All things Nautical

Since I was little I have had an undying love for all things Nautical. I really don't know why but I do know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Throughout my teenage years I adorned my bedroom with decor such as lighthouses, sailboats, and whatever else I could find. To this day I just can't shake that feeling.
I dream of someday living at a place like this. Maybe on a beach in New England, or Maine, or even Georgia. I have no idea how it would fit in with our future plans...but someday.

We found a boat book shelf a year and a half ago on Craigslist.com and there was no way I was going to let it go. We recently moved the book shelf into our living room and since then I have wanted to continue that theme throughout the room.
I got this image off of the Pottery Barn website (I am in love with that store by the way). I find the images very inspiring!


These images below are some of our own photos we've taken that I would like to incorporate into the room somehow.
I love the sailboat in this (and I try to pretend that the island is not Alcatraz).

Boats in the San Francisco bay.
Ships in the bay.

Another boat in the bay. (I just love this one!)

And I love him. :) (Taken in Carmel two years ago for our anniversary). We also took our Engagement photos on the beach in Carmel.A lighthouse in Carmel.

This was taken by my mom at a Utah Lake dock in Provo. See? I even did my bridals at a place like this.
I took this picture in Hawaii when I went with my family about 4 and a half years ago. When we saw it from the highway down below I made my parents pull over and my brother Jordan and I went on a hike to get to it. (It ended up taking longer than we thought and my family had to wait forever but I thought it was so worth it).

Here are a few of the things I'm doing/have done to the room. Keep in mind it's a work in progress.
The boat book shelf I love! And the backwards books-trying something new.
This pillow started out blank. One night on a whim I added the starfish. Still not too sure about it though.
A frame idea I got from online.
More frames. I'm tempted to put things on the mini framed canvases in the top frame but Taylor thinks they look awesome blank. Now I don't know what I want to do.
And here are some fun little decorative accents.

Here is one side of the room,
and here is the other. (The empty white frames will have some pictures in them soon).

Anyway, that's about it for the nautical things for now. It's definitely been fun!

Another recent craft I did was this group of fabric flowers. My kitchen table was looking so bare and so I made these out of wire hangers and fabric.
I added a few darker ones but I'm still not sure how I feel about the two kinds together. It's always a work in progress I guess.

Here's just some mommy/baby weirdness:



Have a good day!

Just some new things

There's nothing like walking down the sidewalk in nothing but a tutu.
Well okay, the only thing better is doing that while holding daddy's hand!

It's amazing how entertaining your child can be.
I think she was giving the plants a drink. (She watches me water them daily).

I gave Mercedes a paint brush and water for the chalk board while I was working on a painting. She had a lot of fun with that.
Today was a day for the books...
Mercedes got her first ponytail!
Pushing her baby stroller is one of her favorite pass-times.
Today she got into the plant dirt while mommy wasn't looking. Maybe she thinks it's chocolate? Maybe.
The apartment pool opened this week and so we decided to go down for just a little bit today.
Mercedes couldn't wait, obviously.
This is my latest decorative creation. I layered potting mix with sand and then transplanted the little plants from a nearby pot. I hope they survive!
I love making stuff.

the end.

Like mother, like daughter

Mercedes has discovered how delicious apples and almond butter are when eaten together. It is also one of my favorite snacks.

Confessions of a Chocoholic

Why? Really, why do I love chocolate so much? It's a serious question! I've always claimed to have a major sweet tooth but I'm realizing that it's not really a sweet tooth, but a chocolate tooth. I enjoy other sweets but don't ever love or crave them like I do chocolate.

Lately my biggest weakness has been the Cadbury Cream Eggs. They're mainly seasonal. I wasn't a big fan when I was younger but now... Well...

I sometimes let myself believe that since I'm nursing and burning more calories I can get away with eating more chocolate. Which in all honesty is probably true, I've been able to eat more chocolate and get away with it. But what do I do when I stop nursing? Combine that with the days I don't exercise and things will start to add up! On the scale at least. I should probably get my cravings under control, and sooner than later.
I found this picture and then remembered this as a part of 'I Love Lucy' when Lucy and Ethel were working at a chocolate factory. Here they are stuffing their faces with chocolates at the assembly line. Makes me laugh.

Thinking about the revelation given through Joseph Smith in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants , and reading about Prudence and Temperance, I can't help but feel like I need to work on having more self control. If anyone has any tips on ways to keep from giving into cravings, please share! I'm going to try to do better. Thank you for listening. :)

It has been too long, yet again.

I have a problem and this problem is a big part of why I don't blog very much. The problem is that the only real time I have to blog is while Mercedes is napping. And although Mercedes has become a much better napper lately I most often choose other ways of spending my time during those precious hours. Some of those things are: showering and getting ready for the day, cleaning the house, catching up on laundry, reading, napping to make up for lost sleep, exercising, working on projects, catching up on emails, etc., the list goes on. The thing is though, I know that every other fellow blogger is just as busy as I am if not busier and many still manage to post quite often, even daily. I guess it just comes down to making blogging a priority. I do enjoy blogging but maybe not as much as I should. Anyway, with that said I'm just going to blog a bunch of photos from the last month or so in attempt to "catch up." I'm working my way backwards and as usual, most of it is about Mercedes.

We're trying to encourage our 13-month-old's artistic desires and let her discover art. I figured chalk was the best way for now. Oh just so you know, the "doubt" was the end of a quote on faith, not doubt.

She even got into it using a piece of chalk in both hands.
I can't help but feel proud of my little artist! And it's just so fun to see her explore creativity.
The other day I peeked into her bedroom to check on her while she was playing and I came upon this.
Sitting on an up-side-down box holding her baby and a tooth brush. "Brushing the baby's teeth."
I threw this picture in because I just love this happy face.
Mercedes is starting to climb onto things. It's almost startling, she's becoming an actual little person. Well, maybe monkey is a better word.
Over Conference weekend we got Mercedes to start walking. She got to where she could walk the distance of her bedroom! She'll walk with us while holding onto our finger but on her own she still prefers crawling.
I love these two.
On a hot day at the end of March I decided to let Mercedes play in a bowl of water on the patio. There are two things she really loves, as I'm sure most babies do. Water, and outside.
A couple of weeks ago I was feeling really crafty and so I sewed this little skirt during her nap. it was very simple, just two long pieces of fabric and tulle and then some baby elastic.


If Mercedes is ever around while I'm bringing the laundry to the washer in the patio closet (yes, a strange place for a washer and dryer) she gets upset unless I let her push the laundry basket to the sliding glass door. She already insists on helping me with the chores!? I'm getting excited for chore charts, that's for sure.
I thought the bubbles on her head looked like a head band with a flower.
Here I sewed new pillow cases. I found the fabric on sale at JOANN and just couldn't resist.
We never get tired of telling Mercedes to kiss things.
Mommy and baby. :) At the end of March Mercedes had been sick and teething and just wasn't having a good week.
Here Mercedes had a high fever and was not feeling well. At one point her fever got up to almost 105. It was pretty scary but after calling the doctor and giving her infant Tylenol it went down and then her fever broke during that night.
Taylor was so sweet, it had been a hard week for Mercedes and also for me. I was exhausted from being up with Mercedes during the nights, worrying about her and taking care of her. He came home from work early to take care of both of us. I love him so much.

Well there's some of my "catching up." Next time I hope it won't be so random. Have a good day!