Life Lately

Hi Friends,
     I have a love/hate relationship with August. On one hand, it's the beginning of a new school year and I love the Target, Dollar Tree, Teacher Store runs, the half days in the classroom getting things done, the feeling of fresh supplies and a new start. BUT August also signals the end of summer and this summer has been pretty great.

 I read a lot, spent some quality time with AJ, caught up with friends, hung out with family near and far, we hosted the Baby Bow Bash, spent time in Oregon, and most importantly spent a lot of time napping and vomiting to grow our little baby! By the time school starts, I'll be halfway through this pregnancy and the fall time always flies by. YAY! We bought Boss Baby some essentials for his or her Boss Baby lifestyle:

By the way, we tried to find out the gender yesterday, but baby had legs closed tight and would not budge. The arms were saluting, but those teeny legs were glued shut! We'll try next time, modest baby! I'm still anxious and become a ball of nerves before every appointment, but I'm really working on taking it a day at a time. Today, I am a mommy to two babies: one in heaven and one kicking around in my belly. And that is enough for today.

As I mentioned, I've been putting in a few hours here and there in my classroom and there is still. so. much. to. do. I'm taking it a task at a time and remembering I still have a few weeks before kids walk through that door. I have a literacy training and a day and a half of district orientations coming up, so I'm definitely in school mode. It helps that last week I turned on a Lifetime movie and got serious with my new Erin Condren teacher planner and some rainbow flair pens.

Last week we hosted a family BBQ and I made a new recipe: Shirely Temple Cake. Ok, this was some serious baking business as it required me to bust out both the bundt pan and Kitchen Aid AND I needed to run to the store to get more butter because this one cake takes 3 STICKS. Yes, 3 sticks of butter. That said, my version looked nothing like the picture but it sure was dense, moist, and bursting with cherry yumminess. I think I'll make it again, but wait a few months because 3 STICKS.

My "to read" pile is growing exponentially. That's what happens when your library hold list all starts coming in at once Oh yeah. I read these two books last week. One was dark, R rated and intense. The other was cute, full of feel good friendship, and perfect chick lit. Can you guess which is which?

In other news, our "garden" is getting out of control. I was all about having a garden and bringing in bounty from our backyard in baskets over my arm (have you seen Oprah's instagram?), but then I realized it was a lot of dang work, we only have a teeny space, and all the crops died but the tomato. Farmer AJ has been taking good care of it, though, and he lights up when he brings in a new one each evening from outside. I think I'll need to do some research next spring because I feel like I spend too much money on berries and would love a backyard harvest.

Top pic is May, bottom pic is end of July

We saw Dunkirk with my parents this week. It was good, but I didn't love it. If you like movies with no females and lots of shouting, it's definitely your jam. 

That's pretty much all that's going on around here. I feel like it's my civic duty to spread the word that Starbucks egg bites are back in Utah stores after being discontinued for a while. I'm obsessed, really. This explains the sous vide cooking method. I love you, Buckys.

Have a great weekend!

Savor Your Sparkle,
Leslie