Archive for the 'Daily Life' Category

:: nebraska ::

Today we spent 13 hours on the open road…en route from Colorado to Minneapolis for my brother’s wedding. We stopped in Des Moines to crash for the night, and let me just say that sleep will be SO WELCOMED!

Let me also just say that SUMMER + LIVING REAL LIFE = LESS BLOGGING.

At the end of the day, I’ve been crashing onto the couch for some quick online catch up time…but haven’t felt motivated to blog at all. This isn’t an apology or a promise for more blogging…just keepin’ it real. I tend to blog a lot more when life isn’t moving so fast and when the sun goes down at 6pm.

I have a backlog of ideas and drafts of blogs that are half written, but haven’t had the time (because wow, blogging takes a lot of time yo!)…or the energy to complete. I tend to be a perfectionist in all things, so if I don’t have time to write a perfectly well-thought out post, then I won’t post at all.

However, I really like what my friend Olya at Life Inspired said about her new goal in blogging:

I am going to embrace the randomness of our daily life and not be afraid to be random here as well. Because in reality, our life consists of a myriad of random moments that happen throughout the day, every day. Trying to tie them together into one post with some deep meaningful title to go along with it is what often overwhelms me, takes too much time and causes me to not document those things after all.

And in that spirit, here are a few of my favorite moments from the last couple of weeks:

I have received several lovely letters in the mail from treasured friends. I SAVORED their every word and soaked it all in…with a delicious hot beverage in hand.

We had friends over for taco night and we enjoyed a beautiful evening on the patio.

After supper, we listened to some live music in downtown Longmont.

Bella spent 3 days at Sun Pony Ranch for horse camp! She had a BLAST and can’t wait to go back next year.

Shortly after that, she got her cast off! She will still wear a splint for playing for 2 more weeks, but she is enjoying the freedom!

I rode my cruiser and met Natalie on the front porch of Caffe Luna early one morning. It was a really fun time of connection and laughter and I cannot wait to do it again.

We spent time in southern Colorado at Monument Lake…what beauty! God’s creation is truly incredible.

We had a slumber party with our cousins in Castle Rock. A sweet time of fellowship by adults and kiddos alike.

We spent time with Ellen and her family in Lyons for the Outdoor Games. Fun!

Matt and I celebrated 11 years of marriage on June 17! He still makes my heart skip a beat with that killer smile and his sweet sense of humor.

We had some hard days after saying goodbye to Bella’s best friends in the neighborhood…they are moving on July 1, before we return from the wedding. She has spent so much time with them over the last couple of months…up to 6-7 hours a day between the park and in the backyards. It will take some time to adjust…luckily, they just moved an hour away and we plan to see them again!

And lastly…I’ve been hanging out these two amazing daughters of mine who teach me daily what it means to truly live life in the moment. To see beauty in the small things and remain in awe of airplanes and birds in flight. They make me smile. They make me crazy. They are the best gift I’ve ever been given.

And now I must get to bed, so I can be rested for the amazing wedding weekend of family, feasting, and fun!

 

 

Do you remember my friend Ellen? I told you about her awhile ago. We hung out last week in Denver at her place and had a blast. And then she came over again today and we hung out in Lyons with the kiddos at Meadow Park (the most beautiful park EVER). We will definitely be going back. Like tomorrow. Our kids play together splendidly and we plan to get together a lot more in the coming months!

The crew!

Bella surveys the rapids. This park has awesome little “still water” inlets for the kiddos to splash around in and have fun. Of course, the water is ICE cold (because it’s melting off the mountains), but they didn’t seem to mind.

Ellen and Lucy have a moment.

I fell completely head over heels in love with the little coffee shop in town…The Stone Cup. Super kid friendly and beautiful views.
She was asleep before we even hit the city limits…which means it was a good day!

And lastly…an awesome magnet I saw today. Such a wonderful reminder! Say YES! to your life this weekend…look for the little blessings in all things and be happy!

*Note: The filter on these photos is done with Instagram, which is an iPhone app. For those of you without iPhones, you can still follow my feed here. I post a lot of photos there that I don’t post anywhere else. If you do have an iPhone, download the Instagram app and follow “livelightly”!

I can’t believe it’s only been a year since this photo was taken! Lucy’s legs are so chubby…and my hoops are so new and shiny! We spent Memorial Day weekend in Minneapolis last year with family…and this year we’ll be with family again, but this time in Colorado!

My parents are driving out from Iowa as I type this, so we’re looking forward to seeing them again. Dan, Jess, and Scotty will be here too.  I’m guessing there will be lots of good food and sunshine involved. Bella is ready and rarin’ to go with her new cast too.

I have been dreaming of the veggie pot stickers with spicy peanut sauce since Monica and I had them at the Boulder Farmer’s Market. Oh.my.word. Amazing. Or how about some iced Bhakti Chai from Laughing Goat? Yes please. As a recovering Boulder-hater, I am working on finding my bliss there again. I’ve been less than thrilled about the traffic and gaggles of people in the past…but I am embracing it now. It will be extra nuts because the Boulder Creek Festival is happening. Bring on the crazy!

Lucy’s birthday is on the 29th…so I’m sure we’ll do a little something fun for that. We had a celebration in Iowa with everyone…but she’s too cute not to celebrate again.

There are summer breezes pouring in every window and pretty birdie songs floating through the air. In the distance I can hear Bella playing with her besties and the wind chimes I took from my Grandma’s patio are joining in the song. The RV “guest suite” needs clean sheets and fresh flowers…so I need to sign off and get busy on that.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend…I have lots of good stuff planned for the blog (and for you!) this summer. Can’t wait!!

God is good. Life is good. Cherish each moment. Much love…

 

 

 

 

Our trip to Iowa was fast and furious, but we had a wonderful time with family and old friends. For those just checking in, we drove back for my grandma’s estate sale. It was definitely an emotional time for me as I came back to her house for the first time since her death two years ago. So good to have a sense of closure and reminisce with family about our time spent at the house and with grandma and grandpa…but still difficult to process it all in such a short time.

I could probably write 10 blog posts about what has happened in the past week…but I’m a bit too tired for all that. I did want to let you know that Bella broke her wrist while we were at the hotel (playing “surfing” on Daddy)…so we’ve been dealing with doctors and waiting rooms and such this week. She gets her cast on Thursday. It’s her right arm, so that makes it a bit hard for her to do anything, but she’s up for the challenge and is being such a trooper.

Here are a few of the photos I captured during our 22 hours on the road…have a great week!

She is a true artist in all things.

There is nothing sweeter than flowers given by a child.

When your husband is 6’5″, it’s fun to be a bit taller sometimes.

Plaid Chucks for $2? Yes please. Daddy found these while thrifting. I have an amazing husband.

And a pink pair for the littlest one!? I think I’m in love.

What are 3 simple joys that you’ve experienced today?

 

Life has been full and wonderful…and I wanted to share some of our most recent fun with you! This weekend Bella took a tree climbing class (part of the Longmont Parks and Rec Program) and she had SO much fun. This isn’t your regular ‘ol “tree climbing” though…

Once you get your harness on, you use your arms to pull yourself all the way to the top of the tree and then you release the knot to come back down.

She was a natural…and loved every  moment. Matt is even talking about getting our own tree climbing gear.

On a rainy day this week, we met our unschooling group at Bounce Town! It’s a big warehouse with 6 large bounce houses in it for the kids to go wild. I like to crawl in there with them and bounce bounce bounce, but it doesn’t take long before I get sick and dizzy!

I’m getting to know some really fun local mamas…it’s so nice to build a connection here.

Another day, while we were cleaning up a bouquet of purple irises on the table, we decided to see if we could dye paper with them! They were wilting and we were going to throw them away…but instead, we threw them into the Vita-Mix with a little water and soaked our paper in it.

It turned out to be a beautiful shade of blue/violet. We had some good discussions about how people used to use plants, seeds, and flowers to make dyes all the time (and still do). I told Bella that’s how they did it in the “olden days”, and she said, “…you mean like in 1984?”. Oh my.

Bella has been asking to set up a lemonade stand…so on the first sunny day this week, we brought out all the supplies and set up shop. She did well…but she did have to pay her “employees” their wages, so her profit was a little down. She was still happy with her results…she has such an entrepreneurial spirit!

Yesterday morning we decided to scope out a new breakfast spot in town and we settled on Two Dog Diner. It’s a sweet little cafe tucked away in the Prospect area of Longmont. They have Bhakti chai there (which I am quite obsessed with right now) and even veggie sausage! We enjoyed some sweet family time together and we will definitely be going back!

Other activities from this weekend: I painted our TV-less corner and have a few little decorations in it. It’s not quite done, but I will share it with you when it is! I picked up the supplies to paint our bedroom (finally!!). I’m SO excited to start it. Bella had a sleepover last night at her friend’s house, which went splendidly. Today we enjoyed meeting with our house church family and had a relaxing afternoon.

We’re looking forward to another lovely week.

Monday and Tuesday we’re *hoping* to paint and hang curtains in our bedroom. We’re having guests over for tacos on Wed. night. Thursday is Bella’s last day of Raccoon Clan for the season and there will be a family potluck out on the land. Right after that we will leave for Iowa and drive back for my Grandma’s estate sale. If you recall, she died just a few days before Lucy was born and I wasn’t able to attend her funeral or have closure…so I am looking forward to getting back there. My entire family will be there, as well as Matt’s parents who are driving down to see us.  We’ll be there through Sunday.

Whew! Life speeds by so fast…I have to remind myself to stay in the moment so often! I love taking time throughout the day to stop and really WATCH the girls faces and see what they are feeling. I also like to list all the things I am grateful for in that particular day…and that helps me too.

How do you stay “present” and in the moment when life is rushing by? I would love to hear your thoughts…

 

 

My little baby is now a “big girl”. Over the past week she has decided to be done with her diapers.

There hasn’t been much fanfare…she just did it on her own and we’re all so happy! She is still wearing diapers at night, but today we went to play group and even took a nap with just undies and she did great.

And being that she was on a roll with the big girl stuff, she decided to start her own business too.

Don’t worry, we haven’t been robbed.

We’ve decided to live life a bit more fully…which means that the large TV that used to sit here has been returned thanks to a generous return policy at Costco. We are making some big changes in our life…and this is one of them. The room already feels completely different and we love it.

We are not anti-television. We enjoy it and feel that it does have educational benefits. We just didn’t want it to be the main focus of our evenings and weekends anymore. We want our focus to be on relationships and connection…and getting rid of the TV just made a lot of sense for us right now. We are cancelling cable, but will keep one TV to watch movies/Netflix…just not in the living room.

I have big plans for this empty corner…it will involve paint and hanging things and light and other yummy stuff. Stay tuned for that update

One of my most recent eBook discoveries is “The Minimalist Mom” and it’s partially responsible for our TV exodus. I LOVE Dusti’s bold stance on her beliefs and I am completely inspired by her passion to live life on her terms. She recently compiled an AMAZING minimalism resource list. It will rock your world.

She also just launched a new blog, Undefinable You with all kinds of goodies happening in the next month. Check it out…she’s a little firecracker

I am working on a new series about minimalism and the first post is on how I am downsizing my wardrobe…can’t wait to share it with you all!

Have you gotten rid of your TV and/or cable? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it and how it has changed your life…

This is my friend Sarah…she is a fabulous artist/designer, mama, and fellow homeschooler. Early Monday morning she came over for tea and muffins and we had a lovely time.

She and Bella had fun doing origami together. I love an impromptu art class in pajamas!

They made butterflies and a flower. I see more paper folding in our future

We were entertained by our other little one’s antics. Like Lucy trying to steal muffins. And clothing. And phones. This is a fun stage

Sharing daily life with friends is so enjoyable…and even though it takes some planning, it’s so worth the end result! We always wonder why we don’t do it more often.

Do you have friends that you connect with on a regular basis?
Is it on your calendar each week or is it spontaneous?

It’s a pretty color of pink, don’t you think?

Happy Friday everyone!