why hello, nice to meet you!

In October I will have been blogging (consistently and inconsistently) for 9 years.

So why an introduction of sorts??

The blog Kelly's Korner, which you may remember I've linked up with before (oh and a few more times besides those two as well as I look back) 

Well Kelly Stamps the blog's author is resurrecting a series on Fridays called Show Us Your Life (SUYL).  I thought I'd play along from time to time as I have been enjoying blogging again lately. 

Today's theme is simply an introduction of yourself.  

For those of you I haven't met at all, my name is Kelly.

I live in Colorado but never dreamed I would.

I was born in Houston, TX and also lived in Lewisville, TX for 12 years.

I married at 32 to a wonderful man named Adrian who I met on eharmony.  :)

We have two kids, David, 5 and Cora, 2.  

(photo summer 1999, Amalfi Coast, Italy) 

I am quite fond of ice cream/gelato/you name it.  

I am loyal to Blue Bell but most often eat Ben and Jerry's right now.  

Boom Chocolatta Cookie Core and Half-Baked are two flavors in high rotation right now.

Another favorite when I'm in Portland or L.A. is Salt and Straw

My "local" (Denver) favorite is High Point Creamery

Last summer I attempted homemade dairy free ice cream (my kids have food allergies) in my kitchen and it was DELICIOUS!  Can't wait to try more flavors this summer.

Travel is part of our family DNA.  

It is something we prioritize and put time, energy, effort, budget, etc. on.  

We can skip other things.  

Both of our kids have passports and have used them.

I'll be the first to admit, I think I was pretty stingy as a kid.  I hoarded construction paper (as if my parents wouldn't have bought me more!).  

I seek and desire to be generous and live open handed.  

This blogpost has been a huge perspective shift for me.

I haven't even seen most of it coming but God has really done some amazing work in my life making me more generous, more open, more like He created me to be.

I am passionate about advocating for those without a voice.  

Specifically I get super excited about creating JOBS that bring HOPE to people in impoverished countries without access to clean water. 

I also get fire in my belly over the work being done (and the fact that it even exists and needs to be done!) by IJM and have participated in Dressember for two years now.   

And speaking of change in one's life, I am noticing all kinds of crazy to me change in my own life lately.  

Things that were on my definite "do not prefer" list previously have become things that I really like and want.  Crazy!

Root Beer

BBQ

Eggnog

the color purple

Also, I went from being a purely social coffee drinker (and barista please be sure to add every sweet, fat, milky addition to my drink) to really liking coffee for coffee!

The photo above is from last fall in Italy when I drank my first espresso!  

Since then I have had coffee with no sugar but cream and also black coffee!!  

Not that big a deal but fun things to notice. 

Maybe my taste buds are changing, Mom!

Oh and I also would normally never dream of going out for breakfast and not ordering the sweetest confection on the menu . . . pancakes are usually at the top of my list.

Recently I went to Jelly Cafe with Adrian and ordered the ultimate biscuits and gravy!  (and they were delicious!)  Anything can happen!  

And this morning!  I am about to go to Waffle House.  I have been to Waffle House exactly once before about 20 years ago and planned to NEVER go back but my husband happens to like it and so do good friends so here we go!  AND I'm looking forward to it!

I am also a homeschooling mom, a title I never thought I would hold.

In fact when Adrian and I were dating there was a conversation we had where I told him that I did NOT plan to homeschool so I hoped that was okay with him.  :) 

Shortly after we were married God began to grow a passion for it inside me and I couldn't be happier with this journey we are on!  

I really enjoy dating my husband and definitely feel like I need that in this season.  

I am a lover of things vintage and am a frugal shopper.  

I couldn't help trying on this fun vintage dress in a thrift store on my birthday trip to Boulder last summer but I didn't buy it.  

Seasons come and go and right now I am in a season of really watching where our money is going and trying to be as frugal as possible in many areas (to be able to have more freedom of choice in other areas!)

One of the areas that I have grown a lot in (again, thanks to God's Hand on my life and His guidance and blessings because it has kind of snuck up on me) is that I think I can finally call myself a cook. 

I used to only be able to cook if I had a recipe and I followed it EXACTLY. 

If I was in a position of needing to "think up" something for dinner without going to the grocery store it literally made me feel intensely uncomfortable. 

Now I feel so much more confident in combining things, throwing in spices/seasonings, experimenting, using up leftovers or what we already have in the house and making some tasty meals.  

I kind of feel like a "real" grown-up.  :) 

I also am a  pretty mean vegan baker now if I do say so myself thanks to my kids' food allergies.  

I enjoy taking photographs and blogging but I have set much of that aside lately in this season of raising young kids but I am enjoying inching back into it.  

If you have a blog I would love for you to comment and I can click over and "meet you" too! 

Kelly

Year in Review - the rest of July

After so much really fun traveling, it was also nice to be home!

Here is some of what we were up to.

My sweet husband made me an awesome notepad that felt like my "Portland souvenir" (I can never spell souvenir and always have to look it up!) because it was kind of funky like that but it was actually something that I'd seen in Denver one time and wanted to try my hand at making and then Betty and I were thrifting old books and I got the idea of using various papers to make this notepad to jot grocery lists, etc.  See that yellow paper?  Betty went to the local printing place as we were getting ready to make our books to grab scraps of paper they had to give away and they told her that the bright yellow cardstock was left over from the Pizza Express menus!  That's where we'd gone on our double date!  

I don't scrapbook much anymore so if there's a paper I'm temped to keep, like the map of the Fine Arts Center when Adrian took me there for the Chiluly exhibit, I just punch holes in it and add it to my notepad and then when I come to it somewhere in the middle it is a happy memory!  

Sprucing up David's room some!  Thanks to my wonderful mom, his room now has new curtains too!  The above curtains were just a makeshift "block out the light, the time change is coming" stop gap!

My brother made the pallet bookshelf that I painted yellow and this smaller shelf was in his nursery back in Texas!  

This bookshelf already looks so baby-ish to me compared to what a big 4 1/2 year old he is now.  

The God Loves Me Bible was a garage sale find - I think at the same garage sale where I got the big blanket basket for Cora's room! - and we LOVE it!  It is a really, really good book if you can get your hands on a copy.  

organizing in the craft room

a summertime staple for us!  Sooo yummy!  

I found this little scrap of cloth with a rooster appliqued on it and I want to make it into a tea towel but here it is six months later and it is still sitting in a drawer . . . :( 

This photo was from a memorable dinner.  My in-laws came for a visit in July and my mother-in-law took us as well as my parents out for dinner at a local restaurant called Blue Star.  Well, it was raining as we drove out and shortly after we were seated (and thankfully after we'd read the menus and decided what we'd like to eat) a big storm blue out the power in the whole block I think!  All of the waiters and waitresses were gathered at the counter separating the open kitchen from the dining room holding the flashlights on their cell phones over the work space.  The chefs were amazing at being able to carry on and our food arrived and it was such a surreal experience to eat without really being able to see your food despite the candle on the table and the open door letting in a bit of light from outside.  We all had a great time and made a fun memory as well as eating some good food! 

Train tracks . . . ever present and I love it!

Backyard cousin time!  My in-laws did happen to come the one really hot week of the summer!

On their last day we all drove up to Mueller State Park for a cook out to send everyone off.  It was so much fun!  Cora did some of her first standing on her own that day for Grandma on a picnic blanket on uneven ground at that!  

my man

so thankful for my terrific inlaws!  

Auntie time

cousins

One Sunday night we just went to a new to us park and had a little impromptu easy sandwich dinner.  It is a great memory!  

Year in Review - Portland

So, on our way home from Alaska, on our way home from Seattle, we went to Portland.  :) 

We LOVE Portland and the surrounding area!!  Sooo much!!! 

The first time Adrian and I went was just the two of us, our only kid free vacation since having kids.  It was A-mazing!!!

Living in a really brown, dry place I LOVE soaking up all of the green while we're there!  Now granted, we've had gorgeous weather on both of our trips and I know in order to have all of that green you've got to have a lot of rainy days as well!

Little Miss ready for a trip to the hotel pool

One of my very favorite days was when we drove out toward Multnomah Falls and we stopped at a place where you could get into the water.  There were lots of people around and you definitely had to want it as there were some slippery sloshy trails to get there but we found a spot to let the kids play in the water with enough people passing by to make it friendly but relatively having it to ourselves.  It was absolutely wonderful!  

Cora & I just sat on the edge and played with rocks and water for so long.  She had so much fun.  

Brother did a bit more exploring!  I was so proud of him.  He can be my cautious boy so this was a lot of fun to see.  

On one of the trails later on

The waterfalls . . . oh the waterfalls are so spectacular!!!  I cannot get enough of them.  There are so many different ones to hike to!  

sweet thirsty boy

In the city we discovered an ice cream shop on our first trip to Portland that has us dreaming of it when we are back home in Colorado!  Olive oil ice cream - sounds terrible?  It is exquisite!!

And a SUPER fun thing is that while we were there I posted the photo above and my cousin saw it and asked "where are you?"  She didn't know we were in Portland and we didn't know SHE was in Portland.  She was there for an internship and had been in town mere days!  We got to have dinner and ice cream AGAIN together the next night but we didn't get a photo! :( 

My boy enjoying his amazing dairy free ice cream!  Seriously it tasted soo yummy AND  he had a choice of flavors and they weren't all fruit ice flavors!  It was a special thing indeed!

and running with his ice cream, probably not a good idea 

Yikes, 9:25 p.m. on the train and we're still out with our kids!  They were SUCH troopers though!

So much eye candy

 I like these old buildings and lettering

You know you're in Portland when you spot guitar picks as litter

another fun find for my little food allergy guy, super yummy banana nut bread at our favorite Portland coffee shop

GREEN!

picnicking

This picture CRACKS me up!  These were some tired kiddos!  

Yummy salad at another restaurant

Have I mentioned that the Portland food scene is the stuff of our foodie dreams??!

and our last visit to Salt and Straw . . . 

It was a fantastic trip all around!  

Back in the Denver Airport

We flew in the same day as my dad so we killed some time in the airport so we could all ride back to Colorado Springs together.  

Sitting on the air conditioning vent!  

And eating graham crackers!