"disappearing" into motherhood

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ” ~cs lewis

There is a woman somewhere in southern california who just wrote a book. She is passionate, giving, opinionated, creative, silly, and wonderfully dysfunctional. Her name is Elizabeth, and she is the married mother of 5 children. 

yaay my drawing!

I got to know Elizabeth about 5 years ago when she commissioned me to do a drawing of her children when her twin daughters were just babies. 
I began to read her Blog. In this way i (and hundreds of others) have followed her thoughts and experiences as she has come to terms with spiritual abuse from her church and its overwhelming effect on her life (to put it short and simply). Also her daily musings on everything from  raising a family to exercising, struggles with religion to ADD medication! And no matter how my views meshed or clashed with hers, i have always appreciated what she has to say, and the heart she puts behind it. 

elizabeth with one of her now
5-year-old twin daughters

She has the heart of someone who yearns to love fully and to be faithful to Christ...and how to do that in light of the deeply ingrained spiritual battle constantly wagon inside of her. She is conservative in many views, and open about others...she also proclaims herself a feminist...in the way of what true feminism should be, and i believe, for a short time, once was: the belief that women are no less than men, are no less functional or productive, and should not have to suffer inconsistencies based on their gender...but while still acknowledging that men and some do have differing roles in this world. That's the way God designed it.

She wrote a post a few days ago advocating stay-at-home motherhood...and it resonated so deeply for me. To nurture and raise a family is one of the desires of my heart...and my heart breaks when i think of how many people...how many people look on choosing such a role akin to choosing a life less fully lived. 

Quote from Elizabeth's post:

"84% of women WANT to stay home with their children. Most women WANT to raise their own children. Most women do NOT see it as a 'sacrifice' of female identity to throw themselves wholeheartedly into raising their babies."

And read the post for yourself...

"why disappearing into motherhood is not a betrayal of feminism"

~clln

end note: i'm of course not saying that those who are not mothers with children or have chosen to work while having children are somehow bereft, or wrong. i'm just addressing the ideas surrounding those that have made this choice. no judgement, no exclusions...i hope that's clear to anyone who reads this silly little blog of mine :)

i am so proud of my bestest friend

Doodles Homme, a clothing line featuring PIP's art, is officially arrived at Fred Segal in West Hollywood! 

~

CLICK HERE ... and check out the look book!

Bilbo and Frodo's birthday!

waaay past eleventy-hundred. and i'm not quite geeky enough to figure it out. but it does remind me that i'm excited for The Hobbit in December. i'm glad i'm excited, i wasn't expecting to be so very much, seeing as i've almost disowned the LotR movies for my own tolkien-purist reasons. ahem. that aside...

also, it's one month from my birthday. my THIRTIETH birthday. 

honestly? just a few years ago i never pictured myself living til i was 30. i know that sounds terrible, but i was in a different place then. thank God :)

anyway, i feel like the blow of 30 years would be greatly softened if someone made me some birthday cake pancakes. thanks internet!

i moved out of Joey and Ginger's last week so they could have more room for their 3 now very active little boys. and i miss them. i miss them so, so much! except for Henry's parting gift to me of a chest infection...i won't miss that.

Chad and i are now 84 days from the wedding, and aside from the planning insanity, i'm beginning to get all nest-y. which will be much easier to deal with when we get a place of our own and i'm not freshly shoved into my parents guest room, with boxes and bags surrounding a mattress on the floor. (did i mention they are moving, too?)

this is what i want my breakfast table to look like when i have a house someday. this picture makes my heart feel so happy. plus, for this to be my kitchen table in my own house someday, i think i will have fulfilled a hefty number of life goals to make that happen, and that feels good, too.

this skirt, please, thank you (and the sweater. and the floor.)

Belgium? This is in Belgium? Then that's where i'm going.

and i like this tumblr.

i can't believe he's almost 7 years old

Yesterday i visited the Adams' to help out for a few hours while Ginger had to take Henry to the doctor. As I picked up some stray toys, I came across this one and decided to impress Caid with my animal knowledge.

"Hey Caid," I said, "this is a Quagga, right?"

He glanced away from the computer, raised an eyebrow, and said nicely: "No, actually, that's an Okapi; it's related to a giraffe." He turned back to his dinosaur video.

"Oh," I replied, and looked dumbly at the toy. "So what's a Quagga?"

He turned towards me with full attention this time. "A Quagga is a type of small horse that became extinct. It had stripes on it, too," he added, as if to reaffirm me. (He told me more...but i'm just not as good at remembering this stuff as he is.)

Anyway, shows what I know. At least I got the stripes right!

NOT a Quagga

summer...? over it.

It's really all just wishful thinking right now, as it has been hot, muggy and miserable for weeks, and an end doesn't seem to be in sight...but i'm so ready for fall.

Tired of the stickiness and wildfires. Of feeling drained and awful all the time.

But these things, these lovely little pictures below, make me feel really, really....happy. and alive. 

Autumn and winter make me feel alive.

i'm ready for scarves, and shorts with tights.

ready for pinecones and wintery jewelry... like these earrings from etsy.

ready to sit inside on a cloudy rainy day and draw.

ready to bake pies. and oh these:
Apple hand pies with cheddar! Chad would love these.

...and apple cider. 

in apple cups, if you want to be fancy.

I'm definitely, definitely ready.