Renwick Gallery

I have been to see the Renwick Gallery three times this month.  Yes, three.  Heber really wanted to see it this last weekend, and who was I to disagree.

The gallery used to be filled with paintings.  I've been there several times over the years but it had this European gallery feel to it where there was paintings hung all over the walls low to high.  They reimagined the whole space and brought in nine contemporary artists to create pieces that would celebrate the beautiful architecture of the building.  It is stunning.  Everybody else in DC thought so too, it was pretty crowded.

There is something that really speaks to me about being in beautiful old buildings.  I love them.  When I was an intern on Capital Hill, my favorite part of my job was taking people in to tour the Capital building.  Those grand spaces speak to my soul.  I'm happy I live in a place with so many of these grand buildings.

I also love the idea of taking something completely simple and common place and transforming it into something incredible.  My favorite exhibit was one that was made with thread.  Thousands and thousands of threads came together to create a rainbow.  I think projects are the most beautiful when they are or can be impacted by light.  I think that's why I love glass so much, the light comes in and transforms it.  Light transformed the threads.

 

 

 

We realized that we were just a few minutes away from a Shake Shack and decided that would be a great lunch.  I'd only eaten at one once while I was visiting Chicago.  It was all delicious, although I don't think their shakes were all that groundbreaking.  The burgers and fries though, totally worth a trip. 

Life Lately in January

It is February!  We have made it past the dreaded January.   We've had too many snow days, I mean the whole city was shut down for a week.  

The month of love has begun and we've been hard at work making Valentine crafts.  Amy especially likes the heart stickers and Leo loves to paint.  They've been happily showing off their creations. 

 

Well, I've spent the past couple of weeks being sick, classic January, right.  I was really sick last week and actually went in to the doctor and had several tests run.  I was just starting to feel better and was hit with a sinus infection.  It's funny though, I'm usually sick in January (because it's January) and it really brings me down but I don't feel that sad about it this year.  Must be that Vitamin D I've been taking.  The kids have all been sick too, colds, and then Amy caught pink eye. The joys of January.  We are all healthy and well now. 

My glass studio is finished!  I moved most everything down last night and I am so excited.  I'll post more pictures when things are a little more put away.  I never dreamed I'd have a space in my house that I could do glass.  I can just picture all the beautiful things I am going to create there.  Heber spent a lot of hours framing, sheetrocking, putting lights in, painting.  It really is so nice.  You ought to come over to see it sometime. 

In the last month, Heber and I have been out on two dates.  I can't even believe it. We even arranged for a baby sitter to come.  Pretty momentus.  We went to Star Wars for the first. The second we had a throwback date to our old days.  We went to Red Lobster for dinner (channeling the old Sizzler in Logan) and then went bowling.  When we lived in Logan, there weren't many things to do on all those winter nights, you know, all 8 months of them.  Bowling was one thing we could do. 

Back in January, we took the kids to the National Zoo.  Amy is a real animal lover and we wanted to a special activity around her birthday.  She was beyond excited to be there.  Leo was cold.  I mean, it was cold for Virginia standards. 

I have been singing quite a bit lately.  Over the last month, I've sung three times.  It feels good to be back to singing.  And I got another calling and have begun to teach the Relief Society sisters every month.  It's a fun change. 

The kids have decided to sleep.  This month, we've have these things called evenings and full nights of sleep that we don't quite recognize but could really get used to. 

We made it through yet another January and I think it was, dare I say it, actually a good one.  It must be all that sleep I've been getting lately.   Whatever it is, I'll take it!  On to February!

Recording Defining Moments

This week I've been updating my defining moments book.  Do you have one of these too?  It's a book where I record the most significant experiences in my life.  It is filled with pictures that I love and with the experiences that have most deeply impacted me, the ones that made me who I am.

As the years pass by, I forget more and more.  The experiences that were so fresh on my mind five years ago are fading but there are things that I don't want to forget.  This is not a book for everyone in the world to read, I may be the only one who ever reads it but it is a reminder of where I have been and who I have been and the choices and experiences that make up who I am today.

I started by making a list of the most defining moments of my life (moments where things changed, or were important) and then wrote a paragraph or two about them.  There are a few experiences from my childhood (dancing!  Traveling), some from high school (like when I was an FCCLA State Officer or sang in the choir) to my early college years up to being a mom.  I gathered a picture or two to go along with the text and organized it into the book.

Taking a few moments to put it together means that I will never forget the impact that moment had.  The years may pass, but the memory won't fade away.  I am proud of where I have come from and what I have done in my life.  There are moments, and you all know we have them, where I forget me.  I get lost.  As a mom, life is so busy and full of other needs that it's difficult to take the time to remember and reflect.  I don't want to forget all of these experiences, they make up me.