Seven

Dave and I celebrate seven years of marriage today. To get rid of some of the bad juju created by the seven year itch mythology, a quick review of the more favorable qualities of seven is in order.

Seven it the number of stars in the Big Dipper and Orion.

Seven is the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory.

There are Seven Wonders of the ancient world, seven virtues, 7-11 and a seven day week.

There is the famed Seventh Inning Stretch.

George Costanza wanted to name his first born Seven.

There are Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Mickey Mantle's Jersey bore the lucky number seven.

In numerology, seven is the number of completeness and totality.

The US declared independence on the 7th month in 1776.

From the seven creative periods and seven lucky gods to seven heavens and the seven chakras, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and most Eastern religions revere seven as one of the most spiritual numbers.

The heptagon is a visual representation of seven.

We rest on the seventh day.

Today, I feel less like itching and more like stretching, or even just letting out an audible sigh, while thinking back on OUR auspicious seven.

Happy Mother's Day

A friend of mine, Caitlin Creer, is doing a give away on her design blog, which is amazing by the way. In order to get a shot at the give away, she asked everyone to write why you love being a mom and I shared this experience. Yesterday morning, shortly after Kennedy woke up, I was carrying her to the living room in a sleepy snuggle in my arms and I passed the bathroom mirror. I paused in the doorway to get a better glimpse of my daughter in my arms and despite the fact that I was still in my PJs, my hair was a crazy mess and I had no make-up on, our reflection took my breath away. I was spellbound for a moment by the intensity and beauty of mother-child love. I am so grateful that I have experienced it as a daughter first, and now a mother.

Change is in the air

The night we before we moved to our new house this is what I found in the sky. I stood in the middle of the street, holding Kennedy, and marveled how sometimes nature reflects my moods perfectly.

The next day we moved in and this is the first thing I put in place.

We love it. Every. Inch. Well maybe not every, but most of it. It has three bedrooms, two baths and is pretty petite (of course in comparison to a 900 square foot apartment in NY, it is palatial). But, it is perfectly situated and has a great yard that gets grass today. It is a Sante Fe style. I was always a fence sitter when it came to Sante Fe style homes, but they are perfectly matched with the desert. The yard is currently desert landscaped but with one too many run-ins with "the pokies" as Claire calls them we have pulled out a lot of the cacti (why do I feel so pretentious writing cacti?).

We had our own version of a barn raising this past month with a virtual army of friends and families who have pitched in more time and labor than I dare to count to make our new home feel like OUR HOME. I can't tell you how blessed I felt to have so many people come to our aid. My brothers, Ethan and Jared, and my mom came to help paint. My mom ended up staying a full week and sanded and painted my kitchen cabinets with me, in addition to painting all the trim. Dave's brother Brent, his sister Lindsey and her husband Riley, installed our wood floor, arguably the most pain staking job (Unless you talk to my mom and I would would give you a list of reasons why those cabinets took the cake. My hand cramped for weeks into the paintbrush grip.). All the while my mother-in-law babysat my munchkins. When she left, Shari and Mark took up the babysitting responsibilities for almost a month for my kids. Kennedy saw Shari so much that she took to calling her "Ma". My cousin, Nate, was on hand to assist in all design decision-making and gave us some great ideas. My neighbors spent a day packing with me, as did wonderful, Alysa. Even pregnant Noelle spent a very late night with me putting my headboard together. Not to mention, the little acts of service others chipped in that makes burdens lighter. The labor was above and beyond. Thank you, each of you.