Thorns and Roses

Skeptical of my (lack of) braid skills ;).

It's finally Friday! Longest week of my life, yours too? 

Here's a classic Sweet and Sour! I'll explain...

Growing up with three little sisters meant that each night at dinner was nonstop talk. My poor dad, HA. One person would start a story, another person would interupt with a different story, a third girl would laugh at some unrelated topic, you get the idea. It was a pretty hilarious slash unproductive half an hour every night where we literally had to institute a talking stick at one point - whoever was holding the stick got to talk!! LOL, girls. 

Another way my dad tried to combat this chaos was by starting Sweet and Sour when I was about 15. Each person at the table would go around and tell their Sweet from the day and their Sour.

(As you can imagine this worked out much better than yanking the talking stick out of people's hands.)

He later renamed it Thorns and Roses, which is great because it reminds me less of Panda Express and more of some fabulous kitschy thrift store.

SO!

Here is my Thorns and Roses list for the week!

Thorns: 

- Food poisoning is probably the worst feeling on earth. For a minute there kneeling by the toilet you think you might die, especially when it's 3:30am and you haven't slept the whole night and the thought of taking care of someone else (namely your child) in 4 hours just makes you cry.

- Continuing on with the gross theme, I found that a spatula makes an excellent scooper for everything from food on the floor to baby poop! *At different times.* Thank you spatula ;).

- Missing most of my gym classes (see #1)

- Computer totally crashing and subsequently thinking you've lost everything.

Roses: 

- Computer NOT losing everything - go computer! But accepting that it really is time to upgrade from your 2010 laptop. She is S.L.O.W.

- Trying to cut back on caffeine and realizing that caffeine free diet coke tastes pretty much the same as the regular stuff! Air five.

- Lydia clapping, saying "dada", and using the little walker! Go girl go!

- Watching Michael attempt to doodle what we were stuyding in the scriptures. Let me just say "fruit of thy loins" was... epic.

- Sleeping in and not going to most of my gym classes ;)

And that's a Thorns and Roses wrap! 

Peace out to le weekend!

Sunday Picnic

I don't think I fully appreciated the beauty of Sundays till recently. 

We get to spend most of church together in the morning, and then after church I get my little family all to myself! Michael doesn't study on Sundays, so we have from noon till we go to sleep to be together. Basically the whole day! It is my new favorite day of the week.

This Sunday we decided to drive up into the mountains a ways and have a picnic! Other things we love to do on Sundays are going on long walks and talking about everything, visiting family, strolling Temple Square (most recent visit here), and reading through old letters we wrote to each other ;). Sappy but hilariously entertaining.

Late Saturday night Michael came home from a full day of studying bearing flowers!! Is he not the sweetest? So of course I had to bring them on our picnic the next day ;).

LOL

Love this chica. 

Hooray for Sundays! 

My Love Affair with Trader Joe's {Produce and Such}

If you've talked with me for more than 5 minutes you know that I am a little obsessed with all things Trader Joe's. To the point where I unconsciously prefer anything TJ's over every other brand. (Except their ketchup. EW. Cue Jimmy Fallon.) I didn't realize the full glory that is Trader Joe's before moving to Salt Lake, where I now have one 10 minutes away! They've created the friendliest environment, and even though they are all over the country I still feel like it's some darling local market. From the cute handwritten signs to the mini shopping carts for kids to the cheeky Fearless Flyer (monthly magazine),  I'm pretty in love with all of it. The checkout lady at register #4 may or may not know my name and how many teeth Lydia has. And apparently I just feel so passionate about sharing my favorite finds that I walked around the store for an hour and took over 50 pictures! Ha. There are way too many items for one post, so I'll break it up for ya by section. These are roughly ordered by how I walk through the store ;).

Trader Joe's // Produce and Such

First off, TJ's has the cheapest flowers in all the land. And let's appreciate the calligraphy! 

I love buying their bags of greens (kale, spinach, arugula) because all I have to do is literally open the bag and I'm half way to saladville. Pre cleaned! Also cheap.

Riced cauliflower is such a great sub for actual rice. Quicker, tastier and healthier. Boom.

How fun are these colorful carrots? So very Ina Garten-y when roasted.

Love pomegranates, hate the work. Voilá, Trader Joe's to the rescue again! 

Michael and I eat their salads for lunch at least twice a week. Unlike most grocery store pre made salads that include a grand sum of lettuce, diced ham, gross cheese and a hard boiled egg, these salads are BOMB. Packed with flavor and unique combos. This Lemon Chicken Arugula is a personal fave, we also like BBQ Chicken, Mexicali, Butternut Squash and Wheatberry, basically you can't go wrong here or with their wraps. 

In a similar vein, this stuff is addicting. So so yummy with crackers for a simple lunch.

Michael's favorite hummus to date.

Between Lydia and me we eat about two string cheeses a day! And these ones are cheap and tasty.

So there's the beginning of my Trader Joe's Public Service Announcements, I have about 4 more posts of items! ;) What are your favorite products from there? 

Busy Doing Good Things

Please note the little foot propped up :).

The past few days I've been in a bit of a fog. You know how that is? Going through the motions but you're not all the way there. A little blue. To be totally honest, I'm bored! Lydia has my whole heart, and she is E.A.S.Y. Which means we play peek-a-boo, and then I do the dishes. We read books, and then I vacuum the rug (that's constantly spit up on). We go to the park, and then I throw dinner in the crock pot. And before I know it she's down for a nap and the house is clean and now what? I have always thrived on busy-ness. I feel like people are generally happiest staying really busy doing things they love. And everyone's definition of "really busy" and "things they love" is so vastly different. This could be anything from teaching 4th grade to performing brain surgeries to chasing around 2 little kids all day! So I'm in the process of figuring out what sparks my excitment and is also practical with a child. Maybe I'll go back to teaching part time! Maybe I'll coach tennis again! Maybe I'll get pregnant with triplets and I'll slap myself for writing this! Who knows. Do you?? Tell me if you do! ;) 

Church ditchers.

Mint + scalloped = heart eyes all day. Potential diaper bag??

Saturday date night to Owen's first birthday party! Thanks Libby for the fun get together!!

I told Michael I could make cookies in less than 5 minutes - and he took me up on it. :) Flour everywhere. But I did it! BAM.

Lydia's great grandma Sue, her namesake!

Our little home makes me so happy. What dandelions? ;) 

Happy Tuesday people!

I Got Dressed {Can Nursery Start at 9 Months and Other Laments}

Last Sunday at church I spent 2 out of the 3 hours in the hall! Woot woot, gone are the days she would just cuddle on my shoulder and sleep through Sunday School. Baby girl wants to MOVE! And eat only graham crackers. Can a child survive on graham crackers? Graham crackers and baby puffs, that is. Hope so! 

I thought florals seemed fitting to ring in spring. Now come back, sun! 

And also I'm still kind of serious about the graham crackers. At home in her high chair Lydia will eat basically everything we eat (eggs, toast, fruit, veggies, meat, etc). But when we are out and about and she's hungry what snacks do you give little babes that aren't just straight carbs? Easy foods I can think of that A) she can feed herself and B) don't completely make a mess like the time I tried to give her blackberries in the car are all cracker-ish things. How do you give your kiddos fruits and veggies on the run?

Here's to 10 more months of Sundays in the hall! The countdown to nursery has begun ;).

A Day in the Life 02

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7:33pm (still so light outside!!)

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