Bill just told me that he bought us tickets to the Bjork concert on September 12th.

Let me repeat that. I'm going to see Bjork in concert!!!

I have always wanted to see her in concert. When I heard she was going on tour, I tracked it and found out she was performing in Chicago. I considered going to Chicago to stay with my brother and go to the concert, but it was right before our trip to Iceland and timing and money didn't work out. They just announced last week that she's added on a few more locations on her tour, including.... Atlanta! Even better is that she'll be performing at Fox Theater, one of my favorite venues in Atlanta. Twinkling stars on the ceiling and Bjork. Who could ask for more?

My love for Bjork is more than pure appreciation of her music. Her album Homogenic got me through some really difficult times in my life and the lyrics contain so much meaning for me. Here's a video of her talking about her process of developing her latest album, Volta

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When Bill told me, I exclaimed "This is the best year ever!" And it's true. Of my list of 43 things, I've already crossed off 4 of them just this year. It's amazing and I'm not sure what I've done to deserve it but I really do have the best husband in the world (regardless of what I may say when we're arguing.) Now if I can only return the generosity and really make this the best year for him as well.

Air.

Air.

I had a garage sale this past weekend. I made about $270 -- my goal was $200 so I think I did pretty well in the end. I finally decided that I needed to get rid of all the baby stuff I've been keeping in storage in our shed. Other than loaning some things to friends, I hadn't really gotten rid of ANY baby stuff. I had about 9 gigantic Rubbermaid bins full of just clothing, size newborn to 3T. No kidding. Bill's family has 12 grandchildren, and only 4 of them are girls. Our two girls have always gotten lots of girly clothing for birthdays and holidays.

Preparing for the sale was a lot of work, but luckily I already had the clothes sorted by size and on hangers. My goal was to get rid of almost everything, even if it meant underpricing some items. I usually donate old clothing of mine to Goodwill or the American Kidney Fund, so I thought at least I'd try to make some money from all these clothes. All kids clothing for $1. Complete outfits (with hat, booties, jacket, etc.) for $2. All pairs of shoes for $1. You get the idea. I had a few big ticket items too. Pack n' Play (went within the first hour), portable swing, stroller, carseat, and a little ride-on toy for toddlers.

Seriously, if you're having a garage sale, throw in a few kids items and advertise that you're having a baby and kids sale. You'll be amazed at the response.

Preparing everything was painful. REALLY painful. Each outfit had a memory attached. It was so hard to part with it all, but I kept telling myself that other people would be able to use them and that I'd be raising money for something that the girls would actually use right now. (I'm considering getting a swing set for the backyard.)

My sister is a newlywed and plans on having kids someday, but I didn't want to keep everything in storage for the next five years, and she doesn't have the space for it either. I am keeping my crib for her, though. It's practically new. (Maddie slept with us at first, and then only slept in the crib for a short while before we moved her to her "big girl bed" when Josie came along. Josie slept in her Pack n' Play almost exclusively. She wasn't a fan of the crib at all.)

I advertised on Craigslist and about 6 other free garage sale classified sites. I had people already waiting as I was setting up things on Friday. From there on, I didn't even have a chance to sit down. There was never a moment during the whole 4 hours that someone wasn't there. Success! Ka-Ching! I'd heard that Saturday was even more popular so I was excited about the prospects for the next day. Unfortunately, Saturday was pretty ho-hum. There wasn't even half the traffic that there had been on Friday. Someone told me they had experienced the same and that most people they knew didn't even bother to have a sale on the weekend at all. Hmm. I wish I'd known that sooner. I'd have held the sale on Thursday instead of Saturday.

I got rid of almost everything. I still have the stroller and carseat, which I'll be able to easily sell on Craigslist. I have quite a few clothes left over, but someone has already called and is interested in purchasing all of them for a set price. We'll see if she actually follows through and picks them up.

In all, I think it was a very successful sale. I was very very lucky that Bill took the girls to work with him on Friday, and that my mom and sister came to help on Saturday. The girls had a little lemonade stand and proved themselves to be quite the entrepreneurs going right up to customers to ask if they would like some lemonade. I was so proud of them. They used their profits today to go and pick out a toy at the toy store.

<...queue the annoying toy music in the background>

July's theme is Elements: Water. Air. Earth. Fire.

I'm an air sign, but I think that refers more to my state of mind rather than my actual oneness with an element. I feel much more at ease on the ground. I'm the Earth element.

I like to swim and I love being near water. Right on the edge. But still on land. I'm not afraid of water, but I love watching it from afar.

I love the smell of the Earth. I was totally blown away the first time I smelled this. I aspire to be a better gardener than I am. I want to be able to nurture and protect and grow plants the same way that I do with my offspring.

Fire is nice. Fire is warm and glowing, but... let's be honest. My stepdad was fire investigator and former fireman when I was growing up. We had so many fire prevention speeches that it isn't even funny. I wasn't even allowed to touch a lighter or matches until I was 13 years old. I'm SERIOUS. I don't know what I would have done had I been a pre-adolescent smoker. Before we left the house, we'd have to do a sweep to make sure everything was unplugged, the washer and dryer were turned off, automatic coffeemaker was unplugged, no magnifying glasses near the window... you get the idea. So fire is beautiful to me, and I especially love candles (but only under supervision!) but I don't feel the oneness with fire that I do with the earth.

I'd say that my spirituality is tied more closely with the Earth than anything else. Energy can be neither created nor destroyed is my reasoning for belief in a type of reincarnation. When I die, there are explicit instructions for my body to feed the tree.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is
The Earth laughs in flowers.

I get a little fuzzy feeling deep inside whenever I see a flower.

More self-portraits can be seen here.

This month's interview is with Heather from Five Sweetpeas. I first came across Heather's blog through Self-Portrait Challenge. I'd followed the link from one of her pictures and found her site, and the first thing that caught my attention was her original site design. I was still in the early stages of designing mine and I really liked the way she had hers arranged. That was back when her site was called Four Sweetpeas. (Since then, they've had an additional sweetpea.) I love reading about what Heather's little family is up to each day -- what fun things she's doing with her kids, what it's like having three children, how beautiful it is where they live. Like so many other friends I've made through blogging, she seems like someone I would enjoy spending time with in person.

Why did you start your blog?
I started my blog for fun, to be creative, and keep a little journal for myself and family. I found blogging through an article in Domino magazine. They highlighted the blogs Super Eggplant and Chocolate and Zucchini and I was hooked on blogs. My sister Heidi started one up a few months later and I followed her lead and created Four Sweetpeas, which of course gave birth (ha ha) to Five Sweetpeas a year or so later.

What's your favorite thing about blogging? Least favorite?
My favorite thing about blogging is that I get to stop and document a small part of my life, highlight it and make it special, even if at first glance it's just ordinary. I love all the creativity I come across reading so many other blogs. Least favorite? When I write out a post, reread it, spell check it, love it, and then go back the next day and see about 5 things I spelled wrong. Like tree instead of three or something like that. It's a wonder you can understand what I write at all.

How has your blog inspired you?
My blog is basically about my family and they are what inspires me most. Writing about them makes me want to be a more patient mom, and a more lighthearted wife to John.

What are your favorite blogs to read?
They are all on my side bar, I read those everyday.

Describe your typical day.
Here is the list written on or the chalkboard in our kitchen, we pretty much stick to it everyday, but not so much in this order.
- Breakfast
- get dressed
- make bed/ clean room
- feed cat
- bible
- Laundry
- dishes
-craft
- stories
-water garden
- lunch
- rest time
pick up house
The kids and I do all of those together, throw in a walk and a movie around 5 so I can make dinner in peace and that is pretty much our day.

I try not to talk too much about the girls on here (ok, who am I kidding?), but there is some adorable cuteness I just have to share.

First, Josie demonstrates her modeling poses. She started doing these poses on her own one day so we gave them a name. She now does them on command. Blue Steel is my favorite.

Next, we've got some video from Maddie's ballet recital in May. My little ballerina was so proud of herself. I love watching her little feet run and jump in double-time.

Sometimes I'm just so overcome with emotion and love for them. Unfortunately, it's usually once I'm away from them for a few minutes. That sounds awful, but I need to be able to stand back and look at them and appreciate them and take all their lovable cuteness in and then return to them to fully appreciate who they are.

For instance, right now they're fast asleep but, after watching these videos, it's all I can do not to sneak into their room right now and cuddle up with them and cover their little chubby cheeks with kisses. You know how movies always show the parents staring at their kids in bed at night? It always seemed a little spooky to me until now. Now I appreciate the beauty that comes when they're asleep and holding onto their baby dolls and breathing sweet little breaths and I close my eyes and smell them and take in their scent -- each one has her own and I'm positive I could identify them with my eyes closed -- and see them as they were when they were babies; only now they have longer arms and legs and slightly less pudgy bellies, but they still sleep breathing through their slightly parted lips, making little pouty motions as they dream. I pull their blankets over them, knowing full well that they'll be kicked off before I even leave the room.

Taking my cue from ANP, I'm doing lists of links rather than individual posts about what captures my fancy. Read and enjoy.

Goodbye, Oil. Hello, Mother Earth
Scientists have discovered a way to make plastics and fuel from glucose. They're already making water bottles from corn.

Little Capers
Maddie and Josie already have Batman and Superman pajamas with velcro-attached capes, but they could wear these every day!

Clogged Drain
Genius! Add this to the category of "wish I'd thought of that." We need one of these for our house.

Will Danger Robinson
I've always been intrigued by names and how trends influence them -- in the same way that my 6th grade school project tracked how events in the 20th century affected fashion in each decade. I'm fascinated by this blog and the plotting of statistics. "Danger" reminds me of a girl I knew in high school. Her middle name was the city in which she had been conceived. She chose to use that as her first name, but otherwise no one would have known.

Darwin fights back
Take that, Creationists! You've got to do something to react to things like this (yes, I live in Cobb County, GA). Anyway, wouldn't these be more appropriate?

It's a small world
Check out the photos by my Icelandic friend Gunna. We met through Flickr by odd circumstances (well before I even dreamt that I'd be visiting Iceland). She's a flight attendant for Icelandair, so there was even talk that she'd be on our flight to Iceland or back. Unfortunately, she was on vacation those days, but it would have been great to meet her in person. She was a great help when Bill and I were deciding exactly where we should tour while we were on the island.

Idle time: a thing of the past
Finally, someone who will deny that TV is evil evil evil. Obviously, I don't think that your kid should park in front of it for hours, but I watched a lot of TV as a kid too. A lot of the stuff I know today comes from what I saw. I learned my alphabet from Sesame Street -- not from flash cards my parents held in front of me. I became interested in science through much of what I saw on 321 Contact or Schoolhouse Rock. I still remember some segments of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood that made me appreciate the kind of arts that the rest of my family just couldn't understand (this video that made me fall in love with modern dance.) I find myself starting to fall into the trap of scheduling too much for the girls, but then I look at their "quiet time" during the afternoons when they have to play quietly in their room for an hour (because they don't take naps and we all need down-time). The girls use that hour playing with one another, making up games (today, they asked me to put ponytail holders on the back of their shirts to make "puppy dog tails") giggling, looking at books (and "reading" from memory). It's not so bad after all to just let your kids play without interruption, to have free time, to just hang out. It's like a sleeping baby: you don't wake it. And you don't disturb two kids playing quietly by themselves.

If this doesn't bring a smile to your face, I'm just not sure what will. NSFW, but check it out as soon as you can. You'll never look at Teletubbies the same way again.

Check out pushthepulldoor for the response.

I love love love this. And I especially like that almost all of Ann Arbor has gotten in on the craze. I'm thinking this is just what our house needs. My friend Meg has already installed a beautiful fairy garden in her backyard. Bring on the fairies!

Article here.

There's even a book about the little doors.

This is what happens when you let them dress themselves.

- I've neglected the last few weeks, but I'm still grateful for so much.

- Finding a new playgroup. Up until last October, I had been in a playgroup since Maddie was 3 months old. It was my lifesaver. I had no family and had just left my job at Make-A-Wish and I had no friends with kids. I was so alone. I joined the Moms Club and ended up meeting one of my best friends in the world. I was active in the group and even served on the board for 3 years. However, last fall I noticed that attending playgroup every week was starting to take a toll on me and the girls. Rather than being excited to go and talk and play, I'd stress out that morning about what the girls would wear, what I would wear, whether I'd be on time, etc. I just didn't need it at that point. So I kind of dropped out and focused on time just between the girls and I, occasionally meeting up with my best friend and her kids. I was a much happier person, and my relationship with the girls improved. Recently, I met the mom of one of the girls in Maddie's class who is in a different playgroup. It's made up of moms from the entire county, as opposed to just my city. Also, one of the organizers of the group is someone who used to be in my previous playgroup but moved away. I decided to give the idea of a playgroup another chance. I went to an activity today at Chuck E Cheese and got a chance to meet a few of the moms. Everyone was really nice, the kids were all around Maddie and Josie's ages, the atmosphere was really relaxed, and I felt no stress at all. It's great because there are activities scheduled daily (park, puppet show, museum) and you can just show up at your leisure. In my previous playgroup, we met once a week at each other's house. Whenever the day came around for everyone to visit my house, I'd have anxiety all week about cleaning it up and making it presentable. Again, more stress than is needed for a playdate. It's early, but I think I've found a good mix. The girls and I will get a chance to get out again, to socialize a little more. I was starting to worry about their lack of interaction with other kids. They don't go to school, and they play really well together, but I think it's important for them to learn how to make relationships with other kids as well.

- Iceland. Beautiful country. If not for missing the girls so much, I might not have come home. I'm in awe of people who live right next door to such natural beauty. Do they take it for granted? Do they look out their windows each morning and gasp at the beauty before them, as I did each day in Iceland?

- Seeing the girls again after a week away from them. They always look and sound so much older to me after I haven't seen them for a while (even a day). It's so fun to hear their stories and what they've done while we're gone. I'm with them all the time, so hearing about something new that they've learned without me is so fun.

- The True Colors concert on June 28th. Our favorite babysitter, Tanya, came by again so Bill and I could go to the concert. We heard Dresden Dolls(eh), Debbie Harry (not bad), Erasure (completely awesome!), Cyndi Lauper (pretty good, but no Erasure), and commentary by Margaret Cho (somewhat funny). It was held at Chastain Amphitheater, so Bill and I got to bring our little picnic basket and tray tables and a nice bottle of wine. It was a nice night for the two of us.

- Coming home. Bill's friend, Ben, took care of our house and dogs while we were gone and he did such a great job. Our ride home on Monday was so long and we were so tired and couldn't wait to get home and crawl into bed (poor Bill still had work to do). Lucky for us, Ben had already changed the sheets on our bed, washed the dishes, and cleaned the house. It was way more than he should have done, but I am ever so thankful for being able to just collapse into bed once the girls were asleep.

- Free mulch? I put a question mark because I'm not sure we needed that much. Our city will deliver free leaf mulch to anyone who wants it. I called about getting some and they delivered it on Tuesday. It takes up the width of our driveway and then some, plus it's about 5 feet tall. No kidding. I spent the last couple of mornings (when it's not too hot) putting the mulch around our landscaping in the front yard and I haven't even made a dent in it. Once I put some in the backyard, I'm going to have to get creative about where to put the rest -- or call friends and have them come to get some as well. Want some?

- Summer hours. Bill's employer lets their employees out at 3pm on Fridays during the summer. I love the fact that our weekend starts early and we get to spend more time with him.

- And you?

It's officially Friday the 13th, so everyone please be safe. It's not that I firmly believe in this stuff, but it never hurts, right?

In other news, I'm completely infatuated with Etsy right now. I love original art, and supporting struggling artists and I've already started putting together my Christmas list this year. Sigh.

According to astrology, Mercury just came out of retrograde on the 10th. It's responsible for most mechanical and technical things wigging out, so this is supposed to be a good thing.

Why, then, are very sad things suddenly happening to friends of mine? Is there something happening in the stars now related to health and well-being?

My friends (and you know who you are), I know that you'll get through this and everything and everyone dear to you will be okay. I'm thinking of you.

There's so much I could write, and so many funny/interesting stories, but I'm not sure anyone has that long of attention span. If you've seen the photo set, then you've already read about some of our adventures. Here are a few more highlights of the trip:

- There was an incredible difference between the domestic terminals at JFK and the international ones. Holy cow. As soon as we entered the international terminal for Iceland, I felt immediately underdressed. Everything was just so beautiful and modern and clean.

- The Icelandair flight attendants are absolutely gorgeous. No exceptions. Seriously. Do they intentionally hire models?

A quick pic before I took the plunge. It was a dreary morning, but the water was niiiiiice.

- The Blue Lagoon was awesome. Here's a tip, though. Go first thing in the morning. We had the place to ourselves with about 4 other people. We got there at 7:30am. When we left around 11:30, there were tour buses parked outside and a line of people out the door waiting to get in. They had to open up the top level of locker rooms to accomodate everyone. I don't think I would have enjoyed it with that many people around in the water.

Svartifoss

- There are waterfalls EVERYWHERE. By the end of the trip, we'd casually look out the window and sigh, "there goes ANOTHER waterfall."

Click here to see the story behind this photo. Only me.

- All of our farmstay hosts were wonderful. Oddly enough, all of the guesthouse assistants were non-Icelanders. It's an opportunity for students from other countries to visit Iceland for the summer. We met girls from Norway, Finland, Sweden, and France.

- Icelandic is a breathy language. Our first host, Asrun, was trying to teach us to speak Icelandic. We couldn't pronounce them the right away until she told us to breathe some of the words, to say them as we were exhaling air. It makes the language sound so sexy.

- We met a few Americans there, and oddly enough we kept running into them because they were on the same path around the island as we were.

Official Icelandic food.

- We had a few problems finding things open in the evenings. We'd be hiking and not paying attention to time when we realized it was 10pm or so. It was still light out, so we didn't expect it, but everything was closed. We were able to persuade one cafe owner to let us get sandwiches before she locked up. Otherwise, we ended up having late dinners at the gas stations.

- The sun shone the entire time we were in the Eastern Fjords. I'd have loved to have stayed there longer.

- Reindeer burgers aren't that bad. Bill liked them, and I thought they were okay. They tasted like beef, but with lots of pepper.

- Make sure you fill up on gas before leaving Egillstadir and heading to Lake Myvatn. Just saying. There's nothing in between.

Hold your nose.

- Bring a head net to Lake Myvatn. Also, don't inhale too much of the sulfur gas. You'll regret it for days.

- It's very very difficult to find pay phones in Iceland. We needed to call in to our next farmhouse each morning, and we always had so much trouble finding a phone to use.

"Twinke twinkle little star..."

- Singing really does draw seals to you. We saw some pretty far out from the bay one night, but Bill sang "Twinkle Twinkle" and they actually came close to check us out. Not that close, but enough for us to make out their little faces.

Specials of the day at Prikid.

- I'd heard great reviews beforehand about Cafe Prikid in Reykjavik, and everyone was right. The food was awesome and relatively cheap.

- As is the case whenever we hike, we'd take a long hike down to a site, only to realize there was a road that led directly there. Oh well. We worked for our scenery!

- Nightlife really does begin at 1am in Reykjavik at the earliest, and no sooner. We finally went out at 12:30am on Friday night (Saturday morning), and the streets were completely empty. Things picked up around 1am and took off by 3am. All of the clubs were awesome, and the people are cool and beautiful. Bill and I danced a little at Kaffi Barinn, but mostly sat back and watched everyone. None of the clubs had a cover charge. I got hit on by a guy in a chicken suit, so that was my highlight of the night. Oh, and again, we were underdressed. We had packed mostly hiking clothes, so we weren't prepared enough for nightlife fashion. Everyone was drunk before they even hit the bars. Alcohol is expensive, so we'd read that people drink before they go out. It was so true. Even when we went out early, we already saw some guys stumbling in the streets, completely drunk.

The relationship just didn't work out.

- Horses hate me and I'm not so fond of them either. My toe is still hurting, Lisa! (Lisa was my horse).

- EVERY child was completely adorable. They were all dressed so adorably. If things hadn't been so expensive, I'd have bought tons of clothes for the girls. All the little girls in Reykjavik wore patterned tights with dresses and cute little knit hats and sweaters.

- We visited a mall in Reykjavik called Kringlan. The place was awesome, and it also had a grocery store inside. We walked around the store looking at various food items. At one point, we came around a corner and saw an entire refrigerated room up ahead. Instead of having refrigerated display cases, there's a whole room devoted to milk and other items that need to be cold. Bill suddenly said, "Wow, a refrigerated room!" A man standing near us literally stopped, turned to stare at us and gave us a puzzled look, as if to say "duh!" I shrugged and smiled. He huffed and walked away. It might not be so unique to other places, but it was new to us.

- Iceland makes two kinds of wine - moss wine and berry wine. On the suggestion of the store employee, we chose the berry wine. We haven't opened it yet, but I'll definitely write a review when we try it.

I'll just have to go back to get more.

- I fell in love with not only the Icelandic landscape and people, but also the skyr. I'm still having withdrawals.