The Awww Factor

I took a few pictures today that scored off the charts in regards to the "awww" factor. I had to share them!

Please Mommy, no more pictures! :)

Fall is in the air

A few days ago, Audrey and I took one of our daily walks during the evening as the sun was beginning to set. There was a beautiful breeze, and the scent of fall was in the air. It wasn't strong as there will probably be a few hot days yet. But it was there. I felt the chill in the air, I smelled hot chocolate, pumpkins, indian corn, and the pleasant musty smell of fallen leaves. I imagined the trees painted in an abundance of reds, oranges, and yellows. I thought I never wanted summer to end, but now I can't wait for fall. During that walk, it got so chilly I had to bundle Audrey up in the stroller!


I've been wanting to post new pictures of Audrey, but the ones I've taken lately haven't been amazing. They're still impossibly cute as always, but tend to be blurry because she's constantly in motion these days. Also, I blame my sad little camera. Anyway, Dave & Katie took a few new family pictures of us this week. Here is a sneak peak as I don't have all of them yet:


Here are the pictures that I've taken recently. Ah, pure cuteness.

Giggly after her bath:

She's been folding her hands recently,
quite reverently I might add!
(Taken with my cell phone)

Sleeping on mommy. I just woke up, leave me alone. :)

That's it for now. I'll post again soon!

Yaketty Yak

My blog is in need of something a little less sappy than my last post. Back to my usual nonsensical antics!

A little background on this week's act of craziness. Our good friends from small group, Laura and Jason, recently returned from a mission trip to China. They had a wonderful, rewarding time blessed by the Lord, and we enjoyed hearing all about it last night at group. Along with many pictures and stories, they brought samples of packaged food from China, many of which were rather strange and some which were simply nasty (for lack of a better word). Being the daring person that I've been lately, I sampled a few of them.

This corn candy tasted like an old can of creamed corn:

After cleansing my palate of 13 year old creamed corn, I ventured to try something even more interesting.


In case you aren't fluent in Chinese, that says Yak jerky. Real, honest to goodness, overly dehydrated Yak meat in all it's glory. More than anything, I was overcome with curiosity to see what Yak tasted like. Why, I will never know. At first it smelled a little like grass. Then it smelled like something died in the grass. Then it smelled a little like something pooped and then died in the grass, after which it was cooked with spices that I simply couldn't make out. Despite all of this, I plunged on in my head strong desire to taste the Yak jerky. After I put it into my mouth, I started laughing and couldn't stop for quite awhile. As I chewed, the taste progressed much like the smell did. Laura smelled the package and shared my opinion... The scene looked like this:


I must admit that I didn't end up swallowing the Yak jerky as the taste wasn't for me. I did taste a few things that were good, like chocolate stuffed oreos, strawberry corn puffs, and strawberry candy that only tasted a little like plastic. Overall it was a great experience. I look forward to my next sampling of international cuisine!

Thankful

I've been feeling very blessed lately. I take a lot of things for granted in this fast paced, hectic world I live in. It's good for me to be still and think of how I am blessed. This time, I thought I'd share. I am going to make a habit of sharing lists like this. I think it would do us all a lot of good to stop going a million miles a minute, stop complaining about the traffic, that person who makes us want to explode, the 14 million things that have made our day more difficult, or the 256'th reason we're not perfect. Stop being busy for 5 short minutes and be still. Long enough to realize just how blessed we are.

Here are a few things I'm thankful for.
It would take years to include everything.

My God. He literally sacrificed Himself so that I ~and you~ could be forgiven, wiped clean from sin, and enter heaven to be with Him forever. The fact that He did that for me just breaks my heart. I'm a pretty selfish being when it comes down to it, and I am sorry to say I probably wouldn't have done the same. He is gentle. He loves me just the way I am. I don't have to be strong, interesting, intellectual, beautiful, hard working, or upbeat in order to figuratively climb into His lap and release the many emotions and burdens that I have carried throughout my day. He's always there. This view may sound selfish, but remember this list is simply a view of what I am thankful for right now, at this very moment.

My husband. He understands me. He loves me. He needs me. He and I belong to each other. He's everything I could want in a human, although some of those qualities are still being refined. :) He listens to my ramblings (which we know can last quite awhile), lets me be spontaneous and whimsical when I need to be, watches as my creativity gets me into trouble around the house, and helps me clean it up when it doesn't work out so well.

My daughter. Her beautiful, bright little smile shines a warm light into every corner of my heart. I can't begin to express how I am thankful for this little life God has trusted us to bring up under His guidance. Here are some pics I took this week, because what kind of mom would I be if I didn't post new pics every few days?!

She's big enough to play in this bouncer now, and she loves it.

Talking to the candle... which I think is funny
because she has lots of bright toys around her,
yet she is fascinated with the candle.

Friends. Have you ever had friends that you hang out with so much, you kinda forget that their house isn't your house? You get real comfortable and then remember that you have to go home. You don't have to get dressed up to hang out with them, and you see them at least 3 times per week. Those friends mean a lot to me. :)

My Family. They love and accept me no matter what. Nuff said.

Staying Home with Audrey. I get to spend time raising her myself instead of dropping her off at a daycare for 8+ hours per day. Not that I don't appreciate daycare workers!

Diet Mt. Dew. What would life be like without it? Thankfully I don't have to think about it.

The necessities of life. (Not the BEAR necessities of life... I heard you singing, don't try to hide it!) I have a comfy, warm (or cool) home, and a cushy bed (that is calling my name right now). Clear, clean water. Nutritious food to eat everyday, as well as the ability to feed my daughter all that she needs everyday. Many, many, many people around the world can't say they have the same. Then there are luxuries of life that I take for granted daily. Electricity. Indoor plumbing. Transportation. TV. Guitar Hero. Rita's. Okay so I'm kinda joking, but do you see how this could take years?!

I could go on for hours, but it's past 3am. This blog has been quite therapeutic for me... thanks for letting me share. Feel free to comment and let me know what you are thankful for at this very moment. You might be surprised at how many things start coming to mind once you get started!

Fun Weekends, and California Part 3

After a short day of resting from our trip to CA, we went up north with Dave & Katie, Zac & Jill to visit Katie's family. They have a beautiful home with lots of land and an above ground pool, which we all enjoyed. Dave, Eric and I beat Zac, Jill and Bud (Katie's Dad) in pool volleyball... not that it really matters, I'm just sayin. :p After spending time in the pool, the boys shot target rifles.


They set up a target and also used inanimate objects such as bottles, cans, rotten peaches, Gabby & Sasha... just kidding.



They asked if I wanted to shoot one of the rifles, and of course I had to try it. Eric assured me that it wasn't dangerous and there was hardly any recoil. I didn't do too bad for my first time ever shooting a gun! I hit a soda can 30-40 yards away.

The female sharp shooters got a picture together:

This is Katie's family's sweet old black Lab, Ebie. She is 16 years old and still kicking. She's selectively deaf, has really bad hip dysplasia, and can't see real well, but you would hardly know it. She's as sweet as a Georgia peach.


We made sure the doggies watched from an enclosed area, so that they wouldn't accidentally take part in target practice.

Sasha:

Gabby:

This is Molly's whiney face. She was whining here because Katie was giving Ebie attention, which of course in unacceptable. She cracks me up!


After the shooting fun was over, Bud made a fire in the fire pit out back, and we enjoyed yummy fry pies and s'mores. Zac dared someone to make a "suicide fry pie" and due to my constant need to be the center of attention, I accepted. What is a suicide fry pie, you ask? It is a hot sandwhich cooked over an open fire, consisting of a morsel of every item from the spread of ingredients on the table. This included various chips, pretzels, Hershey's milk chocolate, Reese's peanut butter cups, marshmallows, mozzarella cheese, meat spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and last but certainly not least, peanut butter and jam. It looked like this before I cooked it... I didn't take a picture of what it looked like after it was cooked, but it tasted disgusting. I took 3 bites as agreed, and I'm proud of it! Ew.


After that nastiness, I attempted 2 or 3 different times to make a normal fry pie, and burned every last one to a crisp. Katie helped me make a perfect one finally. Sigh. (My camera battery died after that last scrumptious picture, so I took the rest with my cell phone.)

Eric threw a round of corn hole, while
Dave told Molly to lay down for the 859th time. :)

Here are the last pics from California. Farah and I:

Audrey watching tv with aunt Kim!

Four generations: Great Grandma Porowski,
Grandma Porowski, me, and Audrey.

California Trip, Part 2

Audrey and my trip to So Cal is coming to a close. We have had a really fun and memorable time! However, we both miss Daddy very much, and I look forward to getting back into a normal daily routine. It is amazing how quite comfortable we get with the routines that shape our lives. We have spent this week visiting with old friends, swimming in the pool, and taking long, enjoyable walks. Here are pictures! Click for big versions. (I will add a picture of Farah and I later... I had an issue with my camera and I can't retrieve the pic until I get back to Ohio.)

Christine Williams made this beautiful quilt for Audrey. It was so nice to visit with Christine after not seeing her for many years!

Grandma Porowski getting some Audrey time in:

Mom at Starbucks!

We went for a long walk on Balboa Island on Tuesday night. I have always loved Balboa, and it was beautiful as always. If you've walked around the entire island, you've seen this statue of liberty on one of the private docks. We had to get a picture! Not sure what my hair is doing...

Here is the Tale of the Whale restaurant and the fun zone on Balboa Penninsula opposite the island. I wish I had a better camera!

We have a red eye flight home tonight. Hopefully Audrey will sleep right through! I'm signing off now to go swimming in the pool for the last time before finishing my packing. See you all back in Ohio!

Summer trip to California

We arrived early Wednesday morning after a smooth couple of flights from Ohio. I had no more than an hour and a half of sleep, so I slept on the plane out of sheer exhaustion. Audrey slept too, which made everything fairly easy. This was her first plane ride, and she did great!

Kim looks great after only 2 hours of sleep!

There were other of Audrey's firsts that followed shortly thereafter.
Among them, her first time in the pool:


And to the Pacific Ocean:

Despite how she may look in some of the pics,

she is quite happy and enjoying it all immensely.

On Friday night we went to the Orange County Fair, which was a blast. Audrey slept through most of it, despite lots of noise going on around her. That's my girl! :) We visited the livestock and animal area, which brought back a lot of memories for me. Little known fact about me: I was in 4-H for many years as a child. One of my main activities was raising and showing rabbits at the fair each year. Here is Dad following the rules...


This poor angora goat was a loving little guy who wanted attention.
Those horns were fascinating:


Kim and I rode the Skyride a few times.
It was cool to see the fair from up high.



At one point, giant apes attempted a hostile takeover:

And I hoped I wouldn't lose my flip flops.
That is something I'd do.


The Skyride was neat at night. I was excited about it, as you can see.
(Taken with my cell phone):



What exactly makes Australian battered potatoes... Australian!?


There was a tent dedicated solely to Rockband, where people would perform in front of the surrounding crowd. I thought it was a sweet idea. If Eric were there, he probably would have loved to try it!

We also saw the photos and paintings that Dad
had exhibited at the fair. They were very good.

I especially love the painting of the girl with the blue scarf.

We also watched an asian acrobatic team do stunts.
They were really good!

Audrey woke up shortly before we went home.
Such a happy little girl!

Kim, Mom and I after a fun time at the fair.


Audrey and her Grandpa Porowski!

To top off a great weekend, we went to beautiful Laguna Beach this afternoon:




There will be more pictures to come. After all, there are still 4 days left of our trip to Southern California! I miss Eric terribly and I can tell that Audrey does as well... hopefully we can make it that long! :)