Mommy and Me Monday

We got rained out of the apple orchard a couple of weeks ago, so we went to the Jelly Belly factory.


Jordan was not so amused at me taking our picture.


Much happier on her own!


No more pictures mommy!!

Hosted by Krystyn

Approaching The End Of A Decade

In a few days I will be turning 29. As usual, having an autumn birthday makes me the last of my friends to reach a milestone. Most of my friends have posted on Facebook their woes of turning 29, how sad they are that this is their last year in their 20s. Some are embracing it and some are distraught.

I think for some people, turning 29 makes them reflect on their lives. Are they in the career of their dreams? Have they found their soul mates? Do they have enough children? As if turning 30 means you will be stuck in a job you never wanted, you won't be married, and you can never have children. I do not think 30 means what we think it means anymore. 30 is like the new 20. Reaching 30 means your life has just begun. All the drudgery of your 20s is over, you can get your dream job, settle down, and start your family.

For me, being 29 means nothing. Turning 30 next year means I am just a year older. I don't work full time, so I am not worried about my career. I still have a few years until I even consider a part time job. I am married to the best guy out there (just being a little biased of course!). And then I have my beautiful children, and know that I will not be adding on to the clan.

In fact, now that I think about it... what do I have going for the rest of my life? I seemed to have done it all by 29. Well, not quite. I am looking forward to the year 2014 when my younger child begins school full time and I can pursue new hobbies or a career with my acquired free time. I can say easily that I will be looking forward to that milestone! But for the next few years, I'll just keep going along my merry way, filling my days with preschool pickup/drop off, stroller exercise classes, cooking, and playdates.

5 Years

Today is my five year marriage anniversary. Five years ago, I pledged to be the wife, best friend, confidant, companion, and provide unconditional support for my husband. I couldn't have picked a better man to want to spend the rest of my life with.

Our lives have been filled with a lot, it has not been particularly easy, emotionally or financially. But what marriage is perfect? Despite our disagreements, our hardships, our disappointments, we have found unconditional love, we have created two beautiful children, we have found rainbows in the storms.

I know that with my husband by my side, I can be anything and do anything I put my heart to. I know he will support my decisions in regards to our children, our household, my life. I know that when I am being ridiculous and irrational he will tell me, not because he thinks I am in the wrong, but because he cares.

We have grown from geeky band members in high school to lovers in college to best friends and partners in our later 20s. We have learned how to tolerate each others's little annoyances, how to share our spaces, what each other likes to eat, drink, listen to, what clothes we prefer to wear. We have been blessed with two children who continue to fill our hearts with more joy than we could have ever imagined.

I know we still have bumpy roads ahead of us. Many more stressful moves, more losses, more heartache. But there is always a flip side. Each move brings us another chance at rebuilding what we leave behind, chances to fix our mistakes. Each loss and heartache strengthens our bonds, reminds us what love is and why it is so important.

I love my husband. I would chose him again and again to be with me. Thank you, husband, for choosing me. I will continue to ensure you made a good choice too!

This Year's Visit To The Apple Orchard

Hi there, blog readers! We've been keeping pretty busy around here. Last week we went to the local apple orchard, same one we went to last year. This year was more fun because the little guy could help too, instead of being stuck on mommy's back the entire time.


Daddy was in charge of picture taking. He didn't take nearly as many as grandma did last year, but he got a few good ones!


After working hard to fill up our bag, we grabbed a couple extra for the ride home. Apples are way yummier when you pick them yourself!

Sometimes A Gal Just Has To Bake

This weekend was one of those weekends where I just HAD to bake. I haven't been doing much baking lately since the husband and I are trying to lose some weight. I miss baking. A lot. And I think my daughter does too. So I whipped up a batch of yellow cake cupcakes and made some peanut butter frosting. I dug out our fall themed sprinkles and some extra icing we had in the house. I also decided that randomly baked cupcakes are a good way to practice using icing tips. Can you tell which ones my daughter decorated vs the ones I decorated?

Here is my big helper doing her taste test!


My son helped too... in his own way.

Salsa

I have been CRAVING my friend Nicki's homemade salsa. She used to make it in the summers and bring extras into work. Those were some of my favorite work days! I got the recipe from her and finally made it myself. Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! The tomatoes were given to me by a local friend who grew them in her garden. I think they added the special touch homemade salsa deserves! Here is the (incredibly vague) recipe!

"dice 2-3 tomatoes, 1-2 jalapenos, 1-2 banana peppers, fresh garlic, and fresh cilantro. and some onion and pepper. the amounts used depend on how much you want to make, but I usually start with the tomatoes and keep adding the other stuff until I like the way it looks (and tastes!). then put lemon and/or lime juice on it. "