NEWS + Where the heck I've been.

Hellooooo.......?!  Is there anyone out there?

Hopefully ya'll haven't abandoned me.  Admittedly I've been a bad blogger of late, letting this here site sit on radio silence for some time.  I'm hoping to get back to some regular posting soon.

I do have a bit of an excuse....

....we are expecting!  We cannot be more thrilled.  It is such a surreal and totally natural experience all at the same time.

I would like to claim the lack of posting is due to terrible morning sickness, fatigue or some other viable excuse, but truthfully I have had none of these things.  I am an extremely lucky lady!  Minus a few gnarly headaches and some things smelling very weird (chicken broth = cat urine) I've been just dandy.  By the way, root beer floats are DELICIOUS.

So the lack of posting...well, if I'm honest its due to lack of inspiration.  When I look back on this year I feel incredibly blessed with everything we have accomplished and all of the changes we've made.

As if graduation wasn't a big enough deal, we also completed a kick-a$$ DIY kitchen remodel before selling our house.  Then in a span of less than three months we moved twice, went to Idaho/Montana/Wyoming, Washington and Laguna.

Once we partially unpacked in our last place I started to feel a bit settled, but I also knew we wouldn't be there for long.  I did do a few projects and created a few recipes there that I haven't yet shared with you. Originally I intended to do a bunch of crafty stuff but I constantly felt I was lacking time.....and now I realize, its because I was.

I've come to this realization because we moved AGAIN.  It turns out it was a good thing for us to test out living "up the hill" (as we say around here).  Now we know it was too far for us.  A 45 minute commute each day can really cut into your life....though I am current on pretty much every podcast known to man.

Losing 1-2 hours a day may not seem like a lot, but it is when you are already a full time working lady, part time step-mom and a newbie attempting cross-fit.  I also was uninspired by our last house.  It looked like this:

Beige.  Beige walls, ceilings, baseboards, doors, carpet, tile.  Beige everything.

Don't get me wrong, it was a nice house in a nice neighborhood but it just wasn't us.  We chose to move now because there was a possibility the house could be sold in the middle of summer.  We didn't want very prego me, the hot summer heat and a rush to move to happen so we found a place now and grabbed it.

So here's the thing - the new (old) house has a huge, beautiful yard and a POOL!  I have never lived in a house with a pool so we are super stoked about that (and the yard and pool are all taken care of for us too). We are also just two blocks from the bike trail and river which is awesome and 20 miles closer to work. Woot.  These are just a few of the pluses.

The house though has some negatives too, design and decor negatives really...let's just say it's a little bit retro. It definitely will present a challenge for us in general and especially because we are renting.  If we bought this house it would be easier to figure out what to do.  I've felt a little bummed about these challenges, but I'm starting to work out the kinks in my mind and I'm excited to share what we figure out on the blog.

Don't worry, this doesn't mean I won't be cooking food and sharing recipes because that will be happening too! But as of late, my favorite blogs are Little Green Notebook, Young House Love and Emily Henderson (Vintage Revivals has some great stuff too).  I have a decorating/crafty bug happening to say the least and I can't wait to get started and have more time to do it!  You can see all of the things I'm loving on my multiple crafting, DIY, design and kids room boards on Pinterest.

So that is it.  It feels good to be back and I hope to be talking to ya'll on the regular again soon!

♥ TCW