{WB}H v.2.0

This post could alternately be titled, "Knock, Knock."

As in, Knock Knock; Who's there?; Orange; Orange who?; Orange you glad I didn't wear that flower necklace again? Har har. Happy Halloween! ;)

Wow. Another {wb}h post. This week might be a record for me in non-fickle post types.

{worn by} heidi

1.) (Very) Casual Friday and Hat Day. I didn't mean for this day to turn into an ad for the Gap Outlet. But I most definitely did not purchase all the outlet pieces in just one outlet stop. In fact, the white shirt story goes like this. My cousin and I were shopping at the KC outlet and she got the cutest green shirt. I loved it and was jealous that I didn't see it when we were there. A couple weeks later I was driving a group of students back from a school trip to TN. We made a QUICK stop at the Williamsburg gas station. I was positive I could run (literally- on my feet) to the gap outlet and be back to the van before all the students. I could, I did, and I was. And I still waited on them. In fact, I was so fast I had time to buy two shirts. Both the green and the white version. And they were $10 a piece at the time so it worked out in my favor to wait!

The Halloween bracelet I wear once a year. It's a gift from a parent of a former Formative Years kid (I think?).

2.) The grey sweater I bought in Texas when R&I were there in 2005. (Most of the clothes I wear are at least 4 years old- sorry about that). The other top- I'm pretty sure it's a pajama top.... You wont judge me though, right?

The necklace I made from kukui nuts from our Hawaii trip.

3.) R is loving the photographer job (thus the photo credits this week). I'm not comfortable on the other side of the camera but it helps me sympathize when I get back to my comfort zone. (Oh- you caught me blabbing off topic? Well there's nothing exciting about this outfit... the pieces are all really old)

Pirate Party

Mr. Maddman is 4. Well, he's been four for four weeks (or so) now. I'm just now going forth and posting his fourth birthday party fourtos. Well, four of them anyway.

What's that? You only see two? Well I guess I forgot the others. Oops.

fishing

Maddman is here tonight. We were pulling up some of his photos. I found this goodie.

I love these guys!

Tis the Season.... Vote For Me

Election Season that is!

Okay... it's been awhile since I ran for anything and was begging for votes (since 4th grade actually) but since it's election season, I figured you wouldn't mind one more politician begging for your vote. (What's that? You do mind and would like to smack me right now... well good thing there's a computer screen between us I guess!)

One of my favorite Southern Iowa treasures, the Harvest Barn, is having a contest. Harvest Barn friends uploaded their HB photos to facebook and the photo with the most votes (both in store this weekend and online throughout this next week) wins a HB gift card. I promise if I win the gift card that I'll use it to buy fudge and you can all come over to share it! :)

So go check out Harvest Barn and vote for your favorite* photo by clicking like (or if you are there this weekend- you can drop a pumpkin seed in for your favorite* photo and sample the praline fudge).

Happy Haunting... and Election Season! (And THANKS for the pity votes!) :)

*as long as your favorite is mine

{wb}h

I have been so inspired by snappy casual lately. I always drooled over Lisa's "What I Wore Wednesday" posts (she's definitely the inspiration behind me wanting to wear a dress/jeans combo every single day). But I never perfected the self-portrait through the (dirty) mirror shot. Then snappy casual started blogging her outfits and that was the push I needed to jump in. She also introduced me to Kendi- whom I'm sure would get my sarcasm when the rest of the world glares at me & would feel my pain when the coworkers dog on my latest wardrobe piece.

So.... anyway. Here's my first {worn by} heidi post. But I can't promise there will be a 2nd one. I'm fickle like that.

1.)

-flower pin- cbh ({created by} heidi, of course)- made/worn for Red Ribbon Week

-Old Navy shirt dress- $8!

-Gap Outlet shoes- $8!

-Express Jeans- (Buy one get one)

2.)

-flower necklace- cbh (yes, I wore it two days this week)

-gap stripe shirt- $10

-gap dress- too cute to wait for a sale (seriously, it was made for me)

-gap jeggins- dangerously close to the stirrup pants but super comfy!

-ugg boots- for sale- way too close to the 8th graders closet for comfort. (size 9 if you're interested) :)

Talk To Me

Okay. So I love the seven questions tag. I normally do not like that stuff. The email surveys people used to send out really bugged me.

But.

Maybe it was the questions (you know, what's your life verse vs. what's your favorite color).

Or maybe it's that my blogging friends are just really good at answering.

Either way. I'm loving the seven questions tag.

And truthfully- I wanted to tag more than 7. I wanted to tag Snappy Casual but figured Smith Family would. I wanted to tag Team Sullivan but figured Dillinger Family would. And I wanted to tag..... well you get the idea. I really wanted to tag 10 more but I'm a stickler for following the rules. Sometimes.

So that got me to thinking (you probably know from experience that these posts never turn out well... just stick with me) and I want to do a version of the 'Tell Me Tuesdays.' I'm going to steal questions from the amazing questions my tagees (oh shush, red squigglies) came up with- starting with the English teacher. And I'm tagging all y'all.

Ready?

(I don't care how you answer. Either in a blogpost and I'll add a link here or in the comments. Just play along! Got it, Feisty?)

We'll start with an easy one (you don't even have to talk about yourself... yet). ;)

TTMT#1:

What's your spouse's best quality?

I'll go first. ;)

(Okay... I said it was easy then I just deleted a paragraph about R. I didn't want to embarrass him so I'm changing my answer to.......)

R is funny. Humor is his way of dealing with life. He can laugh through anything and everything. You have to work really hard to be mad at or hurt by him because he makes it impossible for you to not laugh. Sometimes this irritates me. :) But I wouldn't have it any other way.

See? Easy! Your turn!!

Updated:

I'm going to have to start calling y'all out by name... feisty was on that quick. She set the bar high for everyone else. :)

Feisty
Smith Family

.blessed.
Twice Blessed

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

No, this post is not a movie review.

Yes, I'm aware that I've blogged multiple times today and that you've probably never heard of the aforementioned movie.

No, I don't think with the hint I'm going to give you that you'll be able to guess who it is.

Ready? Here's your hint:

Updated:

Okay.... here's another hint. This is his son:

Yes, those are G's books up above (but you can just call him Shawn Johnson). He asked R to pick them up from the library for him. He claims it was for PE but I'm not convinced.... ;)

2k10 or 09?

Today kind of feels like a flashback.... to 2009.

Last year at this time I was craving Pumpkin Spice Cake (I just pulled one out of the oven).

We had just finished up Race for the Cure (Jen just RAN it. I'm so proud of her!).

And ISU had just won a BIG game against Nebraska on the road (we just beat Texas in a BIG game on the road!!!).

Dont you just love fall??

UPDATED:

We saved a piece of pumpkin cake for ya! :)

PUMPKIN CAKE

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour cake pan.
Mix together (and set aside):
2 C. flour
3 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon

In large bowl, combine:
2 C. white sugar
1 1/4 C. vegetable oil

Blend in:
1 t. vanilla extract
2 C. canned pumpkin

Beat in one at a time:
4 eggs

Gradually beat in flour mixture

Stir in (optional):
1 C. chopped walnuts

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.


CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Beat together until creamed:
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened

Gradually beat in:
2 C. powdered sugar
Add:
2 t. vanilla

Add milk to thin. Pour over cooled cake.

Tag!

I was tagged by BP to answer the seven questions she gave me. Then I am to come up with seven questions and tag seven people to answer those questions.

These are BP's questions for me:
1. Do you exercise regularly? If so what kind of exercise do you do?
Not so much. I'm married to a PE teacher that workouts out enough for the both of us.... Does that count? Didn't think so... I walk, rollerblade, and ride bike when it's nice out. My husband drags me to the gym in the winter but I don't enjoy it one bit.

2. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
Panera! (But only because that's what I had last night- this answer could easily vary)

3. Do you use plastic, paper, or reusable/recyclable bags?
I'm married to the best husband in the world... he does our shopping and he gets plastic. (gasp, I know. But we reuse them all the time, does that help?)

4. What is the best book you've ever read?
The obvious answer is the Bible. But I'm going with 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. It's been on my mind lately because it's been a hot topic of conversation with my homeroom. It's not even a book I like but it's very thought provoking, especially if you work with teens.

5. What is your favorite drink?
Orange juice almost every morning. Hot carmel apple spice if I'm feeling lazy. Moscato if I'm feeling festive.

6. What's a website you go to every day?
facebook. {captured by} heidi. under the sycamore.

7. Do you have a favorite charity? What is it and why do you support them?
Compassion. My husband and I have a heart for kids. All kids.

Here are the seven questions I am asking.
1. Do you prefer email, texting, phone calls, or face to face interaction? Why?
2. What are your favorite blogs?
3. If you could go anywhere, where would you go and who would you take with you?
4. Have you and your husband created any traditions for your family? If so, what are they?
5. What's on the menu for your favorite meal? (Recipes optional....) :)
6. What is your favorite date night?
7. What's your goal right now?

Now I am tagging the following people: (and posting with their answers- will that guilt trip them into playing?) ;)

Finney Family
Clayberg Chronicles answers
.blessed. answers
Smith Family
twice blessed answers

silly cyclone
The Dillinger Family answers

A {cb}h Post.... for the D Family!

Okay... I don't normally do this... but this family's preview isn't scheduled to post until Monday and I couldn't make her (or Mary for that matter) wait until then to see her preview.... but I also didn't want to budge her up in the line. So to be fair (in a sneaky sort of way), I'm just showing her preview here. Until Monday. Then she'll be up on the main blog.

And by the off chance that a client reads the Hickstionary- and you were ahead of her in line and want to see your preview, I'll get yours ready for you too! Just let me know! :)

The D Family

In case you are like my husband (and I guess nearly all the rest of the population) and you don't get what the big deal is about blogging.... you probably don't get that this girl is a great friend of mine! Never-mind the fact that I didn't actually meet her until she showed up for family photos! :) It was soooooo much fun to meet this family (you know, in real life as opposed to the blog world), even though I already felt like I knew them when they showed up. I didn't plan it this way, but she was the last session of the evening that night so I got to chat her ear off forever before her husband finally got to take his family home.

And yes, I know, they're stinkin' adorable aren't they?! Thanks for coming up for photos! And thanks to Mairs for introducing us in the blog world! :)

Open Doors

He is good. He has opened doors for us that we didn't know existed. While I love the fall, I'm already looking forward to spring. And walking through some big doors.

Busy

We've been busy. And I keep thinking of blogposts in my head but never take the time to sit and post!
I've tried to do better at keeping the 365 updated sooner rather than later.... I still find I'm updating for several days at once.
R has still been working in the basement and eagerly (that's probably an understatement) counting down the days until basketball starts!
I had my weekend of mini-sessions. They were so fun! I got to connect with some blog friends that I was sure I already knew in real life! :) Now the massive editing process starts.... :)
We had surprise guests yesterday after church. They brought us lunch and we whipped together my 'in a pinch desert' for the guest's birthday!

We decided that nobody else ever does that. Brings us meals that is. Nobody else except their sister-in-law! They take really good care of us. We are definitely loved. Definitely loved and blessed!
Happy Monday!

hope

hope > despair

Saw this on a facebook status today (I think Compassion's but maybe Tom's?) and loved it.

And today I have hope.

I talked to my Dr. today. And the news wasn't good. It was something I had never imagined. But should have seen coming.

In case you aren't well versed in my health history (okay so everyone but maybe 3 of you), the short of it is that I have had symptoms of lots of autoimmune diseases. My health as been unpredictable at best for the last ten years. Most days it's easy to hide I manage to hide it. If we ever take our old computer to the computer dr... I could show you photos from the ER when I most obviously could not hide it. But I probably wouldn't.

Anyway.

So when this latest health issue came up- something that first became an issue about 8ish years ago, I should have but didn't assume autoimmune would play a factor.

So when my dr mentioned it today I, shouldn't have been but was very shocked.

But.

in a strange way it

gave

me

hope.

Relief that having more answers- though crappy ones at best (I say crappy because there's not much they do for autoimmune diseases), was still an answer.

It's hard to explain (hard enough to make me want to delete this mess of a thought) but each time God moves us closer to a door, though not ones we had ever imagined, it gives me peace.

It gives me hope.

(I know you're wishing I would have gone ahead and deleted this the last time I mentioned delete... but I'm not because I want to remember that on this day I felt hopeful.)

I Hear...

the marching band practicing.

the buzz of my little phone buzzing with words of encouragement.

the dishwasher, that my best friend started, running.

dakota snoozing.

mumford & sons playing in the background.

God telling me it's all gonna be okay.

It's The Little Things

It's the little things that I don't want to forget. The little things that make my 365 posts but don't make a blog post. The little things that aren't printed off and hung in a frame. The little things that no one else will probably ever mention again. But they're important to me. And I want to remember them. Like this- the facebook conversation between my 4 year old niece and the love of my life. And the way she smiled at me and squeezed my arm when she wanted to tell him that he was for a very special girl. How is it that a little girl so young can be so overflowing with love? That such a little thing is really such a big thing?