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Hello. Where have I been?? I’ve been, busy. I know, I hate that excuse too. But it’s true! And when you’re busy, sometimes fun things like blogs can start to seem like a chore. And once this feels like a chore, I won’t want to do it anymore, so I took some time off.  I promise I will try to keep updating as much as I can, but with holidays and birthdays looming, I can’t promise how much.

Here’s a quick HappySnaps for a peek into what we’ve been up to!

As usual, we’ve been moving around furniture. And Robin has been enjoying all of the new spots to hang.

And sleep. Lot’s of sleeping. Jolene joins in too.

This ^^^^, is sort of big news! This is my beloved car. We have been working on it for almost two years (in December)! Sadly, it has been sitting at a mechanic’s shop for almost a year while he “worked” on it. This car has basically been a really big lesson for us, but it’s home now and so so so close to being done. I’ll post a whole blog on the story of this car, what exactly we are doing to it, and why it’s taking so long.

Some more news, we have gone Paleo! Seeing this new craze all over the internet, I started to wonder what the whoop was about. So when we got home from our anniversary road trip, we took the plunge and went full Paleo for a month. Well, we have loved it so much we have decided to keep going with it. The effects this way of eating has had on our bodies is incredible! I no longer get hungry every two hours, or have major blood sugar crashes or digestive issues. We feel more energetic ad have been sleeping better. Over all, it has been a huge improvement in our daily lives. And the best part is, it really wasn’t even that hard to adjust. I am always up for a challenge in the kitchen, but most of the meals I have made have been super quick, easy, and low on dishes! With the holidays coming up, we know it is not realistic to be 100% strict with this lifestyle, especially while dining at friend’s houses (no one likes a picky guest right?). But doing this has also helped us to automatically make healthier choices, when the healthiest and most ideal choice isn’t available.

In other news, we have been soaking up as much of the lasting warm summer weather that we can, knowing it is going to cool down very soon. We are both excited for fall and winter, but that still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take advantage of the unseasonably hot days right?

And finally, look at that. A tiny bell pepper. In our own garden. That we grew. I can’t wait for it to be full grown and ready to eat! We’ve already had our first Meyer lemon from our little tree! It was delicious!

What has been going on in your world?

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Happy Thursday! Thursday means it’s almost Friday! Friday is my second favorite day of the week.

Last week we found this little nest of eggs hidden behind the shed. We thought one of our girls had stopped laying and were kind of worried. Turns out she had found a new little spot for them! 8 eggs! Phew!

We’ve really been settling in and getting everything decorated in the house. It feels more lived in now and more like home every day. I’ll post some updated photos of all the rooms soon!

This is another room that has changed a ton in our home. It’s amazing what some rearranging and purging can do for a room! This room went from cringe worthy to one of my favorite spots in the house!

A couple weekends ago we went wine tasting with my sister and her husband! So fun! Tyler and I have never been wine tasting, so this was a fun new experience.

I bought a new cookbook and have been making so many delicious recipes from it! This recipe is for spinach tortellini with mushroom cream sauce. I paired it with my homemade bread, broiled with herb and garlic butter on top. The book is called One Pan Two Plates. It’s my new favorite! We have yet to be disappointed by a recipe! And, afterward, there’s hardly any dishes to do! Score!

We also got to babysit this little guy last week! He is so much fun! Such a treat to be around him.

And finally Robin. Oh, Robin. This girl and her boxes. This box has been her home for three days now. I can’t bring myself to throw it away. She loves it so much!

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Happy Monday! I figured I’d start this week off right with a HappySnap. That pretty much guarantees it’ll be a good week right?

We have been spending so much time working in the yard. But having lots of fun while doing it too!

Tyler put up a real screen door! So much better than the security gate we had before.

Mmmm cold brew coffee! I always have wanted cold brew, but never had a good place to get it all the time. Now Trader Joe’s makes it. And, it’s delicious!

We have been doing tons of decorating and redecorating trying to find the best fit for our new spaces. I really love how our room is coming along. It is so much neater and brighter than our last room. At the condo, our room was pretty much a “shove this junk in here” room since we didn’t have any sort of “office” space that our second bedroom here provides now.

This is one of my favorite views in the house. And the other night, Robin joined me for some dishes. Always a bonus to a not so fun task.

Last but not least, we added four more to our brood! From bottom to top, Dixie, Doodle, Dot + Dolly. It’s been so fun learning about these girls and taking care of them. The best part is searching for eggs! Everyday we get so happy to find two perfect little brown eggs. I can’t wait till Dot and Dolly are old enough to produce. Four eggs almost every day! But the absolute best part about getting these girls, was Trae’s reaction! His two main breeds are both great for herding. And guess what he did the minute we let them out of their carriers? He chased them around all evening, nipping at their heels keeping them in line!

Yesterday we finished building this fence for the girls. They roam our whole yard, but we still wanted an area to contain them in sometimes, without resorting to shoving them in their coop.

What filled your week with happy??

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It’s Friday! Can I get a “TGIF”??! This week went by slow. And I’m tired. But thankful for everything that brightened another work week.

Last weekend we went to Julian. It was forecast for rain and thunderstorms! We got what we went for. It was about 80 degrees, dumping rain, tons of lightening followed by thunderous booms that lasted from 10 seconds to over  a minute! Such a fun little day trip!

On the way home, we stopped in downtown Ramona. If you’ve never been, I really suggest visiting. It is such a cute little area with tons of little shops.

We of course brought home some delicious goodies. Granola, jam, and bread from Dudley’s. We have a full post about visiting Julian coming soon too!

I discovered my new favorite drink this week too! Iced Green Tea Soy latte with sugar free vanilla. Yeah. It’s a mouthful to order, but so worth it. One of my friends Instagrammed a photo of this and I had to try it. I am obsessed with it now!

Look what came up in a random search on Craig’s List! I can’t even remember what I was looking for, but it wasn’t Pyrex. I couldn’t pass these up though. Four bowls in perfect condition for the price of one. And just a town away!

Impromptu nephew time! The best! I can’t believe how big this guy is getting!

Robin hanging with me while I edit photos. This girl. She is too much sometimes! She is so loving! I can’t wait to share her adoption story. Soon!

What made your week happy??

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Happy Friday! Are you as happy as we are that it’s the weekend?? I would say that we can’t wait to just relax and do nothing this weekend… But, there is always so much to do! This weekend we are painting the house!! So excited!

Last weekend Tyler and I were walking around and decided to go out for an impromptu lunch date. I don’t know why but I really love going out for lunch. I was so happy on our little date!

It has been HOT these past few weeks. Look at this little bed Trae dug out in the bamboo behind the house. So cute! The cool dirt and shade was probably so nice!

Robin jumped up here the other night. She literally flew through the air. She is wild! I always crack up at the crazy things she does.

Painting prep!! I am so happy about this. Our house is so amazing inside, but the outside just looks so dingy and was seriously lacking. Finally the outside will be cute like the inside!

What filled your week with happiness??

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This week is a short HappySnaps. Most of our life last week was preparing for our 4th of July party. We had so much fun and took so many pictures of the day. So what this week’s HappySnaps lacks in photos, our 4th post will make up for. Promise.

My sister turned 30 last weekend! Her friends came into town and we went out to celebrate. It was so much fun! We were all sad to see Kelly and Evan leave though.

We finally bought an end table for our living room! We were just using some tomato crates and it really bugged me. It just looked so messy. I found this old school desk on CraigsList.

Here’s a really tiny sneak peek at the 4th. How cute is Reid’s little outfit??

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Wow! HappySnaps 5?!? That means we have been doing this for five whole weeks! Time has been going by too fast. Luckily, we are able to capture these little moments in the crazy blur.

Look at this light Tyler unearthed from the bushes in our front yard. It was completely hidden in the ivy. It is so cool!

The first flowers we purchased to fill our home. I never used to go for sunflowers, but in the past year or so I have been in love with their bright yellow petals!

We have been working like crazy in the yard. Any downtime we have is spent ripping things out and cutting things back. We’re trying to get ready for planting grass. That will be really interesting!

This is a fun little shot from our friend’s wedding we were in last weekend. It was taken by Hannah of Elate Photo… You should check her out. She is really talented!

These girls… they bring us so much happiness.

We have a pretty decent collection of old photographs. Some from Tyler’s family, some from swap meets. They are all really cool. I never can decide how to showcase them. When I saw some posts on pinterest about blowing up photos for under $10 I had to try it! These two photos are 3 feet by 2 feet! That’s huge! It was only 15 dollars for both. They are so fun! We used fabric covered tacks to hang them too, so there are little pops of color in each corner. Both of these photos are from Tyler’s family.

And finally, the cutest photo of my happy little nephew. I am so in love with him! Look at that smile!

What made your week happy??

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Welcome back to HappySnaps! This week has been insanely busy! We are (still) getting settled in our house, prepping to be in our friend’s wedding, and next weekend is my sister’s birthday. Maybe after that we will get some sleep….. In the mean time, here are some HappySnaps for you : )

Such a sweet housewarming gift from our friend (and Bride-to-Be) Gabi. Everything was so thoughtful and perfect! We are still blown away by how much love people have been showing us throughout the new move.

Some snapshots from baking for the bachelorette party last weekend. Notice that kitty paw in the pie dough? Yeah, that was Robin “helping” me.

Obsessed with this gorgeous tile in the bathroom at Buca di Beppo!

Two of our cutie nephews. So in love with them both!

Tuesday night we went to Ikea for some miscellaneous items. We had some fun while we were there ; ).

We sold Tyler’s truck Saturday morning. It was a really hard decision for us to make. We both loved the truck so much, but it was such a small car that it just killed Tyler’s back and knees when he had to go long distances for work. So right now, we are carpooling! Last year we carpooled almost all year and it makes our mornings so much better! That extra time together is really nice. We are definitely enjoying it.

That’s it for this week’s HappySnaps. Tomorrow we are in our friend’s wedding (!!) so expect to see lots of happy from that! (And I promise to post a normal post next week, i.e. not one solely about our new house)

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It’s Friday! This week has been exhausting, but SO worth every late night and early morning. Honestly, it was hard for me to narrow down my HappySnaps choices this week. So many great things are going on!

We found this on our car one morning before we moved. What a sweet little sentiment! Things like this mean so much to us. One thing we are going to miss so much about our old condo is the community there. We knew almost every person on our street, and every trip to the parking lot was a social event.

Some party prep work… I love parties!

Lunch at home! Always so much better than lunch at the office right?

Our sweet little nephew Abel came over last night for a quick visit. We love him so much! This little guy always brightens our days!

The house has really started coming along nicely. We set up the front yard with some lights! They turned out so beautiful.  Also, those chairs are a little sneak peek at an upcoming project post over here!

What made your week happy?

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HappySnaps are coming a little early this week! Our house is a complete disaster right now. There are packed and empty boxes everywhere. It’s nice to take a minute to appreciate all of the happy moments in this crazy, stressful time.

Last night, with the hopes of adding some normalcy to our now cluttered and hectic life, we went on a little adventure. It was really nice to just ditch packing and and do something fun! We picked up an amazing old cart from the middle of nowhere for $10!! It was totally worth the hour drive each way. And the drive was really beautiful. As soon as we move and get somewhat settled into our new house, the bar cart will be my first project at the new house!

While on our little adventure, our new landlord texted me asking if we could come do the first walk through on the house so she could fix everything we wanted and hopefully hand us the keys today (that’s two days early!). We went straight there after picking up the cart and did our walk through. It was also Trae’s first time exploring the new house. He is going to have so much fun in his new yard. We only pointed out about three things to fix, so hopefully she will be able to finish it today

It was so fun walking through with Tyler, talking about where things would go, how we would decorate, and what we wanted the house to look like. We also both talked about how much the house will change over time. It’s always fun to look back at how we first decorated a space, compared to how it looks a year to two later.

We might be MIA for a few days here, especially if we start moving tomorrow! I am SO glad we are almost done!