Making the Cut

Well, today was the day - I cut 8+ inches of my hair off to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths campaign. They use the hair to make wigs to give to women with cancer. I knew I'd cut my hair the day I found out my mom had cancer, but I had to wait for it to be long enough (and I wanted Melanie to take our picture in case short hair didn't suit me).

So here are the before pics:

and....







here.....







are...







the afters!

I have since gone running and taken a shower, so it will never be that well-styled again! I love how fast I can take a shower now -- it's crazy!

the wonderful melanie mauer

so maybe you've noticed the new picture of me and pete at the right. we were lucky enough to have a session last friday with melanie - the uber-talented photographer and my lovely employer. we ended up getting some great shots - here is one of my favorites:
i'm going get this one printed fairly large (16x26?) and we're going to hang it on the wall behind our bed -- we've lived in our house for 3 years now, but you wouldn't believe how bare the walls in our bedroom are -- i just couldn't find the right print - now i know i was waiting for this!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU melanie for the wonderful session, for teaching me that we can choose to be happy, and for teaching me how to 'act like a duck' and just let things roll of my back. i can't wait to see all the images we'll get through the years as you document our family.

First, it was my dad (circa 1983)

Then, it was my brother (last year)

Now, it's ME!!

I am the proud owner of a NEW 2008 Toyota Prius!! My first brand new new car!! The color is spectra blue mica - and I l.o.v.e. love it! (which is a good thing since I picked it from a tiny square in the catalog) The hybrid engine is pretty awesome - I haven't driven it too much - Pete drove home after dinner because I don't like driving after dark (I know, I know, old lady - but I have poor night vision!) The coolest part is the display screen in the middle that tells how many miles per gallon you're getting -- average is 48, but if you drive carefully, you can get 99.9 when coasting, etc. I'm also pretty excited about the automatic doors and windows, which tells you how far behind the times I have been car wise. I'll share more once I've got more experience with it -- I'm off to read the manual!

A sure sign of spring

Every year it always seems as if the grass will never grow back, then suddenly, as if overnight, the grass grows four inches and can't wait another moment to be cut. Saturday night was that night this year - Sunday the grass was suddenly SO long! So Pete fired up the mower (haven't found a push mower yet) and mowed the lawn for the first time of the year - I happily sat in the sun doing my Linguistics homework.
I love our yard this time of year - as the daffodils fade, the day lilies will come up, then the lilac bushes in the front yard will blossom, then the wisteria and azaleas in the back yard, and finally the lilies.

Since spring is here, I thought I should attend to my skin as well - we had a grand bathroom reorganizing, and my new rule for myself is no more 'potions and lotions' can be purchased until I've used up all of what I already have. Right now I'm going through this Origins microdermabrasion stuff I found in the back of the cabinet - it didn't have an expiration date, so I think I'm okay.
It makes my skin all red - but nice and soft!
(tune back in tonight - hopefully, HOPEFULLY I'll have another reason to post)

Cupcake Cuties!

Bakin' Our Mommas Proud...

Emily

Rachael

Laura

Emily and Rachael came over today and we watched all the cupcake segments featured on the Martha Stewart Show this week (don't you love DVR?) -- then we made Bakerella's cupcake pops. We had such a good time that we decided we should have a Cupcake Club and get together once a month specifically to try a new cupcake recipe -- Ben came over later and gave us our name and motto --we wanna get T-shirts made!
(be sure to check-out the cupcake collar on our official mascot, Hannah)

la-la boots!

my favorite little girl (melanie's daughter) has recently learned my name -- it makes me smile any time she's around and she says 'La-la'....well today I was wearing my black & white polka dotted rain boots (hello flooding in kentucky!) and as I left work melanie was bringing her downstairs from her nap -- i had made it outside to my car when melanie opened to the door to tell me audrey said, "La-la Boots!" -- how cute is that?!?!

check out the mmp blog every friday in april for green thoughts from a guest blogger (me!)