I See London.....

My sister whose first three children were crazy little boys thought she would never have her girl. Well, at last, she did. You can tell by the bow.......this little girl will be showered with all things girly. And that's the way it should be. :) Welcome to the fam, little London Leigh. You'll learn to love the chaos. Embrace it.

Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Stinking Heat.

I miss my backyard. Sometimes I look out the back door like a kid on a rainy day and yearn for the time to come when we can go outside again.......alas, it will be October before the weather shapes up. Not that I'm not grateful....we had a BEAUTIFUL month of May and we have a couple get-out-of-the-heat trips planned during the worst of it. But I really miss my backyard! Our grass is at its greenest during the hottest months (does that make sense to anyone?) and our "shade" tree is getting so big and shady. Our BBQ and fire pit are just sitting there on the patio, collecting dust and lots of sun, and yet we stay inside with the AC. Sigh.

So, I post a tribute to the time we spend in our backyard in the normally gorgeous weather we have here in Phoenix. Then I'm going swimming.

This is Nate's sister, her hubby and four kids, and Nate's brother. Notice the kid in the orange, Cameron, as far from the fire as he could get. He was terrified. Then yesterday we were at their house and Cameron asked if we could do the fire again. Kids have 2-second memories. Anway, in this picture we are making s'mores, a common occurence at the Kolbaba household. (S'mores ingredients are in our food storage supply. Only the necessities, right?)

I joined my first giveaway!

Which is funny cause I don't have any kids, but everyone I know is pregnant so these could be great shower gifts.

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!
Roosters-N-Rickrack Pinafore GIVEAWAY!!!!

Gimme a J!!!......Gimme a U!!!!.........

Is this year really halfway over? July is a great month to be thinking about what I've done for the first half of the year, and what I plan to do for the second half. It's like a mini-new-year for me! I don't ponder on that too long, though, because July is a marathon month. All important dates are in July. Nate's birthday is the 3rd, mine is the 22nd, our anniversary is the 19th and my favorite holiday of the year is on the 4th. There are at the very least 5 other family birthdays in July as well. Gladly we don't live in Utah or we would have to celebrate the 24th, too! It is an exciting, expensive, whirlwind kind of month. We hardly notice that it's 117 degrees outside and that gas is $4.10 a gallon. :) Will that stop us from driving to the Grand Canyon tomorrow? No! Because July is the month to never hold still, to celebrate daily, to go see the sights!

I guess mid-year resolutions will have to wait until August.

The Proof

I just realized I don't have an "after" picture of what my hair looks like now, and since I broke our digital camera while I was at girl's camp, (oops) I guess that will have to wait. But, Nate took these with his Blackberry before and during the haircut, and they document the event pretty well.

Now that I see the picture, I could have almost had shoulder-length hair even after the 12 inches were gone. I suppose I really seized the day going chin-length, and layering the back of my hair to near extinction.

Lovin' Those Locks

I have never been the kind of person who freaks out at every haircut. My hair is not my security blanket like it is for some people. It grows back. Always. It's one of those few things you can actually count on.

So, the first time I heard about Locks of Love while I was in high school, I made a goal to one day donate my hair. Heck, little kids who are losing their hair to cancer need my hair more than I do, right? Well, I have been thinking a lot about that goal lately for two reasons. One, there is a lovely woman in my ward who is battling cancer, and two, it seemed like the perfect time because my hair was probably the longest it had ever been. So.........I did it. Over twelve inches, gone in five seconds.

It is wonderful.

Top ten reasons I love my short hair:

1. I don't recognize myself in the mirror. Not in a bad way, in a I-have-to-glance-back-in-abrupt-confusion-to-make-sure-it's-really-me way.

2. I am forced to get over my neck insecurities. Whenever I wore my hair up I always worried people were staring at my neck.......odd, I realize that. I no longer have my hair to cover my neck, ears, sides of my face, forehead, you get the idea. I will learn to be comfortable with my own neck!

3. When I brush my teeth, my hair doesn't fall from behind my shoulders into the sink, indubitably at the exact same time I spit, ending up in wet, toothpaste-foamy hair. No more!

4. Five words. One Hundred And Twenty Degrees. This is Phoenix, people.

5. It still goes behind my ears, and in two little pig tails, barely. SO easy to deal with. I never realized what a burden my hair was becoming.

6. Our year's supply of shampoo and conditioner is now a three year's supply of shampoo and conditioner. Sweet.

7. It is so light and airy, I feel like I'll never get a headache again. (This, unfortunately, has already been proved false, but it still FEELS like I won't).

8. I feel liberated. When she cut that 12 inch ponytail off, she may as well have been removing a backpack full of rocks from off my shoulders and paying all my bills while letting me take a four hour nap. It was so exciting.

9. Nate loves it. And honestly, his opinion matters most.

10. When I do feel a twinge of regret, and I'll admit, I've had one or two, it's been a great experience to think about my hair being a blessing to a child. In the end, my "sacrifice" really wasn't one at all. I feel a little silly that I ever thought of it that way.

To those of you considering losing the tresses, I say go for it.