around these parts…

…God continually reminds us of His glory & how very blessed we are that this is the view from our living room.

…these two continue to pal around & make each other’s day.

 

…mini pancakes aren’t just for special occasions.

 

…1/2 of the pictures on my camera & phone are of these two chubby little feet.

…a new restaurant is in town. hard cider, hot sandwiches,  & sweets… my kind of thing.

 

… it’s getting hot out & we’re spending more time outside!

 

…we finally tried new cupcakes

 

… & officially decided that no one does cupcakes like cupcrazed

 

…we made our usual stop by the waffle lab

 

…& tried a new flavor… peanut butter, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, raspberries & strawberries… truly sinful.

 

 

what have YOU been up to?!

reminders.

i saw a post over on a beautiful mess… (man is that place packed with fun) where they talked about reminder foods! i loved it, & it got me thinking about reminders...

 i have a crazy good memory. like elephant good. this serves us well around here because husband doesn’t. not only do i remember any and everything, but i also relate things to smells, songs, tastes, years, people, etc.

for instance… when chris wears a certain cologne, i’ll say “oooo, you smell like 2004” … he laughs, recalls that year & is like, oh my gosh you’re right, and weird. but he loves it.

anyhow. i LOVE memories & reminiscing. i myself, am made up of 75% nostalgia (the other 25% is probably peanut butter… or dessert, but we’ll just stick with peanut butter for now).

i love that cookie dough reminds me of my friend abby, and oreos remind me of emma. peanut butter is the common thread in my friendship with gaby, & cupcakes make me think of margaret.

i will never not think of the romeos when opening bottles with fizz. coke in a can takes me back to high school. brisk iced tea & kit kats were the main components of my diet during the ashtonkalachelseahillary days (i run the names into one, because we were pretty much never NOT together), vanilla sugar wafers remind me of visiting chris in college & well waffles... remind me of every other day for the past 3 years of our lives.

what about you? do you have any food triggers that remind you of something fun or wonderful? foods are fun. maybe next time we’ll do smells!

*sidenote, i realize it sounds like my diet only consists of foods that would lead me down a sure path towards obesity… however, i’d like to state that i do eat foods other than sugar & lots of fruits & veggies too! they just don’t remind me of anything… :)

eat. more. waffles.

sooooo.... i finally felt like an appropriate amount of time had passed since my last posting on waffles...
this doesn't mean we haven't had some...
sheesh.
you guys.
 i told you that the waffle lab being down the street was going to be a problem, and i. was. right.
so good.
NOT to mention, the weather has been super nice, & they are out like 4 days a week now! seriously... come to colorado right now & get one, you will not regret it. this time we tried 3 different kinds!
*Blue Sky Brunch, the perfect blend of breakfast & lunch... in your mouth.
*The Braffle... people... this sounded gross to me, but ended up being all of our favorite. SO stinkin' good. Bratwurst, sauerkraut, & your own choice of condiments + a waffle. who dang.
& i of course went sweet (per usual) & had a
*Maple Bacon with raspberries, yummmm.
Make sure you have a napkin for your keyboard as you look at the following drool worthy photos.

anyhow! i realize i'm posting about waffles... again.
i guess they are just THAT good, & not much else is going on around here...  just the usual mommy-ing, housewifery, & spending time with fam.
... but spring is here, it's birthday season, & life is about to get a lot more eventful!
happy monday!

the waffle lab & other thoughts on a thursday.

happy cloudy (around here) thursday to you!
you guys... last night i survived my first outing without Abel.
for the past 8 weeks(tomorrow, *tears*) he has been by my side 24/7, so needless to say it was tough to leave him. there may have been a few tears & i may have texted my sister no more than 5 minutes after we left the house, but i made it. i honestly do not know how chris can leave him when he goes to work during the week. we love him so much! i had a good time with husband & the people we met up with, but if nights without him could be limited to like once a year, i'd be okay with that! this little family of three likes to stick together :)
on a different note... st. patty's day brought out the food trucks that have been in hiding during these cold months! i was beyond excited when we pulled up and saw The Waffle Lab up & running! you know... with our love for waffles & all. we went all deluxe & ordered the strawberry, banana, nutella ones (the european).... NOT SORRY. this truck being less than five minutes from our house starting april first could be a reeeeal problem.
seriously.

breakfast people.

we are breakfast people.

breakfast in the morning, breakfast for dinner, no special occasion needed…

breakfast people.

our first week home with abel, we wanted to make sure he knew how important breakfast was, so we enjoyed breakfasts of all kinds. peanut butter & chocolate chip pancakes, sausage & egg scrambles, french toast, and the usual staple… cereal (of all kinds).

breakfast, i love you. thanks for being awesome.

ps guys… remember this sad post? well guess what?!

hooray!! we now have the pro-er than pro, waffle maker. it makes TWO waffles at a time! what? two waffles at a time? yep, two waffles at a time. thank you schmeeckles for our housewarming gift! we love it, and YOU!

cheers to breakfast!

death of a waffle maker.

saddest. day. ever.

our waffle maker was our first casualty in our move. *crying*

a waffle maker was at the top of my list of “wants” for wedding gifts. so for christmas the year we were engaged, husband’s mom got us the super deluxe, hotel status, tells you when it’s finished, waring pro, king of kings waffle maker.

WE HAVE LOVED THE HECK OUT OF IT.

we are waffle people. chocolate chip, cinnamon sugar, vanilla, strawberry, you name it kind of waffle people.

saddest. day. ever.

our beloved waffle maker

december 2009-january 2013

my weekend with brianna.

happy monday! as mentioned in my previous post, my cousin was here this past weekend for a visit! it was WONDERFUL to say the least! SO much to catch up on. We explored a little, ate a lot, but mostly just talked & talked & talked. my heart feels full. i love her with all my heart. here are a few pics from our weekend!

cabo fish taco... a first time for both of us!

waffles&espresso... although it's real name is Cast Iron Waffles ... ALSO a first time for both of us and a place i would DEFINITELY recommend going if you are ever in Charlotte. The frozen chai tea was SO delicious, and the pictures of waffles below can speak for themselves.

 

a movie date. the 5 year engagement. i'm a 'see it for yourself' type of person, so I won't push my opinion too hard. we liked it. funny & cute. but more of a rental if you ask me. LOVED the coca-cola slushie we shared though!

...then we came home and cooked! coconut chicken with mango salsa, rice, & brussel sprouts. mmmmmmm.

i LOVED every minute with my cousin :) such a wonderful trip. DEFINITELY won't be letting TWO years pass before i see her again!! love you bri!

 

xoxo

a glimpse into our weekend.

well hey!

we had some fun around here this past weekend. spent time with friends, & ate... alot, which always makes for a good time in my book. anywayyy... mark's girlfriend emma was in town and it was SO great getting to know and spend time with her! she, like me, comes from a family of 5 kids, which now means TWO of my friends (abby also :)) know how AWESOME it is to be part of a huge family. && did i mention that we LOVE her?? well, we do. good job mark.

 lovelovelove.

we had a triple date night with our favorite romeo's, which turned out to be their LAST night as just the two of them, because they had their baby the next day!!! woohoo!! aaaand we got coldstone, deeeelish. i could seriously have ice cream every night of my liiife.

oh, and then the next day we ate some more hahaha! i am not ashamed :) we made a delicious breakfast & i got a cuuuute picture of the lovebirds so that we could make mark's presence known in our house ha! (he is currently our roomie, so it's only fair to add him into the mix of photos up around the house :))

and as usual, we had some cuuuute puppies hanging around.

&& then emma treated us to her delicious "smash burgers" they were SO good, and i tried a pinterest recipe for "smashed potatos" found HERE.

 aaaaand i love this picture because i feel like it's a smiley face :)

now we're back to monday & i officially LOVE my husband more than i even thought i could. why you ask? no reason. i just do. he is such an incredible man and after 8 years of "dating" -- almost two of those being married-- i still look at him & think, "wow, is he seriously mine?" eeeeep! thank you, thank you Lord for blessing me with him. i am the luckiest girl in the world.

(oh, and yes i am retainer face in this picture. nbd.)

happy monday!