Wednesday Wisdom - LOVE

In honor of my upcoming anniversary, I chose this verse about love for today’s Wednesday Wisdom.  This is one of my favorite Bible verses, and we actually had it read at our wedding two years ago.  I love the message of the verse and I think it’s something that we all need to remember.  All of the things that this verse says “love is” are things that I hope to embody every day, especially in my relationship with my husband. 

With the addition of Drew to our family, it’s become even harder to remember to show my love and affection to my husband as well.  Drew requires so much attention and work, that I can get caught up in him, and forget that my husband needs that love and attention too.  It’s a balancing act, as is life in general. I think one of the keys to happiness, especially when your family continues to grow, is balance.  A little bit of everything will take you a long way. 

You hear so often of couples that have children, and in the process of giving everything they have to their children, they lose sight of and love for each other.  I want to be married forever, including long after my children have grown and moved away, which means that nurturing the relationship with my husband is extremely important.  I don’t want to have a family together, and once the children leave, realize that we don’t know each other any longer and don’t have anything in common. I want to always remember what I love about my husband and what a great man he is to me and to our children.

So today, I want my husband to know that I love him immensely and I’m so glad that we were married two years ago. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.  He’s a great father, husband, and partner, and I’m so lucky to have him in my life.  I love you honey! Here’s to the forever kind!

 

 

 

Rapid City!!

Drew and I had a really fun trip back home to Rapid last week/weekend.  We ended up not being able to leave until Wednesday because my parents’ house still didn’t have electricity or water from the prior weekend’s terrible snow storm.  It was lucky that they were out of town for the weekend because their house didn’t have electricity or water from Friday afternoon to the following Tuesday afternoon.  What a crazy storm!  I’m just glad it didn’t prevent Drew and I from making the trip home. 

Wednesday morning, Drew and I woke up early and hit the road.  I was a little anxious about traveling by myself with Drew.  He is a really good traveler, but we’ve always had both of us there, so if he started to get fussy, one of us could crawl in the back and comfort him.  I decided leaving early was my best bet because I thought Drew might sleep a good majority of the morning (he’s kind of a sleepy baby!).  Anyway, he did great!  We stopped in Sheridan to get him some food and fill up the tank.  We had to make a quick stop in Beulah, WY because he was starting to cry a little, but I needed to use the restroom too, so it all worked out.  We made it to Rapid City by 2:30, which was way better than I expected.

We had a great week.  It seems like the last few times we’ve gone home it’s been for some sort of event or activity, and we have had an agenda for the entire weekend.  This time, we didn’t have anything planned, which was nice.  Sometimes it’s nice to just relax and not have an agenda.  Here’s a list of highlights from the week/weekend:

1.    Wednesday when my dad got home from work, he had a little present for Drew.  It was an FPD (Forest Products Distributors – his company) football.  It was really cute, and Drew just loved sucking on it!  Go figure!

 

 

2.    Drew and I got to do some major shopping with my mom.  It was fun to go to some of the stores that Bozeman doesn’t have.  We found some clothes for both me and Drew.  It was a success!

3.    Friday night, my sister Bri and her husband Erick had us over for dinner.  Erick made a killer beer cheese soup, and we cheered on the Cats volleyball team.  Erick’s sister is the one who plays on the team, so it was fun to watch with him!

 

 

4.    Saturday night, my sister Jenna and her husband Konstantin had us over for dinner.  Konstantin’s family was in town too.  They are Russian, so Jenna and Kon had a Russian/American meal for us.  It was fun to get to spend some time with Konstantin’s family. Meal time is very important in their Russian culture, so it was fun to see what a typical Russian dinner is like.  They had fun stories of when the kids were little and all of the interesting traditions/superstitions that they have.  It’s definitely a different culture, and it was fun learning more about all of them.  It was the first time I got to spend any significant time with Konstantin’s family, and it was a lot of fun!!

5.    Grandma bought the coolest jumper around for Drew to play in!  We have a jumper at home, but it’s not nearly as bouncy as the one my mom bought this weekend, and Drew loved it!  He went crazy in that thing!  It was so funny to watch, and his huge smile just made my day!

 

 

6.    The town of Rapid is a mess.  The storm that they had really caused some devastation.  My parents and sisters had warned me about the fallen trees, but it was so much worse than I imagined.  There were trees down everywhere and the roads were full of trucks hauling loads of branches away.  My dad spent a good deal of time while we were home cleaning up the debris at his office, his house, and his parents’ house.  I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I think the whole area is going to be spending months to come trying to get things back to normal.

7.    Doug called me one morning while I was holding Drew.  I put the phone up to Drew’s ear so Doug could talk to him.  As soon as Drew heard Doug’s voice, he got a HUGE smile on his face.  It melted my heart.  Doug was worried that Drew would forget him in the time we were gone, but I think it’s safe to say, Drew knows who his daddy is and missed him too!  It was pretty darn cute!

 

 

8.    On Saturday, Drew got to visit his great grandma and grandpa.  It’s pretty amazing that he has three great grandparents.  And he’s actually got to see all of them quite a bit in the five short months of his life so far.  I’m grateful that he has them and gets to spend time with them.  I hope that he can continue to visit his great grandparents for years and years to come!

Overall, we had a great trip back to Rapid.  It was fun getting to spend time with my family, and I miss them already.  I can’t wait for the next trip home!

 

 

Weekend Rewind

Well, it was a pretty fun weekend around here.  Like I mentioned on Friday, it was MSU’s homecoming this weekend.  The Cats played Northern Arizona on Saturday and it was a fantastic game!  Northern Arizona is one of the better teams in the Big Sky Conference, so it was a game that the Cats really needed to win.  And win they did, 36-7.  It was great!!  We enjoyed the game, and Drew did exceptionally well.  He used his new earmuffs that I posted about a while ago, and they worked great.  He slept or sat calmly in the Ergobaby the entire game.  It was glorious!

 

 

On Sunday, we decided to have a “family day.”  We didn’t really have an agenda, just wanted to spend the day exploring together.  So we took off early Sunday morning and headed towards White Sulfur Springs.  The drive was beautiful.  It was an area that I had never been to before, so it was fun to see something new too!  We followed some Corvettes for awhile, which really excited Doug (me not so much!), and we even came across a herd of elk!

 

 We went to Showdown, which is a ski area in Montana that neither Doug nor I had ever been to.  Doug and I have a thing for going to see ski areas, so it was fun to add another to the list.  It was cold up there, so we really had to bundle up!!

 

 

 

 

On the drive back to Bozeman, we could see three mountain ranges, the Crazies, the Bridgers, and the Absarokas.  We felt like we were surrounded by mountains and it was magnificent!

We stopped for lunch in Livingston on the way home, and it was a bit disappointing, but Drew seemed to like the place!

 

Overall, it was a fun Sunday drive.  I got to see parts of Montana that I’d never seen before, and the best part was spending the whole day with my family.  We’re a pretty lucky bunch!

I also quickly want to recognize those of you that were in Rapid City this weekend, and had to live through that terrible storm.  For those of you who don’t know, the area received around three feet of snow.  Apparently the town is in rough shape with trees down everywhere, and the plowing is still not complete.  Some people were even unlucky enough to lose power for days at a time.  I’ve been thinking about all of you and I’m glad that everyone is safe.  Hopefully the cleanup goes quickly and things will get back to normal soon.

On another note, I am going home to Rapid for the week.  Drew and I are leaving tomorrow morning and won’t be back until Sunday night.  I’m so excited to get to spend the week at home.  It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve had a chance to spend multiple days there.  That said, Drew and I are really going to miss Doug.  He is going hunting this coming weekend, so I thought it would be more fun to go home than to hang out by myself in Bozeman.  But we’re definitely going to miss him!  It will be the first time that Drew is away from him for any extended amount of time, so I’m sure it will be hard on both Doug and Drew. 

While I’m gone, I don’t plan on blogging, so I probably won’t have another post until next Monday.  Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

High Five for Friday!

Happy Friday!!  This is going to be a great weekend, I can already tell.  We have lots going on, and I’m looking forward to a weekend full of fun.  This week hasn’t been too shabby either.  Here are some highlights:

1.    Doug and I are going on an anniversary getaway to Utah in a couple weeks.  I finally booked our rooms for the trip on Tuesday.  I’m pretty excited about a weekend away with my husband, but it’s the first time we’ll be leaving Drew, so I’m also a little nervous.  My parents are coming to watch him, so I know he’ll be in great hands, but I’m going to miss him like crazy!

 

2.    One of our good friends from Oregon was in town this week on business.  It had been quite some time since we’d seen him last, so it was really great getting a chance to catch up.  He’ll be going to the football game this weekend too, so that will be fun!

 

 

3.    This weekend is MSU’s homecoming.  The Cats play Northern Arizona on Saturday, and it’s our weekend to do the tailgate food.  We’re making chicken tacos because they are both easy and delicious.  It should be a great game, I’m sure it will be a fun day, and hopefully the Cats come out of it with a win!

 

 

4.    SNOW!!!  It finally snowed on Thursday.  I don’t think it will stick around long, but it was sure fun to see a few flakes in the air.

 

 

5.    I’m so thankful for group text messaging this week.  We’ve had a lot going on (my parents and sisters), and it’s been so great to have the ability to all talk together via text. It’s hard to imagine what we did before that, but I’m sure communicating would not have been as easy.  The advancements in technology like group text messaging, Facetime, social media, and email has made it so much easier to keep in touch, and I’m not sure I could live away from home without these things to help me feel connected to my family.  I’m going home for a visit next week, and I CAN’T WAIT!!!

 

Hope you all have a great weekend too!!



SNOW!!!!!!!

Finally!  It’s finally here!  The first snow of the year.  I’ve been anxiously awaiting it, and it’s finally come.  Today is a good day!

Many of you are probably thinking I’m crazy.  And I probably am, but there’s just something about snow.  It’s magical.  It puts me in a good mood.  I could be having the worst day, but if it snows, I suddenly feel better.  In fact, I love it so much that I might just choose winter as my favorite season!  Hard to believe, I know. 

Snow means colder weather, coats, hats, and scarves, boots, hot chocolate, fireplaces, and the holidays.  Winter is coming, and I can’t wait!  Happy snow day!!

 

 

Wednesday Wisdom

Last Wednesday, I shared a Wednesday Wisdom, and I think I have decided to make it a weekly thing.  I’ll share a quote or a saying or some other “wisdom” that I’ve come across or that I like.  Finding forms of "wisdom" that relate to my life help me through the tough times and inspire me to be a better me.  This week, it’s this quote:

I’m trying to remember this quote every day.  As you may know, I had my first baby in April of this year.  In fact, he was five months old last Sunday.  Since his birth, exercising and losing the baby weight has been on the back burner.  If you had said to me when I was pregnant that five months after delivering, I still wouldn’t fit into all of my regular clothes, I would have laughed at you and thought you were crazy.  I had the idea that the weight would just melt off while I was chasing the baby around.  You know, like all those celebrity moms say, that are magically a size zero two weeks after giving birth. 

Well, come to find out, you don’t really chase a newborn around, they’re pretty sedentary.  In fact, you’ll probably spend a great deal of time just sitting, staring at them.  And all of that free time you had to workout before the baby, well it’s suddenly gone because now you have a BABY to take care of.  Admittedly, I have not put exercising at the top of my list these last five months, because let’s face it, I would rather spend time with Drew than do about anything else.  He’s just more important.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not content to not fit in my skinny jeans forever.  For someone who used to be a very regular exerciser, it’s definitely been hard to feel “fat.”  But I’m working on it and we’re getting there.  It’s just going to take a little longer because I have someone more important to focus on than myself.  So I’m going to keep remembering to focus on how far I’ve already come rather than how far I have to go.  I’ll get there.  And in the meantime, I’ll have fun spending every second I can with my favorite little man.

 

 

DIY: Mummy Luminaries

Well, it’s October, which means that Halloween is right around the corner.  I’ve never been a huge fan of Halloween.  Don't get me wrong, I liked it when I was a child and got to wear cute costumes and go trick-or-treating, but as I've gotten older, and the focus of Halloween changed from fun costumes and candy to alcohol and wearing the skimpiest thing you could find, my enthusiasm for the holiday waned.  Dressing up and consuming too much alcohol has never been my thing, so I was fine to skip out of the drunken festivities.  Halloween has just been one of those holidays that hasn't really interested me. 

Until now.  As I’ve continued to get older, the focus of Halloween has changed yet again, and I’m learning to find a new appreciation for the holiday.  It’s no longer about drinking too much (well for some people it still is, but luckily I married someone who shared my views on the holiday and we’ve decided to treat it a little differently).  Now, I get to stay home and pass out candy to the cute little trick-or-treaters.  I love seeing all of the kids in their clever little costumes.  And now with Drew around, I think I’ll start liking Halloween even more.  We’ll get to find him costumes and take him trick-or-treating.  I can’t wait for that! 

I 've also found a new love for decorating my house for Halloween.  Last year was the first year I really put any effort into decorating the house, and I actually really liked it.  I stay away from scary decorations (I scare easily!), but I've been on the lookout for cute and festive ways to get in the Halloween spirit.

The other day, I was browsing on Pinterest, and I came across a pretty simple little Halloween craft.  I just happened to have all of the supplies on hand at home, so I thought I’d give it a go.  Here's a simple DIY tutorial for making a family of mummy luminaries! 

Mason Jar Mummies

What you need:

1.    Mason jars (or any other type of glass jar)

2.    Gauze

3.    Googly eyes

4.    Hot glue

5.    Tea lights

 

 

Basically, all you do is wrap the gauze around the jars and secure with hot glue.  I ran out of the white gauze so I also used a foam type tape for two of the jars. 

 

 

I had four inch gauze and I found it worked better to cut the gauze in half.  It made the gauze look less perfect and more mummy like.  You can see that it added some fraying which was a good effect.  Just wrap it around the jar, and attach the end with hot glue.

 

I put the gauze on two mason jars and then decided that the look was a little too uniform, so I emptied out an old pickle jar and used that as my third mummy.  I wanted to have a different size jar so that my mummy family would have a little more depth and they wouldn't all look exactly the same.

Once you have the gauze attached, hot glue two googly eyes to each jar.  Put tea lights in the bottom of the jar, and there you have it, a family of illuminated mummies.

I haven’t put my Halloween decorations up yet (I don’t like it enough to decorate a month in advance quite yet!).  Once I do get all of my decorations put up, I’ll probably share some pictures of them on the blog.  The mummies were a quick, easy addition to my other Halloween decorations, and they look pretty darn cute, especially when they are lit up!