party party party!

hello there lovelies. my lady friend, jillian at three for the road is having a birthday. but, get this...she is giving gifts on this special occasion. you seriously need to check out her blog to get in on the gifting. not only that, but she is having a super rad sale at her little shop, a little slice of pye. this is probably my favorite piece of the moment, but it is SO hard to pick!

in other news....our real estate friend came over and gave us some pretty amazing numbers. i really don't want to get my hopes up, but she was super excited. we have a few more little projects to finish up and then we hold our breath! now, off to date night with the hubby and parenthood. so getting obsessed with that show!!

gulp...

our real estate agent friend just called. she says the time to sell is now. we wanted to sell it ourselves, but already a few prospects have fallen through. bicycle riding and camping were in the plans for this weekend. looks like we might be putting final touches on the house instead. it seems like we have sacrificed so many outings, family gatherings, adventures with friends, etc...just to work on this house. as much as i love owning this place, it will be so nice to not be committed to it any longer. so, so ready for something new...

peas please!

ready to eat!

yum!

frozen peas

ice bath

ready to puree

perfect servings

i have been experimenting with babyfood making as of late. it is really quite fun showing my little girl how i am making her food and letting her taste test it along the way. and, i love knowing exactly what my baby is eating. i have mostly been making simple foods....peas, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots. but, i have made a few concoctions of apple-mango-carrot and blueberry-banana-strawberry-spinach smoothie. yum! happy sunday, my loves. i can't wait for the hubs to get home so we can go enjoy a walk to the park and an evening of going to bed early. we stayed up way too late this weekend...i am much too old for this business!

just 3 things

our little family has started a new tradition. it goes something like this....every sunday, we choose just 3 things we would like to start, change, make a goal, etc. sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail, but we try. it might have to do with something to do with our social well being, our physical well being, or financial issues...you get the idea. we pick small things. things that we can actually accomplish. then, the idea is, that we can incorporate these little life changes into our every day living. we try to make it fun. and we try to be accountable to each other. here are our little 3 things for this coming week:

1. sugar fast

2. make time to exercise

3. don't leave our clothes on the floor next to the bed

what 3 things would you like to do this week??

bike lovin

this print from strawberrluna is cute cute!!

project finish this house

the mister and i bought this little house as a 3-5 year project. and, guess what? our 3rd anniversary is coming up and we are this close to being done! we have found that the little things are taking way longer than expected. and, that it is more fun to play with our little love! :) in preparation of our 3rd anniversary before and after posts, we have just one more project. it looks something like this.

i'm not gonna lie, i am pretty excited about this project. it is something i could see the moment we walked into this place...but i am pretty for sure that everyone else thought i was crazy. i seriously can't wait to show you!! i am putting some final touches on it today! eek!

a friendly reminder to myself

(source)

something pretty beautiful

i came across this lovely project by day one publications. it is a beautifully photographed project promoting commuting by bicycle in south africa. who knew everyday bicycling could be so beautiful?

a bicycle built for two

the mister and i have been in the market for a tandem bicycle for a couple of years now. we came across this at the local antique shop the other day... a make shift bicycle built for two!

sharing our hearts with japan

my heart aches for the people of japan. while i sit here with my cup of coffee, enjoying the morning sunshine, and the birds singing outside my window...i can only imagine that these people don't know where they will find food today, let alone a place to sleep. i find it hard to really take in what is happening there. all i know is what i see in the before and after photos shown on the news. my sweet baby e. and i joined the high gear cycling team the other night at a food packaging event hosted by numana inc.

food packages contain a combination of beans, soy, and rice. one package serves 6 meals. over 25,000 meals were packaged to send to japan that night.

the high gear team sponsors numana inc. it was really an honor to help with this packaging event. this company is doing really great things and it is honestly the least we can do to take part in such an event. some of the team shown here:stephanie, matt, lelan , randy , me and baby e., and the hubby

our little family of three

so many people showed up to help. some japanese students were actually helping right along our side.

sunny days and guest blogging

hi there! we have been out of town for a few days, so i have been busy trying to play catch up. i am so happy to be guest blogging for the lovely jillian pye at three for the road today. the girl is seriously a sweetheart. as her little family follows their dream, she invited me to share mine. day by day, i feel it getting closer.

as we come to a close on finishing our little house, i thought it would be fun to put together a before and after of some of our projects. we are nearing our 3 year anniversary with this home. i just can not believe it has gone so fast! we have really gone through a lot here. it is amazing to stand back and see how this house has changed, how our lives have changed...how our hearts have changed.

my march style

my march style by crystalina_4 featuring retro shorts

i am a summer girl by nature and it is so close i can taste it!! i am loving this easily thrown together look these days. easy with a baby. easy to hop on a bike. easy easy. hope you are having a fabulous friday!! love love!

checking in

photo found here

i am finally getting over this virus. i swear, it almost got the best of me. my husband actually told me...'you know, this is really not a good look for you.' (!) in other news, i am seriously dying over the weather lately. ok, maybe i was getting a little bit of the cabin fever. this lovely weather, however, means a strong desire to hop on the bike. even if it is just to mess around town and run errands. so, i am saving up my moneys to buy my little lady a trailer to attach to my bicycle. i love love love supporting my local bike shop, but these things are a small investment. i am really kicking myself for not buying one i saw at a yard sale last year. now, to find the perfect one... i hope you are having a lovely lovely day!

we went out...thrifting

i have a love/hate relationship with thrifting. everytime i go to a thrift store or a yard sale i just know that there is a treasure, just for me, hiding somewhere. and when i don't find it, i feel like a failure. but, you know, you aren't actually saving money if you just buy something you will never use. i suppose i need to keep telling myself that. while running a few errands the other day, the mister and i made a few thrift stops. i found a lovely sport jacket in the little boys section. i am almost positive it is made for ladies, though...just maybe 40 years ago or so. and the hubby found some great express dress shirts and a rad skinny tie to match. as we were checking out, he declared 'these cost 50 bucks each, you know'? i quickly hushed him and explained that we can't let them find out what they are giving us! haha. i have been on the hunt for sweet little vintage goodies for my little lady, but apparently there is none to find in this part of the world. oh goodness, i do love me some baby clothes! well, happy monday my lovelies!! it is a beautiful sunshiny day here...just what i needed.

we made a pie

hot tea and a good read

this sickness is about to get the best of me. i decided i am just no good at not feeling well. i moan and groan and lie around declaring i feel like i am dying. so pleasant, i know. i have successfully accomplished absolutely nothing for the past three days and am crossing my fingers that i am in the home stretch now. i received 'black heels to tractor wheels,' written by this talented blogger as a gift recently. her blog is one of the first i started reading. it may be because i am from the midwest or because i grew up in the country, but i have always found her just hilarious and witty and downright beautiful. so, i sit here with my hot tea and my book and muster up enough energy to go about my daily business. sickness is just no fun. i suppose all i can do now is dream of better days...sunshine, ice cream cones, and bicycles. yes, that sounds mighty nice.

what we are eating

grilled salmon with broccoli, carrot, and onion stirfry, served with brown rice

here is another easy and quite delicious meal. our evening meal is most definitely one of my favorites. the mister and i try very hard to prepare our dinner together most nights. it is the perfect way to unwind and just be together after a long day. although, i must admit, we do make an agreement to not get in a heated discussion about what we are eating or not to get upset if it doesn't turn out quite right. i swear, some of our worst arguments have been about food. how silly is that? that is why i am currently making a meal plan for the next couple of weeks. i just have to find some fun new recipes to throw in there. what have you been eating lately?

thoughts today

* i often look down and wonder 'where did this little person come from?'

*the weather man says it is 30 today and 60 tomorrow...can we have a little consistency please?

*our busy weekend has left our house quite the mess. bleck.

*i think i am needing a bike trailer. or a childrens bike seat. or a babysitter so i can go on a ride.

happy tuesday, friends!!

we went out...to the park

oh lovely weekend, how i miss you so. our little family spent some much needed time together, enjoying the beautiful weather. this new season is so refreshing already! we took a trip to the park and walked around enjoying the sights and sounds. i love taking miss E. everywhere we go. honestly we are living life just like we did before, but toting a little lady along with us. babies are very portable! i found it so funny when people told us...'oh your life will never be the same again.' it is true, it isn't. it is so much better!

what we are eating

couscous topped with diced roma tomatoes,

grilled onion and carrot, roasted brussel sprouts, and grilled chicken

my man friend has registered for this race. apparently it is a pretty big deal. he had to get up at the wee hours of the morning to sign up for it. we will talk more about it later, though...back to the point of this story. my man and i, well, we are a team. so, what is my end of this deal? i have agreed to feed the boy through all of this. and not just feed him, but really to have healthy, nutritious meals readily available. i have several pre, during, and post workout food ideas running through my head that i would love to share. to start out, though, i think that it is important to focus on our main meals. easily thrown together and fresh foods are important to me. i absolutely love foods that are in season, but i do know that sometimes that just is not possible. at least not in the midwest. without further ado, i present to you my first 'what we are eating'. and hopefully i can improve in my cooking (hello there, charred onions and carrots). and in my food photography (what a lovely shiny plate).

dream home

i have been seeing a lot of these lately...remodeled into a sweet, quaint, little camper. how amazing would it be to travel the country in such a beauty? our neighbor remodeled a more traditional 80's style camper once. they spent weeks painting, reupholstering, and re-running the wires. i think they planned on traveling the world in it. the only thing was, it would barely even run across town. back to work i go! happy tuesday!!

thoughts for today

i woke up with the snuffles this morning. somehow i actually have made it all winter without coming down with any kind of sickness. i have been obsessing with washing my hands constantly to keep any germs of any kind away from my little lady. really, i think becoming a mom has made me sort of germaphobic. soon, i'll be one of those moms with caution signs on the back of their children that read 'wash hands before touching'. haha. hope you are having a lovely day!

sweet love

found here

i find this print quite adorable. i mean, bicycles and robots?! love it.

meet erwin

this is erwin. the poor guy has been cooped up all winter. thankfully, he got to see a little action this weekend. the snow around here is melting fast and the hubby and i took advantage of the beautiful weather to take a quick spin around our little town. it was really kind of a surreal day...the temperature was about 60, but there was still plenty of snow on the ground. the neighborhoods were alive with people enjoying the sunshine, children were tromping around in the slush, snowmen were melting away, and snow forts were on every corner.

happy monday, all! oh yes, and happy valentines day! love love!!

the most important meal of the day

there has been a lot of food talk lately. whether it comes with the new year, new seasons, or new lifestyles, re-thinking what you eat seems like a good idea. our little family loves eating a good breakfast. it seems starting out our day together on the right track makes all the difference. these are some of our most favorites of the moment! 1. cinnamon roll and coffee at amanda's cafe 2. oatmeal w/ bananas, cinnamon, and almonds 3. cranberry almond bread 4. short stack