One of my absolute favorite things about blogging is the fact that I have developed so many friendships over the past couple years. Some of these friendships are just via e-mail, tweets and blog comments, but I’ve also had the opportunity to go on a lot of “blogger dates” with some of my favorite people online. Joe is notoriously skeptical, since he is of the (logical) frame of mind that you can become whoever you want to be on the … Read More

Over the last couple weeks, Joe and I have been watching a lot of football. Between the bowl games over the holiday season and the NFL Playoffs, we’ve spent more time on the couch than I care to admit. Seeing as that we are going to have to go eight months before football season gears up again in the fall, I have justified my lazy behavior as absolutely necessary. Most of the time we simply sit down and watch the … Read More

One of the things that Joe and I have appreciated most about living in small-town Iowa has been our church family. We decided to live where we do because it was central to where Joe would work (east of Grinnell) and where I would work (west of Grinnell). Since neither of us work in the community in which we live, I was initially worried about how we would make friends and build a sense of community. Fortunately, it didn’t take … Read More

Are you in post-holiday denial? Because I certainly am. I absolutely love the weeks leading up to Christmas with the festive music, the excited buzz everywhere you go. It seems like everyone is in a better mood just knowing that the holidays are fast approaching. But I can’t help but feel a serious let down once Christmas has come and gone. Of course there are beautiful things about the start of a new year. It feels as if anything is … Read More

source The beginning of a new year always makes me think a little deeper. I’ve had a little time in the car today on our drive back home to think about last year’s goals. I shared my top five goals for 2012 in this post. I hardly remember every one of the goals myself, so I am guessing you might need a refresher as well. Here’s a little check-in on how I did with my goals over the past year: … Read More

Is today Saturday? Because I’m really starting to lose track of what day it is. This whole vacation for two weeks is hard to get used to, but I can’t say I mind it. We’ve been having a great time with family, and even managed to take a few family photos for my mom’s New Year’s card. With the snow coming down and the horse in the background, I think they turned out pretty darn great. I’ve also had plenty … Read More

Sorry for the radio silence over the past couple of days (er…5 days) friends. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and are enjoying lots of time with family. Joe and I were lucky enough to work our schedules so we could have 12 days off of work. It’s been forever since I’ve had this much time away from the office and it’s awesome to be able to spend so much time with family and friends. I’ve even … Read More

If you guys are anything like me. you have probably been waiting to do your Christmas baking until a few days before Christmas. I waited until Christmas break began before I really started any Christmas baking, meaning yesterday morning my kitchen was in complete disarray. The bonus of all this mess was the fact that I had a lot of tasty sweets to show for my efforts. So if you are anything like me and are looking for some super … Read More

Guys, I need to share with you the greatest new grocery find I discovered a few weeks back. I’ve told you a number of times about my struggles with yeast-based breads and doughs of all sort. Cinnamon rolls from scratch? Forget about it. Bread? I’ve only had mixed results and minimal success. I’ve followed all the tips in the book and felt nothing but frustration at the lack of success I’ve had. But the other day I saw a new … Read More

Since it’s the Wednesday before Christmas and we’ve all got the holidays on our brain, let’s talk about something light hearted and inconsequential, mmkay? Like Chambray shirts, specifically this shirt from J. Crew that I’m wearing. After seeing photo after photo of adorable style bloggers wearing chambray shirts (I’m looking at you, Kendi), I decided that it was high time for me to purchase one of my very own. Chambray is versatile! It goes with anything and everything! It’s cute … Read More

I had planned on putting up the winner of the Birchbox giveaway yesterday, but in the wake of the tragedy in CT on Friday I decided to take the day off to observe a day of silence with other bloggers. Although it feels trivial to talk about normal life activities in light of what happened last week, I am excited to spread a little Christmas cheer to the winner of the giveaway. Thank you to all who entered! The winner … Read More