Surviving Winter

February, you big jerk.

Mother Nature is the moodiest in February, taunting us with Spring days and then turning right around and throwing a full-blown freezing snow filled winter in our faces.

But March is here now and doesn't that sound lovely? March. A stepping stone into a season that is easier to love. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next season, trying not to wish my days away while also waving my white flag in surrender because Winter has beaten me down once again.

And it's not just me, you know. My kids are all sorts of antsy for better weathered days. After the long winter they are a little more moody and grumpy, a little more sullen and stone faced. Jace said to me, "Mom, can we move somewhere where they have no snow and you can ride your bike any day you want to?" He is a child after my own soul. He wants to run wild, ride bikes, build forts and soak up the sunshine until after bedtime.

And anyway, March! We welcome you with open arms!

Currently getting me through seasonal depression:

TV:

This Is Us, best show! I cry every episode. All of the feelings.

The Bachelor, duh. Mind numbing stupid reality tv at its finest.

Big Little Lies, new show on HBO.

Trolls is on repeat at our house, we loooove it.


BOOKS:

Currently reading The Nature Fix, a book that Dan got me for Valentine's Day, and it is perfect for me.

Over the winter I read and enjoyed:

Brene Brown's Daring Greatly and The Gifts of Imperfection

Looking For Alaska

Anne of Green Gables (classic)


MUSIC:

Music is so huge for my moods. I need music that speaks to my soul. I need it most when I'm winding down after a long day, or when I'm about to begin a long day. This winter I have stuck with just a few that have really fueled me:

The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons on repeat.

Also loving Alan Isakov.

And occasionally still finding peace through Dashboard Confessional.


COMFORT FOOD:

It's no secret that I am in love with Larabars, all natural and sweet enough to curb sugar cravings. My favorites are: peanut butter brownie, coconut cream pie, lemon bar and chocolate chip cookie dough.

Cooked dates rolled in crushed almonds or coconut flakes.

This black bean hummus has been my go-to for munching. So soooo good.


MANTRAS:

Slow. I have been so inspired to make my life less busy. I don't want crazy, I want easy. I want as much peace and simplicity as I can find. I want more time with my family. I want mornings to breathe and sip coffee and read. More sunrises and sunsets. Less distractions. I am straying away from a life packed with too many things to do.


MINDFULNESS:

My sister told me about a new meditation technique and it has been an absolute life changer. For five minutes you close your eyes and clear your mind. During the five minutes, any time a thought enters your mind, shut it down and re-clear. After the five minutes is up grab your journal and jot down all of the thoughts that entered your mind during the meditation. This has hugely impacted my awareness and my ability to let go of the thoughts and worries that aren't beneficial to me. LIFE. CHANGING.



Anyway. I truly hope you are getting through all right. I hope you are being slow and kind to yourself. (Better days are ahead! And very soon, according to the weatherman!) We can do hard things!



xoxo

Five Things

1. This new restaurant in town FOR THE WIN! It was so good. If you live in the Valley (or in SLC, they have one too), and if you love sushi, you have to go there.


2. This throwback that I have been re-watching on the abc app. The 90's! Keri Russell! So much good!


3. This kit that I won at the reel rock film tour! I never win anything so it was terribly exciting.


4. This dry shampoo. I was always so in love with my yellow-capped-suave but then they stopped selling it at my market, which was such a sad day. I have been trying this and that, and I have finally fallen in love with a new one! It does not smell tropical the way the suave did, but the volume this one gives me makes up for it!


5. This twenty second clip that can change your life if you let it. Short and sweet and true.



Also: well hello! I have been a tad MIA over here. Life has felt especially busy these days, packed full and go-go-go. Between work and school and the kids and the stomach flu and a recent road-trip to Las Vegas for Fall break, I haven't had much time to sit down and write.

I am trying to write more. And not just here on the blog, but in general. I am always longing to sit down with a blank page in front of me and write whatever my heart desires. It is absolutely therapeutic for me. But finding quiet and finding time all to myself is a rarity. I crave quaint coffee shops and benches on isolated hills overlooking the rushing river. I dream of it often, having peaceful time all to myself where I can sit for hours and write.

Autumn makes me such a sap. This season is so perfect, so fresh and revitalizing and beautiful. I can not get enough. Anytime I see layers of crunchy leaves fallen beneath trees, covering the grass like a blanket, I veer off my path to slowly walk through them. I watch them scatter and listen to them crunch, I kick some of them up in the air, I smile. As though somehow walking with the leaves will make us one, this season and I. I know that it's not true, because I know that the other seasons are what make me appreciate this one so, but I sometimes believe that I would do wonderfully well in a world where Fall were the only season all year round.

Happy Friday friends! I am still working on planning something exciting for us this weekend. But I can not believe we are at the end of October, that next week will be Halloween and then November! It all but gives me anxiety, how fast it is going. I hope you have a lovely weekend! I will be back soon for some more posts and some life updates. Cross my heart!


xoxo

Five Things

1. This book. Already my third book this month! I have been polishing off novels like they are pie crumbs, especially on all of these perfect and slow Fall days while the boys play outside happily for hours. I love this book even more after studying up on the author, Emily Bronte. Her life was so mysterious and tragic.


2. This station on pandora brings in the best songs.


3. This. Spooned straight from the jar, preferably late at night while catching up on Grey's. (Once Dan spread some over birthday cake oreos. Too much? Who's to say, really.)(I get the Lotus brand because we don't have a Trader Joe's.)


4. This documentary was fascinating to me. I remember it all happening in 2007 of course, so I was able to compare the documentary with the time I spent watching it unfold on news when she was in Italy. It fuels my frustrations with the media and the way that they twist and portray stories purely for their benefit and ratings.


5. This instagram account. He is a beautiful and inspiring soul.



The weekend is here! I hope you have lovely plans, or no plans at all, because no plan weekends can be just as lovely sometimes.

This morning Jace woke up, got himself dressed and came downstairs as he normally does. As he walked down the stairs I heard him muttering ughh these pants are so tight! and as he came around the corner I couldn't help but laugh out loud, as he was standing there wearing his little brother's jeans. He really had no idea! They were a tad tight and ankle-floods, but he had the button done and everything. So although it was hilarious, it was also a slap-in-the-face reminder that these two will be sharing clothes before I know it!

Also, TMI for some but good news in the mom department over here, my Beck cub has been (whispers) *pooping* on the big boy potty alllll week long! I haven't changed a poopy diaper in three days. And all on his own, mind you. I am baffled because I did not bring this on at all, he just wants to do it. Listen, I'm not trying to brag or anything but I DESERVE THIS YOU GUYS.

Also, Beck is climbing all over me like I am a jungle gym right now, so my typing through it all is very impressive really. I'm off to make breakfast and pour myself another cup of joe. Happy Friday!


xoxo

Five Things

1. This book that I am just starting. I really want to read the book before I see the movie, and as fate would have it I stumbled upon a hardback copy in absolutely pristine condition at the thrift store last week!


2. This hot chocolate flavor is the bomb diggity. It is hit or miss when you go to the grocery store, because they are often all sold out. Apparently I am not the only one who loves it. Also, this is my second favorite. And this to make our hot chocolate! (For the best cup: always add in some whole milk.)


3. This community that we joined recently. We were shopping at REI when the clerk told us about the membership benefits, and if you shop at REI (even online) then the membership is totally worth it! Obviously we do it for the 10% member dividend and coupons. (Dan is the biggest coupon geek, he is the best.)


4. These long sleeve layering shirts. I seriously bought one in every single color. They are perfect and so comfy.


5. A new season of this finally back on tv. One of our very favorites! And if you are like us, where you can't pull off watching it on Tuesday nights, we actually go back later in the week, late at night after the boys are in bed, and watch the episodes we missed from the Fox app on our apple tv. (I do the same apple tv trick with this show, the one that never ends yet I will never stop watching because I CAN NOT, heaven help me.)



Happy Friday you guys! Get out there and get you some!

xoxo

Five Things

1. This candle that has been burning in my kitchen all week. Divine.


2. Grilled corn on the cob. Soak the corn in sugar water for about 20 minutes, then drop it on the grill (husks and all) for about 15 minutes (turning here and there). We get our corn fresh from my papa's garden or from the produce stands on the fruit highway.


3. Thrifted flannels. There is something about a good and used oversized (preferably mens) flannel shirt that just HITS THE SPOT. The thrift stores are chucked full of people's old flannels right now, it is my heaven over there!


4. These never ever get old. I watch them and just laugh and laugh and laugh.


5. This coconut syrup that my sweetest friend in Wyoming mailed me for my Birthday! Mixed in with these cute bottled dr pepper's that Dan bought me, it is perfection.


Happiest of Fridays folks! I am so glad the weekend is here. It is not just any weekend, mind you, it is another Birthday at the Croft casa! More cake! And if all pans out, a nice little weekend getaway in the sunshine at one of our favorite National Parks.

I hope you all have a good weekend!


xoxo

Five Things

1. Embellished jackets. I have been swooning over embellished jackets for weeks now, but if you follow me on pinterest you know that already. (I snagged that patched jean jacket up there at tj maxx.)


2. Dakota bread. Dan and Jace won't touch it, so Beck and I get it all to ourselves!


3. These sapphire earrings that lover boy surprised me with. They are absolutely lovely.


4. This ice cream flavor at cold stone creamery: oreo cream filling! I mixed in crushed oreos alone. It was divine.


5. This ny times article that has hugely inspired me to slow it down. "Busy is being in one place doing one thing with the nagging sense you that you ought to be somewhere else doing something different. I like to be calm. I like to have nothing in particular to do and nowhere in particular to be."




I am so looking forward to this weekend! It has been one of those weeks, you know the ones, where it drags on a bit and every morning you wake up just baffled that it isn't Friday yet. And now it is Friday! Praise the Lord!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Get out there and get you some!

xoxo

Five Things

1. Bringing allllll the cliche for my #1 favorite thing this week: pumpkin spice latte season!


2. These jeans. Truth be told, I had never purchased a pair of jeans at the gap, but I meandered into their store recently and found high-waisted jeans that fit like a glove.


3. This show that I have been binge watching all week. I love me a good Netflix binge watch.


4. These that my mama recently introduced to me. Pour some marinara sauce or alfredo sauce on them, throw it in the microwave for three minutes, DONE. Healthy and tasty. (I buy mine at Macey's)(If you want to be more creative than just the sauce, here are some good recipes.)


5. This beaut hanging on our living room wall. We named him Nebuchadnezzar, Neb for short. He's beautiful.



TGIF! I hope you enjoy the weather and find some rejuvenation this weekend. I know that I will!


xoxo

Five Things

1. This wool fedora hat from forever 21. For that matter, allllll of their floppy hats.


2. Bachelor in paradise. I have been staying up late this week catching up on the season. It is the most ridiculous show I have ever set eyes on and I can't stop. (did you hear about the next bachelor? I was super bummed about it. He's okay but, WHAT ABOUT LUKE!?)


3. This book that I am reading.


4. This youtube channel. (In another life I worked as a photographer for National Geographic, I'm just sure of it.)


5. This for dinner every single night. We get the family sized frozen fish packs at Smith's Marketplace. Spray non stick on foil, lay the frozen fish out, cover in foil (also sprayed), throw it on the grill. After 7 minutes I open it up to sprinkle generous amounts of garlic powder and onion powder with a little italian seasoning, then cover and cook for 7 more minutes. THAT IS IT. So easy, so delicious, SO CHEAP. (I like the cod best, but you can do the same thing with the tilapia.)


Happy Friday! And Happy September! And Happy Labor Day weekend! There are so many things to look forward to right now!

Yesterday evening I had plans that fell through at the last minute, literally as I was pulling out of the driveway. Instead of going back inside I kept on driving and ended up parked at the cheap theater next to our house. I looked up at the billboard sign with the movies and showtimes, where I read that The Legend of Tarzan was starting right then at that very minute, and I did something I have never done before: I went to a movie all by myself. I walked in unashamed and asked for one ticket and a small popcorn with junior mints, please. I snuck quietly into the back of the dark theater and propped my feet up on the seat in front of me. I had two hours all by myself and it was incredibly liberating.

I am so looking forward to a long, slow weekend. Our Labor Day weekend is typically filled to the brim with end of season bbq's and this year is no different. I always anticipate the arrival of September, this month of slow transition into the season that jives with my soul the most. As I wrote about here in my instagram post this morning, I am impatiently ready for this change of seasons, for Autumn and everything that comes with it.

I hope you all have a wonderful long holiday weekend!


xoxo

Five Things

1. These American Eagle birkenstock sandals in burgundy, on sale right now for 18 bucks! 

2. This coffee mug that I use every single morning. This was hand made locally and we found it at the Summerfest celebration earlier this year. I love me a hand crafted mug from the farmers market or fair type venues in town.

3. This Nest thermostat in our living room. Also, can we talk about FIFTY-FOUR DEGREES?! Heart eye emoji.

 4. This foundation that I started using. I found it at Target and it is perfection. You can also get it at Ulta.

5. This reminder that I read every morning. Cheesy, maybe, but you read it to yourself every day and tell me it doesn't make a smidge of a difference in how you feel.


Happy Friday friends! Get out there and get you some!

xoxo

FIVE THINGS

TGIF!

This week was bananas busy for me and today my brain is fried. So praise the lord it is fridayyyy! Come here friday, let me kiss your face!

Five things I have been enjoying tremendously this week:

1. This gourmet birthday cake gum. I AIN'T KIDDIN WITH THIS ONE. If you love birthday cake as much as I do, I swear this is THE BOMB DOT COM you guys. (I also saw a "rainbow ice" flavor in line at the store the other day, it's on my list to try.)

2. Cosmic Kids yoga. Have you tried this yet? Our boys have so much fun with it. We have the youtube app on our apple tv, where I can type "cosmic kids yoga" into the search and VWALLAH! Yoga sessions for free! (And here is a good article to read if you aren't quite sold on yoga for kids yet.)

3. These adorable bookends from target. (It should be noted that we thought that was a bear until I googled it for the link just now. It's a pig!)

4. This spot in the kitchen right now, with my favorite thrifted bread board. (I highly recommend rust orange for your kitchen walls if you are looking to paint.)

5. These bunk beds that were delivered this week! (Dog not included.)(You should know, I did not tell her to do that! I went into the room to take a picture and she plopped right down. Geez I love that pup!) Also, we got those duvet covers both at Ikea. It looks like they don't sell Jace's anymore but this is the one we picked up for Beck. We also snagged one of these rugs that the boys have been begging for, and you should know they are a much better deal at Ikea than at Home Depot! Bunk beds have been a long time coming, and the boys are in heaven with them. All of their wall hangings and decorations from the nibley house have been collecting dust in piles waiting for the arrival of these babies, so I am looking forward to finishing their room now. It really has some huge benefits, this sharing a room business. Maybe I will do a blog post on that someday!

I know that none of those pictures are great quality shots, but did I mention that I am beat this week? Do forgive me.

What are you doing this weekend?

We have a date with mi familia, a tent, the lake and some wave runners! Doesn't that sound like a good ending to Summer? I can feel it in my bones that Fall is just around the corner now. I don't know how summertime flies by so quickly every year, but I mean, does anyone? I truly find it to be one of the allures of summertime at all, one of its greatest charms, that it overflows our buckets with blistering heat and fairs and cotton candy and camping and early mornings and late evenings and in a whirlwind, just like a loud and colorful sixty-second commercial on the television, it is gone. That's the magic! Summertime you dog.

Happy Friday friends! Get out there and get you some!

xoxo

five things i'm lovin' this week

 ^^ this beard oil for the hubs. i love a good beard, don't you? this stuff is pretty rad. it smells delightful and softens the prickly so when you want a good kiss you don't have to suffer. i bought sandalwood and sexy, but there are a million scents and next time i reaaalllyyy want to try campfire!

 ^^ this daily multivitamin with energy. as much caffeine as a cup of coffee people! need i say more?

 ^^ leather jackets! jacket weather! falllll! (green jacket from love culture, tan jacket from h&m, black jacket from tj maxx, rose jacket from forever 21)

 ^^ this peach chiffon body lotion from forever 21. smells so yummy that i want to eat my arm every time i use it. and it's super thick, so a little bit goes a lonnnggg way.

^^ this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bread. pumpkin everything! fallllll!


TGIF! i am currently packing our bags and soon we are hitting the road for the long weeked, uea break, you know. have a happy weekend friends! come on over and follow me on insta for daily play by plays, you know, if you like that kind of thing. we all know that i do.

xoxo

five things i'm loving this week

^^ this book. what a fantastic read! i am all over the idea that our children have personality traits that are them, and rather than trying to change them we need to be encouraging them. in this book she gives grand ideas on how to encourage and accept and applaud, rather than trying to make your child into something they aren't. my j-man is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT type 2 (the sensitive child), and as i'm reading i find that i'm a type 2 as well. highly recommend this read to you mamas out there!

^^ fall decor. too early? truth be told i'm not big into decorating for seasons. but the hubs said, hey my love do you want the corn stalks from our garden? and i thought, well geez, people pay money for that stuff! so i tied some burlap around those beauts, hung them on our pillars, and it just feels right. i mean, it is september after all.

^^ einstein bagels you handsome devil you. turns out that they have uh-maze-ing coffee and it also turns out that by saving your cup you can get a coffee refill for the cheapest price in town. that would be a buck and seventy-two cents. take that, mcd's! and that's WITH a pump of flavor. my preference is iced with pumpkin.

^^ this smooth and seal hair product. an important backstory: just this week i've decided to let my hair make some decisions around here. i mean, my whole life i've been telling my hair what to do. you're too straight, be curly! you're too wavy, be straighter! let me fry you to get you how i want you! i've just been so very bossy and not very nice to my hair. so suddenly it hits me: why don't you let your hair tell you what it wants? have you done that before?

so after the shower, i said here you go hair. show me what you'd like. and she did! she showed me a little bit of frizz and some kinks and some waves. and i'm just trying to accept over here, you know. accept my hair for who she is and not who i want her to be.

and anyway, long story longer: i couldn't have done it without this smooth and seal. while my hair was damp i sprayed this beaut all over in the ends and underneath and by golly it helps calm the frizz outta this unruly mop.

^^ tanwise self tanner. because ever since i was educated on skin cancer (a little too late, truth be told, because in high school and college the tanning beds were my second home) i can't live without self tanner. i'm always on the hunt for a good self tanner and this one wins because it's affordable. twelve dollars a pop! just the cheapest. i got mine at sally's.

five things

^^ my new asics running shoes. i just broke them in this week. i love me some asics!

^^ we all know that i swear by loreal's magic bb cream, but to add to my testimony of this rad stuff: they just came out with anti-redness. if you've got 99 problems but red-splotchy skin tone ain't one, well consider yourself lucky. as for me...this stuff is my miracle worker. i believe in bb cream, amen.

^^ lovely indoor plants. (the top is our fig tree, and the plants in our entryway are birds of paradise.) my newest favorite that i've been obsessing about adding to the mix: fiddle leaf figs

disclaimer: if the hubs didn't take care of these plants, they'd all be dead. i take no credit for keeping them alive. i'm just here enjoying the beauty of them as decor in my home.

^^ piyo. holy smokes, it's my new obsession. think: yoga on steroids. i work out often and never have my abs been as sore as when i did piyo this week! that's a good thing, by the by.

^^ these comfy leggings. the truth is, i'm not a leggings in public kind of person. i mean don't get me wrong, i don't have anything against anyone else wearing them! it's just not for me. i'm a blue jeans kind of girl. BUT i'm all about leggings at home and while doing yoga, you betchyourbutt. these things are cheap and cute and comfy.

and IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY! TGI-freakin-F!

this week was kind of long. first week back to work and all, you know. not too mention the fact that all week my uterus has been trying it's very hardest to KILL ME. first lady time-of-the-month in over a year, you know. i suppose she's upset at me for not getting pregnant again. like that's HER JOB or something. anyway, she's not being very nice.

but like i said, it's friday! i don't work on fridays, so it's always the three day weekend life for me. ain't nothin can get me down! don't quote me on that, though. i'm sure there's something out there that could prove me wrong. hold on, let me knock on some wood.

and let it be known: i'm in love with these summer rain storms that we are having in my neck of the woods! there's nothing quite so heavenly as sitting on the front porch with my loves and watching the lightning to the music of thunder as the rain comes pouring down. nothing quite so lovely as staying bundled in blankets all day long with a cup of tea while it's overcast and cool outside. i love summer storms.

happy weekend to you and yours!

xoxo