Tonight I spent over an hour learning about the fine art of chipping stone. 

Chipping stone. 

Taking a piece of stone and breaking off pieces. 

1 hour and 20 minutes of stone chipping

I was expected to take notes on this lecture and in a month or so I will have to take a test on the subject. 

This is all because I decided to take a class on archaeology. I had to take an anthropology course. But, by the time I realized this there were very few options of classes and even less that fit my schedule. 

I used to want to be an archaeologist so bad. I love history and I love digging in dirt. I figured that with these two loves a career in archaeology would be perfect. There may also have been a huge crush on Indiana Jones that was influential as well. 

Those are the reason I signed up for a class that ended up being about breaking pieces of rock. 

This is what I was hoping for:

This is a super sexy Indiana Jones.

I ended up getting this:

This is chert, it is a sedimentary rock.


So, I learned some lessons:
1.Sexy people don't become archaeologists.
2.  Archaeology is not nearly as exciting as in the movies.
3. Nothing is as exciting as what is in the movies.
4. I am not a big fan of studying rocks.
 5. I don't have even the smallest desire to chip rocks.
6. This class is a waste of time.
7. I am even more excited to graduate than I was before.

Did you even know there is a right and a wrong way to break apart a piece of rock?

There is.   

sacrifice

Today is fat Tuesday. This means tomorrow starts lent. 

I have always liked the idea of lent. 

There are 46 days where we get to give up something of our choice to think about all the things that were sacrificed for us by God. Of course giving up sugar or TV can't compare to giving up my only child or enduring hours of pain both physically and emotionally. But, for a couple of minutes every day I don't get to think about how horrible school is or how stressed out my money situation is. I get to stop and think about how much I have been given and the price of that gift. That kinda makes a little less chocolate or fewer TV shows pretty easy to bear and even enjoyable.

So... this big question...

What am I giving up until Easter?

drumroll.....

...........................

..................

.........

...

Fast food.

Yep, I know... I'm a horrible person. I am just so busy and tired that lately (meaning this school year) I have really begun a bad habit of drive thru eating. 

So, in order to reflect on God, take control of my life, save money and lose weight, no convenience eating for me. 

Wish me luck. 

Seriously. 

happy for now

p.s. I am also giving up drive through coffee as well. That may be the toughest part. *gulp*

little guy

a home just wouldn't be a home without the love of this little guy... Dude.

"hello!"

and I wouldn't have anyone to snuggle with on sick days. 

I wasn't feeling so great on Friday and he kept me company, on my lap.

oh, and yes... that is my Christmas tree. All the decorations are off but I keep wanting to use it as a lamp. We really need another tall lamp. :)

home sweet home

I never realized how much I loved having a place to call home until I didn't anymore. I spent 18 ridiculously happy years at home. I was a homebody. I would much prefer to stay home almost any day. There were a few exceptions such as the Holmes house and the Wils house and the Leaf house. But at the end of the night I liked coming home. I had a big room all to myself. The walls were painted my favorite childhood color, purple, with flowers creeping up the wall. I had notes and pictures and all sorts of cutouts on my walls. I even had my own purple phone in my room. There was a beautiful fireplace in the living room. There was a wood stove making he basement the most cozy place on earth. In the summer there were acres upon acres to dance through and explore and more than once I had found a nice place in the tall grass and taken a nap. 

my woods up North

being silly in my old room

So, it is pretty obvious I was ridiculously lucky having the best home ever. Then I grew up and I didn't know where my home was. I moved to Madison, which had been my dream since I could remember. I was ecstatic, but my apartment was not home. Moving around every year doesn't help the situation. I would use the word "home" for just about every place after awhile. My parents house was "home", Matt's house was "home", my apartment was "home".  And no matter where I was I didn't feel "home". I would cry sometimes just wanting a place that was "truly home". 


Before I knew it the only place I felt like I was home was with Matt. That was the only time I didn't feel lonely and confused. I was with him as much as possible because I wanted that homey feeling. 


We both moved to Milwaukee in September. I set up our apartment and got everything ready for us to live together. A month after I moved into our apartment we got married and we both came home. We didn't get a honeymoon after our wedding and so after the weekend in Green Bay we came back to Milwaukee. We started trudging up the 3 flights of stairs with our hands and arms full of wedding presents. Right there on the first landing was a pile of puke. yep. you heard me. The air was stagnant with the smell of beer and there was a pile of beer puke on our stairs. WELCOME HOME! I laughed so hard. When we got to the 3rd floor we both dropped our pile and Matt held out his arms for me to hop in and carried me into our apartment. We were home. I truly had a home that felt like "home". It was wonderful. Over the last 4.5 months that we have been married our apartment feels more and more like home and now we say things like "traveling up North" and "heading to New Glarus". And when I say it's time to go back home we both know exactly what I mean. 
I realized having a "home" means having people with you who are your family. I lived with my family as a child. I could relax around them. I could show them my real self and I knew no matter what they would always love me. Now I have a new family and I know no matter what he will still love me. I think that is what makes up a home. 


Since a lot of people still haven't seen my home, here are the highlights:

my living room from the entry door

one of my favorite wedding presents, thanks Kris

the door with the wreath is the entry door and through the hall there is the kitchen

our bathroom... I LOVE my shower curtain!

our bathroom is nice and big, which I like

messy kitchen

other view of the kitchen

our fridge, full of love

we have some really old cabinets an sink

through the key hole into the bathroom, Matt doesn't like this. 

pretty soap

I love that these are the doorknobs in our apartment

bedroom

our cozy, wonderful bed

cool part of the room

putting wedding decorations to good use

more wedding decorations, thanks mom

Matt's grandma made us a quilt for the wedding. It is really sweet. 

more decorations

Matt's flower for me

hello

definitely my favorite part of the apartment

I hope someday we can have a magnificent house. My husband is going to be an architect after all. We talk at night about all the things we want our house to look like. It is going to have a secret  door and I will have a library with a spiral staircase. Matt will have an awesome shop for all his manly arts. We will have a big bedroom with a whirlpool tub and outside my window will be a forest. Those are our someday dreams. They may or may not come true. I know that whether or not they do come true doesn't really matter. I will always have a home now. Whether it is a tiny 4 room apartment in a big smelly city or a sprawling fortress in a beautiful forest, we will always be home because we will always have each other. That sounds ridiculously cheesy, but I don't care...
That makes me ridiculously happy!


ps: hope you enjoyed all the pictures

day of love

I happen to love Valentines Day! 
My first memories of valentines day were heart-shaped pancakes and making valentine mailboxes. There were parties and card making. I loved making valentine cards. There were bags of candy and lots and lots of love! February 14th was awesome as a kid thanks to my mom, mostly. 


When I got older there were a couple rough years, like there always are during the years of change and stretching somewhere between 14 and 17. But during even those years there was a bag of goodies on the kitchen table every 14th and there were valentine flowers from my lifelong valentine, Kristin. There were a couple good cries, but after those there were chick flicks and long drives full of laughter and my mom's arms around me tight. 


On Valentine's day  of 2009 I was falling in love. I was giggly and my heart was fluttery around a guy I was just getting to know. We were spending hours every day talking about our loves and hates and what we wanted our lives to look like. We were in India. Together we were spending all day in the heat loving the unloved of India. We were spending the evenings talking on the rooftop far later than we should have.  It was the glorious time of wondering and hoping. And with every smile I felt like the most special girl in the world. 


The next two valentines days were spent with my love. We were crazy in love and enjoying life. Last valentines day I knew change was a moment away. I knew I would marry this man. I was excitedly hoping for a beautiful diamond ring. I had a very good feeling the next valentines day would be special. 

our first valentines day

I made poor cold Matt walk around the capital with me

church on Valentine's Day

This year Valentine's Day was spectacular if for no other reason than the fact that we were Mr. and Mrs. Stuessy. It wasn't anything extraordinary. We were both gone most of the day and didn't get home until late. I managed to make a delicious meal, one of Matt's favorites, without too many tears. We ate a fantastic candlelight dinner listening to my Frank Sinatra Pandora station. We spent the night snuggling and talking. There were small presents given and many, many kisses. I felt so full and overflowing with love and hope that I wish I could have married my husband again right then. It was a blissful night. I can't wait for next year and the next and the next....

apple pork chops, sweet potatoes and fresh bread with apple pomegranate sparkling juice

I made neapolitan cheesecake as well. It was delicious!!! (even though it didn't look too beautiful)

Matt bought me a gift bag full of candy. It is probably about 4lbs worth of Reeses and Kit-Kat. 

Matt's note. (he is allergic to peanut butter, so it wasn't personal.)

So, these are some of the reasons I love February 14th. I love this day because it is a celebration of love. What could be a better reason to celebrate than love? You don't need to have a husband or boyfriend to celebrate love. There is so much love everywhere I look. I see tall trees and warm sun on my face and feel God's love. I got a v-day card from my grandma and grandpa and feel so much love. I go to volunteer and feel so much love from those people I am helping. I get a call from my mom and feel love. I get a picture of my niece in the mail and feel love. How can I not celebrate something this amazing? I want to celebrate this kind of love every day.  I only wish I could eat 4lbs of chocolate everyday and not weigh 500lbs. 

So, for all those valentine haters out there... look around. I promise you can find a reason to celebrate love. You don't have to buy 300 v-day cards if that isn't your thing. You don't have to buy someone flowers if you think it is to unoriginal. But, don't make excuses to not celebrate something as life saving as love. 

time to blog

I never wanted a blog. They always seemed pretentious. I mean, who really cares about what I have to say? Even if they do care, blogs are pretentious. Then I started reading some blogs. Becki O'Brien has a fantastic blog that I have been reading for a year now. Her creativity is some of the inspiration for my blog. Then, the other day I was going through one of those day to day experiences that was so insane I simply had to tell someone. Why would I only tell one or two people when I can tell as many people as read this blog?
So, I am gonna give it a shot. Let's see what happens. 
As I sit here and type I can't help but feel adult. I am a married lady living in a big city. I am sitting on my couch with my husband. There is a pile of laundry on the bedroom floor. There is a sink full of dishes that need to be washed. I am on the couch I picked out, the art that I picked out is hanging on the wall and a calendar of my very own is hanging in my kitchen full of important dates. 
This blog is where I will express all my new adult thoughts, mixed in here and there with my silly childhood thoughts.
My life is fun and full of joy. My life is challenging and wears me out. My life is always changing and always throwing adventures my way. 
I wouldn't have it any other way!

Childish Hattie

confidant mature Hattie