Jason and I have been dreaming big lately… dreaming about houses. I’m not ready to tell you why yet.
Here are some inspiring images I’ve found.
Dream Home Inspiration: Exterior
10/25/2011
8 Comments | 
Art, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: dream home, dreaming, eichler, homes, inspiration, mid-century modern, modern | 
Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Beautiful Fall
10/24/2011
I love this time of year in Nashville. Summer is hands-down my favorite but the start of fall with lower humidity and cooler nights is usually a welcome change. Most days it’s sunny with highs in the 70s and temps dipping down into the 40s overnight. I decided to snap a few pictures of some beauty in our garden before the overnight frosts start. Check out how tall our banana tree got this year! The leaves don’t survive the winter so it starts out as a stump each spring.
It’s been warm enough that some plants are flowering a second time this year, including our pink roses, orange zinnias and yellow canna lilies.
I love the furry fronds on the end of our pampas grass.
Our black bamboo has really filled in this year. If you’re not familiar with growing bamboo, the saying is “first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap.” This has definitely been a leap year for it.
Jason is considering moving this agave to a pot through the winter. Juuuust to be sure it doesn’t die if we have several cold days in a row.
What is your favorite season?
1 Comment | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation | Tagged: autumn, fall, garden, home, landscaping | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Phone Photo Friday
10/21/2011
1 Comment | Art, Art: God's creation, Art: mid-century design, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: cell phone photography, fall, home, mid-century modern, our house, Phone Photo Friday, ranch | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Weekend in the Smokies
10/19/2011
Sorry for disappearing for a few days. Plates are spinning around here. Still. (And Merry-Go-Rounds.) Instead of formulating a thoughtful blog post, here is a recap of our weekend. Thursday afternoon Jason and Precious picked me up from work, we dropped off Lucy at his parent’s house, and we headed over to Pigeon Forge, TN where we stayed until Sunday night. Jason was playing a marathon weekend with Guy Penrod at Dollywood—3 concerts a day for 3 days in a row—and all the wives and children came along. There were 6 families in our party; 12 adults and 18 kids…most of which are Guy’s. They are such a fun and sweet bunch of people. Precious was definitely the center of attention through most of the weekend with everyone oohing and ahhing about how beautiful and easy-going she is. Seriously, she was a travel champ! One of Guy’s sons said, “I hope I have a baby just like her when I’m older” and insisted that she was THE most beautiful baby in the world. Another one of his boys said, “I can’t wait until I have my own baby someday,” while he was feeding her a bottle for me. She got so much love this weekend.
We also ate lot of good food. Uncle Guy got to snuggle Precious to sleep before the food came out at Cracker Barrel one night.
The shows at Dollywood were fun. Precious and I watched about half of them. Sometimes she watched, sometimes she slept on my lap, and sometimes she napped down in the dressing room.
We watched one of the shows from backstage while she was sleeping in a Moby wrap.
Speaking of Moby wrap, Jason was talked into trying it on while we were walking around going on rides. We got a pretty cute family picture of the three of us… I wish I could show you the whole picture. Maybe someday.
Speaking of someday… please continue praying about Precious’ situation. We are still uncertain about whether or not we will be given the first choice of adoption for her. There is someone else in the picture who is not legally kin but has a relationship with two of Precious’ half siblings. We’re basically competing with her—which is awkward—and we won’t know more until we have another team meeting and then ultimately a judge makes a decision…in a couple months? Then the earliest the adoption would be finalized would be in March or April. Either way she will be going to a good place but we’re crazy about her and would hate to let her go. Not without a fight, you can be sure.
4 Comments | Art, Art: music, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Foster Parenting, Family: Jason, Family: Me, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: dollywood, Jason, music, pigeon forge, precious, travel | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Phone Photo Friday
10/14/2011
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: interior design, Art: mid-century design, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: cell phone photography, front door, living room, Phone Photo Friday | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Winds of Change
10/10/2011
There is so much whirring around in my head but I can’t seem to organize any of it into a well packaged blog post.
There is everything and there is nothing.
Sorting through it is overwhelming.
I take a deep breath and keep going. Everyday.
One day at a time.
Looking too far ahead makes the butterflies in my tummy start flapping.
Reflecting on the past sometimes stirs up more pain than joy.
So I try my best to keep my head and my heart in today.
To be present.
To savor every moment I have with the people I love.
Last spring I wrote a post called On The Precipice as we were about to take the plunge into foster parenting. Right now, I feel like our toes are up to the edge of four different cliffs. It’s exciting times for our little family. And it’s a lot to take in. Jason’s mind is as full of spinning thoughts as mine…but it seems like when he’s pondering one thing, my brain is consumed with another. We’re doing our best to encourage and support each other. In some ways it feels like we’ve been disconnected lately with all that’s flooding in around us (or maybe just preoccupied) but at the same time, our foundation is as strong as ever and we’ve been holding each other up through each day. I’m so thankful to have my best friend right by my side.
It’s a strange season we’re in… or maybe it’s the change of seasons we’re feeling right now. Funny how the natural sometimes lines up with the spiritual. Driving to work through the park near our house one day last week, a shower of orange and yellow leaves rained down on my car as I drove under the trees. The beauty of it brought tears to my eyes. I love how God made the process of leavings dying into such a beautiful show.
3 Comments | Art, Art: God's creation, Faith, Family, Family: Jason, Family: Me | Tagged: changes, Faith, life, seasons | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Phone Photo Friday
10/07/2011
1 Comment | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation, Art: Phone Photo Friday | Tagged: autumn, cell phone photography, fall, flowers, orange, Phone Photo Friday, zinnias | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Floods, Thieves and Babies
10/06/2011
Remember the story of our friends and neighbors Jeremy and Leila who lost their house in the Nashville Flood of 2010? And then suffered another loss when their rented temporary home was burgarlized last Christmas? (Actually, I didn’t blog about that but it sucked.) Then they finally got to rebuild their dream house? Well, they have some exciting news… they’re adopting a baby!
I’ll be honest…I kind of hate the idea of fundraising for an adoption…maybe more so I hate that money is a road block for so many. But I also get it. It’s super expensive and there are a lot of people who understand the heart of adoption and want to help out in some way other than adopting a child themselves. Jeremy and Leila are a couple of the sweetest people we know. They’re quick to help others and slow to ask for help. They had planned to save and pay for this adoption all on their own but the 3 situations above have cut a painful chunk out of their savings. I know it’s very humbling for them to have to ask for help.
They finished their home study process just a few months ago and were anticipating a fairly long wait before they were matched with a birthmother. Last week they got a call that they were 1 of 2 top choices for a birthmother due in 2 months. They met her on Friday night. On Sunday night they got a call to inform them that she chose them, AND she was being admitted to the hospital with contractions, AND she’s actually due in just 1 month. WHOA! Talk about a whirlwind. Thankfully, the contractions were just Braxton Hicks and the bun is still in the oven. However, our friends now have just a few weeks to collect the funds they need (several $1000 more) before the baby is born. Baby boy will be full-term (37 weeks) next week so it could be any day now.
I know most of you probably don’t know J and Leila but I’m guessing a bunch of you have a place in your hearts for adoption and can sympathize with their crazy past year. Would you please pray for them… Pray that the finances come in in time, for peace and courage for them and the birthmother, for the baby boy to be born healthy at just the right time. And if you have it in your heart to take a step further, any little bit, even $5, could really help them out. More about their story and how to donate here.
5 Comments | Art, Art: CBB 3.0, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: adoption, leila and jeremy, Nashville Flood | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Weekend Getaway
10/05/2011I hate that my best friend doesn’t live in Nashville anymore but at least it’s only a 4.5 hour drive to Cincinnati. Jason and I got permission to take Precious out of state with us for a short trip up to visit our dear friends last weekend. We got to hang out with these amazing kiddos:
… and their parents, too. 🙂
On Saturday morning we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was cold!
Precious slept against me (and kept me warm) in a Moby Wrap through most of the zoo, though she was awake long enough to check out the penguins.
We also saw giraffes, gorillas, monkeys, lions (awake!), a rhino, manatees, and this strange looking tortoise…
Traveling with a 2-month old went pretty smoothly. She’s so easy-going and pleasant.
4 Comments | Art, Art: God's creation, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: Cincinnati, friends, travel, zoo | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Rocker
10/03/2011
I was so excited that I have something to share that’s not related to foster care or babies… it’s actually home related and mid-century modern, too! Then I realized it is still very much related to foster care and babies. Oh well. I tried.
Last Monday night I emailed Jason a link and said, “Can I get this? I want to rock my babies.” He replied back, “Yes dear. You can rock your babies in that chair. Go for it. Sweet mama and wife, I love you!” A couple of clickety clicks later on my Amazon iPhone app and it was ordered. It arrived on Thursday. Talk about rockin’ service! It took no more than 5 minutes to assemble and is exactly what I was hoping for. A white plastic-shell Eames replica rocking chair for our kids room. Precious and I have been enjoying it.
PS. If you want to get a real deal Eames rocker, you can buy one through Herman Miller for $479.
6 Comments | Art, Art: Bedoom for Foster Kids, Art: interior design, Art: kids room, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Foster Parenting | Tagged: babies, baby, eames, kids room, mid-century modern, nursery, retro, rocker, rocking chair | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
myMCMlife.com 