Link Love

I actually made it to the computer a little this week. In the midst of pain and hurt, I'm thankful for the encouragement and smiles and good that surround us. Here's some smiles from my week (or so).


My friend Alison shared this article on Facebook. Joy or "Just Wait" when it comes to parenting. I had read the original article before but it's always a great reminder. I love the author's perspective.

Teaching in a college town, we would often have college students needing to present a project and would ask for a group of students for their presentation. On more than one occasion, we had young women teaching young teens about liking themselves. Dove has been running a 'Real Beauty' campaign for the last decade and a lot of times the college students would use parts of the campaign in their lessons. This ad has been making the rounds on social media. The photographer in me likes the photoshop one too.

And to be fair to the guys... here is their version. ;)


A Facebook friend posted part of this poem this week as a status update. I'm not pregnant but I still loved it.  -- 'There's no hurry. We're relaxing in this golden pregnant time, in this pause which is just hers and mine.' --


I have a friend obsessed with Michael Buble´. I kind of am too after seeing this video. Maybe I'll be the crazy mom doing that for B someday (though judging by his mom's musical talent, not likely)......

.....and in the meantime, this video of the two year old bandit is a little more like the B we know. ;)


I loved this article from a recovering Sanctimommy. I could totally relate. I've used social media and the Hickstionary to defend my parenting choices or to make me sound like a better mom to all the ones with judgey eyes. Or worse- sometimes I'll read status updates/blog posts about parenting choices and the mom with the background in child development in me wants to write a counter-post and I become the judgey mom. Ouch.


Off to date night.... on the couch... in sweatpants. Cheers. ;)

links and stuff

We're home! R sold his body (he donated plasma!) so we could take a little spring break. We had a great time at his sis' house in sunny AZ! (More on that to come I'm sure!)

Between traveling and playing catch up at work, I haven't done much of anything else this week. I barely read any blogs (so if you blogged something good or read something awesome, PLEASE let me know!) so I don't have a lot of links to share but I did snag some that other people shared with me. Thanks guys. :)


Up first- this post about sharing was neat. I like real world application and it makes me happy to see moms do it. I use a lot of real world application in the classroom and often had people tell me I would be 'more nurturing' once I was a mom. I could really blog about that all day but I don't think helping your kids be prepared for the real world means you aren't nurturing. If anything, I think it makes you more of a nurturer. Unless you confuse coddling with nurturing. In that case you just need a vocab lesson. ;)

I liked this letter to young moms because sometimes it's nice to hear I'm not a total screw up. ;)

I liked Kels' post about life post baby's first year. I too remember feeling a sense of relief when B turned one. (Mixed in with a sense of happiness, sadness, disbelief, excitement for the future, aw, etc, etc. Okay so I was an emotional mess when he turned one!) ;)

A few weeks or so ago I was thinking about blogging a list of random things you don't know about me and then all of a sudden a bunch of other bloggers started doing the same thing! That totally happens to me all the time and I have no idea how! But I forgot all my random things I was going to share. One of them was that even though I've moved 16 times in my life, I attended the same school from preK to senior year of high school. I'm sure the other ones were much cooler. ;)

And that's all I've got for today. Off to unpack. Or maybe just to go live out of suitcases for a week. ;) Hope it's warmer wherever you are at today than it is here! Brrrrrrr.......

Favorite Finds

What an emotional week last week was! With some big highs and some low lows, I'm feeling emotionally drained today. That paired with the fact that a lot of the highs and lows aren't blog ready to share about, I thought I'd instead share more of my favorite finds from the interwebs this week.... enjoy.


Okay so this shot wasn't found on the interwebs but I did find it while I was digging through pictures for B's album last week. Just pure awesome. :)

If you're in the middle of waiting, ever had to wait, or getting ready to wait (that should cover about all of us?),you might enjoy this devotional about the wait.


I've always wanted to adopt. I just have always thought I would. But lately there's a lot of reasons for us not to and I was feeling really guilty about that. This post makes me feel better and convicts me all at the same time. (Now what am I going to do about it??)

I enjoyed this article and this article about parenting. One thing I've been practicing for awhile now is trying not to say 'Good job' to B. It's so much harder than it sounds and I catch myself saying 'Good job!' a lot.


I could totally relate to this feeling:

I nodded in agreement with this:

I spent an hour reading about this family and catching up on their dateline then Katie story. Inconceivable indeed.


I liked this honest post about marriage.

Speaking of marriage, are any of my central Iowa friends going to this conference this weekend?


I WANT this sweatshirt for B... and me too... do they make it in my size??

I won a giveaway on Des Moines Moms Blog. I never win anything so that was awesome. (And no, we aren't expecting so I'll be able to gift this to one of the many babies in our life. :)  B's guitar crinkie is from that same shop and he loved it... until it went through the dryer... So whoever gets it, be sure not to put it through the dryer! :) Also, if you want to buy your own, there's a 15% discount until March 31st.


Okay back to work I go. I just have about 30 more pictures and 15 more emails to get caught up on before this week's sessions start. So I'm not too far behind yet this week. :)

Saturday Morning Surfing

Are you surfing the web on a relaxing Saturday morning?

What? No one uses the phrase, "surfing the web" anymore?

My badness.*




I feel like I used every last second of my 'me' time on the interwebs this week. Here's some of my favorite finds:


I love this list of things Mary plans to do in her 30s.

I'm stealing her cell phone penalty box idea. Especially after the amount of time I spent on the webs this week. And after reading this post about getting off the dang phone and making more time for play. Convicted.


I don't remember how but I recently discovered the Rage Against the Minivan blog and I love her FAQ and Best Of pages. Funny stuff.


I'm currently trying to come up with a hack for this adorably happy cake topper. It'd be the perfect addition to my party supplies but you know I'm not shelling out $35 for it. It's SO cute though, right?!

This tulle skirt is also on my fictitious wish list. It looks so dreamy but I imagine I would look like a little girl playing dress up in it? Thinking someone else needs to get the outfit then let me take their pictures in it. Maybe in the mountains (Malory!) or on a horse (Jill!)???  :)

I think I found the next paint color for my kitchen chairs. And pantry door. Please advise.

This birth story was sweet. The first post I read of hers was the birth story of her second daughter. Tears.

Which made me want to revisit B's birth story and birth slideshow. Tears again.


What were your favorite finds on the webs this week? OH and have you done your RAK yet? I need to go do mine right now! I am signing off the computer until Monday (maybe?).

Have a great weekend!




*Name that movie. (No really, please do because I cant think of it.)