Archives for February 2020

Years ago I heard about a “favorite things” party and ever since I’ve always wanted to host one.  When I was in Kansas in November helping at Christmas Camp Create we all brought 3 of one of our favorite things to have a favorite things party.  So for Camp Create I took 3 bottles of Christmas Spirit essential oil.  We set a $10 limit and it was seriously THE MOST FUN!!!!  You can google how it works!!!  I laughed so hard and loved seeing what everyone brought.  I came home with delicious dutch chocolates & cookies, a silk pillowcase and some awesome new pen sets.  It was a total blast and I knew for sure I wanted to host one in December.

When I got home I set to work and early December a whole bunch of fun ladies gathered in our house with their favorite things and a favorite food dish to share.  Everyone left with 3 different favorite things from someone else, full bellies and faces that ached from smiling and laughing so much.  It was a blast listening to everyone share about their favorite item…where they bought it, price point (ours was $10-$15), why they like the item so much and any other tidbit of information they wanted to throw in there.  It was also great to have a whole bunch of reasonably priced new gift ideas heading into the holiday season.  I walked away with a set of adorable post cards, some crazy good smelling body wash and an adorable zip pouch, holiday napkins & notecards.

I’ve thought about the party so many times since and wanted to share everyone’s items they brought because it was just so good!!

Giant Confetti Cannon from Party City & Jr. Mint Minis:  Not all confetti cannons are created equal.  We’ve used others, but the one from Party City…which I cannot find on Amazon…is THE BEST!!!  The function, the ease of use, the pop, the explosion of confetti and even the color of the confetti.  Yes these things matter to me…I am a bonafide confetti cannon snob.   A little extra fun ensued when the 3 ladies who chose my gift were unwrapping it and I shot off a surprise confetti cannon in our living room just to show everyone how it worked. 🙂  I really love a good party.  Also shocker:  I’m the only person who chose a food item. 🙂  This speak volumes about me.  The Jr. Mint Minis, well, hands down they’re my favorite candy.  Period.  I know, I know, what about the sweettart ropes…yes, even better than those.  Since discovering the minis I haven’t eaten a regular Jr. Mint since.  It’s the perfect dark chocolate to mint ratio and I’m never looking back.

Tennessee Wood Art from a local business:  This was a fun home item and of course everyone at the party was from Tennessee so everyone was all in.  The ladies all oohed and ahhed over it.  I also loved that it came from a local shop in our area.  Keeping it in the community!

TJ Maxx:  How adorable is it when someone’s favorite thing is an actual store because they get great items for a great deal every time so they bring adorable zip pouches, festive holiday napkins and notecards for their gift and you get all 3?!?!?!  Favorite indeed.

Ulta Holiday Lip Gloss Set:  I mean, is there really such a thing as too many lip glosses?!?!  I think not.  Also all I could think was how fun it would be to keep a few for myself and then add them into other fun gifts.  Perfect sharing kind of favorite thing.

(This was an Ulta Holiday Item so no link.)

Belkin Leather Tassel USB Charger:  Incredibly cute and handy as all get out.  I am always looking for my charger chord…perpetually!  Perfect gift for literally anyone.

Invisibobble:  Hair ties that A) Don’t hurt your head after wearing them for hours and B) That don’t crease your hair.  I’ll take 20 please.

Smoothie Body Buttercream:  My SIL Jen swears by this stuff.  I have super dry knuckles in the winter and Winter always has really dry feet & heels so problem solved.  Bonus:  It’s smells so good.

TIJN Blue Blocking Glasses:  The crowd went absolutely wild for this item.  Jealously swept the room and everyone wanted a pair.  I had never heard of blue blocker glasses and recently ordered this exact same pair because I just couldn’t hold off any longer.  My friend Megan brought these and my favorite thing about her gift was how passionate and informative she was about them.  I mean, she made me a full on beleiver.  And they are super adorable.

Anthropologie Volcano Candle & matches:  I heard about this candle from the internets, but had never actually smelled it, but once I smelled it I understood what all the hype was about.  Insane!!!!!  Maybe the best candle I’ve ever smelled.  My friend Becca purchased the small size and paired it with some adorable vintage holiday matches.

Trader Joe’s Felted Wool Garland & Almay Make-up Free Wipes:  I love Trader Joes, but don’t want to actually go into Trader Joes.  It’s what I imagine a hipster apocalypse would be like and I don’t really want to shop for groceries through that kind of end of the world. 😉  But for the a-freakin-dorable felt ball garland I’d totally do it.  And I always need face/makeup/skin tips.  Always.

Clean On Me Body Wash:  I got to use this approximately 2 times before Harper commented on how good I smelled and then the bottle disappeared from my shower and showed up in hers.  Hmmmm, how does that work?!?!  It smells absolutely amazing and clearly is a winner among the young and old.

Pep Talk Postcards by Emily McDowell:  My friend Courtney brought this and she encouraged me to choose her gift because she knew it was literally made for me.  I LOVE MAIL!!!  I love to send it, I love to receive it.  And I deeply love a good postcard.  Our Christmas cards last year were post cards.  I have only a few cards left from this stack and I will 100% be ordering more.

Flair Pens:  Only the best pen around for writing.  Smooth, soft, colorful.  A constant pen choice among me and Harper for doodling, journaling, note taking, letter writing and list making.

Raw Sugar Sugar Scrub:  I love a clean exfoliant so I was a tad jealous I didn’t choose this gift.  We passed it around and smelled it like crazies.  Such a versatile gift…who doesn’t want soft, exfoliated skin?!?!

Native Travel Deodorant & NYX Butter Gloss:  Some of you may remember my detoxing from deodorant and smelling like Taco Bell for 2-3 weeks-ish situation a while back.  Well I’ve started using deodorant every now and then again…like for an important meeting or appointment where I know I might be sweating a bit…and Native is my go to.  Clean and it works.  And a bomb lipgloss.  What can I say?!?

Everyone had so much fun we collectively agreed we’d do a spring one and I am SO SO SO excited about it.  I’ve already been thinking about my spring/summer item.  Here’s to a good party!

Hi!  2020 has been a whirlwind and has kind of knocked us on out in 100 different ways.  I wanted to sit down and write out meaningful and prolific words, but really I’m just stuck on the same words I’ve shared a million and one times since Everett died…life is weird and wonderful and sad and joyful and hard and lovely.  Every time I think I’ve gained 3 feet on my grief something happens and spins be backwards 6.  It’s this never ending game of grief and life moving on without him.

We’ve pretty much packed the beginning of 2020 out.  Josh Kelley and I have impeccable timing of course.  We came in hot off of Christmas and into Ethiopian Christmas, Chinese New Year, Solomon’s birthday, Winter’s birthday, basketball season, we sold our house, we bought a house and in March we’ll close on all the houses, take an international spring break and celebrate Amon and Harper’s birthdays.  Go big or go home…or go big and go crazy.  It’s bizarre because I’ve never really looked forward to the month of April, but here I am fully anticipating it like it’s Christmas.

2020 has brought up a lot of hurt and sadness I haven’t sat with in a long time.  Apparently when I stuff my feelings down they eventually come spewing back up.  Good to know. 🙂  We’re going to start back to therapy soon which I simultaneously look forward to and dread.  Therapy is hard work.  It requires a lot…time, money, emotions.  I have a lot of feelings about mental health in America.  #1 thing being…we should all have incredible mental health benefits…and yet, they are basically the worst.  I don’t understand it at all.  Taking care of our mental health should not bankrupt someone.  Health insurance companies shouldn’t make it so hard on therapists and counselors to file claims.  Health insurance companies shouldn’t suck!

December was busy and fun and decent.  There were hard moments…I think there will always be.  Everett was apart of us so it feels unnatural to keep living life without him.  There are moments when one of the kids will say, “This doesn’t feel right without him.” or they will get sad right in the middle of something fun and honestly I absolutely LOATHE those moments while I also absolutely LOVE those moments.  I hate they carry this sadness, but I love that they carry him.  In a world where I often feel so out of place because grief and death have stripped me of things others still have, Josh and my kids make me feel normal because they feel all of this too.  They understand how crazy it all is.

For an assignment at school one of our kids had to write about themselves.  When I read this part I cried…

Who feels loved, great and tired.

Who needs family, food and clothes.

Who gives love, respect and kindness.

Who fears loss.

Who would like to see Everest and Heaven.

I sometimes get so wrapped up in my own grief and life I forget how not only did I instantly change the moment Everett’s heart beat it’s last, but so did 7 others humans I adore.  Each of one us instantly became different.  Josh and I can visibly see the difference in our kids’ smiles.  But man, do they love big and they carry him so close in everything they do.  Several of them plan to get “E” tattoos when they are older and I cannot even tell you what those random conversations do for my heart.

Several several months ago I had inquired about some of Everett’s documents I really wanted to have from China.  It felt like a long shot.  It seemed a bit impossible and very unlikely the things we longed for were still out there or if they were that they’d find their way into our hands.  Then one evening in December Mr. Mike our mailman brought the largest cardstock envelope I’ve ever seen to our door.  I anxiously opened it and instantly began to cry.  I was immediately transported back to the moment when the nurse handed me my mom’s belongings in a plastic bag, told me she was sorry, gave me a hug and then I walked off my mom’s hospital floor alone.  I cut open the large plastic bag of Everett’s and began going through all the images and paperwork.  It was hard and sad and also gave us another little piece of our FuShuai we long for every single day.  You can guarantee some of these items will be framed and be apart of our home always.  We’re learning everyday how to weave him into our life without him physically being here.  It sucks and it’s also a privilege.  Gah I miss him.

I know the beginning of a new year usually is marked by re-caps of the previous year and fresh goals for the new one.  In 2019 I read zero books, met zero fitness goals, met zero business goals, I did not read through the Bible…actually only opened it once and only then because of my friend Jess Thompson.  I did not kick any unfavorable habits…in fact I added some…and I only kept one single New Year’s goal all together.  Our time is now forever stamped not by a new year, but by Everett’s death…the time before he died and the time after he died.  That can feel pretty crushing.  2019…year number two…was about surviving and that’s exactly what we did.  Another 365 days to be exact and I’m chalking that up to a win.  We carried each other and we made it another year closer.

Here’s to just trying to do and be a little bit better than last year.  That’s my goal.  Keep white knuckling my jaded hope and just do my best.  Love a little deeper, give a little more, be a little kinder.  And on days when I have a hard time even pulling myself from the bed, I’ll try and see my hope from a different angle.  Spin it a different way and never let go of that persistent, stubborn hope.

It’s good to be back. 🙂