Day's Off

This weekend was a quiet one for us. 

Sunday was cold, nasty, and it rained the entire day. 

But today was President's Day and the kids were off from school. 

It was a sleep in and have fun just doing whatever the kids wanted kind of day.

So after lunch we decided to go down to the park and take a few pictures.

It's still chilly enough to wear a beanie hat and not yet warm enough to wear flip flops.

I'm longing lately for days of Summer to be here but trying to soak the last of Winter up.

Because I'm sure when we're having the days of 100 degrees I'll be dreaming of cooler ones to come.

Funny how that all works.

It's been awhile though, since I've played with my camera in the sunlight, outdoors.

And it's so the best. 

Indoors I find to be such a challenge to get the lighting just right and to achieve the look that I want. 

But it's so much fun getting out in the sunshine and just going with it.

That's what we did today... we just went with it and "it" was beautiful.

I'm so happy to be linking up today with Laura from Bits of Splendor.

You should go over and check out her blog and get to know some other awesome bloggers all linking up and sharing their splendor in life.

Happy Monday!

heather.

Adventure

Five different states we’ve had the pleasure of experiencing life in. Each having different cultures, new people, strange food, beautiful and not so beautiful scenery and it’s been fun. A challenge at times, but overall fun. It has also been an adventure. We tell that to our 3 kids a lot. Life is an adventure. We want to live it. To really experience it. For us, living and dying in the same place without ever having expanded our horizons to life lived differently, would be disappointing. I often get these hankerings of adventures I’d like to take and I tell them to Jode. You know, when I’m trying to make sure I get in all my 2,000 words for the day.

I share with him how I’d like to...

hike down the Grand Canyon {not sure about hiking back up though}

take our kids white water rafting

visit California

see the vastness of Montana

travel the world for a year in an RV

and my latest…

is to one day live in the city. In a cool little downtown place where we have big sliding barn doors on the inside, a space up top the roof where we go for fresh air, just a walk around the corner takes us to the quaint coffee shop that knows me by name, and the bookstore you can get lost in for hours. {which this last hankering was brought back on from seeing “the vow”} Do you ever see something or maybe read a book that lights a spark already rooted inside of you?

First move 18hours away from what we'd always known as home. {2002}

I like change. The change-up in location, the change-up of routine, the going, the seeing_ the doing. I crave adventure. But not the kind so much, that involves jumping out of planes or even off of a ledge with a bungee….nah, I tend to enjoy  my feet being planted on the ground.

I remember for my  26^th birthday Jode surprised me by taking me away for the weekend to snow ski. Neither of us had ever been before and neither of us had a clue as to how we were to get off a lift without falling. I still tell to this day that I only fell bc he pushed off on my leg each time we went to lift ourselves up. Therefore allowing him able to stay up on his skis and me fall every single time… I spent the majority of my time on my butt, but can I tell you how exhilarating it was. Being surrounded by the mountains of snow and all the beauty there was for us to take in. Tackling and taking on something new together that we had never done. It was an adventure and one I’ll never ever forget.

Snow Skiing 2003

It also was around this time that we kind of made a pact with each other promising we would continue to have adventures and do things that neither of us had ever done before … but we would do them with each other. We wanted to share those experiences in each other’s presence. 

And some days I find myself dreaming up new ways of adventure together. Sometimes it’s small things like eating at the new restaurant that serves a food we’ve never eaten before. Or seeing a band in concert we’ve never heard, shopping at Whole Foods instead of Wal-Mart, taking a new route home, buying exotic different flowers for the kitchen vase…. Just to shake things up a little. Because life can be an adventure if you look at it that way. I think it all just kind of depends on your perspective. 

First Dinner Boat Cruise 2004

heather.

Happy "Love" Day

Happy happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you get to celebrate all the love in your life today.

We're celebrating the love we receive from God_ our kids_ 

my man_ friends and oh, just everyone. It's a love Fest today Ya'll...

I hope you at least, get to treat yourself to one of something chocolate today....

So from me to you Happy Valentine's Day!

{This picture is a little distorted but ya'll I'm loving the Hubba Hubba app on my phone. I'm like a kid in a candy store creating all kinds of fun pics. You must go & check it out! It'll at the least be 5 minutes of fun for you.}

And lastly don't forget that...

.

  .

     .

                        I really do!

PS. Hubs and I are going to see "The Vow" today. Just know that I'm eeking out on the inside but I'm going to hold it together on here for ya'll, mkay. ;)

This song will be on repeat in my house today.

heather.

Valentine's-Making Weekend

Friday oldest stayed home from school not feeling well.

He had the whole sore throat_ congestion thing going on. Not fun, at all.

But we needed to get our Valentine-Making on anyway and so that's just what we did.

We have a few paint decks laying around our home so we grabbed one up 

and made bookmarks that I had seen here. 

The girls got a kick out of reading all the paint color names...Romantic Morn, Pink Mimosa, Frosted Tulip, Bleeding Heart, Kenny's Kiss. Who gets to pick all those names anyway? 

We had fun trying to come up with our own names for each one....

By yesterday, oldest was feeling much better and wanted to go out and get all hot & sweaty while shooting some basketball, in the super cold weather. 

We wouldn't let him...we couldn't let him and you can imagine how well that went over.

This is where the whole parenting thing gets a little hard. 

We want them to understand that we're doing it for their good but they don't or maybe deep down they do but they don't want you to know that they do..ha!

Anyways, we made brownie sundaes with caramel on top and it really was the best way to close out our little Valentine's making weekend...even oldest had to agree.

Linking up this week with heather for

heather.

Flowers

We've had flowers in our house for the past 2 weeks just bc. It started when my girls picked some from the side bush in our yard and brought them in to me. Then I picked some up from Wal-Mart bc i love to see them sitting on the kitchen counter. And these flowers pictured probably don't look like much but it's really more about what they stand for. They're about a daddy & momma who want to make sure their daughters are being wooed by the right people_ ...with the things that little girls dream about. Like chocolates_ balloons_ flowers_ pretty things.

 Valentine's Day has me thinking all kinds of thoughts bc of it being right upon us. I get that flowers and chocolates and stuffed animals are just things. It's about the cuddles_ the comfort_ the teaching_ the sharing of_ the love, love, love and so much more than any mere monetary thing. But i also know that us females have an inner desire and an eye for pretty, or if your like me, a stomach for some good milk chocolate. 

And then i think about Jesus and all the ways he woos me

by the flowers in the field

the clouds in the sky

by His peace I receive

by the friend that calls 

by my children's arms that wrap tightly around my neck

by His words that i read..... He woos me.

And I want my kids to see and know that it is He who wants/desires it all.....all of their affections. 

 I'm not sure this is even coming out right or making sense like it does in my insides but sometimes that's just how the writing goes. It just spills out and over and onto this page....

What I know is there will come the day when she will be wooed by a boy, a man, her future husband, but for now her daddy is that person and he/we want to woo her well. That's all. 

happy Thursday!

woo [wuː]

vb woos, wooing, wooed

1. to seek the affection, favour, or love of (a woman)

heather.

Room to Create

I’m fighting the perfectionist side of me big time this morning in that I didn’t want to post the final photos of my room until it was complete. 

Until all the clutter was put away in proper places, on some bookcases_ 

cute framed prints hung on the wall_ a rug put down that would bring it all together…. I could go on and on but let’s face it, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get all of that. 

And for now, this is what I have and this is what it looks like… clutter and all. :)

The color is a PPG color called Serendipity and at first sight I really felt it was too bold/ dark. It's a pretty aqua color but I was originally thinking of something a little lighter…It wore on me though, and I wonder now why I even had an issue with it. I do the same thing with my hair. When I first see the new color I’m like ooooooooh, it’s pretty bold and then after a week I’m like it’s fine. 

Cray, cray…i tell ya!

Jode has been a painting little machine man. He painted 2 desks_ a frame_ the lamp_ dream sign_ 2 shelves_ and painting takes time, doesn’t it? I get a tad impatient and want it dry and ready to go but it doesn’t work that way. The weather plays a huge part in it as well as having the right equipment. I have to admit, I’m a little fearful of doing our kitchen. I just know how big of a job it’s going to be…. Worth it_ but just not anticipating it really well.

Did I tell you that I purchased this table with 3 chairs at the Salvation Army about 5 months ago for $45? At the time I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. I just knew that I wanted it bc of it’s character. It has a leaf that extends it out too, but now I think I've found the perfect spot. The chairs I use over in our dining room.

I’m so thankful for this space to dream_ create_ and make a mess in.

Hope you have mucho fun this weekend, too. Whether you do something or nothing_ clean or mess things up_ happy weekend to ya!

heather.

January Faves

We 're moving right along into February and with that, I decided to do an Insta-Gram photo dump.
Here are a few of my faves from the month.

Happy Wednesday!

heather.