{decorate your soul}

Ten on Tuesday

1. So much weighing on my heart lately... and look it's Tuesday. So boom. I'm posting. 

2. Are you up to date with current news events? They are breaking my heart. Breaking me down to tears, where I am lead to just pray for protection and miracles to be happening in Iraq, Israel, Sierra Leone, etc. This is a beautiful blog post that my friend shared today that I recommend reading.  Candace, the blogger, says so many things that my heart has been wrestling with this last week. I encourage you also to join in prayer for those affected by the heartbreaking situations around the world. 

3. I took three courses this summer for my masters. The way that you submit your final project is kind of tricky, and as it turns out, it did not upload correctly. Imagine this: Last Tuesday, I'm on the beach in sunny Florida when I receive a phone call from my professor to let me know that I didn't submit my final project and ohmygoodness, grades are DUE TOMORROW. So I received an incomplete until I could get back home on Sunday to try again. I was not successful until about 11PM last night.

4. Oh yes! We went on vacation to Florida last week. 12.5 hours in a car both ways is not ideal, but I certainly enjoyed my toes in the sand for a few days. My girls' little faces were blasted with sun and now Sarah is recovering with some peeling. On the final morning, realizing I hadn't had one picture of our entire family at the beach, we went down to the shore and a passerby offered to take a photo for us- but she wanted us to do this:

So silly!

5. I am running three races in September and I am praying my knee will hold up. I ran 7 miles yesterday, the longest I've run since June 2013 when I had a hip injury.  It has been SO NICE to run regularly, though. So nice. 

6. I keep trying to take the girls to the pool, but it's either too chilly, or too rainy, or we are busy. I feel like we just can't find a rhythm with that.

7. School starts in two weeks for the girls- I keep wondering where this summer went! They used to drag by when they were little.

8. Sarah tried out and was selected to join Show Choir for her new middle school this year. She is over-the- moon excited and is spending her days at camp this week. She loves it! So proud of her for stepping out and trying out for something she loves!

9. Costco is coming to our area this fall! You know how some people get excited for Trader Joe's and Ikeas? Our excitement is over Costco. We can't wait to buy their double-ply toilet paper on a regualr basis. :)

10. News of Robin Williams' death popped up on my CNN report yesterday. I was shocked, saddened, and generally upset by this news. Afterall, he's been a comedian and actor my entire life- actually, I have no memory without him in my growing up years. I am thankful for his talent that he shared and when I think about him, I decided we are all the better to be recipients of the smiles and laughter he helped create. And that's how I'll remember him. Thank you, Mr. Williams.

 

 

 

Sarah- Not the Shy One.

I've been participating in a daily photo challenge group since the beginning of December. Most days, I participate faithfully. Other days, well - there's life.

I told the girls I needed a candid emotion today for the photo challenge. Sarah  jumped in and said she would be my muse.

But Lauren wanted to do some candid shots. And Sarah wanted to do some candid shots. So I just kept snapping.

Frameworthy.

Ten Things About Sarah

1. You probably already know Sarah- she has introduced herself to you. Can you say outgoing?

2. She chose her red glasses and planned her outfits around her glasses for a week last spring.

3. She is a pet lover through and through. She cannot get through those SISCA commercials without tears.

4. She can cry at the drop of a hat. So that falls under, dramatic. 

5. Sarah is a thoughtful girl. Recently, she threw together an all fifth-grade thank you card for their DARE officer. 

5. I think she knows everyone on staff  at her elementary school.  See #1. 

7. She LOVES TO READ. She usually has a book or three to read. This week, she went on the library website to hold a few books. She asked if  I could pick them up and today when I stopped by "real quick,"  I had to juggle almost 30 books out the door. That Sarah, she gave me a chuckle and a shake of my head. That will teach me to leave my big bag at home.

8. She LOVES to bake. Recently, we have given her more freedom in the kitchen and she can bake a mean pan of brownies.

9. She is a good big sister. I always tell her that God made her very special, it's a big responsibility to be the oldest child. She's navigating it pretty well, I'd say.

10. This girl is curious. She likes to be int he know about the plans and schedules of everyone. She has always been like this and I've just learned to give her the "planned" itinerary so we can go along with our day. You gotta roll with it, right?

 

Second Annual Valentine's Day Party

I use the word "annual" loosely in the title up there since we may or may not host another party next year. But for this year, the girls wanted to host another Valentine's Day Party with a few friends. So we did. 

I personally LOVE all the ways we get to use the red and pink decor that is slammed into our face for the holiday. And the girls love the games and crafts. SO I just see a win-win all around.

I used a few Minite-to-Win-It games off of Pinterest the night before-- so quick and easy and the girls had a good time. 

Pin the kiss on the frog, ha! Don't laugh too heartily at that home drawn frog:

And my three sweet girls. This was a badly executed photo op, but they are still cute, so I'll keep it :)

And now it's March and I must take down those streamers! 

Screen Shots

I have found that one of my favorite things to do is take screen shots. I am looking at my desktop and noticed that the screen shots are now literring my desktop and it's time to clean house. Before I delete them, I thought I'd share some here that I've captured to either share with friends or humor myself.

1. A cartoon swiped from Pinterest since it was the year I graduated high school and I pretty much feel like this:

2. A Buttermilk Spice Cake recipe taken from an old newsletter from Maranatha's MOMS of All Seasons. We have started a very similar ministry here at our church in Ohio and while I was looking for good recipes, I spied this one and made it. Here's the problem- it has 32 ingredients (or 18, about the same) and was a double layer cake. When I tried to bake it last month for practice- I overbaked it and it was chewy.  But the idea of it is so good that I will likely revisit it.

3.  I have been apart of a photo challenge group the past two months and in my desire to check this list quickly, I've had to screen shot this plan in three places of my life. I *almost* kept up in January (it's a private group on FB so let me know if you want in) and have high hopes to plan better for February.

4. In the photography challenge, we've talked a little bit about proper exposure so I shared this exposure line when discussing the indicator line at (0):

I know that's a little YAWN you just did, but it makes sense in context, I promise.

5. My friend Kim made this super cute witch's hat door decoration for her front door around Halloween. I probably won't delete this as *I* have high hopes to adorn one to my front door this year!

6. A collection of district emails sent to let me know school was cancelled. This was all in the same week mind you... the day after the MLK holiday.

 

7. I spied this super cute "P" for two Purdue fans in my life. I forgot to send it to them in the fall... So Susan and Heather, this one's for you two sweet Boilermakers:

8. I like to taunt my Carol about her candy crushing habit:

9. (from my FB wall) I saw that the camo glitter slippers I've been crushing on at Tarzhay were on SALE for $9.98. And so I began digging through THREE CARTS to find a size 9. These carts were OVERflowing. Ridiculous amounts of slippers at my fingertips... At some point I wondered if someone was watching me on their video feed at how I was hunting, digging and placing said slippers on the ground and shelves and replacing them looking for ONE SIZE 9 in camo glitter. 

Nada.

So I settled on the cheetah ones that were my size and as I walked away, spying a 4th untouched cart, the saleslady says to me, "Oh those have to go in the back. They were marked down incorrectly. ALL FOUR CARTS!"

And now I am the laughingstock of Target video feed. SMH.

In a very fun twist of events, my friend Vicki was following my littel post there and wound up getting them at discount with her RED card and no shipping, WOOT! Feeling lucky to be connected to such sweet friends that care about my shoe obsession! Thank you, VIcki :)

10. A shot of our family that my mother-in-law took when she visited us in October... ah, sunny, warm days. I'm  not sure why this exists as a screen shot- but I think it just really makes me happy :)

 

A Moving List

I happened upon this list recently-- it's the one we made when we had to buckle down and get ready for our move from Edwards to Ohio. No lie, it was 5 weeks to the day that we got the word and then rolled out of California in the summer of 2012. Team Sincock!

Seasons of Hobbies

Once upon a time, Andy had a hobby: Running. He trained for a couple of marathons and earned some medals. In fact, he's the one that encouraged me to start running!

Then he got into cycling. He bought a fancy bicycle, complete with clipless road bike shoes and spandex outfit and rode his bike all over San Diego.

He lost some interest when World of Warcraft made its debut. He is a gamer and has gone through various computer games like Civilization, WOW, Star Wars and what's the current one? Oh yes, Forge of Empires.

Andy picked up a fancy Canon Rebel back in 2004 and became interested in photography. Guess what? I stole that one!

He decided to take on model helicopters at some point, but quickly lost interest when the wind picked up.

Andy also builds computers. Aside from his own that he has built, he has been hired by a couple others to do this on the side. True story. I have extra wires in our storage to prove it.

He got really into auto detailing at some point and went to a Meguiar's car detailing workshop. This was followed by cleaning, waxing, and detailing the cars on a regular basis. He even bought by brother a starter line of this car stuff.

Andy became interesed in woodworking about two years ago and made a side table for our patio. He bought a lot of cedar wood, too. But he doesn't have a woodshop, and it's too cold really to work outside most of the year here. Oh! I just found my Mother's Day gift from last year-- he made me a corn hole set!

While Andy loves to cook, he was gifted a fancy smoker on Father's Day a few years ago. This hobby benefits our entire family, especially when he cooks up a pork butt. MMmm. Also, he isn't "done" with this hobby- it's only on hold until Ohio defrosts.

Last spring, Andy delved into the world of trees by having a backyard affair with our Magic Forrest. He spent many hours out there with his nifty chainsaw and pick axe. The neighbors would stop in and chat with him as little by little less bark stood. This is winter in the Magic Forrest- sometimes Andy just likes to roam around there. Another hobby for him is just looking at trees.

My husband recently began brewing his own beer. He began this past fall with a starter kit like this and ended the year with about 60 bottles of beer in our bathtub for it to undergo its conditioning stage. He totally wins points for being weird and cool.

I'm not sure why all these hobbies in our 11 years of marriage should surprise me-- before we were hitched, Andy dabbled in backpacking, regularly went skydiving, and played volleyball 5 nights a week. 

What's a girl to do? At least he keeps life interesting with new adventures in  the mix. :)

Ten on Tuesday

1. Missed my turn off to go home. Wound up at the Greene for lunch. Divine intervention.
2. Showed off my dog on my phone at the commissary and it was returned with a 2 minute long video of the bagger's dog rolling around on the grass. Note to self: talk only about the weather with bagger's in the future.
3. What do you do when people are staring at you in public? It's weird, right? Avert eyes, avert eyes!
4. Had to troubleshoot an online class yesterday. Totally did it with three google searches- victory is mine!!
5. Oh yes, I mentioned an online class! Taking graduate courses for the next year to 1 1/2 years. Still waiting on the official admission letter, though. More on all of that soon.
6. I feel like I'm flying under the scope.
7. I painted my fingernails in Monday. It is my way to combat nibbling on them. Weird. But it works.
8. Two of my girls haven't seen Frozen yet and it's playing on base on Friday. To say I'm excited to see it again is a little bit of an understatement.
9. I accidentally painted a canvas for Valentine's decor that matches my dog's chevron collar. I guess I kind of really like it.
10. Sarah received her biography report back this week on Gabby Douglas. We put a timeline together for her project to get done without procrastinating to the last minute (yes, mom! I really did this) and it really helped her accomplish small goals. I'm so proud of her and her hard work and effort.
Note to self: tell her that..
Over and out. Happy Tuesday, folks.
Sent from my iPhone
P.S. I really typed this entire entry on my iPhone!

{joy}

 

Things that bring me JOY (Vol. 1):

- Letters in the mail

-When my toes have reached perfect coziness + warmth

-Coffee dates withfriends

-When I cna't get enough of a book and I just want to read!

-SInging worship songs

-My giraffe print blanket

-Laughing

-Making other people laugh

-Blessing someone with a random act of kindness

-New boots on cold, dry fays

-Capturing backlight perfectly

-New York City

-A good, solid run

-Playing card games with my girls

Ten on Tuesday

1. OOh, I think there is a tingle in my fingers as I approach the first Ten on Tuesday of the new year. My heart is happy to be here.

2. I forgot how much fun it is to have blogging friends! I have rejoined some of my old suziebeezieland blogging friends for a fun challenge in 2014 called List With Friends to document our life and adventures in list form this year. Challenge accepted. Thanks to Elizabeth for bringing us together again!

3. It has been really chilly in these parts the past few days. Now don't go rolling your eyes and say, "Geez, Susie, it's Ohio-- IN the WINTER!" I KNOW that, but truth be told, it's not usally THIS cold, like negative temps. with wind chills that can cause frostbite. So yea, it's kind of C-O-L-D.

4. It has been SO cold, that school districts in the area thought it safer to leave the kids at home rather than resume school after the holiday break. In short, the girls are on their 18th day of no-school today.

5. How are we spending our time, you ask? I'm a huge fan of playing card games (luckily, so are the girls!), we bought new batteries for the Wii, making cards, avoiding laundry, reading great books, writing stories, eating Andy's amazing meals, planking, treadmilling it, some crafting, blading at the skating rink, and watching movies from the 90s.

6. I have about 92% of Christmas taken down and tucked away for the season. That last 8% requires some creative packing for some round ornaments. I feel lazy about the whole mess.

7. We did not send out Christmas cards in December and I was planning a nice snowy day family picture in January, but that hasn't happened yet. So... maybe Valentine's Day cards from the Sincocks?

8. I love brand new packs of writing cards. And I'm a little bit of a hoarder with them.  Anyone want a card? I'll send you a snail mail note!

9. My first cold weather gloves from 2002 are about to tank this season. This is depressing and happiness all in one- I might be able to buy a pair that have those really cool conductive finger tips to use with my smartphone!

10. Each of the girls are involved with Girl Scouts this year which means that as of this Friday, I will have three (count them: 3!)  daughters selling GS cookies. I'm not very excited and they are OVER the moon. Of course.

And with that, happy Tuesday! Stay warm!

 

Dogs are Entertaining

Sometimes Beau will just catch us off guard and do funny things like lay on pillows that belong on sofas and we laugh and then we grab a camera and capture this nonsense.

We are learning that having a dog means having some free entertainment. 

Here's what you don't know about this photo:

First, we had to move the laundry basket out from behind him so we could keep our lack of laundry abilities secret from the world wide web.

Second, there was also a fleece blanket in the shot that didn't match this pillow that he was plopped on. It had to be removed. HAD to.

Third, the nice even lighting that appears in this photo was absent 12 seconds before it was taken. Andy had to run around and shut curtains and put his head over the sun that was squeaking in.

It's hard work to get a "natural" posed snapshot around here.

But, fourth, and most importantly, Beau set himself up in front of the warm fire like this.

And fifth, we have way too much time on our hands and this dog really wants to go OUTSIDE and play.

But he's learning from the rest of us that winter sort of brings a forced calm to life. And I guess since he can't complain, he simply finds a spot and curls up and makes us smile.

 

 

Highlights of 2013

1. I fell more in love with Instagram this past year. It's so easy to snap a shot with my iPhone, add a filter and share with family and friends. This is my all time favorite shot from last year, Lauren and I sledding:

2. The best thing we did in 2013 was bring home a puppy. Beau is a silver-grey Weimaraner and our family

is smitten with this guy. 

photo taken May 2013

3. Parties! Growth! Cakes! Ashleigh turned 8, Sarah turned 10 and Lauren turned 7 in 2013!

 

4. Book Club and Book Club socials took place once a month. I have been SO blessed with some of the greatest friends here in Ohio. Proof from the evening we went to Painting With a Twist in June:

5. This guy and I celebrated 11-years of marriage. Longest relationship ever.

photo courtesy J.J. Killins Photography

6. Visitors! My folks and Aunt Nancy came to visit us over Easter and my mother-in-law came to visit us in October. We manage pretty well without having a guest room!

7. I was able to travel a couple of times last year to visit dear friends. I met my Carol in Buffalo, NY in January and then flew home to celebrate the wedding of my dear friend Shannon.

In December, we drove to Philadelphia to celebebrate Christmas with Andy's Uncle Butch and Aunt Judi. I think we would have done more over the summer if we didn't have a puppy. There's always this year!

8. When I didn't have a hip injury, I really enjoyed running with friends in 2013. I did a couple of 10K pub runs and some 5Ks here and there with these great ladies. I cannot fully explain my love for running, but when I couldn't run for 4 months, I really missed it. 

9. We made some progress painting the interior of our home and have high hopes to finish it at some point this year. The official wall color, as we named it, is "Weimaraner greige."

To quote my friend Rachel, "Where's Beau? He's camouflaged!"

10. Christmas in Philadelphia is a highlight of 2013, as it is still fresh in my mind. Butch and Judi have a wonderful home built in 1900 and it includes a full-sized sleigh in their Virginia Room-- this is a favorite shot through the doorway.

Here's to new adventures and making new memories and friendships in 2014!

....

This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types.

 

Welcoming 2014.

Once upon a time, I started a little blog.
And I was very dedicated to documenting our life via blog format.
Then, life got busier, I guess. And I slowly wrote less and less on the blog.
But we have missed it. Sarah, my 10-year-old, loves reading the archives. LOVES it.
On this first day of a new year, I have a renewed hope of reestablishing
a relationship with my blog and the blogging community that I came to know and love.
Will you join me in welcoming 2014?

{share}

I am holding onto these photos for a special wall project, but I just can't keep them to myself, these images just make me smile. Matilda Jane has been a favorite clothing line for awhile, but I've never had access to a  Trunk Keeper until recently. I just love how girly my daughters look- like little dolls. I'm hosting a Trunk Show in October to help showcase this gorgeous line of girl clothes and will be using some of these images to promote the party. Until then,  you'll have to wait for the invite ;)

 

 

Count Your Blessings

For a couple of months, we have known that we were going to begin Sarah in piano lessons this fall. A nice gal from our church offers lessons in her home and she came highly recommended. It seemed like a good time, since Sarah is excited to learn to play an instrument, but one thing has been weighing on us- we don't have a piano. Nor do we have a savings fund for one. And a piano and lessons kind of go hand-in-hand.

So, we've been looking at ways we could fund it- sell some photography equipment, pawn our good China (which doesn't exist, so it wasn't a viable option) or sell my overpriced, but adorable Ugg boots. Actually, in order to get the digital piano, we would need to have done a combination of all these things.

Do you remember that last week I mentioned we had a Jeep for sale? Andy had put his beloved first car on Craigslist a few weeks ago and hadn't received any bites. Not even a little critter nibble. So each week, he dropped the price about $500 or so until we got a call this past Saturday.

Thank you, Jesus.

Because that one call led to an appointment that led to a test drive that led to a sale. Did you hear me? The Jeep is SOLD! See ya, old friend. And guess how much we sold it for? Just $100 more than the price of the piano we wanted to purchase for our girls. Which covers most of the taxes.

You know what's so cool about God? He cares so much for us as well as the minute details of our lives. We could have called it a great day with being able to purchase a piano, right??  No, He desired to knock our socks off today!

Three more ways God made things happen today:

1. Andy had been sent a bill from the California Tax Board a couple of months ago- he sent a letter off to tell them we were exempt and then another request came. Arg. So Andy called and guess what? It had been taken care of- no $$ was owed. Hallelujah! 

2. We had to switch Ashleigh's speech appointment time since Bible study is beginning next week and the schedule allowed Ash to not only keep her SAME speech therapist that she is currently head-over-heels with, but the same time slot on a different day. Who does that? God does. 

3.On our way out the door, I checked the mail quickly to see if MAYBE one of Sarah's new piano books arrived- but with doubt since I only ordered them on Thursday. But one of the two had. Which is unheard of on Amazon!

Deuteronomy 28 reminds us that, "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. ² You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God..."

Here's a shot of three more blessings that put us on our knees before Him for protection and guidance each day:

And let me tell you- today we are counting our blessings. Thank you, Jesus.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. My (okay, our) truck got demoted in the sharpest-looking-vehicle-we-own department to this little creature:

 

 

2. Which leads me to this: Jeep for sale!

3. After just about losing my marbles the other day, I took a hint from Lauren and helped her get acquainted with the toilet. She has been doing remarkably well with being potty trained since Saturday- quickest kid yet! Be encouraged! 

 

4. I have been one crafty machine over the past few days- my current project is actually for a felt swap with the talented & very crafty Katherine Marie. Her little ones can look forward to loading some freight very soon!

5. This past weekend, our neighborhood had a "Back to School" Cookout- and I have to say we live in the most creative neighborhood ever! Amy put together a baggie of crafts and stickers and smartees while Lisa made these super cute cupcakes with a small apple and chalkboard on top (I'll update if she sends a picture).  I was in charge of the adult goodies. Since we have two students and two teachers, I put together a 'bouquet of sharpened pencils' (can you reference the movie?). The container is simply a decoupaged wood piece purchased at Michael's, filled with beans and pencils (crayons for the preschool teacher:

6. I went to give a hug to a nice lady at church the other day and she had a bug on her shoulder that was the size of a mini-bread loaf! I thought it was a pin, but it turns out, it was some cicada playing off a little hitchhiking action. She just grabbed that thing like no tomorrow!

7. Speaking of, I keep forgetting how many little toads are around these parts during the summer months. I"m too girly to touch them, but my kids are all about holding them. Proof they have some of Andy's genes in them.

8. I made a meatloaf ring for dinner tonight. It was like cooking something straight out of 1972. Just for the record, I still have to eat my meatloaf with barbecue sauce to down it.

9. I mentioned that I was going to be running the Air Force 1/2 Marathon this month, but I had an injury to my foot that sidelined my training schedule for over a month now. I've had a bone scan and an X-ray done and nothing seems to be coming up, but my foot is still in pain. I'm a little peeved about the whole thing, if you want to know.

10. I will be leaving typepad by the end of the year. Andy is helping me with some coding to get my site the way I would like- as in, combining all three sites I have. I'm very excited for this big move, so stay tuned!