Bring On the Tips!

Hello friends! I am in need of some travel tips, and I thought what better way to get some than to poll the internets! 

Henley last summer at the beach. I can't wait to see her play this year! 

We are leaving in a little over a week for Hawaii and will be there for 10 days. I am so excited about this vacation, and at the same time a little anxious to be going with an 18 month old. This will be Henley's first time flying. We went to the beach last summer with my family, but she was only 9 months old, so things were a little different then, plus we drove. 

I would love to hear your tips and tricks for traveling on a long flight with a toddler. I am also a lot anxious about her ears on the flights. Henley has had a number of ear infections in the past 5 months. She is currently clear, but I just worry about whether the flying will bother her ears or if she'll get an ear infection while we're there. She tends to hide them very well until it hurts really bad. Any thoughts on that would be welcome as well. 

No tip is too small...I need them all!! 

I can't wait for this year's family picture! That is if we can get Henley to be still for long enough! 

Show and Tell Tuesday

Hi friends! Today I am linking up with Andrea and participating in "Show and Tell Tuesday." Today's topic is Favorite Vacation Ever! I'm super excited to share for this one! 

I absolutely LOVE vacations! Growing up, vacations were super special for my family. We took one every summer and every Spring Break. Once I got older and could take trips on my own, traveling became one of my absolute favorite things to do. I love getting to see new places and explore them in different ways. I love learning about different cultures and seeing pieces of history. Most of all, I love getting to relax outside of my normal environment. I do not sit still easily, so when I am away from home, I find it a lot easier when things are not hovering over my head from my to do list. 

When thinking about my absolute favorite vacation ever, I couldn't really narrow it down to one. So, I will give you the details on the one that immediately popped into my head with a little info on the other two. Here we go...

Our honeymoon!! 

I will never be able to say enough amazing things about our honeymoon. We went to Riviera Maya and stayed at the El Dorado Royale in one of the casitas. It was beyond amazing! 

The trip to the resort was super easy. It was a quick flight to Cancun and a 30 minute limo ride to the resort. The resort was gorgeous! There was a hotel, villas and casitas. The casitas were on the back of the property and I was obsessed! We had our own outdoor shower, outdoor bed and little pool. Right outside of our own pool was a little lady river to a main pool with a fabulous bartender. 

The resort was all-inclusive and all of the restaurants were wonderful. It was also an adults only resort, so it was extra relaxing. There were a number of different pools to go to, the beach, and lots of different activities to do during the day. It being our honeymoon and all and neither of us having gone on a vacation together before, we pretty much drank, ate, laid out and relaxed. Everyone asked us what all we did, but we never left the resort and we didn't do any activities. We just enjoyed the good life! 

We did meet some friends while we were there and loved hanging out with them. They were also newlyweds, so we had a great time together and enjoyed a number of pool days and meals together. 

This is us and one of our couple friends at our favorite lunch place, the Health Bar. It had amazing smoothies! 

Seriously, I will never stop saying enough good things about this place! We have recommended it to a number of friends for their honeymoon and those who went were also very impressed. Our goal was to go back for our 5 year anniversary with the other two couples we met, but we all ended up having babies around the same time right before our anniversary. So, the new plan is to go back for our 10 year anniversary. Lets cross our fingers it all works out this time, because I am so ready to go back! 

The other two vacations that I absolutely loved were Ben and my trip to Europe, and our vacation with my family last summer. Both were very memorable trips. 

Ben and I went to Europe for about a month two years ago when we had just found out we were pregnant with Henley. Our goal when we got married was to visit Europe (where he studied abroad) before we had a baby, so the timing was perfect. It was incredible to get so see so many amazing places with Ben and we also made some friends along the way! 

Last summer's vacation was just amazing because it took me back to family vacations growing up. It's hard to all get together sometimes now that we have kids and are all in different places. Getting a vacation together was a miracle and we loved every minute! We went to Seagrove Beach in Florida and fell in love with it and the surrounding beaches. It was so fun to all be in the same house again and to watch the cousins love on each other. I can't wait for another BIG family vacation! 

We are headed to Hawaii for the first time in about 2 weeks, so I'm sure I will have another awesome vacation to add to my list soon! 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone!! This week has flown by! I am super excited about our Saturday this weekend, so I am thankful for a quick, fun, and healthy week! 

Here are some of my favorites from the week...enjoy! 

#1 - Henley is back to her normal, healthy self! 

She had her first slurpee today! 

Hallelujah! Last week was so hard for the both of us. She was fighting an ear infection and a killer molar for the entire week. She had a slight fever when she went to bed on Sunday night, so I gave her some Motrin and it broke during the night. Unfortunately, that was the theme of the week. She had a fever (between 99-102) off and on until we finally decided it was worth it to take her to the doctor on Thursday. She would be happy Henley while the fever was gone, but then it would come back fiercely and she'd be in my arms until it broke again. It was so sad. I thought it was just a virus, and when we called our nurses on Tuesday, they said to keep doing what we were doing. Finally, on Thursday, I felt so bad for her that I called the doctor. It ended up being a minor ear infection, so we got some antibiotics that helped. She still wasn't herself all weekend which we found out was because of a major molar coming in. All three of her other molars came in just fine without any fuss, but this one was bleeding and painful. On Monday, she seemed to finally be back to her normal, giggly self. I am so thankful that she is feeling better this week. We have had a fabulous week, mostly spent outside and on the go! 

#2 - Mowing the yard

I know it may seem a little odd that mowing is one of my favorites this week, but I love it! Yesterday, I mowed the yard during nap time for the first time ever. I have never even turned on a lawn mower. Yesterday, I spent pretty much the entire day outside and while Henley was down for a nap, I thought I could break out the lawn mower and give it a try. Our yard was in dire need of some help and Ben has been super busy this week, so I thought I might as well help him out. It was a great nap time activity! I loved the workout and just being alone outside was amazing! I could spend pretty much all day everyday outside and mowing just gives me something else to do out there! I only got the backyard done before Henley woke up yesterday, so today I will be doing the side yard and the front yard. One thing I will say though is - Ben and I would like to move to land one day and let me just tell you, the half acre we live on felt like land to me! :)

#3 - Our outdoor furniture and patio

That table in the right hand corner is another piece of furniture I'm working on. 

When we were buying a house, the one that we're in now was actually our second choice. We had one in contract that fell through and thankfully, this one came on the market the day ours fell through. The bonus of having a realtor for a husband! We loved this one and actually loved some things about it more than the other, but the only downside was that it didn't have a back patio. The other one had a huge back patio that we were so looking forward to. Well, this one was a significant amount less than the other, so we made a plan to remove some windows in our dining room, replace them with French doors, and build a covered patio. It was completed about a month ago, and we are in love! We finally purchased some patio furniture for it last Thursday and we have been out there pretty much every night since. When Henley was sick last week, there were some evenings that we would go out there and read or watch Daniel Tiger on my phone, and she was happy as could be. I am loving our extra outdoor space!!

#4 - Chalk paint

The table with the lamp used to be a dark wood. 

I have been on a mission this week...a mission to make this house the home that we really want. Ben and I tend to wait on making decorating decisions and it takes us forever to pull the trigger on anything and before we know it, we're moving and never decorated how we really wanted. Well, I am determined to stay in this house for more than two years, but even if we are here only two years, I want to love it! So, I have been redoing furniture like it's my job! 

I found some awesome chalk paint at Hobby Lobby and started by painting a large mirror we used to have in our living room. It is now our full length mirror and hangs in the hall outside our bedroom. Since it worked so well, I went back to Hobby Lobby and got two more paint colors. I finished the table that sits by our chair in the kitchen and am obsessed! Our house is mostly grey and white with some blue in our living room, so I think it is the perfect pop of color. I am now working on our entry table. Ben built it for me when we moved in and it has been raw ever since. I am working on painting the legs a deep red. Lets hope it turns out like we want! 

The chalk paint is awesome! There is no sanding or prep work required and it dries so fast! 

#5 - My little sister, Martie, is graduating from Baylor this weekend! 

I cannot believe my little sister is almost a Baylor graduate! Time has absolutely flown! 

I feel like this was just yesterday! Martie is the one in the cap and gown. 

We are going down to Waco tomorrow to watch her walk across the stage and celebrate with a fun dinner afterwards. I love any excuse I get to visit Baylor, but I am extra excited to celebrate my little sister. She will be the fourth and final daughter to graduate from Baylor and she has done such a wonderful job while there. She had a little different experience than the rest of us and handled it so well. I am so so proud of her! She studied to be a high school English teacher (a girl after my own heart!), and already has a job. Go Martie! 

I absolutely loved this week...every aspect! I am hoping that you had a great week too, but if not, I hope you have something fabulous to look forward to this weekend! 

Stranded!

I am loving the series that Shay and Erika came up with called "Stranded With!" If you didn't catch my last post about what I would take from my medicine cabinet, click here. 

Today I'm sharing what three books I would take with me if I were deserted on an island. Oh, I love books!! These books would need to be books that I could read over and over again. 

I wish I could say that I would take books that would help me survive on that deserted island, but I would probably just give up on that the moment we were deserted, so that's a no. Hopefully I'll be deserted with Ben and he can use the degree he got, Church Recreation (yes, that's real), and help me start fires and get off the darn island! 

The three books that immediately came to mind that I would be fine with reading over and over again are: 

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers has always been the first book that comes to mind when someone asks me my favorite book. I have already read it twice and have had an itch recently to read it again. I think about this book often and talk to people about it all the time, so I think it would be a fabulous one for me to take. 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah has recently become one of the absolute best books that I have ever read. I finished it last month and I think that I could read it a thousand more times! The story and the characters keep me so involved in the book, and I would love to get to know them again! I have read many books by Kristin Hannah and they never seem to disappoint. This one though, was beyond amazing!! 

Last but certainly not least, The Bible. Hopefully I will be deserted with a pen as well, because the English teacher in me will definitely need to be making notes while I read! The Bible is one of my books of choice because, lets be real, I will never understand everything in it, so I need to read it over and over again. If I was deserted with the Bible, I would finally read it cover to cover. This is my goal for next year, so hopefully I can get it read before I am ever deserted as well. 

I would love to hear what three books you would take with you. Feel free to leave a comment. Can't wait to discuss the next topic, Netflix series! Here is a list of the topics coming up. 

My Personal Style

It's Show & Tell Tuesday and today's topic is all about personal style. When I think about style, I think of two things, clothes and decorating. At some point I will do a tour of our new house and how it has come together, so for today, I will just cover clothes. 

I guess I would say that I am pretty simple. I mostly like classic pieces with the occasional flare. If I could buy up JCREW, GAP, Banana, etc., I totally would, but lets be honest...I am pretty frugal when it comes to my clothes. I am starting to buy more "investment" pieces, but I'm just not someone who spends a ton of money on one piece. 

Anyway, I like simple, classic things and find them to be the easiest to throw on and go. In the Spring/Summer, I tend to wear shorts and either simple tees or cute/fun blouses. I also love me an adorable Summer dress! I cannot wear jeans in the Summer. I am a SWEATER and jeans make me feel claustrophobic! In the Fall/Winter I wish I could live in slouchy sweaters, boots, scarves and puffy vests! Here are a few pictures, both of me and from Pinterest, of the things that I love. 

Oh, one more thing that we should get out there...95% of the time, I am in workout clothes. When I put on real clothes it is pretty much a special occasion! 

I so wish this was in my closet! 

This too! 

I found this Lily Pulitzer top at a second hand store and love it with colored shorts. I believe I had on some hot pink ones in this pic. 

More colored shorts and a simple tee

I love racerback tanks! 

My jean jacket comes in handy in the Spring since I'm super cold natured. 

I love this fun top and you will see these white capris in rotation all Spring/Summer! 

Oh the puffy vests! I wish I had all the colors! 

I love stripes and colored jeans! 

You can't really tell in this pictures, but my scarf is leopard and is one of my favorite purchases from last year. 

I also love this black knit scarf with just about everything. 

I am making a mental note that I need more puffy vests in different colors and more stripes!