Friday

 I liked last Friday's post, so I'm going to do another one. maybe I'll make it a thing.

Here are some things I enjoyed this week: 

* This equinox video of acro yoga is incredibly stunning. You may recognize Briohny Smyth from her first equinox video.You can watch that here. It's just as amazing. 

* While we are watching videos, episode two of convos with my two year old is out. It's equally hilarious with a  healthy dose of awkward. (You can see episode one here.)

* This article from prevention.com on how to loose weight like a guy. If you know me, you know i'm not really a fan of 'loose weight like this!' types of things, but this is actually really true and really good. Sometimes us ladies get too caught up in all the information flying at us and forget that simple often works best!

* These evil eye bracelets from ReemandI. She makes child and parent bracelets that are super cute! Evil eye bracelets are worn for protection and to ward off negative energy. I love things that match with the parents. I think I might get one for each of us.

I hope you all have a great weekend everyone! 

Get Up and Get Out!

 Its so beautiful outside! We have been soaking up lots of vitamin D, but not nearly as much as I would like us to. It's been raining lots here, but we have periods in the afternoons between rain that look like this. Warm, sunny and everything smells like fresh dirt. I love that rain smell.

 I started to kick my butt back into gear in the cardio department. I do lots of things like yoga, and specific body area workouts, but I know my cardio has not been where it needs to be. So I started running a bit, doing Zumba again, and jumping rope. <--- I turn on an entertaining show or movie and go. I find I do so much better with a good distraction. The workout becomes sort of mechanical for me.

 Funny how I find myself saying "man I need more energy." or "I want some more hours in the day!" and then I realise that the solution to those is getting up early and working out every.damn.day.

******

This little girl is getting so big. I have found myself slightly panicked to get on top of all the things I want to start with her. Well, more accurately, she is so darn smart and hungry for knowledge that I wasn't/am not quite prepared to feed her desires how i would like to. I think I will have to just let this one work into our days though. She is young still and ensuring that I stop and turn things into a learning opportunity, will give her exactly what she needs before her school years. I do want to step it up a little though.

 I don't think rigid pre-school plans are the right fit for our family, but I want to find something a little more structured than unschooling I think. Do I have any home schoolers here? Feel free to give me some pointers, i'm always open for new information.

 I love that summer is filled with lots of opportunities to explore. We were frog hunting yesterday evening and it was absolutely perfect.

A few things for Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

I feel like sharing things today, so I'm ending the week with some things that I very much enjoy.

* One of my favorite blogs, Enjoying the small things. Kelle writes and shares her story so beautifully. I want to share This post though. You don't need to know her, or her friend to let this post sink to all the places you need. I love this quote from her post  as she is talking about how their friendship is so good, despite them being 'so different'.  She hits that nail on the head, a good reminder for us all. 

 "I think most of our "I bet they think they're better than me" assumptions have nothing to do with them and everything to do with us.  And no one can make us feel crappy about the way we parent, what we eat, how we tend to our marriage, where we shop, how we spend our money or what kind of person we are--no one but ourselves."

Check her out. She`s the bomb

*This video is hilarious. From Huffingtonpost.com: "Matthew Clarke has launched a new series called "Convos With My 2-Year-Old" where he takes actual conversations he's had with his daughter and reenacts them with an adult man standing in for her. The result is hilariously creepy. Watch episode one above."

* And just because, HERE are some great tips on how to clean your house in 2 hours and keep it like that. I found the idea of moving from room to room so that you don't get carried away in one spot really helpful.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! Feel free to share some of the things that you enjoy :)

12/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Spotting zebras. The zoo is one of her favorite places. 

Letting Out the Breath

 Last weekend we went decently last minute camping. I'm very thankful for that last minute decision, because it was a beautiful weekend. You know how sometimes you don't realize just how much you really did need a break, until you take one?

 Mackynzie and I went out last Thursday, and Cody came after work on Friday. We set up our little home away from home in the trailer and then we just relaxed.

 I didn't have time to edit any photos, so don't mind if my iphone shots are a little rough.

I haven't had beans and wieners since I was a kid. I wonder what Mackynzie's memorable camping food will be...

 It was so great to just pick up and leave. It left me with the time I needed to clear my head and jump back into things (In a more organized fashion.). We played and explored and laughed and slept hard. Cody and I spent our nights beside the fire, talking and joking and just soaking up being in love. No distractions. Just us. 

 The first day we were there, while laying with a napping Mackynzie, I thought: "This is so much nicer. Total simplicity. I kind of want to live here." And although I don't think I'd go live in the trailer, it really made me want to strive for simplicity again. I mean, we already sort of do, but we could do a lot better. I like working and making things from scratch, and reaping the benefits of my own work. 

 It's hard to do that now, while we are living here, but I think I can get a lot of prep work done over the summer. Make things so that our new place really feels like us, and to have a blue print of things to do when we get there. 

It hasn't been just us for a while now, and I don't think we realized how much we missed it. Life is much more relaxed with just us. I am so very thankful for our ability to work together and make a peaceful home. And also to realize that we really have nothing that needs to stress us when we are together. Cody and I seem to just ebb and flow. We fill in spaces for each other, and move together easily. This weekend really helped us remember that, for me at least, because living with other people can cause a lot of added stress. We were by ourselves and it was like a breathing out after not realizing you were holding your breath. 

 Staying with his family has been a blessing, but it's one of those blessings that requires sweat and hard work too. It's taught me a lot about myself, and about our marriage. I also think I will have a very different appreciation for our own house when this is over. It's really taught us though, that no matter what's stressing us out, or making us uncomfortable, we can be calm and steady together, and tune anything else out. We are a force. 

 There will definitely be more trips this summer, more little get away's here and there. 

                               

VIA (this was as far as I could trace it.)

VIA

11/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

First ice-cream cone if i'm not mistaken. afterwards she said 'Thank you for the delicious ice cream treat, Mama!" 

10/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

I hope you always remember just how awesome you are. 

09/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Our little mama hen. She takes such pride in her babies. Such a gentle little nurturer.

Bits + Pieces

1. This was actually taken last weekend when we went out for a day trip. Nothing like snuggles in a hammock.
2. My reading stack for camping. I have really enjoyed each of these. For different reasons. Some will definitely be in constant rotation.
3. Guys. These nuts are amazing. They are also extremely simple. Check out the recipe here, on dig this chick's blog.
4. Camp ground parks are always perfectly worn in.
5.I needed this trip to help me clear my mind and readjust focus. It was beautiful. We will be going again a few times, for sure!
6. Trees with character.
7. Grilled fruit and meat is awesome and easy camp food.
8. Rest. Relax. Repeat.

You Don't Always Need a Plan

 Hey! It's been a little while. I am majorly 'behind' on this poor blog. I have been popping out an easy post here and there, but there are a lot of things I want to write about! We have just been keeping really busy, and are about to jet off to relax with nature in the form of camping. I wanted to say I am still here and I will get on top of things soon (I hope...).

If I'm being really honest though, i'm sort of overwhelmed. Not with everything, but I really love this space and also staying connected via instagram and the occasion facebook (for the blog) or vine. Since I made yoga and working out an every single day priority, i'm finding myself with a lot less time. I also have made the change of sticking to an early bedtime and waking early, so again, less time. Here is the really honest thing- I'm in this stage where I'm trying to spread myself in all these directions and feeling like i'm falling short in some of the most important places. I've struggled with this the last couple of days. I got really upset with myself for spending time in X when it should be in Y. This little get away couldn't come at a better time. I have hopes that I can collect my thoughts and come up with a bit of a game plan. I don't believe there is ever perfect balance, but I do believe that there is a peace. I know there is a peace, and I need to get back to it, because once you have smelled it's sweet aroma, you need it to fill you as often as possible.

 What does this mean? I'll let you know when I figure that part out haha. Probably that (obviously) social media is going to have to hang out in the trunk from now on. I want to make more time for this space, so that will be my priority in that area. I can pretty much guarantee things will be choppy for a bit, but i'm hoping that once I get the rhythm, keeping up with my 'wants' will be a little easier.

 Thanks for sticking with me. I appreciate you all!

Have a lovely rest of your week, and I will see you back next week!

{I could not track back to the original sources of these photos. They are not mine and I own no rights to them. If you see you'r photo here, (or anywhere on this blog) and do not wish for it to be posted OR wish to be credited, Please contact me and I will do so. Thank you!}

Almond Flour Pancakes

 I posted this picture on instagram:

 And said I would post the recipe if you wanted it. 

 These pancakes are super tasty! We have mostly avoided pancakes as primal peeps, because the ones I have tried have fallen short. And I really don`t like the texture and consistency of coconut flour, so I have never had success using it for pancakes or baking. I finally found some almond flour though, and this was the first thing I tried. 

They are delicious, pancake-sweet, and fluffy. they fill you up too. I recommend using a fine almond flour (I didn't. I used in between course and fine and they were still great.)

CLICK HERE for this recipe. 

Let me know what you thought if you make them. I think ill add a banana next time.