30.52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

stella: sitting at a table just her size in amish country. 

theo:  nursing at a rest stop on the way home from iowa. 

snippets // christmas 2013

1. our most favorite present this year. 
2. daddy helping stella put on her new chap stick. 
3. our little darlings.
4. santa came!
5. snow collecting on a neighbor's window sill.
6. coffee with (lots of) baileys. 
7. bare, beautiful, backyard trees.
8. a cozy afghan.
9. happy birthday jesus.
10. scenes of christmas at nana's house.
11. a snowman marshmallow for our hot cocoa. 
12. christmas morning snuggles with mama. 
13. nana and papa are so fun.
14. we had lots of old fashioneds.
15. theodore loves his new knit grandpa sweater.
16. meeting great nana for the first time.
17. it snowed on christmas day. 
18. new holiday socks. 
19. lots of napping. 
20. bits of evergreen in our home.  

iowa in the summer. have you been?

i can recall a time in my life when i did not appreciate this sweet little state called iowa.  everything else, on the other side of that fence, seemed better.  i had big eyes for NYC and LA and all those other cool acronym cities that i loved seeing in movies or on TV.  but only upon spending time away from this state have i been able to truly appreciate it's magic upon return.  


let me tell you a little about this little slice of heaven:

...tomatoes taste like real tomatoes there.  they are really, really red and just need a little salt and fresh cracked pepper to put you on cloud nine.

...old, splintered, ruby red barns make their home in backyards...and they're beautiful.

...it's not strange to run into someone you knew way, way back when so and so introduced you to that girl you met when...you get the idea...it's one small world indeed.

...grant wood paintings come to life as rows of green corn roll over the countryside, resembling that familiar and cozy patchwork quilt you used to snuggle up on the couch with at your grandmas house.

...people make pies there and they are absolutely dusted with sugar. 

...smiles are genuine and tractor rides are always on the menu.

...bob dylan and tom petty just sound better on that old radio amidst that country air. 

...scenes of an over-loaded clothes line bustling in the breeze can be found near highways, side roads, cul-de-sacs, farms, subdivisions, and you name it locations.

you see?  it's kind of wonderful, this little state.  have any of you been there, live there, or know someone from there?  if so, you know exactly what i'm talking about.  we will forever be smitten with iowa. :)

cinco de mayo // guacamole giggles

surf'n turf grillin' +  beer-lime-a-ritas + chunky guac + lots of laughter & love with family = one heck of a cinco de mayo holiday

baby girl got her groove on with lots of guacamole in her new old chair redone by her nana and papa.  believe it or not it used to be her dada's when he was little!  stella thought she was hot stuff eating in her special chair next to all of us on the deck.  she also decided to give herself a moisturising avocado hair mask.  smart little cookie, that one!

back to the start

you probably saw this chipotle commercial a few months ago during the super bowl, but i had to share it with you all again as it had such a beautiful impact on me then, and continues to have now. 

andrew and i are huge coldplay fans and love their original song, "the scientist," and we also happen to be obsessed with chipotle.  needless to say, when we heard this we were pretty stoked.  if you have never tried their barbacoa, you need to.  it's heavenly.  

...then good ol' willie came along and just took this song to another level with this touching video put out by chipotle about sustainable farming practises and how to cultivate a better world through better farmer-animal relationships.  now you must know there is no soap box in sight, nor do i have the urge to get into the ethics of food consumption, i just know that this video made me shed a tear or two and reminded me of home, which is iowa, and my grandpa, a former farmer who cared about his animals. 

i hope you enjoy is as much a i do, and happy weekend, too!

it's a four letter word

it was one of those drives that seemed to linger.  the echo of fleet foxes and bon iver played in the background, and black, grazing cows started to become more frequent than cars.  old, splintered barns made themselves known, smiling at us from the barren fields in which they lay, and the grass became a deeper shade of green.  after a record or too, iowa welcomed us and missouri waved goodbye.  

i consider myself a homebody, one who will willingly grab at the chance to get back into the comfort of my jammies and snuggle up with the warmth of a soft blanket and good book.  i have always been this way.  in fact, when i was little, i had to ask my parents if i could "please go to bed now" so i could get cozied up in my room.  oddly enough for a youngster it was never the other way around.  now...i'll be frank and tell you that me getting up in the morning is a whole other story...right mom?  

while growing up, home was always a comfortable place for me, both the security of my room and the great outdoors surrounding our house being the most comforting of places.  i find it quite soothing that i still feel this same serenity and ease in these two contrasting places when i go back home, even after being married for almost 3 years and having a baby.  

when i step through that slightly broken screen door, i know i can always count on a few constants that can help ease my woes and squash my stress.  what a wonderful place home is.

home is a place where i can always count on there never being a worry in sight.  it is a place where i can relax without doing my makeup, where i can let my unwashed hair down, and wear my brother's football hoodie while shooting some hoops in middle of the road that was never finished.   

home is a place of endless candies and sweets in the pantry, where fresh fruit is always on the counter, and where grandma's quilts seem to pile up on the beds in every room.  

home is a place where music is always being played.  from a guitar strumming the tunes of a tom petty classic, to a keyboard making melodies late into the night. 

home is a place where the beauty of the wilderness was at my disposal.  i had a large grass field and thick forest surrounding me; hence, this girl {thumbs pointed my way} has one wicked imagination because of this awesome "backyard."  i could and still can whip up a fort in the amount of time it takes me to bathe stella, and based on my speed at both tasks, i'd say that's pretty darn good.  

home is a place where i am reminded as to how incredibly lucky i am to have grown up with unconditional love and immense support all around me.  and as for my parents, they are the ones to thank for this.  they were, and still are, pretty darn wonderful.  i don't tell them that enough.   

as my little family and i walked through my childhood neighborhood on easter sunday, radio flyer and all, remnants of what made me happy in the past, such as the fragrant smell of lilacs, met up with my present self.  in that fleeting moment of clarity, i found a calm sense of happiness and felt very, very grateful.  

there is a lifetime of beautiful memories where i grew up, and i have my family to thank for that.  i think this view can get clouded by hormones, and stubbornness, and other excuses...but i am recognizing it now, and want to make it known.  the best part about going home now, is that i get to share this special place with my two loves.  i know that one day, stella will be picking those lilacs for her nana and papa, and i will be over in the shade watching with her dada, both of us smiling.