the past few months for us...

This is why I never know what to say when people ask me how my new job is going:

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-john-lim-scammers-ps-111709,0,4421927.story

This was on the news tonight (Monday) on Fox 4.

And wow, I need to open my mouth more when I talk.

Some Exciting News!

It's finally time for the launch of Heidi Stock Design!

Check out my website for many more design options - holiday cards, baby announcements, etc!

:) 

All designs are original and customizable.

Get your orders in early and save 10%!

family visit!

This week, Adelle had a great time bonding with grandparents on the Stock side!  They came bearing gifts for Adelle AND mommy and daddy (some of the best hot cocoa I've ever had in my life) and we all had a great time!  Adelle warmed up pretty quickly.

You'll notice her silly little doggy hat... this is from a Halloween costume (from her Aunt Gina) we were going to have her wear, but it's too small :(  So she's been sporting the doggy ears for the past couple of weeks off and on.  hehehe  She has even slept in them a couple of times and loves them!  Thanks, Gina!  Luckily, Adelle's grandpa got her a great Jayhawk dress that has now become her cheerleader costume for Halloween as well :)  It even has a little white turtleneck with "Kansas" written on the collar.  Very  cute.

Luke's dad has encouraged me to market the cards that I make.  I do enjoy entering them in challenges and what not, but that night I went through what I had and realized how many great cards I have that would sell great, even if they wouldn't necessarily be chosen for a publication or something like that.  So now I'm motivated!  I've been at my sister Lori's watching her girls/helping her out some yesterday and more this afternoon because she had to have an unexpected surgery (she's doing well... just not enjoying the recovery process).  Then I start a new job on Monday!  And Luke is going to be enrolling for classes at JCCC this weekend.

This week we're heading to my parents' house.  My brother Craig and his family will be visiting from Missouri and the church there is having a trunk-or-treat.  It'll be fun to have all the grandkids together in their costumes.  Now I just need to find the SD card for my camera!

Happy Halloween.  Be safe!

the importance of creativity/creation

Luke and I are home from church today -- he has food poisoning and I have a fever and chills.  Awesome.  Adelle's the only healthy one around here.  Since we're missing church, I've been reading talks from previous General Conferences and was reminded of this quote from an awesome talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the 2nd counselor in the General Presidency.  This was during the General Relief Society Meeting in October (end of September probably) of 2008.  Enjoy:

"You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before – colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. What you create doesn’t have to be perfect… Don’t let the voices of critics paralyze you – whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

And here's a link to the entire talk: HERE.

thoughts and Cards Trends Blog

As far as the last post, I've decided to just be proactive. If I really want to have a relationship with the people I've been friends with in the past, then I need to be the one to make the effort to actually HAVE a relationship with those people.

Tomorrow I'm singing at a funeral for a 24 year-old man, who is the younger brother of a good friend from high school. His passing was very unexpected, so I ask that you all keep the family in your prayers tomorrow (Saturday) especially.

On a lighter note, I have a card featured on the Card Trends Blog today!  This blog is done by CARDS Magazine, so it gets a lot of traffic.  It's exciting that my work is starting to be recognized and showcased.  This challenge was to make a collage-like card, so I literally used scraps from another card to make it (with a few added things).  I was recognized for my overall design, but especially for my unique color combination.  Anyway, that was fun!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend!  Halloween is only 8 days away!

some days are just hard...

I'm not going to go into detail, but you may not know that my new exciting and glamorous job fell through. It's a long stupid story that results in me looking for jobs again. I got a temporary 2 month position that starts in 2 weeks, but beyond that, I'm looking. This of course has caused some economical challenges for us, but we're doing the best we can and are grateful for help from family.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from 7th grade through high school got married. I found out about it from someone else's blog. Today I found out that another friend from elementary school through high school got married and apparently nearly everyone from our little high school group of friends knew about it. I'm not sure what to do with all of this information, but I am having a hard time with it. I'm not sure if it means that I was a bad friend after high school to not keep in touch as well as I could have or if it means that we were never really that close. This is aside from like 3 other marriages of friends in the past year that I either found out about after the fact or on Facebook. I know that my religious values sometimes left me on the outside of things, but it is just really upsetting. These are people I sought out when I got married to make sure they at least got an announcement. These days I don't really have any close friends who I HAVE to call when I get news, aside from my sisters anyway. Maybe that's the trade-off for having a close-knit family and a husband, but I guess I'm just not the type of person who can completely let go of a friendship, even if it's been a long time. I know I could've made many more efforts to see these old friends though, so maybe I shouldn't be so worked up about it.

Anyway, I just needed to vent a little. This evening Luke and I are going to take Adelle and just get out of the house for a little Family Home Evening. Location is TBD, but I'm excited to just get out and do something as a family, even if it's just window shopping or going for a walk!

time to update

Hello to everyone.

Not much to report today, but I wanted to share some exciting news (no, I'm not pregnant).  You may know that I have a card blog, where I show cards that I've made, etc.  Well, recently I've been submitting cards to be published in card/craft magazines, and one of my cards was selected!  I will be published in the March 2010 issue of CARDS magazine, which is one of my favorite craft magazines.  I can't wait!  I already had to box up the card and send it with details on the materials I used, how to make it, etc.  They'll send it back to me after the March issue comes out and will send a bunch of cardmaking goodies and 2 copies of the magazine along with it.  Yay :)  This was kind of a goal when I got started and I have come a long way since the beginning of my blog.  I've had fun learning about different techniques, trends, etc.  Each publication asks for specific criteria depending on the issue, so that's how you decide what to submit.  Here's an example.  Anyway, I can't show you the card now, but after it's published I will be sure to post it on here. :)

Adelle is as cute as ever and is becoming more and more dependent on us for entertainment.  She's never been too attached, but lately she wants to be held or us to be playing with her all the time.  She also got her first ouchie this week... nothing serious, but she slipped and hit her face on the corner of the coffee table.  It didn't break skin, but she has a long bruise line down her cheek.  She barely cried -- just got mad when I tried to put ice on it.

That's all!  Hope everyone is doing well.

sleepy adelle pictures...

taken 10/5/09 in the early A.M.

a busy busy busy month.

wow, i can't believe it's been nearly a whole month since i last posted... adelle is as cute as ever of course and she's kind of a big stinker. she likes to play with her daddy's XBOX and when he tells her 'no,' she looks at him, shakes her head no, then laughs and usually goes after it again. she is saying "up" and can repeat a series of notes if i sing "ahhh" to her.

about 2 weeks ago, i started a new job in OP. i'm working primarily from home, but am enjoying the change so far. monday evening luke and i moved to the KC area and really love our new place. i'll be sure to take some pictures when we finish unpacking (we're pretty close already). luke has had several job interviews and we're just waiting to hear back. tuesday evening, we found the phone number of a bishop of the ward we thought we would be in and called him. that same evening the elder's quorum president, elder's quorum secretary, and relief society secretary called us to set up times to meet us. luke already played bball tuesday night and i got to meet the r.s. pres and secretary this morning. the r.s. president in my new ward is one of my former YW leaders from growing up in lawrence. sometimes i forget how small the church really is. anyway, we get to meet in the brand new stake center, which is pretty close to home (and for luke that means a full-size basketball court).

that's the update for now. i need to take/post some more pics of us and adelle. we're so blessed to have such a sweet/funny baby. tonight we have a visit from the EQP and EQ secretary. then bball for luke and SLEEP for me. it's going to be great.

milestones and what not.

I think I'll just start with some cute pictures of Adelle, since they're not really related to the post.

Here's Adelle during bath time. I just wanted to show off her pretty face and long eyelashes :D

Here's Adelle's favorite bath time pastime (that's a mouthful -- the words, not the rubber ducky).

I cannot tell you how many times we have found Adelle chewing on her binky like this. So silly.

so i bet you're all wondering what we're up to these days... well at least our cute little girl.

just a day after my last post, so on August 12th, Adelle started pulling herself up to standing in her crib. she did that for a few days and then started doing it with furniture around the living room. about a week ago she started doing a LITTLE cruising (walking while holding on to furniture), but she only does it if she sees something really worth getting. also, she has been crawling since just a couple of days before she turned 9 months, so also just a few days after my last post. She is very quick and already pretty sneaky. also, about 2 weeks ago (so right after she turned 9 months) she started saying "dada" somewhat consistently. she definitely knows who "dada" and "mama" are and will sometimes try to say "mama," especially when she's crying.

we had adelle's well-child 9 month visit on Monday and the doctor couldn't believe how healthy and on target she was! she now weighs 20 lbs and 10 oz and is 29 inches tall (that's 3 inches in 3 months). the doctor also said, because she's getting all the nutrition she needs and eating so well, that we could start to phase in whole milk instead of formula and also more finger foods (you know, since she already has EIGHT teeth). she's already had a lot of finger foods, but i think we're going to start giving her veggies primarily in the finger food form because she has developed this habit to start talking and blowing out air and making silly noises as soon as she gets a spoonful in her mouth (only with veggies or something she doesn't quite like as much as fruit), making it gets all over her and us instead of you know, into her body.

i've gotten to go to a couple rehearsals now for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. I don't think I knew what to expect when we (my mom and I) started, but it is such a wide range of people - experience, background, AGE, etc. Overall it's a fun time, though I forgot how much Charles Bruffy loves count singing :) I'm enjoying singing again and look forward to the performances and other opportunities it may present.

Oh, and I'm 25 now, as of Saturday the 29th. So far, it feels good :P