Overwhelmed and Blessed

May 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Credit: Imgur.com

I’m sitting at the airport in Burbank, Calif., on my way home to Denver after a weekend in LA for my baby shower that was way too short. Pictures to come but I had to write about how overwhelmed I feel with all the blessings and love we’ve been shown over the past few days in anticipation of little sprout.

On Thursday my office threw a three-way baby shower for myself and two other colleagues who are expecting in May and July respectively. I received so many thoughtful gifts and warm wishes. My heart was filled to the brim.

Then yesterday, Saturday, my mom threw me a gorgeous baby shower attended by family, family friends and my dearest girlfriends. I was astonished by all the generosity, appreciative of the advice and grateful for the chance to connect with the women who have helped shape the person I am today, and I mom I hope to be.

I am not ready to go home to Denver and I wish I could ditch my flight and stay just a few more days. The life change ahead is becoming more real each day and the next time I come back to LA I won’t just be me. I’ll be a mom with little sprout in tow, introducing him or her to the entire family. It seems impossible to fathom. But I am bursting from excitement and anticipation.

We are so ridiculously loved, lucky and blessed. Family and friends are truly what make life so sweet.

Filed Under: Family, Pregnancy, Reflection Tagged With: , ,

Dove Real Beauty Sketches

April 18, 2013 By 1 Comment

Credit: Dove.us

I have a major crush on Dove. Not just their products (in my bathroom right now: Dove Cool Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner, Dove goFresh body wash and Dove Clinical Protection deodorant), but the brand itself. How can you not as a woman and in my case, a marketer?

Dove’s latest video inspired me and brought my already watery eyes (damn cold) to full tear-brimming capacity. Have you watched this yet?

Why are we (women) so incredibly hard on ourselves? Oh yes, that’s right. Magazine covers of airbrushed celebrities, Pinterest boards dedicated to washboard abs and “she lost 50 pounds six weeks after having a baby” headlines don’t help.

When I look in the mirror I see “flaws” that others may never notice, or gasp, could actually think are beautiful. I see years of battling acne and the dark marks lost fights have left behind. I see a chin that a doctor once wrote down could benefit from a “chin augmentation.” I see a nose that’s hard to ignore and a smile that despite full mouth braces as an adult with rubber bands, is still and will forever be crooked. Today I may embrace the growing belly that is home to our first child until July, but will I hug what is left behind weeks after delivery? How will I come to grips with the new place my hips and thighs end up? Time will tell I guess.

Please don’t mistake this as a post seeking comments about all of those flaws being in my head. I am not fishing for compliments of any kind. I merely want to start a dialogue about how hard it can be to celebrate your natural beauty, and to recognize that we are all gorgeous in our own way…inside and out. Be kind to yourself. If not everyday, at least start with once a week. That seems more than fair right?

P.S. This post is not sponsored. I pay full retail price for all of my Dove products and have never received samples. I was just inspired. 

Filed Under: Beauty, Reflection Tagged With: ,

We’re 20 (Weeks)

March 13, 2013 By 5 Comments

Surprise! The Anderson clan is expanding by one – due July 31, 2013!  I am 20 weeks pregnant (halfway!) and thrilled to finally share the big news here on my blog.

Girl or boy? What a great question…that we do not know the answer to. Mike and I have decided to wait until we meet our little sprout on delivery day. For those of you who know me personally this decision probably comes as a shock given my type-a planning tendencies. But this is such a special surprise and I am completely at peace with it being unknown.

We’ve waited 20 weeks to share the news for a few reasons. First the obligatory 12 weeks came and went, luckily without incident. Then I needed to share the happy news with my colleagues and all of my clients. That process naturally took a bit of time. When we could finally shout it from the rooftops, I decided that I wanted to get a perfect bill of health update at the 20-week ultrasound before saying anything. Thankfully, that appointment was Tuesday and all looks fantastic.

Starting tomorrow I am going to post some blogs I wrote earlier in the pregnancy, before I could share my experiences and thoughts publicly. I hope you enjoy a few days of looking back on it all.

What a journey it has been thus far. My heart swells and my eyes fill with tears when I think about meeting our little one. I cannot believe how much we already love our tiny sprout and how much I think about the mother I want to be. I am extremely grateful to be surrounded by incredible role models. I hope they don’t mind LOTS of calls and texts with new mom questions.

Welcome to a brand new and very exciting Lex & Learn chapter.

 

Filed Under: Family, Reflection Tagged With: ,

Happy 3rd Birthday Kona!

March 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Kona, you are our sweet, loud, mischievous and manipulating fur child. This morning while I was in the shower you apparently gave Mike your “lover boy” face as he calls it, and he granted your wish to be “tucked into bed” for some more rest time. Instead of kicking you out when I found you like this, I let you sleep for another 30 or 40 minutes while I got ready. Pathetic.

I am utterly amazed what we do for our dogs.

Kona, you give us grief but we couldn’t imagine our home without you. Happy 3rd birthday buddy!

Filed Under: Family, Reflection Tagged With: ,

Pin of the Week: Truth

February 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Source: etsy.com via Alexis on Pinterest

 

This picture says it all. Mike and I are both super busy at work and I have little motivation to clean past the bathroom. I cannot stand a dirty bathroom of any kind.

The basement facelift is moving forward but at a slow pace since Mike is tackling it solo at night and on weekends. I admire his after-hours DIY work ethic but wish some extra cash would magically appear in our saving account so we could just hire it all out. All of our furniture has been moved out of the TV room so the rest of the basement is a disaster. Our gigantic TV is now temporarily in our room and I swear I might have a seizure from how big/close the screen is to our bed.

I am keeping a smile on my face and not inviting anyone over to our house until this is done.

Please pardon our mess, my continued lack of blogging and a general absence from social media. For the first time in years, chronicling every moment on Facebook, the blog and Twitter is not top-of-mind.

Filed Under: DIY, Reflection Tagged With: , , ,

My Week In A Nutshell

January 17, 2013 By 1 Comment

Whew! Tomorrow is Friday? It doesn’t seem remotely possible. After one awesome week back on the blogging train I fell hopefully silent this week. Here are a few excuses…

  • Work was crazy and my mind was blank every night. I had no intelligent words left to share
  • The basement facelift, like all home projects, isn’t as cut and dry as I thought. We have to move furniture around to prepare for the drywall and texture work (which Mike will be doing to save money) and that has thrown our upstairs and downstairs into a non-organized tizzy
  • Our winter weekends are spent mainly in Breckenridge and I cannot motivate to open my computer up there. It’s such an escape from me and I love that. Plus the condo has cable and we become instantly mesmerized but any TV with more than four channels

I did manage to snap some Instagram pictures this week…

The gym was nearly non-existent for me so I tried to stay healthy by kicking the day off with some seriously green smoothies. Spinach, kale…the works. Kona also brought perspective this week. He and I played by ourselves in the FREEZING cold dog park during Saturday’s Bronco game. On Monday, like every Monday, he was “depressed” that the weekend was over and looked like he may cry as I walked out the door. I love that pup.

Tomorrow I am off for a mother/daughter weekend in Arizona at the incredible Miraval Spa & Resort. My computer is staying home but my DSLR camera and books, actual books, will be in tow. I am so excited to spend one-on-one time with my mom and enjoy some major relaxation, pampering and working out along the way. Maybe I’ll even try that cardio drumming class I’ve been eyeing on the schedule.

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Reflection Tagged With: , , ,

Gone Girl

January 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Credit: Amazon.com

I finished a book. It was a Christmas miracle! During my holiday break from work I made a promise to myself that I’d finish Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I had been reading a few pages each night on my iPad for months. Unless I am traveling, I rarely have motivation to read while at home. There are too many chores and projects to be done! Yes, I am Type-A to the core.

But up in Breckenridge, where my family has a condo, there is a lot of time for reading between skiing, sleeping and eating. It felt great to finally get the booked checked off my “to finish” list.

The verdict? I absolutely loved about 3/4 of it and got hooked just a few chapters in from the beginning. However, the ending annoyed me. I completely disagree with what the main character chooses to do and for a few days after finishing the book I was just plain mad about the conclusion.

Does that ever happen to you? What about my other Gone Girl readers out there…were you satisfied with the ending compared to the rest of the book?!

 

Filed Under: Reflection Tagged With: ,

Getting Personal

January 3, 2013 By 3 Comments

Technology is a wonderful thing. Take away my iPad or iPhone and you would probably find me curled up in a corner, gently rocking back and forth. Yet as I “unplugged” over the holidays (I use quotations because I didn’t post to Facebook or pin on Pinterest that often, but I still checked my email and all platforms more than a dozen times each day) I realized just how impersonal technology has made me in the last year or two. Friends that I consider my absolute best girls often get no more than a text from me rather than a good old fashioned catch-up call. Family members receive a “Happy Birthday!” comment on Facebook rather than a cute notecard that would take mere moments to sign and drop in the mail. I cannot remember the last time I sent a handwritten letter, just because.

Is the quickness of Facebook, Twitter and text worth the impersonal and unthoughtful sentiment of never picking up the phone or putting pen to paper to tell someone, “Hey, I really care about you and you are worth the extra time?”

No. At least, not any more for me.

Yesterday I shared my 2013 blog resolutions. Today, I share my pledge to be more thoughtful and personal toward the ones I love. It will take practice but technology has made me a more distant friend, daughter, cousin, niece and so on…and that is not okay with me. Starting this month, I want to stock up on plenty of cards and stationary so that I can recognize birthdays and milestones in a meaningful way, not just with the swipe of a few iPhone keys.

Paper Source is an amazing mecca for adorable cards that make me WANT to forgo technology for tradition. I’m currently eyeing these beauties and plan to place an order soon. I should also pop into a Papyrus this weekend.

Credit: Paper-Source.com

Credit: Paper-Source.com

Credit: Paper-Source.com

Credit: Paper-Source.com

Are there other stores or notecard/stationary designers that make you excited to ditch text for pen and paper? I’d love to learn about other shops and designers, especially ones local to Colorado, to support!

 

 

Filed Under: Reflection Tagged With: , ,

Grandma, You Are Missed This Christmas

December 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Grandma Lorraine. Christmas 1982

Tuesday will mark our family’s fourth Christmas without our sweet grandma Lorraine. Four holiday seasons, how can that be? I remember when the first Christmas after her passing felt impossible. “It will get easier” seemed like the stupidest and most insensitive phrase. But life keeps moving and it has gotten easier, and that fills me with guilt and relief all at the same time.

Her memory lives on all year long, but no time more than Christmas. She absolutely loved Christmas, but not for the presents or parties. She loved Christmas for the music and the lights. The eggnog and the brandy (and wine and champagne). The fruitcake and the endless sweets. The time with family, especially when it meant I traveled home from college.

She opened each present on Christmas morning like it was the first present she had ever received. Carefully, oh so carefully, she would open the paper while making sure to salvage bows, ribbon and tissue paper for the next year. Whether the gift was a wooden spoon or a fancy outfit, she would touch it over and over, exclaiming how perfect it was and how we spent too much money on her. If you tried to take her picture on Christmas morning you were always met with a “NO” exclamation and a hand that immediately went up to cover her face. Oh, and we often made her wear a Santa hat. She was a trooper.

Christmas traditions have changed a lot since she left us. Mike and I got married so holidays have been split back and forth between Los Angeles and Denver. None of us can stand fruitcake or regular Coca Cola so those treats are no longer purchased. I didn’t even buy eggnog this year and the house is brandy-less.

But if she could visit the home that Mike and I have made, one year after we closed in December 2011, she would “ooohh” and “aaahhh” over our tree, telling me how beautiful each and every ornament looks. She would love our holiday fireplace mantel and be so happy that Kona has his own stocking. She would make me buy eggnog and spike it to our liking, especially while watching Christmas choir specials on PBS. You see, she thought watching mass and choirs on PSB Christmas Eve excused her from midnight services. She preferred cozy bathrobes to holiday sweaters.

I miss her daily, but I expect Christmastime will always be the hardest. So I write this post in order to share my memories of this incredible lady with you, and to pass along the love and joy she simply radiated at Christmas. It was such a blessing.

Filed Under: Family, Reflection Tagged With: , , ,

Life Is Impossible To Understand

December 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

...Hope...

Local and national news reports on tragedies across the country seemingly every minute of every day. In Colorado, tears from our summer fires kept coming through Aurora and Jessica Ridgeway.

Then last Friday, six and seven year old children were gunned down – along with teachers – at Sandy Hook Elementary. It was unreal. Cruel. Disgusting. One of the saddest moments in our nation.

All week I’ve been torn on what to blog about. Recipes, clothes and decor feel so frivolous and selfish when 26 families are burying their loved ones the week before Christmas. I literally cannot imagine how anyone in that community can breathe right now.

Then tonight I found time to catch up on my favorite blogs, and cried again when I read that Emily and Nick of The Culinary Couple were directly impacted. Nick’s cousin was a brand new teacher at the school and lost her life. The pictures they shared with us readers are so special and personal. I again can’t stop thinking about the ripple effect of this shooting.

I wish I had more trust in our politicians to put party lines aside to find solutions, and I’m not just referring to gun control. It will take mental health reform, entertainment and video game industry reform, and so many more facets of research and reform that I will not pretend to understand.

Hope. Hope for a nation that comes together and says “NO MORE” to this senseless violence. Hope that the families in Sandy Hook find peace in their hearts.

That’s what I hold in my heart…hope, and faith.

Filed Under: Reflection Tagged With:
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