minimalism

Recently, I've stumbled into the world of minimalism. 

I've researched, read blog after blog, and I'm so drawn to the idea of "getting rid of the unnecessary to focus on the important."
I've come to learn that it's deeper than the "less is more" mentality.

It started with my closet, which was once overflowing but now holds 5 shirts, 5 dresses, and a few sweaters. 

Brandon and I have spent the last few nights purging our bedroom.

(The place the mismatched furniture calls home.)

The first night, we put our spring board and mattress on the floor.

Removing the massive bed frame, a book case, and small drawer, I could breathe a little better.

Our curtains, thick and dark, came down and were replaced with airy, flowing curtains.

This morning, I woke up with the sunlight in my room, refreshed and calm.

I don't know how far this journey will take me, but I feel it will overflow into the living room, the kitchen, and even my lifestyle.

How many unnecessary things fill my mind and keep me distracted from what's important?

I'll likely continue to journal this transformation, feel free to join me.

joy filled friday

 1 tummy time profiles (those cheeks! those lips! that nose!) 2 baby wearing (sollybaby all the way!) 

3 clean bottles (such an ocd satisfaction) 4 getting healthy and losing the baby weight/pre baby weight (35 pounds down!) 5 full nights of sleep (8pm-6am. sweet, precious, blessed child of mine!) 6 kroger brand kettle chips (ob-sessed.) 7 gel manicures 8 decorating/repainting everything white 9 emmerson's getting her first cousin (come on, Everly!) 10 brother's getting married (pretty sure I'm more excited for this than I was for my own wedding!)

Happy weekend, y'all!

my happy place

At least once a day,

I get to spend some time in my happy place.

A place where nothing else matters

and time slows down.

My baby girl in my arms.

Unable to fight sleep

because she feels safe and comfortable there.

Sock monkey close by, of course.

Tiny fingers on my chest, 

holding on to my necklace.

Little breaths,

in and out.

Pacifier just a-going.

In our comfiest pajamas,

 wrapped in our sunniest blanket.

My happy place.

saturday

Today, 

we put on nice clothes,

did our hair,

(mama even did her face)

and we got OUT of the house!

It was a beautifully sunny day

after 2 days of rain,

so we decided to take some family pictures.

Emmerson is a mostly cheerful little girl, 

but the sun was a little bright

and she was ready for her nap.

Good to see you, Saturday!

Come again real soon.

emmerson's birth story

I spent 4.5 hours (collectively) trying to write out Emmerson's birth story here on my little blog.

I kept typing and deleting.

Typing and deleting.

She turned 3 months old today and already her first few moments are getting foggy in my mind.

That's one thing I'm terrified of,

forgetting the tiny details.

Thankfully, I'm a writer and I've been journaling in her book ever since she was born.

But I love reading birth stories,

and I love her birth story so much, 

I thought it'd be easy to type it out.

Wrong.

Maybe it's my allergy medicine messing with my mind,

or maybe it's the lack of sleep,

but I just couldn't do her story justice.

So, I thought I'd share it through pictures.

My mom and Husband were able to take these and I cherish them so much.

Emmerson's birth story can only be described like this:

It was a beautiful, intimate, overwhelming experience

and I can't look at these photos without feeling nostalgic for those first few moments 

with my new family of three.

disposable camera love

I love taking pictures.

(I can hear the sarcastic "NO! Really?!" From those that know me best.)

So when I found a disposable camera last summer,

I was all about it!

I loved carrying it around in my purse

but I was bad about forgetting it was there,

so it took about 4 months to use up 30 pictures.

It was basically Christmas when I got the film back.

I had no clue what I'd find!

Unfortunately, I think the film was expired and the flash didn't work,

so not all of them came out.

But these 4 came out perfectly.

And I love them.

It may seem like random shots to the untrained eye.

But to me, it's where my story and Brandon's story finally collided.

That school?

That's where I met and (slowly) fell in love with the uber handsome, funny, cool guy.

I believe the term was "Mr. BCF."

(insert wink face, and husband rolling his eyes.)

Oh man, did I break some hearts by taking him off the market!

That old country road?

That's where Brandon took me for our first one-on-one "date."

I was terrified he was going to make me go bike riding (his favorite.)

But, he convinced me to get in the car and we spent the afternoon walking and talking.

We told our stories and I secretly fell in love.

That Mexican restaurant?

That's where we spent 80% of our time.

The food was good, the waiter's knew us by name, and it was easy on college student's wallets.

Many deep talks and happy dates happened at that table in the corner.

When Brandon was given the choice between a church in TX and a church in TN,

that's where we went to write out our pros and cons.

(Guess which one we chose?)

RIP Tampicos.

You'll be in our hearts forever.

That house?

That's where we moved for the 3rd time.

After 3 years of living in place that stripped us completely,

this was our place of refuge.

We were able to breathe and heal and start over.

It doesn't look like much,

(and the new occupants made it look worse,)

but I'll always love that magenta carpeted house.

Thanks Kodak, for letting me capture these happy places and hold on to them forever.