5 things i {heart}

my lack of picture taking lately leaves me to trying to think of other things to post on my blog.

for prosperity sake (really? probably not) i will note the top 5 things that have my attention lately (well, aside from the everyday stuff like my kids/hubby/house,etc...)

1.)  running.  (WHA????) yep, running folks.  this from a girl who was a self-proclaimed non-runner and would intentionally slow down her pace in high school when running the mile so she would never have to run the 1 1/2 mile.  currently i am up to running 2 1/2 to 3 miles a day.  so no marathons or anything and i'm not super fast by any means but i feel pretty good about it and love the burst of energy it has been giving me. woot for running! (who knew?)

2.) fashion.  shocker to those friends and family who knew me long ago right? not really.  my mom teased me about changing my clothes ump-teen times a day as a little girl and i LOVED to shop with her (even just to the grocery store) i have always loved clothes and fashion and shopping.  having babies and one income kind of put a damper on that for awhile but recently i have rediscovered my love for fashion and clothes.  finding a personal style and feeling comfortable and confident in what i am wearing is awesome! something that fuels my fire for this (a.k.a. something i spend WAY too much time looking at each week) is this weekly blog linky party: http://thepleatedpoppy.com/2011/04/what-i-wore-wednesday-20/  and while i have no plans to participate in such things i do find myself running off to my bedroom to dig through my closet and try different outfits on. 

3.) thrifting.  this goes somewhat hand in hand with the above.  i have discovered the fun of "thrifting" (especially for fun vintage items) but it's a good thing there aren't too many "Goodwill" stores nearby.  we would only have beans to eat then since i would be using up our grocery money on all those great finds! this stems farther than just clothes though (actually the thrifting for clothing is a very new practice of mine... i've done it, umm, twice now i think? and i probably still prefer to just shop sales at regular stores) it started with looking for things for my house.  i really really really love vintage things. really. my most recent vintage find that i am in love with:
a little floral tea tin by Daher (here is a link to similar on Etsy cause i am too lazy to take a pic of it and upload it: http://www.etsy.com/listing/71953728/pretty-tin?ref=sr_gallery_34&ga_search_query=Daher&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_facet=vintage)  it's adorable and came home with me for only $1 :)

4.) Echo Park Paper Co. http://www.echoparkpaper.com/collections/
seriously cute kits for scrapbooking.  in the last few months i have gotten the "Walk in the Park" and the "Life is Good" kits but have my eye on several others. 

5.) Pretty Little Studio http://shop.prettylittlestudio.com/welcome/ 
related to scrapbooking again, i came across this company a couple months ago through another blog i follow and totally fell in love.  not a big surprise when you see that they are all about adorable vintage images and classic patterns. mmmm, lllloooovvve. and the BEST part of all this???  i entered one of their giveaways and WON! yay me! i won the entire "April Showers" collection and it should be arriving at my door next week sometime.  made. my. day.  can't wait to use it :) 

so that is all for now.  time to go hop on the treadmill before naptime is over :)

all grown up

i think it's official.

my hubby is all grown up. 

he is now the owner of a suit.  like a for real matchy pin stripe spiffy suit. 

the occasion?  he officiated his second wedding last weekend. 

side note: the first time he officiated a wedding it was an outdoor wedding and more "casual" so he got away with just a tie and white shirt... well, and pants too of course ;)

but let's be real here.  a suit does not make you a grown up.  it just gives the appearance of being a grown up.  i just played kickball with him at youth group tonight and watched him slide tackle one of the students, kick dirt on one of the students and in general just be a total fun loving freak.  I have to say, I LOVE that about him.  I also think he looks hottt in his suit.  Best of both worlds is what I've got ;)

portraits

confession time....

i really stink at getting professional portraits of my kids. it causes me "mommy guilt."  i have a lot of excuses  valid reasons for my failure in this area of mommyhood.   it's pricey.  it's not necessary for survival. it stresses me out to have to figure out a cute outfit, hair done, well napped, well fed all coordinated together. 

i thought maybe with miss baby i would be better about it. 

i thought wrong.  i have only had her pictures taken "professionally" one time.  i took her pictures myself at 6 months and last month i decided i had to try again. i don't think i got the one  (that illusive perfect shot)  i am far from a great photographer and am pretty clueless when it comes to my camera (i even read the manual!) but still some cute shots (after all she IS a pretty cute baby, just sayin)

 

so is it worth it?  do i suck it up and go in and get some portraits taken? do i let it go and try to let go of the mommy guilt?    

100

this is my 100th post. yay me????

in other news:

my husband is the bestest.

he just rescued a bird out of our fireplace.

this bird has been haunting me for over 24 hours.  i believed it to be a bat.  i strongly dislike bats. really realllllyyyyy strongly dislike them.   i had visions of it attacking me in the night.  ripping my babies out of my arms.  (k, that may be just a smidge dramatic)

BUT it was a sweet little bird.

a mute bird apparently, as it never made a peep giving us the slightest clue that it was not a bat. an icky gross disgusting foul bat.

it just fluttered it's wings trying to escape the dark.  sounding like a bat. a detestable bat.

now it is free, thanks to my brave, tennis racket and plastic bag armed hubby. 

he rocks.

my world. ;)

that is all

i {heart} vacation (and coming home again)

we got to go on a little get-away last week.  it was so great to have a change of pace and enjoy time as a couple and with good friends.  we went to a cabin (a.k.a. huge log house) right on a lake.  there was a foot of new snow the second night we were there (thank goodness our friends had 4 wheel drive).  we relaxed, played wii, cards, put together jigsaw puzzles and ate good food.  but it was good to come home again to see my kids and get back into the routine and sleep in my own bed.  i think miss baby gained 10 pounds while we were gone, she is HUGE! 

i really didn't take many pictures while we were there, but i haven't been too camera happy at all these days.  here are a few shots that i did take:

the view out the door (pretty much this whole side of the house was windows/slider doors so you could see this from everywhere)

this little guy forever paddling a canoe we dubbed "Ricardo"
he overlooked all our card games from above the living area

 

with our good friends who joined us on this little vacay...
(missing from photo: our other good friends who couldn't make it)

chad and i (ignore my squinty eyes please... sun + snow = REALLY bright!)

 

i used to make cards....

once upon a time there was a girl who liked to make cards.  then she had 4 babies and stopped making them.

that girl made an appearance last month at my house.

i spent an hour or so the other day stamping again for the sole purpose of making birthday cards (and one baby card) for FUN.  one of my goals this year was to start making cards again and make them in advance of when i actually need them.  (so far i am 0 for like 10... better late than never, right?)  it felt sooooo wonderful to create cards again!

it's been a very long time since i have posted any projects i've been working on. and since i still {heart} making cards i figured it would be appropriate to post such things. to those with recent (and i use this term loosely) birthdays you may just see one of these coming your way in the near-ish future!

so here are a few that i made:

this one is out of my typical comfort zone of cards... the haphazard crookedness is not something i typically do, but i still kinda like how it turned out

the inside of this card (has a bit more "fun-ness" than i typically do)

super duper simple (my go-to style for sure)

the baby card (the sun made a shadow of the popped up accent, looks weird)

a whole basket full of cards!

Now just to get them sent out ;)

linking to:

leg crosser

another quick post on miss baby.  (disclaimer:  kinda boring and probably only something that really I think is cute and blog-worthy)

she has this cute little habit of crossing her legs when she is relaxin'. we even saw this on ultrasound before she was born (but i am waaaay to lazy to track down that pic and scan it so i can show you. sorry.  you'll just have to believe me)  but here is proof as she's eating breakfast.  often as she's sitting on the floor playing she'll cross her legs as well as when she's sitting on someones lap.  just a little miss baby quirk that i think is super sweet.