Life Is Beautiful

...Even in times of grief.  Here are some things that are making me smile, despite our recent loss.

A new picture for the photo wall... 

Pretty good, right?  

Not only do we have half a steer in our freezer, we also bought a grassfed lamb from Primal Pastures.  I LOVE lamb.  And I love how the butcher packaged the meat all old-fashioned-like with paper and string.

My herb/veggie garden is actually doing ok! Big surprise to me.  Growing our own herbs has definitely saved us a ton of money.  It's wonderful cutting a snip of this and that for each meal.  

Women's tea.  Makes me feel like I'm doing something good for my lady parts, as they've been through a lot the past few weeks.  Placebo effect? 

My precious friend Julie sent the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers.  1 1/2 weeks later, they are still blooming beautifully.  

Ok, this is the coolest toy we've ever bought.  They are called "river stones" and Sisi has found so many ways to play with them.  She pretends the carpet is the water and she has to hop across.  She also pretends they are linked trains and rides around with her friends. I have a feeling these will be a big hit at our next playdate, too.  These would be a rad Christmas gift!

Yes, she's wearing a dog collar.  Don't worry, we don't put a leash on her :)

Sisi is finally old enough to know that glue is for creating, not eating or pouring on furniture.  We have fun collecting stuff around the house for collages.  And then I throw them away.  I can't stand the clutter.  The old me would have saved every single one.

I love that it's December and sunny enough to craft outside.  

Although we started clearing out our office to prepare for the baby that we lost, we decided to keep the momentum going and finally moved our computers to the sunroom.  This Ikea kitchen island is the perfect standing desk, and Sisi can do art right next to me while I work.  It's fun working right next to Joe, like we're office buddies or something.

Sisi's "tail phase" has lasted for months now.  Shoe laces, ribbons, boas, lily grass- you name it, I've pinned it to her butt.  

I ordered this lovely banner from Joyful Joyful  because I knew it would be good for us to sit down and write out things we are thankful for, even through our tears.  The banner included those little leaf cutouts and clothespins exactly for that purpose.  

The old office is now Sisi's new room.  Soft yellow, Sisi's favorite color (probably because of her thing for ducks?)  When I was pregnant, I allowed myself to relax, sleep in, take it easy (as all pregnant women should!).  Now that I have my energy back, I decided to put it to good use and fix up our house.  I'm not a handy woman by any means, but I'm trying.  I patched up the drywall, hung a bunch of pictures, and painted two rooms in two days, all by myself. I'm super proud, even if I complained every second of the job.

I hope you're all finding things to smile about, too!