Life Lately

Hi friends! 

It's been a while since I did a life lately post since the last one of this kind was what we've been eating lately. . . which is basically 90% of our life anyway! 

The end of summer was lovely and the beginning of school was. . . rough! I love going back to school--the energy, the enthusiasm, the excuse to buy new school supplies and clothes, love it all!  This year though I took on a lot of new responsibilities with 2 new stipend jobs and a new hire in our department plus planning an amazing field trip.  So, I'm super happy that I made those freezer meals! 

The one of the last weekends before I returned to work, we had a weekend with David's sibblings where we hiked, hung out, ate, and I went to Ikea for the first time! I know, how had I never been before?! We ended up with this dining table and finally got these chairs from Target ( which we had been searching for for months because they're discontinuing this style. We basically found a unicorn! ).  

Aaaaand I'm dreaming of having one of these lights for above the dining table--some day! 

While we were visiting, we went on a super cool hike into a chasm--Purgatory Chasm to be exact. It was more challenging than I thought it would be and at some points trail became quite a relative term but it was great.  

My sister-in-law is THE BEST and made us some really wonderful healthy food--kale salad, pesto tofu--and had my favorite yogurt (Siggis!) and fruit on hand. It's the little things that are big y'all. 

She also made reaaaaaallyyyyy awesome sorbet and a super creamy chili chocolate ice cream. They were all amazing. 

That weekend we also finally found a rug (YAY!) and it fit perfectly in our living room. I had basically decided we were never going to find what we were looking for and then on a whim we stopped at a TJ Maxx and found exactly what we were looking for. That same night my aunt and cousin came to drop off my parents' dog so we could dog sit while they traveled and I made this awesome salad. 

We had SO MUCH FUN with my parents' dog. He is a white or European Golden Retriever for those who are curious. He's just the most adorable, calmest, sweetest dog and we love him. We took the week to explore local dog friendly walking places and had a blast ! 

We may have even let him up on the bed. . . not that anyone's telling! 

My mom wakes up, feeds, and walks him every day at 5am so he definitely got me on the teacher sleep schedule again.  You can't sleep past a dog alarm, that's for sure!  Once I finally got myself out of the house, it was really nice to watch the sun rise and have a quiet town to ourselves on our walks. I've been LOVING season two of Elizabeth Gilbert's Magic Lessons. If you haven't listened yet, DO IT. You're welcome. 

We almost didn't give him back! 

I started back at work! While getting up early to work out by 5:30 every morning has not been easy, I just feel better having done something (even 10 minutes!) before I start my day (and spend a solid half hour in the car).  

Fall is coming fast and I'm finally ready to give in. First PSL (pumpkin spice latte) of the season while shopping the Target dollar section (YASSS).  

Why hello fall! You're looking cute. 

I've been really into the blue buffalo plaid for fall. Can't stop, won't stop. 

I know it's officially fall because football has started and we've reached the time of year where I get flack about my choice of jersey and football team. YES, I like the Packers! 

We had my parents over for Labor Day and had a beautiful afternoon boating and then a fantastic meal, thanks to the recipes from Danielle Walker's new cookbook, Celebrations. 

We also made the blackened salmon and stone fruit salsa which was, as David and I agreed, life changing. 

David's birthday basically lasted for two months but we wrapped it up in the best way possible by having a boy's weekend. His friends came over and played video games while I made pasta + meat sauce + garlic bread for dinner plus chocolate peanut butter cookies from How Sweet Eats + amazing rice krispie treats with leftover red, white, and blue rice krispies (and frosted flakes since we were short!) + lucky charms marshmallows because obviously! Then I made brownies. Don't worry, I packed all the boys to-go bags so we wouldn't eat all the food. 

So, that's life lately, though rather delayed! Back to girl bossing it at work, working out before the sun rises, meal planning and prepping to try to eat healthy, some weekend (okay, and week day!) splurges, and lots of time with friends and family.  My favorite part about having a house so far is that it's allowed us to spend a lot more time with people, especially in a comfortable space, than before. I truly feel so lucky every day to wake up in our house and get to share it with people whenever we are fortunate enough.  I've been reading a lot ( and listening to a lot of podcasts on my drive! ) about the science of happiness and thinking about how gratitude affects our happiness. So, I'm thinking about starting a gratitude journal and maybe I'll share it in my next loving lately post. Stay tuned!