Tuesday Randomness

Welcome to my brain. It's a big mish-mash of thoughts today, so I thought I'd empty my head into this little blog. And while I'm at it, here's a random photo to go along with it. I snapped this high-quality mirror picture while in Flagstaff this past weekend while battling snow, ice and insane winds...but thankfully I packed for it. So grateful for that scarf right there- its warmth was my saving grace.

- I want to have a million babies. Hank will cringe while reading this- he is in the two-will-compromise-at-three camp and I am in the eight or nine camp. Uh what? Totally kidding. But really, to me there is nothing better than being a Mom and I'd love to have a whole house full of wild little things. Three I think. Maybe four. Although perhaps we should start with two...

- I don't like peplum tops. Maybe my shoulders are too broad but they look ridiculous on me.

- I don't know how I was ever vegan. Today shredding cheese for Henry's lunch turned into eating cheese straight from the block and I think a little part of me died from happiness. I'm so obsessed with Gouda cheese and I can't imagine life without it.

- I constantly go through this weird thing with the internet, maybe everyday, where I feel like I share too much. Then I don't care. Then I feel like I should share even more in order to be 100% genuine. Then I kind of do, then I feel uncomfortable because it's strange to have so many people read what you write. And then I write something like this and feel totally boring because really, no one cares. Make sense? And on a side note, any and every time I write about blogging I tell myself not to do it again...but then I inevitably do. 

- I think about getting pregnant with a second baby all of the time. I'm so, so excited for this to happen but then I think about having another c-section and I have this strange fear of of that needle in my back. If I think about it too much I get the chills and feel like I'm going to throw up. Weird that the needle is scarier to me than the surgery but that's where my mind goes.

- Recently I've realized that I need certain simple things to make me feel my best. I have no idea why it took me this long to really get it, but whatever, at least I now know, right? Specifically, I need to get at least eight hours of sleep, drink water all day long, avoid sugar, do straight cardio a few times a week, and read more than I watch television. It's so interesting to look back on periods of my life when I felt out of whack physically, and I was always missing one of these components. It can be hard to be successful in every single area but the more I focus on it, the better I feel.

- I've been writing this post on what makes me truly happy after being inspired by The Happiness Project and it's seems like the most simple thing but it's SO eye opening. Hank and I had the longest discussion the other night about what makes us happy, both separately and together, and I think it was such a good "couples" thing to do. I've been with the guy for over eight years so it's kind of rare to learn something totally new, but I feel like they're the best little surprise gems ever and doing this I got a couple of them. Maybe I'll share more about this later.

- I find Calliou to be insanely annoying. This is a bold statement, but he just might be the most annoying kid's TV character to ever exist. Dora is a close second of course, but Calliou takes the cake, at least in my book! Not in Henry's though, the kid LOVES him!

7 Happy Things

I always hesitate to repost a ton of Instagram photos here, but my iPhone camera is just so handy that I'm able to capture these little moments with ease and I'm incredibly thankful for that. So I'm going to indulge myself today and talk more about some happy things in my world right now, via that wonderful app so many of us love. Feel free to play along on your blog too! I think it's neat to be able to hear a little more about the photos we see everyday.



Friday morning playdates. Every week my girlfriends and I switch off hosting, and it's always such a fun time. All of the kids are so close in age with just months between them and it's been amazing watching them all grow and change from tiny babies to wild toddlers. It's also great to have these women in my life who I'd be friends with even without our common bond of being mothers. This photo is from 2 weeks ago when it was my turn to host: I served blueberry bread and lots of fresh fruit!



Henry and Hank, and how adorable they are together. This particular photo was taken right after Henry said "We sleep Daddy!" and then squeezed his eyes shut so tight and nestled up to his papa. These two crack me up and our house is constantly full of laughter from all three of us as Henry lights up every moment.





Date night. Thanks to wonderful grandparents Hank and I have been going on date nights a little more often lately and it's been such a treat. Our favorite thing to do is go to our fave spot downtown (a historic hotel) and sit on the porch or inside and play checkers while sipping on yummy drinks. Hank doesn't drink so he gets ones of their special sodas, and I usually treat myself to one nf their homemade sangrias, with homegrown herbs and fruits from their garden. So good.


 
Breaking out of my comfort zone, fashion-wise. In my mind I always had these ideas of what I shouldn't wear. I'm short so I thought that maxi-length things looked weird, but this summer I've been embracing them and really love it. They're so comfy and especially convenient for chasing Henry around. I used to wear dresses a lot, but so many of my shorter ones just don't work these days with all the chasing, bending, and climbing on park equipment I do. Forgive the Myspace-esque (I guess it's more IG-esque now, right?) mirror-pic, will ya? ;)


 

This weather. When people think of Arizona they usually imagine a 100+ degree heat, cacti, and a dry tumbleweed rolling across hot asphalt. We however, live 2 hours north of hot hot Phoenix, up in the mountains, so we experience very seasonal weather. And I LOVE it. I am a broken record about how much I enjoy it here but Fall here is one of the best times. Right now our temperatures are in the 70s and a dream. I snapped this quick photo yesterday morning on a family walk.



Quiet lunches while Henry naps. I've been reading a lot more than usual lately, and recently decided to tackle a huge list of novels I've always meant to read, but never got around to in college. The first book on my list is Anna Karenina. I'm about 100 pages in now and I'm hooked. Have any of you read it? I've been reading a lot during lunch and it's become a nice quiet bit of "me time" in my day.



Seeing the relationship between my Dad and Henry blossom. Henry has taken to calling my Dad Pop-Pop or Poppy (Henry totally made this name up himself, which is so cute!) and they have such a special bond. My Dad is a total guy's guy- always tinkering in his garage, watching sports, etc. and although he swears up and down he only wanted daughters, I think a part of him would have loved having a son. Luckily Henry and him are two peas in a pod and my Dad is able to really enjoy all of those "boy" things he wasn't able to with Lauren or myself. It warms my heart to see the two of them together; the way Henry looks up at him for approval, the way my Dad belly-laughs while playing trucks on the floor. It's awesome.

Pulled muscles and no cavities

Hello Wednesday night! Veronica just texted me about our Friday group playdate thinking it was tomorrow morning, and it took me a good moment to realize that we were both wrong and tomorrow is only Thursday. Ahh! It's so weird how I never know what day it is during the week. Usually I have specific markers- grocery shopping on Monday, library on Tuesday, but this week we've been a little off schedule due to some random things going  on. One of them being last night at CrossFit I pulled my hamstring sprinting. Totally my fault. Even before the whistle was blown to begin I said to myself that I should have spent more time warming up, and lo and behold on my second step I felt that uncomfortable shock in my right leg. For a moment I was panicked and thought I tore my ACL again but then I realized I had just tweaked my muscle. I rolled it out, then iced it, and this morning I woke up and it was feeling a lot better thank the lord. I was expecting it to feel worse so I'm grateful it's not as bad as I thought. I'm still laying low, but definitely no more sprinting for this old lady!

Then this morning I had a dentist appointment so Henry went over to Allison and the twins' house to play. I can't say enough how wonderful it is to have a group of mama friends here, and how awesome it is to be able to count on each other to watch each others' little ones. I didn't have that at all during the first 6 months or so of Henry's life and at times I felt really sad and isolated with most of my close friends living down in the Phoenix area. So it makes me even more thankful to have found such a great group. Also I should add that I had NO CAVITIES! Yeah! I had my first and only cavity right after I had Henry and I am always nervous I'll get one whenever I go. After my horrible wisdom teeth experience (my lower lip is STILL numb believe it or not), I have a bit of a dental work phobia but this morning helped to alleviate that a little bit.

And speaking of teeth, Henry's tooth is obviously still chipped. Luckily it didn't change color so we are still thinking there was no nerve damage. I'm on the fence about getting it capped. It's not too sharp that it bothers him, but I do feel like it would be safer to have it fixed in case he fell again. But then on the other hand it is a baby tooth so maybe we should leave it alone if we'd be fixing it for cosmetic reasons? I got a referral for a new kid's dentist today so we'll probably check him out in the next couple of weeks and see what he says.

Other than that all is well in my little world. Keeping busy and feeling good. I have two more episodes left of Pretty Little Liars and I'm kind of freaking out thinking about what is going to happen. Hank is out having coffee with friends right now and I might spend the rest of my night staying up too late and finishing up the season. And then guess what? You don't have to hear me talk about it anymore...or at least until I fall in love with a new ABC Family drama. Quality programming, let me tell you!

Alright, I am off. I hope your Thursday is wonderful! xo

p.s. I've been enjoying writing these random posts- they remind me of the old Livejournal days and why I fell in love with blogging in the first place. Yay for more of the everyday stuff, right?

A Random Monday

 

Isn't this photo insane? I took it on our walk last week. It's very Rosemary's Baby to me. There is NOTHING like monsoon season in Arizona. It's amazing and beautiful, and if you love storms like we do, it's just the best thing ever.

Today's a good day for a few reasons: it's the first Monday of a new month which I love, Hank has off work, and we're spending the day with my family down in the valley. We've been here all weekend and I decided to take a break from blogging while I was here outside of a few Instagram photos. Obviously I love being online but it's also great to take a step back every so often to clear my head and just do my thing without having anything else on my mind.

I feel like this is going to be the most random post ever but I think those are good sometimes- to just write without a purpose or plan. And speaking of blogging/writing, I was just thinking about how I promised to do a video blog months ago to answer your questions and never did it. And now I don't feel like doing one! I tried a few times but I just feel too awkward so I think I'm just going to answer your questions in a post. Hope you all aren't too disappointed. ;) It's one thing to post a quick little video saying hello, but sitting there answering 50 questions made me feel really silly even after the first couple of minutes. The funny part is that I love to watch other peoples' videos but doing them myself? Not so much. 

Hmmm, what else? Oh, this is weird but the other week I started drinking Kombucha almost every day. When I was teaching I'd drink it every once and awhile if I ran over to the natural food store for lunch, but it definitely wasn't a regular thing. I'm not sure what the deal is, but this past week, anytime I drank it, about an hour or so later I would start to feel anxious and very panicky. At first I thought I was just feeling that way because of whatever reason, but then I started to connect the dots. I stopped drinking it, and I haven't felt that way since. I googled it and couldn't find any info on Kombucha causing anxiety, so I'm curious if anyone has ever had a similar reaction. Weird, right?

And I already talked about this but as soon as September hits I get this giddy feeling and I swear, I can really feel fall in the air. It just makes me feel so inspired- there's nothing like it. I always want to clean out my closet, write more, cook more, just do more. I know some people feel like this when winter is over and spring comes around, but for me it's totally Fall. 

In other news I just spent a little bit of time choosing some recipes to try for the week and I thought I'd share them here!  I'll be sure to post another "Tried it and Liked it" post and share the ideas I loved. 

Raspberry Coconut Flour Pancakes

Chicken Apple

Roasted Squash with Onion and Rosemary

Pizzuchini (made with Field Roast vegan sausage so Hank can enjoy it too)

Some other things that are going on: I'm headed to Las Vegas this upcoming weekend to spend time with Emily. She's living there for two months to train for a new job and I'm happy to come up and keep her company. We have some fun things planned- hiking, working out, maybe a girl's night out, and pool time. I've been missing Em so much since my visit to NYC last month so I'm grateful I'll get more time with her over the next couple of months. I've also been seriously simplifying and purging my closet of anything I don't wear or doesn't fit well. It's embarassing that I've held on to so many things that haven't seen the light of day in months! I've been either selling it on my little Instagram "Shop my Closet" account or donating it to Goodwill and it just feels so good to be clearing things out. I told you, it's the fall in the air! Also: Lauren's SO pregnant and it's adorable, my Dad set his retirement date for this April, and my sister-in-law's birthday is coming up. All good things! 

This ends my rambling for today. If you made it this far, thank you! I'm off to enjoy our day with my family and give Henry lots of hugs and kisses- he's had a temper-tantrum filled past couple of days and hasn't been in the best of moods. I think he's going through a growth spurt but it makes me sad that he feels frustrated. So, I hope Henry annnnd all of you have a wonderful day and are ready for an awesome week. If you have a moment, check out my new September ads over there on the right - so many amazing blogs and shops I'm excited to be working with. Happy Monday and lots of love!