What Ana Does

If there's one thing I take away from this little sabbatical as a stay at home mom it's this: I really enjoy creating things with my hands. When I was a working full-time, driving kids around, stressing about dinner and passing out at the end of each day, crafting was very low on my daily priority list. Weekends were about spending time with family, maybe painting a wall and reading. Not much else to cram in there. But now that I'm home all day and have gotten some really big house projects done, I'm able to indulge in just crafting to craft. And with the holidays, I have the best excuse to create holiday decor things for family members and to pretty-up the house. I forgot how much I love to make things. I have bins and bins of crafting supplies that I've been collecting here and there but never had time to sort through and create. Now free time is finally here and I'm totally indulging in it ... and feeling sincerely grateful for it. Anyway, here's ...

Outlander -- My favorite show, bar NONE, started back up this month for the second part of the first season and I'm living for each new episode on Saturday nights. It's. Just. That. Good! A Discovery of Witches -- I listen to audio books on my 40-minute commute to work and I've been particular about picking books that are 10 discs or less so I can finish them within a week. But for some reason I decided to give this story, with its 20 discs, a try. I'm halfway through and it will take me about two weeks to get through the whole story but I am loving it. This is what Twilight should have been -- with a DaVinci Code -like story thrown in. Violet Mackerel book series   -- The girls and I have been reading these books for the last few weeks before bed and I am absolutely in love with Violet. She's sensitive and thoughtful, and she creates all these adorable theories about the world around her. The girls and I discuss her stories and ideas even during the day. We ...

Me and My New Nephew Here's my dream job : I set up a desk in the maternity wing of a hospital and assist new parents with naming their babies. In this position, I'd inject more variety in the names and clean up the odd spelling choices people make (and, I have to assume, later regret).   Not that the "popular" names are bad. Olivia, Sophia, Emma/Emily and Lily are lovely names! And Braden, Aiden, Jayden are also beautiful for boys. But as a the bearer of the most popular name in my generation, sharing your name with three girls in your class stinks. So, while, yes, I love pretty names -- being a Jessica A, Jessica R, or Jessica C. is not awesome.   And why am I qualified for this job? I love names. I collect names like a hobby. New names are rolled around on my tongue, tested for possible playground variations and inherent characteristics. Then, I mentally collect a list of favorite names that change completely every few months -- just in case. Here...