We are now officially in our favorite time of year; when we get snugly, wear sweaters, light the fireplace and start having a lot of fun! Here are some of the things we've been up to! I finally got a kitchen table! We sold our dining table in Houston back in May and I have been making do with a card table and the kids eating at the bar. We haven't had a family meal in ages. So after months of lurking on craigslist, and saving money we finally found this baby! I love how it fits our small space but seats 6. Also a dark wood. We initiated it with a fine Sunday dinner with friends and it has served us well since.
I also am spending a lot of time on the couch with my dogs and had to have Adam take a picture of this. They are so cute and I couldn't move since they were on my legs!
Since Alex is no longer in Preschool due to budget constraints, I am now spending a lot of my mornings playing under the covers like this:
OF course we had to have our pumpkin party and I am really impressed with how the kids really gutted their own pumpkins this year. Alex insisted on doing it himself and even though it took an hour got it done!

Jason is still really busy at work so I am keeping sane by expressing my talents. I had my first fashion night at my house last week and I think it was a sucess. I am also gearing up to present my second speech at toastmasters. The first one I did was memorized but this week I have typed it out! Enjoy!

When you were small did you have an obsession? Did you have a favorite food, color, or animal? When we are children we often describe ourselves by the things we love. As we get older these things are still a part of us but we tend to store them away as “childish things” I want to talk tonight about when childhood dreams come true.

When I was a child my favorite animal was a giraffe. It’s obvious why. I always felt a kinship with the giraffe, towering over everyone. The average 9 year old girl is 3 foot 9, by 4^th grade I was already 4 foot 7. By the time I was 14 I was 6 feet tall.

Everyone knew I loved the giraffe; I would pick it often for school projects. Did you know that most of giraffe sound cannot be heard by humans? And they babysit for each other in groups, while parents feed on the trees.

Loving the giraffe made it easy for people to give me gifts over the years. I have jewelry, pillows, and stuff animals.

One of my first poems at age 10 was also dedicated to the giraffe.

The Giraffe is tall and so am I

My heads in the clouds I can touch the sky

Sometimes it’s ok, Others a pain,

I’m the first one to feel the rain.

Everyone knows I love the giraffe.

In 2004 we were living in Luxembourg and the circus came to town. As I would drive past the square I could see that there were giraffes in a coral. I HAD to go to the circus. I checked on tickets and they were too expensive. 25 euro a person! But for 2 euros you could see the animals. I packed my little family up and bought our tickets. We made our way past the lions, seals, goats, elephants. And then finally, there he was. The giraffe. Being Europe and not the litigious United States, there was just a simple fence, about my height. It was a small enclosure, probably no more than 20 yards square. There were no signs posted, there were no guards. I saw the opportunity I had dreamed about. I climbed up the first rung of the fence; I know had the top half of my body over the rail. I started to call to the giraffe. Giraffe! Come Here! Come Here! He must have thought I had food because he started to approach me. In a few long strides he was there against the fence. I couldn’t lean back far enough to see his head so far up in the sky. He brought his head down to look at me. I was struck with how enormous his head was and what it really means to be 20 feet tall. It was dizzying to be that close. I did not hesitate. I wrapped my arms around the giraffe’s neck and I hugged him. In a spiritual moment I cannot describe my soul touched his soul and I said out loud I love you giraffe I love you.

As a child I loved the giraffe, and I would dream of how great it would be to meet one. I didn’t know that when I was 26 I would get the opportunity. Not at a zoo, not in Africa, but just living my everyday life. We can look inside ourselves and unlock some of those childhood dreams so that when the opportunity presents itself we do not shy away embarrassed but wholeheartedly embrace it! I love you giraffe. I love you!