...product of the day...

love it. been looking for SOMETHING- some pillow- to help with my neck pain. i've had severe neck pain for years, and even seen a physical therapist for it. and i've tried all sorts of pillows (some cheap and some more expensive) hoping to find one that helped. i've even tested a few out at the sleep number store, but never made the commitment. as a long shot and with a mustard seed of faith, i grabbed this pillow from target last week. for 20 bucks i figured it was worth a try. since then- NO PAIN! so if you've got neck issues, try this out before you spend the big bucks. and by the way, this feels just like the sleep number pillow they were pushing on me for 100 bucks....

... ode to the tricycle...

my kids are 5 and 6 years old. they are WAY too old for a tricycle, yet i haven't been up to getting rid of this trike. sara absolutely loved her care bears tricycle, and even just a few months back she was still choosing to ride this in our cul-de-sac. she learned to ride a bike without training wheels about a month ago, and so i'm sure she won't be riding the care bear trike anymore.

here's the thing-- i want to keep it! it has years of memories for us, and even though it is ragged and ripped, and only has one handle left, i can hardly bear getting rid of it-- sentimental value and all... anyway, steve won and he got to throw it away.

boo. :(

final pictures of our trike. RIP.

... exciting anniversary...

ok, so our 8th anniversary was Wednesday. In typical Hambrick fashion, we gave no gifts nor cards. We did, however, manage to go to lunch at Hong Kong Star. Yay for me, not so much for Steve, who isn't much of a fan of chinese food...but he was gracious and didn't object. and i'll have you know my new commitment is to invest in family, not to worry about the stock market. and to focus on the color yellow. thank you, fortune cookies.

instead of a romantic dinner out with candles and wine, i took sara to the urgent care. strep throat and a red ear. we all wish for such an exciting anniversary.

here are two pictures of the experience in the office. wasn't i nice to include the one of sara getting her throat scraped? :) now you can even picture what it must be like when sara has a stomach bug.

even though we didn't do anything overly fabulous on the 25th, i recognize that celebrating your marriage isn't supposed to happen just one day each year. it's not about a nice dinner or gifts. it's about living well and loving life together in the midst of sick kids, tight funds, and busy schedules. it's about loving sacrificially and preferring the other when you'd rather do things your way. it's about working through tough seasons and choosing commitment even when you'd rather not. it's about recognizing the gift that other person is to you, and enjoying him/her. and there is no one i would rather embark on the journey of life with than steve hambrick. happy anniversary hon!

...my bff...

today is a very important day~~ it's my bff's birthday! let me introduce you to the lovely mrs. julie lamotta... without her the last few years would have been a heck of alot more difficult and definitely much less fun!

julie is pretty much amazing.

she lives in orlando, has four kids (one of which she adopted from china last month), is married to a hottie italian american guy, loves jesus, and loves me!

here's a picture of her kiddos-- aren't they cute?

here are just a few of the reasons i love her:

1. just look at her. 'nuff said.

2. she's not afraid to take risks.. look at her attempting to swallow fire! never a dull moment...

3. she makes really great faces.. we made a habit of this on all double dates..

4. she and joey like sushi. and wine bars. sushi + wine bars= perfect evenings out.

5. she sings. and fearlessly to wii american idol. check out her style-- amazing :)

6. she listens well, loves me unconditionally, trusts me completely, shares her heart with vulnerability and transparency, and is pretty much without compare as a friend...

my prayer for you, my dearest friend, is that this next year would be without compare in your life.. that your family would thrive... your intimacy with jesus would reach levels it never has before.. and that you would realize your unmeasurable value as a friend, a mom, a wife, and a daughter of the father! grace and peace to you without measure julie dee! happy birthday!

... should we keep him??...

...home alone...

well, kinda. i suppose i have the ability to be home alone but unfortunately my to-do list doesn't allow me the luxury. i will say, though, that after i took the girls to school yesterday for their first day at school, i came home, climbed back into bed, and laid there for 3 hours. YES. i think i might enjoy wasting my life away in bed every day...

so it's official. i'm an empty nester during the day. sara is now in kindergarten and anna katherine is now in first grade.

as far as first days of school, yesterday started out pretty well. the girls were excited to go to

school, and so they were laughing and playing while we got ready. unfortunately as soon as the photography began, sara shut down. it was a bit reminiscent of anna katherine's first day of

kindergarten last year. here are the pictures on the front porch before we left.

and here is one of sara hiding behind the column... nice..... (by the way, check out the smocking on the bottom of her shirt.. isn't it adorable?)

i insisted they pose in front of the school, and at least got a fake smile from sara. much better than a frown...

here is one of sara with mrs.parris, her speech teacher. THIS is a real smile. we love mrs. parris!!

we dropped anna katherine off at her class first, because i figured i would be able to keep it together dropping her off. heck, she's an old pro at this now...

her teacher this year is mrs. bullard, and we are praying she'll be a good fit for anna katherine.

we don't know her at all... funny thing-- there are THREE pastor's kids in her class! the other two are boys, and their parent's are church planters in the area as well. they might just have some church in that class :)

here is mrs. bullard with anna katherine

it's always a bit uncomfortable leaving your child in the care of a complete stranger. the truth is she'll spend more time with her each day than we will. yikes. i'm praying she falls in love with anna katherine and the year is a positive experience for anna katherine!

after we dropped off ak, we headed down to leave sara in her kindergarten class. she doesn't know anyone in her class, and i'm praying for a best friend for her. i have no worries about her teachers because i know and love them both! mrs. pulley and mrs. roland were anna katherine's teachers last year, and i did everything i could to get sara in their class this year. i'm incredibly grateful that sara was placed in their class and know this year will be awesome for her!

here's a picture of her with mrs. pulley.. i'm sad i wasn't able to get one with mrs. roland too!

look closely folks-- this lady right here is the all time best kindergarten teacher EVER. jealous?

so we dropped her off and left. and my voice was shaky and my emotions were jumbly. i made it, though. and i have to say i enjoyed that three hour nap i took when i got home.

so how did their day go? pretty well as far as i could tell. sara said she likes preschool better (wake up kid- no more ruling the roost in class- you are now in KINDERGARTEN- a place of rules and responsibilities), and anna katherine loved it and met a friend.

here are a few pics of them getting off the bus.. anna katherine is always the poser, and sara not so much. she wouldn't even think about standing on the bus steps for a photo.... i had to snap a photo of her in mid-air...

so it's done. my girls are practically grown. what adventures can i embark on from 7-2:45 each day? hmmmm.. we'll just have to see about that.

...nuff said...

...your house is cleaner than my house...

trust me.

i'm willing and prepared to embarass myself here. partially because i'm just tired of people complaining and apologizing for how messy their homes are. and in reality, i would probably be willing to eat off most of those floors. does your child's room look like this? not just on occasion, but pretty much all the time? yep. that's my girl. i just don't have the energy to do what it would take to get her to keep it clean. and i rationalize this because the only rooms upstairs are the girls and the office. and who goes up there anyway? right? here is a picture of anna katherine's room tonight.and lest you say, "well, it's a child's room. i bet the rest of your home is spotless," let me just stamp that thought right on out of your mind. here is a picture i just took tonight of our dining room table. that's right- our DINING room table (not office desk).

it has become my workstation and drop off toy station for the girls.. plenty of randomness can be found right here. you would be quite impressed with the variety of items that can be found either on the floor or on the table in this 10x10 room!

let's see- a new trash can, some 11x14 frames yet to be hung, some school snacks my girls constantly bring to me and beg me to eat even though school doesn't start until next week, my purse, a pile under my purse of every local church advertisement i've seen in the last 2 years, sara's american girl doll and blankie, jeans to sell on ebay, my computer, to-do lists, recyclable mail on the floor, clothes that the girls were gonna wear today but changed their minds on, kids shoes, and all sorts of lovely stuff.

you thought you were a mess. and you've only seen the dining room and a child's room. welcome to the hambricks. the good, the bad, the ugly.

can we still be friends? :)

...launching into cedarcrest...

ok, so FINALLY vintage 242 is launching into our community!

our core team has been meeting at our parent church at 4pm on sunday afternoons as we've attempted to secure a space in cedarcrest. i'm thrilled to announce that after much adieu, we found a space. it's temporary because of the small size, but it's awesome. we've had lots of

people up there volunteering-- painting, vacuuming, shopping for furniture, hauling chairs, putting down trim, hanging drapes, etc. it's been exhausting but worth it!

my poor kids have put in lots of hours up there, and we haven't given them enough attention over the past 3 weeks of preparation. steve and i have been up by 7:30am to work, and have been calling it a night around 1am. it's an exciting season, but i'm ready for the preparation of

the space and all of the materials (promotional, supplies, graphics, basics) to be DONE.

THIS WEEKEND is our official launch into the community. we met last sunday as a core team in the space, and we are inviting friends and neighbors starting this weekend. pray for us as we move forward!

here are the 1/2 page and full page ads we are placing in the neighborhood magazines in september and throughout the fall. (these folks are all vintage people.)