life lately: "how do you get so many great photos of your kid"

somebody once asked me "how do you always get so many great photos of Fern?"


my answer is this:

I get 10x as many pictures like this... You just gotta get all paprazi on your kid, and usually 1 out of 100 turn out pretty gosh darn wonderful. (but the take outs are pretty special too)

The restoring powers of Sunday

I love Sundays. I love Sundays because I always get time with my two favorite people in the WORLD. Plus the weather is AMAZING right now, and we can play and laugh outside, and breathe fresh air, and be silly, and smell like dirt and sweat, and fun. aaah. Sunday is my drink of cool water, it's what energizes me for the week to come. Because being a stay at home mom is hard, and honsetly, by the time the weekend comes I'm just barely hanging on. 

I read this post on "asking the right questions" by Momastery. This particular paragraph felt like she was speaking through my soul. 

"When Craig returned each day at 6:00 he’d walk through the door, smile, and say– “So! How was your day?”This question was like a spotlight pointed directly at the  chasm between his experience of a “DAY” and my experience of a “DAY.”  How was my day?The question would linger in the air for a moment while I stared at Craig and the baby shoved her hand in my mouth like they do –  while the oldest screamed MOMMY I NEED HELP POOING from the bathroom and the middle one cried in the corner because I NEVER EVER EVER let her drink the dishwasher detergent. NOT EVER EVEN ONCE, MOMMY!!! And I’d look down at my spaghetti stained pajama top, unwashed hair, and gorgeous baby on my hip – and my eyes would wander around the room, pausing to notice the toys peppering the floor and the kids’ stunning new art on the fridge . . .
And I’d want to say:
How was my day? Today has been a lifetime. It was the best of times and the worst of times. There were moments when my heart was so full I thought I might explode, and there were other moments when my senses were under such intense assault that I was CERTAIN I’d explode. I was both lonely and absolutely desperate to be alone. I was saturated- just BOMBARDED with touch and then the second I put down this baby I yearned to smell her sweet skin again. I was simultaneously bored out of my skull and completely overwhelmed with so much to do. Today was too much and not enough. It was loud and silent. It was brutal and beautiful. I was at my very best today and then, just a moment later, at my very worst. At 3:30 today I decided that we should adopt four more children, and then at 3:35 I decided that we should give up the kids we already have for adoption. Husband – when your day is completely and totally dependent upon the moods and needs and schedules of tiny, messy, beautiful rug rats your day is ALL OF THE THINGS and NONE OF THE THINGS, sometimes within the same three minute period. But I’m not complaining. This is not a complaint, so don’t try to FIX IT. I wouldn’t have my day Any.Other.Way. I’m just saying- it’s a hell of a hard thing to explain- an entire day with lots of babies"

Right?!?!  spot on. and I only have one. One that I am SO eternally grateful for... a whole lot of the time.

Here's to making it to Sunday.

purple hair. red lips. closed shoppe. new home. oil pulling.

It's so strange, it was only Monday when I announced that I was "slowing down a bit". In the 3 days between then and now, I feel there's so much I need to update you on.

+ First of all, my hair is preeeeeetty lavender now. (as requested)  I'm pretty much in love with it completely and may never change it again. Except to grow it out. My goal is to have lavender mermaid hair. (also it inspired me to buy red-lipstick, which has never looked good on me, but I have to admit I LOVE IT!)

+ The shoppe is now closed until further notice. I put the last 5 cloud mobiles up for sale, and after they sold (the very next day!!) I put 'er on vacation mode. I'm not sad yet, because I'm buried in orders I have to get out, but once there's a calm and no more orders, I know I'll really miss it. I'm excited to finish my class so that I can have time to re-open the shop. Plus I'm planning a new addition to the shoppe for when it re-opens, and I can't wait to have some fresh things to offer you. It's a good and exciting season indeed.

+ I re-budgeted, as I mentioned I needed to do. I love budgeting. holy cow, being organized is like a drug for me. Due to our extreme organization, and budgeting skills- we'll be looking for a new house to rent this spring/summer! You CAN'T know how excited I am about that. Our very own space? Hallelujah!

+ T & I are trying this oil pulling thing that's ALL THE RAGE right now. Seriously. In one day I feel like I went from never hearing of it before to seeing it eeeeeverywhere. I've done some asking around and reading up, and I really can't see any negative to trying it. So we're going to give it a whirl. I'll update you on how it works for us after we've used it for a week. Have any of you tried it before?


I think that's about all the updating I have for today. Off to work on orders!

I like that I blogged today because I wanted to, and not because I needed to. It's a great day.

Life Lately \ Weekly Wishes || 1.

Hi friends, just a little update on Life Lately: Tristan has just started back to film school for the semester, and I'm enrolled in real estate classes online. My car has been listed as "for sale" for months now, and we finally have the sweetest lady interested in buying it. More on that if it's actually sold. It was announced recently that Tristan's dad is being inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. So awesome! I've been getting back into painting recently and have made a few things for the shoppe. Fern has been sick the past couple of days, due to teething. It's the worst teething we've gone through in a long while. I just hate it. Apart from that, she's growing so quickly. She woke up from her nap the other day and I swear she seemed older than before nap time.

Here's a little preview of life lately:

Also, I've just stumbled upon the Weekly Wishes linkup, and I just immediately knew it was right down my alley. I mean... I wrote this post even before I found it, and it just goes so well with the theme. What a great idea, and a great way to stay motivated and focused on getting things done! I'm all about it. Consider this a new Monday ritual. Ya'll should join in too! It'll be fun!

My goals for the week:

|| Finish my current chapter & rock the test
|| Have a coffee date with the girls of "the circle" -done
|| make 2 custom orders from the new "birth announcement" line in the shoppe done
|| take product photos -done
|| make time for a night out with an old friend -done
|| finish the book I've been reading for months. -done

Life Lately:

Hi readers! I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I took it upon myself to just leave the blog be for the holidays and spend time with my family. Now that things are settling back down (for a couple of weeks, anyway) I'm back to blogging! I've got lots on the books for you that I'm really excited about. Like, introducing you to new friends, some reading material, a great Christmas DIY, and more!  I'm sure there's more. I have a list- so I won't forget.

For now, have a peek at some of the treasures I have from my blog break. If you keep up with me on instagram, you may have seen some of these.

1. Smelling the beautiful flowers at cuppies. she always gets REALLY into smelling flowers.
2. Visiting "Aunt Mac" at the Bricktown events center | 3. Thanksgiving with siblings and cousins
4. Marek "Aunt Mac", herself and all of her beautiful pillows at Deluxe.  | 5. Don't download the app that turns your photos into "santa". It will haunt your dreams for nights to come.
6. My sweet husband took my grandpa to the Thunder game last Friday. So sweet! love these men!
7. Currently we MUST watch our shows with every doll available. | 8. Tristan's grandmother, Fern and I at my brother-in-law's wedding!


It's been such a great week! Wow, looking back through all of these photos, we've seen so many loved ones and celebrated so much. I love it!

I hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic and you got to spend it with all of your favorite people as well!



P.S. I'm so honored to be able to mark of #25 of my 30 before 30 list. Meg of Rivers and Roads posted an interview about my shoppe yesterday! You can go read it here!

Life Lately: busy schedules and more change.

Hi friends! I feel a little bit guilty, as all of my posts as of lately have been about giveaways and sponsors and events and lists and pretty things. Although those are all TERRIFIC, and obviously, I wouldn't post them if I didn't love them, I've just been pretty preoccupied and haven't been able to be very present, on a personal level, for you. Our family is going through a lot of changes at the moment. Not only have we gotten married, and moved out of our room mates' house;  I've also recently put my car up for sale, and put in my notice at Cuppies. It's such a bittersweet thing. I've loved loved LOVED working at Cuppies & Joe for the past (nearly) 3 years. The owners of this beautiful cupcake and coffee shop are like family. They're such wonderful examples of the type of business person I want to be, as well as the type of mother, daughter, encourager, and hostess I want to be. These people, along with all of my co-workers have just adopted me as family since the day I started, and continue to do that with every new employee they hire. They've taken such good care of me and blessed our family with so many things; from flat tire fixes to celebrations, they've been there for it all. I'm so sad to not be part of the Cuppies employees, but I'm so happy that I'll always be part of the Cuppies family.

That's the bitter part, now for the sweet part.

Tristan and I have been talking about what I'd like to pursue as a career, and although making coffee is absolutely something I love (and will continue to consume on a daily basis), I have other dreams that will allow me to better provide for my family. After the holiday season, I'll be working towards getting my real estate license. This is something I've always been very interested it, I just never knew where to start. Somehow the stars have aligned and everything is falling into place. God has placed some great women in my life who are taking me under their wings, and letting me learn under them. Which is exactly what I needed.  This career choice will not only provide for my family better financially, but also on a personal level. This will allow me to make my own schedules, and I'll still be able to stay with Fern during the day, and be with my family at night. It's been a very hard year since I went back to work. My schedule is almost exactly opposite of T's.

If you could just say a little prayer for our family, or send happy thoughts, good vibes, Buddha belly rubs, or pennies in wishing wells.. whatever it is that you find helpful... We'd really appreciate it. I'm excited, but so nervous about getting into something I don't know much about. Starting something new after being in a very comfortable position for the last 3 years.

My friend Tillie said something to me the other day that struck me as quite funny. She said "For someone who dislikes change, you handle it so lovely." It actually hadn't occured to me until she said that how much change we've actually gone through this past year. Just our living situation alone. We've had 4 different addresses in the past 12 months. I don't know how much more I can handle, but I have a feeling we're not quite near the end yet. :)
What's that old country song? "The only thing that stays the same is that everything changes".. ("everything chay-ay-ay-nges")

Here's to a more consistent (at least) lifestyle.

joined together, forever.

Here are some sweet photos from our wedding. I'm basically re-posting these photos from our wedding photographer's blog because I haven't received our CD with all of our photos on it, and I'm much too impatient to wait for it to come. I've already waited THIS long to share them. I find that very impressive.

Our wedding was perfect. It was at my grandparents house in the country, where I grew up. It was a romantic evening wedding. Just a tad of chill in the air. The sun sat as we said our vows and afterwards we went into the pasture and celebrated with all of our loved ones with campfire, dancing, and libations to warm us. We wanted our entire wedding to have a very community feel. We set the tables up in a large circle(ish) shape so we could all enjoy one another and the dance floor was in the center. For dinner, I asked everyone to bring a dish of any sort. We had such a fantastic turnout. It couldn't have gone better. I'm so thankful The Hibben's were there to capture it all. 

I didn't snag all of the photos from the photographers blog, but I snagged many of them. So if you'd like to go see a few more you can head here. 

Our weekend / Life lately

I am getting frazzled, ya'll. Our wedding is NEXT WEEKEND! I don't necessarily have a ton of things to do (I think) But even that makes me feel crazy, and like I'm totally missing something really important and big.
I may have mentioned before that because of our schedules, Tristan and I rarely get to spend quality time together lately. I can't wait for the honeymoon. Just to be able to spend an ENTIRE 5 DAYS with my husband, and only him. It's been so long. Even though we live together, I really start to miss him sometimes.
We try to make Sundays our usual day to spend together, but even then, we have church, and sometimes he plays soccer, or basketball. I deliver teepees, or need to finish up orders from the shoppe.. Nothing really ever goes according to plan, does it?
This weekend we did pretty well, I must say. We didn't get to do everything we planned, but we did pretty good. We even got to stop in to a new shoppe in this area called "Dutch" (which I just know you'd all be in love with) to get Tristan's mom some housewarming flowers.  Anyway. here are a few photos "according to my iphone" of the past weekend and the time we got to spend together. (and the BEAUTIFUL arrangement by Dutch) (the deliver, btw- all you locals)

1. 2. Sweet Arrangement by Dutch
3.  I made my first 6 ft teepee, isn't it so cute and small? <3  These are now available for rent as well as for sale. Photographers love that.
4. Beautiful Succulents by The Plant Shoppe via The Hub.
5. Our walk with Harper. Fern is so darn independent. It's so terrifying, but golly it's cute.
6.  Fern's new way of watching Sesame Street. Lazy. 7. Autumn is here!
8.  MY new baby from The Plant Shoppe