love the sun.

ashley's baby shower.

The whole reason I went to California was for my sister Ashley's baby shower. She is having a little boy in April and I could not be more excited!! Saturday was her baby shower. It was super cute nautical themed. Curtis watched B so it was nice to relax and get to socialize. It was a fun time!

California.

I have been crazy m.i.a. this week. We headed to California early tuesday morning and I realized that I forgot the chord for my camera. So I've been trying to capture all of our fun moments on my phone. 

We've just been hanging out having lots and lots of warm sunny fun. 

Brooklynn loved this car at the mall. She did it like 3 times and was so mad when we ran out of quarters. It was pretty cute, I'm not going lie. :)

just a few photos.

the cleanse... finally.

Okay, I know a lot of you wanted to know the exact details of that cleanse that I did.

So here it is finally. Sorry that it took so long!

Routine: 8 days

Every morning when you wake up and at night before you go to bed you need to drink the "long life cocktail"

It's one ounce of real "just cranberry" brand cranberry juice in 8 ounce of water with 2 t of psyllium husk.

Walk 30 minutes morning and night every day

3 meals a day: 8am, 1pm, and 6pm *NO SNAKCS WHATSOEVER*

Don'ts: red meat, dairy, sugar, starchy vegetables(potatoes), wheat, starch, vinegar, or salt

Do: Veggies, fish, quinoa, oats, bulgar, long grain brown rice, chicken (hormone free), cold pressed olive oil, salt free spices. 

I'm going to give you one more recipe of this amazing squash chicken thing I made. Also, if you want some other salad or soup recipe ideas just email me and I'll send them right over! :) 

Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

- 3 1/2 cups chicken broth

- 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (optional for cleanse)

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

- 1 can (14 ounce) petite diced tomatoes

- 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa

- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

- 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions:

1. Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.

2. Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside. 

3. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.

4. Add chicken breasts, over and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.

5. Transfer the chicken to a place and allow to cool. Pour brother into a medium-sized bowl.

6. Return the saucepan to the stovetop and lower heat to medium, Add olive oil.

7. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to brown. 8 to 10 minutes.

8. Add minced garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring for 1 additional minute.

9. To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash, Stir to combine.

-10. in reserved chicken broth and quinoa. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.

11. Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork.

12. Stir the chicken and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.

13. Stir in parsley and serve.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

Unfortunately, my husband has to work today so i'll be spending the day with my other love.

This girl..

Love her so much!

Well, I hope you all have a day filled with love.

two years.

Wow, today Curtis and I have been married for two years. I can't believe it's been two years. The time has just flown by. These past two years have been the best two years of my life. 

I married my best friend and gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl.

Seriously, I could not ask for more.. This guy is seriously the best most hard working man ever! He is so smart and I would be lost without him.

My whole life I always wondered what my life would be like when I was married and having children, and you know what? It's much much better than I ever imagined! I am so blessed to be Curtis' wife and to be Brooklynn mommy. They bring me so much happiness I can't even explain it.

So, thank you to the love of my life for giving me the best two years of my life. I look forward to many many more.. like for the rest of our lives and all of eternity. 

Now, I haven't put many of our wedding photos on here so I figured today would be a good day for that.. It was fun to go through them. :)

Hope you enjoy.. 

this girl.

is such a happy little girl and i love her so much!!!

glow sticks.

Brooklynn already loves the bath, but I saw this awesome idea on pinterest and HAD to try it out! 

So tonight we bought some glow sticks and put them in the bath with the lights off.

She absolutely LOVED it!! She also loved playing with them after.

I would definitely recommend it! It was so much fun!

art.

Art is a beautiful thing.

In every shape or form.

Music, dancing, panting, photography, and so on.

Yesterday we went to Color Me Mine. My awesome future sister-in-law works there. We bought a plate for Brooklynn to paint.

She loved it. But I'm not going to lie.. Curtis and I enjoyed it more.

We had so much fun painting that little plate..

And Brooke enjoyed painting her mouth. haha

It was a great family activity and if you have one close to you I would suggest you go!

We will definitely be returning soon!

today.

Brooke loves a lot of things. 

But some of her FAVORITES are..

Her new baby from MiMi.

Her bottle.

Her blanket.

& her chair.

(did you notice she weighs 26.8 pounds! getting so big!)

oh just a little dance party..

this broke my heart..

This week we went to visit my grandma and grandpa who are in their 80's. My grandpa can no longer drive and it is getting harder and harder for him to walk. Even with a walker. My grandma is in a little bit of a better state but not much better. I love them both so much. My grandpa literally was a rocket scientist. Seriously so smart! I love talking to them so much. 

My grandma told me about something that happened to her that just broke my heart. She was at the grocery store alone because my grandpa can't make it there anymore. This takes a lot of her energy. While she wasn't looking someone stole her wallet right out of her purse. She didn't even see them. When she got to the register to check out with all her groceries she realized it was gone. She thought she had left it at home. 

So she left all of her groceries at the store and went home. 

She later got a phone call that her card had been used at a shell station and at walmart. Luckily because for 40 years they've been going to the same gas station and shopping at the same store so the bank thought they would call and ask. 

They were able to get their money back but this story just makes me so sad. How on earth could someone steal a little old ladies wallet? I know there are really good people out there that are doing great things. But when my grandma told me about this is made me so sad.