Where the Sidewalk Ends

Going along with the popular rhyming children's book Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, I feel that metaphorically in life, my "sidewalk" ended in Utah.

There are no sidewalks in Winston Salem.  It is a rarity to find one in a neighborhood and it is not a very walkable city... yet.

"Sidewalks" can drastically mean many different things in your life and can change according to location, age, or attitude.  

This is something you'd never see in Utah... A whole aisle full of wines with cheese pairings.  When I was taking this picture, I got asked which one I would recommend.  My answer: "Your guess is as good as mine."

When a "sidewalk" ends, we often wonder - where do we go now?  Do we turn around and try a different path?  Do we stand here and wait until a new sidewalk is added on? Or do we bypass the ended sidewalk and take a journey into the unknown... recognizing that the leap of faith may be scary - but what we can learn from it may be universally important in becoming a better person?

The bugs here are not only larger, but more abundant than any place that I've ever lived.  I think that the only time I'll be excited to see bugs is in the spring time when lightning bugs appear

As a part of moving, there are phenomenal opportunities and adversarial challenges which need to be overcome.  Moving here, I have noticed a lot of different things about North Carolina.  They aren't good things - or bad things - but "sidewalk" things that are different and have caught me off guard.  Often times they can be expressed negatively, only because we don't know how to adapt to them just quite yet.

Not only do you only get ONE license plate for your car, but I've seen several cars with place holders for business cards.  Ingenious idea, but I've been too timid to actually take one.

Coming to North Carolina, I've noticed a lot of things that are insanely different from anyplace that I've lived.  I experienced this in Warsaw also, but once I decided to embrace the differences - they became a part of me and I soon found myself longing for them when they were gone.  It makes me wonder what divergent things I will learn from living here in North Carolina.

The condensation on the windows each morning is unique to anyplace I've ever lived.  And if I could capture on film, I would - the mist in the fields as I drive Michal to work... it's just so mysterious and magical.  (PS - Don't I have such an awesome husband).

For me - I don't see moving from Utah as a good thing or a bad thing - but a "sidewalk" which took me someplace new to experience and learn new things... and hopefully along my walk here in North Carolina, I can be an asset to those that I run into.

My favorite road in all of Winston Salem.  It has a street light, and lanes, but turns into a field within 10 feet.  I wonder what will grow here in the future.

Making Baby Food

I was trying to be a domestic goddess and make all of Lily's baby food.  I was really great for about 2 weeks until the freezer became overloaded with baby food.  Now instead of making it daily, I make it on an as needed basis.

The only nightmare I ran into while making baby food was carrots!!!  I feel like there were carrots everywhere!  I bought a massive 10 pound organic bag at Costco, and used about a third of it... and Lily has had carrots almost every day for the last 2 weeks now.  I just can't get rid of it.

And it stains everything! And by everything - I mean everything.  All of Lily's clothes that she wears - it doesn't matter how many times we wash her neck - there are always carrots stains around the collar.  It has stained the bathtub.  My oversized t-shirts.  Even the carpet.  

And the worst part about it - I still have two thirds of a bag left!

Cauliflower and Broccoli were relatively painless - and I was able to make a lot!  I just wanted to let Lily experience foods that weren't necessarily made in regular baby food jars.

And, I'll tell you what, when you mix Broccoli with Bananas... well, let's just say that if Lily doesn't finish this combo when she eats - that her Mommy does instead because it is quite delicious!

Here are some other items that I have made for her:

- Pears

- Peaches

- Zucchini

- Red Peppers

- Avocado

And soon to come:

- Apples

- Plums

Showing off her Red Pepper slice to the camera.

The Zoo

A few weekends ago, my cousin Natalie invited us to join them for a zoo adventure.  By the time we made it to the zoo, we were only able to see the Africa side with them.  But we still loved it!  It was $12/person, but it was nice and cool and full of plenty of walking!  Michal didn't mind much for the animals, but he loved being able to get out and walk around due to our lack of sidewalks in Winston Salem. 

We saw...

... Hippos

... Monkeys

... Gorillas

(there was a baby gorilla so it was hard to get a good glimpse with the popularity of this cute itsy bitsy baby gorilla)

... Lions

... Elephants

Every time we saw elephants, Lily was more interested in getting Daddy's attention than in the elephant.

But we finally managed to get a decent photo of her looking at the camera with Mr. Elephant in the background.

... Giraffes

... and one little girl riding a monkey!

Even though Lily slept for half of the time, I think that she had fun getting out and seeing new things.

Lily's first Boyfriend

So... I was 17 when I got my first kiss. 

Lily wasn't even 17 months!  

She was 7... SEVEN!

 At first it was just joyful playing.  I touch you, you touch me.  I take away your toy, you take away mine.  And then it started to get quite physical.

This was in Relief Society, and even though Lily didn't mind all the attention that she got - it was quite a distraction for everyone in the room.  Their was this lady just whopping in the back, another was cackling, one was snorting.  I was crying, the other mother's stomach hurt from laughing.  The only person not amused: the teacher.

So it was just destiny when the missionaries asked me to go visiting with them and we got to visit this adorable little boy again.  

Lily didn't seem to mind either.

7 Months

My Chair was in a POD being shipped to NC when Lily turned six months old - so I splurged and got professional shots done.  Now we are back to the chair.  

On the left is her 5 month pictures - and - on the right her 7 month pictures.

She is growing up!  

And I am so excited to see what her next milestone will be.