Hello is anyone there?

Ok so I realize it has been months! LOL, but I have a good excuse. Life sort of went in fast forward, and out of nowhere it is the middle of August and I am about to have surgery. I have also spent the majority of the summer "claiming" my house. We moved in here in March of 06, we spent the next 5 months graduating college, getting married, and starting new jobs. Within a year I was pregnant and on bed rest quite a bit, then you know I had a baby, our home was hit by a tornadoe, and needless to say I got busy! So here I am 3 years later and finally making my house my home! We are re doing the yard, the kitchen, both bathrooms, and soon enough the garage/basement will be partially closed in (fingers crossed.) oh and my photography business is doing well, and I am slowly but surely designing precious childrens clothes. Anyway, so there you have it. I promise to have pictures up soon.

Feature Friday

Welcome to the first installment of Feature Friday!
Today I am featuring a very talented and witty woman. Nikki from The Lucky Mrs.T! http://www.theluckymrst.com/ I have to admit up front that I am somewhat biased because this fantastic gal is my cousin. But more importantly she is FUN. She is a very strong Christian, a talented artist, a supportive wife, and fur baby momma to Daisy. Nikki is always changing things up and you will never know what to expect when visiting. Her Birthday is tomorrow and she and Jonathan (my favorite new cousin) will celebrate their first wedding anniversary in 9 short days! So don’t just take my word for it go check her out. She is great and I am blessed not only to know her in real life, but for her to be an amazing member of my family. Love you Cuz!

Monday Music Musings

WELCOME to Monday Music Musings. So I have decided that (hopefully) every Monday I will share with you music, be it an album, and artist, or just a song it will be music related. I know that I always love discovering new musicians, so I thought I would make a point to broaden my horizons and share what I find.

Today.... I want to tell you about Jack's Mannequin. WOW! I am in love! To start with both of their albums are fantastic. I love the piano and somewhat raw quality to the vocals. "The Glass Passenger" is the groups second album it chronicles McMahon's battle against Leukemia. It is raw, honest, and emotionally charged. There are several songs that are darker and some that are very up tempo but no matter the sound, the emotions of fear, fatigue, and ultimately survival are poignant! I for one have found the "The Resolution" is likely my new favorite song. With lyrics like "And I'm alive And I don't need a witness To know that I survived I'm not looking for forgiveness I just need light I need light in the dark as I search for the resolution" I feel that I am being let into a very personal place. I think what is so awesome about "The Glass Passenger" is it is personal. Most music isn't, and often it really has no significant meaning... that can't be said about this album. So check it out! Here is the website http://www.jacksmannequin.com/ all of their work is available on Itunes as well! I hope you enjoy!

Care to come along?

So it has been a week and I am sure most of you have grown used to my random absences. I do apologize though; I wish I was better at blogging. I just feel I have nothing worth hearing. Therein lies the problem. I think a problem a lot of moms have and why so many of us have turned to blogging. We don’t really think what we have to say is too important, but we hope that someone will think that what we say matters. I have had a rough week, not like lately, no deaths in the family or natural disasters, but emotionally. I realized I missed “ME” the old me. The “me” before I was a mother, the “me” that read A LOT! The “me” that traveled, went to museums regularly, sought out new music, and tried anything new at least once. That version of me was confident, contemplative, intellectual and informed. I realized this week that I do not love this new not improved version of myself. Not in the sense that I am like an insecure teenager but more a person who just woke up and realized they were on the wrong track. Maybe this all sounds crazy, I am sure it does, but just maybe you too have had a moment when you realized you are changing and not for the better. Don’t get me wrong I love being a mom, but who said that I can’t be the old version of myself and still a mother? I think the old Lani is actually better suited to be a mother than this current version. So I guess my point is I am getting back to me. So be prepared for more blogs, more information about the world, things that inspire me, things that make me look at the world in new ways, and things that simply entertain me. I hope you are willing to join me.

Since 12 is my lucky number...

and that is how many FOLLOWERS I have now I thought I would share with you publically what several of you already now. I decided to start designing a childrens clothing line. This has always been something I wanted to do, and i had talked about it with a friend a while ago, then I decided "what am I waiting for?" I have so many ideas so I got started. I began designing, buying supplies, and equiptment, and prepapring. I set up a blog, (very soon to be a .com) I set up my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7128932, my paypal, and ordered my clothing labels. Well, then to my complete excitement my friend whom I had previously discussed this all with expressed her desire to do it with me!!!! You cant know how excited this makes me. Lindsey, http://www.thelifeofmrslanghans.blogspot.com/, is one of my very best friends. She is someone that God seriously made just for me! I couldn't ask for a better friend and I am so excited for her to join me. She is so talented and I know that together you are going to just LOVE what we create. Our first few lines have already been designed and soon enough I will be sharing them all with you. So Since 12 is my lucky number I hope that my 12 followers will bring me amazing luck and success!

Ya'll Gotta Check This Out

Ladies you MUST go check out this giveaway! CHOCOLATE, Handbags, I mean need I say more! It's Mama Loco's 100th post giveaway and she is going to SPOIL someone!
http://mama-loco.blogspot.com/2009/04/100th-post-giveaway.html

Some Before and After Fun

I recently had the fun of finally convincing my sister to let me dress up her patio! it was in DESPERATE need and she was very resistant to "bother" with it. Well I convinced her and she gave me a budget of $80 so with that I did this! We got the seat cushions from Ross, and the curtains are just canvas drop clothes. She lives directly behind a grocery store and now you wouldn't notice much less care the patio is so comfortable. Check it out!
EDITED: My sister "claims" she doesnt have the before pictures, likely story I wouldn't want anyone to see the before either! HA!