Currently

Thinking about: Our weekend in Des Moines and our reunion with the Guess clan!  A couple of months after booking our Magnolia trip, we decided to tack on a quick weekend reunion a couple of weeks later in Des Moines!  Nate's parents graciously took us all in (kids included) at their home and entertained our five kids while the adults went to the Lumineers at the Wells Fargo Arena.  We promised the boys no deep conversations and few pictures, and enjoyed beers at the Iowa Tap Room, Beau's new favorite band, Kaleo, and the feet stomping music of Wesley, Neyla, and Jeremiah.  We had not seen the Lumineers play since their most recent album, Cleopatra, was released, and it was pretty great to see them play some of my favorite songs.  

Afterwards, we met up with Taylor and Kate at El Bait Shop and ended a very late night with some Fong's Pizza.  And the kids were all up just a few short hours later!   

We spent Saturday in Des Moines, just us and the kids, and had the best rainy day inside the Des Moines Science Center.  This was our first time here and we enjoyed it so much.  Highlights included the green screen, the rocket blaster, the lego racer, the planetarium, and the grocery store and conveyor belt.  The kids (and Beau and I) were well entertained all day and it was nice to have no agenda and plenty of time to play.  We headed home late afternoon, but not before a trip to Trader Joe's and Five Guys for milkshakes.  

Loving: Longer days, warmer temperatures, and hints of spring.  Beau noticed my tulips were all peeking out of the front landscaping last week and our little trees are growing new branches and buds.  I'm finding myself daydreaming of summer vacation, bucket lists, closet organization, and garden planting, and can't wait for afternoons at the pool and dinners out on the deck.  

I'm also loving how our recent trip to Magnolia land has igniting some new inspiration around our home.  Inspiration to minimize, clean, and add in some dark contrasts in this light space.      

   
Reading: I just finished my fifth book of 2017, and it was the best one I've read this year.  I can't recommend Erin Loechner's, Chasing Slow, enough.  First of all, it's one of the most stylish books I've ever purchased, it looks great on my end table, and is not only filled with Erin's poetic prose, but pictures, a few recipes, and witty but helpful lists that apply and extend each chapter.  The book is part memoir and part social commentary.  She writes about many of the same themes so many women writers tackle today - motherhood, marriage, minimal living, comparison, change, loving Jesus, striving for a Pinterest-perfect life, etc., but does it in a way that that feels so much more raw and unique and challenging to me.  A few of my favorite quotes and passages...

..."Peace is a lofty word with spiritual implications.  It can mean a great many things, but sometimes peace simply means that when the barista at Noah's Bagels gives you the wrong cookie - you'd ordered macadamia nut, and isn't this chocolate chip? -and you don't notice until you're back on the freeway, you eat it and smile and go on with your day.  (It tastes like your grandmother's recipe.  Have you ever noticed that?)"

..."Sometimes the most holy thing we can do is to be still.  To sit down and twirl the fork and eat the pasta we've been given."   

..."Sometimes before I fell asleep, I wondered if this tiny taste of success was a blessing from God, or a curse that he simply allowed.  It hadn't occurred to me that there was a third possibility, a truer one.  That it was a blessing from God, but that I had made it into a curse."

..."And in pursuit of the better, Adam and Eve lost the good.  In pursuit of knowledge, they lost wisdom.  In pursuit of themselves, they lost themselves."

..."It takes work to change your perspective, work that is not easily done when you're looking everywhere else.  And this is hard to do today.  It is hard to focus on one point when there are a million faces in the crowd.  There are hundreds of friends, acquaintances, colleagues on your Instagram feed sharing their own bejeweled camels, their own painted donkeys.  The big tent looks brighter from the outside.  And have you seen that three-ring circus cake on Pinterest?  It is enough to make you lose your focus.  It is enough to dizzy us all."  

..."I suppose I thought life was the puzzle.  That it was meant to be lived, to be understood, to be unriddled with the help of the ocean and a bottle of wine.  But the puzzle isn't life, is it?  The ocean, the wine, the Sunday evening on the balcony - that's life.  It's enough to be enjoyed, with or without the missing pieces."     

Drinking: Texas Pecan Coffee in bulk, chocolate protein shakes with almond butter and banana, two buck chuck after work. :) 

Listening to: Johnnyswim's Georgica Pond on repeat, Kate Merrick on Jamie Ivey's the Happy Hour, and Kaleo, especially this one.    

Currently...

Thinking about:  The Flood of 2016 and how it feels like we were just here.  Eight years ago, only in June, we crashed into it all head-on, and community came together within hours to sandbag and protect our precious downtown.  And now, this time with school in session as summer transitions to fall, we find ourselves here again, only this time more prepared and aware of just how powerful and capable that water is.  The constant news reel of aerial footage, the standstill of frequently traveled highways closed and covered with water, and the feeling of desperation for people clearing out their homes, evacuating, and then, waiting, has once again filled our homes and hearts here in Iowa.  Our waters crested below expected in Cedar Falls, but we now add the second highest river level in recorded history to the books, second after 2008.  Cedar Falls hasn't had school the past two days and things just feel out of the ordinary around here.       

Thankful for:  My parents, who agreed to keep all five grand-kids for the first time while we attended Chris and Julie's wedding this weekend.  That's five kids under the age of 6!  They both took the day off on Friday, Dad set up the tent in the backyard, and the kids had the time of their lives playing nonstop and sleeping under the stars.  We loved receiving text updates from them Friday night, and it warmed my heart to think of the memories they were making at their first official cousin camp-out.  And they did it - slept like logs with Papa Curt in the backyard until the sun came up that morning!  Cruz said they told stories of bats, heard woodpeckers outside, and whispered that they probably wouldn't be able to sleep with Papa's snoring, but Papa assured me they were out cold shortly after zipping up their sleeping bags.  We had a pretty fun wedding weekend, but after seeing the smiles on their faces Saturday afternoon, I'm pretty confident the kids had the time of their lives.

Celebrating: My little brother, Taylor, finally sealed the deal with his sweet girlfriend, Kate, and we couldn't be happier for the two of them.  Taylor is six years younger than me, nine years younger than Jordan, and he's always been so special to us.  Except for when he was three and Mom would make me take him with me to the neighbor girl's because he threw a fit every time...He's just young enough that we feel protective of, and for me, a little motherly toward, and to watch him grow up and conquer all these big things has been fun, scary, and exciting for us, and probably incredibly annoying for him!  Thinking about another family wedding, especially his, is emotional and incredibly exciting - we can't wait and hope it happens sooner than later!  I'm already planning showers and attempting to manage my eagerness around my future sister-in-law, although she claims she'll be ready for my help. :)

A fun little video we sent the happy couple the morning after the proposal.  Love Mila's face when I explain she's getting a new aunt. 

    
Looking forward to:  So much!  A fall wedding and bridesmaid duties for me in a couple of weeks, Cruz's 6th birthday, a weekend away with girls to see none other than Jen Hatmaker and Shauna Niequist, Halloween, and holiday planning up to my eyeballs, accompanied with pots of tea, roaring fires, and all the cozy nights inside.  I'm already dreaming of holiday jammies and putting the Christmas trees up, but hope to savor October before all of that comes.  And 2017 isn't shaping up to be too bad either.  Two family weddings, including Taylor's, a family trip, and one crazy bucket list item that I still wake up in the morning and think, "Are we really doing this?!"  More on that to come... :)

Reading:  Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.  Her short, easy to read, beautiful prose essays, her quest for simple living and the goodness it reveals, and her call to link arms with other women to be intentional and vulnerable, had me dogearing and underlining every other page.  I love my texts from Kate and our shared affection for Shauna, and love that at Monday's If Table, another Kate opened a sack and passed around six copies of this book, tied up in twine as a gift for us to read or gift to someone else who might like to read.  

"My crazy brain has always been my gift and my challenge, and I've tried everything to lower the volume in my head, because things really do get a little loud in there.  What I'm finding, though, is that it's my job to lower the volume just enough so my ears don't bleed, and so that I can hear the music of my life."  

Eating:  We're in that flex time between the end-of-summer produce and the start of rich and savory comfort food.  Last weekend, it was pumpkin bread in the oven and boatloads of carrots picked from the garden.  This weekend, it was fresh apple pie and my favorite squash soup, and a few red tomatoes, neglected and nearly forgotten.  We've been cooking a lot at home this month, all thanks to Prep Dish, my newest favorite thing that I can't stop recommending to people.  It's a monthly healthy meal planning service with seasonal dishes, coordinated grocery lists, and step-by-step plans for two hours of meal prep that makes weekly meals effortless and delicious.  We love to cook, but with busy weeknights and little kids, it's nearly impossible to devote the same amount of time we used to be able to in the kitchen.  This service, and especially the two-hour meal prep, has made pecan crusted chicken thighs and a trio of root veggies as easy as frozen chicken patties and applesauce.    

Watching:  I love this time of year with all the returning and new shows starting on TV.  Besides John Snow on Game of Thrones, zombies on Walking Dead, and endless reruns of Chip and Jo, I just don't watch much TV anymore.  But after I put the kids to bed Wednesday night, Beau was at a work event and I had the house (and TV) to myself.  I curled up with a blanket and watched the premiere of NBC's new This Is Us.  It wasn't quite Parenthood in my book, but it could get there.  It gave me all the feels and reminded me that everyday life is kind of like a sitcom - a mixture of the big and small moments that weave together to make one unique, compelling story.    

Traveled to:  It's been a few weeks now, but Beau and I spent part of Labor Day weekend revisiting one of our favorite cities - Chicago.  We stayed on the top floor of a killer hotel with a view of the river, progressively ate through the town Saturday night, had a relaxing Sunday morning breakfast outside with the Chicago Tribune and a whole lot of pigeons, and met up with Heath and Nicole, some dear college friends, for a Cubs win at Wrigley.  Beau's mom kept the kids and it was great to reunite in the city with friends we rarely see. 

Our view!

Whether you're a Cubs fan or not, everyone should be a Kris Bryant fan. :)

Enjoying: All things fall!  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, for the kids are in bed and there's a presidential debate to watch.  We'll see if I make it more than fifteen minutes. :)