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Look. I'm about to let you in on a secret, one of my insecurities. Like most insecurities, it might not even be true. But I'm thinking it probably is. It has weighed heavily on me this morning so I'm actually just getting this off my chest, just like the mirror that fell on my chest this morning.

I don't think I'm that good of a homemaker. I cook only during certain moon phases it seems (once in a blue moon) when I feel like it, I hate going to the grocery store (mostly because I have to race like the Daytona 500 [latter pronoun is most likely incorrect, but I'm pretty sure it's a number in the hundreds] back from the city before everything frozen morphs into something with a different molecular structure), every garden I have tried to manifest has died like there was a disease on that patch of land (which I personally declare that there was), everything I sew looks like Edward Scissor Hands got drunk and tried to patch it up, and then there is the issue of the house.

I want a beautiful house, I really do. However, I have no idea what I'm doing. All I know is that I have this stuff that has been inherited. So I have to arrange it. I have no idea if it looks good the way I've arranged it. I have no idea if it looks good in the first place. I have no idea how to make a mantle look pretty or a bookshelf. What the heck do you do with corners? Is there too much? Is there too little? Help!

The stuff I like is too expensive for the Sun King. Interior designers are too big for the wallet. 

Where is my altruism and domesticity? 

Well, it's a good thing I love children and babies, because otherwise I would wonder if I was cut out to be head of a household. I'm guessing that time is on my side with this one. 

In the meantime, my face is pea green from looking at Pinterest:

I mean, who are these people who have it all figured out like this? Comfortable fireplace scenes, artsy furniture they made themselves...DIYers really make me mad! I don't believe in DIY. If you are one, good for you. I can't figure it out. I'm pea green with envy.

So that's my aggressive confession for the day. 

These things happen in time. Time will tell. Time is on my side. Maybe in 5 years, I'll show you my house on here (maybe you can tell from my blog that design is not my forte), and this site will look better and you'll see that my house is one you might like to visit, and you'll say, "Liza Jane, you've gotten so good at being a homemaker, writer and wife! Proud of you!"

I'll say that I'm proud of you too...for still reading my blog. 

Timely,

Liza Jane

Thank You

Thanksgiving.

Give it up.

The holiday has always been special to me. Now it's special and big. My husband's mother's side of the family is humungous. There are babies, and dogs, and children, and games, and goats, and casseroles, and carnival rides. I'm just kidding. I don't know that a blow-up bouncy gym thing (so eloquent tonight) is considered a carnival ride, but I know I've seen one at a carnival, I know I have.

A few good women. One of them hogging the baby.

AND still hogging the baby. This is my little niece. She gives me fever. Baby fever.  But I don't have it that bad.

The family is so big that half the picture had to be cut to fit into my dinky little blog. Big Jackson took up too much room.

And so there you have it. Might be Mississippi's biggest Thanksgiving feast. 

Will and I got engaged on Thanksgiving in 2010. He asked me what I was thankful for, and I said "YOU!" Because I'm smart like that. But I didn't see it coming. Here comes ole Jackson with a box around his neck, walking through the very kitchen I sit in right now. And Jackson knelt down, and then Will did, and then I did. Then I got up because I realized I was getting proposed to. Then I started crying. Then I got really nervous and started sweating and got back down on the floor? Then I started shaking. 

Whatdoyaknow? I said yes. And then he drove me to this Hines Family Thanksgiving feast where I was overwhelmed. With what? Um emotions, raw emotion. And lots of people. And animals. And TONS of food, and people all over the place. 

Adaptation continues. I'm a happy camper. And a thankful one. 

All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you. For everything!

Abundantly,

Liza Jane

Lady in Red

Ladybug bonanza...

I literally mean that ladybug season is fully on here at Bonanza (the name of the place that I live in). Every time I walk outside, they pounce on my hair, crawling into the hole in the bun on my head or somehow getting inside my shirt? I am not certain how they get up in there, but they do...the sly little beetles.

The side waist is their favorite destination. You can't feel them, but all of sudden you'll know that one is down there, discovering "what it is this ivory warm thing that goes on forever?" Of course, I really don't know if ladybugs think anything at all. Well, they certainly don't know about the color of ivory. 

What are you thinking, you cute little polka-dotted thing?

Then I'm wondering, why in the world did they come here? And then I think to myself, well, it's probably the same reason I came here. We won't go into details, but I will relay my theory: they hang out every November, do their thing, lay their eggs in the ground, die (and dead ladybugs are not the happiest thing to look at everywhere you go but it is what it is), and then those little babies come on out the next November. So what we see every fall are millions of generations of ladybugs showing up in the Delta to live it up for a short time. Get big, get some spots in the sun, and then boom. It's over.

I might say that time flies for myself, but for ladybugs, they fly and the time flies faster.

There's also the blackbirds that flock from tree to tree, screaming and screeching in your ears, excreting all over the place. The cool thing about them is that they fly in unison. That's about it. We'll focus on the positive. 

I have some huge goals I would tell you about. But instead, I'll tease you and say that I'm looking for a red dress to wear to some weddings in December...Ladybugs got me all inspired...

Oh yes. I like this color red. More like hot pink sunrise...but isn't she lovely?

Ready,

Liza Jane

We Are Family

Had a really good weekend last weekend. Will had to finish up peanuts. I've already blogged about the peanut craze going on around here. So I took off to Oxford. And oh my. What a brilliant weekend--friends and family, the weather was just...remarkable. Meaning, I have to remark about how great it felt outside. 

And the trees? They were... I'm trying to think of a word to describe the beauty. It was arboreous bliss. Honestly. Those trees are dying and shining. One tree was lit up (and I don't mean there were lights) in orange at night. Standing under it, you felt like you were in a see-through, orange dome. I don't have a pic of that but I've got some great people instead. 

My dad, my big brother and me. At the Ole Miss/Vandy game this past weekend. I'm proud of these two...

My brother KB's company! 

As one might expect, I do look up to my brother. But as of late, there is even more to look up to. He's an inventive entrepreneur! He has created a new kind of drink--xylitol infused drinks that are orally good for you. A sugar that's good for your teeth? You better believe it. Only a dentist... 

My little cousin-niece Sophie.

In addition to the chaps above--Chip, Eric, Jenny, Paul, Allie and little Sophie were among the family I got to be with. Plus, old friends were all over the place. How lucky does one girl get? And little Sophie has gotten so big! She is my sister-cousin, Jenny's little girl. I remember when she was just a babe..sweet thing. 

Yes, we lost. But the day was not a loss. I got to see some people I don't get to see very often. And that was worth the tremendously shameful, emotional roller coaster ride, let-down of a shame game that we witnessed. We should have won. But everyone sees where we are headed, and it's a successful place. Lost the battle, not the war. 

So smile.

You might cause someone else to smile and wouldn't that be worth it? Hell, it makes me feel better when I'm by myself. 

Familiarly,

Liza Jane

My Father's Eyes

Every other Friday, my dad and I have lunch together at the High Noon Cafe next to the Rainbow inside the co-op in Jackson. 

Daddy and I outside the co-op and Rainbow after lunch one Friday.  As you might be able to see, I've got my father's eyes. And more.

This Friday, I'm home trying to fight against procrastination and scatter brain, but come around noon, I'll be thinking about my Daddy-o. Sometimes I need a pep talk, sometimes we just talk about our recent travels, but these Fridays are very important to us. We're important to each other. And we don't let that go unnoticed. Every other Friday, we get to talk about what's been on our minds. 

The best part? Complete honesty. And being together.

My dad and grandfather and brother and uncle are all dentists of different kinds. This sign -- isn't it ironic? Don't you think? Saw it in Greenwood and had to get it on my phone. 

Of course I thought about my dentist chaps when I saw this sign. If you think about it, it's devious business sense. 

Sunrise-- aaahhh. 

 The sun always rises. Even if I acted like a neurotic baby yesterday. 

If someone is important to you, carve out some time. Show up every time. And love with all your heart. No doubt, you'll be receiving a lot too. 

Headed to Oxford this weekend to cheer for the Rebels as they play Vanderbilt. I know I'll be hanging out with my dentist loved ones too.  

Hotty Toddy! I will always be an Ole Miss girl.

Rebelliously,

Liza Jane

Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

Now that you've made your marks in blue,

Please give these people something to do.

Education, prosperity, and love for life,

Much less fighting, much less strife.

Everyone let's take responsibility for our own lives. There is no way that one man can change everything anyway. Government cannot fix our personal problems. It is time to surrender to a power greater than all of this and overcome with the power bestowed upon us. 

I love America's story, and it's only getting better. No matter who wins or who loses. Let us all think beautiful thoughts. 

Patriotically,

Liza Jane