Dreaming of a White Easter?

Growing up, Easter always meant nests of flowers in the yard where the Easter bunny would leave our baskets, matching spring dresses with the sister, huge neighborhood Easter egg hunts in our field, and lots of family time outside. There was never a thought of snow or boots or coats. If anything, there was a thought of sunscreen to avoid possible sunburn.  And hats. There were always hats.

   
Then we moved to Colorado. 

I will admit that this was the first time since I’ve lived here that the snow has bothered me. I know, I know.. everyone keeps telling me that March is the snowiest month. But I was just so not prepared for that, especially after all the warm weather we had been having. I thought we were moving forward to sandals and shorts. But nope. SNOW EVERYWHERE. 

So obviously that made Easter look a little different this year. I was already bummed that I could not be at my huge family Easter celebration in Texas, so I wanted to try and implement as many of those fun traditions here. So when the snow put a damper on that, I threw myself a bit of a pity party. And then I remembered that we have plenty of people that live here that love us and it would be fun to help Easter look a new way for our family. And that’s just what we did. 🙂

So on Friday, we were able to celebrate Good Friday as a family. That included a fun day of playing in the snow and Caleb throwing snowball after snowball after snowball after snowball….  

   
We then attended Good Friday service as a family and only have one single picture of a running Caleb in his outfit.  

 
On Saturday, we started off the day with a hair cut and donuts for little man. He insisted that he wanted to look fly for Easter.

Although this picture pretty much screams ‘Why are you touching my head while I’m trying to drive my car, you crazy lady?!’

 
We were then supposed to go visit JoJo and attend her church’s Easter egg hunt but unfortunately the snow cancelled it. But that didn’t hold us back from spending the day with JoJo.  
 And shocker that Caleb had an Easter basket waiting for him. 😉 And it’s Nick’s basket from when he was a kid. ADORABLE. 

 

On Sunday, Nick left early to be apart of the parking team at church since we were having 4 services. I ended up having to wake Caleb up at 7 so that way we could make it to the 8:00 service since I was serving in the 2 year olds’ class. We did pause a moment to get a picture. Because THIS.  

 JoJo drove up and attended the 9:45 service with us. A certain little guy was VERY excited to see her and proudly escorted her out of the worship center.  
We then had a little bit of picture shenanigans in the foyer before we told JoJo bye.       
We then hung out to wait for our favorite parking attendant to come inside since the boys hadn’t seen each other yet that morning.    

Caleb was so pumped to see his daddy that he refused to let him put him down to take his jacket off for the picture. So here is real life of our Easter morning. I guess at least the fluorescent parking vest didn’t make it in the pic. Ha!   

We told Nick bye and headed home so the little guy could nap. Which he decided to jump on immediately.  

 
With our crazy morning, that just meant his Easter basket will probably end up happening in the afternoon from now on. Not that he was complaining.  

    
 
 
That afternoon, our small group came over for an egg hunt and dinner! I was thinking that we were just going to have to hunt eggs in the basement since our backyard was full of snow, but I learned quickly that doesn’t stop anyone here. So an egg hunt in the snow it was! (Granted some of the backyard had melted and it really had turned into a super nice day.)    

    
   Caleb would have preferred to just pick up one egg and stand there and eat the candy inside rather than continuing to hunt. Which is kind of what he did.  
 

And here’s a pic of the whole crew (minus baby Reese). Can’t wait to see them grow up together! 

  

We had a feast of yummy food and dessert! Pinterest would have been proud.  

   
It was such a great time celebrating with a small group that we love doing life with!  

    
 
So our first Colorado Easter as a family (because obviously Nick has had them before) is in the books! And next year I will just make sure that I am mentally prepared for a white Easter. 🙂 

Friday Favorites

Today is GOOD FRIDAY!!!!  I absolutely love Good Friday (which is kind of a weird statement) because I REALLY love Easter.  I read an old blog of Jen Hatmaker’s the other day that I was totally AMEN-ing the whole time because besides the fact that I’m pretty sure she’s my soul sister (except I only wish I was as hilarious as her), she was totally speaking my heart.  If you can find a Good Friday service at a church nearby, I super encourage you to get your booty there.  It totally prepares your heart for Easter.  And if you live close to me, our church has two to choose from and we would love to have you join us.

So this day is obviously a favorite and it’s Friday, so you know what’s coming. 🙂 That’s right, I’m teaming up with Andrea, Erika, & Narci for Friday Favorites! 

So first off would be the BLIZZARD DAY that we had on Wednesday.  And yes, you heard that right.  Not a snow day, but a BLIZZARD DAY.  The caps lock is really bringing it home for you guys, I feel like.  So a blizzard is even something that shuts down Colorado.  (Although, side note, there have been quite a few “snow days” for the schools here which has been a little surprising since all the Coloradans try it play it off like WE DON’T SHUT DOWN FOR SNOW.  I’m pretty sure the school districts are begging to differ.  Just saying.) So we got the call early that morning that the church office would be shut down, which meant family day in the Jones fam!  Caleb was so excited that he decided to sleep in until 8 am.  My kinda kid.  When he finally joined us, we decided to spend our day doing lots of the eating.  I cooked breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.  Surely Martha Stewart is very proud of me somewhere. 

   

We also decided to spend our day doing lots of the organizing.  Nothing like a spring blizzard to make you do some spring cleaning. 

And of course lots of playing also happened. (And wearing of the jammies.)

 

Lots of silliness happened too.   

And that’s from both guys. Nick thought it would be the best idea ever to go outside to check the depth of snow in shorts with his bare feet. You’re pretty much gonna need to stop reading this right now and go watch that video on my Facebook if you haven’t yet.  Because WHAT IN THE WORLD.

And of course lots of shoveling also happened (well for one of us).
Caleb so badly wanted to go outside with his daddy so I bundled him all up and sent him out there.  He looked straight up like the kid from The Christmas Story and could barely walk, so he waddled himself over to his daddy.    
 

He had a blast for about 2.5 minutes until he waddled face first into snow.  And then we were done. 😉  So blizzard day was definitely a favorite!

So if you were to ask Caleb what his favorites are right now, he would show you his posse of Donald Duck, Goofy, and Mickey Mouse.  He got Mickey for Valentine’s Day from JoJo and he received Donald and Goofy from Nanan for Easter.  It’s so funny to watch him realize that all of these friends should go together, so that’s exactly what they do.  They go with him to nap, to bed, and to the living room to watch him play.  They’re just a walking Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

   

  

One last favorite of the day is the book I just finished reading.  It’s no secret that I’m a fan of The Bachelor shows so I was definitely intrigued when a past Bachelorette, Emily Maynard wrote a book called I Said Yes.  One of my besties recommended it and once I started it, I pretty much finished it in two sittings.  Super quick and easy read!  Although I didn’t actually get to watch her season (one of the rare ones I’ve missed!), I did watch Brad Womack’s season when he chose her.  As a fan of the show, it was interesting to read some of the behind-the-scenes that she touches on.  But more than that, I super enjoyed her sharing her whole entire story because her desire is to share how she found Christ.  It was such a vulnerable way of sharing some things that may not be considered popular and obviously a lot of hurt and sadness for her, but she believes God wants her to now use this platform to share His Gospel.  And that’s a message I can obviously get behind. Super glad she found herself a guy that loves Jesus and they are able to give Him all the glory for how their love story played out. (And no, it wasn’t either of the guys she met on the shows.) So if you’ve contemplated reading it, I would definitely consider it an interesting read. 

 
And that is all the favorites for today!!! Hope everyone has a fabulous Easter weekend celebrating our risen Savior! 

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. 

Luke 24:6-7

 

 

Odegaard My Heart

Aren’t weddings just the best? Especially when you love both people and it’s just so evident that God has called them together. SO FUN. 

This past weekend, we had the fantastic opportunity to get to celebrate with Kristian and Chad as they got married. Now Kristian is technically Nick’s friend from growing up in youth group, but I quickly claimed her as my own friend the weekend I met her. She used to fly to Texas to be one of Nick’s DNOW leaders every year (talk about an awesome friend!) and he placed us to lead together the year that Nick and I were engaged. Sharing a bed and leading some sophomore girls together for a weekend will quickly bond you. 🙂 And also make you take hilariously random pictures like the following.. Ha! 

 

Years later, she was introduced (with the intention of a set up) to a cousin of one of Nick and Kristian’s mutual friends and sure enough, it worked! Matchmaking for the win!!! (I am pro-set-ups because that is, after all, how Nick and I met.) We have had the opportunity to get to know Chad since we moved to Colorado and we were definitely a fan! When they got engaged, they asked Nick to officiate their wedding which was such a huge honor. It’s of course ALWAYS an honor to be asked to play such an instrumental part in such an important day. Even more than that though, Kristian’s dad is Nick’s pastor from growing up and definitely someone that Nick views as a mentor. I know that Nick was incredibly honored they asked him and also to have the opportunity to honor Kristian’s dad through that as well. We were then able to walk through premarital counseling with them which was so fun and showed even more that God had created them to be such a great fit. 

It was wedding time!!!

Caleb and I were of course willing to do our part too in helping Nick prepare for the big day. We may or may not now have their vows memorized. 😉  

 

So Saturday night was the rehearsal and dinner at The Perfect Landing which is a restaurant located on the campus of an airport. Chad is a pilot so it was pretty fitting. And the views of the mountains and sunset were pretty stinkin’ incredible. But I can’t prove it to you because I completely picture failed. LAME. 

Sunday was wedding day!!! They got married at The Welshire Inn and it was absolutely beautiful.  And I gotta admit, there’s something pretty attractive about listening to your husband teach on marriage. 

  
You may now kiss the bride!!!  

  

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Odegaard!!!! 

 

And then it’s time to make it legal.  

   

The reception was such a fun time and so great to catch up with friends! Here come all of the pictures.. 

    
    
    

There’s just something ridiculous that happens when guy friends are reunited after a long time. Or when they are made to take an insane amount of pictures by their wives. Either way.
  
After all, this had already happened in the car pre-ceremony.  

    
 We don’t always take selfies, but when we do, we usually have to take a million because I forget which side button I am supposed to press so I keep accidentally turning my screen off. Thank goodness we work with students and they can remind me of all things relevant. #weold #29forever #butreally30 

BACK TO THE COUPLE. 

Chad and Kristian, we love you and are so excited for this new chapter in your lives! You can count on us to be committed to always pray for your marriage! Here’s to the Odegaards!!!

Friday Favorites: Coloradoversary Style

I absolutely cannot believe it, but we are officially hitting SIX MONTHS of living in Colorado, people!  (AKA our Coloradoversary. Yes, I’ve created a word.) There are days that it feels like we have lived here forever and days where it seems like we just got here.  I thought it would be fun to kind of recap our time here with thoughts of my favorites (and not so favorites) of my new state. Also I’ll give a rundown on what I feel like is different about Texas and Colorado (besides the obvious weather situation).

  

First off with favorites…

THE VIEW.  This so obviously has to go first because my goodness, the view is gorgeous.  I know all the Texans are going to freak out when I say this but Colorado definitely wins in the Beautiful State Department.  Everywhere you turn, you see mountains (at least in my part of Colorado).  Even the ugliest thing like a car dealership can look awesome when there are mountains behind it.  I could go on and on forever but I don’t think I will ever get over the mountains in the background of my life.  Talk about God’s Glory just showing off and being awesome. 

  

   

THE THINGS TO DO. So not to say that Texas doesn’t have a million things to do, but I just feel like Colorado just has so many fun things to do, especially outside.  Am I going to bring up the mountains again?  Maybe.  More like probably.  I just feel like there is just so much to explore here.. and maybe some of that is because I am new, but I do feel like even people that have lived here forever feel the same way too.  And it does help that you don’t have to travel like 8 hours across state to go do some of the things.  Maybe smaller states aren’t so bad after all. 

 

THE WEATHER.  Alright, this may come as a surprise to most of you, but I actually really don’t mind the weather here.  In my Texas mind, I just imagined there being snow ALL OF THE TIME.  And that is just so not the case.  Also, I imagined cold days being dreary and depressing.  Believe me, there are plenty of cold days but the sun is shining as all get out.  And even if it snows in the morning, the sun will probably be out by the afternoon and it’s gorgeous.  (A small disclaimer though is that as spring is “supposed” to already be here and there is snow in the forecast, that is blowing my mind a bit.  I do believe I’m ready for some spring clothes.) 
  

SUMMER.  Now obviously I haven’t lived here yet for summer, but I have visited before and it is AMAZING compared to Texas summers.  The heat is NOTHING like Texas and the lack of humidity is simply wonderful.  What love songs are made of really.  (But if I reach summer and I feel like it’s too cold to put a bathing suit on my wimpy self, I may need to write a whole new blog because that will be a problem.) 

   

MOUNTAIN TOWNS.  They are pretty much my favorite thing ever.  All of them are just so precious and adorable and usually have such fun stores and restaurants.  I don’t think I could ever live in one but they sure are fun to visit!  Plus Idaho Springs has Beau Jo’s and that’s just amazingness in itself.  

On to some not so favorites…

MY FAMILY DOES NOT LIVE HERE.  I just figured it was best to start off with the obvious.  Would I love Colorado more if all of my people lived here?  Duh.  So if they could get on that, that’d be great.  But yes, it is so hard to miss out on so many life things with some of my most favorite people.  Easter is coming up and holidays are always huge in my family and the thought of not being there totally hurts my heart.  Also, not getting to see my niece grow up daily kills me.  But thank goodness for technology and FaceTime.  Without it, I would be an absolute HOT MESS.

THE PRICE OF LIVING. So although my family doesn’t live here, apparently everyone else in the universe does so houses are so stupid expensive.  Right now we are renting because we wanted to get to know the area first, but the thought of trying to buy a house in this market is scary and ridiculous and stupid.  So there’s that.

THE LACK OF GOOD MEXICAN FOOD. Yes there is Mexican food here, but NO IT IS NOT THE SAME.  It makes me sad.  I once asked someone here where they would recommend as the best Mexican food  here and they said On The Border.  I almost cried.  Someone ship me all of the chips and salsa and quesadillas and enchiladas and tortillas and fajitas, please.  Kthanksbye.

THE SWEET TEA HAS GONE MISSING.  There is this magical thing in Texas that you can now pull up to pretty much any fast food restaurant and order a sweet tea and they give you one.  Here?  Not so much.  They may give you an unsweet tea (or “iced tea” as people call it) BUT THAT IS NOT REAL TEA.  Thank goodness for Chick-Fil-A is all I’ve got to say.

DRIVING IN A SNOW STORM.  Thankfully I personally have not had to do this, but even riding in the passenger seat is a bit terrifying.  And by a bit, I mean I don’t plan on ever doing in my future kinda scary. 

And now thoughts in general…

ALL OF THE SKIING.  It is just a completely different culture to me.  All so brand new to my brain. People literally go up and ski for the day and come back home.  Or they go up every weekend to ski and that is their life for like four months straight.  It is just the craziest thing to me.  I’ve been apart of discussions with moms on the different ways that families choose to teach their kiddos to ski.  Like that’s a thing.  Figuring out the right way to teach your kid to ski.  How about the option of NOT teaching them to ski?  Because I’m pretty sure Caleb doesn’t want me teaching him since I hadn’t ever even been to a ski town until we lived here.  And I surely have never put on a pair of skis.  And I also have no intention of starting because skiing requires being cold and doing something athletic… neither things I am good at.  So sorry little buddy.  You will either need to hit up your dad or have a nice friend’s parents that find the importance in teaching you the ways of skiing.

 

SPRING BREAK IS LATE.  As I’ve seen on social media, everyone in Texas either had their Spring Break last week or this week.  Here in Colorado it is either next week or even the week after that.  What in the world??  Maybe because they are giving the weather the chance to actually be “spring” for “spring” break.  Or maybe it’s just how they roll.  Obviously it doesn’t really effect me at the moment because no one in my family is in school, but it just confuses me.

  
So as we stood in front of our house on the day we arrived to live in Colorado, I don’t think we had any idea what to expect. We were confident that God called us here so we were ready to see what He had in store. Through past pain and transition, God has shown us His faithfulness in incredible ways and given us so much evidence that this is where God wants us. This is our home and we love it. 
  

All About Caleb

Want to know what it looks like when your child decides to get all of his molars in plus a couple more teeth all at the same time?

Yup. That’s me. You can’t recognize me because of the lack of sleep but I promise that’s what I look like right now.

So I thought it would be fun to update on all things Caleb since he WON’T STOP GROWING. I mean my goodness, the kid is getting big. Last week I noticed some of his clothes were becoming a bit small and his sweater looked a bit like a midriff. Whoops. Not the look we are going for. So I packed up all his 24 month size clothes and officially committed to 2T. SIGH. He no longer wears clothes that has months in the size. We have officially entered toddler land. (And I cannot even express how thankful we are for grandparents that buy him clothes and for a friend with twin boys that gives us their hand me downs.)

Speaking of entering toddler land, he so badly wants to be a big kid. He loves watching the teenagers play in the gym at church and usually he’s right in the thick of them. He’s even starting to actually dribble the ball when he’s holding a real basketball. The kid knows exactly where that ball closet is and he will cry real tears if it is locked. (Looks like the terrible twos might be headed our way.) He also can fiercely throw a ball which is apparently awesome that he already has a ‘great arm’, but is not great if you happen to be looking away. I’ve become a pro at getting pegged in the head.

He is still not all about speaking words, but he does say car and ball constantly. Probably because they are his favorite toys. He will also say please, mama, dada, and Jesus consistently. Usually if you ask him to say a word, he will try his best to repeat it back to you but I’m not counting all of those words just yet. 😉 One of his favorite things right now is telling you what sound each animal makes. The one that makes me laugh the most is the sheep because it pretty much sounds like an attack sheep because he screams BAA!! Don’t want to run into that sheep in a back alley.

Nick’s mom sent us this picture yesterday. How hilarious, right?? And so true.

Cars are the best thing ever in his book. He likes pointing them out while we are driving, loves pushing around his toy cars while saying ‘vrooom’, and will even have them drive all over his body or ours. Aren’t we all just highways anyway?

He LOVES to read. And that makes this mama oh so very happy. He still has a soft spot for his favorite book Doggy Dog but lately he’s really loved himself a good flap book. (For those not in the kid world, that just means a book that has flaps that he can pull up and there’s something hiding underneath it.) Usually in the morning and after nap time, he will request books be given to him in his crib and he will happily ‘read’ in there alone for a bit. Kindred spirits, me and him.

Caleb would live outside if we would let him. He is obsessed with getting to be outdoors. Catch him in the middle of a meltdown with ‘Wanna go outside?’ and he will quickly stop the tears, smile, and say ‘psssss.’ (That’s Caleb for please.) The playground is his jam. He either wants to stand there in awe of the big kids playing or join right in attempting to be big. I’m pretty confident he would stay there forever if we let him.

Nick is going to just LOVE this part but Caleb also really loves jewelry. If I have any kind of jewelry on at all (and if you know me, you know that I do), he totally wants in on that action. He thinks bracelets are hilarious as he tries to balance them on his feet while he is sitting. Necklaces are his favorite as he practices putting them on and taking them off. The other day, he found Nick’s name tag on a lanyard from church and it became his entertainment in the car.
  
And here he is just trying to put a strap around his neck. The guys loves a good ‘necklace.’ #sorrynick

Most of all, this kid is a lover. He loves to hug us, give kisses, blow kisses, just lay on us (or dogpile on Nick), and be snuggled. It makes my heart so happy. I would totally cuddle my sweet boy all day long. He is also still SUCH a flirt. We are definitely in big trouble.

So that is a bit of an update on all things Caleb. I’m sure there will be many many more to come!

Friday Favorites

FRIDAY IS HERE!!!!! Can we all say AMEN?! Between scratchy throats, 3 molars entering the world, and just not feeling great, our fam is ready for the weekend. So let’s get to it!!

As becoming my norm, I’m teaming up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci to share some favorites today. 🙂 Because Friday just gives us a reason to celebrate and what better way then talking about some faves!

1. First things first, I am sooo glad to be home!!!! As much as I loved loved loved getting to spend the weekend with some fantastic friends and love on brand new babies, I am a girl of routine at heart. And of course a girl that loves her boys.

2. CALEB SAID JESUS!!!! Ok, ok, probably only Nick and I can understand him but he’s actually super trying to say the word. This kid has a funny relationship with talking.. Sometimes he’s super interested and sometimes he could care less. I sense a pattern of teenage boy in my future. Well yesterday he was in a chatty mood (which for him means saying car incessantly) so I decided to give it a shot. We have always been intentional with speaking Jesus’ name over him and around him but have actually never asked him to try and say it. And boy, did he try! He gave me two syllables and everything. It sounds more like ju-sss but WE WILL TAKE IT. Especially since he continued to say it over and over and over again. We got so excited and he got so excited and I’m pretty sure Jesus was super excited! May this just be the very small beginning to a very big relationship between him and Jesus.

3. Have you watched the entire new season of Fuller House?!?! Because I sure have. And loved every single cheesy, adorable moment of it. Seriously, if you were a fan of Full House, then this show will make you oh so happy.  And I pretty much love Candace Cameron Bure so it’s so fun to see her in the leading role. The theme song even just makes me straight giddy. Can’t wait for season 2!

4. Yesterday an awesome friend of ours and her super cute 5 year old watched Caleb for us. The girl that usually watches him is out of town this week so they totally stepped in for us. I can’t even describe how good it feels to know we have people here. Good friendships have always been so important to me and I’m glad that I’m starting to form those here. And I mean, you can’t get much cuter than this. I’m pretty sure Caleb would rate Maleah as a favorite in his book.

5. The weather is supposed to be AMAZING here this weekend! We already enjoyed a fun afternoon at the park and walking around the lake. Can’t really beat these views right?

 And you REALLY can’t beat this view. 😉

So here’s to lots of fun outside! Happy weekend everyone!

 

a baby girls weekend

For the past 17 months, if I got on an airplane then I was getting on an airplane with a little person. Until Friday. Can I just make a complete DUH statement that flying without the little person is SO MUCH EASIER. Y’all. I had my purse walking through the airport. That was IT. No millions of bags that held all of the things just in case of any potential disaster that could occur. Nope. It was just me, my purse, my coffee, and my US Weekly that was going to explain to me why Ben the Bachelor thought it was okay to tell two girls that he loved them. 

Although leaving my two guys was definitely not easy. I’m pretty sure I started missing them before I even left. And told them exactly that. (It’s like I keep finding ways to prove to Nick I’m a little crazy.) But I am married to an amazing guy that was excited about a guys weekend with his one year old. So off I went to go love on some brand new babies. 
Introducing Miss Sophie Jane…
 

Isn’t she PRECIOUS?! One of my besties Tiffany gave birth to this sweet girl on February 28th and she is just a teeny tiny ball of adorable.

 

I don’t think Caleb was EVER this size and surely never slept this much. (Or maybe I was just an overwhelmed, overtired, brand new mama that doesn’t remember any facts straight.)

  

 

Can you tell her big brothers are just absolutely smitten?  

 

And Tiffany has not even skipped a beat. This is a friend that came to stay with us a day after we got home from the hospital with Caleb and I remember her doing my laundry, forcing me to go nap, and talking through every single baby freak out moment ever. She is just one of the most hospitable, servant-hearted people I know. So that is completely what she is still doing with her family, even though she’s just added another member to the family. We all joked that she would have served everyone dinner in the hospital if they would have allowed her. That’s just what she does.. Serve and love her family well. #momgoalz

And now introducing Miss Mary Lou!!!

 

One of our other best friends Amanda had her sweet baby girl ten days before Tiff. Can we just take a moment to bask in the cuteness here?! The bows, the pink, the matching onesies. I CAN’T EVEN HANDLE IT. These girls are going to be instant besties and I absolutely love it. When I look at those sweet girls, I just see God’s faithfulness all over them. I could just stare at them all day long. 

   

  
And I could also hold them all day long.

 
 
Our only outing included getting to watch this little cutie be a soccer stud.

I absolutely LOVED getting to meet those baby girls and spend time with friends. But my heart obviously missed these boys.  

   
I am thankful for a ridiculous amount of FaceTime calls and for my boys letting me go. I sure am glad to be home and to squeeze Caleb more than he would probably like. 

For the Love of Coffee


Yesterday at bible study, we were asked to share three of our all time FAVORITES. As I thought of what I was going to bring, I KNEW that coffee was going to be one of them. It just can’t not be apart of any favorite list of mine. (Although Nick couldn’t believe I didn’t choose to bring HIM in.) As I was sharing my love/obsession of coffee, I remembered that I wrote a blog about my love story with coffee way back in the day. (The name of my blog was even called ‘come grab a latte’, for goodness sake.) So I went and found it and thought that it would be fun to share it today, especially since it’s Friday Favorites day! And since this was written pre-Nick and Caleb, I’ll add on to it. 🙂

This was written August 12, 2010…

You may have noticed by the name of my blog, I seem to have a bit of attachment to coffee. Let’s both drink a latte and discuss. This probably all started when I used to visit my grandparent’s house when I was little and they had coffee time everyday at 3 pm. My wonderful Grandad decided that I should be able to drink coffee too and started to slip me some (because what mom really wants their child drinking coffee). And it’s pretty much been love ever since.  

Every Wednesday my Grandad would pick me up from elementary school (for piano lessons which I took for 6 years and refused to learn anything) and head to his house for some coffee and chocolate pudding. (Can you see why I refused to quit piano even though I obviously had no desire to play?) Coffee time with Grandad quickly became one of my all-time favorite things. As I grew older and drinking coffee seemed a little bit more appropriate, that is when I began to explore cappucinos with my friends usually courtesy of the gas station. I knew that I loved coffee, but I also knew that I had no idea how to even prepare my own cup because my precious Grandad always did that for me.  

As I went off to college, my love continued and that is the first time I lived in the same town as a Starbucks. I’m pretty sure angels probably sang a hallelujah chorus as they built that Starbucks so close to my apartment building. I quickly gave up my gas station cappucinos and began my commitment to the real thing. However, being a college student and trying to maintain my love affair with coffee at such a high price, I knew that something needed to be done. Luckily by this point, I had friends that shared the same love and explained that I indeed was in it enough to use my own coffee pot. This was a tiny little contraption that my mom had bought for the sole intention of being able to brew coffee for when she would visit. I was quickly discouraged but then I realized that my wonderful Nana had also offered me a fancier coffeepot that brewed right in to two travel coffee mugs. Between the two of these, I knew that I would be okay. I began to purchase my own coffee and re-learned how to brew it (since a chore growing up was to brew my mom’s coffee) and was on my way. It got to the point where my great friend Andrea would pick me up for school and there would be 2 travel mugs of coffee ready for us to go. Gotta love friends that share the love.  

At my college graduation, I knew what needed to happen. People began to ask me what I would like for my next move into the world and I quickly requested a coffee pot. My aunt that ended up purchasing me one thought I was completely crazy, but followed through by buying me an absolutely fantastic one. Favorite college graduation present ever. This coffee pot has now moved with me to Fort Worth and brewed coffee for me every morning and random other times of the day since. Entering grad school definitely increased my love and dependence on coffee. My coffee pot began to experience being brewed from anywhere to 6 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon to 2 in the morning. My love for coffee became crucial to graduating from grad school.  

People tend to tease me about my love (or obsession as they may call it) for coffee. This may be because of my insistence of never going a road trip without Starbucks, the instant happiness I feel when coffee is mentioned, my strong desire to drink coffee black just to be hardcore, Starbucks baristas recognizing me and knowing my drink, or the fact that I’m just plain addicted.  

No matter how you look at it, coffee just makes everything better: life decisions, sweet time with friends, dessert, reading a good book, spending some precious time with the Lord, driving in the car, waking up in the morning…

Let’s be honest, I could go on forever. But I won’t. I know that not everyone may share my love (which I cannot understand for the life of me) but I will respect that… as long as you respect the love. I don’t judge you for your strange Diet Coke addictions. 

 

So obviously I have been in love for a long time. So then I met my future husband (although I of course didn’t know it at the time) and he did NOT drink coffee. Like at all. Our first ‘hang out’ (NOT a date because he did not pay) was at Starbucks. And he ordered a smoothie. Umm. So as I saw that we were getting more serious, I made it my mission in life to make him like coffee. Just think of all the important causes that I could have used all that energy towards. But apparently I’m just that crazy and determined when it comes to my drink of choice. And if you meet Nick now, he drinks coffee! Only iced, but coffee nonetheless. I mean we even ended up getting engaged at that same Starbucks. I would call that a victory.

So just consider coffee a love language of mine. If you ask me to meet for coffee or ask if you can bring me coffee, my heart feels all of the warm fuzzy feelings. It is indeed my happy place.

What’s Up Wednesday! 

It’s Hump Day! Remember that ridiculous commercial with the camels about what day it was?! Pretty sure me and one of my besties used to text each other each Wednesday morning with camel emojis. Because we are just super cool like that. (Love ya Tiff!)

Today I’m linking up for What’s Up Wednesday! to share all the random things going on in the Jones fam right now.   

  

1. WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK…

Meal planning in our home happens every Friday and then I ask Nick if he has anything he’s been craving to add to the list. The beginning of this week was cold and a little snowy so Frito Pie was definitely in order. Since I work until 5 on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s now, my crockpot has become my BFF. So anyone that wants to share their fave slow cooker recipe, I’m all ears!  

2. WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT…

Baby Caleb. I blame TimeHop for this. Everyday I’m reminded of just how tiny that kid was a year ago today.  

 

And then their whole then|now feature allows my mind to really be blown to see the difference side by side.  

 Luckily he is such a cuddly kid that I still get to squeeze him tight all the time. If I can catch him first. 

3. WHAT I’M LOVING…

So this will sound like such a cliche answer but my boys are what I am really loving right now. A day doesn’t usually go by that I don’t have a moment of disbelief that I get to do life with Nick and that God chose us to be Caleb’s parents. Nick is such a rockstar at being my biggest encourager and Caleb is always so lovey that I’m pretty sure I’ve got a fan in him too.  Then the two of them together pretty sure just makes my heart smile huge. I mean, look how stinkin cute they are playing together. 

 

4. WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO…

Pretty much everything. As I’ve already talked about our crazy 2 weeks here and then we had a fun family weekend at Red Rocks and now we are just back to normal routine things. PTL. 

5. WHAT I’M DREADING…

I don’t think I’m currently dreading anything so that’s always a good thing, right?! 

6. WHAT I’M WORKING ON…

So I’m the co-coordinator of VBS this year at our church (or really assistant coordinator because I’m just following along and figuring it out as I’m told..haha!). I’m super excited because I remember back to my old children’s ministry days of recruiting VBS leaders and now it’s like I get to switch roles. 🙂 SO with that being said, if you go to my church then you should totally be signing up to volunteer in VBS this summer!  

 
7. WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT…

Two of my besties decided to have babies within weeks of one another! Well actually God decided, but still fun. So Amanda had her precious little girl last week. 

Tiffany should be having her baby girl within this next week. When we found out about us moving to Colorado, Tiff and I pretty much made Nick sign in blood that I would get to fly out when those babies arrived. And now it’s almost here! Can. Not. Wait. 

8. WHAT I’M WATCHING/READING..

Well the other day I was asking a college girl what shows she watches on TV and I quickly figured out I share some of the same ones. Whoops. (Just remember this is a no judgement zone.)

 For as long as I can remember, The Bachelor (or Bachelorette) was a girls Monday night tradition with my friends. Now unfortunately we all live in different cities but don’t you fret. We have set up a a bachelor fantasy league (think fantasy football). So yes, I guess you could say I’m a die-hard fan. #noshame 

  This one I won’t stand by and say no shame.. because I’m a bit embarrassed (and rightly so). This is a show I binge watched on Netflix years ago and am now caught up and have to watch every Tuesday night to finally get closure of when these poor ridiculous girls will finally make good choices like calling the cops instead of thinking its a better idea to keep secrets that just make them look straight guilty as they are blackmailed and tortured to a ridiculous degree. So you could say I’m just in too deep. 
  Let me introduce you to my best friends Chip and JoJo. Unfortunately I need to meet them first. There was a time that Joanna commented on one of my Instagram posts and it pretty much made my life.  
 That makes us best friends, right? Seriously though. I love this show. I love this couple. I love that they love Jesus. It’s all a bunch of win wins. (So surely this redeems me watching PLL, right?)

  This is the show that I’m slowly making my way through on Netflix. And the reason why I don’t just binge watch it all the way through? Because of my emotional well being, that’s why. I BAWL EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. I think it’s best I go slow through this so that way I don’t overwhelm my husband with everything Bravermans (and how I want to BE a Braverman) or so I don’t have an emotional meltdown every single night. Either way. SO NO SPOILERS PLEASE. I can’t handle it. 
  I have an amazing aunt that mailed me this book and it just happened to already be on my to-read list. (Aunt Jackie, you rock!) I’ve already started it and love it. It’s a book written by Lauren Chandler over Psalm 107 and how she clung to God’s steadfast love through a storm in her life when they discovered her husband had a brain tumor. I grew up in youth group where her husband, Matt was my youth intern and went on to be our camp and DNOW pastors as his teaching ministry grew. I can’t wait to read this book of spiritual encouragement by someone that seems so transparent and real. I’ll let you know my thoughts once I finish! 
  Now this is the book we are currently going through in our growth group. I think marriage books are always good reminders to continue to spur on loving our spouses well, but this is definitely the first time we have done that in a group setting. There have been everything from laughs to awkwardness and we are only one section in! I seriously just feel so blessed that we have a group to do this authentically with. 

9. WHAT I’M LISTENING TO…

My little man is currently cutting four teeth, one being a molar so I’m listening to a lot of this… 

 The poor guy. Every night for our bedtime prayers, Nick includes ‘..and may those teeth come in quickly and healthy and ready to eat steak.’ AMEN. 

10. WHAT I’M WEARING…

Well I am NOT a selfie girl by any means. Something I do wear now that I can confidently say I’ve never worn before in my life is snow boots. It’s still weird for me every time I put them on but I’ve learned the value of them too many times from slipping in my other shoes. So snow boots it is! And it helps that my mom bought me these cute ones. 🙂 

 

11. WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND…

I’m a little terrified of this one because I don’t know if I’m excited or anxious. I might needed to put it under the dreading section. I’m going to Casa Bonita. 

Pretty much EVERYONE says to prepare myself to throw up afterwards because the food makes you sick so that should make me really want to go, right?? But apparently it’s one of those bucket list must-do’s in Colorado (at least to some people) so it’s happening. Sooo.. I’m sure I’ll let you know how that goes. 

12. WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH…

EASTER! Hands down. If you haven’t picked this up yet, I LOVE all holidays. Especially Easter. We get to celebrate the biggest thing ever which is Jesus dying on the cross for our sins to reconcile us to God and then three days later rising from the grave to go to Heaven and prepare a place for us. This is a HUGE reason to celebrate! I pray for the day that this resonates in our little boy’s heart and he truly grasps the Gospel. So bring on Easter!!

13. WHAT ELSE IS NEW…

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the incredible people that God has placed in my life and what a great encouragement they are in their faith in Christ. That is no exception when I think of our sweet friends, Jake & Jennifer. She shared yesterday her story about their precious little boy Dustin. I feel led to share it because it is such a testament to how good our God is (even when things don’t feel good) and how all things point back to Him. I hope their story is just as encouraging to you and how cool that God is already getting all the glory in this handsome little guy’s life!  

 
And that is it for What’s Up Wednesday, my friends! We are halfway to the weekend. We got this! Just imagine a huge camel in your office/classroom if that helps get ya through. 

Family Fun Day: the Red Rocks edition 

Happy Monday y’all!! After all of my complaining of our past 2 crazy weeks, this weekend was simply amazing. I am lucky to have a fantastic husband that pretty much insisted we have a family day on Saturday. So that’s exactly what we did! 

It started off with cuddles on the couch. 

 

Since it was absolutely gorgeous outside, we decided to go to Red Rocks since it seems to be one of those must-sees on the Colorado list. And huge bonus that it’s not too far from our house!  

 

Caleb LOVED getting run all around it and even tried to ‘work out’ like the million other people there. I however just sat and drank my entire bottle of water once we reached the top. 

   
And yes his pants are on backwards. Which we noticed the moment we got there. #parentfail

  

   


Can we just take a moment to let the fact that we live close to this place sink in? I will ALWAYS be a Texas girl at heart, but this place is stinkin’ gorgeous. Like for real. 
How was everyone else’s weekend?! 

Now back to real life this morning because this Monday calls for grocery shopping, laundry, and play time with the little man.  

This is him ‘helping with laundry.’

   
Hope everyone has a great start to your week! And if you need good advice to help make that happen, then here you have it..