Sweet Friday

In anticipation of starting my new job on Monday, I have been enjoying 6 wonderful days
off at home with my family!  I wanted some time to catch up on life and love before diving
in head first to the next phase of my career.  It has been an amazing week of swimming in
our pool, spending time with friends, and long talks on the porch at sunset.  This rest was
so needed as I am feeling a bit anxious about starting over somewhere new.  Regardless of
my experience and confidence in my abilities as a nurse, I am feeling somewhat scared
of learning a whole new skill set.  I have never been a lover of change, even when the
change is needed.  So, having a week off to iron out all the details and recharge my heart
with the love and support of my soul ones has been a blessing.  We plan to spend the
weekend celebrating my 32nd birthday with good food and an old fashioned slumber
party with my very best girlfriends.  As I look around and reflect on my life, I am so
grateful for where I am at 32.  My life is full, my eyes are open, and my heart just gets
bigger with each and every year.

And so, to kick my birthday weekend off right, here are a few posts that made me
smile this week:

• One of my friends from college, Wade, and his beautiful wife Melissa from The Poole Party have just started a brand new phase in their family's life!!  This post made me so excited for them and I can not wait to watch their new project unfold!!  Nothing warms my heart like seeing good things happen to good people!
• My sweet friend, Sylvia from Sylvia C. is having her precious baby girl today!!  I can NOT wait to see photos of this long awaited angel , who will also be called "Liv"!!!
• Wendy from Letters to Hannah has a weekly feature that inspires me to remember to take a few moments to myself every now and then: Mama's Day Off.  Head on over and read about how Wendy spent time rejuvenating her Mama spirit this week.
• Jessi from The Naptime Diaries wrote the most beautiful tribute to her husband in honor of their sixth wedding anniversary.  It was so touching and allowed me to reflect on how different experiences later serve as lessons that change our lives and relationships for the better.
• This post by Kris from Oh Happy Miracle had me in tears.  Such a beautiful testimony to the absolute gift that is breast feeding.
• Melissa from Hi Baby took the most amazing camping trip to the Oregon Coast.  These photos literally had me swooning and made me so excited to pack up our gear and sleep under the stars again soon.
• Rachael from Letters to Ames wrote an awesome guest post over at Sometimes Sweet all about her marriage centered family.  I love this outlook so much and enjoyed reading all about her date night, it was such a beautiful testimony to how you can still have beautiful, special moments even after adding babies to your repertoire!!
• Have you seen Erin from My Beautiful Disaster's vacation photos from her road trip through Canada?  You should, they make me want to pack up my car right now and head out onto the open highway!
• Laura from Splendor shared so much inspiration in this post about how she redecorated her loft space and made it not only creative and fun, but super functional as well.  Wait until you see what she did with some of her antiques, she is one creative, crafty mama!
• I've been eyeing these necklaces hand made by Mandey from Mama and The Dudes.  They are so lovely and would be the perfect accessory while carrying a teething baby around all day.  Maybe a belated birthday gift for myself?

And speaking of teething, we made a pretty significant discovery this week.  Our little 
lamb, AKA The One Who Wakes Throughout The Night, had a major milestone this 
week, actually four of them, after a few months of teething woes.  Is this supposed to 
happen to 8 month old angels?  Not sure.  Check out our very own Cullen baby below.

As you can see, she is still our smiley, happy lamb, even with vampire teeth.  

Have a wonderful weekend!!