life around here.

phew! busy, busy, busy has been the name of the game around here lately! so, as i'm sitting here sipping my latest fav at-home coffee, i thought i'd jot down a post.

this coffee has been a life saver for me recently. i am an iced coffee lover. i bought the iced k-cups a couple months ago thinking that would solve all of my problems. wrong. it doesn't brew the coffee strong or hot enough. so, it's basically watered down not-strong-at-all nastiness. although this coffee isn't the best of the best (i'd rather have sbux any day), it's a great alternative! caramel macchiato is my fav!

i somehow talked my bff becca into coming to nowheresville, indiana for a visit! she flew in last weekend and it was just what i needed! having many friends is great, but having a few friends that know you better than you know yourself is such a blessing. we ate, laughed, shopped, pedicured, cooked, talked. it was fab. she's getting hitched in oct, so we talked about wedding a bunch, too! helps make me not feel quite so left out of the planning process! 

becca flew out tuesday afternoon and then my parents drove in from mn on thurs! it's been fun hosting, but our home feels SO much smaller when people are staying here! ha! while here, my parents and i drove all over town, looked at land for them to build, met w a realtor, toured some homes. oh... did i mention that they are moving here??? it's like a dream come true and i don't really know how my life could be playing out so perfectly! they have a home to sell in mn and have to figure out a lot of details, but indiana is in their future and i can think of one little boy who would be so excited if he understood what all this means!!

everyone got ready for church on sunday and then grant pointed out that they all matched. ha! needless to say he went and changed...

fun with cousin roslyn at the local zoo. they are riding a caterpillar!

checking out the emu's with gpa!

getting up close & personal with the emu's!

this boy is so lucky to have these two as his grandparents!

labor day goodness (my homemade mac n' cheese, along with potato salad, pineapple & grilled chicken/ burgers! yum-o.

in the midst of hosting visitors, we got the exterior of our house painted (trim, door, shutters) & updated exterior lights, had an open house at grant's new office space he's leasing and ordered our bedroom furniture!

holden acting like he owned the place at grant's office open house. 

my rose bush is blooming!!

freshly painted trim, shutters & door! ptl.

new dresser! love the chunky feet on it and the grain is gorgeous!!! got matching nightstands, too!

i'm hoping life will slow down a little bit now and we can have a few days with no real agenda. well, except for catching up on the bachelorette, that is! anyone else watching???

h54f!!

it's been a few weeks since i linked up for high 5 for friday. part of that is probably because my last few weeks have been busy, part of that is because i dumped all the pics off my phone & didn't feel like searching through the computer to find them, and part of that is because we've been living a pretty simple life around here. meaning my target trips have pretty much been the peak of my week! :)

ok, so now that i'm back, here's my top 5 highlights from the week!

5. i guess i'm late to the party cause this song was released months ago, but it's new to me and i love it! perfect for summer! love love love finding new jams!

4. so... a couple weeks ago, i may have gotten brave and thought i could cut holden's hair myself. it just spikes in the front and i thought 'how hard could it be??'. well, when grant got home, he asked me to never do that again. my argument for doing it is still valid (costs $$, don't like how it's cut most of the time, have to wrangle him in someone else's chair for 15 min, planning around nap times, etc), BUT... i knew he was right. so, yesterday, we went and saw my friend megan and she got him lookin real niiiice. only took one dumdum and he barely moved! ;) ps this is him waiting for his appt.

3. who doesn't love a new shirt? especially a polkadot new shirt!! got this lil ditty from kohls & i'm obsessed w the color! I've known forever that coral and turquoise are like MY colors, but i'm really liking this seafoam, too. 

2. we were lucky enough to have some family come into town this week! we had dinner at arni's and then went to my in-laws' house to hang out. here's parker (2nd cousin), roslyn (niece), stephen (1st cousin), archer (nephew) and holden. gotta love having a tv in the kitchen to flip on mickey. makes for a peaceful moment or two!

1. hooray for an updated fam pic!! on mother's day, our church offered fam pics to everyone that attended. since my hub was the photographer, i didn't plan on US getting a pic. so, as I'm on my way out the door for lunch, grant says we should get a pic. there are a lot of things i don't really like about this pic, but i can look past all those things and appreciate that my 18 mos is actually looking at the cam AND smiling! I'd call that a success!!!

did you have a good week?? link up w lauren & i to share your top 5's!!

my go-to choc chip cookies!

in honor of yesterday being nat'l choc chip cookie day, i thought I'd share my go-to all time fav recipe! anytime i take these to a party, someone alllllways asks for the recipe. i think that makes it a keeper! :)

pinterest has been very hit or miss for me when it comes to recipes. like i've said before, i don't claim to be good in the kitchen. i'm not saying it's always the recipe's fault... but they don't always work out for me. it's pretty depressing, actually. and just when i was about to give up on pinterest recipes altogether, i found THE best chocolate chip cookie recipe. better than any other choc chip cookies i've ever made. so, without further ado...

BEST choc chip cookies

3/4 cup salted butter, soft

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp corn starch

1 tsp baking sofa 

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup semisweet choc chips

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350. 

2. cream butter & sugars w mixer. 

3. add in egg and vanilla. 

4. mix in flour one cup at a time. 

5. add in corn starch, baking soda & salt. mix well. 

6. stir or mix in choc chips. 

7. spoon dough onto a cooking sheet. i fit about 12 on each pan. 

8. bake 8-10 min until golden on top. do NOT bake more than 10 min. (trust me!)

y'all will thank me for this recipe later! these babies are fluffy, soft, chewy deliciousness!

he still needs his mama.

i have had a lot of moments here lately where i think to myself that my baby is almost not a baby. and then i have to hold back the tears. where, oh where, has the time gone???

holden is now a year and a half and acting more and more like a little boy and less and less like a baby. i know it's natural. if this wasn't happening, i would be concerned... but that doesn't make it any easier!!

i am in LOVE with the stage that holden is in. he is curious, adventurous, full of communication and a little ornery at times. he challenges my patience and reminds me often that motherhood is not for the faint at heart. and that's even more why i love him. he makes me more like jesus. he sharpens my attitude, my outlook on life and reminds me to have a little zeal in each day.

now that summer is here, we are getting outside more. lots of walks, lots of playing on grandma & grandpa's putting green, lots of playdates at parks... and lots of knee scrapes. it's an unfortunate part of toddlerhood. holden is a walker, for sure, but he's still a little unsteady and concrete isn't forgiving. so... with summer comes lots of boo boo kisses, too. i don't wish for boo boos, but i can't help but soak up every moment afterwards when all he wants is his mama. 

i dream of the woman he will marry, his future kids, his future job, where he'll live, what ministries he will be leading. his future is bright and it's hard to not want him to be my baby forever. 

the good news is... he's still my baby. and he still needs his mama. and, i'm hoping, he always will.