happy derby!!

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my grown-up birthday wish list...

My birthday totally snuck up on me this year.  My mom called last week asking me for my birthday list... and I had nothing.  Seriously, nothing.  I guess that's what happens when you turn 32.  I actually forgot how old I was turning the other day... totally forgot.  All the "mile-marker" birthdays (16... 21... 30...) have all since long passed and I have now entered the age range where you just completely forget how old you are.

But have no fear.  I was able to think about it for a while, and have successfully put together my birthday wish list... two days before my actual birthday:)

1) this anthro vase

2) new bloch flats

3) baskets for my expedite shelves

4) cream soda

5) this book

6) new running shoes

7) any of these stamps

8) aveda hydrating lotion

9) these earrings

10) pretty much anything from here

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below...}

Okay... let's try this whole Thankful Thursday again...  Sorry about last week's post.  I was trying to be all proactive and get things set up in advance, but apparently I didn't set the date for linky party... oops. So yeeaahhhh... 

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Birthdays.  Yes... again.  I know this was on my list last week... but this time it's for MY birthday!!!  Which just happens to be right around the corner... on Sunday:)  I'm looking forward to a fantastically low-key, celebratory weekend!

2) Cherry Limeades.  I've always been a long-time fan of all-things Sonic... but I rarely order anything to drink besides Dr. Pepper.  But yesterday one of my co-workers brought me with an afternoon cherry limeade... and it.was.fabulous.

3) Kale.  We've been growing kale in our raised-bed garden this year... and before then, I didn't even know what kale was.  But now we have kale growing out of our ears:)  The other night Lance sautéed some with bacon... yes... with bacon.  It was amazing.  I would eat kale with bacon every.single.day.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share the love!!

I may be linking up with these fellow Thankful ladies:

The Fontenot Four

First Day of My Life
There's Just One Mommy

Lovely Little Whimsy

embracing may {monthly goals}

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Go // outside.

This goal means exactly what it says.  Go outside.  Just do it... whether it's on my lunch break or an evening walk.  I absolutely love this time of year... when the weather is finally warm... but not miserably hot yet.  And I want to enjoy every second of it.  

Get // tech-ie.

I need to spend some time doing some computer stuff... update the photography website... create an adoption fundraising site... edit photos... all personal things that desperately need to be done.  But when you spend 8-10 hours a day staring at a computer for work, the last thing you want to do when you finally get home is crack open the laptop.  But this needs to happen.  Anyone want to just design everything for me??  Pretty please??

Guard // my time.

With my new work schedule and commute, I'm learning how important it is for me to guard my down time.  Whether it's planning a date night with my husband... or simply protecting some alone time for myself.  I know myself well enough to know that I am an introvert at heart, and am able to function best if I have some time to myself every once in a while.

Give // unexpectedly.

I like to give.  It's probably my "love language," if you're into all that.  I like to give gifts... give food... give time... give myself... etc, etc... you get the picture.  But I typically prefer to give on my time table... my schedule.  But what about those times when I see the need for giving... but I simply turn away because "I don't have time" or "I can't right now"  I want to change that.  I want to give unexpectedly... selflessly.

What about you?  What are you focusing on this month?

In case you're interested... or super board at work... 
January goals here 
February goals here 
March goals here
April goals here

adoption :: is age really just a number?

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In this crazy process of adoption, we have been asked literally hundreds of questions as we think about the child or children that we will one day bring home... Domestic?  International?  Boy?  Girl?  Special needs?  Race?  ...And age.

Age was the one question that I didn't think we would have any trouble answering.

Newborn.  Done.

Right??

Well... it seemed simple enough.

But once we decided that our adoption endeavors included not just 1 little tot... but 2 instead, (meaning possibly siblings)... our hard and fast "newborn" answer shifted slightly to, "newborn - 3 years old."

3 years old still seemed manageable.

Then our agency called.  Knowing we are interested and open to sibling groups, they strongly encouraged us to consider "newborn - 4 years old."

Okay... 4 years old.  We could still do that.

Then... our agency sent an email out to all the families in their Uganda program... It was an email regarding 2 separate sibling pairs... both pairs older than our "newborn - 4 years" range... one sibling pair was a 5 and a 7 year old... the other was a 4 and an 8 year old.  The email was pretty general... mostly information from our agency about the advantages of adopting sibling pairs... a couple of sentences about the kids...

And pictures.

Photos.  Of the sweetest faces I have ever seen.

Oh, my heart.  My once convinced "newborn - 3 years old" age range, suddenly began to waver.  Both Lance and I found ourselves sneaking glances at that email... staring at those sweet faces... wondering is age really just a number?

Such a hard question.  One we still don't entirely know how to answer.  We desperately want to be responsible as we continue to push through this adoption process... knowing that God will give us the strength and wisdom to love our children well... regardless of their ages.  But none-the-less... it's scary.

As parenting should be.

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below...}

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Birthdays.  April seems to be quite a month for birthdays.  I have loved celebrating with so many of my special friends (both near and far) this month.  I am so thankful for these dear friends... the memories we share and things they have taught me.

2) Chicken love.  The chickens have recently started eating out of my hand... which is awesome.  I'm telling you, they totally love me:)  Now... if only I could get them to let me hold them...

3) Settling in.  It's week 3 of my new job and I finally feel like I'm settling in a bit... settling in with my new schedule... settling in with my new co-workers... settling in with my new job responsibilities... just simply settling in.  And for that I am grateful.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share the love!!

I may be linking up with these fellow Thankful ladies:

The Fontenot Four

First Day of My Life
There's Just One Mommy

Lovely Little Whimsy

blazer-happy.

Sooooo.... I have recently been going through a slight blazer-phase.  I feel like I was just recently re-acquainted with classic professional piece.  I'm not sure if it was going through the whole interview process that did it, or simply the excitement of dressing up for a new job... but either way, I'm digging them right now.

I think part of it is the fact that in today's fashion world, blazers are no longer the definition of boring, stuffy, business attire.  They now come in all sorts of colors, prints, patterns and fabrics.  Many are actually even comfortable.  I know.  Crazy, right?

It all started with this amazing royal blue blazer that I scored from Forever 21.  I'm not going to lie... I pretty much wore to all of my interviews and recruitment meetings...

{WARNING: lots of awesome selfies to follow... most of them while parked in my car... because I'm cool like that.}

It is a gorgeous royal blue, comfy cotton fabric lined with silk on the inside.  I love that it has a classic shape, but the bold color definitely ensures that it's not boring.

On the first day of my new job I pulled out this black & white striped blazer that I've probably had for over 2 years.  I'm not quite sure why I haven't worn it more often?  It' super comfortable and I love the way it looks with the bright yellow:)

I recently bought this floral blazer on clearance from Target.  It's some kind of denim material, so not quite as comfy and stretchy as it's cotton counterparts, but I'm totally loving the feminine floral pattern.  I'm thinking this blazer would look great with a simple gray t-shirt as well??

This blazer is a tad darker than the royal blue one pictured above... and I'm digging the black leather trim details on this one.  Again, this blazer is super comfortable, in a stretchy cotton fabric, with 3/4 sleeves.  I love the classic, polished look of this jacket.

And how about some polka-dots for good measure?  I'm not typically a big polka-dot fan, but I figured the black & white color combo toned down the polka-dot party.  You can't really tell from this picture, but I paired it with a simple mint green t-shirt, which I surprisingly really loved.

Told you.  I'm a little out of control... a little blazer-happy lately. 

However... I do have this one blazer that seems to have stumped me.  It's a bright coral blazer from Forever 21.  I bought it several months ago, but it still has the tags on it.  I can't seem to figure out how to wear it.  I'm not sure if it's the color that is throwing me off or the more formal-feeling fabric?

a) I thought about doing a pink-on-pink type of look and pairing it with a floral feminine tank?

b) Or maybe a nautical touch?  A white flowy top with little black anchors on it?

c) Or how about my favorite heart blouse for a more classic, collared look?

What do you think??  Are you a fan of the blazer?  Thoughts/opinions on styling the challenging coral blazer?  

Linking up to The Pleated Poppy.

top 10 :: spring cleaning ideas

I'm not sure what it is about springtime that prompts organization and cleanliness... but regardless, I have spring fever.  I'm loving this warmer weather and I'm ready to knock out a few things off my spring cleaning list.  Here are the top 10 things on my spring cleaning to-do list... and all Pinterest inspired (of course:)...

1) Organize my expedite shelves.  I recently moved some stuff around in my office, which included a big expedite shelf... and for now, there is all kinds of crap shoved into the shelves.  I'm hoping to bring some order to the chaos eventually.

2) Create a "life folder" of some sort.  With all of the adoption paperwork we have been doing lately, now is the perfect time to clean up and update our personal files.  I've been using a similar system for our adoption paperwork, so I'm thinking this will be fairly easy to create.

3) Paint something.  Spring is the perfect time to paint that old piece of furniture that you keep talking about, or maybe you're super artsy and need to pull out the brushes and canvas?  I'm not quite sure what yet... but I'll be painting something this spring:)

4) Do something with my pictures.  I have been working on a Project Life album this past year, but I am incredibly behind.  I would love to figure out a system that works for me... especially in getting all of those past year's photos off of my computer and into an album of some sort.

5) Bring order to my closet.  I may not be able to have a customized walk-in closet... but I can organize parts of my closet.  I love this idea of using an old dresser in a totally new way.

6) Organize those recipes.  I may not cook much... but you would never know that by the amount of recipe cards I have stuffed all over the place.  I have a cute little recipe book... but the cards just never seem to make their way back to the right spot... which is proof that I actually used some of them at one time... 

7) Make use of unseen cabinet space.  This is the perfect spot for take out menus, important phone numbers, baby-sitter notes, and even calendars and doctor appointment reminders.  And those little Martha Stewart self sealing protectors make it super easy to corral everything in one spot.

8) Clean out the fridge.  With my new job, I have been trying to make my lunch more often... and the task is way easier if everything is visible in the refrigerator.  I also love the idea of having all of the sandwich supplies in one convenient container... makes the whole "make-your-lunch-experience" way more tolerable.

9) Splurge on fresh flowers.  It's amazing how much fresh spring flowers can boost your mood.  And how cute is this bouquet in this adorable teapot!

10) Keep going.  And just in case you run out of spring cleaning ideas... here is a website that lists out 40 very attainable organizing ideas.  Most of these are 5-10 minute tasks.  Brilliant.

What about you?  Do you have a spring cleaning list?  Have you already started?  Finished?  Any tips for us late bloomers?


Linking up with...
Michelle at The Vintage Apple
Angie at Many Little Blessings

weekend festivities... texas style

Why is it that weekends always seem to move faster than weekdays?  I swear, I turned around and blinked and I was on a plane back to Louisville.  I guess that whole, "time flies when you're having fun" thing is really true.

I was scheduled to fly out of Louisville sometime around 6:00 on Thursday evening...

But one margarita and two hours later, I finally boarded my plane around 8:00pm...

Thankfully, Houston seemed to wait up for me:)

Friday night consisted of dinner-and-a-movie with my parents.  We went to the Alamo Draft House Cinema to see 42... the movie about baseball legend Jackie Robinson.  It was sooo good... I definitely recommend...

Saturday was spent doing a couple of photo shoots (the main purpose for my trip).  My first session was with a beautiful family, where this little guy seemed to steal the show...

The second photo shoot was a bridal portrait session for a wedding I am shooting in May.  I won't be sharing any sneak peeks on the blog until after the wedding day... but take my word for it, the bride was stunning...

Saturday night I joined my parents and my Nana & Pop for some live music at Wine Styles, an awesome local wine tasting bar.  The evening was filled with great wine and even better music...

The music was by singer/songwriter Lizi Bailey, and her husband Matthew Bailey.  They are an incredibly talented pair.  They have become family friends of ours and are seriously some of the most genuine people.  Head over to her website to check out her new album, Bells & Whistles.

Of course I couldn't leave Houston before sneaking at least one kolache.  I'm kicking myself for not just buying a dozen and bringing them home with me.

I was welcomed home with laundry and sunshine.  But thankfully I flew back early enough to be able to enjoy both:)

I'm glad to be back and thankful for such a wonderful weekend with family and friends.  What about you?  How was your weekend?