SPRING

Yesterday I had high hopes of taking the kiddos to the zoo. When we arrived there wasn't any parking spots. Yes, you heard me right. It was insane. So in my frantic desire to do something fun with the kiddos without going mad I went to the Botanical Gardens a street away. They ran and explored. We had a blast. I visited the shop Leaf n Petal while there and fell head over heels for the decoupaged wallpaper. The colors were quite gorgeous to say the least. Such an inspiring day it ended up being. Today we are getting up a bit earlier and trying for the zoo once again. Fingers crossed.

*images taken on iphone4

A Crazy Day + New Lamps

Sorry for the missed post yesterday. We had quite an eventful Tuesday and not in a good way. That morning we got a phone call from my husbands coordinator at work, her husband was in a motorcycle accident. Praise God he is doing quite well. A true miracle really. The Mr. spent the day at the hospital with them. During this time KJ quickly became ill. Never seen him so sick, I was quite scared to be honest. His fever reached 103 and we (dr and I) had a hard time getting it to go down. He wasn't alert and kept on falling asleep. When he did speak he just kept repeating that he was burning. He ended up having strep. Had no idea it could get so bad. A few other things thrown in and wow, it made for quite a day.

I am sure you are ready for me to get back to design so here are a pair of lamps that I got at Scott's in Atlanta. I didn't purchase the shades, but it's on my to do list. I will share as soon as I do. They are in the master and make me quite happy.

For more design related posts you can come see me on Mrs. French. I have a new one up and I am quite smitten with the inspiration image.

A Short Recap

If you follow me on twitter then I am sure you got tired of me talking about our vacation to Disney World. It was the first time for all of us and we had a blast. Although I do wish I started training for the trip in advance. I simply had no idea. Here is a short recap of our trip...

KJ's Favorite part was getting to meet Buzz Lightyear. "To infinity and beyond" has now become part of his daily speech. He really can fit it into any circumstance. It's a hoot.

Ellie's favorite part was doing the princess experience in the castle. We surprised her. They decked her out like a princess head to toe. She then got to meet a bunch of princesses and she was in high heaven.

My favorite part was getting to spend some much needed time with the Mr. Oh, and the food was amazing too. I am now in need of a detox. This friend is going to help me.

The funniest part of the trip was when Aladdin and Jasmine kept on asking Ellie if she remembered certain parts of the movie. She kept on saying no. They then asked if she ever even saw the movie. She said no, they were heartbroken. Ellie simply wanted to meet the pretty princess. ha. No worries though last night we watched the movie.

* Today I am also on Mrs. French.

SMITTEN

Happy Valentine's Day! I know for some this leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but I think Valentine's Day is to be shared with those you love and well, I am pretty smitten with all of you.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

* I will be a bit MIA this week. If you follow me on twitter then you know why. Posts will resume as usual though. oh happy day!

7 Things

I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger award, many times over so I thought it was about time that I played along. So sorry that it has taken me this long. I honestly can not remember who all awarded me so please, pretty please, email me and I will be sure to link you. I really do appreciate it. So here are my 7 things. Some fluff and some that have been life changing, if you only have time to read one please skip ahead to #7...

1. I LOVE to cook. If you have been reading for awhile then you will know this is a new thing. I had no idea how to actually cook until last year. I was the one who could mess up mac and cheese out of box, now we don't eat out of boxes. It was a resolution of sorts for me to learn, so I did.

2. My family. Well, what can I say I am passionately in love with them.

3. I was born in Venezuela. My mom was in an exchange program to Colombia in college, loved the country and stayed, met my papa, married, and moved to Venezuela. I was delivered by a man who may have had too many drinks and I was just over 4 pounds. About 3 months later we moved back to the US.

4. Photography was a hobby for the Mr. and I and it has become a full blown business the last couple of years. We are grateful to those who took a chance on us in the beginning. It is most definitely a blessing many times over.

5. I have a cleaning lady that comes every other week. There I said it. I used to be embarrassed by it, but now I embrace it. This past year I had a surgery that kept me from doing much, so the Mr. hired a lady to help around the house. After I got the go ahead to resume my daily routine the Mr. said I could keep her services, so I did graciously. Wow, glad to get that off my chest.

6. Gardening is my form of therapy. Love getting my hands dirty and seeing the miracles that this land can produce. I hope and pray that all my flowers come back this year, it has been quite a rough winter.

7. This one has been a life changer for me lately. My only hope is that I can convey my thoughts properly. Pastor Billy Hornsby, who happens to be our Pastor's wife and Ellie's teachers dad, has fallen ill. He went from sick to critical much too quickly. It is cancer. I have known him for quite sometime since my husband is on staff at this church. He is the President and founder of ARC and has been changing lives for years. He and his family lived over seas sharing the love of Jesus. He is an author. He builds leaders. I can go on and on. The part of his life that I admire most though is that no matter what he has done he has remained humble and that is rare. He truly just loves Jesus, his family, and helping people. He has built his life around it. He is ready to go home if that is what Jesus has for him. We of course are praying for him to stay a bit longer.

{This is Ellie's class and a few middle schooler's praying for Pastor Billy, She is the one holding on tight looking up at him.}

What has changed my life I suppose is just seeing the peace that he has with leaving this earth to go to Heaven. Believers can say they will be ready, but are we ever that ready? He knows he has done good here and will leave this earth without what ifs. A crazy amount of people from all over have flown in to see him. He is leaving a legacy based on loving others. Isn't that what life should be all about? When it is my time I too want to go out knowing that I did my very best for my savior, that I was a great wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend, and helped others that I have yet to know. That I loved others with passion, not with how they fit into my life, but how can I fit into theirs.  That my family know at all times that they are number one. Of course, me and the Mr. will fight, but I want him to forever know that I love him, really love him. That my babies never feel that they come second to what I am doing at that moment, aka blogging, cleaning, sewing, etc. That I will drop everything for a friend in need without hesitation. That I will drop everything for a stranger in need without hesitation.  Since coming to know Christ nine years ago I have said that loving people would be my passion, I have had my ups and downs in this category, and now I have gotten too comfortable in my life and need to go back. Need to go back to the place where I feel for people. Happy and sad people. Not pity that's something different, but love. A simple love.

*Pastor Billy spoke this past week during service for a few. If you would like to listen go here and fast forward to 30:38 although the whole message is good too. He also spoke here before he became critical.

Thank you! Live Love Small, Real Estate Style, Creative Outpour,  Constant in Chaos, Style for Living, Lona De Anna, A Dance with Grace which was actually awarded to Mrs French, Desire Design Delight

Super Heros

Over the weekend I received one of the most moving emails from a reader. Her 2 year old son James is battling cancer like a champ. They quickly became an inspiration to me. Inspiration to just do life better. As the kiddos and I prayed for sweet James and his family we thought it would be fun to do a little something special for James. Ellie and KJ decided to draw picture of them all playing together one day. KJ says you are a super hero and Ellie says you are prince, I think they both are right. James that's you...

Three Days

Not sure if you had heard, but Alabama had quite the winter fest. I have lived here for 14 years and have never seen this much snow here. The down fall of never having snow here is that the state is not prepared for such things so the whole state just shuts down. The first day was fabulous. We made make shift sleds out of plastic bin tops and had hours of fun outdoors. Well, the next two days turned to nothing but ice which makes it no fun to go outside. So we made forts, painted, and I just let the kiddos destroy the house. By day three I must say the kiddos in all their hyperness were driving up the wall, ha! Yesterday Ellie was back in school and I managed to do a few fun errands and clean the house. It's so funny how much the state of my home effects my mood. Messy = chaos / tidy = peace. I am so odd.

A New Year

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year. On New Years eve eve we stayed in Atlanta. Out of all the activities the hotel was the biggest hit for the kiddos. We intentionally stayed high, but we seemed to have misjudged Ellie's fear of heights. She prayed hard that the building would not fall down, ha!  KJ on the other hand would have hung out the window if we let him.

One of my favorite New Year beginnings is starting the year out with a new budget book. Sounds ridiculous, but something about jotting down the numbers and expenses gets me giddy and keeps us debt free. Every year I get my books from bubbo's etsy shop. Love her penmanship.

The fabric in the background I got from Shannon of the Designers Attic. I could not be anymore giddy about it and can't wait to have it made into a pretty pillow for the master. Yes! I am branching out and adding a dose of color to my neutral haven. It's a new year so new things can happen, right?

A White Christmas

This year I was able to host Christmas and it could not have been any more fun. We spent the morning watching the kiddos open gifts, relaxing, and cooking the main course. Christmas eve day Ellie and I began the festivities with quite a bit of baking. One of my favorite traditions is baking Jesus a birthday cake and this year we went with the Sprinkles mix, so good. Ellie then was sure to let Jesus know she was going to save the best one for Him, but He would have to multiply it if He wanted to share with everyone in Heaven. I set the table using my late grandmothers dishes and it made my day when my father walked in and said it looked like a table my grandmother would have done. Oh, and the best part? It snowed for the first time on Christmas day since I have lived here.  That's 14 years! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas also.

A WIN

Sorry for the missed post on Friday. I have this funk that I can not seem to shake and spending time on the computer is not at the top of my list to be honest. Saturday I woke up feeling rather decent thankfully. We had tickets to the SEC championship in Atlanta. We had a blast with friends, Auburn won, and dinner was amazing. It really could not have been a better day. Sunday I woke up feeling like I got run over by a bus, boo. Today is a new day and we will just see how that goes. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

*By funk I mean cold/sick sorry for the confusion. I am doing well.

*pics taken with the blackberry hence the whacked out colors.

Thankful

Every year we have Thanksgiving at my parents home. My kiddos adore them and their house. It has ample amount of running room where they can go wild. Here are a few snippets from my parent's home out in the country and our Thanksgiving dinner...

Of course eating was high on the priority list. Ellie ate so much she got a tummy ache. She is so her mama. By the end of the night I shared in the pain. KJ indulged in rolls and bananas. I think all the choices left him a little overwhelmed.

We also had the pleasure of playing my sister's wii. We had a blast and I couldn't believe how sore I was the next day. The other two days of vacation were pure bliss. Kellen was home and we lazed around and decorated for Christmas. It truly was a time where I felt overwhelmingly blessed. Oh, yes I sat there and cried with pure joy. I am such a nut. How was your Thanksgiving holiday?

*also a huge thank you to Sharon who placed me in the the top 20 of design blogs. Love being placed by all my favorites and many who inspired me to start blogging over 2 years ago.

PUPS

I think I need to make a quick run into Pet Smart to see Martha's line of dog goodies. I am not one for skull and bones, but the idea is brilliant for a little shirt. I would so not mind if our little pup left his toys out if they all looked as good as these.

Oh, yes he sure did find one of KJ's old pacy's and took it upon himself to make it his own. Ridiculous, I know.

Our Christmas Cards with Minted

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is sending out our Christmas cards. Last year we went with a photo with just kiddos that we adored, but this year I knew I wanted a family photo, which is much easier said than done with two small ones. While on vacation we decided to take a chance and see what we could come up with. Thankfully it went off without a hitch and we managed to capture quite a few winners.

A few tips on capturing a great family photo...

1) Dress in what you are comfortable in. You can wear complementing outfits without being too matchy matchy.
2) Keep it simple...especially when using a self timer like we did for the first image. If you try too hard it will show, and not necessarily in a good way.
3) Be yourself. Again this goes back to dressing in what you would normally wear and stay away from too many trends unless that is who you really are. People want to see the real you.
4) Have fun!!! So many people put too much pressure on having to get that perfect shot, but in the long run you will see the stress of it all on your faces. The in between moments are always our favorites anyways.
5) Using a self timer can be hard even for a photographer like my Mr. so asking a friend to help can be a life saver. It also gave us the chance to do something that comes completely natural to us...walking as a family.

Then comes the choosing of the card. We being the creative types like to be a bit different and try to choose something that not only represents our family, but our photography as well. Once we saw Minted we knew they would be the best choice for us. The quality is superb with thick paper and the designs are fresh and so very unique. We liked them so much we choose two different designs this and this one. Really it was too hard to choose just one...so we didn't!

Now to get addressing so I can have them ready to send out the week after Thanksgiving. Yes, I like to be on top of things.

Vacation + Good Eats

If you happen to follow my tweets then I am sure you quickly realized I was on our family vacation. We go to Rosemary Beach Florida a couple times a year and it has really become quite the tradition over the past 6 years or so. Although we cook most nights it never fails that we eat at the Pizza Bar in Seaside a few times. Yes, it's that good! Not only is the food divine, but so is the atmosphere...

We eat out on the beach side patio every time.

I get the focaccia bread topped with mozzarella and mushrooms.

The Mr. gets the sausage something or other...

The table always ends up looking like this...

It's pure bliss really. If you would like to see some of our favorite family photos you can see them on my Mr's site, here. They may be my favorite yet.

* Also while away I stepped back from my emails/blogging. I tried to catch up over the weekend. If you sent one and I did not reply please email me again. I may have gotten delete happy.

Trade Day

This weekend the kiddos and I headed up to Trade Day in Collinsville, AL with some friends. One of those friends happens to be the daughter of the owner so we got to use the good bathroom. Huge blessing when you have two tots in tow that drank so much fresh lemonade they should just float away. It was our first trade day experience and we had a blast. We got to see true country living at its finest. Our favorite part was the abundance of animals. KJ loved the chickens and Ellie loved the bunnies and of course the puppies were a hit with all of us. We even saw some farm animals on leashes. The food was delicious and the kiddos got to experience their first corn dog. Even I had one they were so good. We came away with a huge pack of strawberries for a dollar, the kiddos got some new shades, and I partook in some Amish cheeses that I can't wait to break open. Oh and lets not forget the biggest pot of mums for only $12.00. We can't wait to go back only next time I am going to bring the wagon so I can buy more plants.

KINDERGARTEN

Yesterday Ellie started kindergarten. I feel highly blessed and grateful for the school we got her into, but it's still hard. She is extremely excited and I am getting there. So for now it's KJ and I during the day which he just loves. Today and probably tomorrow I will be trying to get our new schedule in order. You would think it would be easier with only one child, but for me it's not. First on my list is to have coffee with this sweet lady.

Party In Review

My thirtieth birthday was a smashing success. We got all dolled up and made it quite an affair. I wore this Cynthia Steffe dress, although I found mine on a greater sale. A bib necklace which was a gift from a dear friend and my favorite seychelle heels. Ellie wore a former flower girl dress and thought she had to carry around flowers, makes sense. KJ wore a rather dapper suit and made sure everyone new how handsome he was.

The wreath was laced with fresh herbs from my garden and made for a rather pleasant smell when you walked in the door.

We had the most wonderful coconut cake topped with a bunting from kiki la ru. There was also my very favorite strawberry pie that my dearest friend made, but they were not out yet. The two topiary's along with too other arrangements were a surprise from my Mister. They are simply stunning and so perfectly me. He did well, really well.

If you know me you also know I love to use real plates, napkins, and silverware. It does make for a lengthy clean up, but so well worth it in my opinion. The dishes to the left used to be my grandmothers and the others are from our wedding registry. I believe in using what you love so we also use these on a daily basis.

I set up the drinks in the dining room with an assortment of soda's. The gray and white striped straws I found on etsy.

Here are the other arrangement's from my Mr. Aren't they just gorgeous?

We had lights set up from Ellie's party and we loved them so much we decided to keep them up year round. The two pots are filled with mint from my garden and have since moved there way into the house. No one actually sat outside because of the heat, but I thought it was pretty anyways.

Now these are my girlfriends that I have had since college. Some older and some younger, but I will not reveal who is who. Oh, the husbands did come along, but my home is small so a group pic is simply out of the question.

My husband played chef and we had filets with his most amazing twice baked potaotes. Here are a few more details of the night.

The night would not have been so perfect if it weren't for this man. I am ecstatic to grow old with him. And yes, he had the cutest bow tie to wear, but we couldn't figure out how to tie it. Oh well, I am sure he will wear it another day. I simply adore him.

THIRTY

I arrived home last night from the most wonderful one night get away with the Mr. We ate, rested, and truly just enjoyed each others company. We documented our trip with our Fuji Instax so I thought I would share just a few. On Sunday I turn 30 and tomorrow I will be having a party with friends that I have had since college. As for today I am over on Simple Lovely sharing a few of my favorites and be warned that I am feeling a bit reflective. I so enjoy where I am in life and feel very blessed to be able to share it all with you.

A Night Away

Photo by Micheal and Rachel Lasserre

This stunning image has nothing to do with this post, but every post needs a pretty picture, right? A dear friend emailed me this gorgeous feature on Design Sponge. I must say I am smitten. If you recall I had a rather major surgery a few days before our 6th anniversary. Needless to say the Mr. and I did not celebrate. So today after my final post op check we are going to Montgomery for the night and just enjoy each others company. Sometimes it takes a night away to truly slow down. I am quite excited and even bought one hot dress. We are going to enjoy a good meal and sleep. Luxurious, right?

PAPA

Don't you just love coming across old photos of your parents? Facebook has become quite the source lately, ha! My papa is the furthest to the right. Wasn't he such a Colombian stud? Although I do not quite remember him this way I do know he has been the best papa over the years. Oh and don't even get me started on how much Ellie and KJ love this man. Anytime they go spend the weekend with my parents they know papa will get them up bright and early for a waffle house run. It's become quite the tradition. Well papa happy birthday and no I will not tell anyone how old this photo is. Love you.