30 Day Photography Challenge

I've decided to do something fun for the month of June. Hopefully I'll stick with it! The fun starts tomorrow!

Memorial Day Thoughts

Somehow, a few months ago I got started reading several "milspouse" blogs - blogs written by military wives. Reading their stories of hope, sacrifice, uncertainty, loneliness during long absences of deployment, babies born while daddy is overseas, money woes, depression when husbands come back changed, sorrow when husbands don't come back at all, undying demonstrations of patriotism and strength in the face of what I can only imagine to be a very difficult way of life, has been eye opening.

As a blog lurker who has been fascinated by their stories, I feel like I owe it to these women to take time out to honor their husbands and their families this Memorial Day. I am so thankful to all the people (men and women) who have selflessly served our country and given their lives so that I can enjoy the many freedoms I usually take for granted.

To everyone involved in the military, whether enlisted, veteran, relative or friend - thank you for your service and support. Happy Memorial Day!

Family Pictures

We took some family pics last weekend. In keeping with my tradition of not paying for pictures, I made Sommer and Mike come and take some for us on campus. They may not be close enough to us to do these for us in the future, so my days of free family pics may be numbered. :(

I really like how they turned out and will be glad to finally get a nice family portrait on the wall.

Justin and Luke pointing at Luke's tummy.

Being silly.

Friday Randoms

Randoms:

-This is the first weekend in a month that won't be marred by some type of work event and I'm pretty excited about it! On the agenda:  new hair (it's been almost 5 months!) and a mani/pedi. It'll be like I'm a new woman!

-My friend Randi and I decided a few weeks ago to train for the San Francisco Half Marathon at the end of July. We're still trying to build our base level of fitness right now. This running business is WAY harder than I remember it being a few years ago. Last week we did stairs at the football stadium and I limped for 3 days. Last night we ran/walked 5 miles, which felt way less impressive than it sounds. Regardless, I'm proud of us and am excited to have a goal to work toward this summer.

-Pinterest.com is one of my new favorite things. It's a way to catalog all the wonderful craft ideas/home decor/photo inspirations I see during my persusals of the Internet. I'm still figuring it all out and have some issues with the site freezing on my work computer, but I love this new way to waste time usefully recharge my creative juices. Have you discovered pinterest yet?

-I started making spinach smoothies last week as a healthy and delightful morning treat. Let me explain that I am SO not the spinach smoothie/health food crazy type. The first couple of days were rough as I figured out the ratio of spinach to yogurt to frozen fruit. I finally have it down and they actually are really good. Justin keeps asking why I can't just make a "normal" one.

-Work related:  Our new Alumni House is almost done, which means I will be back to walking to work at the beginning of July! I can't wait! It looks beautiful and I'm pretty excited about the giant orange wall in my work station and the gorgeous view from my 2nd story window.

And now for some pictures and an update on Luke!

(apparently he wore these on his head for more than 30 minutes. Sigh)

Luke turned a developmental corner a couple of weeks ago. He is sitting still for longer periods of time and starting to cuddle a little more. He understands EVERYTHING we say to him and in turn he talks A LOT (we just don't really understand most of it.) He is starting to play pretend, and loves to sing songs and dance. He is becoming quite the tease and has admirers at restaurants all over town. (One waitress recognized him from his picture on Justin's desk at the bank. Don't even get me started on how many people I've known for years in professional capacities who never recognize me and then this kid goes and gets recognized by a random woman who sat at Justin's desk once!) His favorite things are still balls, balloons, books, bubbles, blankets, anything related to water, fish, more books, more balls, Sesame Street and cars.  He has a great arm (I learned rather quickly not to encourage that skill in the house), can kick a ball like no other and loves to climb up on the couch , put his head on a pillow and read a book... He has also developed a little bit of a whining thing that I could do without, but I'm hoping that goes away once he acquires more language skills.

My go to "parlor trick" used to be asking Luke to make animal sounds for people. My favorite is the Lion/Tiger/Grizzly Bear "ROAR!" It'd been a few months, so I thought we needed something new. I recently taught him how to hold up one finger when asked how old he is. So now I'm trying to get some mileage out of that one. If we interact with you socially, you can expect to see that one in the near future.

Here's to a great weekend!

Wish List

Wish List

White jeans or jean capris (Old Navy has a pair I'm eyeing)

Chair pads for my outdoor patio set. I like the fun floral print of the bottom ones but I'd prefer the primary color to be more of an aqua blue.

A bicycle seat and helmet for the little passenger in my life

A water table (also for the aforementioned little person)

This sign that Sommer and I are going to attempt to create on our own (with slightly different verbiage on mine)

Black peep toe pumps to replace old ones with worn off soles - I found some fun peep toe wedges at Target. Hooray!

Best Cookies Ever

This recipe has changed my life. I love anything pumpkin, (and anything "cookie" for that matter,) so when  a facebook friend mentioned these healthy and easy cookies the other day, I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Three reasons you should try them:
1. They're lowfat!
2. Pumpkin is a "superfood," which means it does all sorts of great stuff for your health
3. They take less than 5 minutes to put together and it's the easiest recipe to remember

So, next time you buy groceries, stop by the baking aisle for your can of pumpkin and a box of spice cake mix. You won't regret it!


Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 can of pumpkin puree (small can - approx 15 oz)
1 box of spice cake mix
chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix pumpkin puree and dry cake mix
Add chocolate chips to mixture
Spoon onto cookie sheet. The cookies do not expand much, so the size of the scoops you put on the sheet are pretty much what you're going to get.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on size of cookies.