Green & Blue Paint on a Paper Plate; That Was Our Art Project Today

Today, my toddlers did an art project in honor of Earth Day, our Beautiful Mother Earth.

So it's my turn.

 

Here's to you, Mother Nature.

You've graced me with so many wonderful moments to photograph these past couple years in Colorado. This is a true Wayne and Garth, "We're not worthy" moment here. 

Photo Locations (from top to bottom)

 

1 & 2.  Poudre Canyon

 

3. Hanging Lake

 

4 & 5. Trail to Deep Lake Campground

 

6 & 7. Poudre Canyon 

 

8. Highway 287

 

9. Trail to Deep Lake Campground

 

 

Liebster Blog Award

[Click link for details]

Well, this makes me feel incredibly special. The other night, I received a notification from my friend and fellow blogger, Kylie Bores, nominating me for The Liebster Blog Award. The award was created to discover and recognize new bloggers and welcome them to the blog world. Well, my blog is a happy four years old as of February, she isn't new by any means, but I very easily fall out of a blogging routine and I still have a lot to learn.

Kylie asked me a series of questions and here are my answers. (Doesn't this bring you back to Myspace? Who remembers Myspace? I lived for these Q&As)  

 

1. Are you a morning or night person? I am a morning person, hands down. I leave my house by 6:30 every weekday to make it to work by 7. Sleeping in on the weekends means no later than 7. Most days it's about 6:10. One accomplishes way more of the day this way.

2. What is your guilty pleasure? I don't feel guilty about any of my pleasures. ;) I honestly don't know what to put for this. Can I say, Gossip Girl? That show makes me wish I had a better sense of fashion. and money. 

3. What is your favorite holiday? Why? Christmas! The smells, the decorations, the food, the company, just the overall feeling it brings me, is simply wonderful. 

4. What is the first thing on your life bucket list (today)? The incredibly annoying snowfall outside makes me really want summertime. I've always wanted to experience a field of sunflowers. To walk through, or alongside, I would be so happy. I thought about saying Coachella but I think I've become too calm for a weekend long party like Coachella.

5. What is your favorite season and something you love to do that time of year? As the years go on, I find myself loving Fall more and more. The cooler weather, the attire, the scents, the amazing changing colors of the trees. I live for cool Fall weekends, drinking hot apple cider, with Fireball going to apple orchards or wineries. 

6. If you had a day all alone with no plans, what would you do? I would sleep in till 7 sip way too much coffee, listen to Ben Howard Pandora, catch up with all the blogs that I love that are full to the brim with beautiful pictures. I would spend it outside if it were nice, with my cats, of course. Which, would lead to taking pictures of them. I would do laundry, read my book at some point, perhaps work out. If Joel is out of town, this is basically how I spend my Saturdays and Sundays. I'm a Grandma. 

7. What is your favorite song currently? Hideaway by Kiesza. I seriously want to live in the music video and learn the choreography.  

8. Upload a favorite picture of your self and tell us where it was taken. 

This is me at probably age 2, in the house I grew up in, back in Wisconsin. I have the same face, same hair, same personality and I still love to climb mountains. 

9. Would you rather scuba dive or sky dive? Scuba dive. I would have to be pushed out of the plane to sky dive. 

10. What is your greatest fear? Knives. 

11. If you had the time for a new hobby, what would you like to do? I would love to learn to knit. Someday, I will. 

Bloggers I nominate: 

• Alyssa at You, Me and Baby Make 3 

• Chelsea at Writings off the Mat by Chelsea

• Anna at The Ruffled Mama

• Linnea at Her Soul Sparkles

• Jamie at Life As {Emma's} Mom

• Elise at Profiteor 

*Ladies, I know a few of you haven't blogged for awhile. I understand that life is crazy busy and most of you have a baby or 4, but I hope you find time to sit down and accept this award and spill some thoughts. It's fun and I truly miss reading what you have to say.

Questions for my blogger nominees: 

1. Why did you start your blog?

2. What is the easiest/hardest thing about keeping a blog?

3. Where is one place you would love to visit but have never been? 

4. What is your favorite form of social media and why? (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)

5. What is something you do everyday?

6. In your opinion, what is the most important aspect in a relationship?

7. Are you a cat or dog person?

8. What does the most perfect day look like to you?

9. How would your closest friends describe you?

10. What's your favorite quote or motto in life?

11. In your opinion, how does one live a happy life?  

Happy Blogging, fellow bloggers!

Friday For The Win

Whoever invented the "delay brew" button on coffee makers is a genius. 

There is just something amazing about waking up to the smell of fresh coffee. 

Also, look how great I'm doing, keeping up with my blog, you guys. I don't know what it is, I blog and then don't for months on end and here I am now, blogging a couple days in a row. Funny, this is one thing that my Taurus, routine stricken self cannot hold on to. Well, this and working out. I'm reminding myself that it's all in my control and I'm rootin for you, Parr! 

Yesterday, was absolutely a win, in my book. I woke up at 6:10AM slept in and drank my coffee, poured my thoughts out into the blog world and felt total, and complete ease. It felt like a Saturday. I find it hilarious how just having one more day during your weekend, can make you so freaking happy. 

I went for a hike. By myself. Have you ever done this? Can I compare it to eating in a restaurant by yourself? I still haven't done that one. Well, sit down. I ate by myself at the Subway in a food court when I worked part time at Rosedale Mall in high school. That doesn't count. There was just something amazing about blaring my music, turning it off occasionally and being alone with my thoughts. Joel and I had spontaneously started the hike once on a whim, and didn't go the entire way. I needed to finish it. You know, the Taurus in me was eaten up by the fact of starting it and not finishing it.

I was almost to the top, power walking, like I do normally, when I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. He was half way on the trail, blended in completely by the rock and sand around him. You can imagine how high I jumped. Picture a cat, with a banana peal. He slithered away and gave me quite the aggressive rattle. Nothing more surprising and shocking than snakes in nature. I can hold and be in the company of Joel's snakes at his parent's house back home in Minnesota, but snakes in the wild? No thanks.

Yesterday, I also did a little shopping. I'm rationalizing my few purchases by reminding myself that I haven't shopped since before the first of the year (can you believe it?) and it's my Birthday month. I usually make a way bigger deal about my Birthday month than I'm doing this year. I honestly don't know why because I love Birthdays and I love growing up. I live for it. Literally. I haven't shopped since the first of the year because, well, I'm trying hard to limit myself, as well as save money for our move back to the Midwest in a couple months. My parents aren't paying for the moving truck this time around and I don't blame them. They have helped us out tremendously in the past and continue to. It's time to be adults and buy the moving truck on our own. We can do it!

I babysat for one of the boys in my class last night, him and his Brother, who is four. Kids are hilarious and I find so much joy in spending a Friday or Saturday here and there for a few hours, flying airplanes around the house, reading too many books and having silly conversations about fire truck beds. Especially, with kids that are too smart for their own good. Kids that use words like, "Similar" and say, "Well" instead of good. Early childhood centers, you make children so smart. You are a great thing.

You bet your bottom he put all those books away.

 As for today, I'll be cleaning the house in preparation for Joel's return home tomorrow morning, listening to Vance Joy on repeat. I'll be having a serious movie date with myself, because Divergent came in the mail yesterday. I'll probably spend some time outside, starring at the recently bloomed tulips. Odds of a solo dance party to Kiesza's "Hideaway" are good because I seriously cannot stop watching that video and wishing I were in it. A solo dance party, that's self-love, isn't it?  I'm going to dream about kissing my boyfriend and then tomorrow, I get to do so, for the first time in a little over a week. Yay!

Guys, this weekend is way cooler than the other side of the pillow.

Velcro Nation

If today were a normal Friday, I would have been at work for a little over an hour. The younger toddler teacher would have just taken her kids to their classroom and my few kiddos at school already, would be finishing up their breakfast. I would be playing with the ones who didn't bring breakfast, most likely in our kitchen area, because this is their favorite place to play; with the food, dress up clothes, babies and blankets. They would hold the babies on their chest, cover them with a blanket on the floor, pat their backs and say, "Night, night, baby."

One of my little girls would constantly be pointing out and saying the names of all the objects in the room that she knows and can now say. "Shoes! .... Chair!....Puppy!" As well as every object in the classroom being the color brown.

9AM would roll around and all my monsters kiddos that hadn't pooped yet, would come potty with me. They would try hard to pull their pants down by themselves, pull the tabs of their diapers, ask, "Help, please" if they can't and then throw their diaper away and sit on the potty, if they want. Some would sit, some wouldn't, some would even pee in the potty. After trying the potty, they would go to their drawer, full of their diapers, sometimes take out a handful, until I remind them, "Just one diaper, please!" They would put one or five back and enthusiastically show me Minnie Mouse "Min Mouse" or "Elmo" on the one they chose.

After snack, we would go outside to run laps around our playground (say it with me, "longer nap time") and my co-teacher and I would throw balls up on top of our shade umbrella and watch the balls roll down and our kids would laugh when the balls bounce on the ground. We could do this all day. They would fill their play shopping carts with balls, sit in the cars and tell their friends, "Bye, bye, see ya" and drive away. They would climb the side of the play tree and count 1, 2, 3, and "Jump!" They would pop bubbles with their fingers and feet and say, "Pop, bubbles, pop!" They would color with chalk on the sidewalk but only on the pictures their teachers had already drawn. They would point out the truck that just drove by, which sounds like a word that shouldn't be coming out of a one year old's mouth. They would shove their balls through the holes in the side of the tunnel and think it's hilarious when their teachers push them back through from the other side. 

Can we just take a minute to think about how simple happiness is when you're one, almost two. 

Everyday at work, I am reminded how simple life can be, how it's the simple things that really do make us happy. Yes, at times I get frustrated because I am surrounded by one year olds who are terribly emotional, dramatic and sometimes, mean and rough with their friends, but they continue to shock me with the words that come out of their mouths for the first time, how caring they really can be towards each other. When they rub their friend's back when their friend hasn't gotten their way, needed to be redirected or are mad at something, that no one else has a clue about but them, and are throwing a tantrum and crying on the floor. When they show each other where certain toys go or how the blocks need to be placed in the bucket to make them all fit. When they hold hands and just walk around the classroom or playground together or just give hugs in the middle of popping bubbles. It's times like these when I know I am doing something right and am in the right profession for me.

You couldn't pay me to work in an office. With adults.

I spend my days turning everything into a song, "Circle time, circle time, we all love circle time!" I make a fool of myself by talking in ridiculous voices. I don't have to shower because my kids love me no matter what I look like or smell like. I get paint on my clothes, arms, sometimes my face. I get boogers and tears on my clothes and on occasion, poop. I talk about simple things like colors, shapes, feelings and counting to ten, all day long. I read books with way too much enthusiasm and show my kiddos things like pinwheels, whistles, magnets and grass and it's all amazing to them. My days are filled with matching simple pictures of food, letters and shapes and teaching my littles to "turn the picture around so the velcro sticks." Velcro, who doesn't love velcro?

Simplicity, people. 

On a normal Friday, I would be so thankful that it's the end of the week. I would be saying, "TGIF" to all my fellow teachers that I pass in the hallway or on my lunch break. I would be counting down the hours until I was "child-free" for a couple days. All of you who work a full work week and then go home to children, well, you're super human. 

Our school is closed today for Spring Break so it's not a normal Friday. It's now 9AM and I'm still in bed, drinking my coffee, blogging; not encouraging potty use, saying, "Yay, you did it! You went potty" and clapping my hands. I can't believe I am saying this, but I would be fine with a normal Friday, that's what makes today so stinkin awesome! 

Here's to today! 

In a perfect world, Easter candy would be healthy.

I had a normal Saturday planned yesterday. Wake up, drink my coffee, catch up in the blog world, shower at some point, run some errands, stop at Barnes and Noble and make my way to Whole Foods. Well, I Skyped with my Mom at about 10AM and then 7PM rolled around and I still hadn't put a bra on or taken my sweat pants off. I got as far as catching up in the blog world and blogging myself. I figured at that point that I should probably do something with myself.

I decided to work out. 

I realized, I hadn't done laundry and that my only pair of yoga pants that were clean, were purple. Now, I don't know about you, but I can't work out in purple yoga pants and a shirt that's a different color than white or black. I just can't look foolish. Even if I'm working out in the comfort of my own home. I honestly don't think there's anything that gives me more motivation to work out, than new work out clothes. I haven't always been this way. In fact, years ago, I owned this soccer T-shirt of mine from high school, that said 'Gestalt' on the back. "An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of it's parts." First thing in our season, my soccer team had decided that that would be our motivating word for the year. Anyways, I wore the shirt to practice and worked out in it so often, you know exactly what happened. The armpits became holy and I ended up bringing scissors into the picture and making it a cutoff. I don't know why, but I loved working out in that shirt. Probably because it showed off my arms and my torso, somewhat, but each time I did, even years later, Joel would laugh and tell me I looked like a lesbian. Well, I know a handful of great lesbians, so I just wore the shirt more often. Joel could laugh all he wanted. 

I'm a Taurus. I'm stubborn. I figure, in this life, if I own something that gets the job done, why spend money on something new? This rings true with my tennis shoes. The Nikes I own, I've had since probably 2005 and when I bought them, they were great workout motivation. I can't say the same for today. "You can link up your ipod while you run and track how many miles you've gone, calories you've burned," said, the salesman. Well, at the time, I didn't own an ipod, I was seriously the only one. But I still bought them and felt great motivation in just wanting to wear them, not necessarily work out in them, and I did eventually buy and ipod too.

Over this last Christmas, my Mom brought a book for me to read. I've always been thin but that doesn't necessarily mean I've been healthy. Thank you, Dad, for the high metabolism, because if my body looked the way it eats, yikes! The book she brought me, is called, "Keto-Adapted" by Maria Emmerich. Have you heard of it? If you have any interest in becoming healthy, I say, "healthy" instead of "healthier" because it's an 'all or nothing' commitment. Honestly, I would have to seriously dedicate myself and try with everything in me to eat entirely the way she does. I love dairy, cheese in general, and carbs! I am a carb girl! And cupcakes, I love me some cupcakes. Maria believes in absolutely no gluten or dairy, no sugar and a diet that is low-carb, low-protein and high fat based. Yes, high fat, the good fat though. The book is super interesting. It pretty much tells you that everything we've been taught about the foods we eat, is inaccurate and that's why people have so many internal health issues. Even things like autism and asthma, joint pain, sleep deprivation, head aches, you name it, it's all effected by the food we put into out body and it makes total sense. A prime example of this is the fact that I give my cats only all natural dry food and yesterday, I let them lick the extra tuna out of a bowl of mine. Well, Olive is now throwing up next to me and I was lucky enough to step in a pile with my bare foot after hopping out of bed this morning. This is how the day greeted me, you guys.

Everyday, I think to myself that I could be healthier. Eat better, work out, go on bike rides, walks, but it's so hard for me, probably because I don't look out of shape to myself. And after a day of work, chasing two year olds, I want to just sit when I get home, sometimes in complete silence. And, well, because I convince myself that chasing two year olds, running around outside with them, well, that's physical activity, right? Gosh, I don't have a clue how you Moms have any sort of work out routine, finishing a work day, working out and being a Mother. Power to you! Hopefully, some day, I can relate. 

As for today, I'm going to be present. Joel is in Alaska on tour and scheduled it not having a clue that Easter was this weekend and not at the end of April. Interesting that Easter is based on a lunar calender. Now, that I think of it, the first year we moved out here, Easter was on his Birthday, March 31st. So, today, I'll be alongside the people who have become my family here in Colorado, the people I am most thankful for here, the people that are most similar to my own family in terms of acceptance and loving in a non-judgmental way. You better bet that I'll be pushing them together for, probably the last family picture I'll be able to take of them. I'm taking in all these final moments of our life here in Colorado. 

Now, Happy Easter from 2010. 

Go be present today.

It's getting more and more real.

The beard beanie I just couldn't resist.

Happy Birthday, E!

A lumberjack themed Birthday party helped us celebrate this guy turning 1. 

It's slowly getting more and more real, the fact that Joel and I are moving 15 hours away from this family, my best friend here. Alyssa and I both transferred to the same center, from centers we loved dearly but moved too far away from to continue to work at. I started a week before her and felt totally understanding to the tears she shed after her first day, when we closed the school and walked to our cars together. "I cried after my first day too," I told her. Bonding over the fact that this center, by no means compared to the ones we started at, I had a feeling about her and a great friendship. Eventually, we both moved on to other centers, where we were happier, the same company in different towns and we stayed close. I was thankful for my time at the first school, because I developed such a great friendship, as well as another with my co-teacher at the time. As we've gotten to know each other well these past few years, she is who I will miss the most, when I think about the people we've met during this chapter in our lives, the people we are leaving behind in this beautiful state. Getting to be apart of your life, getting to know you and yours, seeing your little man grow so much and develop such a fun personality, is something I will miss and treasure dearly. You have my permission to call me and make me become a phone person once and awhile, and I hope you do. I'll do my best to do the same. Being younger than me means nothing, you have taught me so much. You are my own personal Google and I will miss you like crazy. 

Everyday, I take in the sunshine in our living room, the comfort of our backyard, the trees, the outdoor couches, the fact that we have a backyard, the feeling like we're in the country when we're really in town and I feel so grateful that we found this place and so sad to be leaving it in two months. Saying goodbye to our first place together is not going to be easy.

Joel recently returned from back home, where he put in the new flooring in the basement of our future home, the house I grew up in. Frequently, as my end date at work draws near, I have been asked "So, you don't love Colorado as much as you thought you would? Why are you moving back home?" The truth is, with me being a teacher and Joel being a full time musician, us having jobs that we absolutely love and are passionate about but don't make much money for, we would spend the rest of our lives saving money to buy a house. The fact that my parents are allowing us to buy the house that I grew up in, for a great deal, well, we will be thanking them for the rest of our lives. I didn't always know that Hudson, Wisconsin was where I wanted to raise my family. Before I moved away, I knew that I hadn't been enough places around this amazing world to know where we wanted to set up shop, do the family thing. In our case, it took us moving 15 hours away, into another time zone, to realize that nothing compares to your roots. I know this isn't the case for everyone and that makes us feel even more lucky. Some people go away and have no desire to ever go back to where they grew up. There are people and things and mountains we will miss greatly, but we are ready to no longer watch all the babies in our lives grow up through Facebook and Instagram. We are ready to be involved in every single family event and never miss a wedding, anniversary dinner, reunion or graduation party again.

One more note, before I get on with this obligation free Saturday; my wonderful, caring, loving, encouraging, understanding, (I could go on but do I really need to?) other half turned 28 on the 31st of March. Twenty eight! We always talk about how fun growing up is and how old we thought, even a 20 year old was when we were still in high school. That just seemed so ancient. The fact that we are both now, closer to 30, well, we love it. And I'm convinced we are the only ones. 

Here's to you and how much more fun you make my life, just being in it.

Doing life with you is so wonderful.