Playing it safe

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Sometimes I feel like I play it too safe. I may have the best intentions, but more often than not I find myself retreating to a place of comfort rather than a place of yes. Perhaps in my mind, the most perfect weekend would include exploring a new place, bringing a picnic lunch, and getting lost in our adventure. Instead though, it seems easier to sit on the couch and watch another episode of a favorite show, or cook the same meal we had last Sunday.

My best self ventures out, follows through with the dreams I have in my head, and always always tries new things. She says yes more than no, and isn't one to turn down an invitation. So why lately have I found myself getting stuck in a rut?  When I get like this, my spirit feels heavy and life doesn't appear to be as sweet as it really is. Luckily, spring is here, and with that gust of warmer air comes a renewed sense of self, inspiration to get outdoors, and more daylight to accomplish the most exciting of plans.

Now that I am the mama to a one day rambuntious boy, I need to start exercising my adventurous spirit. I want to be a good example to him, I want to be sure he grows up feeling wild and free, like I did.  And maybe with the right outlook, he'll manage to keep his adventurous spirit alive for all time. Mine's there, but just hidden under layers of comfort and routine. So -

Here's to taking impromptu day trips, with the windows down and the music up!
Here's to picnic lunches by the creek and long walks shaded by the springtime branches!
Here's to quick stops to check out roadside attractions!

Carnivals! Beaches! Farms and parks!
Parades, antique shops and fruit stands.

I'm looking forward to slowly but surely becoming more adventurous, and I hope you'll join me. I'm excited to reawaken some of my child-self, and live life a little more fully.

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Summer goals

In about two and a half weeks I have a SUPER AWESOME feature series coming to Sometimes Sweet that I am oh-so excited about...and in the spirit of that feature I thought I would share some of my summer goals. I make summer goals every year, and I think that these goals are always my favorite. In the past I've always had summers free of any responsibility. I was either a student or a teacher, so three months of my life were strictly all about me, and all about fun. In our younger years Hank didn't have much responsibility either, so we would travel all over the place between his summer touring, stay up until all hours of the night (and sometimes morning), I'd read a million books, and do a whole lot of beautiful nothing.

Now though, things are a bit different. Little Henry is my boss, but although I have a lot more responsibility, I am lucky enough to be able to stay home with him, which allows me the freedom to still do a lot of fun things. Now, it may only be April 11th, and it may have snowed on Saturday...but I do consider May the first official start of summer, and that's next month..so, I thought I would share my summer goals with all of you today. Maybe this is jumping the gun a little but I need a little summertime sunshine motivation in my life!

Also: feel free to grab either image and use it on your blog to announce your summer goals too. I took the above photo last summer while on the Jersey Shore. Yes, that (beautiful, lovely) Jersey shore. But like I said, if you'd like to share your goals, please do! And link me in the comments so I can check yours out as well.

1. Compile a summer reading list and complete it by the end of August. I will be sharing this list in an upcoming post.

2. Workout more outside than I do inside. This means: hikes, biking, swimming, long walks at dusk with my boys and Madeline.

3. Bring my D-SLR everywhere. I really need to get back into the habit of using our camera, and what better excuse than capturing all of summer's beautiful moments? I'm envisioning snapping photographs of ice cream, snow cones, beach days, and the lazy afternoons on the square.

4. Start working on our backyard. Our new home has a huge backyard...but unfortunately it's completely unlandscaped. I already have a plan for what I'd like to do, but now it's just putting that plan into motion. By Summer 2012 I am hoping to have it close to completed- extended patio, comfortable and relaxing lounging/seating, green green grass, trees, flowers, and vegetable gardens. So, getting started is a huge goal. And seeing that I have NO experience in gardening or landscaping, I will definitely need my parents' help.

5. Start a family summertime tradition. This will probably happen naturally, but I'm hoping it's a weekly trip to the ice cream parlor followed by a stroll around the square.

6.  Make a movie of our East Coast trip this summer. What this means is that I'll have to be sure to keep my Flip Cam out for the entire trip, but it will be totally worth it in the end.

7. Do not get one sunburn or get remotely tan. Sounds weird maybe, but to me this is IDEAL. I like being pale but I tan very easily, and I don't want to damage my skin whatsoever. Big floppy hats and sunscreen are (and will be) my best friend this summer.

8. Get my other thigh tattooed. I'm definitely looking forward to tattooing the front of my left thigh and maybe the backs as well. We'll see.

9. Try a new summer-fresh recipe every week. Grilled veggies, light salads, glazed tofu, berry tarts, anything with pineapple. I'd like to branch out and treat Hank to some delicious meals and desserts.

10. Visit the farmer's market once a week.

So, that's it! Those are my 10 summer goals. I have a few more along the lines of furniture re-finishing projects and around the house to-dos, but those are ongoing and not so much summer-oriented. I am REALLY excited about the above goals though and just writing them out has got me really pumped that summer is so close.

And now, what are yours?

xoxo

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Summer's Last Hurrah!

The kids are so excited....Cousin Lyla has jumped the border and come to visit for a few days! Yesterday afternoon (in sweltering heat) we played at the splash pad. Today, we are going for one last hurrah at the beach.



I may be a little MIA for a few days, as we wrap up summer and get ready for the start of school next Tues. I have a tonne of reviews to post and some great giveaways lined up. Next Wed. I have a great Fall inspired giveaway. So, stay tuned....

Enjoy these last days of summer, as soon they will be gone.

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Mid-week mini-vacation!

Hank and I just returned from a nice trip to Lake Powell to spend a few days on the houseboat! It was a super relaxing, wonderful time as always...and it was awesome to get some family time in and some sun too. It's hard to believe that this time next year we'll have our little guy in tow with us when we head up there. Really puts things into perspective. I wasn't great with my camera all weekend, and a lot of my photos didn't turn out very well, but here are a few of them, via my Canon and my iphone. If you're curious, I'm using the shakeitphoto app, which I love. And as always, you can click on any of the photos to view them larger in Flickr.

heading through Flagstaff


nap and a WIN!




breakfast on the houseboat...looks good, huh?!




getting ready to take the smaller boat out...beautiful sunset


view from our slip- so pretty even docked


heading out on a day trip






I love the way this looks.

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summer in Prescott

Prescott is one of my favorite towns in the entire world, and everyday of my life I feel so lucky that this is where I call home, and where we will raise our family. Hank's family has been here for three generations (baby Henry will be the fourth), and I think it's amazing to be steeped in such tradition.

It's funny that during junior year of college at NAU, Shirley and I found ourselves lost in Prescott. She had followed me up here in her car so I could drop mine off at the local VW shop in town, since there wasn't a shop in Flagstaff that my warranty included. We spent hours and hours driving around the back roads- how were we to know that Whipple St. turns into Iron Springs Rd., and Willow Creek turns in Grove?! It was horrible. But who would have known that just a few years later I'd be calling that quirky little town home.

I love Prescott because it is such a small town, having about 40,000 inhabitants (compared to Phoenix's 1.6 million). I enjoy the vibe our town exudes, I adore the downtown area, and especially how in the summer there are events every weekend. I always daydreamed about taking our kids down there on a blanket during the evening concerts on the square, walking the perimeter of the courthouse with our stroller, and enjoying quiet picnics on a weekend morning. Now that we are about to become parents, it's sunk in quite a bit more that this is the place where my children will make their memories, this is where THEY will call home for their entire lives.

Prescott is far enough away from Phoenix (120 miles) but close enough to still be able to go down and shop when the mood strikes. It's close to my family, but still feels far enough that we're making our own little life for our little family. I do hope that one day my parents and sister move up here, but it has been nice to have a place away from home that I've made our home. Whenever our friends and family come visit, they always remark how much they love it up north. The weather is cooler, we get all four seasons, and the summers are completely manageable, staying in the 80s at most.

This weekend was a typical Prescott weekend. Each year we hold a Bluegrass Festival where hundreds of musicians flock to our town to play on the big stage, and also enjoy a weekend with fellow enthusiasts and fans. Although there is a large stage set up on Gurley Street, it's common to see twenty or so small groups of musicians on the opposite side of the courthouse playing music. It's a fabulous weekend, full of good music and fun people, and this time I was able to enjoy it on Saturday, and also stroll around a bit today with Amber following our yummy brunch at The Dinner Bell.











my darling friend Crystal (you've probably seen her on this blog quite a bit, she visits us often!)




one of the many smaller groups of musicians


So all in all it was a great weekend, spent with my family and our friends. It was awesome to have my parents and sister come up on Friday, and we spent the afternoon eating lunch at Bill's Pizza with Hank's Mom, step dad and sister, and then of course had to do some baby shopping before they headed back down the mountain. It's been two days but I'm still riding high from the amazing ultrasound, and it seems like everywhere I look now I see adorable little boys. I can't help but think about our Henry. What will he be like? Who will he look like? My heart is so full of love for this little guy that I can't wait until he arrives and we can shower him with affection!

The weekend is almost over, even though for a teacher the summer is one huge weekend, and I have quite the to-do list for the evening, after we get home from dinner. Now the countdown begins for the 4th of July, one of my favorite times up here in Prescott! My family and Autumn's family will be coming up to spend the weekend with us and I cant' wait. I hope whatever you did over the past few days you've had a great time, and Happy Monday tomorrow, to all of you!

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Hawaii!

Oh, sweet vacation! I was just here in Kona, Hawaii a little over two months ago, but that trip was a little more business, as we were getting the house all set up! It's so lovely to come, just Hank and I, and really be able to enjoy it. It's gorgeous here. It's really a true sanctuary and we're already in major relaxation mode, thank goodness. I went to be super late last night because I had the urge to get in a late night workout, and then Autumn called me crying because she got stung by a scorpion! She totally worried both Hank and me but everything turned out alright thankfully. I didn't get to bed until well after 1am, and had to wake up a little after 4! YUCK. I love sleeping so existing on less than 4 hours isn't my cup of tea, but I guess I can consider it great practice for when the baby arrives in the fall!

So, we got to the airport and my Dad met us there to get our car (thank you Dad, I love you!) and we were off. We boarded our flight, and ended up sitting on the plane for over an hour due to some sort of malfunctioning part. Interestingly enough, my friend Jenn was en route to Paris today on the same airline, and also had a horrible delay (turned canceled flight) due to some sort of part problem as well. When coming here I really, really prefer to go on Hawaiian Airlines- they're the best for Hawaii- but since our tickets were so last minutes (2 weeks before!) we went via US Air. No complaints though, it's HAWAII! :) They fixed the airplane, and we finally took off and landed in Kona earlier this afternoon. We spent the rest of the day enjoying yummy Mexican food for dinner and then spent a long time floating around in the ocean and watched the sunset from that perfect spot in the warm water. It was really so beautiful and I can't wait to get a water case for my small digital camera so I can bring it into the ocean to capture moments like that. After sunset went back inside and here we are, relaxing! Tomorrow is a full beach day and I can't wait.

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer so far, and had a great day! Last visit wireless wasn't hooked up yet, but now that it is, I will probably be doing little updates like this one in the evening while we're winding down. I only took a handful of photos today but there will be more to come. Happy weekend! xoxo

Sky Harbor


Can you tell we're tired? I look insane! hahah. It's also important to note Hank's neck pillow.




finally in Kona! I really adore this photo of Hank.


at dinner

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