She Gets it From Her Mom

*This is one of a few posts that are being 'back-posted' in an effort to catch up on life and some pretty great events that happened in spring and into summer time.*

May 14, 2012..

My mom is amazing. That is an understatement - this woman is such an impactful person and I feel incredibly blessed to say that I am part of her. I know that many people say that about their parents, but I truly feel that my mom is the best mom for me.

In May over Mother's Day weekend my mom took the weekend off work and came to stay with T and I. It was a gorgeous weekend full of sunshine and laughs.

We kicked off the weekend with pedicures (our favorite indulgence together). 

 Travis cooked up a delicious breakfast. Baked cinnamon french toast, eggs and kiwi. Soo good. Have I mentioned that I am super grateful to have married a man who can cook? :)

 

We went for a hike at Horsetail Falls (about a mile or 2 beyond Multnomah Falls). 

Sunday evening my mom came with us to church. It was such a warm evening and I love being able to brag on her with our friends! :)

August 8.. My mom's birthday was also this past Sunday (Aug 5). Happy Birthday again Mom! :)

What traits do I get from my mom??
 + a love for mexican food. Oh man.. we both could eat it everyday and never tire of it. Given it is part of our family roots - maybe it's a genetic thing. ;)
+ the habit of drinking a cup (or 2 or 3) of tea daily.
+ her pretty green eyes.
+ being a complete sun bug. We both love sunshine and handle super hot days surprisingly well. again maybe it's the genetics of our Central American roots.. :)
+ loud laughter.
+ spunk and independence!
+ a want to take care of others.

Among other traits and qualities, I feel great being able to look at my mom and know that she has been a big part of who I am today and an example for my sister and I in how to be compassionate and do what is right. Thanks Momma! :)

We are an Aunt + Uncle Again!

*This is one of a few posts that are being 'back-posted' in an effort to catch up on life and some pretty great events that happened in spring and into summer time.*

 April 23, 2012

When we were in Medford for my birthday in April it also happened to roll around my sister-in-law's due date with little Connor. We were so excited for Kevin (Travis's brother) and Bonnie that it would have been just a little bit more awesome if Connor happened to make his appearance in the 2 full days we were down there. Connor was born just a few hours short of sharing a birthday with his Aunt Shelby. 

Look at this sweet little man! He's so precious and was so sleepy when we went to visit him for the first time.

Connor DeHaven Waltz  (He shares his middle name with Travis)

Holding him for the first time.

<3

I have to take a moment to share a toddler picture of Trav.. just too stinkin cute!

Super proud Momma, Dad and even a curious Latte loves the new family member!

How sweet is this of Kevin and his son. Precious.

I absolutely love being an Aunt. It is so fun going to Medford to see all our nieces and nephews! Can't wait to see what Connor will be like as he starts growing up. What is even better is he will get to play with his fun and sweet cousins.

I so look forward to the day we are blessed to have a family of our own..

Look Alive People!

Oh blog you've been on my mind for a while.. just time to sit down and get to it!

There is always SO much I want to share and write and remember - I have to set aside the time to do it. I am going to be "back-posting" some entries I think.. dating back to meeting our new nephew, my mom's stay with us over Mother's Day, Travis's birthday, job changes, our 2 year wedding anniversary and strides in my health.

I am looking forward to catching up on here and sharing all the fun goodness with those who check out this little personal space of the internet I have.

*I love having a cup or (2 or 3) of tea in the morning .. such a lovely way to get going on the day.

running for twenty-seven.

Happy Belated Birthday to me! ;)

I turned 27 on April 15 and am still smiling about the awesome events and turn arounds I'm making in life. We spent my birthday weekend in southern Oregon with the Waltz family in Medford and packed the days with some fun goodness. The main focus for me being that I would be competing in my first 5K race. Picking up the packets and shirt for the race the day before was already making my stomach a bit jittery.. thank goodness I was doing this with my sis-in-law Stephanie (but she is already a great runner which made me feel like I'd be holding her back..).

yes, these sweating pears (it was the Pear Blossom Run) were a slight anticipation of what was to come.

One thing I never understood about runs and marathons is why they start before the sun is even out. After doing this, I now understand. It felt AMAZING knowing that before 8am, I had already ran (and walked) over 3 miles and did this with about a thousand other people. I remember praying a couple times (the night before.. the morning of.. during the run..) 'please do not let me pass out during this and let me finish this!'. Yes 3.2 miles may not seem like far at all - but for someone who has never really been a "runner" it is slightly intimidating. Plus I didn't exactly do a great job of training for it. My bad. But now I want to do this more. I am looking at future run/walks around Portland in the area and will definitely take better training cues too.

#5112. That's me. At 6:30am... eesh.

me and Steph getting ready to join everyone and stretch out.

When we started I started having super uncomfortable pain along my left shin. So much so that we stopped and I stretched it out but didn't let it stop me. In fact, moving forward from that it actually got easier! I am so appreciative of Stephanie and her being so patient and such a good coach/support to do this with! Even if she finished 1 second before me haha.

after crossing the finish line!!!

I have new respect for runners and realize they are in fact athletes too! I always thought of myself as super active and was always in sports growing up but never really focused on running as a challenge in itself. But when your body is the machine - you find out how strong you really are. It was great to do the run and I look forward to doing it again! And hopefully along side my guy (after all his ankle rehab is complete!). 

It was a cool birthday gift to myself to set up my year of renewed fitness. I am getting far more serious with nutrition and working out. I was in great shape after high school and throughout college, but when you don't have the scheduled and already set in place time to go hit the gym it's harder to make it happen. But now me and T both have memberships at Crunch and it's great to motivate each other and congratulate each other on the accomplishments. 

I am so glad I decided to do the Pear Blossom. After all it was just 3.2 miles right? ;)

**I will write a bit more about my birthday weekend next time and share the other cool news that happened that weekend as well!

baptisms + birthday + baby + blossom run

I love a good alliteration. And Ooooh April has been great so far!
Let me share some great highlights going on with the Waltzes..

+ baptisms.

At our church there are baptisms monthly and we always watch, support and cheer for those who take the plunge in the water (totally and completely under water) to get baptized and being a faithful journey with Jesus. We had both been baptized previously (Travis got a sprinkle on his head and I was baptized as a baby). But, we both had gone on different paths away from God (as teens and in early 20's). However, in the last few years we have really grown in our faiths individually and wanted to do this together. On Palm Sunday (April 1st) T and I were baptized at church and felt SO much support from our friends and family in doing this and we are so happy we did this. I am proud of us and also excited to see what adventures God has in store for our futures and am so blessed to be able to do this alongside a man who is after God's heart as well. (photos to come soon!!)

Easter Sunday at church. :)

+ birthday.

I will be 27 on April 15th. I have a feeling that 27 will have a few twists and challenges for myself. The year of being 26 I got promoted at work, moved to a new place with Trav, become part of an amazing community at church and started my trek to communicate more about my anxiety (more of which I need to just hit "publish" and will be able to let you in on how I am doing on this challenge in my life). I love birthdays and this one will be definitely different. I'm spending it with my in-laws! :)  We will be heading down to Medford, Oregon tomorrow morning and return on Monday. I'm looking forward to spending time with all the Waltzes and the sunny weather that is expected there too! I am trying to compile a list of 28 things I want to do before I turn 28.. if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.. or eyes since it'd be through comments ;)

+ baby.

with Carmen + Emmanuel

Well I'm going to be an Aunt again! Teehee - did you think I was having a baby?? Sorry to disappoint.. but not yet. But who knows when we will be blessed to have a family of our own.. ;)  Travis' brother and his wife are expecting little Connor to arrive any day! How exciting! Obviously we are hoping he will make his debut when we are in Medford. :)  I love being an aunt. It is so fun to spend time with Emmanuel, Carmen, Leandra and soon to be Connor. I have great memories with my Aunt Kea and I look forward to creating some fun and lasting ones with my nieces and nephews.

getting our nails all pretty with my niece Leandra. :)

+ (Pear) Blossom Run

I'm running in my first 5K on Saturday the 14th. Part of my birthday resolutions involves my health. Some may not know but I was tempted in college to switch my major to Health Education (but I decided to just minor in it..). I love learning about health, how the body works, healing, nutrition, etc. Back to the run.. I'm a little bit nervous because I'm more of a jog and walk kind of girl and there will be runners doing all types of different races. I really wanted to do a run this year to kick my exercise routines in high gear and try something new. I won't be running alone though - I'm running with my sis-in-law Stephanie. She's a great support and partner in this (she runs daily) and has been cheering me on as the run gets closer. So wish us luck and hope that I don't pass out. And yes I'm totally aware that 5K is 3.2 miles. As someone who only runs in sports (tennis, soccer, etc.) I didn't really think about the running around I did/do, but when it's the only thing you're doing.. it's different. So while you're sleeping in Saturday morning I will be breaking a sweat and rocking my first health birthday resolution!

Well this post got very wordy very fast.. eek. If you've made it through this post - you're fabulous and should reward yourself with some ice cream.. I know I will on Saturday around 10am. :)

Yellow + Gray Love

I find myself apologizing again for the sparse blog posting - but I do have a couple drafts in the works for some fun Portland dates, an addition to my anxiety story, my upcoming 27th birthday and some fun personal goals and transitions for me and T. Stay tuned!

It's no secret that I am a fan of Pinterest and blogging about it.. (see example #1,  #2, #3 and #4). So when I came across the many images of making a new wreath for our front door, I absolutely loved this little gem..

So I wanted to put my own spin on it just ever so slightly.

Using the tutorial I did before on how to make felt flowers for a wreath (see example #1 above). I gathered up a straw wreath (leaving the plastic wrapping on to keep the circle shape), my extra white felt fabric, bought some yellow felt fabric and some super soft gray yarn. I absolutely love the yellow, white, gray color combination!

I did not take photos of how I went through it step by step because it is a bit self-explanatory once you have figured out how to make the felt flowers.. but here is my finished product.

the lighting on our walk way doesn't really help that the photo was done a la iPhone.

close up of the cute little felt flowers.

So that is my latest DIY for under $10 and it's such a fun eye catching piece walking down our walk way. I really had a good time making this wreath, although stringing yarn over and over and over around the wreath took forever - it was still fun to see the progress happen. Have you found any inspiration or Pinspiration lately?? Time to put those pins into action friends! :)

Share + Tell About February

It's been a recurring theme that I have been letting a few weeks lapse before I blog - eeesh! 

I feel like I have lots to write about, then I'm not sure who reads this and then realize that it's my blog (hello!) - doesn't matter who reads it, it's my own little public journal anyway. ;)

I'll share some February sparkly moments to recap the last 4 weeks or so.. (I like to think I forget the snarky moments). Plus the happy is always worth re-telling I think. :)

Sparkly: to be brilliant, lively, or vivacious.

1. Taxes Filed. Ba-bam! We did our taxes ourselves this time and it was so much simpler than I expected it to be!! If you want to know the site we used (it's totally legit), message me and I'd be happy to give you the details!

2. Financial Blessings. So after filing our taxes, we got our tax money which is pretty awesome.. but we also had a few other prayers answered. For the past year we have been really getting serious about our debt repayments (credit cards, student loans, etc.) kicked to the curb. I have definitely been one who has stressed about money and how in the world we will save for a house, our future family, etcetera etcetera. Well, we are seeing a few prayers get answered! We paid off a credit card last month! Yeah!! We also have been given "breaks" on a couple medical bills for both of us. Nothing we sought out or asked for, just blessings that were total surprises for us.. example: I called my dental office to get clarity on my latest bill that seemed a little bit higher than usual. The billing person on the phone waived nearly half the bill. Just Because. Amazing.

3. Travis's foot. It's healing!! On the outside it looks totally normal and healthy. Although the bone break is a slow heal at this point, there is progression and we are so thankful that surgery was not required and that Trav can get around okay and still do his work as well! We also got a surprise on the medical bill we were anticipating this month too. There was more credit (billing money) on a medical card that is through T's work so we didn't have to pay as much as we thought we would on our end. Praise the Lord!

4.  Sweet Valentine's. Knowing that Trav was still on crutches and not driving when that lovely day rolled around. I didn't anticipate flowers or anything really. And I was totally okay with that! As I pull up to his work to pick him up, he was standing outside crutch under one arm and flowers in the other. He had someone at his work take him to the store so he could surprise me with my favorites. Yellow daisies. :)

5.  We have been getting more involved in our church community. I said before how we were getting involved in a new group of 'young marrieds'. (Couples married 5 years or less led by a couple who've been married 20 years.) It's been so cool! We get together with about a dozen or so couples for dinner and talk about married life and how to encourage each other to still fulfill the mission of God in our relationships.

6. We booked our Anniversary trip for the summertime! July 10 is our wedding anniversary and this summer we are going back to where we Honeymooned because we loved it SO much! The San Juan Islands. We cannot wait to go back and visit and play on the islands up north. I'm already looking forward to wearing sun dresses and enjoying the water in the evening time.

So that's a fun recap of our February goodness. I also am going to add this super cute link because it is just too darling not to share and I'm sure you will smile - in fact I'm quite positive you will say "aww" within a minute of the video. It's that adorable.