Wordless Wednesday (Christmas Movie Night)

It's getting cozy in this Little Life!

Breezy Family Getaway-Minneapolis, MN

Most people wouldn't think of Minneapolis in December as a fun weekend getaway. Most would prefer a warm destination, something with a beach, or at least some sun. But not the Breezies!! We have been dreaming for four years of going to the Holidazzle parade in Minneapolis.

One day back in October I was randomly searching trips on Expedia (which is a regular hobby of mine) and I found a great travel deal! We paid $350 for two round trip flights and two nights hotel. I as so sir it as a mistake that I begged hubby to book it with me before they fixed the error. We got it booked and we looked forward to the tip for weeks!!

This past weekend we finally went!! I didn't have a set plan, because 1)that's ridiculous with a one year old baby and 2)I was so ready to just relax and let go of control. It ends up being a blast! I had a few random ideas that I had found on Pinterest and we came up with some things last minute just because.

Friday we got up at 3 am (what you have to do for cheap flights anymore) and were in Minneapolis by mid morning. We first went to the downtown Macy's for the Santa Land display and it was so cool!!

Jaxon loved the Santa Land, with all the movie displays and lights and music. He did not, however, love Santa. It wasn't bad, but he wouldn't tolerate it very long and looked very unsure of the strange man! So funny!

After that we went and spent the evening in the mall of America. We did some fun shopping but mostly just walked around and hung out. 

Saturday we woke up early (thanks Jax) and took a drive to the Wisconsin border. Jaxon has now been in nine states, I believe, and has photo proof of eight state signs. 

Then we headed to Como Park zoo and conservatory. This was a location I found on Pinterest and am so happy that I did! It was free and was so beautiful! We loved walking around the gardens inside and then we saw a few animals outside while Jaxon napped all warm under blankets in the stroller. The conservatory with the poinsettias was absolute breath taking!! I was absolutely determined to get s photo of the room without anyone walking through. For this I had to wait 40 minutes, but it was so worth the result!!

Saturday night was a bit of a struggle. It was getting very cold, and I was still fighting the flu, and we had a difficult time finding a restaurant with an open table and that allowed babies. We were s little surprised with how rude some of the waitresses and hostesses were downtown. We stopped and regrouped in a little coffee shop and I loved the hot chocolate! We walked through rice park before finally finding a restaurant closer to our hotel.

I was thrilled to go to bed early that night after supper. I was just exhausted and did not feel well. Sunday was spent relaxing at the hotel and doing some last minute Christmas shopping before flying home. On the flight back I think my boys were a bit worn out too!

So, I completely understand that this was not a dream trip for most people. But for us it was wonderful!! We spent time together, reconnecting and making memories. We did something that we have talked about for years. It was perfect.

Sometimes the small things make the biggest difference in this Little Life.

10 on Tuesday 11/25

Today I wanted to do the 10 on Tuesday a little different, and do it like a favorites list!  I have been working on ideas for my "Last Year in my 20s" album, and I want to mix in some of Becky Higgins' list cards. So, I thought I would combine all of these and make my first list for the album be a 10 on Tuesday Top Favorites right now!

And these are in order of most important in my life currently...
10. The holiday flavors of EOS lipbalms. Yes, I am still hopelessly addicted to anything Burt's Bees. But, that being said, the new flavors of EOS that I found at Target are delicious! Also, I have now officially accepted that I am in deed a goo-hoarder.

9. Sabra to go hummus packs. I have eaten one every.single.day for the last week! They are just so good! I love guilt-free snacks! (I can't, for the life of me, figure out why the photo is upside down?)

8. Old Navy clothes. Seems like that is all I am living in right now. I love that I can afford several different pieces at once, especially since all those burpees have paid off. I went from a size 16 to a size 4/6 and now I had to rebuild a wardrobe somehow!

7. My Passion Planner pages! I have been debating on whether or not I should go back to using a paper planner for a while. The thought of everything on the iphone or ipad is just so effortless and transportable. However, as things got crazy busy and my stress level sky-rocketed, using a paper planner really helped me keep perspective on life again. The Passion Planner has pages you can download and use for free by filling in the dates. It gives you space to plan each day, write the daily and weekly focus/goals, reflect on the positive things that happened that week, write your personal and work to do lists, and gives you space to take notes, doodle, journal or brainstorm. It's everything I could have asked for in one spot and I highly recommend it!

6. Signo pens by Uni-ball. I grabbed three of these pens while looking for a discbound notebook for my Passion Planner and these pens are the stuff! I know not everyone is a school supply nerd like me, and that's okay, but these pens make me so happy! They write like a nice gel pen would, without the spots where the gel doesn't flow well. They are so smooth...I could go on forever, but really, no one loves pens as much as me.

5.SNOW!! I am so excited for it to be snow season! I want to play in the snow, take photos in the snow, and travel to snowy places! We are headed to Minneapolis in two weeks and I can.not.wait!! Did I mention I love snow?

4. Boot socks! As if boots over pants and leggings wasn't already the cutest thing...I added ruffly boot socks to it!! It gives just a girly little touch, without being much effort at all! I even asked for two more pairs of cuffs for Christmas from Grace and Lace online!












3. Christmas. This isn't a favorite product or activity. But it is my favorite state of mind right now. It's probably crazy to call Christmas a state of mind, but I am totally trying to embrace the magic of the season without any of the stress. It is so easy to get caught up with family messes, money matters, or the general feeling of "is it just over yet?" about it all. But I truly love Christmas time and want to enjoy every magical, wonderfully moment I get with my boys. I can't wait to see how Jaxon stares at the Christmas tree or what he does with all the decorations soon to be around the house!












2. The Canon 40mm pancake lens. I don't have it yet, but should be here by tomorrow! I ordered this lens because while traveling and in the house, my 24-70 is just so heavy and sometimes I feel like it scares Jax away. Also, I don't want to carry my 50mm around every day, because it is my main portrait lens and I don't want anything to happen to it. So, I read about this 40mm pancake and am very excited to try it! For the price tag of $199, I figured it would be an awesome daily option that doesn't scare anyone away from my camera.

1. Still the Blendicano. I cannot start my day (or be very successful) without a coffee in the morning. I took the original recipe made by mshelll on instagram, took 2 shots of espresso away (because I just can't handle it) and BOOM the Breezy was born. Just kidding. But if you ask for that in my Starbucks they may know what to give you!

Things look like they are finally settling down for me, and I am excited to enjoy some time with my family over the holidays. It's all good in this Breezy Little Life.

Holy Ghost blog.

Well...a few months just blew by like a whirlwind and I was starting to think that my blog might go crawl into a corner and die a sad, lonely death since I've been neglecting it so much. 

But...here I am performing last chance CPR to try a save my newbie blogger behind. 

Here is how I have survived the last months...

Yep, there are two shots of espresso in that cup. YUMMY!!

As my first topic back I've really been wanting to write about the glorification of busy. Busy is a four letter word in my life-a word that I both hate to say and love oh-so-much at the same time. I am that type A, OCD, pinterest addicted girl trying to fill every second of every single day with a perfect project that proves how much I am worth to the world.

But really, in the end, who cares? 

Are my students really paying attention to whether or not every lesson ends with an exit slip? Is anyone really checking up on my goal progress at work? Will my mother and sisters in law run their fingers down the baseboards in my house to check for dust when they visit? Will any of my friends and family know if I didn't plan out their gifts before purchasing them? Will Jaxon care if I give him one cup of Mac and cheese instead of one cup of homegrown, hand canned green beans? Will the world stop revolving if I take Thursday off of work to be with my family?

In case you didn't hear the rhetorical tone in my voice, my answers are no. I just feel like we have come to a point in our society where the busy woman is a goddess. She carries a million bags, keeps a constantly growing to do list, has a color coded calendar on her iPhone to not miss one of the ten appointments she has that day. This woman lives on caffeine because she is non stop running, possibly frazzled, and trying to exceed everyone's expectations. 

I wanted to be that woman. Until I got to the point where my thoughts are frantic and scattered, I am unable to multitask successfully because i can't focus enough to actually accomplish one thing, I am tired, irritable, frustrated and wound way too tight. 

So, I am currently working on cutting back, getting back to priorities. And I strongly recommend anyone who is feeling worn too thin to do the same. Take a moment to write down what is most important to you right now and say NO to everything else. If you're like me, saying no feels terrible and is very hard, but it's necessary to get the right balance in life. 

Running myself ragged trying to accomplish 5,000 things in a day is not the point. Sitting on the floor and reading a book to my son is the point. Getting up early to double check my to do list is not the way to live every day. Spending ten extra minutes cuddling with my husband in the morning is the way to live every day. Trying to GSD from sun up to sun down is not what I want anymore. Taking a half hour to read or listen to music on the couch is what I want. Being a jack of all trades and a master of none is not who I want to be. A happy, balanced, focused woman is who I want to be. 

Here's me drinking more water and less caffeine. 

So, here is my goal for the rest of 2014 and the rest of my life: start saying no to limit the amount of things I try to accomplish. Stop glorifying busy and start glorifying the true priorities in my heart.

It's time to find the balance in this little life. 

Ten on Tuesday

1. It's technically the first day of Fall and I am so ready!! That means the weather will cool down and I love me some sweaters! It also means the colors will be changing!!

2. With the presence of Fall means some VERY big events are coming up!! I cannot believe that it will be Jaxon's first birthday soon! I'm not distraught over the passing of the time, just truly amazed at how quickly it flew by! This autumn will also be one of my closest friends' baby shower!

3. Speaking of baby shower...we are planning a children's book theme and I think it will be the cutest thing in the history of baby showers!! So excited!!

4. I am so proud to be part of the Fit Girl's Guide 28 day challenge! It's a clean eating and exercise challenge that comes from an e-book. It has it's own meal plan and workout plan and I am so excited to see my progress when the "after" pics are ready!

5. I don't ever like to toot my eon horn, but I am so incredibly proud of myself for all of the progress that I have made with my physical health! I've lost (never to be found again) 56 pounds since having Jaxon last November! More than that, however, is I think I am in better physical shape than I have been since my sophomore year in high school!! I feel great, being in control of my blood sugar and getting rid of my headaches!

6. It is Homecoming week at school and I feel like I am drowning...and it's only Tuesday!!! I am in survival mode until this Sunday...could everyone send a little positive thought my way, please?

7. It's really hard to think of ten things to write about!! 

8. Jaxon is almost walking and I AM very emotional about that!! I am so happy for him to reach the next milestone, but I am just so not ready to lose the last baby moments!! He is so much fun and so exhausting all at the same time, but some days I just miss my cuddly little newborn baby boy!

9. I am so frustrated that I got sick this week!! Getting a cold in the busiest week/month would be just my luck, right?? Rest, fluids, vitamin c and cough drops are my besties right now.

10. Everyone can make fun of me for this and that's fine, but I am absolutely loving the new Taylor Swift song "Shake It Off!" I love to listen to it in the morning to wake my behind up and it's a good workout song too!!  I just can't exist for it to be on Rhapsody so I don't have to play YouTube on my phone! 

Worst Mama Award.

It just happened.

One of the moments that all Moms dread.

That moment when you lose your cool and it's all out of your control.

I refuse to pretend like I have it all together. I am honest and I have seriously big moments of struggle. All the planets aligned just so and the day went downhill fast.

The biggest factors might be my hectic schedule and lack of restful sleep. I am exhausted. Mamas...I know you know what I mean. Not just tired, but physically depleted and unable to recover even though we keep pushing, keep running, and keep trying so incredibly hard.

On top of that, my hubby got called in to work because he is on call. The problem is, he was taking Bubba with him to hang out at the race track so that I could have the entire day to do things. Photo editing, lesson planning, project finishing, cleaning, etc.

So, when he called and said he was coming home to drop Bubba off and had to go downtown, my heart sank. Then I was stuck in a situation where I had five things started and the baby wanted attention so I threw my hands up in frustration knowing that nothing was getting done.

I felt this way too. Over it.

Then nap time came. And Bubba didn't want anything to do with it. He cried. And cried. And then cried some more. 

And then I lost it. I got so frustrated and was so angry. I was so mad that he wouldn't sleep so that I could get the million other things on the to do list done. I know he doesn't care about the list...but I care. It took a half hour of him fighting and crying for him to finally go to sleep. I was in such a bad place mentally, that when Bubba finally went down, I was in my closet in tears praying that he wouldn't start crying again.

Looking back after the moment, I am fully aware at how crazy I seem. But I bet there are lots of Mamas out there that know what I am talking about. The moment when you are no longer in control of your hormonal emotions and can't stop the anger from rising up from your toes and coming out of your ears. 

And the aftermath is even worse. The guilt and the shame you feel for losing your cool. You beat yourself up and feel like the biggest failure. When things come back in to perspective, you understand that your baby was uncomfortable and then got more upset when you were upset. You know that your baby doesn't understand why the nap is important for everyone, he just doesn't want to miss more play time. And after you wrap your head around just happened, you feel miserable at how you reacted. 

I need to learn to forgive myself, however, and I bet every Mama does too. Maybe this is why babies can't keep memories yet...so they don't have images of us crazy Moms crying and losing it haunting them every day. 

This is Bubba now. Sleeping peacefully.

I love that little guy and I hope when he wakes up he will smile at me so that I know we are okay. I hope he can forgive me when I cuddle him extra tight this evening. I hope we can play and laugh a little more. I hope I can repair the little damage that was done to my heart. 

It's sometimes a bumpy road in this Little Life.

Baby Popp Gender Reveal

Shelby and Melissa are expecting!! We did a fun mini session at the Adams County Fair for their big gender reveal later this week!

Team Pink or Team Blue?

But did I really?

It's Sunday night and I am procrastinating everything. I just want to sit and watch my baby boy play in the bath tub. He is so adventurous and loves to figure out how things work. He is crawling around and pulling at the bath tub faucet. Oh to be able to see the world for the first time with fresh eyes and an innocent perspective! To look at everything with excitement and wonder!

And then I feel my happy bubble come crashing down.

It's back to work this week. August is here and it's back to school time again. Most parents out there are jazzed up and ready to send those kiddos back to the classroom. And then there are us teachers partly dreading leaving our own kiddos.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE teaching! My heart feels refreshed and and excited to get back into the trenches and work beside my students to create amazing things in our school. I am looking forward to improving the yearbook program and making a great product; I am excited to improve our school culture through the Student Council; I am also looking forward to trying some new techniques in my Spanish classes.

But my first summer with a baby is over. It flew by. Fleeting moments never really had a meaning for me until now. Those fleeting moments are slippery and impossible to grasp. You try your hardest to lengthen them, stretch the sweet memories out and live in them forever. But, it's inevitable that time marches on.

I went into this summer with Bubba with all these blog topics in my mind: being intentional about memory making, creating special moments with your child, sensory activities for babies, working through a summer bucket list. I tried to do it all. And then it was done before I knew it!

I ask myself if I truly enjoyed it. Did I really?

Did I look up from my phone to catch those funny things Bubba learned how to do?
Did I pause my projects often enough to watch him grow?
Did I ignore the chores long enough to cuddle a little longer?
Did I swing him enough?
Did I tickle him enough?
Did we do enough?

And I am absolutely, positively confident in saying YES. This summer was a challenge! I had a crash course in balance and managing a miserably teething baby! There were long, fussy, tear filled days...and sometimes Jaxon cried too.

But amongst those trying moments, I tried so incredibly hard to take a deep breath and remember to enjoy the time. Everyone tells me that the times flies by in the blink of an eye {and I mean everyone} so it is my most sincere mission to live to the fullest in every moment!

On paper, I didn't live up to the expectation. I didn't finish every activity on my summer bucket list. Some things I didn't even get time to attempt at all. I didn't do any sensory activities. The house was a mess, my hair was a mess and the yard wasn't mowed most of the time. Ya, we turned into those neighbors.

But I LOVED that little boy! We stayed in our pajamas and played with every toy in the house. We cuddled on the couch, on the floor, in the grass in the shade, at the park, at the pool, and at the zoo. We traveled. Oh, did we travel! What other baby can say they were in seven different states in their first seven months of life?! We hiked. We blew bubbles. We drew with sidewalk chalk. We took walks. We ate lunch outside. We stared down the street waiting for Daddy to come home. We went on errands. We learned how to crawl and grew five teeth! We took pictures and videos. We ate fruit. We grew veggies in the garden. We went to the lake. We watched clouds float by. We went to the zoo. We went to the park. We went to the mountains. We accomplished huge goals. We learned tough lessons. We saw family. We made new friends.

But more than anything, we spent time together. Bubba and I stayed side by side, laughing and crying. We made a bond that words will never explain. We started a lifelong friendship. I am incredibly grateful for these past two months making memories with my son.

It's all about the time together in this Little Life.

Teaching is who I am, not what I do.

I realized this evening that teaching is a part of me as much as my brown eyes or my quirky sense of humor. It's not just something I do, it's something that lives deep down inside of me.

I spent the day with my family from out of town and I loved teaching the kiddos random things!! 

I taught my niece how to take better photos with her iPhone.

I taught both of the kids how to geocache.

And lastly I taught them how to use chopsticks at supper. 

It's just who I am in The Little Life. 

Boulder Falls day trip

My Sister-in-law, niece and nephew were visiting from Iowa, and we drove up into the mountains a bit today. Most of the day was just driving around, but we did stop and hike back a bit to see Boulder Falls.

I love waterfalls. There is just something about the rushing water and the sound. It's always nice and cool by the falls and the air always smells fresh. I'm a sucker for waterfalls I guess.

After the falls, we drove to Nevadaville, which is a little ghost town by Central City. I taught the kiddos how to geocache and we took photos of the abandoned mine. 

It was such a nice day! It's so hard saying goodbye to them already tomorrow. The trips always go so fast!

Road trips must have beef jerky!

Reflection selfie in the car!

I love spontaneous days like this in The Little Life!

Finally figuring it out.

I'm not a total believer in astrology, but sometimes you hear things that make sense or just hit home. That's exactly what happened the other day when I had a talk show playing in the background on the tv and the host was talking about astrological signs. My ears perked up when they talked about Libras. They said something about Venus and the moon lining up, blah blah, but what I ended up hearing was that the way things are lining up, Libras are going to finally start figuring out what they want in life.

So true.

I am having one of the best years of my life and I think it's because I'm finally figuring out what I want in life and what matters most. I'm in my late twenties, and just now learning how to prioritize time for myself. This is time to put into my appearance to put my best foot forward, time to put into taking care of my health so I feel better, time to decompress and unwind. How is it as busy, working Moms we just 'forget' to give ourselves a moment? 

I'm realizing what is the biggest priority in my life, too. Do I need to chase all around trying to keep up with friends? No. Do I need to seem superficial approval from people who don't really know me? No. All that matters to me right now is the happiness of my family. If I can provide genuine, life long, joyful memories for myself, my husband and my son, then I fell like I have accomplished something. 

I've learned how to do certain things more efficiently {ie house cleaning} and cut certain time wasting activities down {ie Instagram and Pinterest} so that I don't get burned out and have more time to get down on the floor and play with my baby boy or go into the garage and help my husband with his race car. At the end of the day, isn't this what really matters more than endless updates online?

All in all, I truly just feel comfortable and confident to be me. I am proud of who I am and what I do, I am no longer scared to put myself out there and stand out a little bit, I can take chances and try new things, get outside my comfort zone achieve more than I ever dreamed possible. 

Maybe all the Libras out here are feeling a similar sensation...but I truly hope all of us can feel this way sometime soon. 

Just confident. Just comfortable. Just content.

It's all about the simple things when leading a Little Life.