.my date with London.

J and I have always made a point to take our kids out on 1:1 dates. J with lauryn, so she can learn how she should expect to be treated by a boy, and London so that he can learn how he is expected to treat a girl. These "dates" are so special to me. London is such a soft hearted kid. He's eager to please, a lover, not a fighter, and loves to have long talks. Anyway, he planned the "date"... Olive garden then off to see the movie "brave". While at olive garden, a random storm came through, and knocked out the electricity, so we ate in the dark. And, like a typical boy, he thought that was the COOLEST thing. ;). I love my time with him. I love that at 11 years old, he still thinks I'm cool enough to be seen with and hold my hand. He's growing up so fast, and I know the day is quickly approaching that those feelings will change for him, so I'm taking full advantage of it while I can. I can only pray that what he learns on these "dates" will carry over to when he really dates. I pray that his heart always remains soft, and for good judgement in the young ladies he chooses to ask out and court. I pray for his {and lauryns}, future spouses. I'm curious to see the people they choose, the personalities they are attracted to. I can't believe I'm at that point as a mom, where these things are in my thoughts and prayers, although I've been praying for their spouses since I had them, but to know that they are getting to the age where the opposite sex is intriguing, is crazy to wrap my head around. Heck, the thought that I have an 11 & 12 year old has my head spinning. ;)

.priss is growing up.

here lately, every time i look at lauryn i'm shocked by what i see. in my mind, she's my baby girl, so when i see this beautiful, bright young lady looking back at me, it takes me back. when she was a baby, i used to dream about what it would be like for her to be on the brink of being a teenager. it seemed so far away, that it never seemed real. and now it is slapping me in the face. she's 12. TWELVE. she's counting down the days till she turns 13. it makes me cringe. anyway~ i'm going off subject. up until this year, lauryn hasn't gotten a "real" haircut. i've always cut it, and it's always been a long, blunt cut. apparently, that is no longer acceptable. so we made her an appointment.

i have to admit, while the thought of her growing up doesn't exactly make me giddy, her new hair style is adorable on her. even if it does make her look a little bit older. ;) she loves it {says it makes her look at least 13}, and if i'm honest, i love it too.

.Women's rally at church.

Well, since I've got to catch this blog up to date, I may as well tell you that j and I made the difficult decision to leave our church. After 10 years, him serving as a trustee on the board and me on staff, we felt God was leading us elsewhere. I won't go into the whys and how's that lead us to this decision, but it was a very, very difficult one to make. Fast forward three months. We've been going to an amazing church, the kids LOVE it, and are excited to go. They have a ton of activities for everyone. This Friday was one of their 4 women's rally's. The speaker was nancy alcorn--- I love her--- anyway, I've been to jra's women's rally's before, but this was the first time I took lauryn with me. We had so much fun. We went with my partner Lori and her oldest daughter, Alex. I'm so at peace with our decision to leave the only church home we've known for 10 years. And I'm excited to see what God has in store for us at this new church home.

i'm a marathoner???

on our way to chicago!

i can't believe it. i ran my first half marathon. 13.1 miles of nothing but pavement, sweat, grime and the sweetest pair of running shoes i bought just for this race. ;) when i decided that yes, i was crazy enough to enter a half marathon, i knew i wanted to do a big one. not that there aren't decent ones around here, i'm sure they're fine, but, to be honest, i've seen the medals they give, and i really didn't want a big FISH medal for my first race. {no offense bass pro shops}... so, i decided to sign up for the 13.1 marathon in chicago. just a short 8 1/2 hour drive from where i live. no biggie.

i told {quietly mumbled} my desire to a friend of mine, {scared to really tell anyone, because that held me accountable to actually go through with it} she surprisingly jumped on board and said she would do it with me! {i was a tad horrified, the whole "accountability thing" again}, then another friend of ours heard about it, and joined in as well~ it ended up being a 4 day girls trip, full of sight-seeing, shopping, eating {we took that whole "load up on carbs" thing VERY seriously}, and lastly running. 13.1 miles. did i mention that? thirteen point one. that's insanity. anyone who does it is certifiably nuts. and I. LOVED. EVERY. MOMENT. so much so, i'm doing at least one more this fall. i can't believe how much i loved it. i can't believe how much i love the medals. i'm not a collector of anything really, i don't like clutter, but i've decided that i'm going to collect marathon medals. my reasoning is simple. it's impressive to have those medals hanging up in your home, by the door, where anyone who comes in has no choice but to see them, {kidding, kidding, kind of. it's displayed by the back door, so it's only close friends and family that have to see it} , and it makes sure i get off my rump and exercise. ;) here's some pics from our trip:

navy pier. sheri and i were excited to go on the crazy huge ferris wheel... juli, not so much. ;)






we ate at the cafe lux one night. we had never even heard of it, but were shocked at how identical it was to the cheesecake factory... we mentioned that to our waiter, and he told us they were owned by the cheesecake factory.... HUGE portions. great food, but the best part about it was our view for dinner. i *almost* felt like i was in NYC. that was a good feeling. <3 the next day we went into the building that was formerly the sears tower. and we stepped out onto their crazy frightening plexiglass floor... 113 stories up. yeah, it messed with my mind a little.




my bib!!! i was so happy to have all even numbers! oh, see that yellow nail polish? i rocked that color the entire trip and it went with everything!!! i got home, and j took one look at my nails and said it reminded him of baby diarrhea... i guess i won't be wearing THAT anymore...
before the race.



by the end of the race, i was mentally preparing myself for another. this time, i'm going to probably have to settle for a FISH medal~ as gross as that is, but hey, a medal is a medal, right? NO. i can't take a fish medal seriously. ever. but, i'm going to do it. and hubs is doing it with me. {i talked so much smack about me being a "marathoner" that he decided to start training and whip my rear at the race. that's what i get for opening my big mouth. the dude runs like 8 minute miles~ sure, it's only a couple miles he's running right now, but still. he's totally going to blast my time, and then i won't hear the end of it. EVER. so, if you have any tips for this newbie marathoner, send 'em my way. please?!?!

.hello, old friend.

well, once again, i've dropped the ball on my sweet, lovely little blog. there have been so many changes in my life the last two years, that i toyed with the thought of just starting a new blog, and letting this one go. but then i looked back at all my old posts and got all nostalgic and sentimental. ;) when i decided to keep this blog going, the first thing i knew i needed to do was change the name. something that was more fitting to ME, and who i am. when i first started this blog "love,millajane," i didn't have a website for my little photography business, and this was the only way to showcase my pictures. milla jane has grown a *little* bit, and i'm now having my second website designed, a pro photography blog designed, and i have also brought in a partner! milla jane has been such a blessing to me, and it excites me to see how much it's grown~ especially since up until two years ago, it was only a "hobby." now that milla jane has it's own stuff going on, this blog can be all MINE. to talk about my life, my kids, my favorites {books, decorating, make up, running, etc}.

i could go on and on, filling you in on all the details of what's been happening, but i'd rather not put you to sleep on my first post back. ;) instead, for those few of you who miraculously still have me on your feed, thank you. it feels so good to be back, and for good. :) xo