3 is a Party

A lot happens between year 2 and 3. Last year she wasn’t super aware of her birthday but this year she knew exactly what was going on and had high expectations. That is my fault, haha. Flora is an absolute hoot to go shopping with, she is a total girly girl in support of all the girls! you want tie dye, stripes, polkadots and a funky hat? Flora is your number one fan, full of compliments and self confidence, sass, and enthusiasm. She is the best to shop with. This also means she finds lots of things she wants and my solution to not being able to buy her everything was to take a picture and put it on the birthday list. Inevitably, her birthday became the next best thing that could happen in her life.

Thankfully she couldn’t recall the photo gallery of birthday wishes we accumulated over the last year and was thrilled with whatever she received, but did make it very clear what kind of cake she wanted and that birthday hats were a NEED (goals I can totally work with). Birthday hats were a hit, I think ll keep them forever. Cake was also a success! I took a cake decorating class with a friend a few weeks ago and so this was my second time ever decorating a cake. The whole time I was working on it, Flora Fae kept saying “what a beautiful cake, mama!”, “It’s so beautiful!”. Music to my ears! the top tier was a boxed cake mix, Dolly Parton’s Banana Pudding Cake (excellent choice by flora herself), and the bottom tier was a strawberry sponge made with Michigan strawberries that flora and I picked together this summer. My brother, Canaan, helped make the cakes, so this cake was truly full of love.

We love this little peanut. we are so thankful for everyone around us that loves her too.

The Crystal Coast

I have been coming to this beach with my family since I was a little girl and now my little girl gets to come here too. I have said this many times (specifically about bodies of water) but what a delight it is to share the things we love with our children. I have a few small thoughts from this trip . . .

1. I have always adored and cherished my swim suits. I used to wear them under my clothes to school when I was little. Some kids had security blankets, I had my swim suit. I am a grown woman and I still love my swimsuit(s) and I hope it stays that way.

2. The ocean used to fill me with so many emotions, I would cry when meeting it and saying goodbye. Those feelings are still there but more subtle now, not sure why. I’m still a water baby, through and through though. My dad and I were swimming together one of the days and the ocean was rougher than it had been earlier in the week and I said “Ah, now this is the ocean I remember and love” and my dad replied, “a little cold and a little angry?”. I nodded yes, and bobbed in the waves with delight.

3. I am excited about the upcoming year. I’m finally feeling more and more excited to share who I am and what I like and what I think about and the pictures I take. I miss blogs that were just full of beautiful pictures. My little corner of the internet gets to be whatever I want it to be and it’s gonna be weird and colorful and fun, full fo misspellings, poor grammar, run-on sentences, shameless expression, art, and who knows what else! I hope it has something different every time you come, like a garden sprouting new flowers in every season.

Waterfall Dip

On our way to the east coast for our biannual beach vacation with family we stopped in Nashville, TN to see friends and have some adventures. Old friends are a treasure, and they should be treated as such. Big thanks to the Tierney’s (John, Allison, and Cash) for everything. I hope to meet these friends for more adventures in a different corner of the world soon.