text:
Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/9c87b6d0578d41169bf17c62c55780bf
Sports - Europe
Stevan Jovetic
French clubs flex new financial might with record spending
By JEROME PUGMIRESeptember 4, 2017
FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, PSG's Neymar during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Saint Etienne at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France. The French capital club PSG broke the world record fee to sign Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($262 million). (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, FILE)
PARIS (AP) — French clubs bought four times more and sold twice as much during the transfer window than at the same stage last year.
Publishing the figures on Monday, the French league said the market experienced "a new dynamic."
With Paris Saint-Germain spending massively, French clubs paid out 697 million euros ($830 million) and made 619 million euros ($736 million).
Brazil striker Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona for a world record 222 million euros ($262 million), with 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe arriving from Monaco last week in a deal that is expected to cost PSG 180 million euros ($216 million). The experienced Dani Alves joined PSG from Juventus, while former Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic went to Monaco from Inter Milan.
PSG sold midfielder Blaise Matuidi to Juventus, while Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette joined Premier League club Arsenal for 60 million euros ($68 million) and teammate Corentin Tolisso went to Bayern Munich for 41.5 million euros ($46.8 million).
For the first time since 2013, French teams bought more than they sold. Furthermore, in terms of transfers between French clubs only, the amount almost tripled compared to 2016, rising from 56 million euros ($67 million) to 163 million euros ($194 million).
With increased television rights boosting the spending power of interested buyers, French sides sold a national-record 29 players for 10 million euros ($11.9 million) or more — twice as many as last year — with 12 first-division clubs involved in such a transaction.
"The 2017 transfer window confirms the new attractiveness of Ligue 1," LFP executive director Didier Quillot said. "The record number of sales also demonstrates the quality of the academies at French clubs, who have completely integrated the transfer market in their development model."
Monaco appears to be the best at selling, recruiting talented young players thanks to its vast scouting network, giving them playing time and selling them within three years for huge profits.
Anyone wanting to study the art of making money should study Monaco, which two years ago sold young forward Anthony Martial to Manchester United in a deal rising to 80 million ($95.6 million). The team had signed him from Lyon for only 4 million euros ($4.8 million).
Last season, Monaco won the league with a young side and thrilled Europe with a brand of attacking soccer that took it all the way to the Champions League semifinals.
Several players from that side, including Mbappe, have been sold.
Manchester City splashed out nearly 110 million euros ($131 million) to buy Portugal attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva (bought for 16 million euros in 2015) and France left back Benjamin Mendy (bought for 13 million euros last year).
Monaco repelled offers of 100 million euros ($119 million) from Arsenal and Liverpool for midfielder Thomas Lemar, while rugged central midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, who joined Monaco from Rennes in 2014, was sold to Premier League champion Chelsea for 43 million euros ($51 million) and a profit of 35 million euros ($41.6 million).
PSG's spending, however, might come at a price.
UEFA put PSG's finances under formal investigation last Friday, citing "recent transfer activity" that triggered concern the club was again flouting rules designed to control excessive spending by top European clubs.
The deal for Mbappe was unusual as a one-season loan with a commitment to pay in 2018. It fueled speculation PSG was seeking to evade UEFA's monitoring of spending rules designed to ensure clubs try to break even on their soccer income and spending on transfers and wages.


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Grasbroek is a neighbourhood and former mining colony in the municipality Heerlen, Netherlands. The neighbourhood was built to serve the mine Oranje-Nassau I.

Grasbroek houses the Patronaatsgebouw (Jos Wielders (1883–1949)), build in 1920 it is one of the earliest examples of Amsterdam School outside Amsterdam. Besides being in a state of disrepair all almost all original elements remain. Currently it is being restored, restoringcost around 3,500,000 euros

References

Heerlen
Mining communities in the Netherlands

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Ivan Johnson parts with Zhejiang CB
Ivan Johnson (203 cm, CS San Bernardino'07) has been released by the Zhejiang Chouzhou Bank from China's CBA. The former Atlanta Hawks forward played 25 games in the Chinese league and put up a solid effort as he averaged 25.8 ppg and 10.2 rpg. He was also a defensive boon to his team with 2.9 spg.
During the 2012-13 season, Johnson averaged 6.5 ppg and 3.8 rpg playing 75 games for the Atlanta Hawks. He previously played in China in the 2011-12 season for the Qingdao Double Star (China-CBA) in 2011-12, where he averaged 20.8 ppg and 8.5 rpg.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Its' been a while since I gave you an update on a buyers' life and it's been all go, go, go! My role has changed to head of buying and I am now responsible for managing a team of buyers and designers in the ultimate multi-tasking challenge of creating the best possible ranges we can, from a multitude of worldwide sources.
Since my last post we've completed another trip to the Far East to visit suppliers, this time taking in India, Sri Lanka and once again, Hong Kong. We've also spent a few days in Istanbul, seeing suppliers there who can provide a quicker service, getting new ideas to market more quickly.
The retail market continues to be very challenging and as a result we are constantly revising our sourcing strategy and updating our product and plans, in an effort to stay one step ahead of the competition. This week will see us spending time in Leicester to visit our growing stable of UK suppliers. Having a few key sources here is becoming an ever more important part of our plans, as the emphasis moves to minimising stock levels and risk, constantly trialling and trading back into best sellers.
This week will also be a landmark in terms of my teams development, with a number of buyers moving departments and a former colleague of mine joining as a senior buyer – finally I will have a complete team, of very talented people, to help us drive business forward! We are also taking on an unprecedented number of new starters at more junior levels over the next few weeks, to bolster the team. It makes me very proud to be able to take on a group of promising youngsters, giving them a start in the very competitive world that is fashion buying!


National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT): A two-member bench comprising of Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Chairperson and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat, Member (Judicial) dismissed an appeal filed against the order of National Company Law Tribunal, Hyderabad whereby appellant's application under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was dismissed.
The appellant submitted that their claim was admitted by the respondent and the NCLT wrongly relied on other evidence to come to a conclusion that there was an existence of dispute. It was on record that series of emails were exchanged between the parties alleging non-submission of work completion certificate, non-completion of work, amount deductible for lead piping and non-removal of scrap material, and exorbitant tonnage claim made by the appellant contrary to existing industry practices.


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Anastasija Ihorivna "Nastya" Petryk (; født 4. maj 2002) er en ukrainsk børnesanger.

Liv og arbejde
I 2009, i en alder af 7, optrådte Anastasija Petryk i anden sæson af Ukraine's Got Talentsammen med hendes storesøster Viktoria "Vika" Petryk, som repræsenterede Ukraine i Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008, og endte på en 2. plads. Selvom Anastasija kun støttede sin søster backstage, inviterede dommerne hende til at synge en sang sammen med Victoria. Efter at have sunger I Love Rock 'N' Roll, blev de begge inviteret til at deltage i showet sammen, hvorefter de nåede semifinalen. Samme år vandt hun førstepræmien i "Moloda Halychyna" og andenpræmien i "Black Sea Games 2009".

I 2010, under den internationale musikkonkurrence "New Wave Junior 2010" i Artek, Ukraine, vandt Anastasija førstepladsen i den yngre aldersgruppe (8 til 12 åt). Viktoria fik førstepræmien i den ældre aldersgruppe.

I 2012, vandt Petryk Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012 med sangen "Nebo". Hun satte en rekord for den største vindermargin i Junior Eurovision da hun fik 35 flere point end 2.-pladsen. Derudover er hun også den musiker der har modtaget den største procentdel af stemmerne.

Diskografi

Singler

 Nebo (2012)

Se også
 Ukraine i Junior Eurovision Song Contest
 Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Kilder

Eksterne henvisninger
 Officiel hjemmeside

Popsangere
Sangere fra Ukraine
Junior Eurovision Song Contest-deltagere


text:
Le patronyme néerlandais Dedecker ou De Decker renvoie vers une profession : le couvreur (du nl:dekker).

Variantes
le -kk- peut devenir -ck- dans le sud des Pays-Bas
le -kk- peut devenir -ckk-
l'article de peut être décliné comme den ou être omis
Un suffixe génitif -s peut être accolé
Un suffixe -e peut être accolé

Des dérivés existent:
francisé : De Deckère
déformé : De Deker, De Deckel, De Dacker

Personnalités
 Annick De Decker (1975-), rameuse d'aviron belge.
 Armand De Decker (1948–2019), homme politique belge.
 Jacques De Decker (1945-2020), écrivain belge, frère de Armand De Decker.
 Michel de Decker (1948-2019), historien normand.
 Pierre De Decker (1812-1891), homme politique belge.
 Wim De Decker (1982-), footballeur belge.

Patronyme néerlandais


text:
//extern alias tpx;

namespace Radical.Tests.Model.Entity
{
    using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
    using Radical.ChangeTracking;
    using Radical.ComponentModel.ChangeTracking;
    using Radical.Model;
    using SharpTestsEx;
    using System;
    using System.Linq.Expressions;

    public class MementoMockEntity : MementoEntity, IMockEntity
    {
        public MementoMockEntity()
        {
            OnInitialize();
        }

        public MementoMockEntity(string firstName)
        {
            SetInitialPropertyValue(() => FirstName, firstName);

            OnInitialize();
        }

        void OnInitialize()
        {
            var firstNameMetadata = GetPropertyMetadata<string>("FirstName");
            ((MementoPropertyMetadata<string>)firstNameMetadata).EnableChangesTracking();

            //this.SetPropertyMetadata( new MementoPropertyMetadata<string>( () => this.FirstName ) { TrackChanges = true } );

            var metadata = new PropertyMetadata<string>(this, () => MainProperty);
            metadata.AddCascadeChangeNotifications(() => SubProperty);

            SetPropertyMetadata(metadata);
        }

        public void SetInitialValue<T>(Expression<Func<T>> property, T value)
        {
            SetInitialPropertyValue(property, value);
        }

        public string FirstName
        {
            get { return GetPropertyValue(() => FirstName); }
            set { SetPropertyValue(() => FirstName, value); }
        }

        public string LastName
        {
            get { return GetPropertyValue(() => LastName); }
            set { SetPropertyValue(() => LastName, value); }
        }

        public int Number
        {
            get { return GetPropertyValue(() => Number); }
            set { SetPropertyValue(() => Number, value); }
        }

        public string MainProperty
        {
            get { return GetPropertyValue(() => MainProperty); }
            set { SetPropertyValue(() => MainProperty, value); }
        }

        public string SubProperty
        {
            get { return GetPropertyValue(() => SubProperty); }
        }
    }

    [TestClass]
    public class SelfTrackingMementoEntityTests : SelfTrackingEntityTests
    {
        [TestMethod]
        public void mementoEntity_using_trackingService_should_undo_a_single_change()
        {
            var memento = new ChangeTrackingService();

            var target = new MementoMockEntity();
            ((IMemento)target).Memento = memento;

            target.FirstName = "Mauro";

            memento.Undo();

            target.FirstName.Should().Be.Null();
        }

        [TestMethod]
        public void mementoEntity_using_trackingService_should_undo_and_redo_a_single_change()
        {
            var expected = "Mauro";

            var memento = new ChangeTrackingService();

            var target = new MementoMockEntity();
            ((IMemento)target).Memento = memento;

            target.FirstName = expected;

            memento.Undo();
            memento.Redo();

            target.FirstName.Should().Be.EqualTo(expected);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police arrested a man with five DWI convictions and charged him with DWI again after pulling him over in northwest Albuquerque Wednesday night.
Police say someone called in to report 41-year-old Tomas Aguilar couldn't stay in his lane. When an officer pulled him over, he stumbled from his car and refused to perform sobriety tests, eventually becoming belligerent.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, the 911 call reported a white truck was swerving out of its lane. The truck almost hit another vehicle near Coors and Bluewater NW.
Police say an officer pulled over the truck, driven by Aguilar, at a nearby gas station where Aguilar "opened the door and stumbled" out of the truck and tried to walk away.
According to the complaint, Aguilar smelled of alcohol, was slurring his words and wouldn't let police read him his Miranda rights. Inside the vehicle police found a half-empty liquor bottle, "small chunks" of marijuana and a pipe.
Police say officers arrested Aguilar after he repeatedly refused to take a sobriety test and kept yelling "lawyer" at the police substation.
"(Aguilar) was very irate at this time and threatened to harm me if he saw me," an officer wrote.
Police say Aguilar then kicked the wall of his holding cell in the Metropolitan Detention Center hard enough to cause "paint debris to fall to the ground" on the opposite side of the wall.
According to the complaint, Aguilar had five DWI convictions and had a revoked license.


text:
News Pick
Home/Australia/Central West a hot spot for renewable energy
Central West a hot spot for renewable energy
By Deputy Chief EditorApril 21, 2018
The NSW Government has identified 77,000 megawatts of renewable energy potential across the state, with the Central West NSW on the list in the top three for most suitable locations.
A total of 5,906 megawatts of renewable energy potential has been earmarked in the Central West, with space for 13 million solar panels and 555 wind turbines.
Renewable energy will lead to a potential investment of $6.4 billion for the region and the creation of 1,930 to 2,720 jobs between 2017 and 2030.
A map of planned and current renewable energy project sites in Central West NSW, according to the Nature Conservation Council Repowering Our Regions report.
Western NSW is the most desirable spot in the state, with the New England region coming in second.
According to the report the Central West includes towns from Lithgow to Dubbo, Cowra, Gilgandra and Nyngan.
In Western NSW a total of 6,803 megawatts of renewable energy potential has been earmarked, with space for 14 million solar panels and 750 wind turbines.
Nature Conservation Council Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner Dr Brad Smith said the transition from coal and gas to solar, wind and storage will attract $25 billion of investment and result in the construction of about 2,500 turbines and installation of more than 42 million solar panels around NSW.
"Our research shows four regions in NSW could be clean-energy superpowers that could replace the states five coal-burning power stations with clean energy by 2030 and export power to other states," Dr Smith said.
The fourth region is the South East.
A map of planned and current renewable energy project sites in Western NSW, according to the Nature Conservation Council Repowering Our Regions report.
"Clean energy is by far the cheapest, cleanest and most sustainable way to meet our energy need, and it offers regional areas a very bright future."
The report states the Central West also has the potential to be an energy-storage hub that could help balance supply and demand on a 100 per cent renewable grid.
The region has 19 operating and proposed renewable energy projects already that will generate about 1,500 megawatts.
Operating solar plants include one near Dubbo, Parkes and Manildra, with wind farms already operating outside of Bathurst, and one being constructed near Wellington.
This story Central West a hot spot for renewable energy first appeared on Daily Liberal.
[contf]
[contfnew]
Nyngan Observer
By Deputy Chief Editor
Macaulay Culkin shades Donald Trump over Home Alone 2 role
The Queen discusses terror attacks in Christmas message
A Mountain View of drought: Pip Job explains the severity of drought
Teenager admits killing 7-year-old found in Vienna skip
Armistice Centenary: More stories about loved ones


text:
In this week's Abundance Insider: Lab-grown blood vessels, augmenting human-robot teamwork, and the latest microrobot breakthrough.
Peter, Marissa, Kelley, Greg, Bri, Jarom, Joseph, Derek, Jason, Claire and Max
P.S. Send any tips to our team by clicking here, and send your friends and family to this link to subscribe to Abundance Insider.
P.P.S. Abundance 360 is only two days away! Join Abundance Digital to view the full livestream of this event, where we appreciate the technological breakthroughs of this past year and draw attention to the technologies that will move from deceptive to disruptive in 2019. Full livestream schedule and speaker descriptions can be found here.
Molecular Machinery That Makes Potent Antibiotic Revealed After Decades Of Research
What it is: Antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis, and researchers have been looking for new molecules and approaches for some time. One avenue has been the pursuit of natural antibiotics, like McbBCD, which have evolved over eons. McbBCD produces an enzyme called microcin B17, which scientists have known to kill E.coli for over 30 years, but up until now, the mechanism by which microcin B17 operates wasn't known. Now, thanks to advances in genomics and protein purification, a multinational team out of Rutgers, Russia, Poland and England have uncovered the molecular machinery involved, which bodes well for the rational design of new antibiotics, antimicrobials and potentially anticancer drugs.
Why it's important: Here's another example of the transformative power due to convergence in exponential advances across typically siloed disciplines. This breakthrough demonstrates the rapid digitization of biology, chemistry, and computing to unlock new understanding, which in turn enables new tools for solving the world's grand challenges. Share on Facebook
Spotted by Marissa Brassfield / Written by Jason Goodwin
Tiny Microbots Fold Like Origami To Travel Through The Human Body
What it is: Researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) demonstrated artificial microrobots that can swim and navigate through different fluids, independent of additional sensors, electronics or power transmission. Modeled on swimming microorganisms, the microrobots are made of a hydrogel nanocomposite, containing magnetic nanoparticles. The magnetic nanoparticles allow researchers to guide the microrobots with an applied magnetic field, a common technique for facilitating targeted drug delivery. What's unique about these microbots is that they dynamically change their shape in response to changes in their surrounding fluid. This unique locomotive capability will eventually be tuned to enable them to squeeze through tight blood vessels and other hard-to-navigate features in physiological systems, bringing us one step closer to ubiquitous nanobots monitoring every aspect of our physiology.
Why it's important: Materials science and biomimicry are leading the charge on many fronts of next-generation technologies, enabling future breakthroughs like ubiquitous nanobots. Such nanobots will transform how we think about healthcare, enabling real-time treatment and disease detection, as well as total optimization of our biology. As the saying goes, you can't fix what you can't measure, and we are well on the path towards achieving comprehensive measurement of our bodies. In the decades to come, what will these nanobots teach us about the human body? Share on Facebook
Spotted by Marissa Brassfield / Written by Max Goldberg
UVM Study: Wearable Sensor Could Detect Hidden Anxiety, Depression In Young Children
What it is: Researchers have now developed a tool to screen young children for internalizing disorders, characterized by internalizing one's problems. Using a common "mood induction task" to elicit anxiety from children by presenting a potential threat (e.g. a hidden fake snake), the research team replaced human observation with wearable motion sensors. After processing the sensor data, a machine learning algorithm then analyzed children's movements and found quantifiable differences between those with anxiety or depression and those without. By identifying physical signs of anticipatory anxiety, the algorithm could identify children with internalizing disorders in just 20 seconds with 81 percent accuracy, outperforming even parental assessments.
Why it's important: Bringing algorithmic diagnosis to bear on the more intangible realm of mental health could offer tremendous benefits in the way of early treatment. Sometimes showing symptoms as young as preschool, up to one in five children suffers from either anxiety or depression. These conditions are highly treatable at a young age, yet much more difficult to detect by caretakers. Given their propensity to result in serious risks such as substance abuse or suicide in adulthood, internalizing disorders are critical to treat early. With increasingly refined detection algorithms, screening children at scale and low cost may have a dramatic impact on mental health prevalence in both child and adult populations down the line. Share on Facebook
Spotted by Marissa Brassfield / Written by Claire Adair
We Can Now Grow Perfect Human Blood Vessels In A Lab
What it is: For the first time, UBC researchers have successfully cultivated human blood vessels as "organoids" from stem cells in the lab. Organoids are three-dimensional, lab-grown cellular systems that mimic the characteristics of real human organs or tissues, in this case developing into functional human blood vessels when transplanted into mice. A perfect testing ground for vascular diseases such as diabetes, the vascular organoids were then induced into a "diabetic" state, exhibiting characteristically abnormal thickening of the basement membrane. This allowed researchers to identify a key inhibitor of enzyme γ-secretase that could prevent detrimental changes to blood vessels — a key cause of morbidity among diabetic patients.
Why it's important: While lab-grown blood vessel organoids have already provided a remarkable lead in the pursuit of diabetes treatments, this stem cell-based technology could have much farther-reaching implications. As explained by the study's senior author Josef Penninger, "Every single organ in our body is linked with the circulatory system. This could potentially allow researchers to unravel the causes and treatments for a variety of vascular diseases, from Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular diseases, wound healing problems, stroke, cancer and, of course, diabetes." Share on Facebook
This New Nanomaterial From Researchers In India Might Give Forensic Fingerprint Detecting A Boost.
What it is: Indian scientists from the Nanoscience Laboratory and National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur have developed a nanomaterial that could make forensic science simultaneously faster and more accurate. Fingerprint detection can be difficult because current materials often miss nuances in patterns, such as when fingers are damaged. By doping manganese and copper atoms on a zinc sulphide nanosystem — essentially replacing zinc atoms with copper and manganese — the team created particles more than a million times smaller than a millimeter and highly luminescent. Under UV light, latent prints up to 2 months old and on a variety of surfaces can be captured via a smartphone camera for real-time analysis and sharing.
Why it's important: We often think of nanotechnology in the context of new materials built into products, but materials science applications of nanotech are expanding exponentially. As one use case develops and is shared, new ideas form, such as this team's use of the material to develop new white LEDs. What opportunities might materials science and nanotechnology open up for you? Share on Facebook
Spotted by Aryadeep S. Acharya / Written by Jason Goodwin
Amazon Built An Electronic Vest To Improve Worker/Robot Interactions
What it is: Amazon is at the forefront of robot-human worker interaction safety, and its latest innovation is a connected sensor-laden vest that allows robot workers to detect the location of human workers in an Amazon warehouse. Previously, Amazon warehouse associates proactively planned and marked which zones they would enter to perform maintenance or routine human logistics tasks. Now, workers can freely move around, while their vests passively update their robotic counterparts on their whereabouts.
Why it's important: We're seeing an unprecedented rise in robot-human collaboration all across the manufacturing and supply chain industries. Robots are often large, heavy, mobile and dangerous pieces of machinery. Just months ago, an incident involving Amazon warehouse workers, a robot, and bear repellent made international headlines. This IoT-enabled vest demonstrates that by leveraging converging exponential technologies (robotics, artificial intelligence, networks, sensors), companies can mitigate some of the risks of adopting a particular technology. Share on Facebook
What is Abundance Insider?
This email is a briefing of the week's most compelling, abundance-enabling tech developments, curated by Marissa Brassfield in preparation for Abundance 360. Read more about A360 below.
Want more conversations like this?
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I'm a bit late in getting this post up...but it is still May!
As I've mentioned before Mother's Day can be a hard holiday for me, having lost my mother to cancer nearly thirteen years ago. I was both excited to make new memories/traditions with our little family and also missed my mom more than ever on my first Mother's Day as a mom.
The day was rather quiet, but one I will always treasure. Maggie and her dad had been fighting colds so we stayed home from church because she was still coughing and had a fun backyard picnic for lunch.
Spending time outside is one of Maggie's favorite things to do. Can you tell?
My only regret is that we didn't set the timer on the camera and get a family photo to remember the day with. I hope we can make Mother's Day picnics, whether in the backyard or elsewhere, a family tradition.
A fun Mother's Day related fact: the quilt we're sitting on in the photos was made by Maggie's paternal great grandma and grandma!
Happy Memorial Day! I'm thankful for a day off and spending time with my daughter. We won't be attending a traditional bar-b-q, but we do have plans to get together with one of my former roommates for lunch.
If we were staying home all day, we'd probably watch an episode or two of Sarah and Duck, my favorite kids' show. My husband discovered it via On Demand on Comcast and it's the cutest British cartoon with 8 minute episodes. Have you seen or heard of it?
All of which to say I anticipate that June will be a quiet month around this blog. Oh, and you can read my guest post at Thrive Moms today.
More than three years ago, I started writing here. After getting married I went through what I call wedding planning withdrawal; I had become so accustomed to reading wedding blogs regularly (this was before the days of Pinterest) I looked for other blogs to follow. I decided I wanted my own place to share inspiration and write about life as a newlywed after reading other blogs for several months.
Over the years, this place has morphed and grown with me. I shared home improvement projects and recipes, as well documented my first pregnancy and first months of my daughter's life. I wrote about losing my mom when I was in college and the impact its had on my life as a young woman and now mother.
I used to regularly connect with other bloggers by commenting on their blogs and converse via Twitter. Several months ago, I noticed I was seeing fewer comments and tweets. Initially, I thought it was because I had a baby and I was less engaged myself.
I found myself less inclined to read blogs or scroll through Twitter when I had a few minutes of downtime. It seemed easier to scroll through the photos on my Instagram feed and leave a comment/like to connect with my online friends. Around the same time, I noticed other bloggers talk about getting fewer comments and how their traffic had shifted to Instagram.
As much as I love Instagram, I still enjoy the process of writing so I'll be sticking around. My posts may not be as frequent as they once were (pre-motherhood). Writing allows me to express myself more fully than posting photos and I love the way this space has documented our life over time.
Even if the comments aren't rolling in all the time or my page views aren't what they used to be, I am so glad I've stuck with blogging through my early days of motherhood. I know I'll look back on the things I wrote in this place over the years and be so grateful for the words and photos that have been shared.
Are you a blogger turned Instagrammer?
Earlier this week, I came across this blog post from Molly. Admittedly, my life has been quite caught up in my role as a (new) mother. It's no secret to anyone who knows me Maggie has changed my world (and Brandon's).
But I needed the reminder kick in the pants that I was and still am a wife first. Right after my relationship with Jesus, my relationship with Brandon is most important. If someone asked Are you a better wife or a better mother? I'd be stuck. The right answer is wife, but at this stage of my life I think about my role as a mother more often. And that means I am probably making more of an effort as a mother.
What a hard realization! My day almost always begins by being woken up to my daughter's cries. When I'm not at my full-time job, I want to spend every single minute with her; I don't want to miss a single 'first.' Our ever-changing schedule from week to week usually revolves around which of us parents will be with Maggie or take her to our friend's who watches her while both of us work.
Why do I share all of this? Because today marks four years of marriage. As I look back on the last four years, I cannot help but be thankful for all the things we've done and consider how we've grown as a couple.
Happy Anniversary, Brandon. I cannot wait to see where the next forty years (and more) take us!
Double digits...in months! How did this happen? She is growing up so quickly. As each piece of her personality emerges, we are more and more enamored with her. From her giggles to nonstop chatter, she loves to make noise and entertain us.
I'm fairly certain Maggie is an extrovert. She loves to smile and wave. Her wave has been called regal, princess like and ready for a pageant. It seems controlled as her wrist rotates delicately back and forth.
I'm fairly certain Maggie is the happiest kid. Nearly every time she wakes up she is all smiles (with the exception of when she's had a runny nose). Whenever she hears music, she claps.
Maggie has also learned how to feed the dog! After she's been eating for a bit, she'll hold out some food to the side of her chair. Inevitably, Milton comes along and snatches it. Sometimes she laughs or waves her arms with excitement. It's both cute (because she's figured it out) and annoying (because we don't want to create a bad habit). We're working on teaching her 'no,' but also cautious about how much we use it.
Maggie took her first ride in a swing (see photo above). It was more because I wanted to get a photo (or two), but she seemed to enjoy it.
Her first time crawling. She hasn't mastered crawling, but does well scooting to where she wants to be.
She's started to try to feed the dog intentionally. It's so cute, but we don't want to encourage it. What's even more cute is that she offers her food to us and smiles so big when we accept.
Maggie has developed a love for her cup. It isn't a sippy cup, but has a straw and she just loves it.
Even before she started crawling, she was surprisingly mobile, scooting from one part of the room to another. Sometimes it would go undetected and you'd wonder "how did you get over there so fast?" As you can see from the photos above, she is content just about anywhere.
Grabbing her dad's glasses, a phone or set of keys. It's become a game for me to keep the car keys out of sight when we're going somewhere.
It is so fun to watch Maggie discover new things.
Today, marks ten months of motherhood. It's been less than a year and someday it will seem like a drop in the bucket, yet I already understand more of my own mom with each milestone my daughter takes on. I find myself surprised by how easy it is to worry and how I feel I can't get enough time with my girl.
I'm so grateful to be a mother. Not only for the new perspective on life I have, but for the way it's allowed me to get to know my mom (even though she's been deceased for nearly thirteen years).
As great as being a mom is, Mother's Day also brings its share of heartache. For those who long to be mamas, are separated from their moms or have a difficult relationship with their mother, I know Mother's Day can shine an unwelcome light on the feelings that go along with it.
And for all of you who are moms, Happy Mother's Day!
For years, I've loved the thrill of the hunt when it comes to clothes shopping. I seem to get my mind set on finding a certain clothing item or accessory and will search stores high and low for it.
I also love perusing online merchants "just to see what they have." Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) we don't have a budget that allows for me to spend much on clothing lately, so I've been looking for places to buy high quality, gently used clothing.
I recently discovered a new way to shop used clothing. What could be better than a thrift store shopping and looking for an item on your wish list? How about perusing an ONLINE second hand store? ThredUp is an amazing alternative for buying clothes in gently worn or like new condition.
About a month ago, I made my first purchase from ThredUp. I had heard about the company months early when I ordered a free clean out bag to send in filled with some of my own clothes in to be sold.
Honestly, I loved everything about the shopping experience!
The website is easy to navigate and has a great iPhone app.
Items stayed in my shopping cart for longer than I expected. I shopped in the evening and waited to check out the next day.
I can earn store credit by telling others about their company (and will do so if you sign up and make a purchase using any of the links in this post).
The clothes arrived within a week and were beautifully wrapped in tissue paper.
So here's a look at what I bought! I decided shopping for Maggie's Easter dress was as good an excuse as any to try ThredUp for the first time. I ended up buying two dresses because I couldn't decide which one I liked better. I also found an adorable baby girl's bathing suit.
As I mentioned earlier, the package arrived within a week (which I thought was great since it was traveling from San Francisco to Boston). Each item had a cute tag on it (see photo below for detail), was folded neatly and wrapped in tissue paper.
It was seriously a great experience and I encourage anyone who is looking for a specific clothing item to check out ThredUp before you head out to the mall (or wherever you usually shop). Prices are reasonable and so is shipping ($2.99 for first item and 99 cents for each additional item).
Next time I am looking for a name brand clothing item for myself, I will will certainly check out ThredUp to see if they have the kind of thing I'm looking for. Between the easy to use app and great prices, I was quite happy!
Maggie loves books. Even though she doesn't always sit still and tends to smack the book pages, I can tell she enjoys having books read to her. She studies the pages and even jabbers while I read to her.
Some of her favorite books are not necessarily baby books meaning they're not board books.
We've been trying to read at least one book per day, but of course she doesn't sit still on my lap while I read. Maggie will sit on the floor and I'll sit nearby and read from a book. Sometimes she likes to look at the pictures or help turn the page and other times she's content to just sit and watch/listen.
Spoon is a story about a utensil (spoon) who spends a lot of time thinking he'd be better off if he was a different utensil (fork or chop sticks), but he realizes there are good reasons to be himself!
All Bears Need Love is the story of a bear who finds a home with bears different from himself, which makes it a great story about adoption.
Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick tells the story of two sisters. The older one is forced to share her peppermint stick when it falls and breaks in half.
The Napping House is a spinoff of This is the House that Jack Built nursery rhyme. There's no real 'lesson' to take away here, but it is a fun one to read (if you don't mind repeating yourself).
The Jesus Storybook Bible (not pictured) is another favorite and probably the most read in our house. The illustrations are beautiful and I love how familiar stories come alive in a new way!


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After 2 Years, Woman Discovers Missing Cat on Facebook
Jimmy the cat has always been mischievous, but he's never done anything like this before. One of Jimmy's favorite things to do was go outside and wander around nearby his house – until one day when he didn't come back.
via: sue zelitsky
Jimmy loved being outdoors as much as any other spoiled feline would; in fact, that is where most of the mischief-making happened. He liked hanging out on a sunny patch by their driveway or exploring new territory with family members and pets alike. Some days it might be sneaking into an open window while someone at home isn't looking…or just enjoying some time off from work lounging inside your parked car!
"He used to go in and out every day but always came back, except that one night," Sue Zelitsky, Jimmy's mom said.
On September 13, 2014 when Jimmy was thirteen years old, Zelitsky's husband let him play outside for a while. When it was time to come back inside they called and searched everywhere but Jimmy never came home.
Jimmy's family were absolutely devastated by this loss; eventually losing hope in finding their son again. Every now and then Selena would take the family dog out with her just incase maybe he had wandered off somewhere nearby? They didn't want to lose all faith that one day they might find their boy again!
Zelitsky was browsing Facebook one afternoon when she came across an post from the West Milford Animal Shelter. In their latest post, they described a stray cat who had been pulled off of the streets and looked remarkably like her beloved Jimmy — Zelitsky immediately commented on this discovery to figure out if it could be him after all these years apart! After messaging back in forth with them for some time, Zelitke found that there were many similarities between what he remembered about his lost pet and theirs; right down to the coloration of his fur coat. She soon learned that yes indeedy-do: It was actually her long-lost friend Jimmy come home at last!
"He was found approximately 10 miles from our home after the big March blizzard and brought in to the West Milford Animal Shelter," Zelitsky said. "After some sharing of pictures and other physical attributes I went to see him."
Zelitsky nervously gathered up a few things she thought Jimmy might recognize, and then headed to the shelter with her neighbor. They were back in minutes — Zelitsky knew it was him as soon as they walked into the room!
via: WEST MILFORD ANIMAL SHELTER
"As soon as we opened the cage I asked him, 'Jim, is that you bud?' And he walked over and head-butted me and I just started crying," Zelitsky said.
Zelitsky finally brought her husband in to meet Jimmy, and the family dog recognized him right away. It was clear that he had found his way back home for sure this time!
Jimmy is 15 years old now and he's so happy to be back home with his family. The dog recognized him right away, coming up from behind Jimmy for a hug after not seeing each other for months, but the new kittens were just as excited too! They welcomed Jimmy into their lives like they hadn't seen him in ages while everyone else was shocked that he had been found at all. But thankfully it didn't take long before grateful tears turned into smiles when they realized what an amazing time this would mean going forward, having their son finally come home again where he belongs.
"We are over the moon," Zelitsky said. "It's the greatest story ever and almost too good to be true … but it is!"
Adorable Cats Proudly Pose for Camera with their Celebrity Parents
The cast of FRIENDS each made $1M per episode in the final two seasons and now make $20M per year per cast member for reruns.