You may have noticed this yesterday, but I have a new blog design!

I’ve been wanting to get a fancy pants professional design for a while now, but the time just didn’t feel right, I wasn’t finding designers with work (and prices!!) that I liked, and I just didn’t know if I could justify spending the money.

Then I decided to open an Etsy shop and wanted to have a shop banner that matched my blog for some continuity. Thus, right time. I asked around on teh twitterz to see if anyone had any recommendations for blog designers who do great work and don’t charge an arm and a leg. I was pointed in the direction of Becca at Jumping Jax Designs. I loved her work and her prices were just right. Then I did a sponsored post back in December which gave me just enough funds to cover the redesign without having to dip into the family money. ALL SYSTEMS GO!!!

Becca was absolutely amazing to work with. I like to think of myself as an open-minded, go with the flow, easy-going type. Apparently that’s only if everything goes with my flow. We exchanged somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 emails during this process. Becca would send me what she had, I would send back my feedback, she would fix whatever I asked to be fixed. I really tried not to be difficult!

Despite all my nit-picking, Becca was very patient with me and ended up with this amazing design you see here! My goal was to freshen up the look and clean it up a bit. Before it was so ….. BUSY! It was crowded and noisy and busy and blech. I had links to things I didn’t even do any more. I had an age ticker for Aric that topped out at 2 years that I hadn’t bothered to remove. It was just blah!

But Becca’s design is just what this blog needed. And I LOVE how it compliments my Etsy shop, as well! It’s like one, big, happy, Changing the Universe family  And if you’re into this kind of thing, go ahead and grab a blog button over there on the left (<—- that way!). There’s even one for the shop if you feel so inclined.

I would HIGHLY recommend Becca’s work! Go and check it out at Jumping Jax Designs, you won’t be sorry! Along with her blog packages, she’s got awesome new business packages to help you brand your business which include things like a blog design, custom business cards, custom watermark for photoshop, custom shipping labels, and tons more! Check them out!

Non-Disclosure Disclosure – I bought my design with my own dollars. Becca didn’t ask me to write this about her, I just wanted to do so cause I think she’s the bee’s knees. Therefore, no disclosure needed. I just like writing them. Also, do bees really have knees? And even if not, why would a part of a bee’s anatomy be something equated to something that is awesome? This question has plagued me for ages …. or at least since I typed “bee’s knees” 30 seconds ago.

PS – Have you entered to win a set of handmade fabric coasters made by yours truly? No??!! Why not?! RUN! Enter now!!

Thank you for reading Notice anything different? from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

IT’S TIME! IT’S TIME!!!

Today is the big day! The day I launch Changing the Universe – The Shop! You have no freaking clue how excited I am for this!!

Over the Christmas break (I took two weeks off work and didn’t have classes) I taught myself how to sew the CUTEST coasters. I went on a fabric binge. Multiple fabric binges. And I am in LOVE!

Like these. These are called Sunday Brunch. Can’t you picture yourself enjoying some French Toast while resting your mimosa glass on one of these cute coasters?

Or how about these? These are called “Molly’s Library.” They’re named for my sister Molly, obviously

Or what about coasters like these:

What’s awesome about the Damask Dreamin’ coasters is you get to pick which color you want for the back! Right now I have cranberry and royal blue available, but I might add more if there is enough interest

While I was sewing away, a thought creeped into my head. What if I could make throw pillow cases, too? So I made one, not thinking much of it. The result? Blew me away:

I am in LOVE! I want these in every room of my house! They come in all kinds of colors so hopefully you can find something that will work for your house And what’s awesome about these is they are super easy to put on and off and you can use them on throw pillows you already have! So whenever you want to change something up quick in your decor, just throw one of these on and viola!

So, what do you think? Go and check out my shop and see what other colors of coasters and pillows I have!

Here are some facts about the coasters you might like:

• Each coaster is about 4.5″ by 4.5″
• They are all made from 100% cotton and are machine wash AND dry-able!
• No two coasters are the same, so you will get a completely unique set.
• They come in sets of 4 or 6.
• Most are layered with two layers of fleece to make them a bit more sturdy and leak-proof.

And here are some deets on the pillow cases:

• They are for pillows 14″ x 14″
• They are also 100% cotton and machine wash AND dry-able!
• There are a couple choices in which you can pick your color of the backside to make it fit your decor.
• These are sold as one single pillow case without the pillow form. BUT! You can add the pillow form if you’d like and it will come to your house all put together for you

Awesome, right?

The best part? These are all ready to ship! So each and every order will be processed and out the door in 1-3 business days. However, that means that I have a limited quantity in the shop, so if you see something you like, buy it quick! It might not come back!

Wanna see some more?

Now go! Shop!

OH WAIT!! Before you go ….. here’s a discount for you! At the check out, enter the code WELCOME10 this week only and take 10% off your order to celebrate the grand opening of Changing the Universe – The Shop!

You want more? Ok! Why don’t we have a little giveaway then for a set of coasters of your choice!

All you have to do to enter is head to Changing the Universe – The Shop, check out what I have, then come back here and leave a comment telling me your favorite listing! Don’t worry, you won’t be held to it if you win

Overachiever? Tweet about this post for an optional entry! All tweets must include my twitter name (@Sticky41284) and a link back to this post. Then leave a second comment with a link to your tweet.

I’ll pick a winner Thursday night and post it right here on Friday

Be sure to follow my Twitter and Facebook and of course my blog (here’s the RSS feed if’n ya need it) for shop updates.

And THANK YOU for supporting my newest venture

PS – Check out the new blog design! More deets on that tomorrow

Thank you for reading Introducing – The Changing the Universe Etsy Shop!! from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

LOTS of pictures this week! Buckle in:

Sunday:

PUPPY!!! She gets a lot of crap around here, but no lie, she's a good baby

Aric was pushing the cart by using the force.

Chicken Hair!!!

This WAS our TV.

This is our TV after injecting it with steroids.

Monday:

Lonely lunch. Gas station sandwich in the car wash.

Tuesday:

Happy Valentine's day from my little Valentine!

My romantic Valentine's lunch: working at Panera (yes, that IS Facebook I'm looking at. Judge me)

All tatted up

Romantic Valentine's Dinner!

BUCKET HEAD!!!

Wednesday:

You can keep your Caramel Delights. I'll take all the Samoas.

Thursday:

His little toddler mind was BLOWN when he discovered his "Mitty Mou" doll was the same as the "Mitty Mou" on TV!

I lost my debit card two weeks ago. I cancelled it, then found it mere hours later. Murphy's Law at work, people.

Friday:

Helping Mom make cookies!

Hmmm .... this looks questionable.

I should try a bite just to make sure.

I don't think that was a big enough bite. I'll try again.

Yep. I let my kid lick the beaters. Judge me.

Saturday:

WHEEE!!!!!! Water slides with Grandpa are FUN!!!

Make the water spray, Daddy!

Thank you for reading Project {366}: Week [7] in Android Photos from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

Last night at our house....

The last couple nights have been rough on Aric. He’s been waking up at least once, sometimes twice a night in tears. Sometimes he’s actually asleep while he’s crying. All we have to do is lay him back down (he’s usually sitting up) and he’s fine for the rest of the night. Other times, like last night, he twists and bends and thrashes his body in a way that makes me think he has a WICKED bad gas bubble.

So after being up crying at 3:15, then again at 4, we brought him in bed with us so that the next time he got up crying, we wouldn’t have to leave the bed.

Why oh why oh WHY do toddlers think the best sleeping position is in an “H” form? And while I only had a head in my back last night, I can’t imagine Tim had a good night with little feet in his back. And of course we couldn’t move him because he’d finally fallen back asleep. We wouldn’t want to disturb the young prince while he slumbers. So we clung to the edge of the bed, too afraid to move.

And yes, it was helpful when he started crying again at 5:45 when Tim got up to shower (again with the twisting and wrenching sadness). But then he didn’t go back to sleep.

Where Daddy?

Bye Bye Kitty!

Kitty go bye bye, Mommy.

Nigh Nigh Kitty!

Daddy pillow.

Mommy Pillow!

Movie?

TV?

Bob-bob?

Meemo?

Melmo?

Movie?

Dog?

Lovey!

Mama lovey!

Aric lovey!

TV?

Seeing as how we had TV installed in our bedroom just yesterday for this exact reason, I flipped it on. And while it made the bedroom far too bright for me to go back asleep it made Aric shut up for 5 minutes. And then?

BEW! (Bear)

Mama! Bew!

Nigh nigh Bew.

Bew?

Where Bew go?

Bew!! Where aaaaaare youuuuuuu?

There it is!

Bye bye Mommy!

::sigh::

Bed-sharing will never be for me. I love my baby always, but I like my sleep far more …. at least between the hours of 10pm and 7am.

Though no lie, it was night to have him in bed with me so I could try and take his tummy pains away through osmosis

Related question – Would Gripe water have helped this situation? I still have a bottle from his bad gas when he was a baby baby. Might as well get some use out of it!

Thank you for reading Why I Don’t Like Bed-Sharing from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

Five more days, people! FIVE! MORE! DAYS!!!

Get excited.

Thank you for reading Wordless Wednesday: One Last Sneak Peek Edition from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

Before I get into this post, I want you to remember one thing: I am not yet 30. I’m still in my twenties. Sure I’m closer to 30 than I am to 21, but still, I’m not even 30.

Ok, now that that’s been said, here we go…

I’m old.

I’m out of touch with the kids. I’m only 6 years older than my younger sister and yet I feel like we are an entire generation apart. Take for example dating. I was chatting last night with my sister about a guy she’s been dating and I referred to him as her boyfriend. She was very quick to point out that she does not have a boyfriend, just a guy she’s been seeing.

Huh?

I told her that when Tim and I started dating, there was no “guy I’m dating.” We were boyfriend/girlfriend right away. We didn’t even have “The Talk” that apparently couples have before deciding to be exclusive.

She said, Nicci, dating isn’t what it used to be. Social media has changed dating. You’re not boyfriend/girlfriend until you change your Facebook status to “in a relationship.”

HUH??

But I’m one of the first members of Facebook! I’m one of the reasons it is what it is today! I had an account moments after it was opened to my school, a mere two months after the site was launched! I’m an original!!

“Yeah. You’re a dinosaur.”

Ouch.

Moments later, the Foo Fighters were on TV performing at the Grammys. And I spent the time drooling over Dave Grohl and contemplating the difficult decision that would be placed before me if I should ever have to choose between him and Chris Cornell.

Product of the 90s, much?

And then, this came on my TV:

We watch a lot of Mickey Mouse in our house, thanks to my stupid decision to call Aric into the room when I saw Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on. Needless to say, I was a bit shocked to see Mickey as a DJ.

And then this happened:

And then my eardrums started bleeding and I thought someone had slipped acid into my diet coke without warning me. Tim actually had to mute the TV.

I was scared.

And my sister was all, “Oh! That’s Deadmau5.”

HUH?!?!?!?!?!

What the-?

I don’t even-?

WHAT?!

AND THEN THE FOO PLAYED ALONG WITH THEM. (After giving an awesome acceptance speech about how music should come from the heart and the brain instead of a computer …. IRONY!!)

People, all I wanted was to watch Paul McCartney play again and maybe prop the Beach Boys up once more for an encore performance.

At 10pm, they announced that Nicky Minaj was about to perform and I clicked off the TV and called it a night. And I hear I missed an AWESOME performance with Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Joe Walsh. They need to put that shit at the BEGINNING of the Grammys and stick Chris Brown’s woman beating ass at the end when all the old folks have gone to bed.

Now THAT’S what I’m talkin about! I’m actually kind of beating myself up over having missed that!

But seriously, the generational gap between my sister and I is almost astronomical! Kids her age don’t know the joy of heading to a used CD store and flipping through stacks and stacks of CDs, the rhythmic sound of the jewel cases smacking into each other and you search through the crap to find the couple awesome CDs hidden in there (and folks even older than me will say the same about used record stores). They don’t know the sheer joy of ripping the plastic off a new CD and popping in the fresh one for the first time in your car before you even leave the store parking lot. No, they have their iTunes and their Spotify and their Pandora for their instant musical gratification (not to say I don’t love me some Pandora, but just go with me here).

It just blows my mind how different things are just 6 years later. How when I was in college people were still saving their papers on 3×5 in floppy disks to take down to the computer rooms on campus to print papers that were turned in on paper and not electronically. How the only social media outlets were MySpace and AOL Instant Messenger (my away messages were the BOMB!).

I’m a dinosaur.

But can I just say one thing? I might be old. And I might listen to “old people” music. But the opening performance last night from Bruce Springsteen and the finale from all the old pros brought down the HOUSE! So maybe being a dinosaur isn’t all that bad

Thank you for reading Eating the Dinosaur from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

Back on track again! This week was light on pictures, but at least I took one every day!

Sunday:

This? Is the BEST chip dip EVAR. Seriously. I could drink it. I can only find it at certain grocery stores, none of which are near our house. But I happened to pass one on my way home from my sister's place! YAY!!

PUPPY BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT ALL THE PUPPIES!!!!!

Monday:

Best. Beer. Ever. I just wish they sold it in Minnesota!

Tuesday:

Watchin TV with Dad, starting to feel icky.

Wednesday:

This was outside my car door when I stopped to get coffee. I was wearing heels. It was dangerous, but I made it!

Thursday:

Sick baby is home sick He watched Nemo 3 times that day.

Friday:

Look who's feeling better and is jumping on the bed that a sick mommy wants to sleep in!

Saturday:

Every year, the public radio station in St. Cloud does 50 straight hours of trivia. It. Is. AWESOME! Our team was in 44th place after 28 hours.

Thank you for reading Project {366}: Week [6] in Android Pictures from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

Yesterday morning at about 5:15 am, Aric woke up crying. Actually, Aric woke US up with his crying. I think he’d been awake for a while based on the condition of his room. Tim went back and and laid him back down and he fell right asleep.

That’s when I felt a sting in my gut.

“Let’s let him sleep in this morning,” I said. “He could use the rest.”

About 5 minutes before it was time to leave, I went to wake him up. He was sleeping so hard that no amount of me gently rubbing his back, calling his name, and lighting his room was able to move him. It took the dog nudging his foot.

There it was again. The sting.

I quickly dressed him while he gently whined.

sting

I said “Let’s put on your coat and get ready to go to Jody’s!”

With sad eyes, he looked at me and said, “Noooooo Jody.”

sting

I opened up the door for him and said, “Run to Momma’s car!”

He pulled the door shut and said, “Nooooo Momma’s car!!”

sting sting

He cried while I carried him to the car. Cried while I buckled him in. “No Jody!! No Momma’s car!”

sting STAB sting

He calmed down after I gave him a cereal bar, then started dozing off. At drop-off, he stood in the entryway, dazed. This daycare provider told me he’d been acting so unlike himself the last couple days.

As I went to leave, his big, sad eyes looked at me and he said in the quietest, meekest voice, “Bye-bye Momma.”

STAB STAB STAB

I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my gut any longer. Something was wrong with him. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I just knew it. He wasn’t himself. I beat myself up over having brought him to daycare that day. I should have kept him home. The guilt was eating me alive, knowing that I shouldn’t have dropped him off. It consumed my every thought. But I had a meeting out of town.

Then it was cancelled.

I was on the phone minutes later making plans to pick him up at lunchtime.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t ignore my Momma Instincts.

You hear a lot of moms talk about “Momma Instincts” before you have your own baby, but you never know what that really means. These instincts start small when you’re learning the difference between a cry for food and a cry for attention. You learn that when your baby makes “that face” he’s about to fill his drawers.

As your baby grows, so do your Momma Instincts. You know your child’s typical behavior. You know what his cries sound like. You know when something very tiny and hardly noticeable is different. You know that when he’s refusing to eat Fritos, something is very wrong.

As it turns out, my Momma Instincts were right. I took him home and tried to give him lunch, which he didn’t want. All he wanted was to watch “Meemo” (Finding Nemo) and snuggle. And nap. And watch Meemo again. And nap again.

Momma Instincts aren’t learned behaviors. They’re always there. You just have to know when to recognize them and you have to follow those gut stings. Chances are, you’ll be right more often than not.

……

As an aside, I was totally right about him not feeling well…cause I’m sick now, too

Thank you for reading Momma Instincts from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

I’ve been MIA lately, but I swear it’s been for a good reason! As an apology, I’d like to share a humorously embarrassing story with you about the perils of leaving your cell phone turned on.

I had my annual lady appointment yesterday. Let me start off by saying I ADORE my doctor. She has a son about 4 months older than Aric (which SUCKED when she was on maternity leave while I was pregnant, leaving me with a crappy doctor). I was actually sad after I had Aric that I would no longer be seeing her every week!

We spent a good chunk of time getting caught up, chatting about the past year, about our sons, you know, the ushe. So, she starts doing the exam portion of the check-up. We’re still chatting when suddenly? The room was filled with the dulcet tones of smooth jazz coming from my cell phone.

Awkward.

Especially when my doctor commented “Well! This isn’t really what you want to have happen during a pap, is it?!” We laughed and I said, “Well, at least it wasn’t my husband calling!”

“Oh?” she asked. “And what’s his ringtone?”

………..

“Ron Burgundy singing ‘Afternoon Delight.’”

Thank you for reading Setting the Mood from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci

Yeah, I’m a week late. What of it?

Sunday:

Some people go to church on Sundays. I go to Target, hit up Starbucks, and wander. By myself. #heaven

I also hit up my OTHER happy place ... the fabric store!

Note to self: Galoshes are NOT a good substitute for snow boots. #brrrr

Nanook of the North

Monday:

This is how I spent my mental health day.

Tuesday:

Guess what I found?!?!?!

Wednesday:

Reading in the fort!

Daddy is a little too big...

Thursday:

Lunch date! Ooey, gooey grilled cheese and chicken dumpling soup!

Friday:

Mama! Look what I built!!

Saturday:

On our way to visit Auntie Em! That strap is part of a Jerry-rigged contraption to keep the DVD player in place and out of kicking range.

No trip to Duluth is complete without a stop at Tobies!

NOM!! Tobies donuts! NOM NOM!!

Doesn't that face make you want to buy him ALL THE TOYS!!?

WHOA! These horseies actually MOVE?!?!

Looking back, this was a ridiculously busy week!! SHEESH!

Thank you for reading Project {366}: Week [5] in Android Pictures from Changing the Universe. If you like what you read, come over and leave some comment love! And THANK YOU for being a subscriber! --Nicci