a morning at work...

i love, love, love getting to work from my home.

i get to go to work dressed in comfy clothes with my hair in a messy bun.
frequently, i take music breaks to refocus and step away so i can come back with a fresh perspective.
my boss is the best ever. she had a mini statuette made so i always know she's encouraging me.
sufjan stevens and sigur ros keep my inspiration at a high while i work.

*happy sigh*

little moments...

We have had the pleasure of beautifying our little condo a bit this past week.  I found a wonderful rug from Crate & Barrel on sale x3 and scooped it up.

After many months, I finally got our Van Gogh poster framed by this sweet older gentleman who owns a shop in the neighborhood where we used to live.  It looks so refreshing above our dining room table.

I love that summer is here.  I love fresh fruit and simple sweets.  I love that my tummy is slowly growing bigger and that there is a little baby in there who is a perfect mix of Landon and I.  Lately, I can feel little tiny kicks when I'm relaxed, and it makes me so much more excited to meet our little son or daughter.

Have you ever had a meltdown?  I have been having them so much more lately.  Sometimes things get too overwhelming and I just need a cry.  I was listening to Sigur Ros' Godan Daginn (one of my favorite songs) the other night and just sat down on our couch and let it all out.  Sometimes life is hard and stressful.  Sometimes things aren't perfect.  Sometimes I realize how much I don't know and how much I need to learn.  I cry and sob and bawl.  I talk to Landon, my mom, or my sister.  I pray for help.  Then I realize that I am so blessed, I can do this, and things will get better even if they seem like they won't.

Life is such a blessing and we have so much to look forward to.
Thank goodness for little moments.

Summer fruits...

We are hanging out with some friends of ours tonight for a Settlers of Catan game night!  Landon and I LOVE that game and we love that we have some great people to play with around here.

I decided to get all summery and make a fruit pizza for a snack.  What's better than fresh fruit and a sweet cream cheese spread on a yummy cookie crust?
Here's my makeshift recipe:

1 tube sugar cookie dough
12 oz. cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Strawberries
Blueberries
Kiwi

Roll dough into a circle and bake until just golden at 350˚.
Set out to cool completely.
Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until well blended.
Chop up fruit...as much or as little as you want.
When the cookie is cool, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly, then top with chopped fruit.
Chill for a bit.  Then cut and enjoy!

I hope you are all enjoying this nice summer weather.  Isn't it great to keep your windows open and feel the nice breeze?

Hot meals here...

Ever since March, I haven't really been in the cooking mood.  But since things are getting easier, I'm finally banging around in the kitchen again.
I usually try to make up a menu for the week so I only have to go shopping once.  This doesn't always happen, but it's nice to try for.
Yesterday I made tikka masala and we had it with some hot naan bread.  It was a bit spicy, but so delicious and easy to make. (Yes, I made it from a jar.)
Landon is a happy camper knowing there will be leftovers for him to take to work and hot meals to eat when he gets home. :)

I started my first editing job this week!  It's been so much fun already...learning how to maneuver through the programs, and working on such beautiful images.  I always get so nervous starting a new job...I'm working on being more confident, but new jobs always seem daunting at first.  Fortunately I have an amazing boss who is so approachable and easy to talk with.  This is a learning process, and I'll only get more comfortable as the days go on.  But I absolutely LOVE this kind of work and I feel so blessed to be able to work from home listening to Sufjan Stevens and munching on almonds.

rain, you can stay...

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It's raining so beautifully outside right now.  I don't know why, but rainy mornings are so soothing and relaxing.  I tend to be more thoughtful and stoic on these types of mornings.  Oh what a great day today will be.

We had a wonderful time with our small group last night.  Can I just say that having a group of friends who you can share and talk with is such a blessing!  We've been talking a lot about distractions and how to eliminate them.  One of the couples in our group has cut out TV from their lives and they are loving all of the extra time they have.  Landon and I were talking on the way home about what we can get rid of.  Everyone is always so busy, so on the go, and it's hard to have quiet evenings.  Why do we insist on staying so busy all the time?

I will share a secret with you...Landon and I hardly ever eat supper at our dining room table.  We love watching shows, so inevitably, we find ourselves sitting with our food in front of the TV or computer.  This is a bad habit! :)  I think we are going to make it a goal to eat supper with no entertainment, at our table, so we can talk and focus on each other.

Life is too short to waste on entertainment that we'll forget about in a few years anyway.  Investing in others is more important, and more fulfilling I think.
Have you cut out distractions from your life?  What have you done to give yourself more free time?

A bit of this, a bit of that...

What a great last week I've had!  My sister and her husband have moved to an adorable old house in the town where we both went to college.  I went up last week to meet her and see the new place.  We had lunch at one of our favorite college eats called Payne's.  They have the best food and drinks and frozen custard you'll ever try.

I got to use my graphic skills on a design project for a wedding gift Hannah and Jon were giving to their friends that got married on Saturday.  This was one of my favorite projects so far.  Hannah envisioned the antique frame with small wire netting, and I did the design pieces.  Between me, Hannah, and my mom, we figured out how to attach the pieces to the frame.  What great fun we had!

Sunday marked the 17 week point in my pregnancy.  The kiddo is growing! We refer to the kiddo as "he" since we decided not to find out the sex, and I just don't like saying "it."  I think I read that he's about the size of a baked potato.  I crack up at the food analogies each week...a kumquat, a lime, an apple.  Maybe we should call him our potato....

I am just so happy right now.  Reading some great books that are challenging myself, spending more time outside at our pool, enjoying the summer with my amazing husband, learning a lot.  God is good to us.  I am so excited about this weekend because Landon and I are going camping!  We haven't gone yet this year and I'm dying for a quiet few days on a gorgeous lake with our tent.  Summer is the best.

Just some thoughts...

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When I found out I was pregnant, I was bound and determined to be as healthy as I could.  I read some great books on nutrition and pregnancy yoga, and got super pumped.  Things started out great...we made a trip to Whole Foods, I was faithful with my morning yoga, and we were continuing to work out at our gym.  Then, around the end of March, I got terrible morning sickness.  And by morning sickness, I mean 24 hour sickness. :)  I never thought it could get as bad as it has for me...I basically stayed in bed for 3 months and my amazing husband cared for me when I couldn't.  We had to make one trip to the ER, I lived in the bathroom some days, I cried a lot, and I lost a considerable amount of weight.  I was so disappointed.

I have realized something about myself...I love to plan out and be in control of a situation.  I make lists, I plan ahead, and I figure things out.  But this experience has completely taken the control away from me and I am being challenged in a way I never thought I could be.  While things haven't quite gone the way I had intended, I am realizing that I am learning so much...about myself, about my husband, and about my family.  I'm pretty sure that pregnancy (and parenthood) are a way to learn self-sacrifice...which I think is a wonderful quality to master.  Landon and I are learning this on a daily basis, and we have become much closer as a result.

Things are finally toning down in the sick-all-day department, and I couldn't be more excited!  I am finally able to start eating the way I want instead of the way my stomach demands, and the nice weather is motivating me to get back into the yoga.

This little bambino is becoming more and more a piece of our lives, and every time I hear the heartbeat with our midwife, I realize how real this is and how amazingly blessed Landon and I are.

(I hope to be posting more frequently...I'm so sorry to have been absent for so long.  I miss you all!)

Guess What...

You might want to watch it at Vimeo since it's so small on here. :)  Here's the link.

This has made our entire year!

Love,

Leah