Friday Random

-You all know how I love Obama. But, seriously? He needs to stop with the primetime news conferences already. I do love tv more than I love him and will keep that in mind next election...We are so on a break right now.

-Knitting is going well. I think. I have 1/4 of an extra wide scarf done and I'm starting on a little scarf for Sammy (if it turns out ok) in order to learn how to purl and end a project.

-I am SO excited for this book to come out. So. Very. Excited.

-Sammy now somersaults everywhere around the house. He's so proud of his new little skill.

-Isaac's traveling for a work conference next week. My mind is constantly on the plane trip. I'm nervous for him and the knot won't unravel until he's safely home. I wish my flying nervous-ness was contained to me.

-How did I get both the travel bug and the scared of flying gene? It doesn't seem right.

-I need to schedule: a doctor's checkup (find out why I get dizzy on the treadmill), a dentist appointment, a yearly PAP, a dermotologist yearly mole check, a hair appointment and a chiropractic appointment. I have woefully little time during the week that is both Sammyless and those businesses are open. So...I'm procrastinating them all. That's the right choice. Right?

-Ring of the week:

One of my favorites. It's chunky, but not heavy. It's bold and EVERYONE looks twice at it because it looks real. $10ish at Kohls.

-Song of the week:

(wrong, depeche mode - I just bought concert tickets for a couple of days before our (10th!) anniversary...I'm excited)

March Book

I couldn't get into the book I picked for March, so I went to Borders and picked up Katherine Center's new book, Everyone is Beautiful. I haven't read her first book (yet) but I kept reading great things about her and the new book, that I instantly wanted to either read it or be her friend. It's still a toss up.

The book is a pretty honest portrayal of trying to find yourself once you've lost it to motherhood. I loved that the characters felt real - like someone you'd know. I liked her ease in writing. I liked that it made me pick up my camera again and remember I used to have a NEED for photography. I'm still a little sore at how much it made me want to be back in a darkroom, though. That is one ship that's sailed and yearning for it isn't going to bring about anything!

Overall, I liked the book. I'm not sure I loved it as much as everyone else who blogs seemed to, but that could be that I went into it with such high expectations that I couldn't help but be disappointed. I will absolutely read her first book and absolutely watch out for any other releases by her, though.

(Ugh. This seems lackluster and not at all the glowing review...clearly my head is elsewhere! I really did like the book. I swear!)

On Being a Label

I was talking to one of my sisters via email several months ago about writing. During the course of the conversation, I bristled at the thought that one day, when my books are published, that I would EVER be considered a "Mormon author". That thought makes me nauseated. Not that I would be "mormon" AND "an author", but that the two would be combined in people's minds forever. That I wouldn't simply be Tawnya, author.

I don't talk about religion on my blog for a lot of the same reasons I don't talk a lot about Sammy - the pigeon-hole notion. I am a woman, wife, mother, member of the LDS faith, writer, tv junkie, political junkie, democrat, all around lazy person. However, none of these things on their own make up the whole. A ridiculous thing to state and one that everyone knows, but I battle against it in my head nonetheless.

There is one reason above all that I don't talk more about Sammy, specifically. I try not to be known as "mom" here. It's the one label in which I fight the hardest. I hope that doesn't sound as harsh as I think it does. But it probably does. Sigh. It's something I've always wrestled with and probably always will. I still have a healthy sense of "hey! what about MY life" going on and the meshing of my life and motherhood is not an easy one for me. It's a label I'm not crazy about. I use this space to write, flesh out ideas, tell amusing stories, some which involve Sammy, but most often not. It's my little corner of the world where I can be me, be contradictory, be insane, be combative, be sensible, be whatever. Talk like I still have dreams and goals that may actually happen one day. And rebel against the labels that I feel may stand in the way.

The older I get, the more I come back around to hating labels. I hated them in high school, was resigned about them in college and most of my 20s, and now hate them again. I think they do a disservice to people who are more than one label can portray. I am a mother and LOVE that Sammy, specifically, comes with that label, but I don't love the label itself. I love my religion, but the label attached with other things in my life (author)...not so much. I understand why we label, but I wish we didn't. I wish we could just get to know the individual without the baggage of labels. I wish people would see that even though you are (...) you can still be something else.

I am a woman. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am unique. I am the same. I am a writer. I am a tv junkie. I am lazy. I am motivated. I am a Democrat. I am crazy. I am calm. I have OCD. I collect books. I have freckles that I hate. All of this says something about me, but until you add it all up and mix in the other million little things I've left out, you don't get the full picture. You don't get the true Tawnya. We all have a story to tell, one that labels can't tell for us. I love that it's all so messy and layered and wish we could all tell our stories. Minus the labels.

Picture Pages

This weekend was busy. I don't do busy very often; we have a pretty laid-back life, but when busy comes, busy comes!

Friday, my nephew got married. I'm so happy for them both and everything looked lovely. Especially the bride and groom.

The day was great, weather wise. It's been warm (well, except to my mom who was FREEZING!) and the view from the reception was amazing. It was one of those moments that reminded me how much I love cool spring / summer evenings in this valley. I do live in a beautiful place. Now that the snow is gone!

Sammy looked handsome in his jeans and white shirt.

And SOMEONE totally forgot to wear makeup. So she had to go around all face naked and shiny all night. Nice.


And, as a bonus, I'm stealing this pic from my sister. As a lot of you have heard, Sammy doesn't get candy or soda. I was trying to hold out as long as possible on both fronts. In the past six months or so, he'd have sips of my blackberry sprites from Sonic or the handful of M&Ms, but nothing regular or his own. Until yesterday. We went out to eat with Sharon's family and my parents and Sammy got his first exposure to root beer, all his own. Look how happy he was! (of course, factor that with his difficulty to go down for his nap and it DEFINITELY won't be a regular occurrence!)