lovely little life.

some of my favorites this week

{a beautiful rainbow beach umbrella at dusk}

{capturing sibling love}

{pink mist}

{my lion/sheep brother}

{sun-highlighted sea mist}

{babysitting this lil' cutie}

so thankful for this week and all that was in it. here's to a lovely last week of break. xoxo

.

to be continued.

2012

current song obsession as of .1 seconds ago?: kids (mgmt cover)- the kooks

oh. it is spectacular. please- indulge yourself in this piece of auditory heaven.

i think its brilliance may highlighted by this exhausted body of mine....and my ears consider it a much welcome break from crying of babies heard through out this day. but even still...heaven.

today. i would like to reflect what i learned from today. a new years resolution of mine? to start living day by day. i think all to often i caught up in the future, which although often beneficial, proves to rob me from each day's little things. because after all, its the little things that matter. at this point in my life i have so much to look forward too, i often look forward too much. its like i start thinking of tomorrow before i have even lived today. and really? thats no way to live.

so i give you, my favorite little things learned from today.

- starting off my morning with a coffee date with a best friend, mildly gone awry-ending in a house call with one said friend sipping starbucks and one friend simply in pj's chatting about the little things, is the perfect start to a day

- listening to many the miles by sara barailles gives me an extremely optimistic view on life. .

- after much searching for a coveted american girl peppermint dream recipe with no luck simply making chocolate chip cookies brings just as much joy....and possibly more mess :)

- with that being said, baking with 3 little ones can be mildly exhausting...but extremely enjoyable

- a little eggshell in cookie dough never hurt anyone

- never go to the park without water bottles when you have 4 littles

- i live in southern california and although it is january it may not be a good idea to go to the park in jeans and a sweater when you have to chase a very active 18 month old around.

- all minor injuries can be treated with a chocolate chip cookie...or 5

-actually scratch that...anything can be treated with a chocolate chip cookie....or 5 :)

heres to enjoying the little things. and heres to 2012. xoxo

just got back from a lovely vacation to the beach with the fam. pictures to come.

to be continued.

inspiration nation.

no explanation necessary.

to be continued.

dandelions.

i went to the gorge {for those who don't know what that is, its a big amphitheater in washington where super cool concerts are held} a few weekends ago to see the zac brown band.

right next to the parking lot there was a field of dandelions. the biggest dandelions i had ever seen. like we're talkin' baseball sized dandelions.

naturally, i got out the car and pranced around in them.

and made a bunch of wishes.

i made sure to wish the best wishes i had, because i figured the bigger the dandelion the bigger the wish power right?

there were also some that were not as big, but just as pretty. i made a few wishes on those too.

also the gorge is in a town called george. yup. george, washington.

"where do you live?"

"oh i live in george, washington"

how cool would it be to be able to say that??

{hello george}

it was a fantastic weekend. with a fantastic group of people

and the gorge was as beautiful as ever

the end.

hope this finds you in happiness health and love xoxo

to be continued

B E A utiful.

life is beautiful.

and what's sad is its sometimes hard to see that. like when you're stressed to the point of exasperation, or tired from an exhausting week of classes, or when you miss a butt load of people, (because lets be honest, missing people takes it outta you!)

but taking a step back; taking a moment to look not just at your life but into it as well, it is actually quite easy to see.

like for instance:

we had a lovely thundershower in the spo the other day and while i was a little annoyed, just because that will be the weather all the time in about 3 months, it ended up producing a beautiful rainbow....a double, complete, vibrant, rainbow.

i actually let out a little scream when i saw it. i felt like that guy on youtube. k not quite...but kinda.

can you see it?? its faint, but its little twin is just chillin' out to its left. pretty cool.

also, friends make life pretty stinkin' beautiful as well:

as well as random cats who visit your dorm:

{meet welchina, the cat. fondly named after said dorm}

{different colored vans are pretty beautiful too}

and of course a token daisy picture:

{daisies are my favorite. they're popping up all over campus and i love it}

happy weekending! i am having a fantastic, wonderfully busy weekend. i hope you are too :)

also listen to {this}....pretty beautiful right?

to be continued.

change.

hm absent much?

i have been absent. in maybe more ways than one, and although many things have been going on, and many updates to document and give, there has been an idea on my mind. and that idea is this:

opportunity is all around us. everyday there is opportunity... to grow, experience, change, love. the fact that there is opportunity to change is the most profound, or so i so humbly think. humans are creatures of habit. for whatever reason, we are sometimes most comfortable when we are in our Routine. and you know what im talking about, we all have a Routine. whether its the people we hang out with, the jobs we have or the things we do in our spare time, our routines have come to define our lives. and because of this we often forget and maybe even fear the opportunity we have to change. this opportunity? well its a gift, and a gift that often goes overlooked, taken for granted, lost in all the sameness we so desire...the sameness we all seemingly thrive off of.

well i have a challenge for you. for me. for us all.

take advantage of that opportunity for change.

embrace the unknown.

dare to do something different.

revel in the adrenaline a new adventure brings.

don't be scared of the what ifs

be scared of the what could have beens.

live the life you've been given

and live it to the fullest.

lord knows this is definitely something i struggle with, but it is also something i have been more conscious about in the past couple of months.

i think my biggest fear is regret.

and i've come to realize the best way to minimize that fear, is to live vivaciously and with purpose...recognizing those opportunities to grow, experience, change and love, and seizing them.

xoxo

ah and a picture from my weekend...does this mean my childhood is officially over?

ok soo opportunity for change is great, yes, but somethings should never, ever, change.

things like dressing up for harry potter premiers {esp, if its the last one}

hope this finds you in happiness, health and love! xoxo

to be continued

hand dimples.

{baby feet, and oh my gosh those hand dimples! preciousness in a picture}

i love my job.

taking strolls around the park, running through the grass, playing hide and go seek amongst the palm trees with this little bundle of love as i did today, i mean seriously.

not to say there aren't struggles and not to say its not exhausting at times... when my shirt has yogurt stains on it from dinner when she splashes the yogurt around like she would her rainboots in a puddle, or when one, or two, or three or all four of them decide to go in different directions...at the same time, or maybe when the 2nd to littlest refuses to take a nap, arching her back and crying that she doesn't want to go to bed...maybe then, its exhausting.

but...

when the weather is this good, and the sky this blue, the breeze blows just so, and this little face is peering

up at me, gleeful when she gets a handful of my hair and gives it a purposeful, tactful pull....how could i not love it?

beats sitting in an office, thats for darn sure.

{there are four of them that i babysit, and have for the past year and a half, and they are just the most darling kids. rarely do any of the above 'exhausting' instances happen. they are a joy 99.9% of the time :)....plus i mean what do i know about exhausting? babysitting for 8 hours, as i did last summer and will again this summer, has given me a newfound appreciation for parents. 8 hours can seem like kinda a lot, but im there for 8 hours and then i leave. parents are there 24/7 dealing with the spills, and meltdowns and tantrums whenever they happen....and yet they never really seem all that exhausted.. how do they do it?? i suppose only time will tell...a lot of time, just so we're clear :) }

i hope your day was as peaceful as mine was and i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love. xoxo

off to babysit again tomorrow, then to a g.u. friend reunion on thursday with the lovely carolyn and emma, and then off to davis friday for my sister lindsay's graduation. i can't believe it! oh how the time goes....

to be continued.