I am boring right now

So right now, my life is pretty boring. I wake up with Evie, play with her all day and then go to bed and do it all again. I've had no motivation to do anything crafty or try to finish organizing my craft space downstairs. Currently it's a mess and I just can't seem to get motivated to do something about it. I think a large part of that comes from my tiredness (all I want to do is sleep... don't judge). And part of it comes from the fact that I just haven't figured out how to balance being a mom and loving on my little girl with the day to day upkeep on the house. Currently, the house gets progressively dirtier and dirtier until Matt starts really complaining about it or we have someone coming over and then I clean like crazy. I look at all the other moms who seem to have it all figure out and wonder how they got there. Part of me thinks I'll never get there and I'll just have to live in a dirty house, but part of me thinks there's some secret that I'm missing. Oh well, I suppose I'll figure it out eventually.

On an unrelated note, I noticed I haven't posted any recipes lately and thought I should share this one (it's a good one too!) that I got from my Uncle Scott. I love this salad! I would never have thought they herbs de provence would work in something like this, but it does. It's really scrumptious! I know you'll love it!

Avocado Black Bean Salad

Juice and zest 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 tsp herbs de provence
1/4 cup olive oil

2 avocados coarsley diced  (make dressing first, add avocados first to prevent browning)

1 - can black beans
1 - can whole corn
Drain and rinse  beans and corn. Allow to drain well.  ( should be as dry as possible)  Add to dressing.

1/4 to 1/2 red onion, sliced as thin as possible. Cover with water in shallow bowl, add 2 tbsp sugar,stir,let sit for at least 30 min. Drain,bot don,t rinse, fold into the rest.

 

CANADA

Here are my favorites from my Canada trip. We had so much fun visiting family and it was wonderful spending time with my parents. We definitely will need to go back again soon. 10 years is too long to wait between visits! So, let's commence the photo onslaught!

Four generation photo - Grandpa Dudley is my last living grandparent, so I thought I should snap this while I still could

Pictures from Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Pretty cool place. And Matt's solution to a windy day with Evie asleep in the stroller

This is the actual jump.

The view from the cliff was incredible!

Pictures from the carriage ride my Dad and I took at the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston. The mountain in the background is Old Chief. It's an iconic part of that area.

My Mom and Aunt Lori were cackling about something.

Clockwise from top left: Cool solar lamp in my aunt's garden, Uncle Larry making Dasiy dance for her treats, My Dad and his sister Shannon and her girl Sarah, Dad and Matt with the swollen Bow river in the background, Evie taking a bath in the super awesome sink at Aunt Lori's, Evie wrapping Uncle Larry around her finger

I love the picture I caught of Matt sneezing in front of the Cardston temple.

Such a great picture.

Flowers, flowers, flowers... Lettuce! ... Flowers

Arrr, matey, don't be stealin' me chew rings!

These were at the botanical gardens at the Calgary Zoo. So beautiful!

Animals at the zoo

Butterflies, a peahen and some gorgeous poppies.

My Mom and Dad's reactions to "Smile!" and then, the apple of their eyes.

These poppies had just "popped" that night and the petals looked like crinkled tissue paper. Pretty cool.

The crowning jewel of all the temples (in my opinion)

I just loved this snapshot.

Well, let's just say it was a full two weeks in Canada and I'm so glad we went. (But I'm also glad we're home) We had such a great time and hopefully we'll go again soon!

 

Oh Canada!

Phew! I need a vacation from my vacation! We were in Canada for 13 days. And it was wonderful! It was so nice to see all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandpa, especially since I haven't seen most of them for close to 10 years!

First, let me say that I and *so* proud of my little girl. She was a champ on the flights up and on the first leg of our trip home. The last flight was late and there was a maintenance problem with one of the door hatches so we were stuck sitting in the plane in Dallas, with 100 degree heat, a VERY full flight and no AC for quite a while. Evie was sweating and uncomfortable, so of course she was going to make it known to the world. I don't blame her one bit. Any way, she charmed all the people around her eventually, so I think they all forgave us.

Any way, I just loved the time we spent visiting family in Calgary, Lethbridge and Cardston. And I loved that I could introduce Evie and Matt to my side of the family. The only thing that could possibly have made the trip better was if my brother and sister could've been there with us. And being around all of my family makes me wish (only a very little bit, mind you) that we lived in Canada.

I didn't take as many pictures as I should've of my extended family, but I didn't want to spoil any moments with the flash of my camera. My family just isn't candid photos takers. We do some obligatory family pictures, but never do we snap photos while we're talking, or hanging out. I think it's just that we want to focus fully on the conversation and company, rather than think about taking pictures. Oh well. Of course I did take quite a few pictures. I think I maybe have found my favorite thing to photograph though: flowers. Any way, I'm going through the photos and picking my favorites (it's been really hard!!) and I'll upload them soon. I'm just so glad to be back!

I'm Back!!

Hey everybody! I'm back and I'm working on sorting through pictures and writing up a post about my trip to Canada. I had so much fun and loved spending time with my family. My only regret is that we had to come home to 100+ degree weather. Bleh. But I suppose it's only natural following the uber mild winter we had. Here's hoping that the heat doesn't melt me completely!