More peony love

Once again my sweet dad brought me flowers from his backyard. I can't get enough of these beautiful white peonies!

And my dad! I thought I heard someone on our porch the other night. I wasn't sure who was there and I was holding a sleeping baby. I didn't want our dogs to start barking and wake up the baby, but then all of a sudden the person was gone! I opened the front door and no one was there, but I could see in the light from the lamp post that someone had left this little bouquet on my porch.

What a sweet surprise!

Maybe it's because I just had a baby, a girl, that I'm feeling so sentimental lately? These lovely little gestures by people I love. They make life so sweet!

Fabulous friends

Have you had a friend that you just seemed to click with?

When I started this blog I wanted to chronicle the beauty and happiness around me. I wanted to try to document all there is to admire and be thankful for. I started thinking about all the physical things like art, plants, food, colors, decor....

I wanted to remind myself to try notice the happy things.

But I've also realized that all of these things wouldn't be fully appreciated without those we love.

I have a dear friend who gets this too. Someone who appreciates the little things -the beauty and joy all around us. She likes good food and wine, farmer's markets and little gardens, beautiful flowers and decor, quiet thoughtful moments spent with her child.

My friend recently sent me a most lovely and thoughtful Mother's Day/Birthday/Baby gift. One of the most beautiful and personal gifts I've received. A necklace from here, with my children's names engraved around a sweet mother-of-pearl.

I appreciate you dear friend! For all the links you send, for the quick, supportive phone calls, for inspiring me all the time, but most of all I appreciate you for being You!

(here she is!)

A Rainbow of Motivation

Now that I'm no longer eating for two; and after enjoying all the pasta dishes and freshly baked pastries that kind friends and family brought us to help celebrate our new baby - my husband and I are gearing up for a major food and meal evaluation and overhaul. We have come to the end of the road. Again.

We are going to try to cut out all refined carbs for at least two weeks and then slowly add some healthy complex carbs after that. We've done this before and always feel so much better after we get through those first couple days and weeks. If I can sort of detox from all the sugar then I don't seem to crave it as much after that.

Fortunately we are entering into a great time of the year to eat healthy food. The farmers markets are starting back up and although we didn't get a CSA subscription this year, there is tons of great local food around. In preparation for our big start early next week I have been stocking up on the fresh (not yet local) veggies. I love to snack on fresh peppers. Sometimes with hummus or Ranch, but always great straight out of the fridge. For some reason they always taste better if there is more than one color. And if I can snack on four colors in one snack, even better!

Hopefully, by being a bit more mindful about our food and once again giving a little thought to what we are eating will help us feel better and have a bit more energy and positive outlooks with our active family. The first couple weeks without all the sugar might bring a little crankiness, but hopefully be worth it.

A Beautiful Reminder

It might sound really silly, but the four seasons continue to amaze me. Every year I look around and think, "Wow, I forgot how amazing that is!" Sometimes it's the first snow of winter and sometimes it's the beauty of the tree lined streets of our neighborhood. It's one of the things I love about living in the midwest. We have four distinct seasons that bring such incredibly diverse awe around us. An incredible cycle of life indeed.

My dad recently brought me a bouquet from their backyard. He remarked that he didn't know why the previous owners of their recently aquired home had only planted white peonies. I laughed to myself and thought "Just look at these beauties!"

And once again I was surprised at the beauty that a new season had brought. It was like I had completely forgotten how amazing these flowers were. And a good reminder to find the beauty in the everyday and often overlooked.

A Spring Surprise of Happiness

When I started this little blog I had hoped to post at least once a month or so. I had hoped to chronicle the happy things around me that are often taken for granted. I didn't realize how hard it might be to post at least once a month even though I was noticing so much beauty around me. An active family with two young boys and two big dogs make things tough sometimes to steal a few private moments away to myself.

Well, things have gotten even more challenging as we recently were given an incredible spring surprise. A great reminder that beautiful things are indeed all around us. Our beautiful daughter was born April 12, 2010 at 4:31 p.m. The afternoon sun was streaming through the windows of my hospital room and suddenly and rather peacefully she arrived to change our family forever.

Needless to say, we are all in love with her!

I'm hoping to continue to chronicle the beauty and happiness around me, even if it's tricky to find the time. I continue to be inspired and often in awe of the wonderful things we are blessed with, especially the things that we don't plan for. Our daughter is a great example of this and I hope we can instill this appreciation in all three of our children.