A Rainbow of Sprinkles in May

May was sprinkled with all kinds of goodness! 

lots of rainy days that beckoned me to wear my pretty raincoat

sunshiney days scattered throughout

homemade bread from a new neighbor friend

a picnic with my husband

where we spent the day in the shade of a tree

reading, listening

laughing

huge blueberries sprinkled in our cereal and smoothies

the beach!!! 

time with this little boy, waiting for his baby brother to be born

lots of colorful veggies - this was for lettuce wraps

spontaneous mid-week getaway

a little blanket for a new little boy

all the small pleasures in life

indian food .... sooooo tasty!! 

spring time favorite - watermelon beer

a baby niece that will be making her grand arrival come October :)

shopping for said baby niece ~ little skinny jeans

and too many, not necessary cute shoes to choose from

digital chess games with Tony ~ he kicks my butt every time

and a surprise tea party for my beautiful niece Cayleigh!!

It was a full month!! We've been working on our e-commerce sites a lot. I finished reading Making the Most of Life by J.R. Miller and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Tony & I read that together). I've found the perfect ciabatta bread recipe that has turned out super scrumptious every time. Enjoyed meeting with a couple sweet friends to discuss the book Made to Crave. Tababta workouts, work-work-work, birthdays, Ron Paul voting, lots of togetherness time, crocheting little hats and blankets, tamale making, wind chime hanging, yard mowing, sunflower planting, coconut curry soup eating, and much more I'm sure. :)

I'll leave you with a golden nugget of truth from my favorite author:

"The matter of shoes is important. Especially is this true when the roads are rough and hard. We cannot then get along without something strong and comfortable to wear on our feet. One would scarcely expect to find anything in the Bible about such a need as this. Yet it only shows how truly the Bible is fitted to all our actual life to discover in it a promise referring to shoes.

In the blessing of Moses, pronounced before his death upon the several tribes, there was this among other things for Asher: “Thy shoes shall be iron.” A little geographical note will help to make the meaning plain. Part of Asher’s allotted portion was hilly and rugged. Common sandals, made of wood or leather, would not endure the wear and tear of the sharp, flinty rocks. There was need, therefore, for some special kind of shoes. Hence the form of the promise: “Thy shoes shall be iron.”

...But the word is not merely a prophecy of rugged paths; it is also a promise of shoeing for the road, whatever it may be. One who is preparing to climb a mountain, craggy and precipitous, would not put on silk slippers; he would get strong, tough shoes, with heavy nails in the soles. When god sends us on a journey over step and flinty paths he will not fail to provide us with suitable shoes."

J.R. Miller http://making-the-most-of-life.jr-miller.com/24-iron-shoes-for-rough-roads.html

Mother's Day | Her Birthday

This is my beautiful mommy, the one who everyone thinks is just my sister. But instead she is mom to four of us, all in our 20's. I'm hoping she shared those forever-young genes with me. ;) There aren't words to express how grateful I am for this lady. She is not only my mom, but also my friend and a sister in Christ. And I love her dearly!! She has poured so much of herself into loving her husband and children. I count her as a great role model, an example to learn from. And boy do I have so much to learn from her!! :)  She is super sweet, crafty, a lover of children, a marvelous cook, and baker of yummy cakes. One of the nicest people you'll meet and she's my pretty "little" Mommy!! Yay!

And there was lots of celebrating her this month. Mother's Day we all went to church together and then out to eat at a local Mexican Restaurant. Brittany and Chrissie were able to join her one day at the nail salon where we treated her to a pedicure. Just this week we sang Happy Birthday to her. Everyone gathered at our house for a surprise meal of veggie lasagna, ciabatta bread, veggie sushi (appetizer), salad, vino, and chocolate cake with peanut butter/chocolate frosting. We lit a box of candles and she made a wish as we sang. :)

The Swallowtail

Each year, as my {huge} fennel plant bears new shoots swallowtail butterflies are seen flying around my garden. And a couple weeks later I spot them. Itty bitty caterpillars. Once they're spotted, I check on them every single day. I watch them shed a layer of skin, crawl up and down the stems, and munch, munch, munch away at the fennel leaves. Very hungry caterpillars, indeed. They grow real fat and then build themselves a little cocoon where they stay snuggled up for a couple weeks. They attach their "home" to something sturdy with a very tiny tiny piece of silk thread, and it seriously looks like it will not hold up, especially through all the windy rain storms we've had lately. But it does. And before you know it a beautiful butterfly is birthed and the whole process starts over again. :) 

Hello, brand new butterfly ~ welcome to my little garden. :)
click here to view videos of monarch butterflies taking their first flight. Very cool!! 

One day I hope to have a large butterfly garden with all kinds of host plants that attracts a wide variety of butterflies - like parsley, dill, carrots, fennel, and milkweed. Oh, and lots of pretty flowers. :)

Enjoying Life

11:08am Laying in the sunshine, listening to the wind chimes and birds sing pretty songs. I have my post-workout smoothie by my side - spinach, banana, super green formula, maca powder, flax seeds, cinnamon, cocoa powder, water, and lots of ice. Tastes so good!! I have really enjoyed upping the intensity of my workouts over the past few weeks, and I'm already seeing great results. Hard work pays off and it's so rewarding! I've been working out 5-6 days a week, usually a routine in the morning and another in the afternoon - a healthy mix of cardio and toning. This morning I started the day with a 20 minute ab routine followed by 40 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. And just a little bit ago I completed a leg routine. This is one reason why my ice cold smoothie is so refreshing! :)

Tony & I enjoy spending our days together. We have lots of fun hanging out, going on little adventures, spontaneous dates, star gazing, and more. But there are some times where fun doesn't do justice to the amount of FUN we really had. Last night was one of those FUN nights filled with lots of laughing and enjoying each others company to the fullest. Magical times really. Our normal Thursday night Bible study was cancelled so we joined our friends James and Tinna at Bonfire's Tortilla Bar. We gathered at a round table outside and enjoyed our burrito fixings and continuous conversation. On the way home, Tony & I stopped by the grocery store to pick out a bottle of wine - a Lodi Zinfandel won the vote. At home, we set up in the front living room, sipping our wine and watching "Jack & Jill" with Adam Sandler. We laughed so much!! And that's an understatement. We had intermissions filled with popcorn making, some dance moves, more laughing, apple dicing, and more. We finished the movie and yes, laughed even more. It was about 10:30pm when we crawled in bed, side by side wrapped in our 400 thread count sheets. We gave hugs and kisses and both went into pleasant dreamland fast. I am so grateful to God for my dear husband. that I get to experience the great joy of being his wife. We are truly the bestest of friends and I am so glad that our friendship has only grown stronger over our 112 months of togetherness. God's sweet kind grace to us!!!

While watering the garden this morning, I noticed one of my swallowtail caterpillars has stationed himself for cocoon making. And I spot at least a dozen more caterpillars chomping away at fennel leaves. So cool!! This makes me miss my real camera all the more, as I can't get clear close-ups of tiny creatures. My camera broke last summer right before our vacation to the outer banks, and I have since been using the camera on my phone. One day soon I hope to get a new camera!! My peas are ripe for the picking and seed-saving. I'll be digging the plants up in the next couple days and planting glorious sunflowers in their place. Yay! :)

There's 4 pictured here - can you find them?

a variety of lettuces amongst cherry tomato plants

onions galore

I eat them straight off the vine

Our front is gradually getting a face lift ~ mulch in our new friend!! :)

peace! :) I have little lettuces and cilantro in the planters. And say hello to one of our new gold tip junipers.
That baby will grow at least 6 ft wide. :) 

Why can't every phone picture come out this pretty? This is my catchall garden
bed by the front porch. Beautiful hostas, mint, gladiolus, petunias, baby basil, daffodils,
and succulent that is slowly creating quite the lovely ground cover. :)

My dear brother Matthew and his wife Miranda recently moved to VA. We miss them and are so grateful for the world of facebook to keep us connected in our day-to-day lives. :)