fill in the blank friday

1.   My current obsession is      organization, I'm on an organizing frenzy - good thing too  .

2.    accessories      make me happy.

3.  My greatest strength is   being loyal   .

4.    lacking motivation    is my greatest weakness.

5.  My life is    crazy but beautiful, goal: slow down and enjoy the moments and  people in it and remember to capture them .

6.  In high school I was     all over the place & confused, which explains why I was editor-in-chief of the yearbook   .

7.  When I'm super tired    I just straight up start falling asleep lol  .

p.s. note for subscribers I have edited my url so please change it in your reader

Weekend Plans

Over this past weekend Hayden & I flew down to So Cal for our first ever blogging conference - Blog Sugar!

A what?! 

Yes, you read that right and yes those do happen. A lot of them actually. 

I've always thought it would be fun to go to one and then I heard from Jess and Kim that they might go to this one. So I asked if me and the little lady could tag along and we did.

So the weekend adventure began on Saturday...

First Hayden and I got dropped off at SFO by my sweet and wonderfully helpful mom-in-law. Everything went very smoothly, too smoothly because we got checked in less than 15 minutes and then had nothing to do for 2 hours while we waited to board our plane. During which Hayden decided to wake up and play but made great friends with the airport security guys. Flight there - fed her, a little fussy, then passed out. I even did for a little bit.

We landed and were picked up by the girls and then headed to late lunch at Cafe Rio with everyone else staying at Julie's house plus the lovely Drew B and baby Kennedy. Cafe Rio was super yum - kinda a mix between Chipotle, Baja Fresh and Coldstone (they sing when you ask for extra things I think). After lunch we went to my second coffee love - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. I got their summer special blended drink - Honeydew Melon.

After settling in a little bit at Julie's gorgeous house. The speakers headed to dinner at Andrea's house and we headed to Fashion Island, met up with some other bloggers and ate at Cheesecake Factory. Love their new "Skinny" menu! I had the chicken samosas.  Once back at the house we chatted some more and eventually went to bed.

The big day... Sunday!

While planning our trip the girls had the genius idea for us all to go to Dry Bar. Who doesn't like to get primped and pretty a little bit plus one less thing for me to pack.

It was really fun to experience. I love me some relaxation and I think Hayden did too! She sat on my lap quietly observing the process. My girl doing my hair was really sweet and patient since I had baby with me. They serve complimentary drinks (I had flavored water) and have a chick flick type of movie playing plus fun music.

Some girls got their makeup done after that but Kim and I went to Barnes & Noble so I could buy a copy of Mollie Makes and then headed to grab a bite to eat. Jess then met up with us and we headed for Blog Sugar!

...

and then we arrived!

I was hot and someone little spit-up all down my back. Good thing I brought another shirt! So our time didn't start off that great plus I know events like this involve mingling but I'm horribly shy in these situations and feel like a loser. Hay-baby and I headed to the bathroom and saw all this adorableness on the way.

I was really excited for my sessions though!


I chose :
1. Sarah Markley - Carving Out Your Space: Finding your unique niche in blogging while connecting with your readers
2. Lindsey Cheney - The Juggling Act: Learning to balance a successful business , family and self
3. Julie Carson & Jeannett Gibson - Blogging For Good: Using your blog for a greater good


I have been transformed, inspired and really encouraged by all my sessions and by keynote speaker Meg Duerksen. This weekend came at just right time, things have already been shaking up over here in content and even more will be changing once I get all my ideas down on paper. 

p.s. Don't wear a chiffon shirt while breastfeeding, you will get milk on it and have spots... Now I know!

Pictures provided by Kimberlee Grover aka A Cuppa Kim plus a couple from the iPhone :)

fill in the blank friday

1.   The best thing I did all week was     prepare for Blog Sugar !  .

2.    rainy days      make me super happy.

3.  Pets are   a nice thought but too much trouble   .

4.    My family   is the best thing about my life.

5.  With the cooler weather I am looking forward to    creating and crafting some new things  .

6.  Something that's on my "wish list" right now is     boots!!! I really want some rain boots and some fringe moccasin boots   .

7.  This weekend I am going to   SoCal for Blog Sugar, yay!! beyond excited .

Hayden - 2 months

Eeek! I cannot fathom that my baby girl is already 2 months old. I love it though! She is at the point where she is looking and acting less newborn and just baby. Every day with her has been so fun, even the times where she won't stop crying.. usually because she is tired and refuses to sleep. Thats alright I will temporarily live on coffee and enjoy this time while it lasts. To be honest and fair she does seem to get better everyday.

The last time Hayden wore a newborn size outfit

I meant to finish up this post last week but it has been crazy here with weddings, showers, preparing for  Blog Sugar '11 and of course the normal busyness of being a part of a start-up church. Then I figured might as well wait till her 2 month check-up.

My Uncle Ron & the tiny chubbers

Hayden's appointment went so well yesterday! I was a little nervous about  how she would do with her shots, she had 3 plus some meds by feeding. Um hello best baby ever, cried for maybe 30 seconds and then promptly fell asleep on daddy. She did really well before that during the regular part  of her appointment too. Really though the most exciting part is finding out how much she weighs.... Hayden is just a tad over 12 pounds but get this for her weight she is in 76 percentile! However... She is only 21.5 inches lol coming in the 14th percentile. Poor girl is definitely going to be short like me and there is no doubt that the whole breastfed thing is workin' for her. The girl is chubby, for sure!

The comments from people we get the most about you are: how strong you are - which you are crazy strong, you hold your head up like its nothing, how chubby you are, how good you are - especially at church, and how sweet/cute you are - thats the most recent one, now that you are beginning to show others your personality and smiles more 

You love your play mat!

Things you love:

• Your bug rattle, play mat and baby doll
• Sleeping in your bunny bouncer
• Music
• Car rides
• Snuggling
• Being outside
• Watching Daddy
• Listening to Mommy read
• Staring at Mommy while she eats

Things you hate:

• Being naked
• Not being held or next to someone 
• The car being parked
• When Mommy take too long to do something
• Cold wipes and hands
• Sleeping alone
• Pacis
• When Mommy is cooking

The best thing of all is seeing you smile 

fill in the blank friday

1.   You should always take time to     be with family, last weekend we went to my cousins wedding and spent the night at my aunts. it was wonderful  .

2.    God      make(s) the world a happier place to be.

3.  I can hardly wait for   Blog Sugar!!   .

4.    Monday   is my favorite day of the week.

5.  Something totally dumb and ridiculous that I love is    the powerpuff girls .

6.  If I could, I would   hire someone to clean my bathroom, its the worst  .

7.  I rather like     babies even when they are angry  .

About Me

I've been putting off writing this for a long time now. I think I'm finally ready.

Hello! My name is Emily Tucker - formerly known as Emj because I was formerly Emily Marie Jaquith. A little secret is that they really still call me Emj though :) 

Once upon a time there was a little girl that dreamed of being a pastry chef then she found out you burn yourself a lot. She then decided to be a fashion designer, well she wasn't the best at drawing but she had lots of ideas and vision and a little problem called OCD. So she became a Fashion Merchandiser. 

In the midst of it all she felt lost and couldn't find her way. A chance of fate led her to a college/young adult Bible study group. Where her life would be forever changed. One night of prayer and meditation on the Lord - saved her and all started anew with a dream. 

A couple months later - during a self-imposed time of singleness... She met a guy and boy was it a surprise! They had too much in common for it not to be true. So 2 years later they tied the knot. 

Deep down she had feelings of discontentment and felt like something wasn't right. She realized that she might have a greater calling.. One to be a mommy. 

...and then came baby!

Blogging My Heart

I love these peeps :)

Lately I've been thinking I want to make this blog more real and honest (slightly inspired by the husband), not that I don't try to be that already but I want to be intentional in it. Of course Stephanie Howell happened to blog about this subject almost exactly today. 

Where my heart is at...

1. Focusing way too hard on trying to be the perfect wife and mother and all too devastatingly not focusing on Jesus.. There is no way I can be good at either of these things without centering myself on Him. But then I get this overarching feeling that I don't measure up to other wives and mothers.. It is a vicious circle of knowing what I need to do (pray and read scripture) and how I feel. It bogs me down so much some days that I basically give up.. 

2. Neglecting myself mentally and physically.. I might need some me time. I've approximately only been away from Hayden for maybe 3 hours since she was born. 

3. Hating not being diligent to read my Bible.. To be utterly and completely honest I haven't been 'good' at reading my Bible daily since before we got married. I don't know what it is.. not the right reading plan, not the right amount of encouragement or discipleship, too much going on and not enough focus, who knows??? 

4. I want to be healthy.. I want to exercise but by the time Hayden is taking a nap there are so many other things I want/need to do that it usually ends up last on my list and don't even get me started on eating. Its really only the cooking part that is hard. I swear she knows when I'm either going to start cooking or eating cause every time she freaks out.. Love the girl but can I get a bite to eat please!

5. I am itching.. To let out my creative juices that is. Also another thing at the bottom of my list. I really want to use my craftiness to earn us some extra income and somehow I think it might take me some all nighters to get started :) 

6. Bible study group or discipleship.. I miss being discipled and I miss our original women's Bible study but I know as a church plant sometimes you have to sacrifice certain things and these have been my sacrifice :(

fill in the blank friday

1.   Somewhere someone is     feeling alone   .

2.    Pinterest      is/are my muse.

3.  It would suck if    music    was no more because,    life would be a lot less fun without dancing ;)  .

4.    Watching Hayden sleep   is/are my favorite thing about today.

5.  Life is kind of like     crazy good and hard at the same time <wink> .

6.  If I could have anything I wanted I would want   a huge family and an awesome home to hold them all in + a washer and dryer of my own    .

7.  A funny thing happened the other day...    I spilled salsa on myself while trying to eat a quesadilla while holding Hayden, actually it wasn't funny    .

Summer Music

///So mainly I've had Mat Kearney's new record Young Love on repeat since it came out///

\\\but here are some old and new songs I liked listening to this summer\\\

p.s. sorry for it playing automatically, I tried fixing it but it won't stop...

fill in the blank friday

1.   One thing that is completely superfluous, but that I could never give up is     blogging lol, its super enjoyable and provides an outlet for me  .

2.    strangers (I'm pretty shy at first)      make me feel awkward.

3.  I can't    live    without,    my little family and God  .

4.    hummus   is my favorite snack.

5.  Lately I've been     working out, yay! and reading a lot .

6.  If at first you don't succeed    find the focus you need and trust God and you can succeed if it is meant to be    .

7.  Fall is    my favorite season and I'm so excited!!    .