Food,family, photography and friends! Some of my very favorite things.

We had one of those simply amazing weekends, you know, where Sunday comes around and you get sort of depressed because you really really REALLY don't want it to be over? Yeah that amazing. But luckily, I sort of feel like our weekend isn't ending, since Jasper has tomorrow AND Tuesday off. I don't know who is more excited about that, me or him. Probably me. 

Lunch date with this little lady that now picks out her own outfits

Sometime decided they didn't like the Halloween story. She Freaked out randomly when Jasper picked up a scary mask. Poor girl. Mean parents for subjecting her to that. But we did succeed in getting some Adorable costumes for the kiddos!

She recovered enough to eat all of the black beans, salsa, and guacamole from Chipotle

And then I went and got my hair done! I haven't had it colored since high school..

After! Looks a lot more reddish in the sun!

After my haircut (where I got to read an entire magazine front to back, or actually back to front, which is the only way I can read a magazine, weird fact) I had a photo shoot in Wash Park for this gorgeous family! I'm super pleased with how they turned out!

And then this same beautiful family came for dinner! It ended up being a late night but so much fun. The kids get along great, the moms get along great, the dads get along great, it's a perfect combination! Plus, the mom is Swedish so ya know I love her!

 Playing outside after dark! 

I rediscovered my love of apple cider!

Today was more low key, hanging out, editing pictures, sipping on coffee while drew and the kiddos played right next to the office. Favorite thing about my new office (even more than my fabulous new iMac) is that it's right off the family room/play room so even in the office I can see/be apart of what's going on. 

I came home from Swedish school with the kiddos to Drew making another clean eating meal recipe. And this one guys, is Fantastic. Definitely going to become a regular here. Chicken sliders with parmesan french fries. Yep, delicious. 

Hope your fall weekend was just as fantastic as mine! 

Nosy

how can you afford to go on a trip like that? I'm guessing it will cost in the 10-15 thousand dollar range to take both kids there. have you figured out the cost? europe is expensive. i also happen to know the area you live in, guessing you pay close to 2500 a month in rent. you guys are so young i just dont understand how that happens on one income. Signed, Nosy in Denver.

Dear Nosy, First off, I debated on whether or not to answer this question, I think it's a legit question? But from your tone I don't think you are being snarky just curious. And I'm personally curious my nature, so I can't fault others for this. 
So, how can we afford this trip? And yes I'm also estimating it to be in the 10-15K range, probably closer to 15 when you include passports which I'm in the process of getting for Tindra and getting Jaspers renewed, so we do know the costs involved. There's no one answer to how we can afford it. One, we sold our house and make a good chunk of change for us on that, and one of the things we decided we wanted to do with that was put towards next summers vacation. Two, Drew has a fantastic job. He works hard, really hard, but it pays pretty well as well, especially for being just 26 years old and only in the 'real' workforce for 3.5 years. He works long, and I mean loooong hours. He's at work by 8 and tries to make it home by 6:30 for dinner, where he will spend 1.5 hrs with the kids and after they are in bed for the night we will go into his office and work another 3-5 hrs at least three sometimes four nights a week. But he loves his job, and it supports us so I try not to complain. Three, travel is what we choose to spend money on. We don't own brand new cars, we don't have a huge savings account, we don't eat out 5 nights a week, we choose to spend our money on traveling. We live for it. I don't think there's a better experience we can give our children except a chance to see different parts of the world.  So we save for that. Ideally I'd love to make it over to Sweden every year, but with two children that's not super realistic to us right now. But I'm hoping it can be a yearly or every 18 month type thing. And until we can travel internationally as much as we would love, I'll stick to quick trips around here and the rest of the US for now!
And for your second (third?) point, yes we live in an expensive area and you aren't too far off with what the monthly rent is for around here (do you live in the area as well?) and yes that's all done on Drew's income. But I don't Not make money. I nanny a few days a week out of our home for another 1 year old (Tindra's BFF) but you won't find me talking about that much on here. I'm not sure if they would mind or not, in fact they probably wouldn't because they are Awesome, but still I like to stay away from that. Any money I make doesn't go towards our household expenses or bills. Instead my money is 'fun money' that I like to spend spoiling the kiddos (myself) and Drew. And right now it's also helping fund my expensive photography hobby/hopeful someday business. I don't Have to work. I choose to because I'm an independent person by nature and enjoy making my own money. Plus, how else can I justify my stitch fix obsession? 
So I guess that's how it's done for us? Hope that answered your question.

Currently I'm..

looking up pictures of Iceland. Doesn't it look absolutely magical? I just got the official go ahead from Drew to start booking out summer trip to....SWEDEN for next summer. I'm beyond excited. It's long over due and I'm ridiculously excited to be going there as a family! I can't wait to introduce Tindra to Sweden, and REintroduce Jasper. They are going to love it so. We are also thinking of adding in a pitstop to Iceland for a couple of days, either on the way there or on our way back, and after looking at some pictures, I almost wish we were going there in the winter. It looks so stunning! I'm sure it will be equally exciting in the summer, and ya know, less cold ;) 

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Has anyone been? Have any recommendations? I'm thinking we might do the airbnb route, having a little apartment to ourselves instead of jammed in a hotel room sounds like the better way to go!

Cooking with my girl

I have countless of memories with my mother in the kitchen. I mean countless. She was (and is!) always cooking and baking, and always let me help. Jasper has always enjoyed helping me in the kitchen and I have been so excited for the day Tindra would be able to as well.
This weekend Tindra was at my feet as I was making stovetop lasagna (I'll post the recipe later because it was That good) and kept saying "up, up" (another new word) so I picked her up and decided it was the perfect time for her to 'help' me for the first time. And help she did. She also helped splatter some sauce all over the oven so she's quickly learning that if you didn't make a mess while cooking you didn't make a good enough meal. 

I can't wait for many, many afternoons spent in the kitchen with this little lady and her brother. 

Life lately.

^Tindra says moving is hard ya'll^

^I was making dinner and walked into this scene. And my heart melted^

^Ikea round one, for tables, chairs, bathroom stuff^

^He's seriously a pro^

^One of our last days at our old house Tindra learned how to climb up on chairs. And tables^

^Swedish school started for Jasper and Tindra. We love it so!^

^Last day at our old house, with Tindra's buddy M^

^A coupe of weeks ago we had a double date night with a couple friend and had THE best fries I've ever had. I mean Ever. And my pizza salad sandwich was pretty damn good also!^

^Watching mom unpack the bathroom. She took her pretzel and started to try to unscrew her high chair. Baby genius? I think so. Also, I had to look up how to spell genius, so it's obviously not hereditary.^

^Tindra and I tagged along on Jasper's reading picnic for school. And Tindra made a new friend^

^First home work project for first grade! He read (by himself) Where The Wild Things Are and then made a 'wild thing'^

^Favorite breakfast as of late. Pumpkin spiced toast and iced coffee.^

^Our new dining room table! Not the chairs that go with it, we  (okay Drew) hadn't put the chairs together yet^

 ^Jasper insisted that him and T needed matching pants last week at H&M, 'cuz we like to be the same' who can argue with that kind of logic?^

 ^She spent at Least 5 minutes yelling at a squirrel in our tree^

 ^Jasper had an exciting week. 6th row rockies ticket, and then front (yes FRONT) row tickets to last Sunday's Broncos game.^

 ^And another Ikea trip. This time for a new rug, couch and desk tables^

 ^Cold, rainy fall nights calls for pizza, chocolate milk and chutes and ladders^

 ^New favorite reading spot

^He loves reading and writing. Makes this mamma so incredibly proud!^

Big girl.

I haven't done a Tindra update in a while so I think it's about time since she's almost 18 months! 
At her last check up she weighed 20 pounds 6 oz and was 31.5 inches long. 
The Ped. asked if she was saying 10+ words, and I honestly had to think for a minute and as I started to think about all the words she says, it's definitely more then 10! At 17 months she says
mamma pappa jasper (sort of) harper (her bff) more wawa (water) titta (look in swedish) tack (thank you in swedish) num num (food, eat) up  down no yeah uh oh meme (grammy, my mom) mine me (or rather me me me me when she wants something someone else has) puppy (which she calls almost all animals) doggy bebe (baby) oh no that (as in that's mine)  go bye bye okay TeeTee (one of her nicknames and what she calls herself)  bah bah- milk bottle nigh nigh (night night, sleep, go to bed)  boll (ball in Swedish)  she (shoes, doesn't sound like shoes but it's unmistakable, it's what she means.)
That's all I can think of right now but I know there's more! She got quite the vocabulary! 
She's even started saying 2-3 word sentences like "Yeah Teetee go bye-bye" which Jasper was definitely not doing by 17 months! She uses yeah when she wants something, like 'yeah num num' means she wants to eat. Or yeah night night means she wants to go to bed. Smarty huh?
Some of her favorite things to do, play behind the curtain that's by the door, read books, climb, play in the sand box, go places (anywhere really) and jump on Jasper. She's not so much into playing with toys right now. Except rolling/throwing balls and sometimes rolling a car across the floor. She's Super obsessed with shoes. I mean, it's not hard to see where she gets it from, but I'm still surprised her shoe obsession started this early. She's only been walking 4 months! But wherever we are, if she sees shoes, she's got to see them, touch them, try to put them on. She will just walk right up to strangers, touch their feet and say "she?" like oh wow you have shoes too? It's ridiculously adorable.  I do fear for our bank account though, since her dad is 100% wrapped around her finger and is unable to say the word no to her...

Currently.

Watching: Oh man so excited my fall shows are back on. Now I have something to do while folding a billion loads of laundry. How does a family of four go through so much laundry! Current favorite shows, Grey's, Revenge, The Voice, SVU..and I really liked the pilot episode of Betrayal anyone else that? Thoughts?
Listening to: Oh Hellos and The Lumineers have been on itunes repeat here as of late. 
Thinking about: Traveling! Getting the urge. Got all the documents ready monday night to get Tindras passport..but then the Government decided to SHUT DOWN, I mean what? So now apparently passport applications are on hold? Ridiculous. Can ya tell I'm a bit pissed about that?
Loving: Cooler temperatures. And the leaves on the gorgeous trees in our new house. Also loving, our new house. Like Love love. Oh and my new lens. Totally loving that. 
Reading: Nothing and it's time to get back into reading! I used to read 1-3 books a week, now I haven't read a book in at least a month. That has Got to change. Anyone have any recommendations?
Making me happy: Taking peoples pictures. Seriously makes me incredibly happy. 

Picture obviously not related, but I have this need to add a picture with every to every post. Plus, how adorable is she? And how much of a big does she look like eating with a fork? 

Thanks Danielle for the inspiration for this post!