here

I am still here! Just not very active on the blog but believe me very active in just about every other part of life. We've had lots of graduations, parties and all kinds of other things are brewing up here in the Laurent household. More details on all of it soon. Pat's painting like crazy, Zane's running through sprinklers and I'm going through some photos...but personal ones! It's about time! Zane is due to have a letter written to him, oh about 4 months ago!

A little note to anyone reading in the Columbus, Ohio region. I'll be in Columbus this weekend if anyone is interested in photos. Seniors, families, babies, I'm up for whatever! So just shoot me an email at mayacrev at yahoo.com if you are interested and we can try to work something out!

Sorry for the lack of commenting and activity on other's sites. I'll get back to you eventually!!!

yes, we are a bit obessed

If you haven't heard this yet, here you go! We're keeping our fingers crossed to see Coldplay in Chicago in the fall, but we'll see if we can get tickets. We'd REALLY like to see them in the UK if anyone's looking for gifts for us! Ha! We can dream right?

Headed back outside to enjoy the sun!!! Finally!!!

breathing

I'm typing with a sleepy baby in my arms at 11:50 pm. We don't know what's up but blood curdling screams that have been coming from him so I'm letting him calm down and sleep on my shoulder while I type.

I have been so absolutely busy recently that it stresses me out in the morning thinking about all I have to accomplish in a given day. I am trying so hard to stop and breath in times that it just doesn't seem possible. Deep breaths to take in what surrounds me and try not to miss it.

As we got out of the car the other night and I grabbed a sleepy eyed Zane, he turned his head to the stars and let out the largest gasp I've ever heard him do before. He kept gasping while signing lights over and over again. I stopped and gasped with him.

The other day when my mom and I were taking photos of this senior, I looked up and loved the sun. It was washing everything out and was just beautiful. I stopped and saw the beauty, even if just for a moment.


Check out other best shots over at Mother May I.

thankful

Yesterday and today I realized what an amazing group of people I work with. As I've mentioned before I struggled with making the change to go part time but once I met the people at my new job I felt like I was being pushed towards working there and that I was meant to be there.

This morning started off with a hug from a coworker that told me how brave I was to do what I did yesterday, how much the mother (sorry don't want to use her name) would appreciate it and how lucky they were to have me as a coworker. Wow...way to start a morning.

I watched yesterday as our boss, the VP of marketing and another coworker tended to the mother and father and their entire family during the calling. They supplied them with water, made sure they sat down, and tried to get them to eat just a little bit. They kept the tissue when needed and were there for overall support.

The amount of people who showed up yesterday from my work was amazing. From those who worked with the mother to the president to the nurses who cared for their baby, I was proud to be a part of an organization who made sure the parents knew how much they were cared for.

I'm so thankful for where I have been placed right now.

get out and vote

It's been 40 years since Indiana has had the chance to make a decision in the primary race. Take a hold of that chance today and get out and vote! It took me a whole 10 minutes this morning and that includes driving. Regardless of what some might say...your vote does count! So head to the polls!

perspective

We have been complete chaos in our house. Pat and I are on our computers every waking minute it seems trying to get work done. We stop to play with Zane and jump back to the computer when he naps. I have a LOAD of photos to edit and am headed to bed right now so I can get up super early to edit before swimming and voting, followed by more editing.

I have felt on the edge, like there's a pile of stuff to accomplish and it's not getting any smaller. And then I hear news, news that broke my heart, made my throat swell with holding back tears and made me realize that it may be chaotic but we are blessed.

I don't understand the news I heard today. It makes me angry, upset and want to know why things like this can happen? I'm confused and yet know that there has to be light within it somehow for those involved. We're praying a lot for a family tonight and can't imagine their pain.

a different kind of morning wake up

We had hit snooze a couple times this morning before Pat had to get up and then I hear something followed by Pat going, "Maya" in a worried tone of voice. I sat up and realized our house was shaking. At first I thought a huge truck went by or something but it kept going on. We were having an earthquake!

Now all you California people are saying "Yeah big deal" but it is weird here. I remember one when I was little, one when I had my internship and that's about all. They're pretty rare. So rare that Pat and I had this huge debate one time as to whether Indiana had earthquakes so this morning after it happened I promptly said "Indiana doesn't have earthquakes huh?"

Zane slept through it all and we could hear through the monitor the crib hitting the wall in his room. I'm editing photos right now and I just felt another one, not as big as the one this morning though. Zane slept through it too. So weird!

late night work = good music

Two posts in one night! That's a record in awhile! I'm editing photos into the late night and Pat's painting into the late night which equals playing his IPOD (which I never get to listen to!). I forgot how much I love this song...so had to share.

to write love on her arms

My brother, Spencer, got me a T-shirt for my birthday from this movement. He thought I would really like what they are doing and after checking out he couldn't be more right.

Working with high school students has opened my eyes to all that they face, struggle with and that the majority of adults write off as them being teens. We tend to look back on our teenage years and realize that so much of it was a struggle and that everyone gets "that way." But some face it at a deeper level, and we need to pay attention. I had a friend commit suicide in high school and that made me aware to never ignore any kind of depression and to instead respond in love, sometimes a difficult love, that will help the person. If you get a chance check out more on the movement here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

As I'm sitting in a meeting this morning I hear this sound! In comes the guy into the conference room, circles the table and then exits to the studio. Funny stuff!

These are the kinds of things I'll miss about this place. There's always something random!

Look how empty our office is at 9 am on Monday morning. Ha!

Back to work!

believe

I opened my lunch this morning to put it in the fridge at work. Inside it was a note from Pat that said:

"God believes in you and so do I."

I want change now! I want it on my time and to my liking. I want to believe that the direction I'm headed is the absolute right one, with no other options. But it's not that simple, it's not always black and white. There's lots of gray area and I have to believe in what I'm trying to do.

We are surrounded by so much joy and opportunity is knocking loudly at our front door. So loud that it takes me hours to fall asleep because my head is spinning from it all.

I have to stop doubting. I have to be me, believe in my creativity and run with it.

(picture is from the decorations I put together for Lacey's bachelorette party this past weekend)

exhausted but well worth it

We just got back from the Senior High Retreat with 240 something high school students and just 40 adults. The students were challenged beyond what I expected and I think most of us adults were as well.

Pat and I have such a variety of friends from all walks of faith, beliefs and non-beliefs. I would never change that and we thrive in that community. We want Zane to not just surround himself with those of his own beliefs but to be in close relationships with those who believe the complete opposite of him. And something that is always on my heart and Pat's is that we want Zane to own his faith, beliefs and non-beliefs, not just follow us.

This weekend did that for these students. They all are struggling in some way with why they feel God isn't hearing them. The theme Can You Hear Me? couldn't have been better. They had to own up to what they struggle with, what they believe and how they will fall back to God with things that may not get an answer. Just watch this video of photos students and some adults submitted to get a glimpse of how they took this simple challenging phrase. You'll see some of my mom and I's photos in their from my girls (check out the most recent photos here and more here). Look for Zane's diaper and Pat and one of his paintings too.

I sat in a room with high school girls and another adult and we all were in tears. This is big for me who doesn't show a ton of emotion but I'm getting better at that. Some of the struggles these teenagers are facing are things I have never even been exposed to in my lifetime. How is this fair that they have to deal with this at such a young age? It upsets me and just makes me want to scream! But yet some of these same girls are the ones that are touching others by inviting them into friendship. It's amazing to see before your eyes how they are making a difference no matter what their background is.

The weekend was well worth the sacrifice of spending time at home or with Zane. We know that one day Zane will have an adult that is willing to give up a bit of their time for him to grow and challenge him.

So even though I broke my camera (shattered the LCD screen by falling on ice within the first few minutes we arrived in PA!), my neck hurts and I have had very little sleep...it was well worth it.

still here

I don't think I've been this quiet on my blog for awhile. There are so many life changes ahead for our family that I can't find a way to put it into words. Or I feel that I need to refrain from putting it into words until we've made decisions as a family as to next steps. All is well, slightly stressful, but headed in the right direction.

Last night Pat and I sang Old McDonald to Zane as we tried to get him to go back to sleep after a diaper change that revealed the diaper rash isn't getting better. Get those teeth through already! It reminded me how a year later it still amazes me how having Zane has put so much into perspective for us. It's like God had all these things lined up and released the gates on them for us to begin to see as we have gone through this first year of parenting. It's scary...way scary...but I can't wait to see what this next year brings.

More later...and hopefully some more birthday pictures!

here I go

I am about to give blood at our work's blood drive and all I can think about is the scene that ensued the time I gave blood in high school. I was one of the willing high school students who thought missing class and having some soda and a cookie wasn't a bad idea. No problems with the whole blood part of it, the soda was okay and the cookie was a bit stale.

Fast forward to 15 minutes later after they've okayed me to get up from "resting." I walk up three flights of stairs to a class, get to the top of the stairs and start to fall back. Luckily my friend Jay was there to catch me and to help me make my way into the hallway. I don't remember a whole lot except a teacher telling me to lay down (in the middle of the hallway - HIGH SCHOOLERS WORST DREAM) and that people were surrounding me and talking to me. Fast forward another 10 minutes and I am being taken by a wheel chair through the main cafeteria hang out area to the nurse's office. Really there was a better way to go but this is the route they choose. My brother happened to be there at that time to which he choose to scream - "What happened to you Maya?" Thanks for pointing it out to everyone Justin!!!

I remember laying in the nurse's office waiting for my mom to come get me and thinking I would never give blood again. Well here I am about ready to...wish me luck and no wheel chairs and fainting!

UPDATE: It went well. After they screened me twice for low iron (big surprise there!) they let me donate. After finding out my blood type the guy said "You know we are always low on this." Yes, I recall you hunting me down before for it! And it went well, so I will try to commit myself to this more often.

the story of stuff

Pat and I have been talking about how to make our house work with two children. No this is not an announcement that we are expecting but we are trying to think ahead a bit. I just could not see us moving in the coming years nor do I want to. Pat feels the same way and we've figured out some fun changes to make to our house to have four of us + Truman fit into our small 3 bedroom space. I'm excited about making it work!

With that comes the trouble with accumulating stuff. I've talked about it before but have been struggling with several items in regards to stuff. The first is Zane's birthday. I was feeling guilty for us not buying him anything for his upcoming birthday. And then the more I think about it I think "who cares." He doesn't need more things when really it's more about just being with him. So okay, that struggle is laid to rest.

But then there's this side project I'm thinking about starting. The other blog, in additional to the photography business one, that I've briefly mentioned. The idea is to feature modern items for the family that are affordable. We love modern decor, toys, etc. but always hit a brick wall when we find out how expensive it is. I'd love to make a place people can come to and see items I've found that are reasonably priced.

However, is this just creating the want for more stuff? Or am I instead creating a place where people can go to find just what they need and can use over and over so that they don't continue to buy even more stuff? I'm really struggling with this and keep putting it off due to this. Any thoughts?

I know I've sent you to articles before on this but take 20 minutes of your time and watch this video. It will help you understand some of my views on how we just keep filling our homes with stuff. And I think it will make you think twice the next time you go to buy something.

accumulating stuff

We returned from all of our Christmas gatherings and walked into our great room filled with stuff. Toys, clothes, games, food and gift cards. We were overwhelmed. Do we need this much stuff? Where are we going to put all of this stuff in our small home?

Pat and I have been talking a lot recently about what our next step is for a home. Do we upgrade to a larger home? Or just upgrade enough for us to have a dedicated studio space for Pat to paint? Do we try to build our "dream" home that is small, modern and sustainable?

We keep saying we have a city mentality. If we lived in the city we'd have to accommodate to a small space and not much stuff. Yesterday I ran across this article and I completely agree with it. Here's just a bit from it.

But one thing that might work is to ask yourself, before buying something, "is this going to make my life noticeably better?"

A friend of mine cured herself of a clothes buying habit by asking herself before she bought anything "Am I going to wear this all the time?" If she couldn't convince herself that something she was thinking of buying would become one of those few things she wore all the time, she wouldn't buy it. I think that would work for any kind of purchase. Before you buy anything, ask yourself: will this be something I use constantly? Or is it just something nice? Or worse still, a mere bargain?

watch this

No matter where you fall on the global warming scale...believer, in between or skeptic...you need to watch this. I am a strong believer on greener, sustainable building as creating a new structure eats up so much energy and creates a large amount of waste. We hope to build a sustainable, small home one day (anyone know of cheap land?) and feel that sitting back and doing nothing is not an option, as this video helps clarify. Which column do you choose?

tackle, tackle, tackle

I have so many things I want to tackle in such a short amount of time. My stomach turns with anticipation as I work on two new ventures. I could stay up all night creating and stay awake from the excitement.

But a huge list is going to have to be put off till tomorrow and probably till the next day as we need to get ready for a nice New Years dinner with friends. Plus I can't get enough of the laughter as I crawl after Zane, playing peekaboo and playing monkeys jumping on the bed. I wonder how many times I can jump with Zane before our bed breaks?

I don't do resolutions but I will say this about the coming year. I'm sick of hearing and reading about people following their dreams and not doing it myself! Why sit back and just keep going as I am when I know I'm capable of more. Of living more fully and alive.

Here's to that!

staying motivated

I'm feeling the end of year crunch to get things done at work. The planning for the next year always seems to wait till the last minute. I'm taking off in between Christmas and New Years so I'm feeling even more to get it all done this week. Yikes!

Especially yikes when all I want to do is have some warm tea and be snuggled in with Pat and Zane laughing at him imitate whatever we say. Well everything except MAMA!

I guess that's what next week is for, except I don't think he'll say Mama next week.

But for this week I need to stay motivated! And with Chai Tea Latte in hand I'm ready!

7 facts

I was tagged by Kim to do the 7 facts about yourself. So here we go...

1. My in-laws have the same name, Terri and Terry, their moms have the same name, Joan, and both of them have brothers named Greg. So we decided to continue this at our wedding. In our wedding we had 2 Megan's, 3 Jenny's, 3 Brian's and 2 Marc's (actually 3 if you include my dad). We might need to find friend's with different names! Any takers?

2. I never had a boyfriend in high school. Lots of friends that were boys and I was always trying to set them up with whoever they liked.

3. I can't stand Valentine's Day. This might be related to fact #2 but I also don't like it because everyone is celebrating being a couple that day. We have our anniversary to celebrate us as a couple. I told Pat after our first Valentine's together to not get me anything next time and he was relieved he was off the hook! :)

4. I was a 500 Festival Princess. Yes, I said princess. What does that mean? I'm sure you've heard of the Indy 500...well with that comes the 500 Festival of events such as the Mini Marathon, parade, etc. 33 college women are chosen (to go with the 33 drivers) from their collegiate activities, volunteering and GPAs. The queen receives a scholarship towards school. No beauty pageant involved whatsoever!!! My friend Allison convinced me to go for it and it really was a blast. Not many people can say they've walked on the track the day of the race or driven around it that day. Yes I had a sash and a tiara! This might be about the girliest thing I've ever done.


5. I never had been to the hospital till I entered college. Then it was a regular routine for Pat to take me. From some infections I got from not being able to hold food down for 3 months my sophomore year, Pat and I became regular visitors. Oh and then there was this incident with a dog cage, my foot/toes, blood, roommates trying to investigate and Jenni holding my hand while I got stitches in between my toes!


6. I cannot sit down for long periods of time. Even when I'm watching a movie I usually have to be doing something else at the same time unless the movie is that good. This drives Pat insane! I fall asleep way to easily watching TV. I feel like I need to be doing something with my hands, reading or writing.


7. I have only been in one accident with a moving vehicle. But I've hit, slid and backed into numerous non-moving objects. The list includes a parked car (the first time I was aloud to drive by myself to get bread for my mom...hit the car while parking), stop signs, a BRICK wall entry to a neighborhood and Pat's car (while he was in the car with me!). Suggestion...don't park near or behind me!