Take some time to enjoy the little things.

Welcome

Just yesterday, a dear sweet friend of mine brought a beautiful baby boy into this world. She is the first of my friends to become a parent. And today as I watched her with her little boy, it was somewhat strange, yet so natural to see her in her new role. Holding and caring for her child.

Baby Evan was born at 1:27 p.m. weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz.

There seems to be nothing just as exciting as new life entering the world. Baby's are a prime example of how God works and how He performs miracles everyday. To me, babies are miracles. They grow in their momma's belly and come into this world with all working parts. Miracles. So sweet and so small.

I'm excited to watch my friends start on their new journey of parenthood. Erica and Jimmy will be wonderful parents. They are so lucky to have each other.

Life is so full of great works of God if we just take time to be still and notice.

Maybe I should take my own advice.

Today & Everyday

Happy Valentine's Day.

I hope you are surrounded and feeling loved in some capacity today. Whether it is from your spouse, parent, child, friend, co-worker, dog...whatever it is, I hope you are feeling loved.

Typically, I would have prepared for today. I would have some sort of handmade craft or food to give to my valentine. However, this year I am not so prepared.

Today I'm thinking about the beach and how just 24 hours ago I was in sunshiny Florida sipping coffee and reading this book in the Florida room. Chatting with my grandmother about cooking, weddings, and life. Spending time just sitting and relaxing and existing.

But today I am back to the grind, struggling to get myself to focus and be productive. Dealing with a little post-vacation bummedness (I just made that word up). And tonight I will go home, exhausted and feeling a little grouchy because I'm still not recovered from our 4:15 a.m. wake up call to make our flight back home. I will put on my sweatpants and new Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, make a delicious dinner with Jake and some red wine and snuggle in for a movie. Enjoying the little moments of love. Nothing grand, nothing spectacular and, do to saving for the wedding, no gifts. Which is perfectly a-ok with me.

Because honestly, almost everyday is like valentine's day. I rarely go a day that I don't feel or know that I am loved. I am beyond blessed by my future husband, grandparents who still take walks on the beach together, family, friends and a God who, despite my feelings and worry, loves me regardless.

So, Happy Valentine's Day to you today and everyday.

Florida + Pillows

Well, I am Florida bound in a 17 hours. Yep, I can't wait!

It was a little impromptu visit to see my grandparents who snowbird down to Florida to escape the cold Midwestern winters. Although, this year really hasn't been so bad. Makes me nervous for the summer. I think it'll be a hot one.

But I wanted to share with you my recent DIY. I love them. Super cute pillows that can be added to any rustic chic space. I made these for my mom's birthday and will soon be making myself a pair.

I didn't use a pattern but if you need to you can find any basic pillow pattern. Once I cut out my sides, I used an acrylic pen to outline my letters. I stenciled the letters by placing a print out under my fabric. Burlap is pretty see through so it's easy to follow the lines. Then you can fill in the outline with paint.

Let the paint dry.

Then it's time to sew! I used my new Christmas present for this one. Sew the two "right" (or the two sides you want to be on the outside) together and leave a hole so you can flip and stuff the pillow. If you can't sew, that's ok, you can use fabric glue. It works well also.

Once you've sew them, all you need to do is invert them through the hole you left. Next, stuff them and make sure you get all the corners. Then stitch up the hole and you're done!

Pretty basic and they are so cute. What a great way to remind your spouse what side of the bed is theirs!

Ok, that's all for now. Time to finish packing up!

Change

Happy Super Bowl Monday! If you're from Indiana than it's been nothing but Super Bowl for the past few weeks. There has been a lot of buzz going on and a lot of new visitors to the state. I headed downtown on Friday to join in some of the festivities and it was amazing how much the city has done for this event. There were so many people there and it was just really cool to experience it.

On another note, my mom also had a birthday this weekend. Yay for her! We gathered together and celebrated. My brother was also in town and the five of us had a wonderful time being a family. It was so great to be with them.

This is a big year for my family. There are two weddings and two new people joining the original five. It will be a lot of change. But change is good, right? That's what they say. It's good but not necessarily natural or always easy.  Change usually excites me but I am particularly bad at change when it comes to my family. It can sometimes be hard for me to adjust. I can be kind of stubborn.

Change can make us better. It causes us to stretch and grow. It eventually causes us to look outside ourselves and see a bigger picture. I am excited about this change in our family. I am looking forward to adding a sister and a husband. To adding new traditions and new norms. Change is good. This is good.

doughnut delight

Here we are again and it's Monday. After a great weekend, I wasn't quite ready to come back to work but Monday came whether I was ready or not. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. Not necessarily because I was tired (because that's always a struggle) but because I went snowboarding for the first time this weekend and I could barely get out of bed.

A few groans and ughs and I made it out of bed. But oh man was snowboarding fun! Jake kept telling me that I was going to hate it at first but I seemed to think that I was going to be awesome. Turns out...Jake was right. For the first hour or so, I was hating the experience. Even though I had a pretty handsome instructor, I was frustrated, annoyed and hurting. It also didn't help that kids half my size were zooming past me. I may have even glared at a few of them. Whoops.
After we took a little break, I got back out on the board and it seems a bit easier. I actually managed to make it down the hill without fall, except for getting off the tow rope. I still can't managed to get away from it when I let go, so I usually opt for falling and scooting. I'm sure it's quite a sight from a distance.
Once I actually started to get the hang out it, it was so much fun. It was such an adrenalin rush. I was pretty proud of myself and that I stuck with it and managed to really enjoy it. I still have a really long way to go, but I definitely want to go again.

This weekend also included time spent with my dear cousin and her husband. We so enjoy our time with them when we see them. There is always lots of conversation and laughs over great food and drinks.

On Saturday morning, we all managed to squeeze into one corner in the kitched to cook up some delicious breakfast. Laura mixed up some of our grandmother's donuts (a favorite when we used to have sleepovers at her house) and I fried them up. They were delicious. Not necessarily good for the waistline, but so good for the soul.

Easy Tea Doughnuts by Grandma Janice

1 egg

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ cup milk

1⅓ cups sifted all-purpose flour

2½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil for frying

Granulated sugar for tossing or 1 recipe vanilla glaze

1 Preheat oil to 375°F in a deep fryer. Beat egg, add sugar, butter, vanilla and milk. Beat well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture, beat until blended.

2. Drop by small teaspoons into preheated oil. Fry until golden brown, turning to brown evenly, about 2 minutes. Remove doughnuts and drain on a paper towel. Toss in sugar or coat with vanilla glaze.

Bucket Lists

This weekend I went to a dear friend's baby shower. Tomorrow Jake turns 25. We get married in 222 days. When did we grow up?

Sometimes it's still hard to believe that I am 25, living on my own with a job and am now getting married! Life happens so quickly, doesn't it?!?

I have a bucket list. A pretty lengthy one at that and it seems to change depending on my mood. Yet, there are a few things that remain the same.

&  

There are so many different things that I want to do in this lifetime. As I was thinking about it, I had to ask myself if there was anything else on my "pre-marriage" bucket list. I have graduated from college, got my masters, spent time single, been on many adventures, spent a year working and supporting myself, and well...that sums most of it up.

Other than maybe one more weekend trip with my best girls, possibly to a winery (hint, hint), I am fully satisfied and content with all that I've accomplished up this this point in my life. I feel as though I am really ready to take the step of fulfilling another of my items on my bucket list.

There are still so many things on my list. Now, I hope to get to have my favorite guy with me to experience them. Here are a few of my favorites...

• Travel to Italy & Greece
• Learn to speak Swedish
• Then travel to Sweden
• Speak to a crowd of over 1,000 people
• Write a book
• Go to France and eat a lot of cheese, pastries and drink wine
• Go to a Bears game (preferably the Super Bowl)
• Meet Keith Urban
• Own a bakery

Please tell me...what's on your list?