When I grow up

A little girl age 11 walks into Ardelles hair salon to get a haircut by her Auntie Nancy and decides then and there that when she grows up she will be a hairdresser.

Since 6th grade I wanted it. I had no idea at the time what it meant, what it would take, where I would work or how much I would love it. I just knew I wanted it.

Fast forward to beauty school. I hated it!
EWW shampoo sets on 100 year old ladies who left a 10 cent tip

People with the NASTIEST feet you could imagine

Perms

Hundreds of haircuts

Waxing (oh waxing where you could leave with just half and eyebrow)

An instructor who told me "you'll never make more than minimum wage" Real nice..

My first job was with two women who encouraged me, supported my thirst for wanting to know more at Hair Extremes. I then moved onto work in a few of other salons in town.

Xclusive

Dynamics

Bellisima

Each owner taught me different things. What to do and what not to do. 

I wanted more. I wanted better. I wanted MY OWN!

I started Salon Boheme by purchasing a salon from someone else. Jeremy and I had been married a year and Jameson was baby. It was little.. just two stations. I had a couple girls come and go and one day in walked Tabbitha. Messy blonde hair. Perky. Looking for a different place to work.

 I thought she was just perfect.

We went from working together to finding out that we were A LOT alike. Sometimes we even share a brain and finish each others sentences.

Michelle would soon be graduating from beauty school and we needed to find room for her especially since I talked her into going to school and working in a salon instead of doing everyones hair in her kitchen!
Do we remodel the little Duane St. salon or expand?!
EXPAND!

We moved onto remodeling the old Astoria Beauty College building.

Commercial Street brought us Gretchen, Joni and Carol

Joni first. She approached me looking for a job at the suggestion of a mutual friend.

Joni knew Carol from her previous salon/spa and asked if I would be interested in her offering massage with us. I'm so glad Joni asked!

Carol started out doing just chair massages with us and eventually came aboard full time.

Gretchen and I went to beauty school together and I wanted her on our team.

She was very well known for doing amazing acrylic and her clientele took off!

These girls brought energy, excitement, fresh ideas and knowledge.

A few others came and went and our lease was about to expire.

Renew or move?!

We moved AGAIN.
On to Marine Dr.

It is our home. We feel settled here.

Candy joined us with her soft spoken gentle touch. This girl is a wealth of knowledge in the skin department. She knows more about skin that I even knew was possible!

Gretchen "retired" we still miss her and love when she comes by...

Along came Chelle and then Tesa.

Chelle and I went to beauty school together. We knew of each other and thought we knew each other, but really only knew what we heard.

 She has been a great fit to our family.

Tesa is our newest girlfriend.

She is excited about everything new and can't wait to try all the new fun stuff. She is a natural!

When I was 11 I had no idea that one day I would have a salon of my own filled with girls that are more like family.

We have had wedding, babies, divorces, graduations.

We have cried together

We have laughed until our bellies hurt

We support our community

We love our clients

We are a salon/spa like no other in the county (if you ask me)

I wanted a salon where people loved to come and hated to leave

I wanted a salon where people left feeling empowered 

I wanted a salon where clients felt safe leaving cause there was no gossip

I wanted a salon full of positive women

I wanted a salon with books to read instead of smut mags

I wanted a salon that felt like home

I wanted a salon where education was required
I wanted a salon that was set apart from others
I wanted a salon that people wanted to work at and never leave

I wanted a salon that you could leave feeling better than you came

I wanted a salon that supported the community

I wanted a salon where hugs were the norm

I wanted all of it and I got it

Sometimes it is hard

Sometimes I don't want to do it

Sometimes I can't wait to get to work

Sometimes I am super excited about haircuts

Sometimes I joke about waxing off peoples eyebrows.

Sometimes I drive by glance inside and think "that is mine" with tears in my eyes

Sometimes I get overwhelmed

Sometimes I overflow with JOY because of it

Everyday I am grateful

for the clients that fill more than our chairs, but also our hearts

for the girls who live my dream with me

for a husband who supports me no matter what

for the hugs I get to give

for 

Dreams that come true

Blessed is me...

My papa and me!

This post is written by Jameson age 8
 
I love working with my papa . He is really amazing. He loves goats he loves me and he loves all his animals.  Yesterday we tagged the goats and moved them .

We moved the cows last week . We moved the cows from the woods to the barn .

Now I am going to talk about how to tag a goat . First, you put the tag on the

ear piercer . Then, you hold the goat . Next, you  get the piercer leveled.

Finally, you tag the goat! You put a tag on there so you know which goat is which.

Now I am going to tell you how we moved

the cows. First, you open the gate. Then, you go behind the cows.

Next, you move them on the road.Finally, you get them in the

barn and shut the gate!My papa comes and gets straw bails

my barn. He comes every Saturday.He beds the cows

with it. The straw is meant to keep the cows warm it's basically like a blanket to the cows.

The end

Madalyn Faith Linder

FINALLY! Madalyn is finally 7. How did that happen?? She has been waiting her whole life to be 7. Last night as I tucked her into bed she told me "well today is my last time going to sleep as a 6 year old"

 

Some things I remember about February 7th:

We were the first c-section that day so we needed to be up early and to the hospital by 6.
Jameson spent the night with my parents the night before so we could get a good nights rest. Ya right.

I was up early to prepare for the day Jer was resting easy. He was gonna need it.
Off to the hospital we went.

When I walked into L&D and the nurse asked if she could help us I said we were scheduled for a csection and her reply was "usually women come in sweats and no make up"
Well I am not most women and I was going to be having visitors. Make up, hair, earrings, heels is how I do it. My sweats were in my bag.

Get settled in a room so they could check vitals, blood pressure, monitoring our un-named girl.
A scheduled c-section is a walk in the park. No stress

Wheeled into surgery Jer would soon follow.
Prep for surgery

Anesthesiologist came in to get me numbed up and his phone rang. Thunderstruck was his ring tone.

It was pretty funny!
Surgery is a blur other than I know that Jer cried.
We didn't have a name picked out and we wouldn't for three days.
Jer wanted to name her Julianna and I wanted Madalyn. We both agreed her middle name would be Faith.
My dad was our most frequent visitor.
Jameson wasn't sure what to think.

Madalyn was the cutest little gift. She has black hair dark eyes and you could see the wonder in her eyes. She was going to make a mark in this world. Doctor Baxter had told everyone how beautiful she was so they all had to come see. She was a born entertainer. She loves to dance and sing. Her favorite stores are Staples and Macy's. She loves office supplies and notebooks (she has 29 she tells me). She hugs tight. If she got to choose she would stay up late like daddy. She loves clothes and shoes and all things that sparkle. She isn't afraid to try new things or to make new friends. She wants to help people who need it. She has a tender heart and a zest for life. I am excited to see where she goes and who she becomes. I know she is going to light the world on fire. We are going to have ups and downs and all arounds. I am going to be there cheering her on, keeping her feet on the ground, and on my knees for her. No matter what comes I am her mom and I love her more than she will ever know.

Blessed is me..

Ethel Rae

Ethel Rae Beelar

She was my grandma

She had 7 siblings

(Glenna, Pheobe, Nancy, Sheila, Nora, Jack, Glen)

She had 7 children

(Yvonne, James, Glenda, Craig, Vicki, Richard, David)

She had  16 grandchildren
(Nick, Kevin, Tony, Kristi, James, Rob, Kallie, Pat, Michael, Craig, Geneva, Richard, Zachary, Chelsea, Mindy, Miranda)

She buried one grandchild
(Michael)

She never met one grandchild
(Chelsea)

She has countless great grandchildren she has never met

She buried her first husband (James Wheatley) while her children were still young

She was married 3 times

She loved the color blue

She lived in Holland

She never had a drivers license

She made the most delicious pancakes and would always let me beat the egg whites

She taught me how to make pie crust
She listened to Scandinavian music

She smelled like cigarettes and Exclamation perfume

She never left the house without her face on and hair done "no decent woman does"

She drew her eyebrows on with a Maybelinne pencil everyday

She knew how to pluck a chicken

She wore rings, bracelets and earrings everyday no matter what she was doing

She put hand lotion on often and when she did her rings clinked together

She let me ride my bike in the house at the "blue farm" in Walluski

She let me eat sugar on my pancakes

She watched her home with Grandpa Cliff burn to the ground

She lived in a travel trailer

She let me spend the night whenever I called

She tucked me in tight to bed

She let me use as many bubbles as I wanted in the claw foot tub

She put her teeth in a glass on the bathroom counter at night

She always hugged me tight

She always had butterscotch and cinnamon disks in the candy dish. If I dusted I could have one

She wore a size 4 wedding band.. same as me... I wear hers now

She got cancer

She never sought treatment, but instead traveled to see every single one of her grand kids before she died..something I didn't understand and was mad about.. I get it now

She even on her death bed wanted her toes polished and her legs shaved.. I did it for her

 She came home from seeing all those kids she loved climbed into bed and never got out

She died

The day she died is one I will never forget. I rushed out to Knappa to see her. She laid in bed so peaceful wearing her favorite jewelry. I cried and cried. I climbed into her bed my head on her chest. Heartbroken. 

To me she was perfect; perfect love.

I miss her

She would have loved Jameson's tender heart and huge smile

She would have loved Madalyn's spunk and contagious laugh

She would have loved Jeremy and his quiet strong demeanor

She would have loved to see all of her grand kids grow to be parents

She would have loved all the little feet running through the kitchen tugging on her hand for attention

She was and still is love even though we can't see or touch her

Sometimes I can smell her

Sometimes she comes to my dreams

Sometimes I cry when I think of how much I missed with her even though I got more than most

Most times I am overjoyed by the gifts she left us from pie crusts and bubble baths to the lessons on love and tight hugs
Someday I will see her again

Blessed is me...

Farewell to 2012

A sprinkle of 2012 Linder style:

We had prayers answered
We had some prayers not answered, answered differently than asked for, and some still waiting for.

We watched our presidential candidate lose.

We watched the Olympics.

Jameson learned about the Electoral College and could explain it. WHAT?!

We had trials. Car trouble, broken appliances, flooded basement, rotten trailer... on and on.

Madalyn got bangs and wants to be called Maddie. MISS INDEPENDENT.
We experienced our friends bring their son home from China.

We forged new unsuspecting friendships.

Jameson started 3rd grade and Madalyn 1st grade.

I deepened friendships with a few.
I have cried.

I attended the funeral of my childhood best friends dad.

I prayed. We prayed.

We experienced God burning away some of the yuck in order to be closer to Him.

We moved into our new home.

We have laughed until our guts hurt.

We have watched our children evolve.

Jer hit a major milestone by having the same truck for 4 years.

Madalyn continues to impress us with her style.

Jameson attended Kids Camp successfully. HUGE

We have loved.

Life is full of ups downs and all arounds. It helps us to be better. It makes us realize who we are, and what is important. It gives us perspective. It isn't always easy and it isn't always hard. It can appear perfect from the outside, but it never is.

Life is what you make of it and it is our choice to make the best of it.

I choose to live 2013 OUT LOUD.

Blessed is me..

Christmas times 5!

Christmas is a busy 4 days for us. 

We start off with the Huckestein Christmas the Saturday before the 25th. It is full of food, family, and blessing our adopted family.

The 23rd we have our Linder/Inman Christmas with Jer's parents and sister. More food, family and presents.
When we get home Jer and I get the kids tucked into bed wait for them to fall into a slumber and load up the tree.
The 24th the kids wake up to a tree full of presents and its an early morning wake up call. My parents join us for breakfast and gifts with the kids. Boy are these kids spoiled!
 In the evening we head off to Coastline for our Christmas Eve church service.
Our friend Jody sang Joy to the World take a listen here
The 25th we get to drive up to Mount Vernon WA. to see our Inman family. This year was Jer's grandma Viv's 93 Christmas! We love her so much.

Here is our Christmas in pictures.

   Sister loving daddy.

Jameson got some cool farming books

  

  

Overnight bags from Gr. & Gr. Hucks

Jameson got a scoreboard clock

Kids are excited!

 

LEGO'S

Sis excited about a cursive book

Bella enjoying her cushy new bed

Mount Vernon bound

 We love going up to see the Inman family. The
kids have their "own room" at Aunt Shelah and Uncle Fritz's house and there is so much to do there. Unfortunately this year Mad came down with the stomach flu, so we decided it best to head home just in case one of us got the bug. It was sad to be leaving our favorite place, but for the best.

Sister not happy to be heading back home

Jamesons sock monkey co pilot

Two peas in a pod

My very favorite part of our drive to and from The Farm (Mount Vernon) was listening to Jer and Jameson talk about everything from the new tractors being hauled to how much it costs to have a horse. Jameson is really not letting up on wanting a real live horse.
Today while Madalyn rests on the sofa I will be taking all the decorations down and boxing up our tree (yes it's fake) and reflecting on the small moments of Christmas and how lucky we are. So many things to be thankful, but most of all thankful that a baby was born to be our Savior in a humble manger, so we would have everlasting life.

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:31-33

Blessed is me..

Dear...

A few weeks ago I was helping Jameson clean out his bedroom which is FULL of "treasures". Both of our kids love office supplies and notebook and as I was cleaning I kept finding notes that Jameson had written. Some were sweet little musings about who he loved "Mom, Dad, Madalyn, God, Grandma, Leslie, Bella (our dog), Papa and Grammy, Papa Moo and Grandma Debbie" Some were about what he did at school, and some made me sad like the one that read "I need you to love me."

It made me realize that since Jameson is so sensitive to how WE feel he may never come to us with his true feelings, tough questions, or moments to celebrate. He would rather write his feelings down.

Madalyn also loves to write notes, make cards and draw us pictures. She is more obvious that she has written one tho. She will either had it to us or put it on our bed and then come tell us that it is there then bug us to go get it until we do.
She wrote a note and gave it to Jer that read "mommy and daddy are in love" and she drew a picture at school of me dressed in Beaver colors.

We love all the notes that the kids give us, but they are everywhere and we can't possibly keep all of them. I got the idea of doing a back and forth journal with them.

Both kids have a notebook that is just for us (Jer and I) and them. Jer and I have one between us also.
We told the kids that they can write anything they want in it. They can ask questions, they can let us know they are sad, mad, happy etc., they can draw pictures. Nothing is off limits and then we will write back to them. We also write them notes and they reply back to us. I personally have loved it and it has turned into way more than I had hoped. I can't share what is in the books cause we told the kids there were only for us, but I can tell you a few of my favorite things:

Madalyn's phonetic spelling

She signs her name Maddie (which I don't love and she knows it)

Jameson signs is name "bud" cause that is what Jer calls him

and he is very detailed when he is explaining something.

When I initially thought of this it was because I know that at this time Jameson isn't always going to share his feelings with us, but what I didn't realize was that Madalyn isn't always going to share. She will become the teenager who thinks that her parents have ruined her life. Since we will have this writing dialogue in place I hope that she will still write to us freely.

Our notebook project has evolved into something more than I thought it would and I love finding them on my pillow with a little note inside. These are items that I will forever treasure.

Blessed is me...