✨45✨

 I turned 45 this last Saturday and family spoiled me! On Friday, Eden and I hit birthday pedicures, thrifting, and sushi:

On Saturday, we walked Peter’s Canyon then grabbed breakfast burritos and I was surprised by my sister and niece with doughnuts:

We walked around Roger’s Gardens:

They were having their lavender festival and everything was just beautiful and smelled so good!

We headed home for naps, bunny snuggles, and lunch and then ate my birthday dinner at Avila’s!

All throughout the day I got such sweet messages from friends and family and felt so loved! 45 trips around the sun…

Happy {early} birthday to Kit!

 We had been given a bbq several years ago and it finally died. So I got to partner with our parents to surprise Kit with this Blackstone for an early birthday present!

My guys put it together:

In the first 36 hours that he had it, he made a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and smash burgers for dinner! We are SO excited for all the meals that this man and his flat top grill will make…

This weekend is my birthday, and I’m excited to low-key celebrate!

22 years…

 This June marks 22 years being a nurse at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton! 

 I always feel nostalgic when I realize how fast time has flown!  I was 22, newly married, fresh out of nursing school.  I started in Oncology, doing chemotherapy and being part of our pain resource team to support palliative and hospice care. Three years later, I transferred to Mother/Baby, and have been there ever since. I’m so thankful for my colleagues, friends, and patients who have taught me, nurtured me, and been incredibly patient with me as I learned over the years how important it is to never stop learning. So here’s to more years of learning and growing and having grace in the process. Each year I see God’s faithfulness and for that I am incredibly grateful…

feeding my crew…

We spend lots of time figuring out what to make for dinner. With practice schedules, we either eat at 430p or 9p… Here are some  favorite things I’ve been making recently that seem to fit the time frame… It’s silly how meal planning and budgeting, grocery shopping, and cooking seem to take lots of my brain power these days… But also, yay for summer days!

Blts:

El Dorado Casserole, a recipe from my childhood: 

 

Pasta salad with feta and balsamic glaze and grilled chicken:

Elk tacos:

turkey boats with peanut sauce and rice:

How grateful I am for God’s provision to give my sweet family full bellies. It’s an Italian mother’s dream.

❤️❤️❤️

recovery…

 I had mentioned that the weekend before Eden’s last week of school, she had gotten a concussion during a soccer tournament. It has taken a lot longer for her recovery than we had anticipated. She missed school and time with friends and end of the year celebrations. She rallied on the last day but it was tough. The whole experience gave me lots of time to just care and snuggle my girl.

We did utilize bunny therapy too:

Our house was probably the calmest, darkest, and quietest it has ever been so that our girly could rest. I know I’ll never forget it, but I want to remember this moment, how scared I was to watch her get kicked in the noggin and waiting for her to get up, and then she did. I hoped she could remember things, watching her care for herself and listen to her own body… I’ll remember God’s goodness as He helped her heal. My girl is such a beast and is as tough as nails…

Last day of school for 2024-2025

 This last Friday, the kids had their last day of school. These years just go faster and faster. 

We potentially have 3 more summers before Ryder goes to college… oh gosh…

May Books

Here were some books I read this month:

I absolutely loved this read. Mel Robbin’s reads it and I loved how personal it felt hearing her voice. The Let Them Theory is a tool for interpersonal relationships in multiple capacities that allows the navigation of setting boundaries while creating space for people to be who they are. It follows with the statement “Let me” in how we respond and the power we allow others to have in our lives. It was inspiring and encouraging and has the potential to give to so much freedom to release things we have no control over anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have had amazing conversations about it with people close to me. I strongly recommend it!

This book was a reread for me and I loved even more than the first time I read it. To put it very simply, my take away is it’s a gentle reminder to calibrate your life on what’s important and on stewarding the things God has given you well that bring life rather than things like frantic chaos. I loved it and would highly recommend.