Psssstt.

Pssst.

Hey.

Hey, You.

You can find our mom over here.  She's under "loving life" which we think is pretty fitting.

We hope you find some other good reads while you're there.

Just click that little button below.

Yea. YEA! YEA!  That one! click it! Click it!





Love and strangely intelligent dogs, H, S & N 

And the winner is...

     I thought it might be fun to lighten the mood a bit, and help spread the love for some of my blog-pals out there! Recently, Hannah Sullivan gave me "The Stylish Blogger Award."  Given how much I despise January, and my husband's recent lay-off, this sweet, sweet comment/Award came at the perfect time. :)  


     I think I found Hannah through sisters/friends Anna Lynn Riley and Olivia Carter, but you know, sometimes, it's hard to keep track.  


     The "rules" ask you to share 7 things about yourself and then share the award with 15 other newly discovered blogs (therefore, also giving THEM the award).  


Here are my lists of fun facts and blogs! 


1.)  I hate January. I am, desperately trying to make friends with it, but this good ole' first month just isn't having any of it. 


2.)  I am trying to "get into" couponing.  It has been a little more difficult to navigate than you'd think, but I'm hoping it pays off in the end! (Literally!)  


3.)  Sometimes, I watch a re-run of Friends, only to find I have SEVERAL of the lines memorized


4.) I have an etsy shop, but haven't taken the time to do much with it.  I'm looking forward to digging my heels in and starting a new-sort-of business venture!


5.)  For my birthday last year, my husband offered to build me a rabbit hutch (and buy me a rabbit).  After careful consideration, we decided on a parakeet instead (scrappy dogs and cowardly rabbits don't usually get along).  We ended up with a nice/somewhat expensive bird cage...and still no bird.  We're planning on getting one in the spring...although spring of what year, I'm not sure (haha). 


6.)  Every morning, I watch a re-run of 30 Rock or Friends while I'm getting ready for the day. 


7.) Keeping my  car cleaned-out for more than a week at a time is considered a huge success for me (its been about 8 days-hooray!) 




     I have been an avid blog-reader for quite some time and usually stick to my old favorites, so coming up with 15 "newly discovered" blogs was hard to do.  My goal was 10...and I only posted 9.    I hope the "Blog Award Gods" don't mind that I broke the rules (Oh, Yours Truly, forever the rule breaker!)  


     Call me a stickler, but I wanted to post blogs I really  enjoy.  I didn't want to just post whatever was in my history for the sake of posting, you know?  I hope that doesn't make me sound like an award-nazi.  


Anyway, here are the ones that stood out!  


Roxanne and Lorraine (love these two blogging besties)! 


Our city lights (fun/artsy/creative) 


The Allie Bee ( A friend from college)! 


Defying Gravity (Also a friend from college)! 


Joy Just Because


Bloom


Happy Loves Rosie (LOVE HER STYLE)  


Intangible Goodness (loving her "what I wore" posts and etsy shop!)  


Crazy Mrs. M  (who-recently-butchered-two-pigs! Holy Cow....er Holy Pig!)  


I hope you found some good, new reads! 


Love and a lot of copying and pasting, 
H.  

I'll Play Along

     Olivia k Carter at "For Me" always posts "Wish I was Here" Wednesdays.  Her photos are always so clean and classic.  Not to mention inviting.  She's encouraged others to link up.  Seeing as how I took a sick day today (a nasty stomach bug) I thought a similar post would be fitting.  

     I am a decent swimmer, but I have always been a sucker for amusement park lazy rivers.  Give me some sunscreen, a yellow raft, some good company and a winding concrete maze filled with water and harsh-smelling chemicals (haha), and I'll totally get my money's worth.  

Love and extra ginger ale,
H.


photo courtesy of Marigold Holidays

Guest Post

Hi Friends.  I'm guest posting over at The Hindsight Letters and couldn't be more excited. Such an adorable site!  It's so great to read some great, relatable insights from such varying perspectives.  I really hope you stop by and enjoy your time there! 

Love and two big words in a row 

(insights & perspectives? What am I?  A psychologist or something?),

 H.  

http://thehindsightletters.wordpress.com/

Holy Cow.

Holy Cow. Holiest of all Holy Cows. I am guest blogging over here at www.dearbabyblog.com. Melissa's blogs are the first blogs I REALLY got "into." So this is kind of the equivalent of the whole Britney Spears/Madonna thing...minus the creepy public kissing. :) So honored to be a part of this site.

Guest Blogging!

     Hi Friends- I am guest blogging for Dear Ella today, and couldn't be more excited!  It is my first guest post EVER so it's pretty big news.  Check her out, she's a sweet girl.  


http://pourintotheglass.blogspot.com/


Love and rolling out the welcome mat, 

Amen, Bow-wow

At this house, we are dog-lovers.  You will love this blog if you are a dog-lover, too.

http://donmilleris.com/

P.S. It is hard to tell b/c of her fur color, but Noel the Kind is hiding in this photo right 

here  -------------------------> 

Two Birds, One Stone or The Birthday Post

Hello. 


I wanted to do a lot in a small amount of time and space.  What else is new, right?  I wanted to share with you some important things that have happened in The Year I was 27 before beginning The Year I was 28...


which starts tomorrow.  :)  


I also wanted to share with you some blogs that I find adorable/useful/life changing/just stinking awesome.  I'm addicted.  


Let's pet two birds with one stone.  (That's right, I said pet.)  


Important Things.  Important Blogs.  One post.  


Huzzah!       


Some A lot of these events/epiphanies were inspired by Real Live People writing Real Live Blogs. Others were just occurrences, coincidences, or perhaps just Things You Weren't Here For.   The links are included, when relevant.  Click on them, you won't regret it, and when you read them and love them (cause I know you will), remember to thank yours truly.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  


This is the year that things started to move in slow slower motion.  I found that I had turned 27 and suddenly, I could breathe   I could think.  I could see. (actually, thanks to a few of the happenings listed below).  This list, these moments of absolute peace and clarity are the result of more air and better vision.  


This little lady, who apparently has a birthday rather close to mine, put it best..."I feel like I'm jumping a mile."  


Here's to more coffee, more miles, and more of the good life.  It just keeps getting better.  

• We decided that I am going to try to stay home with our kids.  We got more focused on the goals related to our finances in an attempt to (someday) make it all work.  

• My heart softened.  I caught baby fever baby plague and became so.much.more.open. to the idea of babies and motherhood someday-probably-sort-of-still-far-away.

• We booked a cruise to Hawaii!!!

• I re-evaluated my body image and once-again began to pursue more healthy living and weight loss. 

• I started to make things, and by golly, I liked it.   

• I decided to start turning off the t.v. and pick up a good book gosh-darn-it!  I also got inspired to cook, grow in my faith, and be a better friend, proving this little lady to be a jack of all trades! 

• I survived the year without my grandpa. 

• I started praying with my husband AND for my husband much more often.  

• I found out amazing news from someone near and dear to my heart that I will share with you later.  

• My Master's Program ended, thank- stinking- goodness! 

• I took a closer look at what the heck I want to do with This Great Little Life. (and I owe you a live list!)  

• We changed churches.  We went back to where my heart has always been. We went home.  

By the time I turn 29: 

Participate in another 5 or 10K either walking or running

buy a pedometer and wear it regularly

Finish the ever-elusive book

Purchase an outfit entirely from thrift/second hand stores (minus the undies cause I find that creepy)

...and rock that outfit enthusiastically

Donate my time to some worthy cause at work (I officially took the year OFF in terms of volunteering after I finished my Master's)

Plant a flower garden in the bed by our back patio

Stop picking my nails long enough to justify a manicure

Listen to more Bob Dylan

Do cartwheels down the length of our driveway (and not care who sees it) 

Learn to sew

Find my niche in terms of daily Bible-reading/quiet time 

Remember how to spell words like restaurant (restaraunt?),  commitment     (committment?), and occurrences (occurrances?) .  If not for spell check...

Pay off what little we still owe on our credit card (darn you, moving expenses!)  

I love birthdays.  I want to do a better job of honoring other people's birthdays. On second thought, add that to the list!  

I will tell you now that I am forgetting 85 links and 95 things.  Per usual.  Maybe we'll title the next post Things I Forgot at the Ripe Old Age of 28. 

Either way, I'm inspired. I'm happy.  I'm pushing 30. 

I hope you are, too.  (cause I've heard 30 is the new 20.)  

What can I say? This cup is half full.  Isn't everyone allowed one cheesy picture on the day-before-their-birthday?  

My best to you.  

Love, H.