Insta-Valentines.

As you can tell, I've gotten into a toolazytopickupmycameraandtakeapicture slump again.

So my Valentines Day consisted of phone pictures.

Thank goodness for iPhones and the exceptional quality camera it's got, not to mention all the fun photo editing apps.

The night before, after the kids had gone to bed, I was able to sit down and finish Gabes valentines for his class.

I was SO excited with the results, I'm thinking this might be an every year thing {until he's too old}.

The next morning, my day started out just like any other day... Running errands with the kids.

I was SO excited about going out later that evening, that I nearly forgot Gabe had guitar lessons!

Thankfully we made it in time... Phew!

After finally coming home, hubby came in from work and brought me these beauties.

I honestly would MUCH rather have tulips than roses.

Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, but SO over rated!!!

Actually, I prefer tulips so much so, that I bought my mommy some as well.

And secretly dropped them off at her work.

But the one person who does get a single, long stem rose EVERY year on this special day, is this little girl.

Daddy's one and only Princess.

She holds a special place in his heart.

But the best gifts hubby and I received looked something like this...

And this...

I just love how expressively Gabe writes, he is definitely creative with his words.

And because I've got an awesome sister in law, while she stayed home with my 4, well behaved children, Vasily and I ended the evening by going out to watch this movie.

Oh man it was good.

It was REALLY good. Did I mention it was GOOD???

In fact it was SO good that on the way to the car, hubby says "That was actually a really good movie, I liked it."

You heard it first. My hubby liked a chick flick.

I should probably just end the post right here, call it a day and not push my luck, haha!

But the most important thing is not what kind of flowers you get, what kind of gift you got, who gave it to you, how expensive it was, etc.

The most important thing is that God loves us SO much, that He sent his one and only son to die for us, so that in return, we could love one another.

Can I get an AMEN???

Okay. I'm done :)

Hope your day was as fabulous as mine!

Insta-life.

I haven't done an "Insta" post for a while, so my pictures have accumulated.

My camera has been a rollin' away!

Last Saturday, a dear friend and I FINALLY made the time to go out.

She and I, when together, could talk night and day, so we decided to make brunch an all day event.

After having some yummy food, we headed North, to the shopping mall.

Because hubby and I are going on a cruise in a couple of weeks, I needed some summer attire, so here I am sporting a pretty hat.

After shopping, we needed to re-energize, and what better way to do it than with dippin' dots, right???

Yum.

While enjoying the ice cream, Isabelle started complaining that her ear hurt, so back home we went.

I've been on a fresh flower high lately, so that prompted some pretty purchases.

Like this Orchid.

And these mini, pink roses.

I just LOVE fresh flowers around the house.

I also love a healthy snack out of my pretty apothecary jars.

I used to keep candy in there for the kids, but swapped it out and I'm amazed at how much they LOVE any sort of nut.

I'm also lovin' my recent Ikea finds.

I love, love, LOVE polka dots and stripes... Especially together {Note: those are our old couches}.

In fact, I love them so much, I wore them on my legs, hee hee.

Here are some other fun things I randomly got after driving an hour South to look at couches, and not finding anything.

Instead of wasting the day, turning around and going back home, Charlie and I walked around downtown and I gotta say, it was gorgeous.

Old buildings, darling little shops full of character, and then a gelato cafe.

May I add that this is White chocolate raspberry gelato???

Yeah.

I'm guessing I was probably making some funny noises while eating this delicious {and I'm sure fattening} creamy goodness.

It was beyond heavenly.

Another little shop with the CUTEST leather wallets.

And up North, back at Bridgeport village, Charlie and I spent an afternoon at this beautiful place.

Can you guess where it's at?

Yes, it is Z Gallerie.

It is beyond beautiful in there.

Every little thing caught my eye.

And another little shop that caught my eye was this pretty place.

Which then led to this pretty purchase.

I'm not a big bracelet person, but I fell in love with this one considering it actually fit my bony little wrist.

Now, to some food.

This is how I started out my morning a couple of Saturdays ago.

I keep sayin' it, but I'll say it again... My hubby is amazing. Period.

This deep fried cod we had not long ago, is the best I've had ANYWHERE.

It is not comparable to any restaurant. No joke.

Another yummy and healthy food I've been obsessing over is this delicious salad.

I had it at a friends house and haven't been able to stop eating it.

It's got tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, sunflower kernals, romaine lettuce and raspberry vinegrette to top it off. So good.

And this yummy drink I have not been able to put down, either!

I've been buying the huge cases at Costco, and honestly, they don't last me very long... I'm hooked!

Some other fun things I've been up to are...

Bowling with the worship team.

Movie night with some girlfriends...

Playdate with the kids...

And finding a cute pair of summer shoes is always a plus too...

And of course pretty nails...

In all sorts of fun colors.

And who can resist a fun pair of sun glasses on a sunny day?

I know I can't!

And this right here, folks, is how every morning is started.

So for those who ever thought I had perfect skin, think again.

Phew... Hope you enjoyed these!

Alright, I'm thinking I really need to get out of my pajama pants, so off I go!

Have a great the rest of the week :)

A big purchase.

I know, I promised I would write more often and instead I got a little lazy and didn't post for a few weeks... Tis' life.

But you can't blame me, cause instead of sitting home all day in my pajamas, I was actually leaving the house almost everyday to go do things with my children, run errands, do some shopping and make a big purchase that I am excited about.

After 10yrs of owning our couches, they most definitely have seen their better days.

There have been juice spills, paint stains, poop and pee, and anything else you can think of with 4 kids, on those couches.

Not to mention the love seat is literally falling apart {no joke}.

So hubs and I decided it was time to purchase a new set.

I was excited... The hubs, not so much.

He's fallin' IN love with how comfortable our couches are and I've fallin' OUT of love with how ugly and outdated they are.

So after traveling to 4 different cities in our surrounding area, we found our couches none other than right where we live... 15 minutes from our house.

But before I show you our final purchase, here are a few that were possibilities.

I wanted something with modern and traditional qualities, and because I am SO picky, it took me about a month of traveling back and forth to find exactly what I wanted.

These couches were okay, but I wasn't crazy about them, and for a big purchase like this, I needed to be completely in love with them.

After driving to a couple of places, and not finding anything even close to what we wanted, I went searching online.

And I fell in love with these.

I was 99% sure this was gonna be our purchase, but decided that I would drive around to a few more place JUST in case I found something else.

And the idea of purchasing online and not being able to see them, sit on them, feel the fabric, kinda turned me off as well.

But still, nothing was catching my eye, and some of the horrible service I was getting was starting to really play it's part.

Not to mention, dragging along 3 kids wasn't making things easier either.

So coming home one day, being frustrated beyond means, I went back online and started the search all over.

And stumbled upon these...

I absolutely loved the nail heads, the non-traditional arms and the color was right up my alley.

I know I'm crazy {or so I've heard} for wanting cream couches with 4 little kids, but I decided I wasn't gonna spend a lot of money on something I wasn't COMPLETELY in love with, and have to live with them for another 10 yrs!!!

So after calling the store that carried them, that is 4 hrs away from my house, the kind lady tells me that that there were not one, but TWO stores in my area that carried them!!!

I immediately call the store and the next morning was on my way there.

I had butterflies in my stomach the entire time.

I was so excited.

I walk in the store, and there they were, sitting right there in their perfection.

I stood for about a minute, sat on them, snapped a picture of them on my phone to send to the hubby and then told the kind sales person I wanted them.

That's it. That's how it happened.

So mid March, right after we come back from this lovely place...

We will have our couches delivered right to our front door :)

I am beyond thrilled.

I will most definitely snap some pretty pictures when they arrive and share with all of you!!!

Hope everyone is having a special and romantic Valentines!!!

Insta-life.

Yep... It's time for an Insta life post!

I'm trying to do it more often than not so I don't accumulate hundreds of pictures, cause those who know me, know that I LOVE taking pictures.

But that's not the problem, the problem is I have trouble letting go, or erasing them.

So sharing them, kind of helps with that.

Last week, this was our forecast.

For the most part, living in Oregon, we don't really believe it until we see it.

Well, we saw it.

We had so much fun playing in it... Well, the kids did. I stayed inside and watched them from the window.

We also had sick kids last week {and today}, so that involved fun projects at home.

It also involved my first trip to this lovely place.

Yep, my first time.

I think I walked around for about an hour until I finally decided I needed to get what I originally came there for.

Another trip that's always fun, is the one that involves buying fun new colors for my nails.

That's what my nails look like when I'm trying to pick out a color.

And this is what they look like when they're all done.

Yes, I finally braved the pure, white polish.

And it is fun.

But I do love my classic, Nude.

I also love my new shades that I got in the mail.

And also my hubbys Zuppa Toscana.

He's perfected it to the point that last time I went to Olive Garden, I was disappointed.

It's true. He's talented.

I also recently fell in love with this piece of heaven.

Salted caramel squares from Starbucks.

These are the death of me. No joke.

Another fun thing I tried was adding sunflower seeds into my oreo mint ice cream.

Trust me, I know, it sounds disgusting, but surprisingly really good!

Gave it a really yummy crunch and distinctive taste.

Not something I usually go for, but I liked it.

Alright, not much exciting stuff goin' on around here, except pukey kids.

Poor Gabe is missing his 2nd guitar lesson.

I'm hoping this goes away fast.

Stay healthy and happy Tuesday!