happy halloween. good night.

it was a crazy weekend around here, & this pretty much sums up the vibe in our house tonight.  i was away from the computer all weekend & now have 431 new blog posts to catch up on in my google reader... but it's not happening tonight.  tonight i am gonna go snag a couple more chocolate chip pumpkin cookies & pour a glass of milk, go curl up next to sam on the couch, & watch something spooky {& i'm gonna try not to think about how much sugar i took in this weekend.  oops.}

happy halloween & good night!




being away all weekend caused us to slip a bit in the rankings. show some halloween love & give us a vote!

let's get seasonal

today we're hanging out with family down in portland, so i thought i'd just quickly post a recap of the one festive thing we've done so far this year.  you see, i haven't really shown off too many festive pictures yet because well, we haven't done much of anything festive.  p-ray hasn't even been to the pumpkin patch this year... yeah, mommy fail.  oops.

thank goodness for good friends who call you up & say "hey, come carve pumpkins with us!" and when i'm all like, "we don't have pumpkins yet..." they're all like "that's ok, we have some for you"  and then i'm all like, "ok... are you sure?" and then they're all like, "yeah & by the way, we have egg nog & pumpkin pie too."  and i'm all like, "sold.  we're on our way."  end scene.  that's pretty much how it went down. 

so thank you heather for not letting me completely fail as a mother this year, & taking the only picture of my kid thus far with a pumpkin.  you rock. {all pictures in this post were taken by heather.  except for the one with her in it.  that was courtesy of isaiah.  thanks guys.}

don't you worry though.  today is scheduled to be a fun filled day of festive festivities involving cider mills, petting zoos, costumes, candy handing-out-ing, candy eating, & more picture taking than you can shake a stick at.  and believe you me, i can shake a stick at a lot of picture... taking.

i will redeem myself as a mother today.  oh yes, i will.



care to spare a couple clicks?  pretty sure that'd make you the coolest person in my book.  ever.  evvveerrrr.

flashback friday: wishin' i was fishin'

have i ever mentioned that sam is my best friend?  have i ever mentioned that we do everything together & he has never made me feel like i wasn't welcome along in any occasion?  hunting, fishing, sporting events, everything.  we do it together.

sam is going sturgeon fishing today in portland & it's the first time in five years that i'm not going.  i never even entertained the idea of going, although if i had said i wanted to, i'm sure i would have been welcome.  we have family in portland that probably would have been happy to watch parker {hi jodi!} or we would have found a way to bring him with us.  but the thought didn't really occur to me.

why would i want to go when i can spend the day doing some tax-free shopping in portland with my sister-in-law?  that's what i thought at first, anyways... until i started taking a trip down memory lane.

here are a few pictures from sturgeon fishing past.

2005


my first sturgeon fishing experience.  i was the only one on the boat {which consisted of me & three guys} who caught a keeper that day.  that beauty was 46.5" long.  but i really can't take credit.  my pole happened to catch the fish... all i did was reel it in.  i didn't even hook the bait {gross!}.

i was pretty dang proud, nonethless.

2007

we caught a few little guys this trip out.  the ones sam caught were too small to be keepers, but still pretty cool looking fish.  did you know sturgeons are closely related to sharks & have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies?  that makes the fillets bone-free & delicious.  true fact.  throw that little bomb of knowledge down next time you're trying to impress your friends.  go ahead. do it.

anyone else notice that sam is wearing the same hat & hoodie as in 2005?  coincidence?  i think not.  superstitious fisher?  yup.

{the fish i'm holding was the only keeper of the day, caught by my bro-in-law jason.  he's come up a time or two in the blog. he's nuts... in a good way}

2008

i can't remember if we caught any keepers on this trip.  what i do remember was being on the water at six am & watching the rising sun burn the morning steam off the river. oh yeah, & there's always donuts.

mmmm, donuts.

and then there was the nudist.  that's a story worth revisiting.  i promise.  read about here.  and then read here.  both are short posts & definitely worth checking out.  ya know, if you're into nudists & all. 

so yeah, we've had some memorable times on the river.  i'm still looking forward to my day of shopping tomorrow, but now i'm thinking i just might find a way to make it onto that boat next year.

to check out other flashbacks around the blogosphere, or to link up your own post, check out christopher & tia by clicking the badge above.  c'mon, do it!  it's like i always say, no one should blog on an island.  seriously, i'm always saying that.



you think you could find a way to vote for us? i'll give you a hint: click. click. it's that easy!

"breastfeeding is so convenient" ...really?

something you often hear when people find out you breastfeed your baby is, "oooh, isn't it wonderful? it's so convenient!"  i have now exclusively breastfed parker without supplementing for six months & one word i would not choose to describe my breastfeeding experience is "convenient."

i am very grateful that i've been able to nurse parker for this long.  i know i'm lucky to have been able to provide enough milk to fill those chubby cheeks & grow those pinch-able arm & leg rolls.  it's pretty cool to see my body produce something that my baby can live off of all on its own, but it has not been easy. it's been a battle.  a sometimes sleepless, sometimes painful, sometimes time consuming, & sometimes inconvenient battle.  there's nothing convenient about pulling your shirt up & fighting an awkward cover in a restaurant booth to quiet your crying child while simultaneously trying not to flash onlookers {trust me, there's always onlookers}.  there's nothing convenient about having to stop & nurse for twenty minutes when you are trying to dash out the door to get somewhere on time.  there's nothing convenient about being the only person who gets up with the baby in the middle of the night when he's hungry because, well, your husband just doesn't have the required equipment to take care of it.

and, when parker was about two months old, we got thrush.  oh. my. gawsh. the pain.  we dealt with that for two weeks & i nursed through blood, sweat, & tears.  literally.  that was not convenient.

and while going through all that, sam often asked me why i didn't just wean & start parker on formula.  to be honest, i really don't know.  i just always figured i would breastfeed, & so i did.  seriously.  i'm not someone who will side-eye a person when i hear your baby is formula fed... i really couldn't care less.  i hate that there is so much hostility between breast feeders & formula feeders & that you often hear arguments by one that it is better than the other.  everyone chooses what they do based on their own & their baby's best interests, their abilities, & their personal situations.  seriously none of my business.

for me, breast was best and i'm glad.  i'm glad that i was able to set a goal & achieve it.  i wasn't one of those people who just breezed through six months of nursing while loving every minute of it.  it was freaking hard.

but now that we've reached six months, the minimum amount of time i had hoped to exclusively nurse for, i am wondering... are we done?  after six months of hard, grueling nursing, and spending lots & lots of time thinking about how nice it would be to be able to just shake up a bottle & let p-ray go to town on his own while i continued to go about my day, i'm wondering... can i quit now?  and to be honest, i don't think i can.

for those fifteen minutes, five times a day... it's just parker & mom.  it's our time.  it's the time i hold my little boy in my arms, away from anyone else (usually), & we bond.  it's really amazing.  he still wraps his little hand around my thumb while he nurses & i still hold his little head in my hand.  i seriously get teary eyed just thinking about losing that time with him.

so yeah, the day will come when we'll wean.  someday i will totally & completely get my body back to myself one-hundred percent.  there will be a time when i won't have to lock myself in the nursing mothers room at work to pump two times a day for twenty minutes, or when i won't have to fight parker to keep a cover over us for decency's sake while nursing in public.  my life will become a little more convenient.  but i now realize that this inconvenience has been totally & completely worth it.  that it's just another one of those worthwhile sacrifices you make as a parent for the sake of your kid.

so, here's to a few more months of being pleasantly inconvenienced.


guess what is totally not inconvenient? voting for us. two clicks & you're done. wasn't that easy?

wordless wednesday... with a few words

this photo needs a caption, but i got nothin'.  what do you think is going on in that little noggin o' his?


i bet he's thinking about how much he loves him some top baby blog votes. yup.

six months

for real?  six months already?  i know, i know.  everyone says that... "oh my gosh, it goes so fast!"  well for me, it has & it hasn't.  those first few months felt like a few months.  but the days/weeks/months are really starting to whiz by now.  why?  because parker is getting f-u-n.  everyday he is becoming more & more like a little boy & less & less like a little tiny helpless/personality-less baby.

so here's my little boy, all growed up to six months.
{compare previous monthly pics here.}

parker started doing a crazy amount of new things this month.  the biggest milestone he mastered this month is rolling.  we knew that he should be rolling by now & realized we probably needed to give him less time in our arms, or in a bouncy chair, bumbo, or swing, & more time on the floor to work his mobility muscles.  needless to say, he figured it out and oh boy does he roll now.  he rolls & he rolls & he rolls.

now that he has mastered rolling, he tosses & turns in his sleep, & can often be found sleeping on his side with his little arm up over his head.  cutest. thing. ever.  he rolls with purpose.  see that toy across that blanket?  i think i'll scoot on over there & shove it in my mouth.  {i'm pretty sure that's what is going on in his head.}  he's definitely mobile.  he can turn his whole body around & drag himself from here to there.  he's sitting up pretty well, but sometimes doesn't really see the point, so he flops back down.  he thinks it's hilarious to be startled & cracks up while playing peekaboo, which surprises him every single time.  his favorite song is the abc's.  seriously.  you start singing him the abc's & he immediately gets the biggest grin, kicks his legs, & squeals.  no other song has this effect on him.  he really enjoys story time.  when he really gets into it, he will gasp when the page is turned & he gets to see a new picture.  he is so good at entertaining himself.  he loves being on the floor with a smorgasbord of his favorite toys.  he can self-entertain himself long enough for me to fold a load of laundry, pick up the house, or get ready for the day... as long as i'm in the same room {duh}.

when he's laid down on his changing pad, he immediately arches his back, twists his body, & reaches back over his head for toys that are on the dresser.  he also reaches for his feet & pulls off his socks if he has any on while laying there, too.  he's discovered his ears.  he likes pulling on them, sticking his fingers in them, & massaging them.  his feet are super ticklish & he giggles a ton when they're touched.  when nursing, he loves to reach up & run his fingers through my hair.  i will take this over his old favorite - hair pulling.  he just likes the feeling of hair running through his fingers, i guess.  i love it.  he's still sleeping pretty well.  he goes down about nine-thirty, usually sleeps to about six or so, nurses for fifteen minutes, then goes back to sleep until eight or nine.  this much sleep allows me to be a night owl & blog.  he's spent this whole month sleeping in his crib & it's glorious.  it's been super nice having him in his own room & having our room back.  no more tip-toeing around to get ready for bed, clean up my room, or get ready for the day.   

he's now wearing 9-12 month onsies, 6-12 month clothes, & size three diapers.  he has yet to be fed any formula or solids... that's happening this month (the solids, not the formula).  we don't know his weight or length yet since his six month check-up isn't for another week.  boo.

and he is still so dang cute.

love this kid.



all parker wants for his six month birthday is your vote. i can see it in his eyes... can't you?

meet amy wang + a photo challenge

here is today's piece of "no-mom talk monday" random bit of trivia.

wang is my nickname.  well, "amy wang" is my nickname.  the nickname was actually given to me by some of sam's friends from high school before we were even officially dating & it's stuck ever since.  sam calls me "amy wang", "wang", or "wang sue" at least two or three times a day.  we have friends that definitely call me "wang" more than "amy".  i won't go into too many boring details about the specifics of how this name came about, but it does involve me looking asian.  no, seriously.  i've been asked by at least four different people under different circumstances if i was part asian.  no, seriously.

in fact, the most notable time was when sam was visiting me at my parent's & he was playing basketball with a group of guys i had gone to high school with.  one of them, whom i didn't know very well, came up to me & said, "are you kim nishimoto's sister?"  i said, "kim nishimoto??  no!  she's japanese!!"

thus, the nickname.  but, for the record... i'm not asian.  and now you know.

if you feel like letting the world know a little more about you that doesn't involve your mom-hat, hit the badge above & link up with courtney's no mom-talk monday.

now for the paper mama's photo challenge
this week's challenge is "black & white."

meet dominoe.  best. dog. ever.  when we had to put dominoe down two years ago, i had had him as my dog longer in my life than not.  meaning, i got him as a puppy when i was twelve, & he lived to be thirteen.  thirteen years of my life were spent loving & caring for this guy.

he was my 4H dog for four years.  he went to college with me.  he was adopted by sam & came with me in my new home when i got married.  but then he got old, he got weak, & he got to where life was harder for him than it should have to be.  so we had to say goodbye.

this picture was taken about a month before we put dominoe down.  it's pretty obvious that right up to his last day, despite all his aches & pains, he was a super happy dog.  i still miss this guy.

but i figure, what better subject for a black & white photo than my favorite black & white spotted little guy?

if ya feel like playin' along with your own black & white photo, hit the badge above & link up!



if ya feel like showin' us a little love, hit the badge & vote. we love ya for it!

steppin' out saturday {& sunday} + bloggy mom meet-up

last sunday was my first time playing along with "steppin' out saturday" hosted by mandy over at harper's happenings & i had such a good time that i decided to get dressed up & step out not once, but twice this weekend.

last night i had my first bloggy mom blind date.  i got to meet some of my fave local bloggers & guess what? it wasn't weird at all.  it was a total blast.  it was like i already knew these girls! we all knew each others' faces, names, baby's daddies & of course, lots about each others' babies.

we had a really good time.  some tasty apps at rock bottom brewery & then froyo at ce fiore.  each girl is as genuinely sweet as she comes off in her blog & we all had lots to talk about.  there will definitely be a repeat.

{chelsey, me, brienne, mandy, melissa, jill, lindsey}

so since this is a "steppin' out" post we're supposed to talk clothes & outfit.  you can see mandy & i have the same great taste in mustard color sweaters from target.  go us!

amy

sweater - target

shirt - from local boutique downtown (it's not leather, despite the leathery look)

turquoise necklace - forever 21

jeans {saturday} - nordstrom

skirt {sunday} - ross

parker

onsie - carter's

polo - old navy

khakis - baby gap

shoes - old navy

here i am recycling last night's outfit today for church.  except this time i paired the top with a black skirt.  what?  don't tell me you've never done that.  worn the same outfit back to back with different groups of friends?  oh yeah, we've all done it.

to see other moms & their digs, check out harper's happenings by hitting the badge below.

i'm hoping for a dad's edition of steppin' out saturday next week.  i think the blog has been lacking in some testosterone lately so i'll do my best to get sam in front of the camera.  not his favorite place though so wish me luck.



wish us luck by voting to keep us in the top twenty-five! the view is beautiful from here.

"...is sore." a story about a mommy workout.

what? you don't ever think in facebook status update mode?  well i do.  and right now my inner-monologue facebook status update is this: "amy is sore."

i have complained pleasantly mentioned a few times how hard it's been to find a post-parker work out that works {read: i have time for/fits into my day/parker can be involved in}.  my favorite gym with my favorite classes doesn't have a daycare, my other gym {yes, i currently have two gym memberships} with a daycare is twenty minutes away & gets my kid sick every time we go, not to mention he's had a cold for two weeks now & wouldn't be allowed in the door anyway.  i occasionally manage to get out with my jogging stroller & run a few miles, but the closest enjoyable route is at least 20 minutes away & we all know the rain-free days here in the pacific northwest are numbered anyway.

have i made enough excuses yet?

yeah, i know there are a few other options... work out before or after sam is at work, work out at home, or ummm, not work out.  honestly, the only thing that's working for me right now is that last one.  and. it's. killing. me.

enter the reason i am sore today:  Stroller Strides.

oh yes, i have succumbed to that level of mommy-hood.  i laughed when i heard about it at first too.  a work out group that incorporates pushing your kid around in a stroller?  and then i thought about it & realized it was genius.  that is, if it worked.  i fancy myself a bit of an athlete, so i was skeptical at how this "mommy-group" would stack up.

nonetheless, i showed up at 9:30, jogging stroller in tow, parker all bundled up with sophie in hand, ready to see what it was all about.  slowly all the other moms started rolling into the parking lot & unloading their kids too.  there were about ten of us & many of them had more than one kid.  one girl even had three kids! ok, i was already impressed.

the moms were all super friendly despite clearly knowing each other well {at least on a we-work-out-together-a-few-times-a-week basis}, so I felt welcome right away.  probably cause they were all saying parker was cute, which is totally just a mommy thing to say - yet it wins me over every time.  seriously, you never get sick of hearing that.

once the work out started i felt a little silly, i'll be honest.  how seriously can you take yourself while doing bicep curls & singing the abc's?  or doing side shuffles to five little monkeys?  but here's the kicker.  parker looooved it.  he had a blast watching me skip around & do jumping jacks in front of his stroller & jumping squats that resulted in me popping below his cover to say "peek-a-boo!"  and then he fell asleep.  so that's cool.

i guess this might be what my life has come to.  a mommy work out group.  it's not exactly the high-intensity/sweat-dripping/muscles-quivering/instructor-yelling/music-pumping work out i've become accustomed to, but it was fun.  and it was social.

and i am sore.

will i get a membership? will i join the club?  will i pay $50/month to do something that i could do on my own (albeit, alone, unorganized, unscheduled & uninstructed)?  i'm not sure yet.  i have the weekend to sleep on it.

but i'm hoping i make my decision by next friday cuz that's kids-come-in-costume day.  and parker told me he really wants to show his halloween get-up to his new friends... so we'll see.

flashback friday: school days

a while back i found this little gem while going through a box from my parents house.  it's been hanging on our fridge for a while & has been the cause of many laughs among guests in our house.  it's ok, i can take it.  i fully embrace the awkward pre-teen years of my life.  that's why i'm sharing it with the blogosphere.

i will say that i think kindergarten through third grade was good to me.  i was a cute little kid, right? except for the fact that i felt the need to cut my bangs by myself the night before pictures every year.  my mom loved me for that one.  sorry mom.

we won't get into discussion about my fourth through sixth grade pictures.  although the word "dork" does come to mind.

i think sam was a pretty cute little kid too.  

for the record, he still makes this face.

of course he had his awkward pre-teen years too, but i'll spare him the posting of those pictures.  however, there's one word i can't keep in... that word is, "mullet."  ok, i've said too much.

for more flashbacks around the blogosphere or to link up your own flashback friday post, go to christopher & tia by hitting the badge below.

and to vote to keep us in the top twenty-five at top baby blogs, hit the badge below. i will love you forever & ever if you would. always & forever.
 

six month reflections of a mother

parker will be six months old on tuesday.  six. months. old.  half a year.  closer to a one year old than a newborn.  crazy talk.  and of course there have been many milestones, he has grown, & he's doing so many new things this month.  so yeah, there will be a six month update.  but this isn't that post.

i've been a mom now for six months.  i guess this is where i should insert a disclaimer that some people would argue you're a mom as soon as you're pregnant.  while it's true that when i was pregnant i felt love, worry, compassion, & cared for another person more than i had experienced up to that point in my life, the love that i felt for parker while he was in my tummy multiplied by amounts i could never have imagined the second he came out.  so this is that post that talks about my first six months of being a mom to an outside baby.

like just about every other first time mom i've ever talked to, there was nothing anyone could have said to prepare me for motherhood.  no word of advice, no story, no online forum, no amount of babysitting {which i really never did as a kid}, & no amount of book reading.  people told me it was hard, that there would be sleepless nights, & i might get the "baby blues" but that was ok, it's normal.  i shrugged those words off & thought, "eh, that won't happen to me."  plus, i knew sam would be home for four weeks of paternity leave so i thought i had it made. 

what part of "if you want to breastfeed you won't sleep any longer than a three hour block straight for a month" did i not understand?  well, apparently the whole part of it because that was a huge shock.  what part of "you really won't feel like yourself for at least two weeks after the birth because your hormones will be all over the place" did i think wouldn't affect me?  i realized real quick while crying on a daily basis just because it felt good that it definitely affected me.

i don't know how all the moms out there without their baby's daddy around for weeks after the birth do it.  having sam home was amazing.  those first four weeks he had home with us were so special & during that time he probably did more fathering than i did mothering, and he just let me recover & heal.

but yeah, at times those first couple months weren't easy, & by all standards, parker was an easy baby.  despite some relux issues, we were extremely lucky.  he wasn't colicky, he didn't cry just to hear himself cry, & he started sleeping for 7-8 hour stretches at about a month.  thank goodness.  you know how they say God only gives you what you can handle?  i guess he knows i'm a wimp, because he gave me a pretty easy baby.  i try to remember to thank Him daily for that. 

but i don't care what anyone says.  having a kid is an adjustment.  it's life changing.  but you know what it is?  it's life "bettering."  life doesn't end when you have kids, it just begins.  it's the beginning of learning how to love something more than you ever thought you could, & truly caring for someone else more than yourself.

and of course, i was naive about a lot of other things too.  i thought i would be able to keep my kid from ever having a snotty nose or a dirty face.  while i try to stay on top of it, i really had no idea how much a nose could truly run before parker had a cold.

i didn't think i'd be the mom that would stay awake through exhaustion just to watch her baby breathe in his sleep, but yeah, i still sometimes think that parker won't breathe unless i'm in the room.

i was pretty sure i would know if my kid wasn't cute.  what i didn't expect was to truly think i had the cutest kid to have ever been born.

i didn't think i could fall in love with sam all over again, or get butterflies while listening to him sing the abc's to quiet a crying baby.

i never knew what it was like to wish for more hours in a day, while simultaneously counting down for tomorrow to get here.

i didn't expect that having a baby would make me look at other people differently.  that i would look at that handicapped man struggling to walk down the sidewalk & get teary eyed hoping that people are nice to him, because that is someone's little boy.

i really could go on forever & ever.  i didn't even touch on the spit up in the hair, the yoga pants uniform, the struggle to find a work-out routine, & so many other cliche things i didn't think applied to me.

but one thing i know is that having a kid has been nothing like what i expected.  it's been better, it's been harder, it's been amazing.

i also didn't expect to care this passionately about your vote. i love me some votes.

look what i can do

lookout folks, p-ray's on the move.

if only my camera could keep up with him so he wasn't just a blur.  but actually, that's pretty much what he looks like while rolling.  the kid's wicked fast, yo.




it'll take you wicked fast to vote. two clicks, wham bam, errrr... you're done.

PIllow Pet giveaway - we have a winner folks

after seven days of blog commenting, following, facebook liking, twitter tweeting, & baby blog voting... we have a winner.  

so, without further ado, as picked by random.org & as witnessed by p-ray himself {live camera shot seen below. please ignore the fact that i'm wearing the same shirt as yesterday. oh c'mon, like you've never done it.}, the winner is.........................................................................................................................................

MARILYN!  

congrats marilyn.  i'm contacting you through e-mail to get your info for the Pillow Pets people.

thanks everyone for entering... your votes have boosted us to the front page of top baby blogs & we're currently ranked #15! how freaking cool is that, yeah?

i have two more giveaways lined up in the next few weeks & i'm super excited about it.  wanna know what they are?  ok, i can't keep a secret.  i'll give you a hint.  let's just say you might want to check out lily baby's etsy shop & weeds & wildflower's website to see what items tickle your fancy.  

ok, i've said too much.

in the meantime, your votes are still very much appreciated.  much love, muh friends.

wordless wednesday... with a few words

i think parker was a bit smitten by the homecoming princess.  yup.  prrrrreeeeettty sure he's blushing. 

little flirt.

***************************************************************

don't forget

today is the last day to get your entries in for the Pillow Pet giveaway.  i'm extending the deadline for entries til 6:00 pm pst today.  a winner will be posted tonight.

remember - a vote for us on top baby blogs is an entry for you.  but only if ya like us.



ok, even if you don't like us.  will you still vote? 

hair today, gone tomorrow - update

well, i did it. and i promise, i really did. i showed the before & after pictures to my sister this morning & she thought i may have just photoshopped it.  but no, i really am just that good at recreating a pose.

photoshop - schmotoshop.

here it is!

i'm not gonna lie, i dig it.  it's fun to mix things up.  i'll probably be itching to bleach it again in a few months, but for now i'm gonna rock the brunette thing.  AND, reap the savings of paying less than a third what i usually pay to have my hair done.  who knew?

seriously, i recommend it.  i used clairol nice'n'easy & i'm blown away by how glossy & shiny it left my hair.  you guys, i swear i'm not getting compensated for this in any way, it was just that dang good.

so after it was done, i wondered if parker would notice the difference & not recognize me with such a drastic change.  but nope, he's just like his dad.  barely could tell a difference.  haha, i kid, i kid.

however, he did want to do an impromptu photoshoot to show off his sweet throw-back sonics t-shirt.  who am i to say no?  click to enlarge.



hopefully you won't say no to a vote for us.  please please vote to keep us in the top 25! thanks ya'll.

hair today, gone tomorrow.

 i've talked before about how much i have been wanting {coveting} a nice camera.  like, here & here & here.  but anyone who has ever entertained the idea of buying a dslr knows there's a little more to it than just running out to your local one-stop shopping mart & picking one up.  it's smart to do a little research & figure out what one fits your needs, & how much you should invest in it.  because it's definitely an investment.

ok, what i'm getting at here in a very long drawn out way {let's not beat around the bush any longer, ok?} is that they're expensive.  right?  there, i've said it.  and sam & i just don't have the income that we used to since going from two full time incomes to one + my two-days-a-week income.  so i am pinching pennies.  pinching pennies where i can, & changing the way we're doing things around here.  this includes, planning meals much more efficiently, less weekend traveling, & spending less of my budgeted disposable income.

but oooooh, it will be worth it.

unless of course my plans for today go horribly wrong.  you see, i usually spend a ridiculous amount on getting my hair cut & colored.  i don't consider myself a high-maintenance type girl (what girl does?), but i do love a good hair job.  having a good cut & color can honestly put an extra little spring in your step, can it not?  but my hair costs are definitely an area where i could stand to benefit from some savings.  so, i am saving.  so much so, that my hair has grown way longer than it has been for years, & the horribly dark roots & gangly ends are evidence of that.

this weekend i took care of the length & nasty split ends problem & got a cheap trim at mastercuts.  no complaints there.

but here's where it gets scary.  i'm dying my hair myself tonight from out of a box.  what i usually pay almost $100 for, i am substituting with a $7 bottle of dye from fred meyer.

here's my "before" picture. 

and, i'm going darker.  back to my roots, folks.  at least for now.  it should be fun mixing it up, right? RIGHT?  i'm sure i'll be thanking myself when that beautiful nikon strap is hanging around my neck. 

"after" pictures should be posted tomorrow.  i'm hoping for the best.  wish me luck!

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