Considering I still have 7 years until then, I think I handle it.
Cheers,
Kelly
Friday, June 25, 2010
Family Reunion Recap
I hadn't realized how much family meant to me until this past week. I've never had a sister, but my cousin Katy is about as close as I will ever come to having one biologically. She lives up in Yellowknife, Canada several hundred miles and a whole different climate away and yet, when we finally catch up in person with one another, it's as if there was never any boundaries or even years between visits.
And it feels that way too, with the rest of my family, from Vancouver, Indiana, New Mexico, Chicago, Houston, Kentucky, Washington DC, and even here in Austin. All of them descended for one weekend to celebrate my grandmother turning 90 and now that they have flocked back to their homes, I feel a little bit empty inside. It was an exhausting week, and sometimes frustrating and trying, but a good week nonetheless. I hope it doesn't take another several years before we all see each other again!
Happy 90th birthday, Maw Maw! We love you!
Love,
Kelly, Michael, & Sybilla
PS. Special thanks to my friend Anthony for so graciously being our photographer that evening. You really took a huge load off everyone's shoulders by agreeing to take pictures for us and let us just hang out. I owe you lots of cake, man!
And it feels that way too, with the rest of my family, from Vancouver, Indiana, New Mexico, Chicago, Houston, Kentucky, Washington DC, and even here in Austin. All of them descended for one weekend to celebrate my grandmother turning 90 and now that they have flocked back to their homes, I feel a little bit empty inside. It was an exhausting week, and sometimes frustrating and trying, but a good week nonetheless. I hope it doesn't take another several years before we all see each other again!
The Dillon Clan...all 42 of us spanning four generations!
(Technically, there are 45 within this unit, but three of them couldn't make it)
(Technically, there are 45 within this unit, but three of them couldn't make it)
My uncle John Martin and his mom, my grandmother
Everyone cooling off in the pool...my cousin Jeff and his wife Abby and their twins; my cousin Kent's son Ryan, my husband and my brother David
Maw Maw
My cousin Jenny and her niece Sophia. Both are adopted and both are loved to pieces by our family!
Abby and one of her twins
My uncle Hugh and his granddaughter Mia (also adopted)
Billa gets thrown in the air by her daddy
My cousin Kent's daughter Emily
My aunt Pat, uncle John Martin, and my dad
The Dave's: my brother and my cousin
Me and Katy
The birthday cake I made for my grandmother
I love this picture!
My grandmother and her children: Ann (oldest), Michael (youngest), David (#4), Pat (#2), John Martin (#3), and Becky (#5)
Happy 90th birthday, Maw Maw! We love you!
Love,
Kelly, Michael, & Sybilla
PS. Special thanks to my friend Anthony for so graciously being our photographer that evening. You really took a huge load off everyone's shoulders by agreeing to take pictures for us and let us just hang out. I owe you lots of cake, man!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
To the best baby daddy...
Today is a special day! It's my husband's birthday! Huzzah! Michael is a great guy. How great? Well, let's see, shall we?
Michael...
Love,
Kelly, Sybilla & Snack
Michael sharing his birthday with Baby Hayden...Hayden's birthday was June 9th, but we celebrated both birthdays together!
Michael...
- is a great father
- never tells me my dreams or story ideas are crazy
- has incredible fashion sense. It puts me to shame.
- is hardworking and determined
- creative
- genuine and kind to all he meets
- puts up with three red-headed women in his life: his wife, his daughter and his mother-in-law
- always knows how to make me feel at ease
- would give you the shirt off his own back if it would make you happy and whole
- loves kids and is great with them
- is a very talented actor, singer, and poet
- is my best friend in the entire world
- hurts more than I do when our daughter is hurt, sad, or upset
- lets dogs give him kisses and loves it
- loves his family like nothing else
Love,
Kelly, Sybilla & Snack
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
