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Favorites to Follow

Most people who know me personally know how much I love to read blogs. I don't know how many times I've told someone about an idea I got from this blog or that blog, or said, "I read on a blog...." or something of that nature. So today, I thought I'd do a Favorites to Follow and share some of my fav bloggers with you. I'll definitely have to do more of these in the future because there are way too many to fit into one post!


1 | Garvin & Co.

Jessica is the first blogger I ever followed. I first started reading when she blogged at Little Baby Garvin back in 2012. Her first daughter, Harper, was only a few months old and I loved the way she documented Harper's growth on her chalkboard. (Totally the inspiration for me doing this with Holden, except my hand-lettering is not chalkboard-worthy, so I'm grateful for Photoshop for that!) Jessica is super creative and has an amazing knack for design. I especially love her house and how crisp white and clean everything is. Her IG feed is major #goals. She's actually where I got the idea to start my own blog in the first place. Well, I think my girl crush is a little obvious now, so you should just check her out for yourself!


2 | Living in Yellow

I'm not quite sure when I started following Erin, but apparently I'd been following her for a while because I just remember scrolling through my IG one day and seeing that she was at a local restaurant, which I thought was odd since I live in a pretty small town. So I stalked her blog to see where she was from and that's when I realized she was local. I sort of got really excited because I thought blogging was just some nerdy thing that I was into that people around here didn't really know about. A few months later, I was lucky enough to meet her and, let me tell you, she is pretty amazing online but even more amazing in person. Reading her blog is what has helped me to find my voice in blogging. She's so real and not scared to say anything. Aside from all of that, she's sort of become a fashion icon and is actually going to be launching a line with Gibson at Nordie's soon!


3 | Stylin By Aylin

I just started following Aylin last year, but her style is to die for. I would say she's my biggest inspiration when it comes to fashion. The neutral colors, lots of Free People, lots of oversized pieces. I don't know that she's ever posted an outfit I didn't love. I mostly stalk her IG feed, but her blog has lots of helpful tips as well.


4 | Lynzy & Co.

Lynzy is another blogger I just started following last year. I love watching her Instastories, but her blog is great as well. She always shares cute outfits, advice on motherhood, and keeps it 100% real. Of all the bloggers I follow, she's probably the one I feel like I can relate to the most!

Well, there you have it. Four amazing ladies to follow who I think will add a little extra to your life! I'd love to hear what blogs you read to get inspired!

Holden | 8 Months, Aurora | 90 Months

Peep Holden's duds here.

So honestly, I don't have much to report on our little man this month. No news is good news, right? He's been doing so great! He had a pretty bad cold at the beginning of the month. And he's been coughing a little this week, but he already seems to be doing better today. We have an appointment in February to determine if he'll need tubes put in his ears, which they would do when he has his palate surgery. We're actually hoping they will put the tubes in, as this will help with his drainage. We'll also have some genetics testing done when we go down in February as well. One thing the genetics testing will tell us is if he has Stickler's Syndrome. About 50 percent of PRS babies have it and it can vary as far as severity, but can effect things like his hearing and vision down the road. Prayer request for all you prayer warriors out there that he doesn't have this! Holden currently has a tentative date of April 5th for his palate repair. It's already scheduled with his plastic surgeon, but will be confirmed once we know if he'll have tubes and if the ENT doctor is available the same date. Praying this date works out, because otherwise his plastic surgeon isn't available until May 10th, which is 7 days before his first birthday and he'll likely still be in a lot of pain at that point. I'll be sure to update once I know more! 

As for my other favorite child, Aurora's Father/Daughter Dance was last Friday night. The past two years I've gone and helped out, but this year I stayed home with Holden. I always have so much fun spending an evening during the week, just Aurora & I, going to pick out her dress and spending some quality time together. I have to tell you, though, the past two times I've gone shopping with this little lady have really put things into perspective for me. She is growing up so fast right before my very eyes! I seriously feel like I'm going along with her, as opposed to taking her there, if that makes sense. I enjoy my time alone with her so much! So we get to spend some QT together picking out her outfit, and then she and Jose spend some QT together at the dance. This year, she decided to go rocker chick on me. :)
In other Aurora news... she had her first audition over the weekend and landed her first part! She'll be performing in Premier Arts' youth production of Bye Bye Birdie in March! Considering I laid on the whole "It's only your first audition, so if you don't get a part, that's okay!" pretty strong, she was so excited! I'm so happy for her and can't wait to see her perform!

Well, I think that about wraps things up for now. Until next time, friends!

Three Cute Coats

I don't know about you, but for me, once Christmas is over I'm ready to be done with the snow and the cold weather and jump right into spring. However, northern Indiana likes to drag it out for as long as it possibly can, so we're looking at below 50 degree temps for probably another month at least. Sorry, Hoosiers, I'm just being honest. The one advantage to this is when I'm trying to justify buying another winter coat, I can at least say I'll get a good 4-ish months out of it. So last weekend I somehow managed to talk my pops into braving the 17 degrees with me to take some pictures of my favorite winter coats. My first blog photo shoot with my real, non-iPhone camera! Thanks, Dad! By the way, photo shoot lesson #1: Always wear big sunnies when shooting outside. Having a stupid look on your face will ruin 80% of your pictures! (Ex. See pix for coat #3.) Let's get started now, shall we?

Coat #1. You know your husband loves you when he gives you the gift of warmth for Christmas. Jose got me this amazing coat from American Eagle and I'm so in love with it!


Coat #2. I got this coat during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (hashtagnsale), so I had to wait a while to wear it, but it did not disappoint! It's actually not that thick, but it's somehow still super warm!

I love these shoes so much! I feel like everyone and their brother has these, but they're so light-weight and comfortable. If you haven't snagged you a pair yet, you definitely should!


Coat #3. I got this grey Vince Camuto coat while we were on vacation in Texas a few years ago... in September. Don't worry, I linked similar ones below! I'm pretty sure people thought I was nuts because it was still hotter than heck down there, but I'm so glad I did. This has been my absolute favorite coat for so long. It's great for work, but also looks cute with some ripped jeans and Nikes on the weekends.


So there you have it, friends, a coat for every occasion! We're looking forward to warmer temps in the coming weeks, and eventually a post on summer dresses, or something of that nature! :)

Happy New Year!

We’re finally getting back into our normal routine around here and, as excited as I am to start a new year and have a fresh start and do better at all the things… Holden has his palate repair surgery this spring so my main goal for 2018 is to freaking survive! So, if I’m being honest, I’m really not trying to stress myself out with too many other things right now. Talk to me again around, say, June. :) 

That being said, there are a few things I’m trying to keep top of mind to just do better at…

Daily devotionals. Eat better. Drink more water. Work out more. Minimize the clutter in our house, by keeping up on at least the dishes and laundry. Take Zoey to the dog park more. Write out a budget each month—and stick to it. Cook more meals at home (but meals that don't take forever). Limit screen time. Regular, quality, one-on-one time with each of my loves. Maybe read some books this year? Attend church more. Survive Holden’s surgery. Oh. And finish the original 90210. In case you couldn’t tell, things are pretty much falling apart around here and I just want to reel it all back in this year.

Also, I have some pretty big plans on the blogging front—a new name, a new website (My own dot com!), and a few other things—but I’m planning on taking it slow until after Holden’s surgery. So stay tuned!


Here’s to 2018 and rolling with whatever it decides to bring us! Happy New Year, friends! Xo.