Currently March

3.14.2018



wearingthese sneakers that Rachel blogged about (see: above). They are, in fact, as comfortable as she claimed and a rather amazing dupe of these Steve Madden sneakers. I sized up half a size and they fit perfectly, FYI. Also, ignore the fact that I am in H&M pretending that anything in there will a) fit me and b) not look ridiculous on me. 

Dear H&M,
Crop tops* = death
Love, 
Amanda

p.s. *Also, animal prints. No.

seeing: my family this weekend and next weekend! It's that season of showers, and I have my cousin's bridal shower and my sister-in-law's baby shower coming up, plus my cousin's wedding this summer and the arrival of my niece! I'll be driving by myself with the kids this weekend while Jordan stays home. I've made the solo 3-hour drive a few times now, and it's gone mostly well. Praying they both just fall asleep!

planning: a trip to England in the fall! Jordan and I are both completely over-the-moon ecstatic about this. Four years ago we got a pretty good tax return and decided to open up a specific savings account for a trip to Europe. We put a little bit away here and there over the years, but it's basically just been sitting there. No matter what happens, we've both been like don't touch the Europe money, and we've been talking about going for what seems like forever.

We thought about our schedules and the ages of the kids and when we might want to start trying for baby #3 (spoiler alert: not this year), and we decided that this fall would be the perfect time to go! I CANNOT WAIT. Two weekends ago I booked our flights to London. 

LONDON. WE ARE FANCY.

Can I be totally honest for a minute, though? I know some people have a perception of dual-income families that they have all this extra money floating around for presents and fancy vacations. I feel a little self-conscious talking about this trip and always want to explain that we really have been saving up for a while and have never done anything like this before. I know it's not anyone's business, but I feel better putting it out there :)

We don't have anything else booked or planned yet, but at least we have tickets to get over there! Have I mentioned I'm super totally excited about this?

pretending: that I'm not anxious about my upcoming half marathon or semi-depressed about the state of my fitness and post-baby body. I'm not comparing myself to anyone else. I'm comparing myself to myself, and I've been feeling emotional and grouchy about all of it lately. I know all the inspiring and true things I could and should be saying to myself, and yes my babies are SO worth it. I'm not fishing for compliments. But sometimes it just straight up is a bummer to think about how fast I used to be and how flat I used to be and how... just, how everything. I also hurt my back last week and I haven't been able to do anything at all in a week, so that is helping my mood immensely.

Basically I'm just having all the feelings right now. Hold me.

making: a few things out of the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I tried some cookies earlier this week, and she has a recipe for a sweet potato side that was super easy and delicious. I have a few other things I want to try out of it too! At one point in my life, I would love to cook through one entire cookbook. I don't know if it will ever happen, but I think it would be fun. I like trying new things out in the kitchen.

Tell me, what are you planning? What are you making?
Unknown said...

I hope your back feels better ASAP <3 Have a great time with your family this weekend and next. There's nothing better!! Praying for some good car naps for the kids and some good podcast time for you ;) I love your trip to Europe. Good for you guys for saving up! Honestly, that's amazing and I'm slightly jealous, lol.

Maureen said...

London will be amazing!! You shouldn't feel bad or awkward or anything about talking about the trip. You guys saved up and totally deserve it. I hope it's amazing!

Currently making cupcakes. I have an outing this weekend and was told to bring cupcakes so that's what I'll be doing tonight.

Rach said...

Yay for all the family time! Crossing my fingers those babies sleep for you!

London! Yes!! Amanda, I am so excited for you!! It's going to be such an awesome trip! We are tentatively planning to maybe go next year so I will be saving all of your posts for future reference. So you know, please blog about all the things. :D

I'm so sorry about your back! I hope it heals quickly!

Amy said...

Kudos to you for saving for things you want! Thats the way to do it!

Sarah @ Sweet Miles said...

Have fun seeing your family!! Mine is flying in at the end of next week after we find out the gender of the baby! And I'm with you on the dual income thing, people just assume you have this huge pool of expendable income, ha! Definitely not! It's called insurance and bills and LIFE! lol I'm excited to hear more about London planning! We want to do something fun for our 10 year anniversary in a few years, and I'm leaning towards Iceland or Canada.

Rebecca Jo said...

How exciting. Our daughter just went to london & she loved it - she even saw Prince Andrew driving a car into Buckingham Palace!! They shut down the road as the royals drive apparently - shut it down right as he comes through & opens it right behind him. I guess their used to it there but can you imagine the hassle of that?

Maria said...

I'm so excited about your London trip and will live vicariously. Do not feel like you cannot talk about it - we want all the details! Please just promise me you'll take time to have some real British tea and scones/biscuits and then channel me because that's my dream. We had some friends from London just visit and they brought over some Cadbury chocolate, so do yourself a favor and load up on chocolate too. It's so much better than our Cadbury chocolate.

Have fun visiting your family! Such an exciting year for everyone!

Audrey Louise said...

A) I love that flannel in your pic.
B) SUPER jealous of the England trip!! That'll be so much fun! And I didn't know there was a dual-income stigma... I've never had thoughts like that about people who work and have kids. I just thought there was a d.i.n.k. stigma with the duel income no kids. I heard that for the very first time a few years ago. The HECK with these stupid stigmas!
C) I wanna cook through an entire cookbook, too!!

Amy @ A Desert Girl said...

I am soooo excited for you guys to go to England. I plan to live vicariously through your posts. I so agree and respect saving up for a big trip. It doesn't seem like it would be enjoyable at all if there was a mountain of credit card debt following me around on a vacation.

I'm so sorry your back has been bothering you. I hope it feels better soon.

AnneMarie said...

Woohoo Europe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was just listening to The Simple Show yesterday and they're currently doing a series on travel (domestic and international) with your family, and it was totally giving me the travel bug. I may have started looking up international flights to various places lol. And I'm convinced that I need to talk with my husband about making a "travel" savings account, since I'd love to take a big trip (domestic or international) in I don't know, like 3 or 4 years. I've only been to London once, and it was for a few days with a tour group so we did touristy stuff, but it was a lot of fun and I totally would love to go back, so I'm excited to see you write about it more!

Right now I'm munching on protein waffles that I made this morning and trying not to think about how out of shape I am! I am slowly dipping back into running after not really doing much in the cold months we had, and I've discovered that running while pregnant and pushing a stroller is taking a lot more out of me than running when not pregnant and not pushing a stroller!

Jen said...

Yay for seeing family! That is always such a wonderful treat. :)

Jenny Evans said...

London sounds great. Phillip and I toyed with going there for our 15th anniversary this summer but decided on something else. Maybe for our 20th.

Lindsay C said...

Amazing! I have family all over England. Do you know where you plan to go yet? Are you planning to stay in the city or go out to the countryside? If you are looking for some recommendations please reach out. I literally just got back from a 3 week trip a month or two ago. Best of luck with the planning process!

Angi said...

Well, those are some cute sneakers!

I actually like H&M, but NOT the actual store. The stores are just one rack of neon crop tops away from being Forever 21 in terms of overcrowded and annoying. I do like shopping their website, though, and their baby/kid clothes are wonderful. I also wore their maternity jeans and they were my favorite.

I don't know how you're even thinking about baby #3 yet, haha. I only have one kid and I'm like, a second one? HAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Rachel Emily said...

Cute shoes, girl! ;) Thanks for the shout out! I seriously get comments on those shoes every time I wear them which is basically every day. Second ENGLAND OMG. I can not can not can not wait to hear about your plans and the trip!! Could not be more excited for you.

Mimsie said...

Your trip to England sounds like a dream. Don't you find the planning is half the fun of any trip? Making...Smitten Kitchen's Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies. It's the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I use any more. My only tweaks are...flatten the cookies before sprinkling on the pinch of sea salt, and lowering the baking temp to 325 rather than 360. Excuse me while I get one or three out of the freezer.

The Lady Okie said...

Yes! I am excited!

The Lady Okie said...

Amen, sister ;)

The Lady Okie said...

Oh thank you so much! I am having a hard time figuring out the train/rail situation over there. We don't want to rent a car, but we went to get from London to a few other cities (Liverpool, Nottingham, and York). Any recommendations for places to eat or stay in any of those cities (or London) would be definitely helpful!

The Lady Okie said...

I am having fun planning but also feel a little intimidated by it! Hopefully the more I look it over the more confident I will feel :) And those cookies sound amazing! I should try them sometime.

Carolann Chambers said...

I am SO excited for your tip to London!! And I do feel sometimes weird about posting about the vacations that Nick and I take so I know how you feel. I usually spread out my posts so I can be writing about one vacation for months. I just posted about an expensive tour we took on the Big Island. What people don't see on my blog is that we also save like crazy. For two years we shared one car. Now, I drive a car that I paid $1800 for. We live in a small apartment, and we don't buy much. Seriously, we both still wear clothes we had when we met 11 years ago. But we love to travel so that's what we save for. So don't feel bad posting about your trip. We are excited and happy for you!!

Lindsay C said...

Do NOT rent a car if at ALL possible during your time in London. We actually ended up staying in Stratford City in London (where the Olympics were held). We stayed at an extended stay hotel which was so nice because we had a kitchen and a separate bedroom so with the kids that might be a nice option. Also, the hotel is right next to the railway station. Shoot me an email if you want more information. https://www.ihg.com/staybridge/hotels/us/en/london/lonpm/hoteldetail?qAdlt=2&qBrs=6c.hi.ex.rs.ic.cp.in.sb.cw.cv.ul.vn.ki.sp.nd.ct&qChld=0&qCiD=25&qCiMy=022018&qCoD=26&qCoMy=022018&qFRA=1&qGRM=0&qIta=99618083&qPSt=0&qRRSrt=rt&qRef=df&qRms=1&qRpn=1&qRpp=20&qSHp=1&qSmP=3&qSrt=sBR&qWch=0&srb_u=1&icdv=99618083&cm_mmc=mdpr-_-TripAdvisorUS-_-BLwebsiteD-_-sb_lonpm&glat=MEDI_mdpr-_-TripAdvisorUS-_-BLwebsiteD-_-sb_lonpm&setPMCookies=true

Torrie said...

Woo hoo for your London trip! That sounds amazing!

And I actually am currently cooking my way through an entire cookbook as one of my 101 in 1001 goals, and it's been pretty awesome! It's forced me to try a lot of recipes I normally wouldn't have, and honestly, I've LOVED the majority of them. It just goes to show me that I need to be more adventurous than I usually am!

StephTheBookworm said...

So excited for you to go to England!
I hear you, lady! We are dual income and we are NOT swimming in money. That's why we ARE dual income... we need both of our paychecks, and vacations literally take us years to save for. NO judging here! I get you!

Rachel said...

That is too cool about your trip to London! Most of my family has been to England, some multiple times, but always without me, haha, so I have no idea what it's like, but everything looks kind of old and British and pretty cool. :)
I know what you mean about feeling a bit self-conscious when blogging about travels. For some reason I think a lot of people have this idea of vacations as this really extreme expensive thing...and because of where I live, the destinations we go to sound really exotic. Like we went to Thailand last Christmas. But really, considering where we live, when roadtripping to Thailand, the level of cost and commitment is like driving from Michigan to Ohio. Plus, we usually vacation with my family and share cars and rooms (all of us sharing one "family" room at the Salvation Army in Singapore two years ago was pretty hilarious) so travel is generally not nearly as expensive as some imagine it is!

・ DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS