Life Lately: Photos & Thoughts

Last weekend my dear friend, Josh, came through Fort Collins for a visit. He was on the journey of moving back home from Nashville for a season. Good conversations and good food was had. He makes me think about life in so many different ways and helps me realize that where I currently find myself is a really good place to be in the grand scheme of things.

Cheese biscuits & cappuccino  at The Coffee Tree. 

Sea Food Goodness at The Mainline. (Yes, I went there yet again...) 

(This post is inspired by Elise Blaha Cripe. I love her blog so very much.)

loving every little noise that Marin makes. 

celebrating our own anniversary. 5 years together. Half of a decade of awesomeness. 

enjoying evenings spent with my husband. Unwinding for the day. Also talks about life with dear friends. 

obsessing over all things Doterra. 

preparing every single meal that I consume. A new, clean eating meal plan. 

wondering if life will ever slow down for just a minute or two. Where has June already gone? 

packing a diaper bag that is ready for everything & anything. I am the crazy bag lady. 

checking the baby monitor all of the time only to find our little girl sleeping like a little rockstar. 

wishing we could go on a trip somewhere. I want to pack our bags and find ourselves somehow on the coast. 

drinking a glass of wine every once in a while after the baby is asleep for the night. 

planning so many new business ventures. I need to focus. 

reading this book, this book, and this cookbook. 

listening to the new Jack White album. 

watching Longmire. Friends. Game of Thrones. I finished Orange is the New Black the weekend it was on Netflix. Oops. 

marveling at how everything somehow falls into place when it comes to parenting even though we really have no idea what we are doing. 

feeling overwhelmed at times & tired, but excited & ready for what the next few months hold. 

Our Anniversary: Good Food, Good Goals, & A Great Beard

It has been a week now since we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. The fact that I am just now able to write about our day goes to show that time really is flying faster than we can keep up with it most days. I didn't carry my camera with me that day, but wanted to capture everything through my phone.

Celebrating 5 years with my man was good. It was very needed. It's always weird for me to realize that we don't have our little girl in the back seat with us on an adventure, but sometimes parents need just parent adventures. You know? 

Marin hung out with the grandparents for the day and we hopped in the car and drove to Denver. For donuts. You read that correctly. We drove 1.5 hours to another city for donuts. I'm not crazy. It was well worth it. 

If you don't know of Voodoo Donuts, you probably should. When I lived in the northwest, I experienced Voodoo Donuts in Portland for the first time. These guys are crazy. Their donuts are crazy. They are also crazy delicious. By some fluke, they opened a shop up in Denver. All of the other locations are in the northwest but for some reason they decided to come here. I couldn't be more thrilled.

We ordered the Voodoo Dozen, 13 donuts that the staff hand picks for you. We also had two coffees to go. We ended up eating a donut in our car before making the drive back home because there's no seating at Voodoo. It was warm that day. Our donuts melted in our hands as we ate them. The coffee was super good. 

This was a perfect way to begin our anniversary celebration. 

We made the journey back home, stopped at the grandparents to feed the kiddo so I could think straight (if you're breastfeeding you probably know what I'm talking about and pumping in the car SUCKS.) 

We then ventured to Old Town, Fort Collins. A few posts back I talked about the new restaurant that we have come to love called the Mainline. We went there again. We drank good beer and ate good food. We talked about our goals and dreams for this new year of marriage. We talked about new business ideas and focusing more on the ones we already have. Getting out of debt. Upgrading to newer computers. Putting our house on the market and moving. Fitting back into my skinny jeans.

Helping Marin grow up smart and strong.

One of the appetizers at the Mainline. Jalapeño Cornbread with Apple Cider Butter. Oh my. 

If you know me, this conversation is what gets my mind spinning, in a good way. I love a good goals discussion, especially when good food, good beer, and a nice looking man with a great beard are involved. 

After dinner, we headed back, picked up Marin, and put her to bed for the evening. 

All in all, we are ready for this next year. We are excited for what is ahead. I wouldn't want to live out this life with anyone else. 

Weekly Lovelies: Currently Clicking #13

Where are these weeks going? So far in the past few weeks, this little blog has only seen Baby Marin posts and Currently Clicking posts. My apologies for the lack of further content. My days pass by so quickly. I blink and here I sit creating this post of lovely links for your enjoyment.

Each and every week, I gather links of all of the places I have been perusing in the great, grand internet. There are plenty of people out there doing big things and small things. Some of these are practical, some are inspiring. This week, we are keeping things fairly practical with some awesome snack ideas, what you barista is really thinking about your coffee order, a DIY for your kid's room, and some frugal ideas in baby-land and beyond.

1. I love a good avocado. Stuff a salad in it and I'm sold. Try these Avocado Cup Salads, Two Ways. 
2. And to further our journey on the good food & snacks train, try this Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip or this Grilled Cantalope. (I have to try this!) 
3. The hubby and I want to sell our home next spring. We also want to be debt free before doing so. Any post that involves living frugal, I'm all for. Check out this post on Frugal Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap).
4. I'm still not sure if we will ever head in the direction of cloth diapering. It is so much more affordable, but there are a lot of steps attached. Here is one woman that used to cloth diaper, then didn't, and then returned to cloth diapering. Interesting. Confessions of a cloth diaper drop out (and how I got back on the fluffy bottomed bandwagon.)
5. Once Marin gets older, I would love to do this little DIY for her room: Kid's Clothes Rack DIY.
6. And finally, 5 Coffee Orders & What Your Barista Really Thinks of Them. I worked as a barista and can relate to each and every one of these. 

On a side note that isn't from a blog or somewhere online....

We went on a lunch date yesterday and tried out a new place in town. I am obsessed. It was such an enjoyable meal. We went to a place called the Mainline in Old Town, Fort Collins. 

I ordered the Southern BLT, which has fried green tomatoes on it. Oh My Gosh. I love fried green tomatoes and have only had them once or twice in my life. 

We also had the staff picks beer choices for lunch. Mine was a darker beer with bourbon infused into it. 

We will be going back. I am sure of it.